QSaltLake Magazine - 142 - Nov. 26, 2009

*TTVF /PWFNCFS

GAY GIFT GUIDE Will Carlson Leaves Equality Utah Post

The Ins & Outs of the New Salt Lake Ordinances

Is Buttars a New Ally?

World AIDS Day Events Across the Valley

Staff Box publisher/editor

Michael Aaron assistant editor

In This Issue

JoSelle Vanderhooft arts & entertainment editor

ISSUE 142 • November 26, 2009

Tony Hobday graphic designer

A&E Holiday Gift Views Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Creep of Week. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Snaps & Slaps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 World AIDS Day . . . . 10 Ruby Ridge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Bullshattuck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 News Lambda Lore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 National . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Local. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The Straight Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Gay Geeks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Gay Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Restaurant Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Dining Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Crossword, Cryptogram. . . . . . . . . 38 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Qdoku. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Anagram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Jacin Tales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Puzzle Answers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 The Back Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Christian Allred contributors

Lynn Beltran Brad Di Iorio Ruth Hackford-Peer Ryan Shattuck Troy Williams Christopher Katis Petunia Pap-Smear

Joseph Dewey Anthony Paull Ruby Ridge Ben Williams Rex Wockner David Alder

contributing photographers

David Daniels Laurie Kaufman

Brian Gordon David Newkirk

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FRIDAY, DEC. 11 AND SATURDAY, DEC. 12, 7:30PM FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, 777 SOUTH 1300 EAST TICKETS AT SALTLAKEMENSCHOIR.ORG Nov e mber 26 , 20 09 | issue 1 4 2 | QSa lt L a k e | 3

News — National

Quips & Quotes

by Rex Wockner

‘Washington Blade’ and Other Gay Papers Shuttered

The Washington Blade and other gay publications owned by Window Media or Unite Media, including Atlanta’s Southern Voice and the South Florida Blade, abruptly shut down Nov. 16.

Window and Unite were majorityowned by Avalon Equity Fund, an investment corporation that was forced into receivership last year by the Small Business Administration.

At press time, it was not clear which entity was responsible for the shutdowns.

Other gay publications with ownership that involved Avalon and Window, Unite or HX Media closed previously, including the New York Blade, Boston’s In Newsweekly, New Orleans’ Impact and the Houston Voice. Avalon also shut down Genre magazine.

The Washington Blade, which dated to 1969 and was considered one of the nation’s top gay newspapers journalistically, had seemingly flourished for much of its history prior to Window’s ownership.

On Nov. 20, some 17 former Blade staffers launched a new gay newspaper in D.C. See dcagenda.com.

AMERICAblog launches DNC boycott John Aravosis and Joe Sudbay of AMERICAblog have launched a donor boycott of the Democratic National Committee, Organizing for America and the Obama campaign.

“President Obama promised to be a ‘fierce advocate’ for LGBT Americans,” they said. “But while making modest progress on a scant few issues, on the major campaign promises made to our community, the president and the Democratic Party have failed to keep their commitments.

“There has been little, if any, pressure from the White House for votes on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The administration continues to send mixed signals on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. And we’ve been told not to expect the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act to even be considered until President Obama’s second term.”

Co-sponsors of the boycott include Daily Kos, Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake blog, writers and bloggers Dan Savage and Michelangelo Signorile, activists David Mixner and Robin Tyler, TowleRoad blog’s Andy Towle and Michael Goff, and bloggers Pam Spaulding (Pam’s House Blend) and Bil Browning (Bilerico), among others.

Aravosis and Sudbay said the boycott is “temporary” and is “meant to help some friends — President Obama and the Democratic Party — who have lost their way.”

In an official statement to FireDogLake, the Human Rights Campaign

❝❝

‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ pleaded Isaiah, and the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did just that.”

—Gay Salt Lake City resident Joseph DiStephano in a letter to The Salt Lake Tribune about the LDS Church’s about-face decision to support the city’s housing and workplace nondiscrimination ordinances that included sexual orientation and gender identity

❝❝

Adam Lambert took a spill and caused a stir at the American Music Awards Sunday, Nov. 22 when during the final routine of the evening, he simulated oral sex and sadomasochism and passionately kissed his keyboardist. He recovered from tripping up the stairs well enough that there is discussion it was part of the act. Good Morning America canceled a schedule appearance by Lambert, but he was later secured by other national morning news programs. Conservative groups have asked members to complain to the FCC. said: “Individual donors should always make their own careful assessments of how to spend limited political contributions. We all need to focus on the legislative priorities identified by AMERICAblog and with whatever tactic individuals decide to employ, the ultimate objective needs to be securing the votes we need to move our legislative agenda forward.”

Organizing for America is a DNC community-organizing project founded after Obama’s inauguration that mobilizes supporters of his legislative agenda.

For more boycott details or to get involved, see tinyurl.com/ycgu997.

Prop 8 repeal campaign uses social networking Grassroots activists collecting 1 million voter signatures to place an initiative on the 2010 ballot to repeal California’s Proposition 8 say they are using a “stateof-the-art ... unique social-networking tool” to accomplish the task.

“SignForEquality.com will make history by using custom social-networking tools, as well as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, to support an all-volunteer signature drive to repeal Prop 8,” said Love Honor Cherish Executive Director John Henning. “People throughout California can now help us win marriage back by the simple act of signing and collecting signatures.”

The Web site features a downloadable petition form and training videos for signature gatherers, and uses socialnetworking technology to help gatherers set goals, build teams and find signaturegathering events, Henning said.

California ballot-measure campaigns typically spend millions of dollars to employ paid signature-gatherers. “SignForEquality.com brings the campaign back to the people,” Henning said.

4 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 1 4 2 | Nov e mber 26 , 20 09

The signatures must be turned in to state officials by April 12.

The grassroots 2010 effort does not have support from large GLBT groups, many of which have said or suggested they want to wait until 2012 to attempt to undo Prop 8.

The Courage Campaign had earlier supported a 2010 campaign but later complained of deficiencies in governing structure, expertise, research and funding.

Same-sex marriage was legal in California for 4½ months in 2008 until voters passed Prop 8 amending the state constitution to overturn the state Supreme Court ruling that authorized gay nuptials.

The proposed amendment being circulated states: “To protect religious freedom, no court shall interpret this measure to require any priest, minister, pastor, rabbi, or other person authorized to perform marriages by any religious denomination, church, or other nonprofit religious institution to perform any marriage in violation of his or her religious beliefs. The refusal to perform a marriage under this provision shall not be the basis for lawsuit or liability, and shall not affect the tax-exempt status of any religious denomination, church or other religious institution.

To provide for fairness in the government’s issuance of marriage licenses, Section 7.5 of Article I of the California Constitution is hereby amended to read ... Marriage is between only two persons and shall not be restricted on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.”

Love Honor Cherish is a Los Angelesbased grassroots organization committed to repealing Prop 8 in 2010 and developing a new generation of leadership on same-sex-marriage issues.

Unfortunately, homosexual activists seeking to redefine the meaning of marriage — as well as activist courts seeking to do the same — do not view these types of ordinances singly or in isolation but as a pattern of public opinion to justify radical changes to law as we saw in California.”

—The Sutherland Institute, an anti-gay Utah think-tank

❝❝

This appears to be an olive branch being offered by the LDS Church. It’s a very positive move and one I am extremely thankful for. This is the kind of messaging our community, and the entire state of Utah, really needs.”

—Openly lesbian Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake City, as quoted in the Deseret News

❝❝

If what I have heard on the news and read in the paper about recent gay acceptance by the Salt Lake City Council and the LDS Church is true, I am very, very, very disappointed. …

[Salt Lake City] is rapidly becoming the Sodom and Gomorrah of our century.”

—Spanish Fork resident Marvin L. Wharton in a letter to the Deseret News

❝❝

SHAME on UTAH GAYS For persecuting, harassing, using intimidation tactics, and staging scenarios to corner The [sic] LDS Church into endorsing their movement and to use the LDS Church as a backbone to sway the LDS voters and legislators to vote for their laws!”

—Fax sent out by anti-gay Utah group America Forever to at least 80,000 people and organizations, alleging that the LDS Church had no choice but to publicly support the ordinances

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Nov e mber 26 , 20 09 | issue 1 4 2 | QSa lt L a k e | 5

News — Local

The ‘Gang of Five’

by JoSelle Vanderhooft

The LDS Church’s statement in support for Salt Lake City’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender-inclusive housing and workplace ordinances on Nov. 10 came as a surprise to many in Utah — gay, straight, LDS, non-LDS, Republican and Democrat alike. Not only because of the church’s relative silence on such issues until the ordinances appeared before the Salt Lake City Council, but also because of how that support came about.

Shortly after church spokesman Michael Otterson told councilmembers, “The church supports this ordinance because it is fair and reasonable and does not do violence to the institution of marriage,” reports of clandestine meetings between gay rights leaders and church officials began circulating in the community and in the press.

Recently, a few of the leaders involved in the meetings have spoken publicly about the tone of these, at first hesitant, talks between members of two groups that often find themselves at odds.

Meet the “Gang of Five”

The so-called “gang of five” consisted of Equality Utah Executive Director Brandie Balken, Equality Utah’s board chairwoman Stephanie Pappas, Utah Pride Center Director Valerie Larabee, Salt Lake City Human Rights Commission member Jon Jepsen and, of course, Jim Dabakis, who has been described as the group’s leader. The five met, said Dabakis, with “mid-level” church officials, whose names he declined to give.

However, City Weekly has reported that these officials were Bill Evans, Michael Purdy and other members of the church’s public affairs department.

Because of the delicate nature of the meetings and in hopes that they can continue, Dabakis was reluctant to go into too much detail about what went on during the six weeks church leaders and the “gang” met at the home of Sam and Diane Stewart, church members who agreed to provide a ‘neutral’ space for the talks. He would say, however, that the six weeks of meetings between the “gang” and church leaders favored the personal over the political.

“In none of our meetings did we talk about political issues,” he said. “We didn’t talk about the city ordinances, we didn’t talk about that kind of thing.”

Instead, both groups “talked about humanity and understanding each other better.” Members of the “gang” related stories about how anti-gay discrimination had affected them personally. They also learned, he added, that the church often does “wonderful things” for the community that “they don’t take credit for.”

“I was surprised to hear from [Utah AIDS Foundation Executive Director]

Stan Penfold that the leading contributor to their food bank is the church,” said Dabakis. “There’s a lot of things they do very quietly that are of significant health to our community.”

“We think there are a lot of commonalities that we were able to find and talk about,” he said. “It sounds crazy, but there’s a little bit of a kumbaya moment in a very cynical world.”

Others who took part in the meetings included former Councilwoman Deeda Seed, the organizer of the first of this summer’s “kiss-ins” near Temple Square to protest the trouble security guards on the church’s plaza gave an affectionate gay couple. Councilman Carlton Christianson also credits Seed for getting him involved in the meetings.

“I probably would not have been there if it hadn’t been for [her],” he said. “I think she recognizes that we wouldn’t have moved forward if we hadn’t worked together.”

“It’s really a credit to people [involved],” he continued, “that a broad group of people were willing to put aside some feelings to be able to have a conversation.”

As part of the frank discussion, Christianson said he related a story about a gay couple who lived next door to him and his wife for several years. Although he and the couple didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of issues, he said that they were able to have “the utmost respect” for each other, and to be good friends.

“We found over the ensuing years that we had more in common than in disagreement,” he said. “We found like any neighbors do, good reasons to be engaged in helping one another.”

“There are not two clear bodies of opposing views [in this case],” added Christianson. “At the end of the day we live in a great community, and having some patience with each other and striving to understand the views of parties involved we can avoid some of the hurtful conflicts we’ve had in the past.”

Not So Kumbaya

Of course, the talks do not erase the church’s behavior toward gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the past year, which included urging the faithful to support California’s ultimately successful Proposition 8’s quest to re-ban gay marriage in the Bay State.

And it is that history that has some local gay leaders feeling less positive about the talks than Dabakis and the other “gang” members.

“Their endorsement was a direct response to the onslaught of negative press they’ve received over the last year,” RadioActive producer, QSaltLake columnist and radical queer activist Troy Williams told City Weekly.

And that onslaught of bad press has

6 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 1 4 2 | Nov e mber 26 , 20 09

been significant. It has included protests at LDS temples, arguments in the press that the church should be stripped of its tax-exempt status, and even short-lived, but no less loud, calls for a boycott of Utah’s tourism industry and all LDS-owned businesses. Additionally, many LDS faithful have left the church over its involvement in Proposition 8, and some in very high profile ways, such as Nebraskan Andrew Callahan who set up SigningforSomething.org where he and other disaffected former members posted their resignation letters well into 2009.

Others, like Jacob Whipple who organized last year’s protest at Temple Square, fear that the church’s statement may be a “one-time deal” as the Jim Dabakis, one of the ‘Gang of 5’ gay leaders who met with church struggles to re- LDS Church officials leading up to the church’s endorsement of gain its good image in nondiscimination ordinances in Salt Lake City. PHOTO: DAVID DANIELS the media.

Looking to the Future Others simply wonder why these sit-down meetings took The question on the minds of many in so long to happen. Duane Jennings, a Utah’s gay and transgender community member of Affirmation: Gay and Les- is: Will these talks continue into the fubian Mormons, a support group for gay, ture? Reportedly, the discussions lasted lesbian, bisexual and transgender Mor- six weeks before breaking off and then mons and their friends and allies, said started up again abruptly. Dabakis said that Affirmation’s national leadership he was never given a reason for why arranged a meeting with the church’s talks ended or why the officials present Family Services Department last Au- decided to open them again.

He did say, however, that the meeting gust, only to have the church cancel at the last moment — ostensibly because with the “gang of five” was not the only the department’s director had been re- one going on.

“There were other meetings with assigned to another job.

“I know the church doesn’t like bad other people in different places, other press and publicity, but historically cities,” he said. “And also, the church speaking I think the church has left met with other LGBT people besides us, gay people with no other option,” said I’m sure.” Dabakis, however, could not comment further on these other meetJennings.

Although Jennings said that an- ings because he had no further knowlnouncement of a meeting between gay edge of who was involved, or what went leaders and church officials came as “a on.

And while Dabakis does not know if surprise,” “at the same time, we know that things like this were taking place the church will ultimately back statein the ’60s and ’70s with black people wide employment and housing laws that had joined the LDS Church, and a that forbid discrimination against gay few that hadn’t that were trying to have and transgender people, he said he hopes there will be “a continuing diasome dialogue on civil rights.”

The LDS Church did not allow black logue” among the people he and other members to enter the priesthood until members of the “gang” now see as 1978 and was active, said Jennings, in friends.

“We have a lot to learn from each othmaintaining segregation laws.

Still, Jennings is hopeful that the er,” he said. “I grew up Mormon, but for dialogue between gay leaders and the the first time I think I could see things from the LDS perspective. And while church will continue.

“The fact it’s taking place and sounds I’m sure they still have their firm belike it will continue to take place, and liefs and we still have our firm beliefs, it needs to take place, is a good thing,” we’re at least able to see the perspeche said. “Let’s pray things continue to tive of the other person and find areas of agreement.” Q work out.”

Salt Lake’s New Nondiscrimination Ordinances: What Do They Mean?

by JoSelle Vanderhooft

A two year battle to expand Salt Lake City’s nondiscrimination housing and employment ordinances to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people came to end on Nov. 17 as Mayor Ralph Becker signed both documents, which the City Council had unanimously approved just a week previously.

“This was number two on the list,” Becker said, referring to his list of campaign goals for gay and transgender Salt Lake citizens he announced during his candidacy two years ago (the first was the creation of the city’s “Mutual Commitment Registry” for domestic partners last year.). “This effort today really culminates more than two years of a lot of hard work by an enormous amount of people. It took that kind of effort of a lot of people willing to come together put aside our natural differences to realize that at the heart of our success as a community is all of us living together and respecting each other.”

While the ordinances are set to take effect April 2, 2010, questions remain about their future before a Republicandominated legislature during next year’s General Legislative Session, as well as about what protections, exactly, they offer for the capitol’s residents.

The Anatomy of an Ordinance

Both 12-page ordinances begin by stating that the city values diversity and that discrimination in all forms is a threat to the city’s “social and economic progress,” as well as to all residents’ ability to contribute to the society in which they live. And while both have similar language, they have slightly different provisions and exemptions.

The employment ordinance prohibits employers from firing or refusing to hire an otherwise qualified candidate (based on such qualities as education, training and ability) because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity and from giving preferential treatment to employees based on these qualities—even to address a disparity of workers with a certain orientation or gender identity.

Other forbidden practices include harassment, discriminating in compensation and employment conditions and promoting and demoting employees. The ordinance also applies to employment agencies, labor organizations and training programs (including apprenticeships and programs run by vocational schools). Further, employers, labor organizations and agencies may not publish advertisements for job openings that specifically or implicitly limit or deny candidates based on sexual orientation or gender identity — unless such qualities are “a bona fide

occupational qualification for employment” (as in, for example, a gay-owned organization that specifically served gay male clients).

Violations of this law are handled by a mayoral appointee who has the power to investigate complaints and to attempt mediation between both involved parties, which may result in having the employer undergo sensitivity training or adopt a nondiscrimination workplace policy. If mediation does not work, the appointee may then refer the complaint to the City Attorney for further action. Businesses found guilty of discrimination may be fined $500 (if they employ 50 or fewer people) or $1,000 (for businesses with more than 51 employees).

Exemptions to the ordinance include religious organizations and businesses, businesses employing 15 or fewer people, federal agencies based in Salt Lake City and groups like the Boy Scouts of America whose “rights of expressive association” could be compromised by hiring a gay or transgender employee (the organization does not allow gay members).

The housing ordinance prohibits sellers and landlords from refusing to rent or sell a property, discriminating in lease conditions, or expressing a preference for people of a certain sexual orientation or gender identity in notices about a property. These stipulations also apply to real estate agents and to membership in real estate organizations.

Exceptions to this ordinance cover single-family dwellings (when the owner possesses fewer than four properties in the city up for lease or sale) or properties with four or fewer units. Additionally, properties owned by religious, nonprofit and charitable groups are also exempt, as are dormitories owned by private and public educational institutions if “the discrimination is based on sexual orientation or gender identity for reasons of personal modesty or privacy or in the furtherance of a religious organization’s sincerely held religious beliefs.”

The process for pursuing a complaint against a landlord or seller is identical to that outlined in the employment nondiscrimination ordinance. Fines for offenses are $500 for a property owner with 20 or fewer dwellings and $1,000 for an owner of 21 or more dwellings or a real estate agent.

Currently city law forbids housing and employment discrimination based on race, color, sex, pregnancy status, religion, national origin, disability and age for people 40 and over.

Notably, both ordinances also point out that they do not create any so-called

“special rights” for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people “because every person has a sexual orientation and a gender identity.” The argument that they would was one favored by opponents of the ordinances, including several conservative legislators.

Other Cities, Other Ordinances In days leading up to and after the passage of both Salt Lake City ordinances, two other municipal governments have expressed interest in passing similar laws: Park City’s and Salt Lake County’s—the latter of which extended insurance benefits to nonspousal adult designees of county employees (including same-sex partners) earlier this year.

“We already have internal [nondiscrimination codes] as policy in the city for hiring here,” said Park City Mayor Dana Williams. And Williams he added that he has never “heard first hand” of discrimination in housing or employment based on sexual orientation or gender identity within the politically liberal city, he nonetheless said that passing a city wide ordinance was “kind of a duh.”

“I brought it up to the council and said, ‘Is it something you’d consider?’

They said, unanimously, ‘Let’s look at it,’” he said.

Williams has forwarded a copy of Salt Lake City’s ordinances to the city’s five councilmembers and to the city’s legal department to “get the whole team to buy in.”

“I think this is something we can do in a matter of weeks,” he said. “Most everything we do takes years, but this thing is relatively easy.”

Like Salt Lake City and County, Park City offers health benefits to the domestic partners of city employees—and has for over two years.

Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson, who has backed gay and transgender rights proposals in the county for years, said that she thinks the Democratic-majority council is in a good position to at least begin discussing the an ordinance like Salt Lake City’s in the coming months.

Wilson also said that the County government has forbidden employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity since the 1990s.

In fact, Wilson noted that questions the County Council will need to resolve when discussing such an ordinance include whether or not tenants in countysubsidized low income housing are currently protected under this policy, and issues pertaining to parts of the county that are unincorporated.

Councilman Joe Hatch, another proponent of the proposed nondiscrimination ordinance, recently told Fox 13 news that the county would likely pattern its ordinance “after what Salt Lake City did.”

What Does the Future Hold?

While the Salt Lake City ordinances found an unusual (and unprecedented) ally in the LDS Church, which issued a statement in support of them the day they came before the council, many legislators and lobbyist groups consider the ordinances a threat to heterosexual marriage.

But while some legislators had previously discussed running a bill to ban the ordinances in the 2010 General Legislative Session, none have so far stated that they will definitely do so.

In fact, notoriously anti-gay Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, has now said that he may draft a bill that would extend housing and employment nondiscrimination policies like Salt Lake’s statewide. Before the LDS Church’s support for the ordinances, Buttars was among their most vocal opponents.

Meanwhile, the ordinances’ success and the church’s backing has re-energized Equality Utah. The statewide gay and transgender rights group drafted four pro-gay bills last session known as the Common Ground Initiative. Despite polls showing that a majority of Utahns favor protections for gay and transgender people like those the Salt Lake ordinances provide, each bill failed to make it onto the Senate or House floors for debate.

Before leaving his position on Nov. 20, Will Carlson, Equality Utah’s thenManager of Public Policy, said that many of the Common Ground bills would return in 2010, including a fair employment bill by Rep. Christine Johnson, D-Salt Lake City and a bill seeking to allow same-sex couples to adopt children. He also said that Equality Utah was having conversations with legislators about “other issues that may come up.”

He noted, however, that the group will have a lot of work to do in making sure these bills reach the floor for ebate.

“I think the statement of the church is going to change dialogue around a whole lot of these things, but as of our last count, it hasn’t changed much [in the way of state politics],” he said.

“We don’t have legislators saying, “I was against [the Common Ground Initiative] before and am for it now,’ but they’re more willing to have conversations.”

Although Equality Utah is currently talking with many municipal governments around the state about ordinances similar to Salt Lake’s, Carlson said that a statewide nondiscrimination law that includes sexual orientation and gender identity would be “ideal.”

We are having conversations all over the place,” he said. “We don’t want to jump the gun, but this is a great time for Equality Utah because we’re moving beyond Salt Lake City to represent the needs of all Utah residents.”

Nov e mber 26 , 20 09 | issue 1 4 2 | QSa lt L a k e | 7

News

Buttars: New Queer Ally or Business as Usual?

Just days after the Salt Lake City Council passed two historic ordinances offering workplace and housing protections to gay and transgender residents, an unlikely state senator has announced that he may introduce a bill in the next legislative session that follows similar lines.

The question many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights leaders are asking now: Exactly what will that bill look like?

On Nov. 19, Sen. Chris Buttars, RUtah, told The Salt Lake Tribune that he is considering authoring a bill in the 2010 General Legislative Session that would let municipal governments like Salt Lake City’s to enact ordinances that add sexual orientation and gender identity to their nondiscrimination laws but prohibit them from enacting any other kind of gay or transgender-inclusive policy.

“Maybe we ought to have a statewide bill that allows those things, but that’s all it allows. No creep,” said Buttars, referring to what he sees as “legislative creep” toward legalizing gay marriage or circumventing Utah’s constitutional ban on such marriages. Utah voters approved this ban in 2004.

Buttars was the legislator’s most vocal supporter of that amendment — dubbed Amendment 3 — and has opposed all legislation aimed at helping gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people specifically or tangentially since taking office in 2001. During this year’s legislative session he opposed all four bills in statewide gay and transgender rights group Equality Utah’s Common Ground Initiative, which included a bill that sought to add sexual orientation and gender identity to Utah’s antidiscrimination act. He also made headlines across the world

for telling documentary filmmaker Reed Cowan that gays and lesbians had no morals and were second only to terrorists as “the biggest threat to America going down.”

Further, just a few months ago, Buttars was a staunch opponent of the ordinances, which Mayor Ralph Becker began drafting in July after a report by the city’s Human Rights Commission revealed that anti-gay and transgender discrimination was a problem in the

state capitol. In the same month, Buttars hinted that he might author a bill to prohibit the ordinances from being enacted if they were to pass. Now, however, the LDS Church has stated its support for the Salt Lake ordinances, and Buttars, a practicing Latter-day Saint, has said their position made him reconsider.

However, Gayle Ruzicka, Buttars’ long-time political ally and president of the conservative Eagle Forum, said that the proposed bill didn’t “make a bit of sense” because municipal governments already have the power to draft such ordinances — in fact, Park City and Salt Lake County’s councils are talking of doing just that.

For once, it appears that gay and transgender rights leaders and Ruzicka may agree on something.

Will Carlson, then manager of Public Policy for statewide gay and transgender group Equality Utah, noted that members of the community had come up with a number of theories on what Buttars’ bill would actually do.

“It’s not at all clear which version it is,” he said. One theory, he noted, was that the proposed legislation could actually forbid city and county governments from passing any laws or ordinances that mention sexual orientation or gender identity beyond job and housing pro-

8 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 1 4 2 | Nov e mber 26 , 20 09

tections.

Carlson noted that he had talked to Buttars a few weeks ago about the bill.

“Even then it was just an idea,” he said.

Nonetheless, he said that Equality Utah would not leave the conversation just because the bill is not yet fully developed.

“We have a call in to try and schedule another meeting with him,” he said.

“Our position is [that] the best way to make sure this is not a hostile bill is to be in dialogues with him.”

James Humphreys, vice president of the Utah Log Cabin Republicans, also expressed concerns about Buttars’ bill. While stressing that LCR, a group of conservatives representing the Republican Party’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender caucus, supports Salt Lake’s ordinances, Humphreys said they “are not so sure this is a statewide issue.”

“As a conservative organization, we think that local government should have the final say on these issues,” he said, adding that a statewide nondiscrimination ordinance may or may not fall into this category. “We think it’s harsh to have the state come in like Big Brother [forcing municipalities] to do it their way.”

Further, Humphreys expressed concern over the timing of Buttars’ bill — particularly given that Salt Lake City’s ordinances are not scheduled to go into effect until April 2, 2010.

“This gives the legislature time to preempt them,” by creating statewide nondiscrimination guidelines to which cities and counties must adhere, he said. And such a potential bill, he added, could be a repeat of Utah’s infamous hate crimes enhancement law, which leaves the decision to add enhancements for crimes of biases in the hands of judges and prosecutors.

“It’s more likely a bill will be passed by more extreme members of our party that would gut the bill, so they could say, ‘We’ve dealt with antidiscrimination [protections for gay and transgender people], but there would be no punishment, no deterrent,” he said. So by losing the teeth of the bill, we’d potentially be patting ourselves on the back saying we did a good job like we did with hate crimes a few years ago when [that statue] did nothing to the community.”

He added that LCR would oppose any such bill or ordinance that prohibited discrimination against gay and transgender people but did not outline clear consequences for engaging in that discrimination.

Still, Humphreys said he remains hopeful that Buttars’ proposed bill will be “similar to what the Salt Lake ordinances are,” and that the LDS Church’s tentative support for a statewide ordinance may influence some of the “more extreme members of our party” to support such an ordinance.

“We’re cautiously optimistic ... but we’re not convinced entirely,” he said. Q

Q mmunity Gobble, Gobble The Utah Pride Center will host a free dinner for all gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and allied Utahns on Thanksgiving Day, complete with games, movies and, of course, a delicious dinner. Homeless youth are especially encouraged to come.

Where: Utah Pride Center, 361 N. 300 West When: Nov. 26, 12–4 p.m.

Info: Utahpridecenter.org.

Homeless Youth Breakfast Fundraiser Sacred Light of Christ Metropolitan Community Church will hold a fundraiser for the breakfast service it provides daily (except Sundays) to homeless youth. All proceeds will go towards purchasing high quality breakfast foods for the youth, such as eggs, orange juice, bread and milk. Sotto Voce will provide the evening’s entertainment.

Where: Sacred Light of Christ MCC, 823 S. 600 East When: Dec. 15, 7:30 p.m Info: Ginger Phillips, gingerspice72@msn.com

Bilingual Poetry Slam Noche Latina will present a poetry slam in English and Spanish at the Utah Pride Center. All are invited to read a favorite poem or original work. Coffee will be available.

Noche Latina presenta Una Noche Bilingüe de Poesía. Ven a relajarse el día después del Día de Gracia con una noche de poesía y con un cafecito. Si quieren demostrar su talento de poesía o leer un poema favorito contacten a Lillian.

Where: Utah Pride Center, 361 N. 300 West When: Nov. 27, 7 p.m.

Info: Lillian 801-539-8800, ex. 23.

LGBT Law Clinic Beginning Nov. 12, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Utah Pride Center, the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law Pro Bono Initiative and OutLaws, the law college’s pro-gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender group, will sponsor a free law clinic for low income members of the community who cannot afford legal help. To participate, bring documents related to the issue for which you are seeking help, such as contracts, pay stubs, court documents and e-mail.

When: Starting Nov. 12 and the second Thursday of each month after, 6–8 p.m.

Where: U of U S.J. Quinney College of Law, 322 S. 1400 East

David Daniels

Oh la la! Red Party Breaks Record Despite a slumping economy Hotel Monaco’s fifth annual benefit for the Utah AIDS Foundation on Nov. 12 brought in $26,000 — beating last year’s record by $2,000.

Although Monaco Entertainment Guru Shawn Jackson, one of the annual Red Party’s organizers, said his goal was to raise $30,000 for the foundation, he was still delighted that the party raised so much money.

“I’m in shock, I’m in awe that we brought in the $26,000 this year, given the economy,” he said. “And, of course, we offer a special thank you to all our sponsors. We couldn’t have done that without them.”

The party’s sponsors this year were Squatters Pub and Brewery, Cruzan Rum, Hotel Monaco and Bambara, the hotel’s in-house restaurant which provided tasty French food for the evening (which had a Moulin Rouge theme), including lobster bisque shooters, chilled prawns and mushroom tarts. The evening featured decorations inspired by the famous French nightclub and performances by local burlesque troupe the Slippery Kittens, which included their signature can-can dance.

“One of the highlights beside the Slip-

pery Kittens and their can-can numbers that tied in whole Monaco Rouge theme was that we also had shots of absinthe,” added Jackson. “Everybody really loved that. It brought the whole Paris flair in.”

Each year, all hotels in the Kimpton chain — which owns Hotel Monaco — hold a party near or on World AIDS Day (Dec. 1) to raise money for local AIDS-related charities. In 2007, Kimpton placed second in the nation behind Washington, D.C. after a last-minute donation of $5,000 bumped the properties in the nation’s capitol to first place (cities or regions with more than one hotel combine efforts to host a party).

Last year, however, the hotel placed first among all properties in the United States and Canada for raising $24,000.

While most locations won’t have a final tally until after World AIDS Day (when most hotels or hotel groups hold their parties), Jackson said he hopes Hotel Monaco will once again take the top slot.

The Utah AIDS Foundation provides a number of services to Utahns living with HIV/AIDS, including a food bank, case management, a weekly HIV test site and a number of HIV education and prevention programs.

Local Group Remembers Murdered Transgender People On Nov. 20, Transgender Education Advocates of Utah and a number of allied organizations observed the International Day of Transgender Remembrance for the fourth time in the state’s history. Held each November, the day memorializes people across the world murdered in acts of anti-transgender violence — acts which, as the organization behind the day contends, frequently go ignored in the media and by the majority of cisgender (non-transgender) society.

The day traces its origins to the murder of Rita Hester, a Boston trans woman stabbed to death in her apartment on Nov. 28, 1998. Hester’s murder shocked the American transgender and allied community and sparked candlelight vigils in Boston. One year later, Hester’s friends established the Day of Remembrance in her honor.

This year, three candlelight vigils were held in Utah to observe the day — in Ogden, Springville and Salt Lake Valley, where TEA has observed Transgender Remembrance Day for four years. The third gathering drew some 60 people of all sexual orientations and gender identities to the South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society for a simple ceremony presided over by Christopher Scuderi, TEA’s executive director.

To explain the day to attendees, Scuderi first read a statement taken from the Web site, transgenderdor.org.

“Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgender — that is, as a transsexual, crossdresser, or otherwise gender-variant — each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgender people,” said Scuderi.

“We live in times more sensitive than ever to hatred-based violence, especially since the events of September 11th,” he continued. “Yet even now, the deaths of those based on anti-transgender hatred or prejudice are largely ignored. Over the last decade, more than one person per month has died due to transgenderbased hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. This trend shows no sign of abating.”

“In almost every case these people were brutally murdered,” Scuderi concluded, noting that those commemorated at the vigil did not include the many transgender people who die every year because they cannot access medical care that does not exclude or discriminate against them.

After those gathered had lit candles, Scuderi read a partial list of the 143 transgender people murdered in the last year. Mostly trans women, the victims — many of whom were not known by name — came from countries including

Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Venezuela and the United States, with an alarming number of murders — some of them group slaughters — occurring in Brazil. The murder rate of transgender people across the world, Scuderi noted, was roughly two a day — a 100 percent increase since last year.

In all, 581 known murders of transgender people have taken place since 1970, according to statistics posted on the International Transgender Day of Remembrance Web site.

“We at TEA of Utah have always liked to interject a moment of light, of hope,” said Scuderi after the reading.

To symbolize this hope, he asked those gathered to join him in singing “This Little Light of Mine.”

“We hope to arrive at a day where there will be no names read,” Scuderi said in conclusion. “That takes love, engagement, involvement. It’s time for us to be heard, for silence is the true crime against humanity. Allies and transgender people alike need to stand together.”

A reception, dubbed the annual TEA Party, followed the vigil, giving attendees time to discuss the service and to explore information booths put up by Equality Utah and the Human Rights Campaign of Utah.

The evening was co-sponsored by TEA of Utah, SVUUS Social Action Council, the LGBT Public Safety Committee, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ogden, the Provo Community United Church of Christ, Ogden OUTreach and QSaltLake.

For more information about Transgender Day of Remembrance and Remembering Our Dead, the online list of known victims of murders motivated by anti-trans bias and hatred, visit transgenderdor.org.

Nov e mber 26 , 20 09 | issue 1 4 2 | QSa lt L a k e | 9

News

World AIDS Day 2009 Events This year, AIDS turned 28 amid disastrous reports of infections rising worldwide, including right here in Utah.

According to UNAIDS an estimated 33.2 million people, including 2.5 million children the world over are currently living with HIV; 2.5 million infected in 2007 alone. Of all infections, nearly half occur in people under 25 and who die before reaching 35.

The statistics for Utah are also alarming. According to Toni Johnson, executive director of the People with AIDS Coalition of Utah, there are 3,125 HIVpositive individuals currently living in the state.

“Unfortunately, those are only the people who have been tested,” she said. “There are more people, but we don’t know how many.”

To raise awareness of this disease, to further efforts to find effective treatments and to decrease the stigma of being HIV positive, World AIDS Day has been observed on Dec. 1 since 1988. The theme of this year’s day is Universal Access and Human Rights. It is a theme that Johnson and many in the state understand well, given that the state’s AIDS Drug Awareness Program, facing a $350,000 deficit, has dropped nearly 90 Utahns living with HIV/AIDS from its rolls and closed its doors to new applicants for the time being.

“It’s a nightmare,” Johnson told QSaltLake in a previous story about the program’s suspension.

Doctors, Dudes and Dinners at the Utah AIDS Foundation The Utah AIDS Foundation is a nonprofit organization that offers a number of services to Utahns living with or at risk for HIV/AIDS including: a food pantry, case management and support group services and a number of social groups centered around the health of gay and bisexual men. UAF’s HIV Prevention Program (previously known as The Village), one of these two groups, will commemorate World AIDS Day by kicking off 3D: Doctors + Dudes + Dinner, an ongoing series of dinners held to educate queer men about their specific health issues.

According to Josh Newbury, HIV prevention specialist, the dinner series is the brain-child of Scott Jackson and Kim Sawtelle, two University of Utah nursing interns who are currently working with the foundation, and who wanted to create a

Utah Pride Center

Candlelight Vigil Although Johnson and PWACU’s other officers have their hands full planning a push to get more funding for ADAP during the upcoming legislative session, PWACU will observe World AIDS Day on Nov. 1 with a candlelight vigil at the Salt Lake City Main Library’s outdoor amphitheatre, 210 E. 400 South, 6 p.m., which will include information tables, an open microphone and an opening prayer by Rev. Carolyn Holdsworth, co-minister of Granger Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

“I will also have our AIDS Drug Assistance Program fact sheet detailing what we’re going to ask the legislature available to hand out that evening,” said Johnson.

“We hope people come out and remember their loved ones,” she concluded.

PWACU’s vigil is just one of several events being held throughout Salt Lake Valley and around the state to commemorate World AIDS Day. Here are a few others being held by prominent organizations and cultural institutions.

its permanent programming.

Dinner is free and gift bags containing free yoga passes and safer sex kits are included. Space is limited to 26 men.

To RSVP contact Josh Newbury at Josh.

Newbury@utahaids.org.

UAF will observe World AIDS Day more directly earlier in the day, from 6–6:30 p.m. at the City and County Building in Salt Lake City, 451 S. State St. During this ceremony, called [Red] Day, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker will issue a World AIDS Day proclamation. The event will include a number of speakers and entertainers and conclude with a red lighting of the building and a city-wide bell-ringing tribute in honor of those affected by HIV/AIDS. On Nov. 2, UAF will hold a screening of the documentary Pedro about the life of AIDS activist and MTV’s The Real World star Pedro Zamora at the Salt Lake City Main Library, 210 E. 400 South, at 7 p.m. with a brief discussion to follow. An hour prior to the screening, a reception will be held at Canella’s Italian restaurant, 204 E. 500 South.

Here, photographer David Daniels will be taking photographs of men for use in UAF’s new safer sex campaign.

Both reception and screening are open to the public and free, but donations are accepted and encouraged.

After the heavier events surrounding world AIDS Day, Newbury called the events of Dec. 2 “a good chance for people to come together and mingle for movie.”

The Foundation will also hold free HIV testing from Nov. 30 through Dec. 3 and on Dec. 7. For more information about testing, visit utahaids.org.

longt e r m project centered on gay men’s health. Newbury said he encouraged the interns to “take a big picture approach” to their subject by looking “outside of the realities of HIV, AIDS and other STDs” at other health issues impacting queer men, including skin cancer and getting appropriate nutrition and exercise.

The first of the 3D dinners, called “Fresh, Foxy and Fabulous,” will be held Dec. 1 at Desert Edge Brewery, 602 E. 500 South, at Trolley Square, from 7–8 p.m. A nutritionist will give the evening’s presentation on exercise, fitness, nutritional supplements and positive body image.

“We’re probably going to see three more dinners through 2010,” said Newbury, mentioning that topics are likely to include genital warts and colon health. Ultimately he said the foundation hopes to make the dinners part of

10 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 1 4 2 | Nov e mber 26 , 20 09

To commemorate World AIDS Day, the Utah Pride Center will host a catered, all-ages dinner on Dec. 1 from 5–9 p.m. at its main building on 351 N. 300 West.

The dinner is being organized by Lillian Rodriguez and Jeremy Yamashiro, the Center’s HIV prevention coordinator and HIV prevention youth program coordinator, respectively. It is the result, said Yamashiro, of the two wanting to do something a little different than the Center has in past years to raise awareness about the disease and to show “solidarity and support for people living with HIV in Utah and to memorialize people who have passed on.” Both he and Rodriguez will speak at the dinner about the Center’s HIV education and prevention programs.

The dinner is alcohol-free and will be vegetarian friendly (Yamashiro added that the Center is hoping to make it vegan friendly as well). The Center’s test site will also be open during the dinner’s duration.

An after party will be held at Club JAM, 751 N. 300 West, 9 p.m.

Day With(out) Art

In honor of World AIDS Day, the Utah Museum of Fine Art will observe the Day With(out) Art. Begun in 1989 by the group Visual AIDS, Day With(out) Art is response to the toll HIV/AIDS has taken on the U.S. arts community. In the past, museums typically observed the day by sponsoring exhibits about the disease or shutting their doors entirely. Today art galleries and other arts venues typically cover a work or a number of works with a black cloth or drape to symbolize the loss HIV/AIDS poses to the arts community, to the world at large and the people and organizations working to find a cure.

Nearly 8,000 galleries, art centers, museums, libraries and AIDS service groups around the world participate annually.

In past years, the museum has covered a variety of works to honor the day, including Deborah Butterfield’s sculpture Rex and the lithograph Treaty by Robert Rauschenberg, a longtime AIDS activist. The object to be covered this year is the elegant Sowei helmet mask in the museum’s permanent Africa: Arts of a Continent exhibition. The mask’s case will be covered during visiting hours and a display card will be posted to explain the mask’s absence.

The mask, which was traditionally worn by the Sande women’s society, comes from the Mende peoples of Sierra Leone, an African nation that has been particularly devastated by AIDS. According to figures released in 2007

by AVERT, an international HIV and AIDS group, nearly 55,000 people in the country are currently infected.

According to UMFA Interim Director Gretchen Dietrich, the museum selected the piece because of its central location in the gallery as well as its connection to women — whom AIDS has hit particularly hard in all countries. “[We thought] it would be nice to do a work of art from Africa because of the ways in which the diseases’ impact on world society has changed a bit [since the 1980s],” she said.

Dietrich said that UMFA is honored to participate in Day With(out) Art as it has in years past because of the important roll art plays in society.

“An art museum has a responsibility to be connected to the world in which we are all living,” she said. “We have a responsibility to point out not just beautiful things, but difficult and challenging things as well and I think this is a nice example of that. An art museum is always a place of dialogue and conversation.”

“It makes sense to us to participate in this [day] because [AIDS] is still so relevant and such an enormous problem for people living all over the world,” she continued. “Don’t for a moment think there aren’t a lot of people in America living and struggling with AIDS and HIV-related illnesses. I think there is a bit of complacency in America about it, that this is just something that happens in Africa, and that’s not true.” Q

Gel and Vaginal Rings: The Future of HIV-Prevention?

World AIDS Day 2009 will dawn, Dec. 1, on a world where nearly 33.2 million people (including 2.5 million children) are living with HIV, according to the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS. And one University of Utah lab is working hard to bring these numbers down — especially among women, who are disproportionately affected by the disease worldwide.

In August, QSaltLake reported on technologies being developed in the university’s microbicide delivery lab run by Patrick Kiser, an associate bioengineering professor in the school’s College of Engineering — specifically, a vaginal gel that can block HIV carried by infected semen from attacking tissues in the area. This is the science of microbicides, which are substances (like the gel) used to keep viruses and bacteria from infecting a host.

However, the vaginal gel is just one of many technologies Kiser’s lab is exploring, as the professor and his team explained during QSaltLake’s recent visit to the lab, located near University Hospital.

One such technology is a soft, springy intervaginal ring similar to those used for birth control, explained Todd Johnson, a third year bioengineering graduate student. The hope, he said, is for these rings to work much like their contraceptive cousins; only, instead of birth control hormones, they will release drugs to prevent HIV from infecting vaginal cells.

One of the benefits of the rings, explained Emmanuel Ho, a research assistant professor, is that they are a “discrete way” for women to protect themselves against infection. Unlike gels which must be applied every few hours, the ring will provide protection for a month. Its one-time insertion, he said, makes it ideal for women whose male partners may object to them using such devices.

In gel tests, explained Kiser, “it’s been very difficult for subjects in clinical trials to stick with that regimen,” which is why he and other members of his lab think that rings are going to be a very important part of the fight against HIV/AIDS. Moreover, the ring may also be inexpensive to produce, making it ideal for distribution in developing countries, including those of sub-Saharan Africa which has been hit harder by HIV and AIDS than any other part of the world (international HIV/AIDS charity AVERT estimated that 22,000,000 children and adults in the region were living with the disease at the end of 2007).

It is also fairly easy to produce. To demonstrate, Johnson showed QSaltLake the lab’s ring fabrication room.

Here, beads of the polymer that make up the ring are ground up, heated to a liquid and shaped into a hollow cylinder in a process called hot melt extrusion. It can then be loaded with drugs and sealed into a ring.

Currently, said Kiser, the lab is testing a number of HIV inhibitors in the rings as well as combinations of two different drugs. One combination they are testing now is that of the antiretroviral drug Tenofovir (which blocks the enzyme the HIV virus needs to replicate itself) and dapivirine, a microbicide currently being tested in gels and rings other labs across the world are developing.

The lab is also experimenting with rings that can prevent women from being infected with the human papillomavirus, which is the leading cause of cervical cancer. While the vaccine gardasil is frequently used to protect women age 26 and under in countries like the United States, Ho said that this vaccine only protects against four of the 16 known types of HPV. “Those four types are important in the Western world, but the other types are common in Asia,” he said. Additionally, the HPV ring could potentially also be loaded with an anti-HIV drug, thus protecting women from both viruses.

Other potential ring and gel combinations, said Kiser, could also include HIV drugs and contraceptives.

The lab is also looking into other HIV prevention technologies that use polymers. The project on which fourth year pharmaceuticals graduate student Alamelu Mahalingam is working, for example, is a gel that would directly bind to the sugar molecules coating the HIV virus. The result, said Kiser, would be like a “layer of spaghetti” coated on the virus, which would prevent it from interacting with any cells it encounters.

The gel on which Mahalingam is working differs significantly from the one QSaltLake reported on in August, which was intended to activate in the presence of semen, which raise the vagina’s pH level from fairly acidic to basic, or non-acidic. This particular gel developed at the U of U, graduate student Julie Jay told QSaltLake three months ago, was the first in the country to utilize both a polymer that activated in the presence of semen and HIV antiviral drugs. The lab began working on the gel in which Jay was involved in 2004.

Currently, the lab is in the beginning phases of testing the rings and gels, a process which includes stress testing rings in ovens that reproduce the temperature and conditions of the vagina.

This is done, said Johnson, to determine

Nov e mber 26 , 20 09 | issue 1 4 2 | QSa lt L a k e | 11

if the drug molecules will break apart in the heat or humidity, which would render them ineffective. In the lab’s cell culture room, pieces of the ring are exposed to vaginal cells to see if the presence of the polymers that make up the ring will damage or kill the cells. Currently, Johnson is also working on creating a lab that would combine human cells, a piece of the drug-loaded ring and the HIV virus into a dish to see if the ring blocks the virus.

All of these tests, he and Kiser stressed, are just the beginning or “safe-

ty” phase of testing. It will be at least a few years before the lab is ready to test its vaginal gel in humans — a process which costs millions of dollars and involves what Kiser calls “thousands of participants over several years.” Currently there are a few labs in other places around the world that are just now entering these sort of human trials, he added. The rings, on the other hand, may take even longer to test in humans because, as Kiser explained, they are a more complex technology. Q

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News Still No Charges Filed in Fair/Bell Assault after 17 Months

by Michael Aaron

It is coming up on 17 months and charges have yet to be filed in a case of several people entering the home of Dan Fair and David James Bell, destroying property and beating them with fists, pans, broken glass and a large-screen television. Both were hospitalized and Fair required facial reconstructive surgery.

Bell still cannot hear out of one ear.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office said shortly after Bell was acquitted on burglary and kidnapping charges in September that they would return to screening felony charges against Fair and Bell’s neighbors.

Two months later, the only statement the DA’s office could release was that the investigation continues.

“The investigation is still pending and there is no timeline on when it may be concluded,” said Alicia Cook, deputy district attorney and Public Information officer. “It is difficult to predict.”

In an interview Oct. 15 on KCPW, District Attorney Lohra Miller said with what evidence was available it would be difficult to convict anyone in the case.

“There were a number of people that could have committed the assault on Mr. Fair and Mr. Bell,” Miller said. “Until we are able to show exactly who that was, then we couldn’t file. And neither Mr. Fair nor Mr. Bell was able to point to a specific person and say ‘that’s the person who hit me in the head’ or even ‘that’s the person who came into my home.’

Bell refutes that statement.

“No one asked Dan if he could identify his attackers,” he said. “No one in the South Salt Lake Police Department, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office or anyone else in public office has even attempted to show us pictures of possible suspects, ever. “ Cook said, “Both Mr. Bell and Mr. Fair have been contacted by my office.

Their statements would be important to the investigation of the case.”

According to Bell, one of the assailants came into their house after police arrived, feigning to be a concerned neighbor. Fair identified him as one who participated in the assault and pointed out blood on his hands. The man was handcuffed but later released.

Bell said the handcuffed man was one of two who broke his door down, pulled him out to the carport, beat him with his fists and pounded his head against the concrete.

(Since no charges have been filed, it is against QSaltLake policy to print names of the accused.)

Bell said he could also identify the person who stabbed at his throat with a broken bottle, the person who kicked him in the face, the person who kicked him and stepped on his neck, and the

person who dragged him to the back yard and threw him into a woodpile before he blacked out.

Bell said that many of these people were photographed by police officers where blood was shown on their clothing and bodies.

During testimony in Bell’s burglary and kidnapping case, many of the alleged assailants admitted under oath that they, or in one case their boyfriend, had participated in the assault. As the trial continued, they later said they couldn’t remember whether they assaulted Fair or Bell.

Hate Crime?

Miller also said in the KCPW interview that, contrary to Bell’s statements, no “derogatory statements” were presented in evidence she received.

Bell said that “homophobic comments accompanied each blow.”

“The words ‘faggot,’ ‘fag,’ ‘cocksucker’ and ‘queer’ were mingled between statements full of hate,” Bell said. He said he feared for his and Dan’s lives as the assailants yelled, “Kick their fucking faggot asses,” and “Just die, you fucking fag.”

“There’s a couple of problems with the hate crime issue,” Miller said. “When we screened the case and looked at all of the statements, there really weren’t no derogatory statements that were given in the evidence we had. (sic) Without a specific instance of any kind of slurs against Mr. Fair and Mr. Bell, that would be impossible to charge.”

Bell said two police reports and a video interview conducted by police of one of the people he said attacked him prove otherwise.

Miller also correctly noted that Utah’s hate crime law does not cover felony

assaults.

Only certain misdemeanor crimes are affected by the statute.

Snail’s Pace

Miller said in the interview that she knows the community at large and the gay community want to see a case against the assailants make its way through court.

“Anybody that took a look at pictures of Mr. Fair would recognize that something wrong happened to him,” Miller said. “And we still need to be able to take a look at this case and to make a decision to file that. I can certainly understand why the [gay] community would feel that that needs to happen. I feel that needs to happen.”

“I have concerns,” she continued, “that in order to charge somebody, we need the cooperation of the victims, which means we would need Mr. Bell’s cooperation and Mr. Fair’s cooperation.”

Bell, however, says the case’s slow pace is deeply affecting his and Fair’s lives.

“Because these people have yet to be charged with their crimes, Dan and I are unable to claim victim’s restitution,” Bell said. “Dan’s medical bills are through the roof and we’ve lost all hope of buying our own home, which we were in the process of doing when our world changed. Our lives have been turned upside down and financially destroyed.

Every day I have to look in the mirror and see scars from what they did to me on my face and neck and that will never go away.” Q

Queer Spirit Collects Winter Wear for Idaho Tribes

Idaho winters are known for being harsh and cold — a fact which makes the need for winter gear and clothing in the state all the more necessary. And on the Fort Hall Reservation, which is home to 70 percent of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes’ 5,300 enrolled members, the need for such items is great.

Since early November, Jerry Buie, a therapist and the co-director of gay and bisexual men’s spirituality group Queer Spirit, has been collecting winter wear for residents of the 544,000-acre reservation, located between American Falls, Blackfoot and Pocatello. He has taken up the collection with the assistance of Clyde M. Hall, one of the tribe elders and long-time Queer Spirit member. The group is currently one of six across the country holding such drives.

Although Buie noted that the group has received many donations so far, he added that he and Hall still need to find 12 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 1 4 2 | Nov e mber 26 , 20 09

more winter garments.

“We’ve already sent out one Suburban full of clothes, boots, gloves and coats,” he said. “My understanding from talking to Clyde is that it went very quickly.”

To meet this need, Buie has extended the drive through Dec. 7 and has added a dropoff point — his office at Pride Counseling, 231 E. 400 South, Ste. 208. Donations may be left Mondays until 6 p.m. and Tuesdays through Thursdays until 7 p.m.

Currently Buie said the reservation needs winter gear such as coats, hats, gloves, boots and scarves. The following sizes are also needed: adult large, extra large and plus sizes and all children sizes. New and gently used items are acceptable.

“We all have those extra coats and jackets we don’t use anymore, so we might as well put them to good use,” said Buie.

For information, call Buie at 801-557-9203.

Q mmunity Pride in Pink: After Hours The Utah Pride Center has announced its next Pride in Pink: After Hours, an informal networking event for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Utahns and their allies.

The party is so named because all attendees are asked to wear pink.

This month’s sponsor is Quinn Richins, who will give away $100 gift certificates to Best Buy, and prizes will be offered in a drawing that individuals can enter by bringing their business cards. Market Street Oyster Bar will provide refreshments.

When: Dec. 8, 5–7 p.m.

Where: Market Street Oyster Bar, 54 W. Market St. Cost: Donations suggested RSVP: Marina Gomberg at 801-5398800, ex. 20

Research Volunteers Needed Doctoral candidate Kim HackfordPeer is researching the relationship between mentoring and social networks for LGBT/Queer youth who grew up and came out in Utah.

She is seeking 10–12 LGBT/Queer people between the ages of 18 and 28 who grew up and still live in Utah. Participants do not need to have had a mentor to take part. The study will be done primarily through focus groups and will be interactive with “lots of storytelling.” She hopes to get as much data collected before the new year as possible.

INFO: kim.hackford-peer@utah.edu or 801-879-6209.

Volunteers of America Homeless Youth Fundraiser Mr. and Miss Gay Youth Utah, Brandon Gillins and Krystyna Starr Dior are hosting a dinner at Faustina to raise funds for the Volunteers of America Homeless Youth Resource Center. The evening includes a three-course meal and a cabaret show with special guests, concert pianist Tyler Ballou, Slippery Kittens Burlesque’s Dia Diabolique and Miss Desert Star International Sage Summers. They will also collect donations for the group’s pantry, blankets, clothing and toilety items.

A full wish list is available by calling the center at 801-364-0744.

When: Dec. 20, 6–9 p.m.

Where: Faustina, 454 E. 300 South Cost: $25 per plate. Brandon — 801-842-5194, Nova — 801-5482145 or Krystyna — 801-688-1146

by JoSelle Vanderhooft

As of last week, a familiar face at Equality Utah is going to be a lot more scarce at the gay and transgender rights group’s downtown Salt Lake City office.

Recently Will Carlson, the group’s manager of public policy and a practicing attorney with experience in a number of fields, accepted a job in the prosectuor’s office. He will now be working with Chief City Prosecutor Sim Gill as an associate prosecutor of infractions and misdemeanors. He has a law degree from the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law. “I’ve known Sim since he ran for [Salt Lake County] DA a few years ago,” said Carlson. “The job came up, and so I applied.” His last full day at work at Equality Utah was Nov. 20.

Carlson has worked for Equality Utah in some capacity since 2004, when he volunteered for the group’s Don’t Amend Alliance, a political action committee formed to stop Utah’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage that was affiliated with Equality Utah. He served as an intern for Equality Utah after the amendment’s passage until coming on board as manager of public policy in 2006. Since then, Carlson has assisted in constructing and lobbying for many of Equality Utah’s legislative bills, including this year’s Common Ground Initiative, four bills which sought to give gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Utahns such statewide rights as employment nondiscrimination and probate rights. From January to March he could be found at the State Capitol Building almost daily, meeting with lawmakers on both sides

of the aisles. He also frequently served as Equality Utah’s media contact.

Unlike Mike Thompson, Equality Utah’s former executive director who departed earlier this year, Carlton will be staying on with the group as a volunteer on its legal panel, which consists of lawyers and legal students who donate their time to the group. There, he said he will help analyze bills Equality Utah wants to introduce on the hill as well as gay and transgender rights ordinances in a number of interested cities and municipalities. Equality Utah, for example, was heavily involved in drafting Salt Lake City’s ordinances forbidding workplace and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The Salt Lake City Council unanimously approved both Nov. 10.

Carlson said that a number of factors lead him to take his new job, including advancing his career as an attorney and the chance to give someone else a say in assisting the organization.

“It’s important for everyone in the community to have a chance to speak out,” he said. “I’ve had a great run, but it’s time for other people to raise their voices.”

However, those eager to fill Carlson’s shoes may need to note that some of his duties — and his job title — are leaving with him. This is, he said, because of the different strengths old and new staff members have brought to the organization.

“Mike was a really good fund raiser, and [current Executive Director] Brandie [Balken] is a really good at public policy work,” he explained. Because of Balken’s strengths, the group will be looking for a fundraising and

David Daniels

Will Carlson Departs Equality Utah for Prosecutor’s Office

development manager. Those interested in applying for the job should call Equality Utah at 801-355-3479 for more information.

Even though he is excited for his new job, Carlson said he will miss many as-

pects of his former position.

“I’ve just loved the chance to talk to people and to meet so many amazing queer leaders in this state,” he said.

“But I’m happy I’m still going to be around.”

Nov e mber 26 , 20 09 | issue 1 4 2 | QSa lt L a k e | 13

Views

From the Editor Stories of the Demise of Gay Publications...

by Michael Aaron

L

ast week’s news of the 40-year-old

Washington Blade and five other stalwart gay publications closing down was a jarring moment for us here in the office, but not one we were surprised to read. Contrary to popular belief, these pubs did not fail because they were not generating revenue or maintaining readership.

They failed because, as other industries are seeing, a group was attempting to make a Walmartstyle monopoly of gay periodicals ... and failed.

Back in February, we heard that Window Media, the company which bought several New York, Georgia, Florida, Washington, D.C., and Texas newspapers and magazines, was in default of a Small Business Administration loan and was threatened with being put into receivership if it could not come up with half of the loan’s value in a short time. The company had taken out $38 million in loans from the SBA. A selling spree began and the New York Blade and sister publication HX Magazine were sold off, but they went south anyway.

Money-bleeding Genre magazine was shuttered and put online-only.

An alternative newsweekly won the Washington Blade on auction and they promised that all staffers would maintain their jobs, the current offices would be maintained and the print schedule would remain unaffected. The talks of the changeover, however, ceased about a week before Blade employees were greeted with a note of closure on the door as they arrived for work that Monday. The new thought-to-be owners were as puzzled as the staff as to what happened.

You see, none of the existing publications was losing money. All were generating revenue beyond their expense.

All were maintaining or even growing readership. But none, nor all, could absorb the huge debt that Window Media owners had taken out with the goal of buying even more titles.

The upside is that the staff of each publication are putting together replacements — some have already published. Nothing but the names are lost.

Since we began publishing in 2004, we have been approached by three separate organizations about being absorbed into their operations. None were a good fit for us, so I declined on each.

Two of those organizations have since experienced large layoffs and cutbacks.

The other is no longer in existence. Apparently I made the right decisions.

QSaltLake’s size, while a restriction in what we can provide, is its strength.

We have maintained a very low overhead, learning from our past overstaffing and other extravagances. Aside from two maxed-out credit cards from back in the Salt Lake Metro days, we have zero debt. Well, unless you include me.

No, we’re not getting rich on QSaltLake, but we love what we are doing and get a great satisfaction that we are among the movers and shakers of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in this state.

We are dedicated to continuing our service to this community. We hope you are committed to keeping us here as well. Need advertising? Please call us. Reading what we toil to bring you each 14 days? Support our advertisers and thank them for bringing QSaltLake to you. Know of something going on that we should cover? Call or e-mail us.

All of our contact info is on page two of each issue.

No stinking bad economy is gonna get us down. We refuse to participate in that game. We’ll just play harder. Care to play with us? Q

Creep of the Week Tony Perkins

by D’Anne Witkowski

U

nicorns.

Yeti. The Loch Ness Monster. Bigfoot. UFOs. What do these things have in common? They’re all shrouded in mystery and folklore. Few have seen them, many have searched. Some exist only in grainy photographs emerging from the woods or lake or sky. Well, now we can add another creature of fantasy to the list thanks to Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council: gay senior citizens.

You see, on Oct. 21, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced plans to create a resource center for LGBT seniors. According to HHS, “The LGBT Resource Center will help community-based organizations understand the unique needs and concerns of older LGBT individuals and assist them in implementing programs for local service providers, including providing help to LGBT caregivers who are providing care for an older partner

with health or other challenges.”

HHS cites a statistic that “as many as 1.5 to 4 million LGBT individuals are age 60 and older.”

On FRC’s Web site, under the heading “For HHS, a Senior Moment” (get it? Because seniors are senile and often do stupid things so HHS is just as dumb as an old person), Perkins lambasted the Obama administration for wasting money on such a thing.

“In reality, HHS has no idea how many LGBT seniors exist. No one does!

The movement is only a few decades old, and people who are 80 or 90 years old didn’t grow up in a culture where it was acceptable to identify with this lifestyle,” he said.

And we all know that the only way you can be gay is to grow up in a culture that accepts being gay, which is why so many kids are gay now because they learn it in school, since America is all about homos and gay marriage is legal

in all states and no one hates gay people any more. Hooray!

In other words, Perkins is celebrating the good old days where the closet door was firmly shut and gay people had to live with a shroud of shame and secrecy.

“Of course, the real tragedy here — apart from the unnecessary spending — is that, given the risks of homosexual conduct, these people are less likely to live long enough to become senior citizens! Yet once again, the Obama administration is rushing to reward a lifestyle that poses one of the greatest public health risks in America. If this is how HHS prioritizes, imagine what it could do with a trillion dollar health care overhaul!”

The connection to universal health care is a nice touch. We get it, Tony. Gays are bad, health care is bad.

In fact, gays are so bad they all die before they get old.

Well, tell that to Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, a lesbian couple together nearly 56 years. That makes them really old!

Gays are bad, health care is bad. In fact, gays are so bad they all die before they get old.

FEBRUARY 2-7 • CAPITOL THEATRE ON SALE NOVEMBER 30 AT 10 AM AT ARTTIX.ORG OR 801-355-ARTS

Nov e mber 26 , 20 09 | issue 1 4 2 | QSa lt L a k e | 15

Sadly, Martin passed away last year.

No doubt Perkins would use this fact as proof that old gay people don’t exist.

If you were to ask him how she died, I suspect his answer would be, “AIDS, probably.” Granted, Lyon is still alive, but since she’s single now Perkins probably considers her an ex-gay.

Frank Kameny is another gay elder.

Granted, The Advocate mistakenly reported that he died a couple of years ago, but as far as I know he’s an alive and kicking octogenarian.

But then, maybe Perkins doesn’t consider 80+ old. I think a visit from a group of silver daddies might do him some good. And hey, don’t seniors love to go places on busses? I smell a road trip! Q

D’Anne Witkowski has been gay for pay since 2003.

She’s a freelance writer and poet (believe it!).

When she’s not taking on the creeps of the world she reviews rock and roll shows in Detroit with her twin sister and teaches writing at the University of Michigan.

Views

Mountain Meadow Mascara Thankful Thoughts

by Ruby Ridge

C

herubs, I want to start by wishing

all my faithful readers, stalkers, fans and critics a heartfelt happy Thanksgiving! I truly am thankful for all of your support and your feedback regardless of your political persuasion, body type, gender, religion or country of origin. Although it must be said, I do appreciate those of you who use spell check slightly more than the others.

Oh, that reminds me. If you are going to call me an “opinionated, politically incorrect, overweight diva that dresses funny,” then I’m sorry, but I have to draw the line and correct you. The word “Diva” should always be capitalized. It’s not just an issue of style, but it’s also a show of deference and courtesy, just like the capital G in “God,” or the capitals J and C in “Jesus Christ.”

What? You don’t think I’m in the same league? Then explain why people cower and avert their eyes when they see me in person! [Editors note: Ummm, Ruby, have you ever considered that it could be the blinding glare from your glitter, or maybe the combination of polyester, chest hair, back hair and jewelry that gives people nauseous vertigo? It’s something to think about.]

Anyway, muffins, right before Halloween I received a surprise package at the offices of Q in Sugar House. No, it wasn’t Randy Harmon bringing me a box of donuts wearing nothing but a tool belt (I pray fervently for this everyday, yet God still ignores me!), but it was almost as good. Someone had taken the time to make me this delightful scrapbook with sequins, cutouts, bows and even little bingo numbers glued to the outside. It

was a work of art, pumpkins! It works out the gorgeous assemblage was crafted by my old buddy Rhett who used to write for the Pillar. I swear, kittens, the man is so freaking creative he just amazes

The word ‘Diva’ should always be capitalized.

It’s not just an issue of style, but it’s also a show of deference and courtesy, just like the capital G in ‘God’ me. I hadn’t thought about the Pillar for a while, but the other day I was reading online about the Washington Blade and the Southern Voice biting the dust. These were huge flagship publications for the LGBT community, cherubs, which died sad deaths due to the economy tanking

and bad company management.

I had a conversation a while back with Betsy Burton of the King’s English where I lamented about all of the recent closings of gay and lesbian book sellers like the Oscar Wilde Bookshop in New York and A Different Light Book Store in West Hollywood, Giovanni’s Room in Philadelphia and Lambda Rising in Baltimore. It’s kind of sad watching the quiet passing of an era. Gay book stores of the literary kind (not the sticky floor, cruisy, buy a roll of tokens kind of book store) had a major role in advancing our causes. They provided venues for serious thought, discussion and academic research, as well as loads of creative gay fiction that reminded gay and lesbian readers they were not alone.

So much is made about gay bars being the early community centers for the gay movement and I agree, but the gay book stores gave us a visibility, credibility and sense of community that really pushed the ball forward.

This makes me appreciate the impact of local gay and lesbian papers like Q. The niche issues that impact us rarely get any long format coverage in the local dailies, and the alternative magazines don’t have the resources to go into a lot of depth (although I must say our community has been treated well by the kids over at City Weekly, and the hippies over at Catalyst). There is definitely a need for local gay content and discourse. I guess the moral of my rant is this, pumpkins, please support our advertisers. Their investment in Q during a crap economy really is a sacrifice, and we need to thank them for subsidizing a healthy LGBT press. They are truly rock stars (which reminds me ... Adam Lambert you shocking, gyrating slut! Nicely done at the AMA’s, darling!)

Ciao, babies! Q You can see Ruby Ridge and the Matrons of Mayhem performing live, in all of their politically incorrect polyester glory every third Friday of the month at Third Friday Bingo (First Baptist Church, 777 S. 1300 East in SLC at 7 p.m.). The designated charity for December is the Assistance League of Salt Lake City’s Consociates Program (which works with Rape Victims).

Something you read make you gleeful?

Something piss you off?

QSaltLake welcomes letters from our readers.

Send your letter of under 300 words to:

letters@QSaltLake.com QSaltLake reserves the right to edit for length or libel or reject any letter.

16 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 1 4 2 | Nov e mber 26 , 20 09

Snaps & Slaps SNAP: Will Carlson Whether explaining Equality Utah’s bills and programs to the public or explaining them to legislators most of us would never want to meet, Will Carlson has served Equality Utah above and beyond brilliantly since 2006. This, of course, makes his semi-departure for Salt Lake City Chief Prosecutor Sim Gill’s office all the more bittersweet. Of course, the sweet to this bitter is actually that Carlson will be staying on as a volunteer, so we won’t be without his inestimable help. Still, it will be sad not to hear his charming voice on the telephone or on the TV news.

QSaltLake congratulates Carlson on years of excellent work and looks forward to great things from him as a city prosecutor.

SLAP: Sen. Chris Buttars Some people are calling West Jordan Republican and all-around homophobe Sen. Chris Buttars’ about face on gay and transgenderinclusive workplace and housing antidiscrimination laws miraculous — or at least, as miraculous as agreeing with your church’s stance on the topic can be We, on the other hand, call bullshit. One does not become a friend of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people by offering to run some vague bill that may or may not hamstring municipal governments when it comes to anything for queer people beyond housing and employment protections. A hint to Buttars: The process of getting us to trust you starts with shutting up with the pretty speeches and giving us a genuine “I’m sorry.” You know: For bludgeoning our every attempt at achieving basic civil rights with a “marriage defense” bill you created, and which you and your buddies assured us would never be used in such a way; For trying to steamroll Salt Lake City’s domestic partner registry that had virtually no stategranted rights behind it because it might have “offended” Utah’s definition of marriage; For describing our intimacy on tape in some of the vilest language one can find in the sewer of Urban Dictionary (gentle readers, if you still haven’t googled “pig-sex” after all this time, don’t — or at least, don’t blame us if you then throw up a lung). It’s going to take more than suggesting that cities may go no further in protecting gay and transgender people than protecting us from arbitrary eviction or firing to earn that trust, Senator. Until then, we should all brace ourselves for a sucker punch.

Bullshattuck Nice vs. Naughty

by Ryan Shattuck

N

aughty and nice. Good and bad.

Black and white. Up and down.

God and Satan. North and south. Left and right. Glenn Beck and common sense. Sarah Palin and literacy.

Our world is full of opposites. In fact, a great philosopher — I believe it was Aristotle — once said: “There are two kinds of people in the world: those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don’t.”

Yes, our world is full of opposites, and at no time is this more evident than during the holidays. This is when our wise and benevolent creator, Santa Claus, takes out his immortal list from the heavens above and places all of humanity in either a ‘naughty’ column or a ‘nice’ column. Then he checks the list twice, because he’s afraid of being audited by the IRS. And how will the gay community be categorized this year? Have we been naughty or have we been nice? More importantly, how should we act around those who disagree with us?

Several weeks ago, a collective “God, why has thou forsaken us” aroused from gay men and women across the country, followed by a “no, seriously, what the hell” in response to the passage of Proposition 1 in Maine. Proposition 1, which followed in the anti-gay footsteps of California’s Proposition 8, prevents gay men and women from having the privileges and responsibilities and more responsibilities and even more responsibilities of marriage. However, the gay community’s response in 2009 was much different from the gay community’s response in 2008. While we responded in 2008 to the passage of Proposition 8 with protests, unbridled anger and Adam Bouska celebrity photo shoots, our response in 2009 to the passage of Proposition 1 was met with a few protests, some anger and a couple of decaffeinated yawns.

It’s as if gay men and women across the United States, as a collective whole, were unsure whether to be angry at their adversaries, or whether to be patient with their adversaries. Which is more effective? We’ve long been taught that “you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” But what if the flies are on a diet? Or homophobic?

When 200,000 gay men and women and their straight allies marched in Washington on October 11, 2009 in the

National Equality March, they were met with criticism by a few gay leaders, including Rep. Barney Frank, who called the march “useless.” When some in the gay community in California decided to boycott those businesses that supported Proposition 8 with militant zeal, others in the gay community criticized such efforts for “not building bridges.” Should we be building bridges to stand with our enemies, or should we remain firm in our principles, while watching our bridges burn in the antigay moonlight?

Should we be naughty or should we be nice?

I’m currently facing a similar dilemma — in this case, that of ‘being angry’ vs. ‘being understanding’ — on a very personal level. My brother announced to the family a few weeks ago that he plans to marry his girlfriend in December after only dating for a few months.

This announcement has suddenly and unexpectedly divided my family. Although my parents support my brother’s upcoming marriage, my sister and I do not because we believe that my brother’s 1½-month engagement is ludicrously and immaturely short. I am also frustrated with my brother because although he’s made little attempt to get to know my boyfriend, he expects me to fully support his soon-to-be wife. Do I boycott his wedding out of principle, or do I support him unconditionally, even if I disagree with him?

Should I be naughty or should I be nice?

I will most likely end up supporting his marriage unconditionally, even if he doesn’t support my right to get married. However, it’s not always easy to know whether to distance ourselves from our enemies, or whether to pull them in closer. Hating our enemies hasn’t been successful, but loving our enemies hasn’t been successful either.

Perhaps winning the culture wars requires a combination of both. A good example of this is the LDS Church’s recent support of the anti-discrimination ordinances in Salt Lake City. Through a combination of protests against the LDS Church, as well as constructive dialogue with the LDS Church, common ground between the church and the gay community was eventually accomplished.

Sometimes it’s necessary to be naughty and nice. Q

Nov e mber 26 , 20 09 | issue 1 4 2 | QSa lt L a k e | 17

HANDEL. GOSPEL CHOIR. JAZZ SAX.

HALLELUJAH!

A NON-TRADITIONAL HOLIDAY TRADITION

December 10, 11, 12 & 14, 2009 • 7:30 pm For tickets call the Grand Theatre Box Office at 801-957-3322 or visit www.the-grand.org

AA/EO INSTITUTION

Views

Lambda Lore The Murder of Gordon Church

by Ben Williams

[Editor’s note: The following column discusses the particularly brutal murder of a gay man in graphic detail.]

S

ome gay bashings catch the

attention of our national consciousness while others hardly make a blip on the screen. Few people have not heard of Matthew Shepard, the young man beaten and left to die on fence in rural Wyoming 10 years ago. However, very few have

ever heard of Gordon Ray Church, a young drama major who was horrifically murdered in rural Utah 20 years ago. To Judy Shepherd’s credit, she used the senseless death of her son to put a face on gay bashing. Her son became the poster child for hate crime legislation, and while I am certain that Gordon Church’s mother loved him no less then Matthew Shepard’s did, I think perhaps religious and cultural differences allowed Judy Shepard to be

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a champion of her son.

During the Thanksgiving holiday in 1988, Gordon Church was brutally tortured and finally slain for being gay. The details of his grisly slaughter were so horrendous that the trial judge put a gag order on reporters. It was rumored that the judge did this to protect Church’s prominent LDS family from Delta from the scandal, but those who know the family said it would not have mattered. They simply wanted justice.

Gordon Church’s murder was indeed heinous. In fact, the murder was described

by The Salt Lake Tribune reporter, Chris Jorgensen, as the most appalling he had ever covered and possibly the most depraved in Utah’s history. In court, it took the reporting coroner two and a half hours of medical testimony to describe the horrendous injuries inflicted upon Gordon’s body.

Gordon Ray Church was born Sept. 14, 1960 in Fillmore, Utah to a devout Mormon family. As a graduate of Cedar High School, Gordon went on to attend Southern Utah State College (now Southern Utah University) as a drama major. One of his college friends said of him, “He was a beautiful person with a big heart and a great sense of humor.”

While cruising around town, the 28year-old Church met Michael Archuleta and Lance Wood in a Cedar City convenient store parking lot. Archuleta and Wood, both recently released from prison, were out blowing off steam after having had a fight with their girlfriends.

Wood, a handsome, blond 18-yearold Bountiful boy, approached Gordon, who was sitting in his white 1978 Ford Thunderbird, and asked if he wanted company. Gordon said yes. The answer cost him his life.

Wood and Archuleta hopped into the car and the trio cruised up and down Main Street in Cedar City and then up Cedar Canyon. There Archuleta told Wood as they left the car to walk up a trail that he intended to rob Gordon. On the trail back, Archuleta put a knife to Gordon’s neck and made a surface cut.

Gordon broke away and ran but Archuleta tackled him and made another cut on his neck, making an X. The force of being thrown to the ground also broke Gordon’s arm.

Forcing Gordon onto the hood of the car, Archuleta then raped him. While Gordon was recovering from the assault, Archuleta went to the trunk of the car and found tire chains to bind Gordon and battery cables.

Now “evil had completely over taken him, and once they started he couldn’t stop.” The men began torturing Church, who was pantless. They attached jumper cables to the car battery and to his testicles to make him scream. During the trial Archuleta admitted to hooking the cables to the battery but accused Wood of attaching the battery cables to Church’s genitals. He then claimed that Wood twisted Church’s neck, until Church fell to the ground.

The pair threw Gordon into the trunk and drove north on I-15 to the Dog Valley exit.

Archuleta told Wood that they were going to have to kill Gordon.

Pulling off onto a remote spot, they dragged Gordon out the trunk and threw him on the ground. Wood started kicking Gordon in the head with his shoe and then with his foot on Gordon’s face.

Archuleta swung the tire jack “like a golf club ... or like a mallet when you play croquet.”

After being struck several times by the jack, Church was anally raped with the tire iron, which punctured his liver. Archuleta claimed Wood then stabbed Church in the rectum with the tire iron after the murder.

Wood maintained that it was Michael Archuleta who raped Church with the tire iron.

The murderers then dragged Church’s badly-beaten and half-nude body off the dirt road and covered it with dirt and tree limbs. They then got back in Church’s car and drove north to Salt Lake City. Wood, fearful of Archuleta, went to his parole officer and confessed, but put all the blame on Archuleta.

For this brutal murder, Archuleta received the death penalty while his partner Wood, who the jury was informed was an Eagle Scout and Mormon, was sentenced to life in prison. Archuleta remains on death row 21 years after the foul deed.

He once admitted that Gordon’s ghost haunts him. I hope he does.

I heard Wood was recently paroled but have found no confirmation.

Someone commented on a blog about Gordon’s horrendous death: “I am so sorry for the friends and family of Gordon Church just [sic] an awful crime and I don’t understand how this did not receive the coverage that the Matthew Shepard case did as this could have brought hate crime awareness forward a lot sooner ...”.

Indeed. Q

The murderers then dragged Church’s badly-beaten and half-nude body off the dirt road and covered it with dirt and tree limbs.

1 8 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 1 4 2 | Nov e mber 26 , 20 09

The Straight Line Good Job, America Forever

by Bob Henline

J

Salt Lake City Council passed two nondiscrimination ordinances, the conservative group America Forever sent out a fax in which it stated that the LDS Church sold out its values as a matter of political necessity.

This fax, which the group said it sent to 80,000 people and which has the same poor design as the faxes it sent out in February to oppose Equality Utah, claims that the LDS Church had no choice but to endorse the proposed anti-discrimination ordinances in Salt Lake City if they wished to keep their exemption from hiring gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, which religious-owned businesses get.

The only thing more atrocious than the writing contained in this document is the garbage it spews: “Every single LDS member, individual, citizen of the state of Utah, should understand the position that the Church ust days after the

was placed in and distance themselves politically from the endorsement which was only done to STOP GAYS from attacking the Church and placing them in such positions.” (The fax, if you’re curious, can be found at nonparty.org/ AForever.jpg.)

Again, obvious grammatical deficiencies aside, the statement on its face is completely ridiculous. Had the LDS Church wished to distance itself from this political issue, they could simply have stayed out of it. The church had no need to make any type of statement on this issue, nor did they need to endorse the ordinances.

In their pathetic attempt to make the LDS Church the victims of the “evil gay conspiracy against Christianity,” the members of America Forever have essentially accused the church of abandoning their values and beliefs for political and/or economic gain. I’m not a Mormon, but if I were, I’d be pretty

pissed off at these guys right about now.

I guess the worst part of this whole thing is just how unbelievably stupid these America Forever people are.

Beyond the obvious ignorance exhibited by their blatant bigotry and horrifically bad writing they decided to make public with what amounts to faxed spam; their claims and their tactics are juvenile.

The church’s leadership could very easily have chosen to not take a stand at all on the ordinances and risked nothing. They didn’t.

Instead, they took the first step toward actually doing the right thing for all Utahns: helping to move the state toward political and legal equality for all citizens. Secondly, it is America Forever and not the church engaging in spin here by accusing the church of moral cowardice, of compromising their values and principles for the sake of politics.

Nice move, America Forever. Keep this up and the entire world will know just what a bunch of idiots you are if they don’t already. Q

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Gay Geeks They’re Too Much!

by JoSelle Vanderhooft

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Christmas icons are as fruity as nutcakes, geeky ones.

And no, I’m not talking about Santa Claus or Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer. Given the centuries they’ve been together, I think we can dismiss any arguments about Mrs. Claus being a beard, and as the classic 1964 Rankin-Bass special indicated, Rudolph is pretty heterosexual, too — at least if Clarice the doe has anything to say about it.

I am, in fact, talking about two other iconic characters from another iconic Rankin-Bass Christmas special, The Year Without a Santa Claus: Heat Miser and Snow Miser.

Oh, yes. I am quite a fan of those stop motion holiday specials, which you know about too, unless you’re under 13 (in which case, why are your parents letting you read a column where I regularly say “shit,’ “fuck� and “Dollhouse was a piece of shitting fuck?�). They’re the specials where all of the characters look like dolls or toys, move as stiffly as you’d expect, and have all the wonderful fur, hair and clothing textures that CGI can never, ever duplicate.

Yes, I may be on the youngish side of geekdom, but dammit, I will not join the cult for this newfangled medium, no matter how many Monsters, Inc’s, Wall-Es and Ups it gives us. Let us not

20 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 1 4 2 | Nov e mber 26 , 20 09

forget that CGI killed the Claymation star, after all. Even when these older specials stumble into glurge-worthy territory often, there’s just something so attractive, endearing and comforting about them, kind of like cranberry sauce or garlic stuffing. Heck if I know what. I just know that I never miss one if I can help it, from Thanksgiving Day until New Year’s Eve. But back to the Miser Brothers. In case you’re one of the five teens or adults who have never, ever seen or heard of this special, a brief summary: Snow Miser is the being in charge of all snowy, cold, awful Christmases (like Utah’s), and Heat Miser is the being who rules all warm, sunny, awesome Christmases (what, me biased? Never!). The two are constantly at odds, and their fighting has a tangential — though incredibly fun — impact on the events of The Year Without a Santa Claus. Such is their popularity with children and adults alike, in fact, that they got their very own special, A Miser Brothers Christmas last year, which was the highlight of my holiday season.

And as I’ve said, they’re also gay as an eleven of diamonds.

I’ll give you a few minutes to run to your computers and google up some pictures of the boys, or if you’re YouTube savvy, a clip of their number. All done? OK, then you probably noticed

the following: 1. Snow Miser is a 70-year-old twink.

2. Heat Miser could probably win the Mr. Utah Bear competition.

3. The mini-Misers dancing around them somehow make them even gayer.

4. They’re both faaaabulous. And yes, I really did have to add the three extra a’s.

Of course, if these were the only reasons I had for outing the Miser Brothers, you would definitely have the grounds to dismiss my argument — or, at least, more grounds than you might have now, given how I see gay in everything. But I have more proof: 1. Both are mama’s boys. (The family matriarch, Mother Nature, is the only one who can get them to stop fighting long enough to let Christmas go on as planned).

2. Harvey Fierstein played Heat Miser in the otherwise godawful 2008 live action remake.

3. And still managed to be gay despite having a bevy of attractive, bikini-clad chorus girls prancing around him.

4. Which made the scene bearable for me.

5. And may have actually contributed to the gay factor, come to think of it.

6. Most importantly, gay choruses have performed the Snow Miser/Heat Miser song. As you can see here: tinyurl.com/ylrcvpn.

7. A Snow Miser who shouts “Sing it, girls!� in the above performance.

8. A Heat Miser who is less dynamic, but who still has a “get off my lawn, you damn kids!� bear quality.

9. The Salt Lake Men’s Choir should totally perform these songs in 2010.

10. With Michael Aaron as Snow Miser.

11. Oh, hi, boss! No, I wasn’t just talking about you.

These reasons are, I think, ultimately why The Year Without a Santa Claus is my favorite Rankin-Bass. It’s always nice to see family — whether intentionally inserted or just accidentally fabulous — in a special meant for children, for one thing. And when they’re family who steal the show, well, so much the better. This holiday season, why not relive your childhood — or live it, if you’re reading “Gay Geeks� without proper adult supervision — and tune in to either of the Miser Brothers’ specials, which will air on cable and hopefully on at least one public-access HD channel. Your holiday will be all the merrier and gayer for it.

And come to think of it, isn’t the Island of Misfit Toys from Rudolph just another big gay metaphor? Not to mention, Hermy the elf and wannabe dentist with the impeccably coiffed blond locks and the femme features? Hmm. Maybe Rankin-Bass has even more family than I thought.

Well, that’s fodder for another column, I think. Happy start of the winter holidays, geeky ones! Q

Q Health ’Tis the Season for Infections

by Lynn Beltram

A

long with winter and cold

weather comes a myriad of infectious diseases such as colds, flu, pneumonia and even certain types of meningitis. One reason why is simply that we tend to congregate indoors more often during the winter months for holiday gatherings or because we’re less likely to attend outdoor gatherings. The public is also more likely to travel during this time of year, which increases the risk of contracting a variety of infectious diseases. Whatever the reason, transmission of many respiratory infections is just more rampant in closed air environments.

Among the most common diseases that circulate during this time of year is influenza — however, I know you’ve already heard more than enough about that lately. But several other bacterial and viral respiratory infections also tend to circulate during this time of year, and it’s important that people know what to look for and what steps they can take to protect themselves from infection.

The majority of infections that spread during this time of year hit the respiratory system. These are transmitted through droplets spread during coughing or sneezing. Anyone who is experiencing symptoms of a respiratory infection should cover their mouths and noses when they cough or sneeze, avoid touching their mouths, noses and eyes, and wash their hands as often as possible. Frequent hand washing is a critical component of all good hygiene, but is critical during the winter months. If you are experiencing any flu like symptoms, staying home from work or other gatherings will help the community at large avoid mass infections.

Also, people should realize that secondary bacterial and viral infections can develop from respiratory illnesses.

What may start as a simple cold or flu can make you more susceptible to secondary infections, and these may lead to more severe diseases such as pneumonia or meningitis. When your immune system is already impaired with a “run of the mill� respiratory infection, your risk of developing a secondary infection can easily increase. Here’s how the two most common ones work: Pneumonia simply means that the bacteria or virus is infecting your lung tissue and impairing your lung function; meningitis can be caused by either a bacteria or a virus, and occurs when the virus or bacteria infect the tissue surrounding the brain. Meningitis commonly leads to altered mental status and requires long term rehabilitation.

Rates of certain bacterial and viral pneumonia and meningitis cases are known to increase during the winter months. Research also shows a connection between those who have been diagnosed with pneumonia and meningitis and a diagnosis of a suspected flulike illness within the two weeks prior.

Pnuemonia and meningitis are much more likely to require hospitalization than regular colds or the flu.

Although rates of pneumonia and meningitis are much lower than rates of influenza, the loss of productivity and health care costs can be devastating to individuals and families. It certainly holds true that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure� when it comes to good hygiene during the winter months. Wash your hands often, cover your mouth and nose when your cough and sneeze, and stay home when you are sick ... and enjoy a healthy and happy holiday season! Q Lynn Beltran is the program manager for HIV and sexually transmitted infections at the Salt Lake Valley Health Department. More information at slvhealth.org.

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Feature — Gay Gift Guide

Gay Holiday Gifts

Each holiday season the QSaltLake staff hits the streets in search of fabulous christmas gift ideas to share with you from some of their favorite local shops and boutiques. If you’re at a loss over what to surprise your loved one with this season, below are a few suggestions, and remember each of these featured businesses support the gay community, so do what you can to support them.

Our Store: Your Thrift Alternative 358 S. 300 East, Salt Lake City, YourThriftAlternative.org

We know many of these items will have walked out the door before you read this, but we wanted to give you a chance to help save the environment and support a great cause (not to mention save a lot of dough) as you take care of that shopping list this season.

Decorative Bride & Groom Michael insists this eloquent porcelain statuette is of President Obama and Michelle. If he’s right, and he usually isn’t, then this is a collector’s item. $5

Sponge Bob Boogie Board Leopard-print Princess Pet Chair Your small dog or cat will lick your nose off for this charming rod iron pet chair. The leopard-print cushions are soft and relaxing, and the black tassels make for hours of entertainment for your special pet. $15

Escape the Utah snow with this fabulous boogie board. All the muscle-bound hotties on Venice Beach will be envious of it and it’ll heighten you chances for a little boogie in the bed. $4

Marilyn Monroe Travel Bag This light carry-on travel bag with a festive and shiny illustration of one of America’s divas is perfect for any t ravel destination. $20

Black Angel Wings Once worn by a celebrity massage therapist, these well-kempt black angel wings are worth much more than they’re going for. *Sexy model not included! $50

Soup Tureen This lovely fall-themed soup tureen would make a perfect accent piece for your fabulous holiday gatherings. $10

I Love Lucy Commemorative Plate Who doesn’t love Lucille Ball enough to eat directly off her face? $10

22 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 1 4 2 | Nov e mber 26 , 20 09

is giving away a same-sex wedding!

Send us a write-up on why you should be chosen to have your wedding bells rung by QSaltLake. If you are our lucky winners, we will take care of the: • Reception Hall • Caterer • Wedding Officiant • Wedding Photographer • Rehearsal Dinner • Floral Arrangements • Honeymoon Accommodations • Honeymoon “Kit” • Plus More to Be Announced Soon Make your case in up to 500 words and email editor@qsaltlake.com by Dec. 31 to be considered.

Wedding to take place mid-February

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Feature — Gay Gift Guide

Village Christmas Shoppe

Santa Claus Nutcracker

1100 W. 7800 South, Gardner Village

If you haven’t made your way out to the Gardner Village gem, you haven’t seen how splendiferous your home will look all bedecked with fa-la-la. Jim and the gang only bring the best and most outrageous holiday decor from around the world.

Tabletop Decorative Christmas Tree

Not exactly your typical looking Santa Claus, but can still crack the biggest of nuts. $35

This two-dimensional wire decorative christmas tree made of colorful beads and flaked in glitter is a lovely conversation piece for your holiday party. $67

Yummy Gummy Gumdrop Factory Part of Department 56’s collection, this adorable holiday decoration will make your house guests all sticky. $75

Flower Fairies These darling, well-crafted collector’s items will bring warmth and sunshine into your home season after season. $14

Ornaments Village Christmas Shoppe has a huge selection of tree ornaments — from classic to ecclectic — that will leave you browsing for hours. It’s fabulous! These are a few of the eclectic ornaments: She Gull, $13; Capt. Jack Black, $14; Miss Lobster Thermidor, $17.50; Fruit Cocktail, $8.50.

26 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 1 4 2 | Nov e mber 26 , 20 09

Cahoots

878 E. 900 South

Of course you must make at least one stop at Cahoots for their collection of irreverent and naughty gifts. I mean, you need to stop for lube anyway, right?

Bust and Fraternity Plague Alone or together, these sensual pieces from the Vitruvian Collection will certainly spice up your decor. $74.95 and $49.95

Jack Mormon Flask There’s nothing like drinking alcohol from a flask emblazoned with the Angel Moroni. $19.95

Cabin Fever

600 S. 700 East, Trolley Square

Another irreverent store is Cabin Fever, which has been around off and on since the 1980s. Stop at Trolley Square and tell them Q sent you.

Huge Penis Book Are you distraught over your lover’s humongous penis, then this is the book for you and him! $12.95

Save The Planet Shopping Bag It has Wonder Woman on it. You’ll feel like you’re the most fabulously accessorized super hero to ever be green. $5.95

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Holiday Paper Mache Birdhouses and Gift Boxes Simply beautiful christmas gift ideas. Your honey will be thrilled and covered in glitter. $22–88 Nov e mber 26 , 20 09 | issue 1 4 2 | QSa lt L a k e | 27

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Arts & Entertainment

Gay Agenda ’Tis A Swell Season

by Tony Hobday

If you’re like me and my friends who spend Christmas together as a family — siphoning overspiked egg nog and feasting on everything from deviled eggs to lamb with cactus jelly, then you’re aware of how expensive it can be. My family keeps costs down by picking a theme for gifts and using ‘Secret Santa.’ Here are some suggestions for themes we’ve used in the past: Gelatinous, Leather, Role Playing Games, Smut, Lubricating Agents, Rubber, Rubber Underwear ... hmmm! I suddenly sense a pattern here. Happy Holidays!

27

The Swell Season See Nov. 28

friday — Odyssey Dance Company’s unique take on the classic holiday film, It’s A Wonderful Life, returns.

Now in its fifth run, this creative work is quickly coming to be, itself,

a popular local tradition.

Driven by circumstances to the point of no return, George Bailey gets the chance to see the world as it would have been without him, and he realizes his ordinary life is really extraordinary.

7:30pm, through Dec. 5, Kingsbury Hall, 1395 E. Presidents Cir., UofU. Tickets $25–45, 801-581-7100 or kingtix.com.

28

saturday — Have you had the chance to see the simply shot, but incredibly endearing independent film Once? In my book it was one of the best films of 2007 — I had never seen anything like it; the enchanting soundtrack was the movie, brilliant! The song “Falling Slowly” won an Oscar. Anyhoo, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (who starred in the film) are The Swell Season. The duo is on tour promoting their new release Strict Joy. This could be one of the most intriguing concerts of the year.

8pm, Jeanne Wagner Theatre, Rose Wagner Center, 138 W. Broadway. Tickets $42, 801581-7100 or kingtix.com.

QQ The Utah Arts Alliance presents Masquerade, a fundraiser offering music, dancing, raffles and prizes — like most fundraisers. But here, masquerade attire is required! A brown paper bag will do, though.

9pm, Utah Center for Arts, 2191 S. 300 West.

Suggested donation $20, 801-651-3937 or utaharts.org.

2

wednesday — In support of World AIDS Day, the Utah AIDS Foundation is sponsoring a free screening of Pedro, written by openly gay Dustin Lance Black (Milk). The film celebrates the extraordinary life of Pedro Zamora (The Real World), a young man who, when he found out he was HIV positive at 17, made the courageous decision to dedicate his life to speaking out about his condition in an attempt to raise awareness about the disease in his community.

7pm, Main Library Auditorium, 210 E. 400 South. Free, utahaids.org.

28 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 1 4 2 | Nov e mber 26 , 20 09

QQ Support local artists and find oneof-a-kind holiday gifts during a funfilled Holiday Trunk Sale at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. Listen to music, nibble on snacks and stock up on unique, hand-made items from over 15 of Salt Lake City’s finest consignment artists. Choose from jewelry, pottery, wearable works of art and a variety of other gifts inspired by art and culture from around the world.

4–8pm, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 410 Campus Center Dr., UofU. Free, 801-5856961 or umfa.utah.edu/trunksale.

4

friday — The alternative/ acoustic rock band Dashboard Confessional returns to its roots. The band originated in 1999 as a solo project by frontman Chris Carrabba. Tonight, Carrabba returns to the stage, alone, for an evening of his memorable past, his successful present and his beautiful future.

7pm, In The Venue at Club Sound, 219 S. 600 West. Tickets $25/adv–$29/day of show, 801-467-8499 or smithstix.com.

QQ Pioneer Theatre presents a production of my favorite classic holiday film A Christmas Story. I know, it’s not as though-provoking and inspirational as Miracle on 34th Street or It’s a Wonderful Life, but it makes me giggle ... a lot! It’s about a young boy who wants a B-B gun for Christmas and he’ll do just about anything to get it.

The goofy kid gets his mouth washed out with soap and his tongue froze to a flagpole — it’s like they ripped it right from my childhood.

7:30pm, through Dec. 19, Pioneer Theatre, 300 S. 1400 East, UofU. Tickets $22–40, 801-581-6961 or pioneertheatre.org.

5

saturday — Decorating for Christmas is so gay sheik, I just love it. It’s even more fantabulicious when you create your own

decorations. To help you along, Red Butte Garden is offering a Wreath Workshop, where they’ll help you create wreaths that’ll make your front door pop with merriment. I know most gay men don’t need help with their creative outlet, but like with my lesbian friends, Michelle and Donna, a wreath constructed of beer-can tabs and fishing lures ain’t all that festive — they need Red Butte!

9am–Noon & 1–4pm, through Sunday, Red Butte Garden, 300 Wakara Way. Registration required, $50/members–$60/nonmembers, 801-581-8454 or redbuttegarden. org.

QQ Gearing up for the gay ski season, SkiOut Utah is holding a fundraiser tonight. This winterized social group is a fantastic outlet to meet other likeminded individuals — those who play with their greased apparatuses. Join them for WinterJam, an evening of food, fun and mingling.

9–11pm, Jam in the Marmalade, 751 S. 300 West. Cover $10, skioututah.com.

8

tuesday — It’s time again for Utah Pride Center’s Pride in Pink: After Hours. This debonair networking event is for members and allies of Utah’s LGBT community. Be a part of this urbane gathering. Mix and mingle. Nosh and imbibe. But most importantly: Wear pink and be fabulous. “Fierce” prizes will be given away, too!

5–7pm, Oyster Bar, 54 W. Market St. Donations suggested, rsvp to Marina Gomberg, 801-539-8800 ext. 20.

QQ I bet most of you did not know Michael Aaron was once a struggling wedding singer. Well, if you’ve ever heard him sing karaoke, then “struggling” isn’t such a stretch. Anyhoo, on that note, New Space Entertainment presents a production of the musical

9

wednesday — Openly-gay writer/director Gus Van Sant’s (Milk) first film in his “Death Trilogy” called Gerry stars Matt Damon and the incomparable Casey Affleck (way more talented than his brother). The film is loosely based on a real-life tragedy. Partially filmed on the Utah Salt Flats, it follows two friends on a doomed hiking trip.

6pm, Utah Museum of Fine Arts Auditorium, 410 Campus Center Dr., UofU. Free, 801585-6961 or umfa.utah.edu.

UPCOMING Events DEC. 11-12 DEC. 12 DEC. 31 JAN. 12

SLMC Holiday Concert, First Baptist Church RCGSE Snow Ball 2009, Rose Wagner Ctr. Rufus Wainwright, Park City Howie Day, The State Room

Save the Date December 11–12 Salt Lake Men’s Choir Holiday Concert ­ saltlakemenschoir. org December 12 RCGSE’s Snow Ball 2009 ­ rcgse.org

February 12–14 quacquac.org May 8 HRC Utah Gala ­ utah.hrc.org June 4–6 Utah Pride ­ utahpridecenter. org

Lesbian Ski Week, September 28 gayskiing.org Equality Utah January 17 Allies Dinner ­ Her HRC, equalityutah.org Celebrating the

January 21–31 Sundance Film Festival, Park City ­ sundance.org

Gays Flood Abravanel Hall for Kathy Griffin

by Tony Hobday

S

aturday ,

Nov. 21 Abravanel Hall felt like Gay Pride, according to some who attended the Kathy Griffin show. The energetic buzz that filled the four-story lobby prior to the show spilled over into the exquisite concert hall, filling 2,032 seats of the 2,768-seat venue. It’s no wonder that Griffin has such a large gay and lesbian following: She’s an outspoken gay rights advocate, including in the media, on her cable television show My Life on the D-List and in her stand-up routines; she has no qualms about trashing celebrities, political figures and wannabes.

The audience roared as Griffin entered, bounding across the hardwood stage. Her set: a small cocktail table with bottles of water and a microphone. Dressed in simple black, she opened with asking who in the crowd’s gay. A sea of hands shot into the air.

A fair amount of lesbians wielded their arms next when asked, and then several dozens of heterosexuals less heartedly replied, as if shaken by the outnumbering.

During Griffin’s 90-minute unin-

terrupted performance, she dug into big names including Oprah Winfrey, Paula Abdul and Sarah Palin, as well as lesser-known personalities like Levi Johnston (the father of Palin’s bastard grandchild) and the Real Housewives of Atlanta — all of which were backdropped with hilarious verbal lashings from her etiquette-rearing mother.

For those in the audience who may not have cable television access or who may not watch reality programs might have felt the bit on the Housewives was too long or might have felt mostly unmoved by the jokes.

Also, Griffin is well known for her wicked tongue and outrageous sexual diatribes, and although she threw out some jabs that made even the toughestskinned audience members blush, the overall show felt a little tame in terms of her usual brashness. Yet, Griffin’s material was dead-on for what I can only assume was an assumption by her that the Salt Lake City crowd needed to be a little sheltered. I just hope in her future appearances, her performance will be no-holds barred, so we can be fully honored with the presence of the sensational Kathy Griffin. Q

QUAC Ski-N-Swim ­

December 31 August 7–8 New Year’s Eve w/ Park City Arts Rufus Wainwright ­ Festival ­ ecclescenter.org kimballartcenter.

January 6–10 org Utah Gay &

Female ­ utah.hrc.org

Jonathan Cohon

The Wedding Singer, based on the 1998 movie. Three weddings, a bar mitzvah and a wild trip to a Vegas “chapel of love” keep things hopping in this affectionate look back at the ’80s.

7:30pm, through Dec. 13, Kingsbury Hall, 1395 E. Presidents Cir., UofU. Tickets $25–55, 801-581-7100 or kingtix.com.

Major events will be considered for Save the Date if you e-mail arts@­ qsaltlake.com

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WINE PARTY SPONSORED BY QSALTLAKE December 13, 7:30–10:30pm

KARAMBA PACHANGA NIGHT 1051 East 2100 South Sugar House

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Arts & Entertainment

Queer Oral History Project Wants Your Story

T

united states has changed a lot for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the 40 years since the Stonewall Riots kicked off the gay rights movement as we know it today.

So much, in fact, that David Adler said he noticed a generation gap between young gay and transgender people and those who came out between the late ’60s and the early ’80s “if they ever did.” And while gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth are coming out at younger and younger ages (13-14 being about the current average), Adler worries that they’re doing so without something their predecessors also lacked: mentors.

“One thing I felt like I’ve been missing is having a role model of sorts,” said Adler. “There really isn’t a clear tradition of mentoring youth who are coming out of the closet in how to negotiate the world when it comes to incorporating sex into identity. ... In some ways I feel frustrated that straight people, being that they’re in main stream culture, have an entire system where they have he

this kind of support. They have the flow chart of how life is supposed to go at this age, or at this point you do this, these are the cues you follow. We don’t have that as much.”

In order to address that lack Adler and his best friend Jeremy Yamashiro, the Utah Pride Center’s HIV Prevention Youth Program coordinator, have started the Queer Oral History Project, which aims to collect the personal histories of Utah’s gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people for posterity, and for generations living now.

“A few months back we tossed around this idea: what if we did something where we’re gathering an ethnographic record of the community in the [Salt Lake] Valley and what it’s been through,’ said Adler, who quit his job in order to run the project full time. “I’ve been fascinated by what we’ve experienced in the last three decades or more to create an open and inclusive environment where it’s relatively safe for queer people to come out of the closet now.”

Although Utah’s queer community has boasted a number of historians in

the past and currently — most notably Ben Williams, who writes QSaltLake’s “Lambda Lore” column — no one, said Adler, had ever attempted a project as the one he and Yamashiro have in mind.

The two are currently scheduling twohour blocks of time to interview gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals, groups and couples who want to tell them what Utah’s community was looking like “throughout the range of Stonewall to Matthew Shepard,” or from the 1969 riots to Shepard’s worldchanging murder in 1998.

“I think that there are a great number of people in this community dying to tell their story about what this city has gone through,” Adler said, noting that the valley has seen three incarnations of the Utah Pride Center and the departure of several prominent leaders to other states and countries.

“We’ve lost a lot of the collective wisdom and experience that has come from that [people moving away],” he said.

“What we’re trying to do is capture as much of that story of our community as soon as we can because we don’t know who else is going to leave or who else we’re going to lose.”

Currently, Adler and Yamashiro are looking for individuals age 30 years and older who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer or a straight ally and who called the Salt Lake Valley home for at least a year between 1969 and 1998. Ideally, the two would like to collect at least 100 one- to two-hour video and audio interviews, which Adler said they can do in homes or public spaces of the subject’s choosing. Interviewees may use their real name or a pseudonym, depending on “how much visibility they want to have,” said Adler, noting that the project will be part of the public record.

As one of the conditions for the grant money the project has received, these interviews must be transcribed. Adler is hopeful that members of the younger generation will volunteer for this task.

“The experience of having youth transcribe these will be a great way for

wisdom to be imparted to a new generation,” he said.

Ultimately, Adler and Yamashiro will create a 30-40 minute documentary featuring highlights from some of the stories. They hope then to show the film publicly and hold a discussion period after for viewers to “discuss the nature of the community and its evolution.”

Although the project is affiliated with the Utah Pride Center, Adler said it is independent financially, which gives him and Yamashiro the ability “to ask for funding, in-kind donations and sponsorships and to have the proper structure we can use for advancing this [project].”

So far, they have received a $2,000 grant from the Center and are planning to ask other institutions for funding in the following months.

To advance the project even further, and to enrich the history it covers, Adler said he and Yamashiro asked Williams to serve as advising secretary because of the countless hours he has spent compiling “pages and pages of local history.”

“If there’s a person that’s the go-to guy for community history, it’s him,” said Adler, adding that Williams has helped them understand how the national gay rights movement first appeared in the Salt Lake Valley. “[For example], we found out from Ben that it wasn’t until the early to mid ’90s that the AIDS crisis hit Utah,” he said.

When the project is completed, Adler said he hopes that it will be useful to all people in the community, and its youth in particular.

“I feel like if we get this generational gap bridged, the younger generation will be able to move forward much more informed and with a sense of perspective on where we’ve been,” he said. Q

Adler and Yamashiro are looking for volunteers to assist with transcribing, video editing, marketing, outreach and fundraising, as well as monetary donations. To volunteer time or money or to schedule an interview, e-mai them at queerhistoryproject@gmail.com.

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The Queer-Affirmative Therapists are In

hby JoSelle Vanderhooft hen foundation for m Reconciliation, a group r of straight Mormons and their friends of all sexual eorientations, delivered a petition to â&#x20AC;?LDS Church headquarters earlier this tmonth asking the church to seek forkgiveness and dialogue with gay, les-bian, bisexual and transgender people, they were joined by a group of mental ,health practitioners. , Known as the LGBTQ-Affirmative dTherapist Guild of Utah, these indiyviduals read a statement criticizing sElder Bruce C. Hafen for statements he -made during this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Evergreen International conference â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a conference ywhere gay Mormons are encouraged to dattempt to change their sexual orientadtion. In his remarks, Hafen criticized yprofessional psychological associations efor stating that sexual orientation is unchangeable and told attendees to â&#x20AC;&#x153;[f]ind ma therapist who can help you identify dthe unmet emotional needs that you eare tempted to satisfy in false sexual ways.â&#x20AC;? r â&#x20AC;&#x153;We regularly work with clients who lstruggle with suicidal feelings, many htimes because of an inability to resolve their distress about the conflicts beltween sexual orientation and religious nbeliefs,â&#x20AC;? read the guildâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement in eresponse. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They state they have at-tempted to change using the interventions and strategies offered by their LDS sources. They blame themselves -for failing to change their sexual ori-entation. ... They are sincere in their sdesires to comply with teachings from etheir authorities and please God and ilthus try to change and experience heterosexual attractions. Given the binds they are in, they describe lying to others, and even themselves, about the realities of their situation.â&#x20AC;?

While this statement was among the guildâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most public appearances to date, this is not the first time members have spoken out against reparative therapy.

In fact, the impetus for its founding in 2004, said therapist Jim Struve, one of the guildâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creators, was widespread concern about how Utah mental health professionals were responding to issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Reparative therapy is a controversial issue in the gay and transgender community, in part because many members â&#x20AC;&#x201D; particularly those from Christian backgrounds that believe homosexuality and transgenderism is curable â&#x20AC;&#x201D; have suffered from it. Currently, all

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reputable psychiatric and psychological organizations in the United States reject the practice as harmful because it frequently causes depression and leads to suicide attempts when they find their orientation is not changing.

To counteract reparative therapy and other biases against gay and transgender mental health consumers, the guild put up a Web site with a mission statement saying that they were available for referrals and supportive of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning clients. To date, the group has over 100 members of all sexual orientations and gender identities who work as therapists, social workers, psychiatrists and other pro-

As therapists, we have a certain responsibility to address certain issues coming up in the community. fessionals and students working in the area of mental health. Members also hail from all parts of the state, though a majority work in the Salt Lake Valley.

Along with an active mailing list, members can also take part in monthly meetings (held September through May) for networking opportunities and presentations by other group members on a number of subjects relevant to gay and transgender issues in mental health services. In October, for example, Struve said the presentation focused on bisexuality and adolescence.

Frequently, the topics are not only interdisciplinary, but also sensitive to intersectional issues, such as upcoming seminars on queer parents and on working with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender queer and questioning clients who also have physical disabilities. Sometimes, presentations are also run in collaboration with organizations that are not involved in mental health services, but which work with gay and transgender people regularly, such as the ACLU of Utah.

In the future, Struve said the guild hopes to collaborate with groups like

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PFLAG and further with the Foundation for Reconciliation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We meet together partly so we can do networking with other groups and partly so we can address an issue that crosses multiple lines,â&#x20AC;? Struve explained. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What we try to do is foster collaborative relationships with colleagues so we begin to realize that clients have more issues in their lives than just [issues relating to sexuality and gender identity].â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;But we still donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have as much as weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to be doing around transgender issues,â&#x20AC;? he added.

Despite its youth, the group has been getting a lot of notice from the media, including Utahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daily newspapers and news stations. Struve noted this interest was helped along by therapist and guild member Lee Becksteadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s involvement in drafting the American Psychiatric Associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement in July that reparative therapy was not â&#x20AC;&#x153;clinically sound.â&#x20AC;? The papers called the guild immediately, said Struve, and have called on them since. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They have identified us and called several times wanting our statement or input,â&#x20AC;? said Struve. It is input the group is happy to provide: â&#x20AC;&#x153;As therapists, we have a certain responsibility to address certain issues coming up in the community.â&#x20AC;?

And it seems the community that the guild is trying to serve is paying attention. In years past, the guild has participated in the Utah Pride Parade and festival only to get â&#x20AC;&#x153;amazing feedback from people saying thank you for being around,â&#x20AC;? said Struve. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In Utah weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re finding so many people are afraid of therapy because their assumption is theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not going to be accepted and that the therapist is going to try and convert them,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When people learn thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not the case, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard to measure what that leads to, [but] I assume it means some people eventually find their way into therapy.â&#x20AC;?

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Nov e mber 26 , 20 09 | issue 1 4 2 | QSa lt L a k e | 3 1

Food & Drink

Restaurant Review Gauguin, Van Gogh and Franck?

by Chef Drew Ellsworth

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i see Paintings by PostImpressionists like Cezanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m always struck by how their work got right â&#x20AC;&#x153;to the artistic point.â&#x20AC;? For these artists, painting came straight from their hearts with very little evidence of thought or theme, and with little reliance on tradition or history. All these artists took painting to a new level that made way for the likes of Picasso, DalĂ­ and Pollock.

I thought about painters like the Post-Impressionists and others when I went to the restaurant reviewed in this issue.

When you dine at Franckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the experience is very much like going to a museum. Franck is the consummate chef/artist, and each plate he creates is a masterpiece. Let me tell you about his food.

My dining partner at Franckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s was Brad Di Iorio of QSaltLake. When we arrived, we were first greeted by our waitress, who was about 8½-months pregnant. She is French-Canadian and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve met her before at French Club functions. Her knowledge of Franckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s food and wine pairings was excellent, and since each menu item is quite complicated she did a great job giving us suggestions. While we waited for our food, however, Brad and I decided we werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as satisfied with the dĂŠcor, and we both commented on several odd choices: The light fixtures were reminiscent of orange Asian lanterns â&#x20AC;&#x201D; round, and a bit weird. The chairs were also finished with an Asian cinnabar color which matched the lanterns. Why? hen

We started with some Chandon Blanc de Noir sparkling wine. It was creamy, full-bodied and just as good as I had remembered it. Our first dish was the very beautiful shrimp and veggie spring roll. The roll was cut in half on the diagonal with the point saluting upward. Drizzled around the plate was a semi-sweet carrot and coconut sauce with chanterelle mushrooms here and there. I loved the flavor of the roll and I loved the chanterelles, but I thought the carrot/coconut sauce was too sweet and did not add to the flavor. The dish was a very impressive undertaking, but, to me, it had too many things going on at once; Franckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brush had too many colors on it and the result was a sort of sweet mud, unfortunately.

Our waitress had poured us a very gorgeous Chehalem Pinot Gris which was an excellent choice for the flavors in the spring roll â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Brad and I really liked this wine. As a side note: Each menu item is accompanied by a recommended wine choice. I liked this idea and in most cases, I found the wine pairings quite nice but not very up-to-date.

There were a lot of wines on the list that are old Utah standards, and I think, nowadays, that many of the newer and trendier wines would be great to add â&#x20AC;&#x201D; especially in Franckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s environment.

Our next dish arrived and I think it was a special, because it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t listed on the menu. It was called a kind of â&#x20AC;&#x153;cannelloni,â&#x20AC;? but I thought it was more of a â&#x20AC;&#x153;strudelâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the â&#x20AC;&#x153;pastaâ&#x20AC;? around the filling was more of a puff pastry than pasta or a crepe, the latter of which is also frequently used in cannelloni. The

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plating, again, was really superb. Two with a berry and lavender sauce. And little square rolls filled with pork curry then, the slow braised beef short rib, and topped with huckleberries and foie also with the blackened banana squash gras ice cream. Yes, you read that right. which I thought was going to be a parsYou know, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a chef, too, and never nip â&#x20AC;&#x201D; what a surprise! The short rib was would I consider making ice cream with served on Israeli couscous, which was not at all like the typical foie gras in it. (Once upon a kind, and also surrounded time I was in Gilroy, Calif. by a too-sweet orange and for the annual Garlic FestiFranckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s peppercorn sauce. val where they served gar6263 Holladay Blvd Our dessert was very nice lic ice cream. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like 801-274-6264 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a lemon trio. This had a it, either.) The ice cream small triangle of Lemon was over the top for me and francksfood.com Napoleon: layered crepes, kind of ruined the flavor of DREWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S RATING: nicely made lemon sorbet the curried pork. The dish 89/100 and a lemon crème brĂťlĂŠe. was ultimately beautiful Over all, it was light, reand extremely creative, freshing and quite simple. but not satisfying.

Franckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s food, as Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve already said, is We were next served a huckleberry and crème fraiche soup. Its purple color very much like art. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so creative, unwas interesting and the smell was fra- usual, thought-provoking and filled with grant and inviting. At first the soup risk and talent. I so admire Franck in his seemed, finally, to be a good choice of quest to be â&#x20AC;&#x153;out thereâ&#x20AC;? as an artist. In flavor marrying. But later, the finish fact, the whole experience at Franckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s was sweet and the huckleberry flavor is, for me, like going to a modern art overpowering. The soup was also said museum and not really knowing if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll to contain violet essence, which, cer- like it or not. I, personally, believe that there are way too many ingredients in tainly was lost in the huckleberries.

I had brought a Planeta Sicilian his recipes and way too many flavors Syrah, which was recently delisted by that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily compliment one the Department of Alcoholic Beverage another. Also, Brad and I both noticed Control. We drank it with our remain- a penchant for an odd sweetness in his ing plates and it was just delicious â&#x20AC;&#x201D; sauces. Call me an old fogie who may smooth and velvety with soft baking not be able to adjust to the new, but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m spices in the finish. I was so glad I had devoted to my idea of French cuisine in the Julia Child tradition. And truly, brought it for us to try.

Briefly, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to just copy the notes sometimes less is more!

For ingenuity, artistry and the avant from the menu on our remaining tastings. We had the stuffed quail â&#x20AC;&#x201D; with garde, I applaud Franck and rate him porcini, brioche foie gras â&#x20AC;&#x201D; served a 95. But for understanding flavor, crewith turnip, white bean puree and ating satisfaction and overall good dinsautĂŠed squash in a mushroom truffle ing, I rate Franckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s at 89. sauce. And then, the famous meat loaf, Franckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s is in Holladay at 6363 Holladay Blvd. a molded and mounded mixture of Most appetizers are between $8 and $12. Enpork, chicken and veal, with mashed trees are $25â&#x20AC;&#x201C;35. potatoes, banana squash puree drizzled

32 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 1 4 2 | Nov e mber 26 , 20 09

Dining Guide

Market Street Oyster Bar Salt Lake’s showcase for dining, conversation, fresh oysters

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Bambara Restaurant New American Bistro menu w/ a “World of Flavors” 202 S Main St Salt Lake City 801-363-5454 Elevation Caffe Taking coffee and weenies to new heights 1337 S Main St

Meditrina Small Plates & Wine Bar Encouraging gastronimic exploring in tapas tradition 1394 S West Temple Salt Lake City 801-485-2055 Mestizo Coffeehouse Coffee, art, jam sessions, free gallery West Side 631 W North Temple Suite 700, SLC 801-596-0500

Market Street Grill The New Yorker The ‘grand patriarch Salt Lake’s finest of Downtown SLC seafood restaurant restaurants’ - Zagat with a great brunch.

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Red Iguana Best home-made moles and chile verdes in town 736 W North Temple, SLC 801-322-1489

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Rice Fusion Cuisine and Sushi Bar 1158 S. State St Salt Lake City 801-328-3888 Sapa Sushi Bar & Asian Grill A gateway to Asia’s dining crossroads 722 S State St Salt Lake City 801-363-7272 Squatter’s Pub Brewery Utah’s favorite microbrewery, great pub menu 147 W 300 S Salt Lake City 801-363-2739

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Off Trax Internet Café Coffee, Wifi and Pool 259 W 900 S 801-364-4307

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CD Reviews

Hear Me Out

Sugarland, Gold and Green You gotta love a group who can goof off – and the Jennifer Nettles-led twosome does with a cover of the underperformed ’50s novelty song “Nuttin’ for Christmas,” re-configured into a bluegrass toe-tapper.

The rest are predictably performed clasled Grizzly Bear, a flamboyant-less The sics like “Winter Wonderland” and “Silent Killers and Death Cab For Cutie, whose exclusive soundtrack song – the emo “Meet Night.” But the most delightful ditties Me on the Equinox” – edges-out most cuts are originals: “City of Silver Dreams,” a on their last LP. Sad thing is, the movie will NYC ode, and “Little Wood Guitar,” an likely be lackluster to the songs; even the emblematic Sugarland story-song. But theme, an ethereal piano lullaby, feels too gold? Not quite. good for Twilight. And it gets even better.

Swedish singer Lykke Li’s “Possibility,” a hushed haunter, and the optimistic, sound-swelled “No Sound but the Wind” – an unreleased track from the Editors – are indie-riffic. Both jell perfectly into New B[l[b0 C[Z_kc Level: Easy Moon’s moody soundscapes, which stand strong on their own – and don’t bite.

Grade: A-

Glee, Twilight and Seasonal Sounds

By Chris Azzopardi

Glee: The Music, Volume 1 Skittles encourage you to taste the rainbow, but have you heard it? You can with songs from the gay-tastic Fox musical romp Glee – a safe, legal and cheaper alternative to ecstasy. Television’s Velveeta charmer has run the gamut of genres – pop and crunk, oldies and newbies, musical faves, tasteless rap numbers – and almost consistently delivers them in big choir-blasted gaiety.

The winning ensemble cast was onto something with the show’s breakout hit “Don’t Stop Believin’,” but that only teased our musical-loving sweet tooth; when “Somebody to Love” premiered – giving show-stopping solos to many of Glee’s ace singers – it was a jaw-dropping, fist-pumping feast. Both are included on the 17-song soundtrack, and they’re as brilliantly big-hearted as they were in the context of the show’s flimsy plot points.

Wicked’s “Defying Gravity,” abridged but still powerfully poignant, maintains its earnest, larger-than-life aplomb with a spot from the dramedy’s queer girly-voiced kid.

Other goodies for “Gleeks”: the cut-abitch “Bust Your Windows” and musicalqueen Kristin Chenoweth on “Maybe This Time.” The corny rap songs, especially “Bust a Move,” could bust on outta here, but they don’t damper the power of Glee: The Music in making you feel dually gay.

Both homo and happy.

Grade: B The Twilight Saga: New Moon The first film sucked harder than a vampire. So if you want a good reason to give the sequel a go – besides the mmmmmm-good man bods – then it’s this: The music. In all its dramatic sentimentality, the New Moon soundtrack bleeds maudlin angst, but does so with an eerie, mature wistfulness that befits the series’ lovesick melodramatic tone. And it’s also smart, rallying up kick-ass indie acts like queer-

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Also Out: Seasonal Sounds Tori Amos, Midwinter Graces Leave it to the revered redhead – a minister’s daughter – to twist ancient carols into the way she thinks they should sound. And they sound lovely. Keeping with a New Age-y aura, Amos records originals like “Winter’s Carol” and “Our New Year,” both better than almost anything on her last studio album. Her daughter hauntingly sings on “Holly, Ivy and Rose,” but it’s “Star of Wonder” that’s the album’s most magical moment. The cover, on the other hand ...

David Archuleta, Christmas from the Heart The Idol cutie-patootie knows how to make gay men happy: Look pretty. Luckily, he has a voice that’s just as pleasing, and on his cash-cow second album – a gimmicky holiday collection with the new Archie-written “Melodies of Christmas” – he, with his honeyed voice, is darn adorable. He’s best at the ballads, like “Ave Maria.” But even those lack much originality. Christmas from the Heart is music from the recycling bin.

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Kathy Griffin, Suckin’ It for the Holidays The queer-loved comedian likes to put it all out there. Just look at that spread-eagle pose with a little wrapped gift between the legs (no, not her condom-covered genitals). Besides those pics, her veryhomo holiday album isn’t all that festive, but listening to Griffin rip on her mom, Oprah and Katie Couric might just be the next best thing to dicking the halls with balls of ... oh crap, how does it go?

Chris Azzopardi can be reached at chris@ pridesource.com.

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INHALE TROUBLE ____ _________

3 4 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 1 4 2 | Nov e mber 26 , 20 09

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Nov e mber 26 , 20 09â&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; issue 1 4 2â&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; QSa lt L a k eâ&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; 35

Q Nightlife W E E K LY B A R E V E N T S

SU N DAYS

MO N DAYS

T U E SDAYS

W E D N E SDAYS

T H U R SDAYS

F R IDAYS

Wii, Pool $1 drafts, CLUB TRY-ANGLES 251 W. 900 South • D M N Beer-Soaked Beer-soaked $1 drafts Tournament DJ D or BoyToy 801-364-3203 • clubtry-angles.com Weenies weenies Dance!

GOSSIP @ SOUND 579 W. 200 South • D M T X Nova’s Platinum 801-328-0255 • myspace.com/gossipslc

Pussy Review $1 drafts Superstar Acoustic Fix at Jam JAM 751 N. 300 W • D M N & Dogs Karaoke Live DJ:K 801-891-1162 • jamslc.com Live@Jam with Brian G DJ Mike BabbitT

Pachanga KLUB KARAMBA 1051 E 2100 South • D M T X Gay Latin 801-637-9197 • myspace.com/manuel_arano Night

Free pool $1 Drafts Karaoke Top 40 Dance PAPER MOON 3737 S State St • D K L all day Closed Karaoke 8pm Free pool 8-Close All Night 801-713-0678 • thepapermoon.info $1 Drafts $1 Drafts All Request $1 Drafts Sexy Female DJs Blues Blues Jam DJ Live Music Tango Speakeasy 63 W 100 South • M & Jazz w/Bad Brad Classic Scotch & Practice 801-521-7000 Jam from KRCL Soul Cigars 7p $1 drafts $1 drafts $1 drafts Dueling Dueling TAVERNACLE 201 E. 300 South • K X Karaoke Oldies Karaoke Dueling pianos pianos pianos 801-519-8800 • tavernacle.com 9p Night 9p 9p 9p 9p Karaoke Hot new THE TRAPP 102 S 600 West • B N D K M w/Kenneth DJ Wayne 801-531-8727

9pm Outdoor patio

SAT U R DAYS

Dance, Dance, Dance!

Thump at Jam DJ Tidy Indie, Top 40

Women, Women, Women!

Rockin’ Jukes Every other Week Dueling pianos 9p Hot new DJ Wayne Outdoor patio

B = Bear/Leather | D = Dance Floor | F = Food | K = Karaoke Nights | L = Mostly Lesbian | M = Mostly Gay Men | N = Neghborhood Bar | T = 18+ Area | X = Mixed Gay/Straight Or Gay Certain Nights

3737 South State Street

Salt Lake City myspace.com/thepapermoon

801-713-0678 Open: Sun–Fri 3pm–1am, Saturdays 6pm–1am Closed Mondays

WEEKLY LINEUP 7SUNDAYS7 Karaoke with Ri, 8pm Free Pool, $1 Drafts, No cover all night

` MONDAYS a

Open Thanksgiving

Closed for Employee Sanity

Arts & Crafts and TC’s Turkey Tourny

Karaoke w/Mr. Scott at 8pm, $1 Drafts No cover til 9

for our annual free potluck

Friday Nov. 27 Drag Idol 9pm, Hosted by Paris and the RCGSE Open Christmas Eve & Christmas Day at 6pm

GET READY FOR OUR NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATION

as Toni GLADLY bids adieu to 2009

8TUESDAYS8

6WEDNESDAYS6

80s is Back!

Free Pool All Day, $1 Drafts, $2 wells $1 Hot Dogs, No cover til 9

0THURSDAYS0 $1 Drafts, Karaoke 8pm til close No cover til 9

/FRIDAYS/ Top 40 Dance Music All Night with Sexy Female DJs

)SATURDAYS) Women, Women, Women...

Hot DJs to Make You Sweat No cover til 9

Cocktail Chatter Vodka 101: The Spirit of Choice

By Keith Orr What better way to start out my assignment as the host of “Cocktail Chatter” than to write about my favorite liquor, Vodka. And I am not alone. Vodka is the best-selling liquor in America, accounting for over 26% of all spirit sales. A glance around any gay bar tells you that in the U.S. gay market that number is probably higher.

It was not always so. Until the late 1950’s vodka was considered an exotic Russian import. As always, marketing drove the expansion. Vodka was advertised as “White Whiskey - no taste, no smell.” Its popularity skyrocketed as imbibers believed that there would be no alcohol on their breath and they would avoid hangovers. It quickly replaced other spirits in highballs and cocktails. Most famously it usurped gin as the spirit of choice in a martini.

Vodka can be made from many base ingredients: rye, wheat, potatoes, beets, grapes or grapeseed, molasses, and more. The ingredients are first fermented, then distilled. In most western vodkas the distillation process produces something fairly close to pure alcohol, and water is added back in. Most high-end vodkas also filter the spirit as well. All of this distilling and filtering is the source of the clean taste that makes vodka so mixable and popular.

Rye and wheat are the most common sources in well-known brands, with a smattering of potato vodkas. Molasses is largely used for mass-producing vodka for mass market brands.

Though all vodka is highly distilled, each vodka has a unique flavor profile as a result of the residual components of the original distillation, as well as the various methods and materials used for filtering.

The super premium brands such as Grey Goose, Belvedere, or Chopin each have subtle flavors best appreciated in the cocktail which features vodka in a starring role, the martini.

(Martini preparation is another column!) My personal favorite is Absolut’s entry in the super premium line, Level by Absolut. Not only do I like the flavor, I choose it for political reasons.

I support the vodka that supports me. Absolut has been a leading supporter of many gay organizations and events for 30 years.

While martinis feature vodka in a starring role, the overwhelming popularity of the beverage is its ability to act in a supporting role. No other spirit plays so well with others. Vodka and tonic, vodka and cranberry, vodka and coke, vodka and diet coke (dubbed the “skinny bitch” by the drag queens of Key West), and the cocktail that helped popularize vodka in the U.S., the Moscow Mule (vodka and ginger ale).

Flavored vodkas are nothing new. Polish distillers were commercially producing lemon and pepper vodkas at least 200 years ago. Russian and Scandinavian vodkas used herbs and nuts for flavoring even earlier. Today vodkas are infused with dozens of flavors: lemon, lime, cranberry, pomegranate, acai berry, chocolate, grapefruit, peach, and even bacon. I like sipping infused or flavored vodkas on the rocks.

They also can create new variations to martinis, cosmos, and a variety of shots.

The beauty of vodka lies in versatility.

Whether you are enjoying the refined and subtle flavors in a classic martini, or partying hard with an alcohol that plays well with your favorite mixer, vodka is the spirit of choice.

Q Puzzle

God Bless the Child That Sings

Across 1 Many go down on them 6 Moby Dick chaser 10 Gallery of London 14 Palmer of “The Boys From Brazil” 15 Oliver! request 16 China setting?

17 “___ River” 18 Words after International 20 Song that says “I’m a good gal/But my love is all wrong” 22 Suffix with profit 23 Baudelaire’s bag 24 Dreaded ink color 27 Where pool players put their balls 30 Jim, who did a Pyle of acting?

35 Take it like ___ 37 Not a whit 39 ___ New Guinea 40 Song that says “It’s not true that love is blind” 43 Place to celebrate P’s on earth?

44 He went down under the sea 45 Initial stake 46 Gaydar and such 48 Mary had a little one 50 Canon camera

51 Texas sch.

53 Fit start 55 Song that says “Love will make you do things/That you know is wrong” 62 Disney character with a woody head 63 Appealingly shocking 65 Scripture holders for congregation Beth Simchat Torah 66 Pokes fun at 67 Cara of Fame 68 Sexy clothing material 69 Forgo swallowing 70 Ruhr industrial center Down 1 Road warning 2 Where the money is 3 Muppet pal of Rosie 4 Woodworker’s tool 5 Rufus Wainwright, for one 6 What guns shoot off 7 Saddle part 8 City on the Rhone 9 Director Kidron of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit 10 Russian singing duo 11 Queens stadium name 12 Butch lesbian accessories 13 Toreador’s trophy

19 Dogpatch creator 21 Randolph Scott’s companion Cary 24 Sounds like Fierstein 25 Be a ham in “Hamlet”?

26 Ripley portrayer Matt 28 Attorney Roy 29 Get on your knees 31 Theda of the silents 32 Give a piece of one’s mind 33 Reach the sum of 34 Wise guys 36 Part of CNN 38 Witty Bombeck 41 “Keep your pants on!”

42 French river to the English Channel 47 Big wet ones 49 Holiday, who sang the three songs of this puzzle 52 Not at all cool 54 Homophobic comments 55 Give the axe to 56 Makes tattoos 57 Enjoy some ladyfingers, e.g.

58 Conn of Grease 59 The largest part 60 Crude material 61 Fruity drink 62 Cager Parsons 64 Bear necessity answers on p. 43

Cryptogram

A cryptogram is a puzzle where one letter in the puzzle is substituted with another. For example: ECOLVGNCYXW YCR EQYIIRZNBZN YZU PSZ! Has the solution: CRYPTOGRAMS ARE CHALLENGING AND FUN! In the above example Es are all replaced by Cs. The puzzle is solved by recognizing letter patterns in words and successively substituting letters until the solution is reached.

This week’s hint: J = U Theme: Quote by Michael Otterson, director of public affairs for the Mormon church.

Zjifi bfi umahu zm ci ubv btkmobziq ljm tmh’z zjahy li’ki umhi hibfgv nbf ihmxuj, bht rimrgi kifv omhqifkbzaki ljm zjahy li’ki umhi zmm nbf.

_____ ___ _____ __ __ ___ _________ ___ ___’_ _____ __’__ ____ ______ ___ ______, ___ ______ ____ ____________ ___ _____ __’__ ____ ___ ___.

3 8 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 1 4 2 | Nov e mber 26 , 20 09

Homoscopes As we tuck into our turkeys, let’s take a gander at the Sun in Sagittarius which heats up various parts of our lives into a frenzied boil.

Stew on a low flame until Christmas. Then serve with saucy relish.

e

ARIES (Mar 21–Apr 20) Start your steamroller queer Ram and flatten any and all obstacles.

Blaze new trails and build new structures for all to admire. But before you rev up your motors and start tearing up the landscape, check to see if there are any buried landmines and sinkholes. You don’t want to get sucked into a deep hole. Hmm... or maybe that is the plan...?

r

TAURUS (Apr 21–May 21) Sex with a stranger may be stranger than you anticipate. You are apt to turn up the intensity in any intimate foray and leave your common sense tucked in your wallet with you know what. Know thyself queer Bull but strive to know others even better now. Don’t get carried away by just another pretty face and have to face the mirror the morning after..

t

GEMINI (May 22–Jum 21) This month brings lucky and expansive experiences in your personal relationships. While you may not always see eye to eye, compromise will bring its benefits with you-know-who for the time being. But you instictively know that you will find a way to get what you need and want. Gay Twins can be charmers when they put their mind to it. If you don’t mind.

y

CANCER (JUN 22–JUL 23) How does anarchy spread at work?

I guess it depends how much you allow your serfs to have free reign over your kingdom. Absent or distracted gay Crabs find themselves quashing a rebellion. Develop a diplomatic agenda especially as the week continues apace. The more you push now means just that much more you will have to re-negotiate later.

u

LEO (Jul 24–Aug 23) Fun runs amok. And you are roaring and ready for all the action. The temptation will be to bite more than you can chew but more than a mouthful is wasted. Don’t tackle anything (or anyone) gigantic now, proud Lion. Just try to relax, lie back and allow yourself some time to recharge your creative spark. Meantime, avoid light sockets.

i

VIRGO (Aug 24–Sep 23) Queer Virgos are surrounded by relatives now which can lead to honest talks. Why would you restrict yourself in a “straight” jacket for the sake of family peace?

You feel that you can finally be honest with relatives and can proudly set the record queer and talk turkey. Obviously there can be no more compromise. The line in the sand has been drawn.

o

LIBRA (Sep 24–Oct 23) Queer Libras try to be diplomatic and charming but it may be hard to achieve any finesse. What you think and say seem to occur simultaneously with powerful impact. Things will never be the same and maybe that is a good thing. Speak up and

fight for your beliefs and be prepared to step on a few toes to get your point across. But watch where you point, cousin. Ouch!

p

SCORPIO (Oct 24–Nov 22) Proud Scorps are advised to hold on tight to their wallets for the next month. You might upend and empty the contents of your pot of gold. Money conjures its own magical power but you must decide if that power is used for good or for evil. Also, don’t flash your cash now; this week you attract all sorts of skells, shills, shysters and scroungers. Wanna buy a bridge?

[

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23–Dec 22) The nice thing about being the center of attention is that all eyes are upon you. Of course that is also the bad thing about being the center of attention. This week offers you a rare opportunity to make an impactful first impression with an extremely powerful and influential person. How impactful is up to you, of course; will you insist on wearing those pink peekaboos?

]

CAPRICORN (Dec 23–Jan 20) If you decide to spend your time volunteering for a great gay cause (and you should...), do so with a cause close to home. Adventure and some unexpected mishaps are unleashed on pink Caps who wander the streets at night. Sometimes this is not a bad thing, but during this particular week an intriguing stranger is a little too intriguing for my personal taste. When in doubt, cab it.

q

AQUEERIUS (Jan 21–Feb 19) Aqueerians are naturally people oriented. Now, friendships may be temporarily put to the test. It may be that some people feel the need to help you along the “right” path. Did I say “help”? I meant push. This power struggle may result in a complete reassessment of the relationship.

Some things must change or else. Let them down gently.

w

PISCES (Feb 20–Mar 20) Since your career path has never run particularly smoothly, the fates will not throw you off your high horse but it may jar your pony. Guppies are put to the professional test and emerge swimmingly well after the stormy waters settle. Your intuition helps you distinguish fish from foul. Follow your rainbow no matter what; the rewards won’t be far behind.

Anagram An anagram is a word or phrase that can be made using the letters from another word or phrase.

Rearrange the letters below to answer: This 40-year gay publication has closed its doors.

handblown ageist __________ _____ PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ARE ON PAGE 43

Nov e mber 26 , 20 09 | issue 1 4 2 | QSa lt L a k e | 39

VOTED UTAH’S BEST GAY CLUB 2009

TUESDAY

DOLLAR DRAFTS & MUSIC VIDEOS 5pm – Midnight No Cover So You Think You Can Dance 7pm

WEDNESDAY

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE at 7pm GLEE at 8pm SUPERSTAR Karaoke at 9pm

THURSDAY DOLLAR DRAFTS & Music videos 5pm – Midnight No cover

FRIDAY FIX with DJ:K & DJ MIKE BABBITT 9pm

SATURDAY THUMP with DJ TiDY 9pm

Now serving food!

Open Tuesday – Saturday at 5pm No Cover – No Membership — 21+ 751 North 300 West - In The Gayborhood www.JAMslc.com

Q Scene

Püre Wholesome Therapy

by Mike E. Ellis

H

old onto your seats, boys and girls.

Salt Lake City nightlife is in the process of being revamped. Lucky for my readers, I have had a glimpse into the exciting changes that are afoot in the valley. We are heading into a new era of the bar scene and I have no doubts you will all be pleased. Get ready to be amazed!

As many of you know, Club Sound has been the ruler of Friday nights. So let’s just say this: It has some fierce competition coming its way. Consider the lid ajar on Friday nights. I was lucky enough to chat with local celebrity, Eric Turner, and he was gracious enough to give me the inside view into the revolutionary dance club that will be Püre — which will be the re-creation of the Salt Lake City dance scene.

Eric says: “Püre is brought to you by the people that re-created Babylon. We are creating a new nightclub and raising the bar in the gay bar life.” In

other words, this is going to be the breath of fresh air that Salt Lake nightlife is craving.

We were set to tell you the new location and opening date, but moments before we went to press, things were going awry. I have personally been to the venue they were talking about, and it would be the perfect place for a new nightclub. We’ll see what happens when all the powers-that-be finish talking.

Püre is setting its sites for a December opening, and Eric tells me they are pulling out all of the stops to throw the party of the century.

Püre is Nova’s baby and we all saw what she did with Gossip, so you know that Püre is going to knock the hell out of Friday nights.

Get ready to be amazed; Püre is what the people have asked for, and the staff standing behind it and promoting it are going to provide nothing but breathtaking, heart-

David Daniels was snapping all night at the Hotel Monaco “Monaco Rouge” red party raising funds for the Utah AIDS Foundation. The party didn’t stop there. Off he went to the After Party at Jam and found hottie bartender Tony in yummy red shorts that were auctioned to a lucky party-goer. No, it wasn’t David.

4 0 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 1 4 2 | Nov e mber 26 , 20 09

pounding excitement and thrill. Be prepared for Püre satisfaction.

With all of the exciting changes happening on Friday nights, keep in mind that Saturdays will still be mind-blowing. Babylon has proved to be the reigning king (or queen, whichever you prefer) of Saturday nights.

Eric tells me they have some big things in the pipeline. If they are anything like Babylon’s summer line up, you know it will be good.

Be sure to check out Babylon this Saturday, Nov. 28, for their ‘Therapy’ night. After a long Thanksgiving with the family, I’m sure we will all be thirsting for a night full of dancing, drinking and debauchery, and I have no doubt that Babylon will be a packed house. So slap on those girdles, and get out to celebrate the holiday with your gaggle of gays.

I am looking forward to reporting on the upcoming events in our nightlife, and with New Year’s Eve right around the corner, there are certainly going to be some big things to write about. With Thanksgiving a few days away I would like to say thanks to all of the bars, bar owners, DJs, promoters and everyone else involved in Salt Lake’s gay nightlife. We truly have come a long way, and I only see it getting better, and better. Here’s hoping that all QSaltLake’s readers have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving.

See you out and about! Q

Q ueeries

By Steven Petrow

Is Civil Disobedience Bad Manners?

Q: After the recent election in Maine, where 53 percent of voters revoked the right of gays and lesbians to marry, I’ve got to say I’m tired of these postelection blues. I’m tired of our right to marry being an electoral issue. I’m tired of the tyranny of the majority.

I’m just plain over it. I’m old enough to remember the civil disobedience that ACT UP staged during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and how effective that was in creating change.

Since you’re the to-go guy for manners, I’m wondering if you have any thoughts about one’s social obligations regarding political protest and dissent. Because I’m ready.

A: First, let me say that you’re not alone in feeling outrage at what happened at the polls for the second November in a row (Californians revoked the rights of LGBT people to marry just a year ago).

Many activists in our community are stymied by these results, in part because of the overwhelming influence and dollars from the Catholic Church and, in this latest voting, from the National Organization for Marriage.

A former ACT UP leader recently told me, “Civil disobedience is the missing piece of activism in our portfolio these days.” And he should know as one who protested vehemently against drug companies when they were price-gouging patients with HIV/AIDS here and overseas during the 1980s and ‘90s.

But the truth is that the very nature of civil disobedience is its high code of conduct, as per the 1849 essay by Henry David Thoreau that is now commonly called “Civil Disobedience” but was originally titled “Resistance to Government.” Indeed, breaking the law for a noble cause, while illegal, is not immoral, unethical nor bad manners.

What is problematic is violence of any kind (such as the murder of that abortion doctor in Kansas earlier this year by a pro-life activist) as well as attempts to curb free speech (like the Catholic Church does, along with the Rush Limbaughs of the world).

What is important about civil disobedience is that it’s an opportunity to present arguments and persuade people who disagree with you that you’re right, in this case the right for LGBT people to marry. Sometimes it takes actions like this to “help” others hear and understand.

What’s a Bi Guy to Do? Q: My favorite restaurants haven’t changed since I became bisexual and stopped seeing men exclusively, but eating at those places is a lot less fun.

Gay guys around my neighborhood look at me funny when I’m out with a woman. Please don’t tell me moving

away from my beloved San Francisco is the only way to be comfortable in public again.

A: No, but you may need to stop going to all-gay restaurants (and by that I mean eateries frequented primarily by same-sex couples). As much as homophobia is a problem in this country, along the same lines (ok, not as much) there are strains of heterophobia in the LGBT community. Never heard of homophobia’s first cousin, heterophobia?

It’s a term used to describe irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against heterosexuals. If you and your girlfriend are the only opposite sex pair in a restaurant or club, not only will you appear as outsiders, but in some way you may be perceived as social trespassers or just made to feel unwelcome.

Years ago, I went into a gay club in New York with a straight woman friend. When I ordered, the bartender instead of serving us, actually asked us to leave. Even when I told him that I was gay, he reiterated his request. Times have changed somewhat, and our communities tend to mix more comfortably now. But my point is that heterophobia is as misplaced as homophobia, if less prevalent and without such serious consequences.

Now, What’s a Straight Guy to Do? Q: As the only straight person invited to my gay friend’s weekend house, will I be uncomfortable or out of place? I think he said there would be about four other guys there.

A: If your gay friend did any thinking (which we all do), he would have factored this into his invitation before doing so. Since the first rule of being a good host is to make your guests feel comfortable, my guess is that he thinks you will be. And that he imagines his other friends will be, too. (Or do you imagine they’ll all be lusting after you?)

Consider this: While sexual identity is important for many LGBT people, it’s rarely our only defining characteristic.

We’ve got gender, age, profession, religion, education and so on, as part of that great cocktail called “me.” Certainly, you’ll share something with these fellows, even if sexual orientation is not one of them. What you need to bring is a good attitude and your host needs to provide a welcome environment for all.

Steven Petrow is the author of The Essential Book of Gay Manners & Etiquette. Find him on the web at www.gayandlesbianmanners. com

Nov e mber 26 , 20 09 | issue 1 4 2 | QSa lt L a k e | 4 1

/FX :FBS T &WF $FMFCSBUJPO 4VOEBZ

#VGGFU QN .POEBZT

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QNo.JEOJHIU

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Come get Hunky with Ben Every Sunday night at The Tav

KARAOKE

SUNDAYS AND TUESDAYS DOLLAR DRAFTS Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays OLDIES Mondays DUELING PIANOS Wednesdays through Saturdays

Non-Smoking

Corner of 3rd South and 2nd East for 7 years 801-519-8900 www.tavernacle.com A Private Club for Members

Q Tales

Jacin Tales Episode 22

These businesses brought you this issue of QSaltLake.

Make sure to thank them with your patronage.

By A.E. Storm

June 2007 Eddie checked flights to Las Vegas through American Airlines for Jacin, George, Josh and himself; he’d heard the airline was offering a rate of under $100 each way. Of course, there had to be a catch: No direct flights from Salt Lake City — the airline forced passengers to connect in places like Dallas and Minneapolis, making the travel time a minimum of 14 hours.

Yes, vacationing in Las Vegas in June was ballsy, if not just plain stupid. They once went to Cancun, Mexico during hurricane season and were holed-up in the hotel for five days; during a vacation in Yellowstone they snowmobiled at night without water and not adequately dressed, and so, of course, Eddie fell behind the rest of the group, eventually running out of fuel. The others had called search-and-rescue to find him, which took more than an hour.

But they liked being adventurous vacationers.

Bagging a flight they rented a black Ford Explorer and set out on the 465mile trek to the balmy mecca. Eddie insisted he’d drive — much to the others’ chagrin; none of them were comfortable with Eddie’s aggressive and furious driving. Eddie noticed though that they stopped complaining when they rolled into Sin City in under five hours. They easily found their way to Paris Las Vegas hotel, which was a delightful hop, skip and minuet from the Flamingo Road exit.

They had to wait for their room to be cleaned (Eddie’s lead-foot forced them to arrive too early for check-in), So they decided to purchase a cocktail served in a large, neon plastic Eiffel Towershaped souvenir cup. They perused the

Puzzle Solutions

specialty shops that line Le Boulevard and ogled the eye-candy lounging at the pool located on the second floor roof.

When their room was released, they ordered another fruity cocktail and jumped on an elevator to the eighth floor. The deluxe room was exquisitely furnished with two queen-sized beds overflowing with pillows, a delicate sofa, an armoire with plenty of closet space and, of course, a fully stocked mini bar. The bathroom was spacious and had his-and-her sinks, a whirlpool bath and separate shower.

For their first night, Josh had made reservations at Lucky Cheng’s, a “fivestar” interactive drag cabaret which offers a three-course Pan-Asian menu, exotic drinks and what Josh monikered “a whole lot of snap-snap, girlfriend.”

Jacin rang the hotel’s front desk for a taxi and 15 minutes later they piled into a yellow cab littered with sexual fantasy paraphenalia. Unfortunately, neither Josh nor the cabbie knew that Lucky Cheng’s had moved its location from the opposite end of The Strip to within walking distance of their hotel.

Sufficed to say the $40 taxi tour of The Strip left them all a little less than in a chipper mood.

But after the dinner show, especially the Tina Turner act, and a few more cocktails, the boys were again in a celebratory mood. They walked a few doors down to Krave, a gay dance club that offers nightly events. Tonight was Naked Student Night, with a wet T-shirt/wet boxers contest. The club’s large dance floor and stage held dozens of sexy men dancing and gyrating in soaked undergarments.

The next evening the boys went to Cirque de Soliel’s Ka, which was show-

Cryptogram: There are going to be gay advocates who don’t think we’ve gone nearly far enough, and people very conservative who think we’ve gone too far.

Anagram: Washington Blade

6 2 1 7 8 3 4 5 9

3 5 4 2 1 9 7 6 8

9 8 7 6 3 4 5 1 2

4 1 2 8 9 5 6 3 7

1 5 8 4 6 3 9 2 7

7 9 6 5 8 2 4 1 3

9 6 5 8 1 7 2 3 4

8 3 1 2 4 9 7 5 6

4 2 7 3 5 6 1 9 8

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ing at the MGM Grand hotel. The auditorium was lined with near 100-seat rows, and their seats were in the center of one of them. Josh’s inebriation told him to hop the back of his seat instead of sliding through the aisle, and which garnered him a tongue-lashing from an usher.

The following morning at the sinful hour of seven, they were all rudely awakened by the malicious bedside alarm.

Jacin, George and Eddie — Josh stayed behind nursing a grinding hangover — journeyed to the Hacienda Hotel located near Lake Mead. There, they filed onto a Black Canyon River Adventures tour bus and traveled along a steep, winding dirt road to the Colorado River just below Hoover Dam. There they boarded a large motorized raft and relaxed during the 12-mile trip down the Colorado River. They learned some history on the dam, were privy to some hidden hot springs spouting from the canyon walls, witnessed several species of wild fowl and, Jacin especially, “ooohed-and-aaahed” over some baby big horn sheep.

That night took them to New YorkNew York for the sensual side of Cirque Du Soliel with its erotic Zumanity. From topless women in a large fishbowl to an astonishing contortionist to a buff dwarf aerialist to a boisterous drag emcee, the boys enjoyed an uproarious sexual journey unlike any other. So much so that Josh and Eddie were itching to get laid.

After the show they decided to hit Krave again. The club was hosting a SNAPI event; they each received free porn as they walked through the door and three hot, shirtless porn stars were on-hand to sign them.

After several kamikazis and many more pitchers of beer, Eddie, Jacin and George walked back to the hotel, leaving Josh behind — who was still scoping out a date ... possibly one of the porn stars.

Nearing five o’clock in the morning, Josh threw open the door and stumbled inside. Once George calmed him down enough to speak coherently, they learned that he lost his key and was pounding on the hotel room door. And when nobody answered, he found a housekeeper who he coerced into letting him inside.

Jacin, George and Eddie stole confused glances.

“I was knocking on the wrong door and when she let me inside, I immediately passed out on the bed. I don’t know how long I was in there before the couple whose room it actually belonged to came in and found me half-naked in the bed.”

Hysterical laughter broke out.

During the ride home Josh incessantly complained how the hotel made him pay for a night in that room. All that Eddie could think was: “Our vacations always are an adventure.” Q

Nov e mber 26 , 20 09 | issue 1 4 2 | QSa lt L a k e | 43

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