Metro, Volume 3, Issue 1

Utah’s Gay and Lesbian Biweekly Newspaper Volume 3 ■ Issue 1 January 5–11

Legislative Session Primer

How to become a citizen lobbyist

Guilty Plea in Home Robbery Teen pleads guilty to three felony counts

Park City Hosts Gay Ski Week

Thirteenth annual event this weekend

Sundance Hires Out Designer

Oldham to design opening night and awards night celebrations

UK Begins Gay Marriage Ceremonies Sir Elton John and David Furnish among first to wed

Vote for Salt Lake’s Most Fabulous Ballot on Page 20

Aaron Gets In Your Face Gay Agenda

WORLD AND NATIONAL

UK Gays Tie the Knot

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SALT LAKE METRO ■ JANUARY 5, 2006

Belfast, Ireland — Same-sex couples started tying the knot under the United Kingdom’s new Civil Partnership Act Dec. 19.

The act grants registered couples all the rights and obligations of marriage.

“This landmark measure ends the situation where same-sex relationships were invisible in the eyes of the law, denied any recognition of their commitment,” said Prime Minister Tony Blair.

“It gives gay and lesbian couples who register their relationship the same safeguards over inheritance, insurance and employment and pension benefits as married

couples. No longer will same-sex couples who have decided to share their lives fear they will be denied a say over the partner’s medical treatment or find themselves denied a home if their partner dies.”

Grainne Close and Shannon Sickels were the first to do the deed as regular registrations kicked off (a couple where one partner was gravely ill were allowed to “wed” before the act’s start date).

Close and Sickels, who is American, got “married” at City Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as fundamentalist Christians and gay-rights supporters yelled at each other outside.

“This is about making a choice to have our civil rights acknowledged and respected

and protected, and we could not be here without the hard work of many queer activists and many individuals from the queer community,” Sickels told reporters.

The ceremonies began in Scotland the next day and in England and Wales the day after that. Sir Elton John, 58, and longtime partner David Furnish, 43, were among the first to tie the knot, in the royal town of Windsor, at the town hall where Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles got married.

Furnish’s father Jack called it “one of the happiest days of my life.” His mother, Gladys, said, “I’m very proud.”

A star-studded reception costing more than $1.7 million followed the ceremony.

John and Furnish made no remarks as they exited the hall.

Nearly 700 other same-sex couples registered Dec. 21 as well.

Same-sex couples have access to full marriage in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain and Massachusetts. South Africa’s highest court recently legalized same-sex marriage but gave legislators one year to make the necessary legal adjustments.

Partnership or civil-union laws that grant

registered same-sex couples some, most or all rights and obligations of marriage are in force in Andorra, the Australian state of Tasmania, the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greenland, Iceland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. states of California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey and Vermont.

Czech Lower House Passes Partnership Bill Prague — The Czech Republic’s lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, voted 86 to 54 in favor of a same-sex registered-partnership law Dec. 16.

Seven deputies abstained and 53 were not present for the vote.

The measure now moves to the possibly less-friendly Senate. If it passes there, it would advance to President Vaclav Klaus for his signature.

If the Senate rejects the bill, the deputies could override the Senate with an absolute majority of 101 votes in the 200-member chamber.

The legislation was favored by Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek’s Social Democrats and many Communists but opposed by the Christian Democrats, who are part of the three-party governing coalition.

Latvia Bans Same-sex Marriage Riga, Latvia — Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga signed legislation amending the nation’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage Dec. 21.

The measure passed Parliament 65 to 6 with 9 abstentions on Dec. 15.

Latvia already had a law prohibiting gays from marrying but conservative politicians feared it might not stand up to challenges from the European Union.

The European branch of the International Lesbian and Gay Association denounced the amendment.

“As an EU member state, Latvia is acting contradictory to and disrespectfully to the principles of equality and non-discrimination agreed and confirmed by various EU treaties,” said Executive Director Patricia Prendiville. “Not only has Latvia now a discriminatory constitutional provision motivated solely by homophobia, but Latvia is still the only EU member state which did not ban sexual orientation discrimination in employment as required by the EU employment equality directive.”

Polish Parade Ban Declared Illegal Poznan, Poland — An administrative court in Poznan, Poland, ruled Dec. 14 that Poznan Mayor Ryszard Grobelny’s banning of November’s gay pride parade violated both Polish and European law.

Grobelny had cited “security concerns” in blocking the march.

Local media reports did not say what penalty Grobelny might face for the infraction.

Despite the ban, a few hundred people marched anyhow. They were harassed by members of the group All Polish Youth, who shouted “Let’s gas the fags” and “We’ll do to you what Hitler did with Jews.”

Police intervened near the end of the march, roughed up several marchers, and arrested and interrogated more than 65, who were later released.

failed to secure permission to hold the events.

The festival initially was scheduled for the Factory 798 arts complex in the Dashanzi area of Beijing. But on Dec. 14, the Public Security Bureau banned the organizers from that site. The organizing committee, some of whose members reported police surveillance, then moved the festival to the private On/Off bar, which police raided as the festival kicked off.

The officers reportedly ripped down signs and decorations, videotaped attendees and closed the bar for a week.

The festival was to feature three days of exhibitions, seminars, plays and movies.

Names of Petition Signers Posted Brockton, Mass. — A grassroots marriage equality group has posted the 123,356 names and addresses of those who signed a petition to reverse legalized same-sex marriage in Massachusetts on their well-known website.

Knowthyneighbor.org offers visitors the chance to search for their neighbors and friends, or even their own name as allegations of fraudulent collection techniques have been reported on area news stations.

A “fraud affidavit” is also available to use “if your name is listed and you believe you were a victim of petition fraud,” according to the site.

“Having direct access to the names of those who signed the anti-gay marriage petition provides you with the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations with people who may not fully understand the implications of the proposed amendment on the lives of same-sex couples and their families,” said Tom Lang and Aaron Toleos, directors of KnowThyNeighbor.org. They encouraged supporters of gay marriage to “take this opportunity to reach out in thoughtful and respectful ways to those around you. A face-to-face conversation with someone you know can be a powerful way to break through the superficial barriers that separate us.”

Supporters of a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage say they collected more than 120,000 signatures to put the issue on the ballot in 2008. Only 65,000 signatures were required. The proposed amendment seeks to overrule a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in May, 2004.

An estimated 6,500 gay and lesbian couples have since been married in the state.

If approved by voters, the amendment would require the state to define marriage “only as the union of one man and one woman,” prohibiting gay marriages after 2008. The amendment would not affect established gay or lesbian marriages.

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Tel Aviv To Build Gay Community Center

Chinese Police Shut Down Gay Festival Beijing — Police shut down the first Beijing Gay and Lesbian Culture Festival as it opened Dec. 16, saying organizers had

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JANUARY 5, 2006 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 3

Tel Aviv — The city of Tel Aviv has approved spending $900,000 to establish an official gay and lesbian community center.

The initial outlay will be used to renovate a building to house the center.

The city also committed to spending $67,000 a year to fund the facility. The funding is structured so that future city administrations cannot cancel it.

The project was spearheaded by City Councilor Itai Pinkas, who told Ynetnews: “By building this center, Tel Aviv joins an honorable club of advanced cities like New York, Los Angeles and Paris. I thank the mayor, who was a full partner in the initiative and understood the community’s needs. ... This municipal building is designated to serve as the place where the community members will find the core of their lives.”

The center will offer, among other things, exhibitions, cultural events, concerts, workshops, classes, health services, HIV support groups, youth groups, legal aid, social services, a library and a kindergarten.

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NATIONAL AND REGIONAL

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Park City Hosts Gay Ski Week

Jan 30 – Feb 5 Confirmed Films to Date:

Eighteen Hellbent Straight Pumping Velvet Fluff Lesbian and Gay Shorts Loggerheads

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SALT LAKE METRO ■ JANUARY 5, 2006

All films take place at

TROLLEY SQUARE CINEMAS

677 South 200 West • Salt Lake City • Must be 21

THE FINEST IN FILM 602 EAST 500 SOUTH • 801-746-1555 www.regencymovies.com

More information at

saltfest.org

Utah Gay Ski Week returns to Park City for its 13th run Jan. 4–8. The week is organized

by John Herriot of West Hollywood-based Community Visions, a loose-knit nonprofit group which also organizes ski weeks in Vail, Telluride and Tahoe.

Herriot expects between 100 and 150 participants from all across the United States and welcomes Utah skiers to join in the activities. “We would like to encourage people from Utah who want to ski or have lunch with us to join us,” he said. “Wear rainbow colors so we can find you and come on up.”

Herriott says that Utah remains a good choice for gays and lesbians to ski because it boasts the “greatest snow on earth” and is within a half hour of the Salt Lake International Airport. Also, Park City has many local transportation options and the price to ski, including air fare and hotel rates, is a fraction of resort towns in other states.

The event begins Jan. 4 with a lunch, hospitality suite and welcome party. Skiers will be skiing and eating at Park City Resort, The Canyons and Deer Valley.—MA

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 4 Mountain du Jour – PARK CITY RESORT 11:45am Lunch, Mid-Mountain Lodge 5:30pm Welcome party at the Ski Week Hospitality Suite 7:30 pm Friendship dinner at Watsatch Brewery Pub THURSDAY, JAN. 5 Mountain du Jour – THE CANYONS 11:40am Lunch, Canyons Sun Lodge 5:30pm Social Hour at the Hospitality Suite 7:30pm Friendship dinner at the Claim Jumper Restaurant 9:30pm Party – TBA FRIDAY, JAN. 6 Mountain du Jour – PARK CITY RESORTS 10:30am Meet at the top of Silverlodge Express Chair 11:45am Lunch at the Snow Hut 6pm Meet for cocktails.

7:30pm Friendship dinner.

9pm Nightclub TBA SATURDAY, JAN. 7 Mountain du Jour – DEER VALLEY (Boarders @ Canyons) 10:30am Meet at the bottom of the Wasatch Express Lift 11:45am Lunch at Silver Lake Lodge 6pm Official Ski Week Dinner and Party (By reservation) SUNDAY, JAN. 8 Mountain du Jour - PARK CITY RESORTS 10:30am Meet at the top of Silverlodge Express Chair 11:45am Lunch at Mid-Mountain Lodge For exact locations call hot line at 877-429-6368, or 801-243-2322 on day of event. Look for rainbows.

Sundance Hires Out Designer Todd Oldham The Sundance Film Festival announced that award-winning, openly-gay designer Todd Oldham will lend his experience and creativity to the 2006 Sundance Film Festival as designer of the Opening Night, Music on Main, and Awards Night parties. Applying his experience as a graphic designer, photographer, and filmmaker, Oldham plans to create an environment that personifies this year’s festival, while bringing to life the festival’s history. The Sundance Film Festival takes place in and around Park City, Utah from Jan. 19–29.

“The Film Festival’s official parties have a celebrated status,” said Jill Miller, managing director for the Sundance Institute. “The designer of these events needs to have a flair for reflecting the diverse, creative and innovative spirit of the Sundance Institute and of the Sundance Film Festival. We are thrilled to have Todd Oldham and the Todd Oldham Studio working with us to create unique experiences for our patrons.”

Oldham is no stranger to the festival, having designed the “Main Street Lounge” for Sundance presenting sponsor Volkswagen in 2005. Past projects include the Veruka nightclub in Manhattan, “Gateway Lounges” for art rock at Rockefeller Center, the guest house at the Esquire House in Los Angeles, MTV’s Choose or Lose bus and a 1997 GM Bravada used to raise money for cancer

Salt Lake Men’s Choir Welcomes New Singers The Salt Lake Men’s Choir accepts new members just twice a year — at the beginning of the season in August and mid-season, the first two rehearsals of January.

On Jan. 12 and 19, the choir is welcoming prospective singers to join them at their Thursday rehearsals at All-Saints Episcopal Church at 1700 S. Foothill Blvd. Rehearsals begin promptly at 7:00 p.m.

The choir is in its 23rd season under the direction of artistic director Lane Cheney. Last year they sang at the Washington National

Designer Todd Oldham

research. Oldham has also made numerous television appearances and boasts a long list of photography and writing credits. He currently designs a home furnishings collection that is produced by La-Z-Boy. “I am delighted to celebrate with Sundance Institute the magic of independent film,” said Oldham. “It has been a lot of fun working on the opening and closing party designs.”

Cathedral to represent the state in the quadrennial “Utah Day” celebration in Washington, D.C. The choir has also traveled to many of the western states and Sydney, Australia.

The choir performs four major concerts and at charity events through the year.

Those interested in singing with the choir will be asked to sing scales for Cheney at the end of the rehearsal to help determine what voice part they should be placed in. The choir is open to all male voices, regardless of ability, who agree with its mission statement.

More information can be found at their site, saltlakemenschior.org

Timothy Ray Dorrell pleaded guilty to three felony counts of Aggravated Robbery, including the robbery at gunpoint at the home of Salt Lake Metro editor Michael Aaron. Dorrell had faced up to six felony counts, including aggravated kidnapping and aggravated burglary, for an October crime spree that he claims was in response to testing positive for HIV, according to Salt Lake City Timothy Ray Dorrell police detectives.

In late September and early October, prosecutors say, Dorrell and at least two others procured a gun and began finding homes where they believed they could find money or drugs, holding the occupants at gunpoint while they made a maximum five-minute sweep — the time they believed would be the response time should anyone in the homes call police. The two accomplices wore masks in at least one of the robberies. Dorrell did not.

According to his testimony to police after the incident, Darrell “Boo” Taylor said he had been abducted by Dorrell and two masked assailants downtown Oct. 5 and forced to walk at gunpoint to “a place we can find money.” Dorrell and Taylor walked from the area of 100 South and 200 East to Aaron’s West Capitol house while two others rode in a car following them. At one point, Taylor says Dorrell instructed him to remove his shoes.

According to police and victims, Taylor knocked on the door of Aaron’s home at 3:00 a.m., rousing two or Aaron’s housemates who answered the door. Dorrell and the two assailants pushed Taylor through the door and to the floor, demanding that everyone

get to the floor and place their hands over their heads. One of Aaron’s housemates recognized Dorrell as he entered the house. The two masked assailants ransacked the two upper-level bedrooms while Dorrell stood guard at the back of the house.

Aaron, awoken by the noise, went upstairs to see what was going on, only to be met by Dorrell and his gun. Dorrell forced Aaron back to his room and told him and his partner to lie face down in the bed with their hands over their head. A second assailant entered the room and the two searched Aaron’s room, asking where the jewels and money were. At one point the second assailant said, “I’m getting real pissed that we’re not finding anything here.”

After a few minutes of silence, Aaron risked taking a look that the two had left and called 911 from his cell phone.

Salt Lake Police found a break in the case when Aaron called detectives saying Dorrell had been arrested several days later on similar charges.

Dorrell, who has remained in the Salt Lake County Jail since his arrest, will be sentenced in February.

qVinum Wine Club Announces May Retreat The small town of Baker, Nev., outside Great Basin National Park will be the setting for a special retreat for food and wine enthusiasts. Silver Jack Inn and Lectrolux Café will play host to the group and other interested people May 13–14. The food and wine package will cost $50 per person plus tips. The inn will also be offering special rates for those who wish to stay overnight.

Also planned are a guided hike to the glacier atop Mt. Wheeler and tour of Lehman Cave.

More information can be found at the group’s site, qVinum.com.

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JANUARY 5, 2006 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 5

Vote Today on Page 20 and enter to win a trip to Fabulous Las Vegas

From the creation of Salt Lake’s own Gay Athletic Association to an eleventh-hour move to rescue the Utah GLBT Community Center from certain closure, 2005 was a banner year for Utah’s GLBT community.

And in a year marked by so many gains and strides, naming just one individual as Person of the Year seemed about as impossible as … well, getting Senator Chris Buttars on an episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Ranging from a big-city senator to a pair of small-town activist, and in age from eighteen to “better not say,” our five People of the Year have one thing in common: their commitment to community and personal integrity goes beyond a mere job and becomes a passion.

Valerie Larabee As the Executive Director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Utah, Valerie Larabee’s day is often hectic and complex. But it’s the little things in life that keep her going.

“It’s joy that you get in the small victories every day,” she said. “It’s the joy that you get in being able to help somebody that calls in from Utah County and needs your support or by watching the youth that are walking through the doors of the Youth Activity Center.”

But it’s also her love for non-profit work, and for Utah’s GLBT community, that helps Larabee through her day.

“I feel like there’s no more important job to do than to work on the issues for the people of our community in this state where there’s so much to do to educate people about who we are,” she said. “When you wake up in the morning you know you have a lot of good work to do. Sometimes it gets frustrating but every day we make new friends and have people develop more understanding that we are just like everyone else and we have the same needs as any human being walking around the planet.”

It’s this concern for the people she serves that makes Larabee stand out in the eyes of her colleagues.

“She recognizes the diversity of the community and she’s always trying to educate herself to make sure she understands what those needs are,” said Jennifer Nuttall, the Center’s Program Director. “She’s very inclusive, so if

there’s something that comes up that she isn’t informed on or doesn’t know about she said, ‘tell me more about that’.

She is always educating herself because we do have such a diverse community there’s no way of knowing all the things that are going to come up. She takes a very broad view, a very inclusive view, and wants to make sure that as the community center we are including everyone.”

Larabee’s all-inclusive outlook on life also extends to her co-workers, who share an open office on the Center’s top floor.

“I think she’s an awesome leader,” agrees Stan Burnett, Youth Director. “She has her background in the military, which explains why her organizational skills and her ability to lead are excellent. I definitely always feel supported by her in my job, and she seems consistently available when I need her.”

Larabee hopes to bring the GLBT community together even more in 2006, especially to think about the future.

“In addition I hope that we put more focus on our long range plan and begin to dream about what we would like our community to look like in five or ten years and what that means for individual GLBT organizations here and specifically what it means for the GLBT community center,” she said.

And when it comes to explaining what Larabee means to the Center, Nuttall doesn’t mince words.

“She was just exactly what we needed and I’m so grateful that she came in when she did. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here,” she said. “She came in with enthusiasm, with an amazing ability to start rallying the community and get things done that had to be done to make this Center stay open.”

And rather than do it hidden behind the closet door, Marie and Selfridge took the streets of Utah’s Dixie flying rainbow flags and marching with their own unique brand of ‘Pride.’”

“Well, someone has to do it,” Selfridge said in a phone interview from St. George. “When we got together it was a very natural fit.”

She was talking about her “in your face” style of activism, compared to Marie’s slightly more “hate the sin, love the sinner” approach. “They grew up in this hell, so cut them a little slack, Amie always says,” explained Selfridge.

“So she’s helped me tone it down a lot.”

The couple met several years ago at a women’s party.

They’ve been together, acting like a modern-day pair of pioneers ever since. They blazed the trail for a Southern Utah Community Center and now have taken their fight to the soaring canyons of Zion National Park where they established the region’s first Pride celebration years ago.

“The town of Springdale has been absolutely fabulous,” Selfridge explained. “They really and truly do want us there and they welcome us with open arms.”

The rest of rural Utah may be a bit less welcoming.

That’s why the Aimees are happy to hand out their personal phone numbers and welcome struggling “family”

members in there home night and day.

Has their battle of intolerance made any difference?

Southern Utah Pride now has it’s own “board” with Selfridge and Marie acting more like advisors than leaders.

And meetings at their homegrown community center have grown so much they now have to hold them at local “family-owned” businesses instead of their living room.

“There’s a huge community here, far larger than we ever realized,” Selfridge said. “And a lot of people were out there alone, without anywhere to turn. They didn’t know anyone was there.”

So the happy couple figured they would shed a little light on GLBT community south of Provo. And they believe that light is revealing a much more tolerant and accepting side of Southern Utah than anyone could have hoped for.

As for themselves, Selfridge said both her and Marie are attending college trying to “better ourselves, too.” Amie Marie is growing her singing and songwriting career and together they are focusing on finding a more permanent solution for a community center in stunning Southern Utah.

And what better place for it than Utah’s Dixie’s rainbowhued paradise of sun and sandstone?

by JoSelle Vanderhooft joselle@slmetro.com

The Amies

By Darren Tucker

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darren@slmetro.com

St. George — Imagine dozens of wig-wearing Drag Queens and Speedo-filling Quac members and barely-brief-covered-booty-shakin’ go-go boys and determined Dykes on Bikes marching out your front door and into a town so conservative it makes Salt Lake City look like San Francisco.

Kind of hard to wrap your mind around it, isn’t it?

But for several years, that almost exactly what — figuratively if not literally — Amie Marie and “Little” Aimee Selfridge have done, wrapping their minds and hearts like a blanket around a tiny but tough gay population struggling against discrimination in Utah’s Dixie.

Gay, lesbian, bi and transgendered residents of Southern Utah have come to know “The Amies” very well. The couple set up St. George’s first community center, literally in their own home. They opened their door ad their hearts to anyone living in Southern Utah faced with the daunting task of living an alternative lifestyle in the state’s very conservative, very LDS southern half.

Mark Barr

By JoSelle Vanderhooft joselle@slmetro.com

In starting the Salt Lake Gay Athletic Association in 2005, Mark Barr fulfilled a life-long dream.

“Once I thought I would play professional sports,” he said. “But I took myself out of sports because I was having this issue being honest about who I was as a gay man and competing in this competitive male environment. Now, later in life, I’m still interested in competitive athletics, and I think [the Athletic Association] has created a place for GLBT people to compete and to enjoy the company of others like us.”

For Barr, creating the Gay Athletic Association and its various sub groups, including the Gay Flag Football League not only gave Utah’s gay community an outlet to meet new friends and to play competitive sports, regard-

less of previous experience. It also created a unique opportunity to give Salt Lake City some needed international attention.

When Barr realized that no US city had secured the rights for the 2006 Gay Super Bowl, he jumped at the chance to apply.

He’s currently assembling a proposal for Salt Lake City to join New York City (2007) and Chicago (2008) as a host city this coming year.

“It would be an amazing thing for this city to have,” he said. “Just that amount of exposure and the opportunity for people from all over the world to see how we live and to see that things aren’t so bad here for LGBT people.”

In 2006, Barr also hopes that the Athletic Association will help improve the quality of life for Utah’s GLBT community by encouraging more people to permanently settle in the state.

“It seems as if every few years you go through all your friends, because so many people have moved on,” said Barr. “But the Gay Athletic Association is something for people to invest in. For people like myself, this is a huge draw. I wouldn’t want to leave a city where I’m involved in a football or softball league.”

For the coming year, Barr said he will continue working with the Utah Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center to let people know about the Athletic Association. He also hopes to broaden the Association’s scope by creating more teams. He’s currently raising funds for an indoor/outdoor volley ball league, and a ski club and ultimate Frisbee team are also possibilities.

“Sports can boost self-esteem,” said Barr. “This is just another outlet for people to meet new people, spend time with friends and engage in friendly athletic competition for LGBT people and our allies.”

Scott McCoy

By JoSelle Vanderhooft joselle@slmetro.com

is to play defense with [Representative] Jackie Biskupski to keep those things from becoming law or from being introduced,” he said.

Ultimately, McCoy sees educating his colleagues on Capitol Hill as one of his most important tasks.

“I hope to continue the process of educating opponents about who we are as a community, as people and families and to help dispel some clear misunderstandings and stereotypes,” he said.

McCoy’s turn in public office this year has been the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Seeking elected office was always a goal I had,” he said.

“To me it is the ultimate public service. It’s seeking the trust of your friends and your community to make important decisions.

“I really care about the community around me and think there’s a lot of people out there who don’t have a voice and need one. I’m happy that I represent them.”

Kim Burgess kim@lmetro.com

When most people think of Provo, Utah, tolerance for queer people probably does not come to mind. This past October, Kaisha Medford set out to change that by founding the city’s first Gay/Straight Alliance at Provo High School, where she is a senior.

Medford’s decision to start the group came from a desire to combat harassment of queer people and “have a place where we could all come together.”

“A friend of mine did an informal survey around the school and there was a lot of sexual harassment,” she said.

“It was surprising. I had seen some of the sexual harassment, but didn’t realize it existed on such a large scale.

The group held its first meeting Oct. 13, and Medford reports that reaction has mainly been positive. “I’ve gotten some negative reaction, but not too much. Mostly the negative reaction has been a few jokes that were directed not toward me, but toward the community in general—people saying homo and fag. People have made comments near me.

These jokes were unnecessary and mean but didn’t cross the line from free speech into defamation.”

A decidedly negative reaction has come from Utah State Sen. Chris Buttars, a West Jordan Republican who is drafting a bill to ban GSAs across Utah. In responding to Buttars’ proposal, Medford said, “I think everyone has a right to their opinion, but when you use your religion to create morals, it’s not a separation of church and state. Sen. Buttars is imposing his religion on everyone. I’m Catholic myself. I have nothing against religion. But I do think Sen. Buttars should really come and sit in on a meeting sometime. He should have some background on what he is banning before he decides that it’s wrong.”

Medford was aware of the similar battle fought by Kelli Petersen in 1996 after the founding of East High School’s GSA. Blocked from getting rid of the GSA by an equal-access law co-authored by Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, the Salt Lake City Board of Education banned all non-curriculum clubs. The ban stood for four years before the school district reversed the decision while facing two lawsuits.

Hopefully it won’t come to that in Provo, Medford said. “I think I understand why the legislature thinks it’s necessary to ban GSAs. I understand why they think that, but I say the same thing to anyone who doesn’t understand GSAs. If you sit in on a meeting, you’ll see what we’re about. You have to understand what you’re damning before you damn it. If you’re just taking the morals you’re raised with and accepting them blindly, they’re not really your morals.”

Despite the threat, Meford is determined to keep the Provo High School GSA going, and listed that effort among her major plans for 2006. Her other plans include graduating from high school and attending the University of Utah, where she will major in technical theater and triple minor in Middle Eastern languages, Middle Eastern history and European history. After college, she would like to work as a set designer, “dabbling in lighting design and costume design.”

Asked about her hopes for the queer community, Medford is succinct: “I would like to see the GLBT community treated just like everybody else. Good will toward man and all that jazz.”

JANUARY 5, 2006 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 7

When asked about his hopes for 2006, State Senator Scott McCoy minced no words.

“Four more years!” laughed McCoy, D., Salt Lake City. “Seriously, it’s been great over the last year finishing out [Paula] Juliander’s term, but it would be nice to win a full four year term of my own, so I can move forward with some legislation I think this state needs.”

What legislation would McCoy like to see passed? “It’s my sincere hope that we get something done with hate crimes legislation this session,” he said. Legislation seeking to enhance by one step the penalty for crimes based on prejudice due to perceived or actual attributes, including sexual orientation, has been defeated for nine consecutive years. McCoy said he sees such legislation as instrumental in giving Utah’s GLBT community basic protections.

He also hopes to see Senate Bill 89, the Mutual Dependence Benefits Contract, discussed by the 2007 session.

The bill would allow two adults not eligible for marriage such things as hospital visitation and inheritance rights.

He would also like to see the legislature pass a bill prohibiting discrimination against GLBT people in housing and employment – legislation polls have shown a majority of Utahns favor.

“The state needs to start doing things that are helpful to the GLBT community,” McCoy said.

In the meantime, McCoy plans on opposing anti-gay legislation up for debate in this year’s session, including Senator Chris’ Buttars’ bill to ban gay-straight alliances, and potential legislation to keep cities and counties from offering domestic partner benefits. “This year we’ll be facing some anti-gay initiatives and my number one goal

Kaisha Medford

From the Editor In Your Face

by Michael Aaron michael@slmetro.com

Executive Editor Michael Aaron Arts Editor Eric J. Tierney Proofreader Nicholas Rupp Contributing Kim Burgess Writers Vanessa Chang Jason Clark Benjamin Cohen Matthew Gerber Tony Hobday Beau Jarvis Laurie Mecham Paul E. Pratt Ruby Ridge Eric Rofes David Samsel Joel Shoemaker Brendan Shumway Eric J. Tierney Darren Tucker JoSelle Vanderhooft Ben Williams Contributing David Harris Photographers William H. Munk Joel Shoemaker Sales Director Steven Peterson Display Ad Russ Moss 259-0844 Sales Steven Peterson 860-7505

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Get Involved and Stop the Real Anti-Family Legislation Attempts by the Utah State Legislature to codify any gay- or lesbian-related issue has been at the expense of family and children. Whatever the cause of their prejudice, they have done nothing but attack families and children — the very groups they purport to help.

The strength and quality of any relationship, whether gay or straight, or between siblings, friends or family is determined by how those in the relationships treat one another. Slapping a label on a relationship doesn’t change its true nature in the slightest. A legally-recognized relationship between a man and a woman may be plagued by violence, oppression or abuse yet applying the word “marriage” to the relationship does nothing to change how harmful it is. The same standard can be applied to same-sex relationships, where a couple can live for decades with respect, trust and a deep commitment to caring for the other, yet the lack of a legal definition doesn’t change the relationship’s true nature.

Trust, respect, dignity, patience, kindness, compassion, caring, love, friendship and affection are elements in a healthy relationship and are not negated by it involving sexual expression between two people of the same gender. For our legislature to label all gay and lesbian relationships as unworthy of recognition is as absurd as pretending that all straight “marriages” are healthy, edifying and appropriate.

Any adult’s relationship with a child — whether their own, adopted, a guardianship, or the neighborhood kids — is

based entirely upon the same standards of what makes a strong healthy relationship with an adult. A couple’s ability to raise a healthy, happy child in a caring home has everything to do with loving and caring for the child and nothing to do with the gender of either person. There are many gay and lesbian people among us who have done and are doing just that.

Would our legislature’s declaration that an honest man is now dishonest because he is openly gay make him a dishonest man? No. No more than our current legislature’s declaration that no gay or lesbian relationship is of enough value to be afforded legal protection and recognition … and that no gay or lesbian couple can provide a good home to needy children.

How much does our legislature value the families and children of our society when their actions are clearly aimed at impugning gays and lesbians instead of protecting valuable relationships and preventing home-less children from being cared for in otherwise qualified loving homes?

How long are we willing to let the Utah State Legislature misrepresent our community? How long are we willing to be defamed by our lawmakers? How long will we allow our homes, our relationships and our children to be attacked by our legislature’s war on family? Does our legislature not recognize what they have done and what they are doing? Are they completely blind to what makes our society strong and what harms it?

Speak up for your rights, your relationships and your life.

Thank the ticking of the clock that the holidays are past and we can now go on with our lives and look forward to … the tyrannical winds that will blow from Capitol Hill during the upcoming legislative session. Joy to the world, indeed. And this I get to face after someone spiked my drinks with alcohol on New Years’ Eve. The bastard. I’ve been plop-plop-fizz-fizzing since.

Christmas Eve brought an interesting conversation with my dad. I’ve heard the argument before, but it was interesting that I got to chat about it with him. My family has been absolutely great dealing with the fact they have a gay son. They’re not PFLAG-wavers or anything, but better than I could have ever hoped. But we rarely talk about gay issues.

My dad told me he believes that a vast majority of people, Utahns included, have nothing against gay people — could care less what people do in their homes — but balk only when “it” is thrown in their face.

I told him I agreed with him to a point. I told him I believe people tend to think “it” is being thrown in their face by the mere mention of the fact I am gay or that I have a male partner.

He asked why I would find it necessary to tell anyone about that.

I said that he would be surprised how often I get asked if I am married or have kids. What am I supposed to do? Lie? Turn around and walk away?

I also said that if he is right, and most people “could care less,” then it is because we threw “it” in the faces of friends and family and the masses for the past 25 or more years. People don’t just change for the sake of changing. They have to be made aware.

A week after our conversation, I was in a theater full of people watching Brokeback Mountain, which was set between 1963 and 1982. I grew up during these years. (Don’t tell Christian I was born in 1963, he thinks I’m 28.) There is a good side and a bad side to watching that beautiful movie: you realize how much has changed, but how much things are the same.

People want to believe they are compassionate, that they “could care less” what gay people do … until we want the rights and benefits they enjoy. Not that they have to give anything up to give them to us. I guess rights are like love — the more you give the more you get. (Yeah, sappy. Give me a break, I just watched Brokeback! I’ve fallen victim to the gay propagandists.)

Some people I thought were the loudest non-gay supporters of gay and lesbian rights shrugged their shoulders when it came to gay marriage and said, “I can’t follow you down this road.” Supportive lawmakers suddenly disappear during votes on the hill when the issue turns to sexual orientation.

The answer is and always has been to throw “it” in the faces of those around you in a constructive, meaningful way. Only because people know they have gay siblings, a transsexual coworker, a lesbian aunt, do they truly believe in extending rights and benefits to our community.

And if I made any headway in my conversation with my dad, maybe he will tell other people what I told him: We’re throwing nothing in their face. We’re sharing an important part of lives.

Guest Editorial A Year at the Center

by Evelyn Garlington To The Board, Staff, Donors and Volunteers of the GLBT Center: Happy New Year! It’s almost 2006, and a year has past since many of us joined the Center’s staff and board. I would like to take this time to thank all of you for your service to the Center. Whether as a board or staff member, or as a volunteer, your contribution has had a profound effect on our community.

Valerie Larabee was hired a year ago to direct the Center. Most of you know that the Center was in need of a great deal of attention and care if it was to survive. Neglect of donors, policies and procedures, the Center’s infrastructure and the GLBT community itself had taken a heavy toll on the Center. Over the past year, Valerie has used her considerable talents and wisdom to improve the programs and services of the Center.

Because of Valerie, and a cracker-jack staff: Jennifer Nuttall, Stan Burnett, Nathan Measom and interns BJ Olsen and Samantha Harman, the Center has survived and it now flourishes. Our capacity to serve the community has grown dramatically over the past year. We are making a difference!

To our donors, thank you for your support.

Whether your gift is large or small, everyone who makes a financial contribution to the Center works for social justice and creates change. Without you, none of this work would be possible. We are extremely grateful for your financial partnership as we work to be a catalyst for personal growth, acceptance and equality for GLBT people in Utah.

In one year our Board of Directors has almost completely turned over to new members. There is only one “old-timer” left on the board — John Johnson — and he has worked tirelessly both as the board treasurer and now as the coordinator of Winterfest to ensure the success of the Center and its mission. We owe John our sincere thanks for many jobs well done.

How could I reflect on the past year without thinking of Beano Solomon? Beano’s announcement at the board orientation last year of her gift to the Center charged the very air in the room with the electric current of hope. Her enthusiasm for the Center, for our youth program and GLBT people everywhere have been an inspiration to us all.

Beano, thank you for your generosity and for the gift of your time. Your talent, energy and leadership are greatly appreciated.

The work of the Center has been carried on many shoulders. The following are just a few programs, services and events that have been proudly, energetically, and wisely managed by a host of dedicated volunteers.

The Utah Pride Festival — A very special thanks to Jere Keys, Jim Rengstorf, Sherry Booth, Kathryn Warner, Don Stewart, Carol Gnade, Marc Simmons, Jesse Nix, Fran Pruyn, Arthur Haynes, Valerie Larabee and anyone who staffed a booth, charged a walkie-talkie, sold a ticket, facilitated the finances, managed a stage, helped with setup or tear-down. Thank you for all you did to make Utah Pride 2005 the best ever.

The Youth Activity Center — Beano Solomon, Stan Burnett, Nate Currey and all the other volunteers who understand

the importance of providing a safe haven, outreach and education to the youth of our community, thank you!

The Center Golf Classic — Michelle Turpin, Alison Beddard, Stephanie Pappas, Denise Draper, Kelly Kightly, Lynndee Mueller, Margaret Evans, Marie Needham, Rita Harrington, Sue Gagnier, Trudy Sanderson, Victor Saldavar and Jennifer Nuttall, you have inspired all of us with your energy, enthusiasm, and uncommon sense in creating this annual classic. We are deeply grateful for the years of time and energy that you have given to this event.

Friday Night Bingo — The Cyber Sluts, Karla McGuigan, Kelly Kightly and anyone who has ever donated a prize to Gay Bingo.

Thank you for giving this community an important and exciting monthly social event.

Swerve Monthly’s — Brandie Balken, Laurie Mecham, Fran Pruyn and all the members of Swerve, thank you for providing programs and services for Lesbians, their families and friends.

Your generosity, your time, your skills and knowledge benefit all of us. Thank you.

Salt Lake City Winterfest — To John Johnson and all the volunteers of Winterfest — it is not just one trip but a whole journey to the Center’s inaugural Winterfest event coming Feb. 3–12, 2006 (www.slcwinterfest. com). Thank you all for what you have done to make this important event a success for our entire community.

The Center’s Coming Out Day Breakfast — Fran Pruyn, Valerie Larabee, Linda Asa and Kate Kendall joined with a wonderful cast of inspired performers. Thank you for a most successful, entertaining and touching special event. Wow! To the members of the Transgender Community Forum — Thank you for the work you do in being advocates for the members of this important group in our community.

Your courage moves me to work harder to understand all the groups of our beautiful and diverse community.

Center Town Hall Meetings — Many thanks to Robert Austin, Jere Keys, Jim Rengstorf, Polly Stewart and Kip Swan. Our Town Hall Meetings have worked to give voice to our community.

The GLBT Leadership Task Force (now the GLBT Community Coalition) — To all of you who have cared enough to get involved and stay involved, thank you for working to build trust and a true coalition of community activists. The work that we do here is more important than most of us realize. · The GLBT Mental Health Task Force — Missy Larsen, Lawrence McClung and all the people involved in the task force, thank you for fighting the destructive forces oppression and for lifting our community with your hard work.

Lastly, I would like to thank our detractors, for they are our teachers. From them we learn how to reach deeper inside ourselves to ask questions and find the answers to the pain and confusion that at times plagues our community and keeps us from steady forward progress. They are the bellwethers of our own internalized homophobia. Every attack is just a reminder to all of us that oppression has a tap-root deep in our own community and that we need to double our efforts to fight it in all its forms.

A sincere Happy New Year!

Our capacity to serve the community has grown dramatically over the past year.

We are making a difference!

JANUARY 5, 2006 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 9

Evelyn Garlington is the board president of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Community Center of Utah. More infomation at glbtccu.org.

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AberRant TwentyOught-Six

by Laurie Mecham laurie@slmetro.com

TWO THOUSAND and SIX? Who’d a-thunk that George Orwell and the year 1984 would become so old school? Of course, with the beginning of a new calendar, I plan to turn over a new leaf. That way, I can see January instead of still looking at December. Like many of you, I have achieved all of the goals I set for myself at the beginning of last year. Were they modest goals? Perhaps, but not everyone can state that their homicide / suicide record stands at 0/0. Twenty-ought-six is the year that I plan to finally become too rich AND too thin, both at the same time. I have several thoughts to share with you at this juncture, “several” meaning five or more.

PLANS Isn’t it cute that I am pretending to have plans? Actually, I plan to drink a lot of water. At least, more water. OK, some water. I also plan to get my oil changed.

HOPES I hope to be awake, but not afraid. This may sound like a Buddhist goal, but really, it’s just about the regulation of my caffeine intake.

I’m going to try to think about starting a yoga program more frequently than I thought about starting one last year.

I hope that my marriage will be recognized in my Homeland. On second thought, who am I kidding? We’ll check this in a decade and see how The Land of the Free is doing on Civil Rights.

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FEARS Sometimes I’m afraid when I realize that there are probably a lot of people who wish that our President were dead, because that would make him a religious martyr, which would totally offset his falling popularity.

I am afraid of the unnatural way that Cousin Dubya loves us. I know he loves our troops. Yeah, he loves our troops like OJ

loves me in spite of both of my faults.

loves his women.

I am fearful over the continued erosion of civil liberties, environmental protections, and government support for children, the elderly, disabled folks, single parents…

I am afraid of the dozen or so influential Utahns who actually believe that shit coming out of the Sutherland Institute. Then again, great comedy material!

I am afraid that I will forget a good deal more of the English language, with nothing to, um, you know…replace it.

REGRETS That last haircut. The wildly inappropriate joke I made when meeting my wife’s col-

I am afraid of the dozen or so influential Utahns who actually believe that shit coming out of the Sutherland Institute. Then again, great comedy material! leagues. Being too buried to meet deadline for a couple of Metro issues. Whatever I probably did wrong as a mother. Gaining some extra weight back.

SURPRISES Gaining some weight back. Ha, kidding!

Scott McCoy landing that Senate seat.

Can I get a, “Hell, YEAH!” GRATITUDEFULNESS I am so-oh thankful to be living in a house again, one that I own, or at least that I will own when I turn seventy-five. And I am indeed gratuitous to have landed a job in Oregon, land of High Unemployment! And finally, I’m greatfeel to have someone who

THINGS THAT MADE ME LAUGH, THAT I CAN ALSO REMEMBER That article that touted Salt Lake as a “gay-friendly destination.” I mean, there are plenty of great gay people and organizations in SLC. There is the GLBT Community Center, which is kicking more ass by the day, don’t you think? There’s the Metro, and you, our cherished readers. But a gay-friendly destination? The BEST quote from the original article, “…It’s not one of the worst places in America for gays and lesbians.” That is so true! There’s Lynch, Alabama for example. And Hogtie, Mississippi, and Burnham-at-the-Stake, Georgia.

I guess Islamabad doesn’t count, as we haven’t colonized it yet.

I was talking with my friend Chris about the rumor that Mel Gibson is doing a remake of Passion of the Christ. Another friend of mine, a guy who has spent a notinconsiderable amount of time in prison, described the original as ”two hours of Jesus getting the living shit kicked out of him.” Apparently the new version will be less violent. What’s Mel going to do, make it into a short? A little five-minute afterschool special? I suggested that it might be called, Jesus’ Very Bad Day. Chris thought a more apt title would be, Jesus Christ: A Series of Unfortunate Events.

PREDICTIONS I’m only going to make one, because it is ridiculously simple. Here goes: FLAG LEGISLATION A Play in one act, every 2 years The place: Utah State Capitol Building DeVere: Hey, LaVirl, did you realize it’s a even-numbered year?

LaVirl: Heck, I hadn’t a-thought of it.

DeVere: Well, you know what that means…

Both, (in unison): Flag burning amendment!

LaVirl: Nice flag necktie, by the way.

DeVere: Thanks. So you wanna draft the amendment this year?

LaVirl: Oh shoot, let’s just use the last one.

We’ll run it up the old flagpole…

DeVere: …and see if anyone sets it on FIRE! (They exit, laughing heartily.)

Laurie Mecham has been doing her part to support our economy by spending, spending, spending.

Lesbian Notions Today’s McCarthys

by Libby Post libby@slmetro.com

Past Out

Germany’s Paragraph 175

by Liz Highleyman liz@slmetro.com

In effect for more than a century, Germany’s Paragraph 175, which criminalized homosexual activity between men, sent thousands to their deaths and ruined the lives of countless others.

In 1871, King Wilhelm I instituted a new penal code after unifying several kingdoms to create the country of Germany. Taken from the old 1794 Prussian code, Paragraph 175 made “unnatural fornication between persons of the male sex or by humans with animals” punishable by imprisonment; the law never applied to women.

Paragraph 175 was repeatedly debated by legislators and opposed by early gay rights pioneers such as Karl Heinrich Ulrichs and Magnus Hirschfeld. Arguing that homosexuals should not be punished for their innate nature, Hirschfeld gathered 6,000 petition signatures against the law. In early 1898, Social Democratic Party leader August Bebel introduced a repeal measure before the Reichstag, but it failed by a large margin.

During the Weimar Republic era, a burgeoning queer subculture developed in Berlin and other German cities. Yet even during the “roaring ‘20s,” some 1,000 men were arrested under Paragraph 175 each year. In 1929, a Reichstag judiciary committee recommended liberalizaton of the law, but the changes were still pending when Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor in January 1933.

Espousing traditional values and exploiting the public’s existing prejudices and fear of social change, Hitler soon consolidated his political control. According to the Nazi ideology of nationalism and racial superiority, homosexuality was a symptom of decadence and a danger to the state because it did not lead to procreation. But the Nazis’ homosocial cult of masculinity attracted considerable suspicion. Accusations of homosexuality were employed in turf battles between various Nazi factions, and were used by political opponents to discredit the regime.

Hitler banned homosexual organizations, ordered the closure of nightclubs that catered to gay men, lesbians, and transvestites, and halted the sale of publications with homophile or sexual content. The regime encouraged citizens to denounce suspected homosexuals, cultivated a network of informants, and forced arrested men to name others. An untold number of queer men and women went into hiding, entered sham marriages, emigrated to safer countries, or committed suicide.

In June 1935, the Nazis imposed a stricter version of Paragraph 175, subjecting any man who “commits lewd and lascivious acts with another male,” or “permits himself to be abused” for such acts, to 10 years of penal servitude. In section 175a, the revised law defined forced sex, sex with a dependent or

Libby Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and a political commentator on public radio, on the Web, and in print media.

subordinate, sex with a youth under age 21, and prostitution as “severe lewdness,” while section 175b prohibited bestiality. Previously, “unnatural acts” had usually been interpreted as anal or oral intercourse, but the revision prohibited any type of homoerotic interaction. In the ensuing years, convictions for homosexuality increased ten-fold, reaching a peak of more than 8,500 in 1938, and an estimated 100,000 during the entire Nazi era.

While most men convicted of homosexuality were held in regular prisons, others — especially repeat offenders — were remanded to “preventive custody.” Some received reduced sentences if they agreed to undergo castration. By one estimate, between 5,000 and 15,000 men accused of homosexuality were sent to concentration camps, where about two-thirds died.

In the camps, these men were marked with the letter “A,” a black dot, the number “175,” or a pink triangle. They were subjected to harsh conditions, including forced labor in quarries and munitions factories. Former inmate Heinz Heger later told how he was made to watch a young gay prisoner being tortured by drunken SS guards, who sodomized him with a broomstick. Pierre Seel saw his lover Jo ripped to shreds by dogs. Some “175ers” were used in medical experiments, including infection with typhus fever and implantation of testosterone capsules to “reverse hormonal polarity.”

In April 1945, Allied forces defeated the Nazi regime, but the ordeal was not over for men charged with homosexuality. The Allied Military Government sent some to regular prisons, while others were freed and later re-arrested. In 1950, East Germany reverted back to the pre-1935 version of Paragraph 175, and the law was eliminated in 1988. West Germany retained the Nazi version until 1969; the law was revised in 1973 to criminalize only sex with minors under age 18. Paragraph 175 was voided entirely on March 10, 1994, when East and West German laws were reconciled following reunification.

For many years following World War II, homosexual survivors of the Nazi regime remained invisible, largely because homosexuality was still illegal. Not only were they denied reparations, but many found it difficult to obtain jobs with Paragraph 175 convictions on their record. With the success of the gay rights movement in the 1980s and 1990s, however, some survivors began to speak out and demand justice. On May 17, 2002, the German parliament pardoned all men convicted under Paragraph 175 during the Nazi era — of whom only a handful were still alive — but left intact an equal number of convictions imposed between 1946 and 1969.

“I suspect that some people prefer to remain silent forever, afraid to stir up the hideous memories,” Pierre Seel said a few years before his death in November 2005 at age 82. “As for myself, after decades of silence, I have made up my mind to speak, to accuse, to bear witness.”

Liz Highleyman is a freelance writer and editor who has written widely on health, sexuality, and politics.

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JANUARY 5, 2006 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 11

A few weeks back I went to see Good Night and Good Luck, George Clooney’s excellent film about how Edward R. Murrow, who set the standard for what journalism could be, brought down U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his anticommunist witch hunts.

It all happened in 1953 and 1954. After years of McCarthy accusing everyone — including President Eisenhower — of being a communist or a sympathizer, Murrow and his boys at CBS said enough was enough.

They exposed McCarthy by showing him in action. McCarthy’s rants and raves in his Senate subcommittee hearings were broadcast on television, and within months his reign of terror on freedom of thought was over.

So much has changed in the 50 or so years since those witch hunts, yet so much has also stayed the same. The need to scapegoat one group for the problems in our country and our society has not gone away.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community is today’s Communist Party. We’re not necessarily accused of a wholesale takeover of the U.S. government.

Instead, we’re blamed and scapegoated for everything today’s McCarthys see wrong with our culture. Did you know that our community is responsible for ruining heterosexual marriage, or that we’ve destroyed the family because we have kids, or that we are to blame for every youth that comes out as 14, 15, or 16, if not younger?

Today’s McCarthys are Donald Wildmon and James Dobson and their organizations, the American Family Association and Focus on the Family. They are Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, members of the clergy who use their positions to demonize us. They are Baylor University and Seton Hall University, religiously affiliated schools, which purge gay alumni, faculty, staff, and students.

Today’s McCarthys are Karl Rove and George Bush, who used our desire to marry to hoodwink the nation and re-elect a politically and morally bankrupt administration.

They are the Pope and his cardinals with their new directive against gay priests. They are the high school principals who confiscate the student newspaper simply because there was an ad for a LGBT support group or an article about LGBT students.

Today’s McCarthys are all around us, and some of their witch hunts are like McCarthy’s — threatening to expose and purge — and some have taken on new and unusual forms.

For a good old-fashioned witch hunt against the LGBT community, you don’t have to look any further than the military.

Its tactics are straight out of the McCarthy playbook — exploit someone you know to be gay, and get them to name names. The military has “don’t ask, don’t tell” to hide behind, but now that we’re at war, the amount of LGBT purging has dropped precipitously.

But don’t for a minute think they actually want us. If it were feasible, they would continue their LGBT witch hunts with fervor.

Then there’s the witch hunt of harassment that has gone on unchecked at Penn State University for years. It seems the school’s women’s basketball coach, Rene Portland, really hates lesbians. This might be an “I think she doth protest too much” situation, but nonetheless Portland’s rants and raves over the years have effectively either kept the lesbians on her squad deep in the closet or purged them.

But she went too far and kept accusing

a straight player, Jennifer Harris, of being a dyke. Harris in turn has gone public and filed a suit with Pennsylvania’s Human Rights Commission. Her actions gave other former players the courage to speak about their experiences as well. But Portland is still the coach, and her reign of terror against lesbians continues.

And then there’s the witch hunt that doesn’t look like a witch hunt. Instead of purging us from this year’s White House Conference on Aging, the administration simply refused to let us participate. Once every 10 years, aging experts gather for this conference to meet, present papers, and make recommendations to the president

and Congress on national aging policies.

The last conference took place during the Clinton administration, and while our concerns never made it into any resolutions, at least there was discussion. But Bush and his people even refuse to entertain that we exist and that there are issues specific to us as an aging population.

A half century ago, Murrow had the guts to stand up to McCarthy’s demagoguery.

Fifty years later, there may not be one person in the mainstream media willing to follow in Murrow’s footsteps and expose the sham and shame of today’s McCarthies, but, thankfully, there are plenty of us in the LGBT community who are.

Ruby Ridge Living SpongeBob FancyPants

by Ruby Ridge ruby@slmetro.com

Dear Readers, Ruby was a victim in the recent AquaNet storm that mysteriously appeared over her trailer park last week.

We understand that she is recuperating well and will hopefully be back on her 9” pumps soon. In the meantime, here is a favorite. —Editor Pumpkins, I think I’m having a gaydar crisis! Usually I can spot a homos a mile away – even in their hard-to-spot Conference Weekend camouflage, but this SpongeBob SquarePants thing caught me completely by surprise. According to ultra-conservative Dr. James Dobson of the equally ultra-conservative Focus on the Family, SpongeBob is apparently light in the loofah. Who knew? I just thought he was asexual, hyper, and eccentric in an under-medicated Dell Schanze kind of way. But no! According to the good Doctor, by appearing in a pro-diversity and tolerance video with other notable cartoon characters, SpongeBob is actu-

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ally an honest to god, two-dimensional, submersible sissy, intent upon destroying the moral fabric of America and rendering the traditional family asunder. If Bob’s orientation were so blatant and obvious to the sexually naive religious right, you would think that I, of all jaded people, would have realized that Patrick was SpongeBob’s bitch! I have to admit, petals, I completely missed it.

Anyway, the whole SpongeBob thing got me thinking about the influential television icons of my childhood (and if any of you hateful wenches bring up Jack Parr I will slap you sideways!). When I was

I may have only been eleven years old, but I knew that I just wanted to spank those bad boys until Hop Sing came “a runnin’ from the kitchen.”

a kid, I remember my older sister drooling over Little Joe in Bonanza, and I just did not see what the big deal was. All I remember was being strangely attracted to Hoss, played by Dan Blocker. I would sit glued to the television just waiting for Hoss to throw his big legs up over the saddle of his horse when he was wearing those bum-hugging tan pants. I may have only been eleven years old, but I knew that I just wanted to spank those bad boys until Hop Sing came “a runnin’ from the kitchen.”

Who could have predicted that years later Hoss is still everything I’m looking for in a man. He was big, sweaty, mildly retarded, and you just know that the sex would be incredible. Not that pretentious acrobatic Cirque Du Soleil type sex, but grunty, sweaty, no-frills Hoss sex. Dum didi dum, didi dum, didi dum… Bonanza!

Aaahh, but I digress.

To Dr. Dobson and his ilk, I have some words of advice: If you can’t watch Teletubbies, or SpongeBob, or whatever, without seeing gay subtext, then you have a serious problem and you need help. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, sometimes a sponge is just a sponge. Don’t hide behind your religious facade, wrapped up in the American flag, and use deceptive catch phrases like “pro-family,” “traditional values,” and “deeply-held religious beliefs” to sugarcoat what you really are: an opportunistic, hypocritical, fear monger promoting ignorance and hate. You should be ashamed. OK, now that’s out of my system I feel much better. By the way is it just me . . . or is Bob the Builder kind of hot?

Ruby Ridge is one of the more opinionated members of the Utah Cyber Sluts, a Camp Drag group of performers who raise funds and support local charities. Her opinions are her own and fluctuate wildly due to seasonal affective disorder and menopausal changes.

Only Lane Bryant and the Keebler Elves truly understand her.

Bookmarks

by Richard Labonte richard@slmetro.com

LOOSE END

by Ivan E. Coyote. Arsenal Pulp Press, 176 pages, $14.95 paper.

Reading the goodhumored sketches in Coyote’s third collection of autobiographical stories is like having the author drop by for a pot of hot chamomile tea with fresh lemon: It’s a comfy, warm experience tinged with plainspoken tartness, infused with giddy laughter and the occasional tear. Most of the 47 pieces, expansions of a column that ran in the Canadian gay paper Xtra! West, are just three or four pages long, but they pack a wealth of personality. Coyote refers often to gigs as a storyteller, and it’s easy to “hear” her voice as she writes about her in-recovery father, her temperamental mother, and the earthy, blue-collar neighbors in her then-hometown of Vancouver. The most powerful entries in this most appealing collection, though, dwell on her godson Francis, whose penchant for “bravely cross-dressing his way through Grade Three” both inspires and concerns her.

Coyote — so butch-looking in her 30s that she’s constantly being mistaken for a young man — spins her marvelous stories with the gift of an enchantress.

MORDRED, BASTARD SON

by Douglas Clegg. Alyson Books, 284 pages, $24.95 hardcover.

Clegg’s heroic recasting of the life story of Mordred, bastard (and in other accounts, heinously villainous) son of legendary King Arthur, is a nifty way of making an oft-told tale fresh again — and more queer than it’s ever been. This askew view of Camelot focuses on Mordred’s sorceress mother Morgan Le Fay’s hatred for the King, young Mordred’s own ambivalence towards his powerful father as he grows from boy to man, and his adolescent attraction to a handsome hermit — who turns out to be Lancelot, the most fair-haired Knight of the Round Table in the powerful king’s court. There’s a lot of scene-setting and foreshadowing in the somewhat slow first half of Mordred, but patient reading pays off: Clegg’s revisionist fiction — the first of a planned trilogy — picks up the pace once the historical backstory is in place.

The author is best-known for crafting horror fiction set in contemporary times, but this new direction in storytelling augurs well for fans of fiction imbued with myth, magic, and man-on-man adventure.

BLACK QUEER STUDIES: A CRITICAL ANTHOLOGY Edited by E. Patrick Johnson and Mae G. Henderson.

Duke University Press, 384 pages, $23.95 paper.

The core message of this pointed assessment of the American academy is that it’s time for black studies to incorporate queer realities, and for gay studies to include black truths. Most of the contributions are drawn from papers delivered at the Black Queer Studies in the Millennium conference several years ago, but the passage of time hasn’t blunted their premise: that the “nascent field” of black gay studies remains underdeveloped and underappreciated.

The collection ranges widely across disciplines, including sociology, film studies, history, politics, and performance, in each instance claiming the right of black queer insights to be included in the intellectual dynamic of higher learning. A couple of essays in particular focus on fiction. In one, anthology co-editor Henderson discusses the literary “whiteface” that made James Baldwin’s pioneering novel Giovanni’s Room palatable to a nongay, nonblack audience; in another, popular novelist Jewelle Gomez (The Gilda Stories) notes the dearth of black women authors in her lament “But Some of Us Are Lesbians: The Absence of Black Lesbian Fiction” — a state of affairs not much improved in the years since the essay was penned.

FEATURED EXCERPT: In the beautiful little world around me, this house and its garden moving in the wind, with my pleasant schedule and lovable friends, a heavy curtain sometimes seems to fall in me. The invisible particles that make decisions have been consulting again. “Let’s try blocking dreams. Let’s prevent an idea from becoming intelligible.”

My dreams continue but by next day only fragments remain. They are images of a diminished creative state…

—from Beyond Recall: Mary Meigs, edited by Lise Weil BOOKS TO WATCH OUT FOR: Brian Malloy, author of the coming-out novel The Year of Ice, has sold new books to two different gay editors. Keith Kahla at St. Martin’s Press picked up Brendan Wolf, the grownup story of a man dumped by his boyfriend, then evicted, then fired, who subsequently becomes ensnared in a plot to scam a pro-life fundraiser, and the unwilling nurse to an unusual sugar-daddy.

David Levithan, who handles young-adult titles at Scholastic, went for Twelve Long Months, about a teen girl from Minnesota who moves to New York for college and falls in love with her gay best friend ...

BRETTE SEMBER IS ANOTHER two-sale author: Career Press has acquired Gay & Lesbian Medical Rights, a guide to nextof-kin rights, health insurance for partners, handling discrimination in medical services, and other medical concerns; and The New Supervisor’s Handbook, a guide to workplace relations that touches on the treatment of gay and lesbian subordinates... ON THE PARENTING FRONT, Da Capo has bought journalist David Valdes Greenwood’s Homo Domesticus: Notes from a Same-Sex Marriage, a look at a gay couple’s 10-year relationship, from first date to marriage proposal to their adoption of a baby girl.

Richard Labonte has been reading, editing, selling, and writing about queer literature since the mid-’70s.

Salt Lake Metro subscribers got 2-for-1 “Brokeback Mountain” tickets last issue.

Next issue is 2-for-1 “Angels in America” tickets.

They’ve also received free art exhibit tickets and discounts on pet services.

Subscribe today for great perks!

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Mail to: Metro Publishing, 352 S Denver St, Ste 350, Salt Lake City UT 84111

JANUARY 5, 2006 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 13

BEYOND RECALL: MARY MEIGS Edited by Lise Weil. Talonbooks, 160 pages, $15.95 paper.

For two years, as she was dying after suffering a stroke, painter and writer Meigs — the longtime companion of French-Canadian author Marie-Claire Blais — kept a journal that celebrated her struggle with life. This profoundly self-aware book — excerpted with Weil’s caring editorial eye from Meigs’ determined, near-daily record of the shrinking world around her — ranks with the later writings of May Sarton as a grand elegy to the abundance of aging. The diary entries included in Beyond Recall are the most painful to read, with their blunt honesty about the failings of body and mind. A number of “freewriting” exercises — experiments in writing without pause for reflection or self-editing — that Meigs wrote with Weil are astonishingly lucid and often magical. But most remarkable, and poignantly playful, are the faxes Meigs wrote in the voice of her cat to Blais’ cat

when the two women were apart, each illustrated with cartoony line drawings: love letters, really, to their shared world.

Utah State Legislative Session 2006

Equality Utah Hosts Legislative Session Events As Utah’s gay and lesbian community gears up for the 2006 legislative session, Equality Utah has announced a lobby training day Jan. 14 and two town meeting-style events in January. The political action committee is looking to reenact successful activities of the No on 3 campaign of 2004. Out for Equality events will happen through the legislative session, culminating in a wrap-up session just after the final gavel.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11 5:00–7:00pm Baci Ristorante, 134 Pierpont Ave

“OUT for Equality” Kick-off Social event similar to the “OUT Against Amendment 3” events held at Panini during the “No on 3” Campaign of 2004. Nibble on appetizers, have a drink with friends and learn about the upcoming legislative session from those who are making it happen.

Special Guest: Sen. Scott McCoy

SATURDAY, JANUARY 14 9:00am–1:00pm Capitol Hill West Building Room W125

Lobby Training – “How to Talk to Your Elected Officials” Training conducted by Rep. Jackie Biskupski & Senator Scott McCoy. Discussion Panel: Rep. Roz McGee & Rep. Ross Romero and Sen. Karen Hale & Sen. Gene Davis.

Town Hall Meeting and Hate Crime legislation presented by Rep. David Litvack.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25 5:00–7:00pm Baci Ristorante 134 Pierpont Ave

“OUT for Equality” The first two weeks on “The Hill” Special Guest: Rep. Jackie Biskupski.

Equality Utah’s website is at equalityutah.org

SPECIAL THANKS TO CAFE MED AND AARON BUTLER FOR SPONSORING THIS PAGE

How Can I Be Heard and Make a Difference at this Year’s Legislative Session?

1. WHAT ISSUES DO I WANT MY LEGISLATORS TO ADDRESS DURING THEIR TERMS IN OFFICE?

5. WHEN I AM UNABLE TO GET THROUGH DIRECTLY TO A LEGISLATOR, WHAT SHOULD I DO?

That question can only be answered by you. Ask yourself what you would like changed in Utah to benefit its citizens.

Be persistent! Remember that your senator represents approximately 70,000 citizens and your representative represents approximately 40,000 people. Allow a reasonable time for them to respond to your requests.

2. HOW DO I FIND THE LEGISLATORS WHO REPRESENT ME? Call your county clerk or go to the Salt Lake Metro website and click on the Citizen Lobbyist link..

3. HOW DO I CONTACT MY LEGISLATORS? Hard copy letters, e-mails, and phone calls are effective methods to use. Addresses and telephone numbers are available at le.utah.gov for each legislator.

4. HOW DO I EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE MY IDEAS OR CONCERNS AND OFFER POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS? With a positive approach that will lead to mutual respect and consideration for the issues at hand, provide your legislator with the issue you want to see resolved, credible information, research and statistical data (if available), and possible solutions that will give the legislator the tools to help resolve the issue.

Following these guidelines will ensure that your dialogue will be productive.

6. WHEN SHOULD I CONTACT MY LEGISLATOR ABOUT SOMETHING THAT I’D LIKE TO SEE CHANGED IN LAW? Start communicating now! Make sure you don’t wait until the session begins before expressing your ideas.

It is not uncommon to begin communicating about an issue months in advance of the General Session.

7. HOW CAN I ENCOURAGE FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND NEIGHBORS TO BECOME MORE AWARE OF KEY ISSUES FACING OUR STATE? Go tou le.utah.gov. Click on “Calendar” for current legislative activity. Click on “Committees” to view notices, agenda items, and minutes. There’s a lot of information!

Remember — one legislator’s vote can make the difference in whether a bill becomes law. As a concerned citizen, you CAN make a big difference as you help your legislators understand and focus on issues that matter to you.

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1. AN IDEA IS DEVELOPED. A legislator draws from numerous sources in deciding what should be introduced in the Legislature as a bill. Major sources of ideas come from constituents, government agencies, special interest groups, lobbyists, the Governor, and the legislator.

2. THE BILL IS DRAFTED. The idea is submitted to the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, a nonpartisan legislative staff office, in the form of a bill request. The assigned bill drafting attorney reviews existing law, researches the issues, and prepares the bill in proper technical form.

3. THE BILL IS GIVEN A NUMBER. A fiscal review is conducted and a “Fiscal Note” is attached. The bill is also reviewed for statutory or constitutional concerns.

4. THE BILL IS INTRODUCED. The bill is introduced into the Legislature and referred to the Rules Committee.

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SALT LAKE METRO ■ JANUARY 5, 2006

5. THE BILL RECEIVES STANDING COMMITTEE REVIEW AND PUBLIC INPUT. The Rules Committee recommends to the presiding officer the standing committee to which the bill should be referred. The standing committee, in an open meeting, reviews the bill and receives public testimony. The committee may amend, hold, table, substitute, or make a favorable recommendation on the bill.

6. THE BILL IS RETURNED TO THE FLOOR. Following the committee hearing the bill is returned to the full house with a committee report. The committee reports the bill out favorably, favorably with amendments, substituted, or that the bill has been tabled.

7. THE BILL IS DEBATED IN OPEN SESSION. The bill is debated in open session. During floor debate, the bill can be amended or substituted. It can be held (circled). In order for a bill to pass the House of Representatives, it must receive at least 38 votes. The bill must receive at least 15 votes in the Senate in order to pass.

8. THE BILL PASSES BOTH HOUSES IN THE LEGISLATURE. After the bill has gone through both houses, it is signed by both presiding officers (the Senate President and the Speaker of the House).

The Bill is Prepared for the Governor’s Action. The Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel prepares the bill in final form. This is called the “enrolled” bill.

9. THE BILL RECEIVES THE GOVERNOR’S ACTION. The enrolled bill is sent to the Governor for his action.

He can either sign the bill, veto it, or allow it become law without his signature.

10. THE BILL BECOMES EFFECTIVE. A bill enacted by the Legislature is effective 60 days following adjournment, unless another date is specified in the bill.

Citizen Guide

LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES

Legislators face many challenges and responsibilities in legislative committees, each with their specific functions.

Involved are three elements that play an integral part of the legislative environment. Issues evolve into bills, which then lead up to discussions and consideration of each bill, and the legislative responsibility of representing the citizens in how to spend their money is also carefully determined.

STANDING COMMITTEES Standing committee meetings are held by the House and Senate during the legislative session. They offer citizens the opportunity to listen to and comment on legislative issues. If you are interested in a particular bill, you may contact the chair of a specific standing committee to schedule your testimony.

INTERIM COMMITTEES Interim Committees study key issues facing the state and recommend legislation for the upcoming session.

These committees meet jointly on the 3rd Wednesday of every month between sessions from April through November and serve as an opportunity for the public to speak and give their input to the legislature concerning matters being considered. Offering valuable information and opinions regarding issues being considered in the interim committees is an excellent way to participate in the lawmaking process. Usually legislators are appointed to two interim committees as well as one appropriations committee.

APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEES The governor prepares a budget each year for which the legislature has a responsibility to review and approve funding for all of state government.

There are ten appropriations subcommittees, appointed from all the members of the House and Senate by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House.

Each of the appropriations subcommittees considers a specific portion of the budget and makes recommendations to the executive appropriations committee which consists of all the legislative leaders of both parties in the Senate and the House. The legislators alter the budget as necessary and pass a final appropriations bill.

After the budget has been adopted, it becomes the responsibility of the Governor and the Executive Branch to administer it. Excess funds in accounts at the end of the fiscal year are closed out (lapsed) except for certain funds which are noted in Utah statutes.

All of these functions — Standing, Interim, and Appropriations committees — are very open processes which allow for everyone to be involved.

Testifying Before a Legislative Committee CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN COMMITTEE HEARINGS IMPACTS GOVERNMENT POLICY Legislative committees lie at the heart of Utah’s legislative process. Committee meetings are open to the public and provide a forum for citizens to express their views about proposed legislation, budgets, and other public policy issues.

Public testimony may influence the committee’s action. It also becomes part of the permanent record and

may be used in future research.

Well-prepared public testimony before a legislative committee can be exciting and fulfilling.

Four Suggestions to Enhance Your Appearance before a Legislative Committee

1. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. The members of the committee are “citizen legislators.”

In addition to their public service, they have full-time jobs.

They are farmers, public employees, doctors, lawyers, homemakers, craftsmen, and a host of other occupations and professions. They are a cross section of Utah’s society. They are your neighbors and friends.

Be courteous.

Don’t accuse committee members of causing your particular problem.

Resist the temptation to scold, put down, or insult the decision-makers or other witnesses. This tactic will likely alienate them from your cause.

2. KNOW THE ISSUE. Support your personal opinions with clear, understandable facts.

Be knowledgeable of the “other side of the story.” You may be asked to discuss the differences.

Draw from your own knowledge and experience.

3. BE FAMILIAR WITH THE COMMITTEE PROCESS Know the meeting time and location. Meeting times and locations are found on the meeting agenda.

Agendas are posted 24 hours in advance of the meeting on the third floor of the State Capitol building or they can be located at the legislative home page on the Internet.

Check to make sure the issue you are following has not been removed from the agenda. Agenda items may not be heard in the order in which they appear.

Contact the staff policy analyst in advance of the meeting to request permission to testify and to be placed on the committee chair’s list of those wishing to speak.

If possible, attend a committee meeting before you testify to become familiar with the process and room layout.

4. PREPARE YOUR WRITTEN TESTIMONY AND ORAL PRESENTATION Give copies of your testimony to the committee staff before you begin your presentation.

Begin your presentation by addressing the chairperson first, then members of the committee. “Chair ________, members of the committee ...”

For the record, state your name, address, and the organization or group you represent.

State your purpose for testifying. Do not read your testimony to the committee word for word. Prepare an outline.

Be prepared to summarize your testimony in one minute—that may be all the time you are allowed.

Thank the committee members and offer to answer any questions.

When a member asks you a question, respond: “Chair (last name) or Senator/Representative (last name), the answer to your question is ...”

Relax. The committee understands that this can be an intimidating experience—they don’t expect a perfect presentation.

Glossary Of Legislative Terms

of the committee report completes the second reading. In the Senate, debate, possible amendment, and a vote are taken on the actual bill which completes the second reading.

Third reading: Final phase in the consideration of a bill, followed by debate, further amendments if any, and final vote.

Regulation An executive ruling or order authorized by legislative statute.

Resolution Expression of legislative intent in the form of simple, joint, or concurrent.

Rules The procedures of action as determined by each house or joint action.

Sine Die Final adjournment of the legislature.

Speaker Presiding officer in the House of Representatives.

Sponsor A member who authors or agrees to introduce a measure.

Standing Committee A designated committee

which considers proposed legislation during a legislative session.

Substitute Bill A measure used–instead of extensive amendment–to consider a bill with the same number and sponsor and covering the same subject area but whose substance has been considerably altered.

Suspend the Rules A parliamentary procedure to remove obstacles either for voting, consideration, or status.

Table a Bill To indefinitely postpone action on a measure.

Veto An official action of the Governor to nullify legislative action. The legislature may override the action by a constitutional 2/3 vote of each house if still in session or if called back into veto override session.

Whip An individual selected to assist the party floor leader.

SPECIAL THANKS TO BABS DE LAY FOR SPONSORING THIS PAGE

JANUARY 5, 2006 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 15

Act A bill passed by the Legislature.

Ad Hoc Committees Committees appointed by the presiding officers for special purposes which are dissolved upon completion of assignment.

Adjournment Termination of legislative activities at the conclusion of each legislative day with indication of the next day’s meeting time. Neither house may adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other body.

Advice and Consent Confirmation by the Senate of individual executive branch appointments.

Amendment Any modification, deletion, or addition which alters form or substance of legislation.

Appropriation A legislative authorization to make expenditures and incur obligations.

Bicameral A two-house Legislature.

Bill A proposed law, requiring support of both houses and the governor’s action for enactment.

Budget Estimates of proposed expenditures and expected revenues for a fiscal year.

Calendar A sequential listing of bills and resolutions for floor consideration.

Caucus A meeting of legislative party members to determine a course of action.

Circle a Bill To temporarily postpone action on a measure without removing it from its place on the calendar.

Code (Utah Code Annotated) A complete codification and compilation of all effective and current laws of the state, classified according to subject matter.

Committee of the Whole A procedure in which the entire membership of a single house constitutes a committee to consider legislative matters. It is used to permit an individual who is not a member of the house to address members on a bill before the Legislature.

Concurrence One house “accepts” the actions of the other house.

Concurrent Resolution A measure generally used to express sentiment of intent, having support of both houses and signature of governor.

Conference Committee A committee of members of the House and Senate to confer on differences in measures which have passed both houses.

Consent Calendar A special calendar allowing consideration of bills without debate and requiring committee support and bill sponsor endorsement.

Division Method of voting called for by members to verify by actual count the results of a voice vote.

Enacting Clause The phrase preceding each proposed bill, “Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Utah.”

Enrolled Bill An exact, accurate, and official copy of an enacted Senate or House bill. This copy is sent to the governor for executive action.

Fiscal Note A statement from the legislative fiscal analyst showing estimated cost or cost savings in a particular bill.

Fiscal Year A period (July 1–June 30) at the end of which the state ascertains its financial conditions.

Floor Reference to the interior of the chamber.

“Floor action” refers to action in the chamber on a measure under consideration.

Hearing A legislative committee meeting at which witnesses from the general public are invited to participate.

Immunity A constitutional privilege from arrest–except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace–15 days prior to, during, and in returning from a session and for words used in any speech or debate.

Joint Resolution An expression of intent representing both houses and requiring no signature of the Governor.

Constitutional amendments proposed to the voters are in the form of joint resolutions.

Journal An official record maintained by each house on a daily basis indicating specific actions and recording votes.

Lobbyist An individual paid to represent a special interest group whose function is to urge support for or opposition to legislative matters.

Majority Leader Spokesman and floor leader for the majority party in each house.

Minority Leader Spokesman and floor leader for the minority party in each house.

Move Previous Question A nondebatable parliamentary motion to conclude debate and proceed to vote on the issue.

President The presiding officer in the Senate.

Reading Refers to the following stages of the legislative process: First Reading: Required of all bills and resolutions and accomplished by receiving a number and stating the title. The first reading is followed by Rules Committee consideration.

Second Reading: Occurs in the House as a bill is reported back to the floor with a committee recommendation. Acceptance

POLAR BEAR BASH See Jan. 6

THE GAY AGENDA

by Eric Tierney eric@slmetro.com

5THURSDAY Just a reminder that there is a variety of gay-oriented or gay-friendly films currently showing in the city. Your filmgoing options include Brokeback Mountain, of course, as well as the French comedy Cote d’Azure and Sarah Jessica Parker’s holiday romp, The Family Stone. Also, we have only a month to wait before last year’s Sundance hit Loggerheads finally arrives in the City by the Pestilent Sea™.

Brokeback Mountain: Salt Lake Film Society’s Broadway Center Cinemas. 111 E 300 South.

Show times and information at 321-0310 and saltlakefilmsociety.org.

Cote d’Azure: Regency Theatres, 602 E 500 South in Trolley Square. Show times at 746-1555 and regencemovies.com The Family Stone: At theaters valley-wide.

6FRIDAY Motion City Soundtrack is not your typical pop-punk band: while the Angry Young Man types like Good Charlotte tattoo teardrops to their faces and spend their royalty checks at Hot Topic, Motion City is interested in, you know, playing good music. Perhaps this is why Rolling Stone named them one of their Artists

WINNER of the PULITZER PRIZE for DRAMA And the TONY AWARD for BEST PLAY “This show deserves every prize there is.”

The Wall Street Journal

to Watch for 2005. You can watch them tonight in Park City.

8pm, Harry O’s, 427 Main Street, Park City.

Tickets $20 in advance, $25 day of show at 4671-TIXX.

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DOUG WRIGHT BY

SALT LAKE METRO ■ JANUARY 5, 2006

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 UPNet invites you to a wine and cheese reception with David Litvak to discuss the upcoming legislative session.

6pm, First Unitarian Church, 569 S. 1300 East.

 The Utah Bear Alliance is having a Polar Bear Bash to raise funds to send the reigning Mr. Utah Bear to San Francisco for the International Bear Rendezvous where he and Mr. Utah Cub will compete for titles. Wear white clothing and join in on the raffle, $4 Polar Ice martinis and the dance to the legendary DJ Ruckus spinning the greatest.

10pm, Club Try-Angles, a private club for members, there is no cover.

7SATURDAY Legendary wildlife expert Jungle Jack Hanna has been on television since the Jurassic period, hosting “Jack Hanna’s Animal Adventures” and appearing on Johnny Carson’s tonight show with exotic creatures like condors, lions, and Joan Rivers. He’ll be in Park City tonight, telling stories, showing film clips, and trotting out Chilean flamingos and Siberian lynxes. Unfortunately, Rivers will not appear, as she’s currently molting.

7pm, Eccles Center for the Performing Arts, 1750 Kearns Blvd., Park City. Tickets $15 and $30 at 355-2787 or arttix.org

“Brilliant” The New Yorker

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SLAC Limited Seating For Tickets call 363-SLAC or 355-ARTS The Salt Lake Acting Company www.saltlakeactingcompany.org

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 Bill Cosby makes his annual trip to Salt Lake tonight. To get yourself psyched for the show, or if you can’t go because your wallet has not recovered from the Holiday gouging, I suggest giving his “Fatherhood” album a listen. Is there anything funnier than chocolate cake for breakfast? “Dad is great, he gave us chocolate cake….” Now that’s comedy. Take that, Sarah Silverman.

6pm and 8pm, Kingsbury Hall, 1450 E President’s Circle, University of Utah. Tickets $39.50 to $49.50 at 581-7100 or kingsburyhall.com

8SUNDAY Out Sen. Scott McCoy will appear on ABC 4’s On the Record with Chris Vanocur for a legislative preview show. The show’s other guests include Rep. Roz McGee, Senate President John Valentine and House Speaker Greg Curtis.

9:30am, KTVX Channel 4

9MONDAY

ing Arts Center, 138 W Broadway. Tickets $12 at 355-2787 or arttix.org

16MONDAY

18WEDNESDAY

Journalist Mike Shiley could kick Anderson Cooper’s scrawny little Armani wearing ass. Shiley, who is self-trained, made a press pass for himself, grabbed a video camera, and headed to Iraq, where set out to get an unfiltered, genuine look at the War on Terror. The result is Inside Iraq: The Untold Stories, a film that follows Shiley from Baghdad to the Sunni Triangle to Anaconda Base. Interpolated with combat footage are interviews with Iraqi citizens that create a nuanced and complex look at the situation.

14SATURDAY

The Agenda is proud to honor the memory today of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to celebrate his legacy of peace and tolerance.  In honor of Dr. King the phenomenal Oleta Adams, best known for her hit single “Get Here”, will perform tonight at the University of Utah. The event is free to the public and will be immediately preceded by the 2006 MLK Youth Leadership Awards presentation.

You would never know it from watching “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” reruns, but comedian Caroline Rhea has a genuinely foul mouth. Another example of a common phenomenon: the lovable TV actor who stars in a feel-good family comedy, but whose own act features the kind of language that would make a crack whore ho blush (see also Bob Saget, Rose O’Donnell.) It might be worth going just to see the bewildered faces of any unfortunate members of the Family Home Evening crowd who don’t know that.

7:30pm, Kingsbury Hall, E President’s Circle, University of Utah. Tickets $7 at 581-7100 or kingsburyhall.com

11WEDNESDAY

5:00pm – 7:00pm Baci “OUT for Equality” Kick-off Social event similar to the “OUT Against Amendment 3” events held at Panini during the “No on 3” Campaign of 2004. Come nibble on appetizers, have a drink with friends and learn about the upcoming legislative session from those who are making it happen.

Special Guest: Senator Scott McCoy

12THURSDAY One of the best things about being a gay person is that we get to choose our families. Which is why Terrence McNally’s play Love! Valour! Compassion!, which tells the story of eight gay friends spending the summer together in upstate New York, is really a family story: the men in the play share all the affection, resentment, laughter and strength that come with blood-ties, which just goes to show that love does indeed create a Family.

Continues Thursday through Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm through January 22, Studio Theatre at the Rose Wagner Perform-

Spend your morning finding out how to make the world — well, at least this little corner of it — a better place. Equality Utah has joined with the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay Lesbian Transgender Community Center of Utah for a special Citizen Lobby Training titled “How to Talk to Your Elected Officials.”

The training will be conducted by out legislators Rep. Jackie Biskupski and Sen. Scott McCoy. There will also be a town hall meeting with Rep. David Litvak about the pending hate crime bill.

9am–1pm, Capitol Hill West Building, Room W125. Seating is limited and you are aksed to rsvp with Equality Utah at 355-3479.

6:30pm, Kingsbury Hall, E President’s Circle, University of Utah. Admission is free but seating is reserved and tickets must be obtained in advance. Tickets and information at 581-7100 or arttix.org

7pm and 9pm, Wise Guys Comedy Café, 3500 S 2200 West. Tickets $15 at 467-TIXX or smithstix.com

 Puccini’s opera La Rondine, while not one of his best known works, features one of his most beautiful scores the kind of story that makes a romantic swoon: a beautiful courtesan who defies convention and allows herself to fall in love with a handsome, although poor, poet. Utah Opera.

Tonight, Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2pm, Capitol Theatre, 50 W 200 South. Tickets $12 to $60 at 355-2787 or arttix.org

 Did you know that Kris Kristofferson wrote “Me and Bobby McGee”? This was before he became famous for enduring the inhumane cruelty of being asked to make out with La Streisand in A Star is Born. For both of these things, he deserves your respect. Come on and give it to him in Park City tonight.

7:30pm, Eccles Center for the Performing Arts, 1750 Kearns Blvd., Park City. Tickets $15 to $50 at 355-2787 or arttix.org

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JANUARY 5, 2006 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 17

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Now Playing BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

Cowboys Ennis (Heath Ledger) and Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) fall into a passionate affair on Wyoming’s Brokeback Mountain in 1963, retreating back into straight lives at summer’s end. Finding that wives and children are no substitute for the soul mate they found in one another, they reunite in stolen moments over two decades, intent on recapturing the joy of that magical summer.

Director Ang Lee has fashioned from Annie Proulx’s intimate short story a poignant and visually stunning epic romance limning a love that somehow survives despite the rigid social convention and internalized homophobia that threaten to smother it. Ledger and Gyllenhaal share a truly combustible chemistry, but it is Ledger’s heartbreaking performance as taciturn, repressed Ennis that transforms this drama from merely good to something great.

Grade: A Kinsey Scale: 6 (Even before this highly touted film hit theaters, conservative organs such as the Drudge Report have been busy trying to deny the existence of gay cowboys, despite the fact that members of Calgary Gay Rodeo Association served as technical advisers and appear in the film’s rodeo scenes.

Lee’s breakthrough film in the United States was the queer-themed The Wedding Banquet, while co-star Michelle Williams made her name on the queer-friendly Dawson’s Creek and appeared in the lesbian comedy But I’m a Cheerleader.)

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN 2 When Tom Baker (Steve Martin) decides to take his plus-sized family on vacation, he runs into his old rival Jimmy Murtaugh (Eugene Levy). The Murtaughs have fewer children — a mere eight compared to the Bakers’ dozen — but they’re more dedicated to dominating everything they touch.

And so the competition begins, all the way down to the tiniest of the 20 kids. It’s the kind of movie that will engage elementary-school-aged viewers (people fall down a lot and get involved in other physical mishaps) and won’t raise their parents’ boredom threshold too much. With its slight offering of truly funny moments, this is completely unnecessary viewing for anyone without a very short person in tow who needs 100 minutes of safe entertainment.

Grade: C+ Kinsey Scale: 1 (Martin appeared in And the Band Played On, and director Adam Shankman is openly gay.)

18

■

SALT LAKE METRO ■ JANUARY 5, 2006

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE Four siblings discover a passage to the magical kingdom of Narnia tucked in the back of a closet.

Perpetual winter grips the land ruled by the cruel White Witch (Tilda Swinton), but the children’s visit, coupled with lion king Aslan’s return, holds promise that spring might now arrive. Special effects and hard-charging action scenes trump storytelling in this heavy-handed adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ classic allegory. Swinton is perfect as the icehearted enchantress, a shining jewel in a movie that is otherwise mired in mediocrity. The book makes an awkward transformation to screen, providing many unintentional laughs along the way. Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, for example, may be charming on

the page, but rendered as talking animated animals on film, they are simply ridiculous.

Grade: C Kinsey Scale: 1 (Swinton was a close collaborator of the late queer director Derek Jarman and has appeared in many gay-themed films. Co-star Jim Broadbent appeared in The Crying Game, while animal characters are voiced by out actor Rupert Everett and Kinsey star Liam Neeson.)

THE FAMILY STONE Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker) is going home for the holidays with her fiance, Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney). She’s an uptight city gal with a severe bun and a cell phone that never stops ringing. The Stones, however, are well-to-do bohemian jerks who have forgotten how to be gracious to their houseguests. The movie consists of them exhibiting a bizarre behavioral combo of grooviness and evil, while Meredith comes unglued by it all. No one acts like a recognizable human being, as uncivil Christmas barbs turn to slapstick.

Some third-act heart-warmth and tear-tugging cliches are thrown in to salvage the mess, but by then it’s way too late, and the movie has ruined Christmas — not for the characters, though; just for the audience.

Grade: CKinsey Scale: 3 (A queer deaf son and his boyfriend are thrown into the mix; their job is to be one-dimensionally gay and adorable. Mulroney appeared in Longtime Companion, while Sarah Jessica Parker starred in the gay-favorite series Sex and the City. Gay director Thomas Bezucha also directed the far better 2001 movie Big Eden.)

FUN WITH DICK AND JANE In this remake of the 1977 George Segal/Jane Fonda comedy, Dick (Jim Carrey) is a wealthy executive at Globodyne Corporation who loses his job when the CEO (Alec Baldwin) quits, taking 400 million dollars with him and bankrupting the company.

Dick and his wife, Jane (Tea Leoni), quickly spend their savings and take up robbery as a way to pay the bills.

But anyone who’s expecting piercing socioeconomic critique is advised to look away from the lame pile-up of unfunny gags and unfocused satire. This Bonnie and Clyde are only separated from Dick’s corrupt former boss by the means they use to accomplish the job. Their crimes aren’t about sticking it to The Man, but about making sure they remain pampered, mindlessly consuming suburbanites with a reliable housekeeper. Rooting for them is as pointless as Carrey’s irritating facemaking and pratfalls.

Grade: D Kinsey Scale: 1 (In one brief scene, Leoni and Carrey cross-dress as Sonny and Cher. In his early career, Carrey played gay characters in sketches on In Living Color, and was in the gay-themed TV movie Doing Time on Maple Drive. Leoni had a small part in the mildly lesbian-flavored A League of Their Own.)

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) spreads evil in wizard-in-training Harry Potter’s (Daniel Radcliffe) nightmares, dreams that may be prophetic. The 14-year-old has little time to consider the matter

when he is chosen to compete in the TriWizard Tournament, an enchanted, Olympic-style contest that is fraught with danger. This adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s fourth Potter novel is also the darkest, as director Mike Newell sets an ominous tone from the opening scenes. It is an epic adventure that offers a full immersion into the wizards’ world, with impressive effects, fabulous settings, fantastic creatures, and a brave, heartbreakingly vulnerable hero in young Harry.

But the movie’s fidelity to the book is also a liability, as familiarity with the novel is essential to completely grasping the story.

Grade: B Kinsey Scale: 1 (Among the film’s stars who have appeared in gay films or queer roles are Fiennes, Jason Isaacs, Michael Gambon, Gary Oldman, Maggie Smith, Brendan Gleeson, Miranda Richardson, and Timothy Spall. Screenwriter Steve Kloves scripted Wonder Boys.)

KING KONG Movie director Carl Denham (Jack Black) travels to a remote South Seas island on location to finish the picture he’s making. There he and his crew discover a giant gorilla, in addition to some murderous natives and carnivorous dinosaurs. The big, hairy beast takes a liking to Denham’s lead actress, Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts), and Denham takes a liking to the idea of selling tickets to see the enormous simian he names “Kong,” the consequences only unknown to the youngest viewers of this thoroughly entertaining remake.

The three-hour running time may seem off-putting at first, but Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson packs every minute with momentum and, once on the island, fantastic digitally enhanced adventure. The amazing animated creatures will keep you riveted, and the sad-eyed, love-struck Kong will break your heart.

Grade: AKinsey Scale: 1 (Naomi Watts starred as a bisexual actress in Mulholland Drive.)

MATCH POINT The future looks bright for ex-tennis pro Chris Wilton (Jonathan RhysMeyers) after his wealthy new friend Tom Hewett’s (Matthew Goode) sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer) falls in love with him. Chris is looking forward to sharing her comfortable life, but sexual obsession threatens to unravel his plans after he falls under the spell of Tom’s seductive fiancee Nola (Scarlett Johansson). That quintessential New Yorker Woody Allen relocates to London for this unusual thriller. With little humor and no character on hand to embody Allen’s neurotic persona, it is a Woody Allen film unlike any other. The emphasis is on psychology, and the plot often threatens to unravel. But Chris is a fascinating piece of work, and his actions are consistently enthralling in Allen’s best film in years.

Grade: B+ Kinsey Scale: 1 (Rhys-Meyers’ has appeared in several gay-themed films, and his breakthrough role was as a bisexual rock star in queer director Todd Haynes’ Velvet Goldmine.

Co-star Brian Cox had roles in the AIDS drama The Lost Language of Cranes and the queer coming-of-age drama L.I.E.)

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA In the years before World War II, Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang) is taken from poverty to work as a servant in a geisha

house. She grows up there, is taught the life and rules of being a geisha, and eventually becomes the most celebrated and beautiful of them all.

She has an intense rivalry with divageisha Hatsumomo (Gong Li), but her real downfall might be the forbidden love she feels for a man known as The Chairman (Ken Watanabe). This very old-fashioned movie aims right for the lush “Oriental” middle, which some audiences might find offensive — the dialogue in particular is stilted and strange, full of Hollywood ideas about how Asians speak broken English. But if looking at pretty people in pretty settings — and there is that in abundance — is all you need to be entertained, then this by-the-numbers melodrama will hit the spot.

Grade: BKinsey Scale: 1 (Gay director Rob Marshall also directed Chicago.)

(Roger Bart) to stage it. Mel Brooks’ award-winning, record-shattering Broadway musical comedy makes a mostly successful transition to the screen. Not all of the songs work within the context of a movie, and Uma Thurman is miscast as ingenue Ulla. But the rest of the cast in this gorgeous production is in top form; there are plenty of laughs, and best of all, Susan Stroman’s direction emphasizes her glorious choreography.

Grade: B Kinsey Scale: 3 (Lane and Beach are both openly gay. Ironically, Lane plays one of the few straights in the movie, which boasts a number of queer supporting characters, all stereotypical — but then, all the film’s characters are stereotypes of one sort or another.

Lane, Broderick, Beach, Bart, and Thurman have all appeared in other queer-themed projects.)

MUNICH

RUMOR HAS IT

In the wake of the slaughter of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympic games, Mossad agent Avner (Eric Bana) and four other men are recruited to locate and assassinate the men Israel holds responsible for the attack. Except for the drama’s final, misbegotten 15 minutes, director Steven Spielberg eschews his usual sentimentality and heavy-handedness to limn a devastating portrait of good people caught in an impossible situation. To do what their government considers the right thing puts their souls and their sanity at risk, while making them all targets in an ever-escalating, perpetual cycle of violence. There is no black and white in Tony Kushner and Eric Roth’s literate screenplay, only shades of gray awash in blood.

Grade: B+ Kinsey Scale: 1 (Gay playwright Kushner won the Pulitzer Prize for his epic AIDS drama Angels in America. Co-star Daniel Craig played painter Francis Bacon’s rough-trade lover in Love Is the Devil.)

Sarah (Jennifer Aniston) can’t resist looking up business mogul Beau (Kevin Costner) when she discovers that both her grandmother (Shirley MacLaine) and her late mother slept with him, liaisons that served as inspiration for The Graduate.

She understands the attraction when she meets the still handsome Beau and finds herself smitten, endangering her relationship with fiance Jeff (Mark Ruffalo). Misogyny colors every frame of this repellant romantic comedy, as director Rob Reiner and screenwriter Ted Griffin indulge in character assassination of their own heroine, portraying Sarah as neurotic, flighty, and whiny. There is no heat between Aniston and either man, and precious few laughs overall, save for those provided by old pro MacLaine, whose impeccable timing improves even the most puerile dialogue.

Grade: D Kinsey Scale: 1 (There are a couple of mild gay-themed jokes. Aniston fell for a gay man in The Object of My Affection, Costner played the district attorney out to prove that the president was done in by killer queers in JFK, MacLaine played a teacher rumored to be a lesbian in The Children’s Hour, and Ruffalo appeared in 54. Co-stars Kathy Bates, Richard Jenkins, and Mena Suvari also have queer-themed credits.)

THE PRODUCERS Faded producer Max Bialystock (Nathan Lane) and accountant Leo Bloom (Matthew Broderick) cook up a recipe for creating a huge Broadway flop so that they can embezzle the excess financing. They secure the rights to Springtime for Hitler, a musical valentine to the Fuhrer, and hire tasteless director Roger De Bris (Gary Beach) and his tacky assistant Carmen Ghia

SYRIANA From Academy Award-winning writer/director Stephen Gaghan comes this deliberately paced thriller set

against the corruption and intrigue of the oil industry. There are multiple storylines, the central and most emotionally resonant ones involving CIA operative Bob Barnes (George Clooney), who finally learns the unsettling truth about his life’s work, and a sellout energy analyst (Matt Damon) who grapples with profiting from his own son’s accidental death.

There’s more: corporate lawyers facing moral quagmires, ruthless CEOs, and downtrodden Pakistani teens turning to fundamentalist Islam. The dense layers of storytelling can get tediously heavy at times, and audiences may wonder what the point is beyond knowing that big business is evil. Still, strongly moving performances from Damon and Clooney keep this ponderous political beast from feeling too much like a really depressing global civics lesson.

Grade: B Kinsey Scale: 1 (Clooney produced the gay-themed film Far from Heaven. Damon starred in the queer-themed The Talented Mr. Ripley, while co-star Jeffrey Wright played gay in Angels in America, and co-star William Hurt won an Oscar for playing gay in Kiss of the Spider Woman)

WALK THE LINE Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) was country music’s original outlaw, so why does this biopic go down so smoothly? The answer may lie in the fact that it comes posthumously for The Man in Black — a time when goodwill toward his memory is exceptionally strong. Still, it’s full of real-life moments, solid performances (especially from Reese Witherspoon as June Carter), and energy to spare. The story of Cash’s rise and fall and rise again, from black-sheep son to swaggering, renegade country star to amphetamine addict to born-again Christian brims with life and humor, most notably in scenes between Phoenix and Witherspoon. But the rough edges have been sanded down to make the man who sang, “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die,” maybe a little more cuddly than he actually was.

Grade: B+ Kinsey Scale: 1 (Witherspoon has a large gay following, thanks to the Legally Blonde franchise and to other films. Shelby Lynne, the Grammywinning country artist who plays Cash’s mother, has a very devoted lesbian fan base.)

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UTAH AIDS Foundation.

Helping with the complex issues of HIV/AIDS. utahaids.org

MEN’S SOCIAL UTAH MALE NATURISTS Naked lunches, outings and camping trips in a sex-free environment. umen.org

POLITICAL AMERICAN CIVIL Liberties Union. Fighting for individual freedoms since 1958. acluutah.org CODE PINK, a women-initiated peace, social justice movement. codepinkalert.com

SAME-GENDER MARRIAGE is a Feminist Issue: NOW’s mission is to promote equality for ALL

Q Puzzle “EVEN COWBOYS GET THE BLUES” ACROSS

RELIGIOUS GAY RMS Social group for return missionaries of the LDS Church. Regular parties and group activities.

QUEER UTAH Aquatic Club invites swimmers and water polo players of ANY skill level. QuacQuac.org.

AFFIRMATION: GAY and Lesbian Mormons. Sunday meetings 534-8693

UTAH STONEWALL Shooting Sports. Gender- and sexual-minority firearm advocates in Utah.

members.aol.com/wasatchweb

stonewallshootingsportsutah.org

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RESOURCES UTAH QUEER Events.

Submit group events and see what’s happening in your community. groups.yahoo.com/group/ utahqueerevents

JOIN SLMETRO Yahoo group for breaking news and free or reduced arts and event tickets. groups. yahoo.com/slmetro

SPORTS UTAH GAY Rodeo Association. PO Box 511255 SLC, UT 84151 ugra.net

TRANSGENDER ENGENDERED SPECIES A social/support group resources for transgender people. 320-0551.

WOMEN’S SOCIAL SINGLE LESBIAN? Meet other single lesbians for friendship and social events groups.yahoo.com/ group/lesbian_singles/

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1 Cicero’s singular 5 Cheeky 9 Screened at a gay film festival, e.g.

14 “If ___ I Would Leave You” 15 La Traviata solo 16 Queer souvenir 17 Brokeback Mountain character 19 Ledger of Brokeback Mountain 20 Cat ___ Hot Tin Roof 21 Fairy tale start 22 “March of the Women” composer Ethel 23 “___ De-Lovely” 24 “Morally straight” org.

25 Ambiguously Gay ___ 26 Poem of Sappho 28 Untouchable target 30 Start of Renee Vivien’s voyage?

31 Screws up 32 Gay activist Perry 35 Executive bondage tools 36 With 57-Across, line of 17-Across 39 At once, to queens of old 40 Snake 41 To be lesbienne 42 Muscle Mary’s pride 43 Synthetic fabric 47 Second pitches for Copland 48 Witty, like David Sedaris 49 Kung ___ chicken (spicy dish with nuts) 51 You might say it when you get it 52 Provide new equipment for 54 Like a stereotypical wrist 55 Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer-winning play 56 Character of 19-Across

7 Sophie B. Hawkins’ “The Cream Will ___” 8 Decoration for skin 9 Dumb-ass 57 See 36-Across 10 Nephew of Disney’s 59 Handle on a machine Donald Duck that cuts leaves of grass 11 Handel’s Messiah, e.g.

60 Debtor’s slips 12 Pulled out 61 Top priority of a top 13 Type of drama in the land 62 Dinner commemorating of Samurai coming out of Egypt 18 Reid pseudonym 63 Foe of Peter Pan 22 Swanson’s Blvd.

64 Sea eagle 25 Journalist Minkowitz 27 Un-PC suffix with DOWN 1 Send another membership steward 29 You can wrap it around check to HRC your package 2 Ahead, in da Vinci’s land 30 Vehicles for some dykes 3 Change the actors in 31 It puts people out Spamalot 4 Where to find a bear pair 33 Go against successfully 34 “Curbside” cartoonist 5 They stand in front of Robert queens 36 Molina, in Kiss of the 6 Lucci’s Kane in All My Spider Woman Children

37 Went down 38 Goldberg of The Color Purple 39 Part of an airline name, in Wilde’s land 44 Evan Wolfson, for one 45 Natalie Barney, by birth 46 “Love is a force of ___” (Brokeback Mountain tag line) 48 More likely to use your head 49 Prick 50 Tickle a funny bone 53 Indian lesbian film of 1996 54 “Fruit of the ___” 56 Matt Foreman, Joe Solmonese, et al.

57 Seventh notes to Debussy 58 Threesome for Michelangelo

JANUARY 5, 2006 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 19

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Comics

IT’S ALL ABOUT US Best Metro News Writer _______________________________________ Best Metro Columnist _______________________________________ Best Metro article, feature or news story of 2005 _______________________________________

FOOD Best Sunday Brunch

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_______________________________________ Best Place to Avoid Karaoke

_______________________________________ Best Place to Take a Date

_______________________________________

_______________________________________ Best Place to Take a Second Date

ARTS & CULTURE

Best Amateur Theater Company _______________________________________ Professional Theater _______________________________________ Best Local Band _______________________________________ Best Art Gallery/Museum

Best Gym

_______________________________________ Best Place to Make Out _______________________________________ Best Place to Cruise _______________________________________ Best Place to Violate Public Decency Laws _______________________________________ Best Place to Relax on a Day Off

_______________________________________ Best Lube _______________________________________ Best Pick-up Line

Best Queer Social Organization

_______________________________________

_______________________________________ _______________________________________ Way to Come Out to Mom and Dad _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________

_______________________________________ Best Gay-Friendly Religious Organization _______________________________________ Best Gay Sports Organization _______________________________________

PEOPLE Best Leader of a Local Queer Organization

Most Anti-Gay Politician in Utah _______________________________________ Most Anti-Gay Person in Utah

_______________________________________ Best Volunteer for a Local Queer Organization

_______________________________________

_______________________________________ Best Politician (Local or State)

_______________________________________

_______________________________________ Best Bartender/Barback/Server _______________________________________ Best Local Actor or Actress _______________________________________ Best Local Straight Advocate for Gay Rights _______________________________________

Worst Place to Hold Hands in Public

Worst Night of the Week to Go Out _______________________________________ Worst Pickup Line You’ve Heard _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________

WIN A 2-NIGHT STAY AND $500 CASINO FUN BOOK IN FABULOUS LAS VEGAS! Submit your name with this nomination form and be entered to win 3 days’ and 2 nights’ deluxe accommodations in Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada for two and $500 worth of chips, tokens, 2-for-1 meals and discount show tickets.

You must be 21 or older to win. No purchase necessary. One entry per person. Winner responsible for all taxes, including room tax.

Employees, staff and household members of Metro Publishing, Inc. are not eligible.

NOMINATION/ENTRY FORMS MUST BE RECEIVED BY JANUARY 31, 2006

Name _________________________________________________ Address________________________________________________

_______________________________________ Best Movie Theater

_______________________________________ Best Place to Take Children of Gay Parents

_______________________________________ Best Play/Production of 2005

_______________________________________ Best Place to Take Parents of Gay Children

Phone _________________________________________________

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_______________________________________ Best Place to Get Married

Best Television News Program

20

_______________________________________ Best Symphony, Orchestra or Choir

_______________________________________

_______________________________________ Best Video/DVD Store

_______________________________________ Best Music Store

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________ Best Place to Browse All Day

_______________________________________

Best Radio Station

_______________________________________ Best Place to Get a Tattoo or Piercing

_______________________________________ Best Italian Restaurant

_______________________________________ Best Place to Go After Hours

(Please choose the best…)

_______________________________________

SHOPPING Best Mall or Shopping Plaza

OTHER

_______________________________________ Best Place to Get Counselling

_______________________________________ Best Mexican Restaurant

_______________________________________ Best Sushi

SALT LAKE METRO ■ JANUARY 5, 2006

EVENTS

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

Email _________________________________________________

City/State/ZIP ___________________________________________

DROP BY OR MAIL TO:

Salt Lake’s Most Fabulous Salt Lake Metro 352 S. Denver St. #350 Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Deep Inside Hollywood The Simpsons Host the Brits

by Romeo San Vicente romeo@slmetro.com

The Simpsons is set to feature a few more British accents than Springfield is used to hearing. The long-running animated sitcom will welcome as guest stars Golden Globe winner Ricky Gervais (The Office, Extras), and the comedy team of David Walliams and Matt Lucas, creators of Little Britain. Lucas is the gay half of the popular sketch-comedy series that airs on BBC America, an outrageous half-hour in which both men regularly play gay characters or end up in frilly, old-fashioned, unconvincing drag. Simpsons creator Matt Groening has long been known to recruit artists he admires for guest spots, and he’s a fan of Walliams and Lucas, so the intersection of Bart and Britain was bound to happen eventually.

The episodes featuring the three actors will run during the 2006-2007 season.

Darren Star’s Next Top Model Gay producer Darren Star has more queerfriendly TV in the works. The creator of Melrose Place and Sex and the City has a deal with ABC to develop two new projects, with a commitment from the network to greenlight at least one for a pilot in 2006. One of those projects, from writer Darlene Hunt (Good Morning, Miami) is tentatively titled The Model, and is described as an updated That Girl set in New York’s fashion and modeling industries. To add fashion cred to the fledgling sitcom, Star is partnering on the show with producers Desiree Gruber and Jane Cha, who executive-produce Bravo’s Project Runway. Sounds like a match made in synergy heaven — what better way to keep name-branding those Runway winners than with guest spots on a fashion sitcom?

Fox’s Desire for a D-List Gay In Latin America, “telenovelas” are a staple of primetime viewing, the soapy dramas captivating Spanish-language audiences in the millions. Now, Fox is betting that English-speaking viewers will buy into U.S. versions of the racy, wildly plotted, cliffhanger-packed soaps, too. The franchise known as Desire will feature three different shows that will run for 65 episodes each.

Richard Andreoli, editor of the 2004 anthology Mondo Homo, is part of the writing team, and queer viewers may find they recognize one of the on-screen talents, too.

Tony Tripoli, one of the “Main Gays” from Bravo’s Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, will contribute creative content behind the camera as well as co-star in the first of the Desire series, Table for Three. Look for the shows to enter domestic syndication early in 2006.

Warhol and Hockney Call It Art The energetic, pop-culture-impacting art scene of 1960s-era New York is getting the full documentary treatment in an upcoming film, Who Gets To Call It Art? Many of the main players from that era were gay men, some openly so, and their work helped to shape what would become the gay cultural aesthetic of the ‘70s and beyond.

As seen through the eyes of Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Henry Geldzahler, the doc — which has just been picked up for distribution from independent Palm Pictures — features footage of Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol, as well as interviews with Frank Stella and David Hockney. The film will also include music by Warhol-affiliated band The Velvet Underground. Look for it to play in — where else?

— art-house cinemas in early 2006.

Romeo San Vicente has been called a work of art by more men than he can count.

Dining Guide Bangkok Thai

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

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

SLC’s buzzing java shop with a diverse crowd.

Fiddler’s Elbow

1063 E. 2100 S. / 463-9393

fiddlerselbowslc.com

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.

Salt Lake Pizza & Pasta 1063 E. 2100 S. / 484-1804

saltlakepizzaandpasta.com

M-SA 11AM-11PM SU 11AM-10PM CUISINE: ITALIAN PRICE: $ CARDS: TC AE D MC V HOURS:

Voted as Utah’s Best Pizza two years in a row! Great beer selection. Sugarhouse.

Sage’s Cafe

470 E. 300 S. / 322-3790

sagescafe.com

W-F 11:30AM-2:30PM, W-TH 5-9:30PM FRI 5-10PM SAT 9AM-10PM SUN 9AM-9PM CUISINE: VEGETARIAN/ORGANIC PRICE: $ CARDS: TC AE D MC V HOURS:

32 beers, including Utah’s best selection of microbrews.

Committed to providing the freshest, healthiest cuisine possible, without compromising.

Michelangelo Ristorante

The Original

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 Paulo Celeste and Marco Gabrielli of Tuscany.

Nick-N-Willy’s Pizza

4538 S, HIGHLAND DR./ 273-8282

nicknwillyspizza.com HOURS: CUISINE: PRICE:

SU-TH 11AM-10PM F-SA 11AM-12PM PIZZA $ CARDS: AE D MC V

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, $$=$21-30, $$$=31-40.

Restaurant Owners

Dine in or take-out. Call ahead and we’ll have it ready. Advertise in the Dining Guide.

Albertsons Shopping Ctr. Call 323-9500 today!

JANUARY 5, 2006 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 21

M-TH 11AM-11PM F-SA 11AM-12AM SU 9AM-10PM CUISINE: AMERICAN PRICE: $ CARDS: TC AE D MC V HOURS:

Orbit Cafe

Classifieds

ROOMMATES WANTED

22

■

SALT LAKE METRO ■ JANUARY 5, 2006

MARMALADE DISTRICT with great view.

HELP WANTED FOR RENT Elegantly furnished 1 ARE YOU a competent SUGARHOUSE CONbdrm condo west of mental health profesCapitol. Car port, censional looking for ful- DO. Newly renovated tral air, patio, dishfilling work in the SLC 2BR 2BA 1600/sq.ft. washer, W/D on site, area? Pried Counselat Colonial Pines. Cen- cable TV included. ing is searching for $650 + utilties. Call tral Air. Underground the right therapist to Mark at 725-4613 Parking. $1,000/ join our team. Please TO SHARE my home. have a demonstrated month call Frank at Master suite w/bath, understanding of iswalk-in closet, deck, 520-7982. sues impacting Gay, & A/C. Pvt. living & Lesbian, Bisexual and 9&9 AREA MAIN dining rooms, wood Transgender clients. stove, & W/D. $500/ FLR RESTORED FLAT We offer a nice locamonth includes utls.

2bdrm 1bath 1400 tion, flexible hours and Call 801-209-8757. reasonable pay. Please sq.ft. New cherry LARGE ROOM in cozy fax resume and letter kitchen. Granite coun- home. Private yard. Off street parking. Smokof intent to (801)595ters. New stainless ers OK. Easy free0669 or email jerry. appl. Central A/C New way access. Close buie@comcast.net to downtown. WashIMMEDIATE NEED for carpet & paint, Wood er/Dryer. $400/mo incell phone sales peoFlrs, fireplace, formal cludes util. Call Walter ple. Great for students at 537-7827. dining, 2 car parkor second job. Hours are 3pm–9pm and all ing, no smoke, no pets FOR SALE day Saturday. $9/hr MISC. ANTIQUES $1100 mnth $1000 plus commision. Call Sewing machines, Steve Whittaker, 463- dpst Call for appointposter beds, etc. Call ment 531-8584 Walter 537-7827 4828

PERSONALS WHERE ARE you Steven Gallegos? I have been looking for you off and on for about 13 yrs. After moving to SLC, people began coming up to me and initiating conversation about things of which I had no knowledge. They would look at me real funny. After awhile I began to realize there were two of us. I feel a real urgency to meet you. I’m a believer in fate but I already have a husband from Spain and am not looking for a replacement. I can be reached at 801-6413405. I’m sending this off with a prayer that you are still in SLC and that we might meet. All my life I’ve been told we all have an “astro twin”. I just find it bizarre that this is happening so close to home. It may do us both a lot of good to have an astro brother. If anyone sees this and has a friend with this name, please inform him.

MISC. ARE YOU HIV+?

Pride Counseling has restarted a Therapy/Support Group for men who are HIV infected and seeking support from others in similar situations. For information please call Jerry Buie LCSW at 595-0666

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.

QPUZZZLE ANSWERS

JANUARY 5, 2006 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 23

METRO MARKET AD RATES 801-323-9500 POLISHED IMAGE HAIRSTYLING. 10+ years experience, competitive pricing.

Call 263-8400, ask for Lara.

Walk-ins welcome.

5560 S. State Street.

2FOR1 BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN TICKETS HAIRMASTERS & CO BOOTH RENTAL for stylist with clientele. Comp parking, great hotel location. Relocation package or airfare to Bahamas with 1 year contract. 322-1631

EXTRA SPECIAL MASSAGE Young male therapist.

Convenient downtown location.

Call Sky Rockwell at 801-759-0372.

UNBELIEVABLE MASSAGE

Athletic Male Therapists LMT #4405851 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, (801) 598-8344 LMT#98212332470

GIVE THE GIFT OF METRO

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Subscribers to Salt Lake Metro received a coupon for 2-for-1 tickets to Brokeback Mountain last issue. Next issue is 2-for-1 Angels in America tickets. Get in on the goods. Get all 26 issues — one full year — of Salt Lake Metro delivered to your mailbox for just $26.95, 6 Months for $14.95.

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or deskop PC. Totally Free!

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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

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METRO MARKET RATES MEDIUM HEADLINE

$7.00 PER LINE 30 CHARACTERS MAX

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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

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.

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

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

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!

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