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salt lake Issue 159 July 22, 2010
PLUS:
Team Utah Seeking Gold In Cologne Taylorsville to Pass Nondiscrim. Laws
Defense of Marriage Act Struck Down
Sexy in Salt Lake
Utah Rebellion Bear Ruckus sWerve
LDS Church Involved in Argentina Gay Marriage
Arts in Crisis
Q staff
You NEED a Bigger Audience ... and we NEED YOU
publisher/editor Michael Aaron assistant editor JoSelle Vanderhooft
ISSUE 159 • July 22, 2010
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2 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
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Another reason to love the 2010 Deer Valley® Music Festival
BRAVO BROADWAY: BROADWAY DIVAS! SAT | JULY 31 | 7:30 PM
DEER VALLEY® SNOW PARK OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATER Jerry Steichen, Conductor Lisa Vroman, Susan Egan, Jan Horvath, Guest Artists
FOR TICKETS AND INFORMATION, CALL 801-533-NOTE (6683) OR VISIT USUO.ORG Tickets in Park City available at Deer Valley Signature Stores and Park Silly Sunday Market.
DON’T MISS THESE ADDITIONAL DEER VALLEY® MUSIC FESTIVAL SUMMER EVENTS: Imani Winds
THURS | JULY 22 | 8 PM
Randy Travis with the Utah Symphony
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Mark O’Connor with the Utah Symphony
Sō Percussion
Music of Led Zeppelin with the Utah Symphony
THURS | JULY 29 | 8 PM
Disney in Concert: Magical Music from the Movies FRI | JULY 23 | 7:30 PM
Tad Calcara and New Deal Swing SAT | JULY 24 | 7:30 PM
Muir String Quartet
FRI | JULY 30 | 7:30 PM THURS | AUG 5 | 8 PM
SAT | AUG 7 | 7:30 PM
FRI | AUG 13 | 7:30 PM
SAT | AUG 14 | 7:30 PM
1812 Overture!
FRI | AUG 6 | 7:30 PM
PLUS MORE! FIND THE COMPLETE LIST OF EVENTS AT USUO.ORG
FROMTHEEDITOR
first person By Our Own Hand by Michael Aaron
I
KNOW OF THREE LOVELY UTAH GAY people who committed suicide in the past few weeks. I don’t even want to go through the obituaries to find if there are others. I just want to scream and cry and rant and soapbox and tell people how hateful they are to their friends and family for being so damned selfish to do this. But I don’t. And I just did. I understand and I don’t. I feel for them and I hate them. I want to resurrect them just to kill them again for being so cruel. I want to travel back in time to be there and plead and strangle them with my own hands if they reject my reasoning. They scare me because I don’t know who is next. They anger me because they didn’t come to me for help. How did you end all resources for living if you didn’t talk to me or a dozen other friends who would go to great lengths to stop you? I call you a coward, but braver than most. You escaped life and its troubles, but you also left me. You left a future you might have changed. I believe you will go to hell, but I hope and pray not. And I don’t even believe in hell. I read the obituaries often to glean who was the latest suicide. Why am I so powerless to help with this? Why are we, as a community — yes, a gay community, and the community of Utah — unable to fix this. Suicide is a choice. How do we get people to not choose this? How did so many of us — friends of Todd and others — not see the signs and recognize that this was on our horizon? Suicide. They didn’t pass away. They killed themselves. Murdered by their own hands. Murdered by our lack of understanding, compassion, awareness, vigilance or simple capacity to make change in their world. I’m angry, I’m hurt. I feel guilty. I hate myself; I hate my communities; I hate my god. Much like I was when I was 16 and a friend did the same thing. Much like I was when a complete stranger drove his car into a concrete retaining wall only to have a group of Boy Scouts, including me, run to his “aid” to hear him plead, “Just let me die.” I wish for a better world and pray that people out there considering the same thing know there are also people out there who will help. Please call 866-488-7386 right now. Call your best friend. Call a distant friend. Call someone you met today. Who cares what time it is? If they don’t answer, just dial a random number. Just keep trying. For one more minute. For one more
hour. For one more day. A few years ago I met a beautiful man. An artist. He gave me a beautiful fused glass Burning Man pin he designed and made, and we danced naked around a fire. His smile was resonant. He made my night; my week. He made my heart glow. A week later he was dead by his own hand. How does someone go from such a beautiful moment to utter despair in a week? So, we are now survivors of suicide. The ones left behind. We hurt. Sometimes desperately. What now? We go through what I have done above. Anger. Grief. We can’t go around those feelings. And, hopefully, we can come to a point of forgiveness. As tough as that might be. Frankly, I’m not there with my lost friends yet, even after decades. But we can also work harder to build a community where people feel loved and accepted. We can continue our work — that is working, by the way — toward a more accepting general community. And, yes, I’ll say it — a more accepting, understanding, (or at least tolerant) membership of the local predominant church. I can’t help but feel that these recent victims were simply not patient enough. It just feels that things are truly turning, especially in Utah. Compared to when I started my own activism in the early ’80s, we have moved attitudes by miles. I remember being asked by a certain radio host (see Troy Williams’ column) whether I thought we would see gay marriage or any degree of equality in my lifetime, I answered, “no.” And I believed it. I truly thought I was helping set the stage for a battle I would never actually see. It feels we have pushed the fast forward button the past several years. Can’t people see that? In response to these recent suicides, QSaltLake has teamed up with The Trevor Project to bring awareness to their mission of saving our youth from their own hands. Please feel free to tear the next page out and hang it in public places. Let’s end this. Q
Utah Suicide Stats: Every 11 days a Utah teen commits suicide Utah leads the nation in suicide among men 15-24 Utah has the 11th highest overall suicide rate in the nation The Utah youth suicide rate has tripled over the last few years Suicide is the #1 cause of death among Utah teens
4 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
NATIONAL NEWS
BY REX WOCKNER
Defense of Marriage Act Struck Down The U.S. District Court in Boston struck down Section 3 of the anti-gay federal Defense of Marriage Act on July 8, ruling simultaneously in two cases. The section, which was found to be unconstitutional in three different ways, states: “In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.” DOMA’s Section 3 overrides any state’s determination that a same-sex couple is married and says that they are not married for purposes of all federal laws and programs, even though the federal government otherwise has always deferred to state determinations of marital status. In one of the rulings, in a case brought by gay activists, the court determined that DOMA violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by treating married gay couples differently from married straight couples without any rational basis for doing so. “There exists no fairly conceivable set of facts that could ground a rational relationship between DOMA and a legitimate government objective,” the court said. “DOMA, therefore, violates core constitutional principles of equal protection.” “Because animus alone cannot constitute a legitimate government interest, this court finds that DOMA lacks a rational basis to support it,” Judge Joseph Tauro wrote. “Indeed, Congress undertook this classification for the one purpose that lies entirely outside of legislative bounds, to disadvantage a group of which it disapproves. And such a classification, the Constitution clearly will not permit. “As irrational prejudice plainly never constitutes a legitimate government interest, this court must hold that Section 3 of DOMA as applied to Plaintiffs violates the equal protection principles in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.” In a second ruling, in a case brought by the state of Massachusetts, Tauro determined that DOMA violates the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by intruding in areas of exclusive state authority, and violates Article 1’s Spending Clause by forcing Massachusetts to discriminate against its married gay citizens in order to receive certain types of federal funding. “This court has determined that it is clearly within the authority of the Commonwealth (of Massachusetts) to recognize same-sex marriages among its residents,
and to afford those individuals in same-sex marriages any benefits, rights, and privileges to which they are entitled by virtue of their marital status,” Tauro wrote. “The federal government, by enacting and enforcing DOMA, plainly encroaches upon the firmly entrenched province of the state, and, in doing so, offends the Tenth Amendment. For that reason, the statute is invalid.” Lambda Legal called the decisions “immensely important and inspiring steps toward equality for all families.” “Since 1996, the so-called ‘Defense of Marriage Act’ has defended no one, while imposing senseless and cruel discrimination against married same-sex couples and their families,” said the group’s Jenny Pizer. “We applaud Judge Tauro’s conclusion today that Congress acted beyond its authority when it used the massive power of the federal government to impose a discriminatory marriage definition on the states. With today’s decisions, the federal court orders that the heavy hand of the U.S. government must be lifted off the scales of justice, so all legally
married people -- gay and straight alike -- can receive the same treatment under U.S. law and in federal benefit programs.” The activist case was bought by New England’s Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, whose Civil Rights Project director, Mary Bonauto, said, “Today the court simply affirmed that our country won’t tolerate second-class marriages.” The next step in the cases is for the federal government to decide whether it will appeal the rulings to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. President Obama has said repeatedly that he opposes DOMA and that it should be repealed, even as his own Justice Department defends it in court. But Obama also has said, on Aug. 16, 2008: “I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Now, for me, as a Christian ... it’s also a sacred union. God’s in the mix. ... I would not (support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage) because historically ... we have not defined marriage in our Constitution. It’s been a matter of state law that has been our tradition. Let’s break it down. The reason that people think there needs to be a constitutional amendment, some people believe, is because of the concern about same-sex marriage. I am not somebody who promotes same-sex marriage but I do believe in civil unions.” Q
Charges Dropped over White House Civil Disobedience
Ask, Don’t Tell on trial today, but it was clear the government was embarrassed to defend an indefensible policy.”
As trial was about to start in D.C. Superior Court, the government dropped the charges July 14 against Lt. Dan Choi and ex-Capt. Jim Pietrangelo stemming from civil-disobedience actions in which they handcuffed themselves to the White House fence in March and April. They had been protesting the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that requires gays in the military to stay in the closet. It is not known why the charges were dropped at the last minute, although the D.C. mayor’s office told MetroWeekly that the D.C. attorney general decided the charges of failure to obey a lawful order were not sustainable given that the men were not actually blocking the sidewalk at the times they allegedly failed to obey orders not to do so. Instead, the two were standing on a ledge that supports the White House fence, and thus were not impeding pedestrian traffic, the mayor’s office said. According to activist group GetEQUAL, which helped plan the civil disobedience, prosecutors and arresting officers were present in the courtroom and ready for the trial to commence. In a statement, Pietrangelo theorized that “the government is afraid of having to defend this issue.” “After three months of discovery and preparation, the government dropped the case because they know it’s an embarrassment,” he said. One of the men’s attorneys, Mark Goldstone, added, “We were ready to put Don’t
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Federal Trial Continues in California
6 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
At press time, the trial in a federal lawsuit targeting the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell gay ban was continuing in U.S. District Court in Riverside, Calif. Lawyers representing the gay group Log Cabin Republicans are arguing that the ban violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of due process, freedom of speech and right to association. They seek an immediate permanent injunction ending enforcement of the ban. Although President Barack Obama wants to see Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repealed, the U.S. Justice Department claims it has a responsibility to defend the law in court, though it is not calling witnesses or presenting any evidence to attempt to demonstrate that the policy has had a positive effect. In a statement sent to media outlets, the government said: “The Justice Department is defending the statute, as it traditionally does when acts of Congress are challenged. The president believes and has repeatedly affirmed that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ is a bad policy that harms our national security and undermines our military effectiveness, because it requires the discharge of brave Americans who wish to serve this country honorably. The president and his administration are working with the military leadership and Congress to repeal this law.” Q
Quips & Quotes ❝❝
The South has quite a conservative history. I’ve found that, even though it’s politically conservative, it’s not as hostilely aggressive toward members of diverse communities. And that leads me to believe that there is a window of opportunity to educate not only lawmakers but the public at large about some of the discrimination that takes place against the gay community.” —Former Utah Rep. Christine Johnson, talking to South Carolina’s Free Times, about the strategy she will now use as executive director of Equality South Carolina.
❝❝
So, a high-ranking official went to anti-gay coalition meeting. And, the President-Prophet sent a letter to be read at all Mormon churches. But, that doesn’t count.” —Blogger Joe Sudbay posting on John Aravosis’ AMERICAblog, on the LDS Church’s insistence that it did not play a part in trying to stop Argentina from legalizing same-sex marriage.
❝❝
I decided not to lie in the interview, but I didn’t verify whether or not my relationship was sexual—I refused to give that information because I didn’t feel that was any of [their] business and I [had] talked to my bishop about it.” —Gay former BYU student John Kovalenko, talking to City Weekly about the treatment of gay and lesbian students under the school’s revamped honor code.
❝❝
[Gays and lesbians] are not being repressed, discriminated against. There is no and never has ever been a homosexual man hunt for them. Jews, Christians, and Blacks were hunted down and murdered. Homosexuals have nothing in common with the three.” —An administrator for the National Organization for Marriage, an anti-gay group purportedly backed by the LDS Church, in a nowdeleted post to their Facebook page.
Hawaii Governor Vetoes Civilunion Bill Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed a civilunion bill July 6 that would have granted same-sex couples all the rights, benefits, responsibilities and obligations of marriage under a different name. “I have been open and consistent in my opposition to same-gender marriage and find that House Bill 444 is essentially marriage by another name,” Lingle said at a news conference. “I am vetoing this bill because I have become convinced that this issue is of such societal importance that it deserves to be decided by all the people of Hawaii,” she said. “It would be a mistake to allow a decision of this magnitude to be made by one individual or a small group of elected officials. And while ours is a system of representative government, it also is one that recognizes that from time to time there are issues that require the reflection, collective wisdom and consent of the people and reserves to them the right to directly decide those matters. This is one such issue.” Lingle went on to criticize the way the bill had been passed in the House of Representatives. “The legislative maneuvering that brought House Bill 444 to an 11th-hour vote on the final day of the session via a suspension of the rules, after legislators led the public to believe that the bill was dead, was wrong and unfair to the public they represent,” she said. “This is a decision that should (be made) by all the people of Hawaii behind the curtain of the voting booth.” Lingle said she felt “very comfortable” with her veto, but added: “I would be surprised if this does not go on the next available ballot. ... I would encourage lawmakers to do it ... so that we can all move on.” Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union promptly announced they would file suit over the veto. “If the governor won’t honor her oath to uphold the constitution, the courts will,” said ACLU staff attorney Laurie Temple. Hawaii’s constitution was amended by voters in 1998 to give the Legislature authority to restrict marriage to oppositesex couples, which it did. The amendment does not prohibit civil unions or prevent the Legislature from changing its mind. (The amendment states, “The legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples.”) “Since the Hawaii constitution allows the Legislature to limit marriage to being between a man and a woman, we cannot sue under the Hawaii constitution to claim that it violates the state constitution to not allow same-sex couples to marry, but we can bring (a suit) about how same-sex couples should still be entitled under the state
constitution to equal rights, benefits and responsibilities through some institution other than marriage,” said Lambda Legal’s Jon Davidson. In other reaction, Freedom to Marry called Lingle’s veto “deeply disappointing” and said it “unnecessarily delays Hawaii’s journey toward fairness and equality.” “Gov. Lingle has rejected the will of the state Legislature and the advice of countless business and faith leaders and turned her back on the committed couples and Hawaii kin who have expressed their support for this measure,” said Executive Director Evan Wolfson. “Freedom to Marry urges the Hawaii state Legislature to overrule Gov. Lingle’s veto.”
Equality Hawaii’s Alan Spector commented: “Today is a sad day for the thousands of Hawaii families who remain second-class citizens. We fail to see how the governor’s actions are in the best interest of Hawaii’s future and are nothing more than political maneuvering at the expense of people’s lives. We’re disappointed and outraged.” National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey called the veto “a disgrace.” “Hawaii’s lawmakers passed this bill because it was about fundamental fairness,” she said. “The governor’s action today flies in the face of both common sense and common humanity. We urge the Hawaii Legislature to override this veto.”
Same-sex marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C. Five additional states have domesticpartner or civil-union laws that extend to same-sex couples all state-level rights and obligations of marriage: California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. Five other states extend limited marital rights to registered same-sex couples: Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland and Wisconsin. New York and Maryland recognize samesex marriages from other states and countries. California recognizes same-sex marriages from anywhere in the world if they were entered into before Proposition 8. Q
Obama Issues AIDS strategy
group of people with HIV, followed by gay black men, straight black women, gay Latino men, straight black men, straight white women, straight Latino women, black male drug users and black female drug users. However, the rankings change dramatically when each group is looked at relative to its size in the American population. Those numbers show that black female drug users are most at risk of catching HIV, followed by black male drug users and black men who have sex with men. The report estimates that black gay men are five times more likely to end up positive than white gay men. “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gay men comprise approximately 2 percent of the U.S. population, but 53 percent of new infections,” the document states. “Among gay men, white gay men constitute the greatest number of new infections, but black and Latino gay men are at disproportionate risk for infection.” Near the end, the document calls on the federal government to get more organized around AIDS. “What has been missing and what is needed at this time is an enhanced focus on coordinating our efforts across federal agencies, across all levels of government, with external partners and throughout the health care system,” it says. But it adds that there will never be enough money to go around. “Resources will always be tight, and we will have to make tough choices about the most effective use of funds,” the report states. “Therefore, all resource allocation decisions for programs should be grounded in the latest epidemiological data about who is being most affected and other data that tell us which are the most urgent unmet needs to be addressed.” National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey said Obama’s HIV/AIDS plan “is long overdue, and implementation can’t happen fast enough.” “This plan offers much-needed relief by focusing on high-risk communities, directing money to states with the highest need based on reported cases of HIV/AIDS, and by recognizing the unique needs of affected
populations,” she said. “However, the plan doesn’t yet go far enough in ending new infections and helping those already coping with the disease to manage it. The government must make available the necessary resources and life-saving medicines for those in need. Adequate attention to and funding for implementation as well as aggressive timetables are essential to the success of this plan. This ongoing national tragedy requires an immediate, potent and cohesive federal response that is appropriately funded.” The Human Rights Campaign “praised” the strategy “as a positive step forward in the fight against HIV and AIDS nationwide, but called on the administration and Congress to provide the leadership and resources necessary to implement this important plan.” HRC President Joe Solmonese said: “The strategy importantly acknowledges the continued impact HIV/AIDS has on LGBT people, as well as the failure to put adequate attention and resources toward addressing the epidemic in our community. But the goals and timetables laid out in this document cannot and will not be achieved without strong leadership and robust resources. All of us — including the administration and Congress, state governments, service providers and advocates — must commit to ensuring that the bold vision of this plan is fulfilled.” Lambda Legal called the plan a “long overdue first step.” Executive Director Kevin Cathcart said: “The National HIV/AIDS Strategy recognizes the stigma associated with HIV and the persistent discrimination that still occurs, and that a need remains to strengthen enforcement of civil rights laws protecting people with HIV. We commend the administration for focusing attention on the need to address the discrimination faced by people living with HIV in the U.S.” “The epidemic is having a particularly serious impact on gay and bisexual men, as well as African-Americans,” he added. “We are heartened by the White House’s intent to direct more attention and resources to the epidemic and its hardest-hit communities.” Q
President Barack Obama issued a “National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States” on July 13. “Our country is at a crossroads,” Obama said. “Right now, we are experiencing a domestic epidemic that demands a renewed commitment, increased public attention and leadership.” The document states that one American becomes infected with HIV every 9½ minutes and that 600,000 Americans have died from AIDS. But relatively few people seem to be alarmed by HIV nowadays, the strategy says. “The public’s sense of urgency associated with combating the epidemic appears to be declining,” it reports. “In 1995, 44 percent of the general public indicated that HIV/AIDS was the most urgent health problem facing the nation, compared to only 6 percent in March 2009.” One year after the 44 percent figure was obtained, protease-inhibitor drugs became available that, when combined with other antiretroviral drugs, have dramatically reduced AIDS-related deaths. The vast majority of HIV-positive people with access to treatment now live with the virus as a more or less chronic manageable condition, though drug side effects and societal stigma can still be serious problems. The report says that 56,000 Americans catch HIV every year, and that that is expensive for the nation. It estimates that 21 percent of HIV-positive people don’t know they are positive. “(M)ore Americans are living with HIV than ever before,” the document states. “Unless we take bold actions, we face a new era of rising infections, greater challenges in serving people living with HIV, and higher health care costs.” The strategy’s main goals are to reduce the number of infections, increase access to treatment and reduce “HIV-related health disparities.” Gay white men make up the largest
July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 7
Qmmunity
LOC AL NEWS
Town Hall Survey and Meeting Discuss Gay, Transgender Safety
Get Teed Off The 11th annual Center Golf Classic fundraiser for the Utah Pride Center will be held again this August. Registration is now open and sponsorship packets are available. WHEN: Aug. 22 WHERE: Stonebridge Golf Course, 4415 Links Dr. COST: $110 until Aug. 1, $125 after INFO: utahpridecenter.org
by Michael Aaron
A large percentage of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender do not feel safe in a non-gay bar, at work and in public restaurants, according to a survey released by the Public Safety Liaison Committee. About 500 people took the survey during the Utah Pride Festival. Only 26 percent of respondents said they feel safe expressing themselves in a non-gay bar, and nearly 50 percent said they have had an experience at a non-gay bar which made them feel unsafe. Only 34 percent said they felt safe to be themselves in a school setting, with 37 percent actually experiencing something that made them feel unsafe there. Half of the respondents feel safe at work and 44 percent in restaurants. Two-thirds feel safe in a gay bar. The results of the survey were shared at a town hall meeting at the Salt Lake City Library on July 13. Law enforcement, prosecutors, and gay and lesbian community leaders presented information on safety concerns to a room of about 100 people. West Valley City Police Department Sgt. Julie Jorgensen started the discussion off explaining what happens when a call is made to the police for help. She emphasized the need to actually make the call, a repeated appeal of an article she wrote in this newspaper several months ago. “I can’t help you if you don’t call me,” she said. “Some people are reluctant to call the police because they’re afraid.” She explained that police officers are “required to be objective in their investigations.” She said that those who feel improperly treated should cooperate during the situation, but make a formal complaint afterwards. “I know of no [police] department head who wouldn’t take action on a complaint received about improper treatment,” she said. Jorgensen is a member of the Public Safety Liaison Committee, a project of the Utah Pride Center. The committee has representatives from police jurisdictions up and down the Wasatch Front. The committee, along with activist Eric Ethington, created the town hall meeting in light of a recent assault in a non-gay bar that sent a gay couple to the hospital and the July 4, 2008 attack on DJ Bell and Dan Fair in their home. Panel members also included Utah Pride Center Executive Director Valerie Larabee, Salt Lake City District Attorney Chief Prosecutor (and Salt Lake County District Attor-
Festival Survey
ney candidate) Sim Gill, Salt Lake County District Attorney Justice Division Administrator Paul Parker, Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder, Equality Utah Executive Director Brandie Balken and Eric Ethington. Winder wholeheartedly agreed that people should report cases of improper treatment by officers. “If I have a bad cop out there, I want to know about it,” he said. He encouraged those who feel ignored in the process to work their way right up to him. “People need to understand, though, that we cannot divulge what punishment was taken,” he explained. “All we can say was that a complaint was validated. That means the officer was punished in some way. It doesn’t sound like much, but no officer wants that on their record.” He said that such reprimands can get in the way of an officer being promoted and follows them to any future position in any jurisdiction. A question on the survey that has police officials concerned is about domestic violence. Asked: “Are you protected against discrimination due to your sexual orientation and/or gender identity when you need help regarding domestic disputes?” Over 45 percent said they did not know and over 20 percent said no. “From these results we know that in spite of our efforts, people don’t understand that law enforcement is trained to deal with samesex partners in domestic violence and that we need to [educate] more,” said Capt. Kyle Jones, Salt Lake City Police Department and Public Safety Liaison Committee member. Indeed, less than a third of respondents would call their police department if they felt victim of discrimination. Two-thirds named either the Utah Pride Center, Equality Utah or the ACLU as who they would call. During the question and answer period of the town hall meeting, actor and activist Charles Frost tried to get a definitive answer on what city in Salt Lake County is safest for gay and transgender people. “As a gay man, I feel safer in some areas of the county than others,” he said. The panel was at a loss to answer him, because those kinds of statistics are not
8 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
kept. The only statistics relevant to gay and transgender people are those collected for hate crimes, and are only coded when a victim claims a crime was committed because of hate during the first interview. Transgender activist Dominique Storni called “bullshit” on the panelists. Having worked in different departments in the justice system, she said she knows the anti-gay and transgender banter and improper treatment that happens “behind the scenes.” “What you do speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what you say,” she said. She also complained about South Salt Lake’s handling of the Bell-Fair case and the fact that no suspects have been arrested in the Piper Down case in Salt Lake City. “Whatever training is going on, it’s not sticking,” she said. But, she was still glad the panelists were making an effort to reach out to the community. “Hear my anger, but also hear that I’m really glad you’re here,” she said. Jorgensen said that, in her years in the department, she has noticed a severe decrease in the “locker-room banter” against women, gays and transgender people. In response to an audience question, Sheriff Winder explained that prisoners self identify their gender and are placed accordingly, unless a problem arises in the general population due to non-matching genitalia. “Our concern is for the safety of the transgender person and cohesion in the general population. A representative of the Utah State Prison explained how transgender people are processed. “It’s about the genitalia. If the lower half is male genitalia and the upper half is female, a male will search the bottom half and a woman will search the top half,” he said. Panelists said the next step in the safety process will be cultural competency training for non-gay bars and, eventually, other public accommodations. Ethington hoped to have that going in the next 60 days. Q The full results of the safety survey results can be found at tinyurl.com/utahgaysafety
The Utah Pride Center is asking attendees at this year’s Utah Pride Festival to give feedback about their experiences in a survey located at utahpridecenter.org. Participants will be entered to win one of two $100 gift certificates to Gastronomy, Inc. restaurants.
Kids Like Me The Utah Pride Center has started Kids Like Me, a playgroup for gender exceptional children, and for children with a gender exceptional parent. The group’s purpose is to give these children and their parents opportunities to meet and make friends. Kids Like Me held its first party on July 7. INFO: utahpridecenter.org
A ‘Taste’ of Square Dancing Temple Squares, Utah’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender square dancing group, will hold a free evening of square dancing for beginners this August. The group teaches “gender neutral” dancing (meaning that people can dance in any position regardless of gender identity) set to pop music. It is open to singles, couples and groups of friends of any sexual orientation or gender identity. Later in the evening, caller Ross Lopton will teach lessons in more advanced square dancing. WHEN: Aug. 14, 7–9 p.m. WHERE: The Columbus Center, 2498 S. 500 East INFO: slcsquaredancing.org
Help the Animals Utah’s only farm animal sanctuary, Ching Farm Animal Rescue & Sanctuary, will hold its 2nd annual 5K/10K “walk, run and sleep-in” to benefit the animals in its care. All donations will go toward caring for the animals and providing education about farm animal abuse. WHEN: Oct. 2, 8 a.m. WHERE: Memory Grove, 370 N. Canyon Rd. INFO: chingsanctuary.org
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Taylorsville is Poised to Pass Nondiscrimination Ordinances by Michael Aaron
Taylorsville appears to be simply a formality away from being the seventh community to pass ordinances which protect citizens from discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation in housing and employment. At a July 14 work meeting, the Taylorsville City Council considered the ordinances and voted for a change in staff-drawn drafts, which created a board to hear complaints. Mayor Russ Wall introduced the measures, saying the city “floated this concept earlier this year, and since then our sister cities have moved forward.” “I think it’s appropriate we bring these [ordinances] back and discuss some of the concepts, and we may want to put it on an agenda for passage,” he said. Second District Councilman Morris Pratt started the discussion. “I guess I want to start off with the million-dollar question,” he said. “Why is our state not taking care of this?” This question has been raised at nearly all public discussions of the measures, though it generally tends to be rhetorical in nature. “One of my fears would be that as a state we have 15 communities that have different versions [of the ordinances],” said Pratt.
Third District City Councilman Jerry Rechtenbach said that the ordinances would not require a special board to hear complaints. “I think we should consider these as ordinances adjudicated as any other ordinance in our code,” he said. “What I’m against is setting up another layer.” District Four City Councilwoman Dama Barbour said, “I’m thinking when we do this we need to know what we are doing. Are we ready to do this?” Wall answered, “That’s why we are having this discussion. We are close.” “I just want to make sure that when we do it, we know what we are doing and do it right,” Barbour said. The council decided to pass the measures to City Attorney John Brahms to make the changes discussed in the meeting and put the measures on the Aug. 4 meeting agenda. Asked if the measures are likely to pass, Pratt said, “I don’t think there are any major concerns.” Equality Utah Executive Director Brandie Balken testified at the meeting. Taylorsville is one of ten cities the group hopes will pass nondiscrimination ordinances before the Utah State Legislature convenes next year.
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GRASSROOTS BROADCASTING LIVES ONLINE July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 9
National Partner
Opening Ceremony of the vii. Gay Games 2006 Chicago – © John Faier
Taylorsville City Council discusses nondiscrimination measures at their work meeting.
LOC AL NEWS
LDS Official Attends Argentine Anti-Gay Marriage Rally
Nearly two years after its controversial involvement in the passage of California’s Proposition 8, the LDS Church is again drawing criticism for what critics are calling attempts to thwart legalized same-sex marriage in another country. On July 15, Argentina’s Senate voted 33– 27 for a bill giving gay and lesbian couples the same legal rights as their straight counterparts, including the right to adopt children. It is the first Latin American country to do so, although Mexico City granted legal LDS public-affairs director for recognition Argentina and former Area to same-sex Authority Seventy Carlos Aguero coupl es in March. In the months before California voted on Proposition 8, which sought to re-ban same-sex marriage in the Bay State, the LDS Church exhorted its faithful to contribute time and money into seeing the measure passed. Yet, during parliamentary discussion of Argentina’s bill, church President Thomas S. Monson and First Presidency Henry B. Eyring and Deiter F. Uchtdorf merely issued a one paragraph letter to be read in the country’s LDS congregations. It read:
“Uncertainties have arisen because of the legislation that has been proposed that would change the definition of marriage in Argentina. The doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is absolutely clear: Marriage is between one man and one woman and is ordained of God. We recommend that together with your families you review “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” to understand more completely the doctrine of the Church as it relates to this essential topic.” “[The church] has taken no official position on the legislation being considered,” LDS spokesperson Scott Trotter later told the media. The move led pundits, bloggers and journalists in the United States wondering why the church had not repeated its anti-Prop 8 campaign. The Salt Lake Tribune cited Argentina’s liberal government and the church’s comparatively small presence in the country — just roughly 372,000 members among 41 million citizens — as possible factors, as well as the bad press the church’s anti-Prop 8 campaign garnered (which, most famously, included a popular documentary about its involvement that debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival). Just one day a f t e r the vote, h o w ever, the Tribune revealed that a highranking LDS official had taken part in condemning the bill. According to a story that broke in its pages, LDS public affairs director for Argentina, Carlos Aguero, had joined leaders from several other denominations and conservative family
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rights groups in a July 7 meeting opposing the bill. The article cited “a Buenos Aires” newspaper as its source for this information. Later, Affirmation, a support group for gay former and current members of the LDS faith, revealed that a number of Argentine media outlets had reported on Aguero’s presence at the Catholic-lead demonstration, including La Capital, El Tribuno and Cronista. The revelation touched off a host of angry comments posted to the web version of the article and anger from gay bloggers across the country, including John Aravosis of AMERICAblog. Affirmation leadership accused the LDS Church of “interfering with governmental decision on marriage equality.” “Argentina’s national governing body approved marriage equality this week despite efforts by top Mormons to stop them,” said Dave Melson, the group’s executive director. “This is another appalling example of the LDS trying to dominate government decisions being made by democratically elected officials.” “Mormon and Vatican officials have no
respect for the role of government. People have the right to religious expression but religions do not have the right to co-opt governments,” added George Cole, Affirmation senior assistant executive director. He further noted that the church had joined a “worldwide coalition” of religious groups in 2005 “that are willing to use money offered by the faithful to impose their anti-equality agenda on governments wherever possible.” Trotter said he could not comment on why Aguero attended the meeting, or whether or not he was there in an official capacity. “As we have said in the past, the Church has made its support of traditional marriage clear but it does not involve itself institutionally in every same-sex election contest,” said Trotter in a statement. “A local Church representative attended some interfaith meetings where the subject was discussed and a letter was read in local congregations reemphasizing our position on marriage, but the Church took no official position on the marriage legislation in Argentina and did not organize its members to participate in opposing the legislation.”
So. Utah Pride to Go Virtual? JoSelle Vanderhooft
In 2009, organizers of the Southern Utah Pride Festival announced that the popular celebration would go on hiatus to give the committee time to rest and to focus on building a Pride Center in St. George. Sadly, one year later the festival’s hiatus has gone from temporary to indefinite. According to Chris McArdle, former president of the corporation behind the festival, the festival board has essentially dissolved, and the event itself has “pretty much shut down.” But McArdle was quick to add that pride itself has not shut down in Southern Utah. Currently, he said he is at work on creating a website that gay and transgender-friendly organizations in the area (and elsewhere in the state) can use to announce their events and stay in touch. McArdle registered the domain name (which currently leads to a bare bones page) and plans on launching the site with a small grant from a New York City-based foundation that contributed to the Southern Utah Pride Festival. “[The site is] kind of acting as our community center that hasn’t seemed to come into fruition,” he said. “It’s from Southern Utah and linking us together as one entity rather than many entities that can’t seem to pull their weight alone.” When fully up and running, the site will contain a calendar of community events from around the state, which can be added by any groups that ask for and obtain special posting accounts. McArdle mentioned Southern Utah’s PFLAG chapter as an example.
“[PFLAG president] Claudia [Bradshaw] could log in and write about the meeting instead of calling a bunch of people to let them know it’s happening,” he said. He also said that the site will allow individuals to register accounts to comment on events. Although the Southern Utah Pride Festival won’t be happening this year, McArdle said that he hopes it will open its doors again someday. In the meantime, he said that SUP, Inc. is still a viable corporation, and the “little bit of money” left over from festivals past is waiting in a bank account managed by a former board member. All the community needs, he said, is for an interested person to step forward who can demonstrate the “interest, ability and action” to help organize the festival again. “It can be anybody and once they show themselves deserving,” he said. “But so far, not one person has stepped forward.” He noted, however, that the festival had gone a long way in helping gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Southern Utah be visible. “It’s no longer a small town. Gay people aren’t willing to hide in Washington County anymore and that’s a cool thing,” he said. “The whole premise [of Southern Utah Pride] was if we could save one person’s life, we did our job. I know we put couples together and there’s a lot of stories. “That’s the cool thing about these events: you never know,” he continued. “You save one kid’s life and he goes off to cure cancer. You don’t know how you’re affecting history.” Q
10 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps of Salt Lake City members at Denver Pride
PHOTO: LOGAN BRUECK
ROTC Delights Denver JoSelle Vanderhooft
After wowing audiences in Utah, Idaho and Las Vegas for years, Utah’s gay and transgender-friendly color guard finally ventured over the Rocky Mountains for their first-ever Denver Pride Festival. In part because of a generous donation that boomeranged during last year’s festival. “The person that won the cash prize at our fund raiser booth at Utah Pride was from Denver visiting friends,” said Director Logan Brueck, who has led the group since its founding in 2005. “[She] loved us in the parade, so she donated the cash back to us in hopes that we would come to Denver Pride.” Of course, the corps couldn’t fulfill the winner’s wishes with that donation alone. To raise the rest of the more than $3,500 they needed, the corps held fund raisers throughout 2009 and 2010, including garage sales and yard clean-up days. They also received help from local and national sponsors, including Club Try-Angles, Bonwood Bowling, ManHunt.com and Denny’s Restaurant located at 250 W. 500 South. While the corps had to work hard to get the money, Brueck said the effort was worth it. “ROTC-SLC is celebrating our fifth season and I wanted to do something big with the corps,” said Brueck. “[I thought] performing at other cities’ Pride Festival would be great since we are becoming something like ambassadors of the Salt Lake City LGBT community.” A few weeks after the Utah Pride Festival shut its gates, 24 of the “ambassadors” boarded a flight to Denver (their sound equipment, as well as the flags and wooden rifles they use in their routines traveled by truck). They were then joined by “virtual members” from five other states (including two from Colorado). These members, Brueck explained, learn ROTC SLC’s routines through YouTube videos and join the rest of the corps on stage after a few rehearsals on-site. In all, 32 members performed — the largest contingent ROTCSLC has had at any performance. After rehearsals, the large group took to the festival’s main stage on June 19 only to run into trouble: the stage was smaller than
organizers had told them. Pressed for time, Brueck had to think fast in order to keep the large last number. He separated the corps into two halves, one to take the stage and one to perform on the ground below. “It was tight up there, but we pulled it off,” he said. “We had the crowd dancing, clapping and singing while we twirled.” The crowd was just as enthusiastic during the next day’s parade, cheering so loudly that Brueck said the group “camped it up a little” to amuse them even more. “Walking around the festival ground we would be stopped and told that [festivalgoers] thought that we were the best thing in the parade,” said Brueck. “[We] even had people ask if we could come back to Colorado and perform at other events or how they can start a ROTC-Denver chapter.” Of course, part of the reason for flying out instead of spending hours in a car was to give the corps a little time to enjoy their time in the city. The group held a dinner banquet at the local Hamburger Mary’s for the virtual members, where they were presented with performance pins and silver dog tags. They also spent time lounging in the Curtis Hotel, where Brueck was surprised to find a working disco ball in the hotel restaurant bathroom. “I wasn’t sure if I should pee or do the Hustle, so I did both,” he laughed. Much like their Denver trip, Brueck thinks that ROTC-SLC’s sixth season will be a mixture of hard work and fun. “We are already working on looking at trying to make another trip out of Utah to perform in 2011,” he said, noting that the group has been invited to perform at the Vancouver Pride Festival. “We already have stake at Las Vegas Pride and have performed at other locations like Pridaho in Pocatello and Southern Utah Pride in St. George, but we have never gone as far as to travel to a location that we had to fly to get there.” “Is ROTC-SLC going to go international?” he added. Q Learn more about ROTC-SLC and its upcoming schedule at rotcslc.com.
July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 11
Coming Soon - Friday Nights on Monument Plaza in Sugar House!
Your Neighborhood Farmers Market July 9 - October 15, 2010 www.sugarhousefarmersmarket.com – sugarhousefarmersmarket@gmail.com
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In a previous issue of QSaltLake, we inadvertently ran an incorrect ad for Heartsong Enterprises. We regret the error. Heartsong Enterprises, Inc. would like readers to know that they will continue to serve our community with pride and gratitude. This September will mark their 21st year in business. Due to the generous support of our community they have prospered and Brook is now assisted by Joanna Bristow and Megan Mann.
Saturday MorningS
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and tueSday eveningS FroM auguSt - october
Invite fresh, local flavors to your summer barbecues. coming Soon to the Market
July 24 Seasonal Cooking Demos Viking Cooking School July 31 Used Book Sale Friends of the City Library
Visit slcfarmersmarket.org for market updates 12 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
LOC ALNEWS
U of U to Offer Safe Zone Training For decades, the University of Utah’s LGBT Resource Center has worked to make the campus a safe place for students of all sexual orientations and gender identities. As part of this mission, the group will offer a Safe Zone Training session for University students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public, on Aug. 18. The training itself, explained Safe Zone Coordinator Evangeleena Manzanares, is a three hour session that covers terminology, history and ally-building. The first part, she continued, trainers go over terms relating to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people such as “LGBTQ,” “homophobia” and “heterosexism.” The session continues with an overview of the gay rights movement in the U.S. and with a discussion about how those in attendance can be allies. “It’s to show that anybody can be an ally,” said Manzanares, “People in the LGBT community can be allies as well,” she added, explaining, for example, that cisgender (non-transgender) lesbians can be allies to transgender people, and gay men can be allies to bisexuals. The session also includes discussion and dispelling of
stereotypes about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, and the creation of a safe space for participants to ask questions and create dialogue. “At the beginning of the training we set down some norms that the group decides on to make sure they feel safe and comfortable asking questions and talking,” said Manzanares, noting that participants are also welcome to submit written questions anonymously for facilitators to answer later in the workshop. During the fall and spring semesters, open Safe Zone Training is offered every month, and the school’s departments, offices and colleges are welcome to contact the LGBT Resource Center to schedule a free training session for their staff. Manzanares also said that the resource center offers training for organizations off campus for a requested donation. Two free training sessions will be held Aug. 18 from 9 a.m.–12 p.m., and then from 1–4 p.m. in the Olpin Student Union Den. To RSVP, or to express interest in becoming a trainer, contact Manzanares at emanzanares@sa.utah.edu or 801-587-7973.
A SAGE Summer for the 50-plus Gays The Utah Pride Center’s social group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people age 50 and over and their friends, has several exciting activities scheduled for the rest of the summer. August’s “go-together” social event will be QSaltLake’s annual Lagoon Day on Aug. 8. Members of SAGE will meet under the park’s Maple Terrace Pavilion for a day of rides, shows, cotton candy and fun in the sun. To RSVP e-mail volunteer@utahpridecenter.org or call Jennifer Nuttall at 801539-8800. Later in the month, SAGE will host a discussion on creating a support group for caregivers — in particular those who care
for a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender elderly. Although the Utah Pride Center has said that it is still putting together more specific details about the discussion, its date has been set for Aug. 18. As the weather cools in September, SAGE members will get out their favorite fezzes, bonnets, berets, tiaras and top hats for the “Do You Like My Hat” Gala. This evening of live music, fine food and drinks will include a showcase of fabulous hats and several fun door prizes. Original and homemade haberdashery is encouraged. For more information about SAGE and its upcoming activities, contact Jennifer Nuttall or visit utahpridecenter.org.
Listening to Homeless Youth Like the 40 percent of Utah’s homeless youth who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender, queer teens in other “outof-home” settings often face discrimination and a lack of support and understanding. To better help these youth — many of whom are involved with the state’s child welfare and juvenile justice systems — the Utah Pride Center, Quality Youth Services and Volunteers of America, Utah are joining forces to present a number of ‘listening forums’ throughout the state over the summer. Geared toward parents, queer youth and the professionals that work with them, these sessions are modeled upon those held throughout 2003 and 2004 by Child Welfare Legal of America and Lambda Legal Defense in 13 other U.S. cities. These forums allowed queer youth in a number of out-ofhome situations (including homelessness) to talk about their experiences and to work with professionals in changing the systems that serve them to be more accommodating. Organizations participating in this year’s forums will include Juvenile Justice Services, Juvenile Courts, Homeless Youth Services and representatives from a number of Utah schools. Forums will be held in the following cities. The first hour of each will be for youth only. All meetings will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. except for St. George’s, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Jazz’ Amaechi Warns Athletes Against Coming Out Too Soon Gay former Utah Jazz player John Amaechi has said that gay sportsmen and women should not feel rushed to come out if they do not feel ready. Amaechi, who came out in 2007 — four years after retiring from the sport, said that coming out too soon was like “being born prematurely” and urged those not yet comfortable to hold off.
Logan July 28 Utah State University The Center Colony Room Taggart Student Center
Salt Lake City July 29 Sorenson Unity Center Performance Theatre, 1383 S. 900 West
St. George Aug. 2 St. George Library, 88 W. 100 South
Price Aug. 3 College of Eastern Utah Multipurpose Room, Student Center
Provo Aug. 4 Provo Library, Room 302 550 N. University Ave
Ogden Aug. 16 Unitarian Universalist Church 705 23rd St. Stories collected at the sessions will be published as a report available to Utah professionals who work with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer youth. Professionals can register for any of the sessions by contacting Sharon Osborne at sosborne@utah.gov or 801-265-7571. For more information about the sessions, visit utahpridecenter.org.
“I get into trouble sometimes with the gay community by saying it is not the job of sports stars in the closet to come out,” he told the Manchester Evening News. “That is not how change happens. For an underprepared and psychologically stunted individual who plays sports at a high level to come out before they are ready is like being born prematurely.” “Unequivocally, being out is better than staying in,” he said. “But those who do come out need support.”
July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 13
OUR VIEWS
letters Praise for Pride Editor, Along with its accompanying rallies, marches, parade, entertainment, and Grand Marshal reception, the 2010 Utah Pride Festival was nothing short of exceptional. Observing the way our community and it’s allies successfully pulled together to throw Utah’s biggest and best celebration of diversity is breath-taking and fills me with immense PRIDE. The almost 800 volunteers that worked to ensure the phenomenal success of the festival deserve congratulations, commendation, and a BIG thank you. Thank you also to the festival directors, team leaders, and festival “community partners” (OUTLaws, QUAC, ROTC, sWerve, HRC of Utah, Utah Bear Alliance), who were instrumental in providing dedicated support from planning and implementation to tear-down and clean-up. Cheers to the 25,000 attendees and participants who bought tickets. Each time a festival ticket is purchased, not only does it buy admission to an exciting and bodacious PRIDE celebration, the proceeds fund the imperative and meaningful programs of our very own Utah Pride Center - which ultimately saves lives and improves the quality of life for people in the community. Proceeds from the festival are also shared with scholarship recipients for educational financial aid and festival “community partners” to help fund and operate their respec-
Q on the street
❝ ❝Utah is known for being ... not the most gay-friendly ... state in the nation. Why do you stay? Joseph Pemberton I was born and raised here and I stayed with my company until I could retire. Now I’m waiting for my husband to retire so we can move elsewhere.
Jeremy Osborne Because in life, you get what you are looking for. I choose to see and know all the wonderful people in Utah, not the prejudiced ones. From my experience Utah is full of people ready to love unconditionally!
William Carlson
tive organizations. Bringing our diverse personalities, opinions, organizations, political and religious philosophies, orientations, and hair styles together for a common purpose under the banner of the Utah Pride Festival is a grand way for us to build community. Way to go everyone! Let’s keep building!
Jon Jepsen
Co-Chair, 2010 Utah Pride Festival Vice-Pres, Utah Pride Center
Living with HIV and Brave Editor, Thank you for your story and HIV in Utah and the brave souls who put their face to the issue right on your pages [“Living with HIV
1 4 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
in Utah,” July 9, 2010]. It is sad how, over the past decade of complacency, attitudes toward those who have HIV have turned hostile. At one time there were ad campaigns about how you can’t get HIV from hugging, etc. It appears we need to revive that message, as well as the tired old messages of safer sex. These issues need to be talked about more. If our HIV/AIDS advocacy groups aren’t doing it, maybe it’s time we do it for ourselves. If you practice safer sex, you have little to worry about being intimate with a person with HIV. You should be acting as if the other person had it anyway. If you’re not — you and your partners are at risk.
Robbie Koster Salt Lake City
Utah’s my home. It’s my responsibility. As the state continues to change, Utah’s power elite are looking less and less like Utah. Utah’s past preaches from a pulpit on Sunday. Utah’s future dances with the crowd on Saturday.
Jc Hook Because the state has a lot to offer. It’s a clean state (streets), many activities and great landscapes to enjoy and my family lives here. I have never experienced hatred or discrimination in over 24 years living in SLC.
Karl Elbel
QSaltLake welcomes your feedback Please send your letters to the editor to letters@qsaltlake.com
Because I’m in graduate school. Once I have my degree a year from now, I’m gone.
Billy Gowen Because one day all the LGBT people who feel like they don’t have a voice will learn to vote and the legislature will realize, too late, that Utah is a giant gayborhood.
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ON DR EA AG
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call of destiny but the call of the first voice brave enough to speak. Without cohesion and unity our community is destined to fail, all the while we continue to suffer irreparable damage. Within the last month, I have seen firsthand as the bullets of this war have entered the brain of two of our community’s leaders. Although they will not be memorialized on the news or in a national magazine, these two beautiful individuals have paved the way for a transformation of our broken community. The assassination of these beautiful souls was not carried out by one man but at their own hand. With one final act of self expression these two individuals charged forward with dignity and gave their life for the cause for which they so nobly fought. Every day, stories such as that of James Dunkley, a 19-year-old boy from North Ogden whose life ended in June of 2009 due not to complications with faulty health, but an inability to carve out a small piece of his destiny. In a final act of desperation, James did what many of us wish we could do, he raised his voice and cried out against the failings of a fundamentally sick society. Raising a voice that you fundamentally do not understand is a near impossible task, one in which a dramatic transformation of character can take place. I have not risen to this task, and thus I remain a coward. With this article I hope to finally leave behind any question of the person that lies behind the mask. I no longer hide who I am but embrace it fully, in the utmost of sincerity I raise my voice in honor of those who felt that theirs were not heard. Individuals such as my friends David Standley and Tim Tilley whose lives ended this week in the battle against fear mongering and restricted self expression. I seek not to capitalize on the loss of two incredible individuals, but rather to honor them by expressing my sincerest of gratitude for although you are no longer with us, the lessons you taught us were lifelong. As I think about the sacrifice that David, James, Tim and the countless other causalities of our battle for tolerance have made, I cannot help but feel a sense of purpose. In the truest of senses, the role we play in changing our world is as simple as living our lives on a daily basis. For, although the closet door for David was opened, the world he stepped into was not one in which he felt he could live to his potential and individu-
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F A BULLET SHOULD ENTER my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country.” These immortalized words of Harvey Milk are quoted within our community with a sense of reverence. Having been born after the days of the infamous police raids, high-profile beatings and the HIV/AIDS epidemic’s zenith, I scarcely know the horrors that the older vanguard of our community has been through. I never underwent corrective therapy at a “Mormon gulag” and, thus, I do not know the pain inflicted on those who have. In fact, the year that Harvey Milk died was the year that my father became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. No amount of reading can ever instill within me the passions and experiences that the generation before me has experienced and, in many ways, my arrogance has led me to believe that previous generations are unproductive and serve as merely an antagonist to society. Although I was not present during the opening stages of the battle for our rights when the bullets started flying and did, in fact, enter the brain of Harvey Milk, I was born into the second phase of the war. I entered the world when the energy of the ’70s and ’80s was dying and I have come of age in a time of complacency. The battleground has been covered with new grass and the scars of battles past are hidden underneath the new façade of decent and complacent democracy. Rather than gathering in the streets and town halls, we hide in our night clubs, cowering and waiting for a new catalyst to send our community into action. I am as guilty as any of hiding, I’ve been cautious and attempted to cast a quiet activist persona about me, working behind the scenes to ‘bring about equality and provide a voice for marginalized voices,’ I have hidden behind the guise of a consensus builder when, in reality, the only consensus I was building was that we are inferior and must beg for hand outs from an outside source. I’ve been shy to protest and reserved to express all that I am and, as I have done so, bullets continue to fly. Being naïve as I am, I have believed that the battleground changed when in reality, the only thing that has changed is the weaponry. Now, more than ever, the battle is raging, going to the ballot box is not enough in its own right. Marching in anger and confused passion answer not the
if
by Turner Bitton
bounds. There are leaders out there that can and aided our communities in ways we can never fully know. Thank God for those like Richard Matthews and the great Nova Starr who seek to prevent the spread of illnesses that have wreaked havoc on our community. Thank God for those like Michael Aaron and Salty Gossip for their commitment to save our community from the perils of being uneducated and bored. Thank God for those like Colton Lejeune, Trent Garner, and Berlin Schlegel who show an unwavering desire to help the younger members of our community become comfortable within the bounds of their own skins. Thank God for Allison Black and those committed to aiding our friends and families. Thank God for Brandie Balken and Isaac Higham for their unwavering commitment to working within our democratic institutions to change our legal status. Finally, thank God for those who work every day to bring about equality, thank God for you and me. Remember, you are never alone, and the promise you hold, the promise of your voice can only be achieved when you decide to raise it! It is my hope that the next time you hear of a protest, you will go and raise your voice in solidarity with others, in honor of those who can no longer speak, like David and Tim. The next time there is an election, you get involved and raise your ballot to symbolize your commitment to changing legal statuses. The next time you are asked whether you are LGBTQ+, raise your voice loudly by stating that you are who you are and that “I am equal.” Only through a mind-set of true equality can we ever be equal. Never withdraw from society in fear, but proudly participate because the beauty of a cultural war is that we all carry within us a piece of the flag of victory that will be raised when the war has been won. “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson Q
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guest editorial Raise your Voice, ‘I Am Equal’
al choosing. In his death, the words signed with blood by countless individuals ring true, “When an individual is protesting society’s refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him.” In David standing up for himself and being willing to stand for who he was, his message was one of the utmost urgency. If we do not begin to raise our voices again, we will forever be lost. David raised his voice and unfortunately, he felt so alone in doing so that he could not bear the weight of the world. Let Tim Tilley’s voice rouse you to action, for although he was a soft spoken and timid boy, the message of his life will forever speak volumes of truth. If you hear this message, wherever you stand, answer Tim’s call, show David that we’re the generation, and we can’t afford to wait. The cause is noble and the power of our collective voices can drown out the voices that silenced David and Tim. Honor the memory of those who have died as a result of an uncaring and unwelcoming society by raising your voice. Whether you are 15 or 97, the power to change your world is in your hands. By acknowledging who you are and sharing that with your loved ones, you will reinforce the entire front we currently fight on. The most important lesson to take away from suicide is that you are never alone. You are never powerless and together we will survive. The needs of our community are ever growing and before our movement will ever have success we must first become a community. In many cases, we are all we’ve got, even with the most liberal of statistics, 10 percent of the population; we are a very small island. We are spread across all ethnic barriers, our lives are spent in all socioeconomic classes, and we are in every religion worldwide yet we must choose to speak and not to silence ourselves. We will never be represented until we make our voices heard and in order to do that we must work in all aspects of our society’s
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Our Readers, from left: KK Baker, Betty Pegues, Darryl Woods, & Kim Terry Photo by Guadalupe Rodriguez
July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 15
OUR VIEWS
snaps & slaps
Queer gnosis
SNAP: ROTC-SLC
A Conversation with Jim Dabakis
We don’t give these guys and gals enough credit, especially when they’re not spinning their flags and wooden riffles at one of our pa-
by Troy Williams
I
F YOU DON’T KNOW JIM DABAKIS, you don’t know gay Utah. He is one of the co-founders of the Utah Pride Center and Equality Utah. He is a former talk radio host on KZJO. He’s a world traveler and a fancy-pants dealer in Russian art. But Jim’s main talent is bringing people together. Even enemies. In the early ’80s he traveled to the Soviet Union and developed a friendship with the Russian people. More recently, Jim and the so-called “gang of five” opened a dialogue with LDS Church leadership, which led the church to endorse nondiscrimination ordinances in Salt Lake City. Soon, Jim is taking off to a university in Iran for a six-month teaching gig. Humble yet outspoken, he commands the room with an over-the-top personality that makes him an irresistible force. We spoke recently on KRCL’s RadioActive.
rades; but they’re a pretty awesome group. It’s not just any old color And that was it. KALL never called me back again. TW: Was that the death of your radio ca‑ reer? JD: I was on air for 13 years, said what I wanted to say, and I packed up and moved to Russia in 1989. TW: I read that in the early ’80s you trav‑ eled to Russia and snuck away from your bus tour dressed in D.I. clothes to meet the people.
Remember, it was the church that singlehandedly turned the country around on the M-X missile
TROY WILLIAMS: Tell me about your former radio show on KZJO. JIM DABAKIS: I started in 1976. Joe Redburn was actually the first guy ever to do a talk show in Salt Lake and I used to listen to him. And that’s what I wanted to do. I had a lot to say and nobody to listen to me! TW: I know the feeling! KZJO is now K‑Talk? JD: Yes, and I worked for KALL as well. Talk radio was different then. It was less vitriolic. You had a conservative for one hour, a liberal the next, and they were friends. It was much more congenial. TW: Was your show balanced, liberal, or just you ranting? JD: It was maybe 20 percent political. But there is a giant world out there with a lot of interesting things. TW: Were you “out” back in those days? JD: I’ll tell you how I came out. I was on KALL radio filling in for Tom Barberi. The scheduler had made a mistake and they had another host, Gayle Ruzicka. So, both of us were in the studio together and we didn’t have the best rapport. Two or three days later, I was filling in again with my co-host John Prince. And someone called in who sounded suspiciously like Gayle Ruzicka, and said, “Are you gay? Yes or no — just answer it!” And poor John, a very straight guy, was paralyzed. And I said, “Whoever you are, and I think I know, of course I’m gay, but don’t worry, your husband is too old for me!”
JD: I got bored and I didn’t want to go on the Red Square tour, so I escaped and wandered around. I ended up at the English speaking part of Radio Moscow and I met a guy named Vladimir Pozner who was their chief propagandist. We became buds. Eventually I invited him to the States. TW: Did people ever say, “You’re crazy!” JD: I remember on the streets of Leningrad, there was a guy who was obviously following me. I knew it, and he knew that I knew it. The Russians eat ice cream from the street no matter what the weather is. I bought two ice cream cones, held one out, he walked by and took the ice cream cone. I walked on and he continued to follow me. TW: You bought an ice cream cone for the KGB? JD: Yeah, [laughs] it could have got me in a lot of trouble! TW: Jumping forward. You were one of the co-founders of Equality Utah. Over the last six months they have passed seven nondis‑ crimination ordinances in both workplace and housing.
16 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
JD: I leave the organization and they flourish! TW: It was really made possible by the en‑ dorsement of the LDS Church. You were instrumental in bringing them to the table to talk.
guard who can take multiple awards at Las Vegas Pride, serve as ambassadors at local functions and get someone so excited about their art that she gives them money to come
JD: After Prop 8 and the kiss-in at Temple Square with Matt [Aune] and Derrick [Jones], they reached out to us. And when we met them, one of them said, “It’s such a pleasure to meet the BLT community.” They were trying.
and perform in her home city. That’s
TW: Do you see cracks in the prejudice that some church leaders have?
ROTC-SLC is one of the best gay and
why we’re so proud to hear that they wowed the Denver Pride Festival last month — and even had some pride-goers excited to start their own color guard. When we say that transgender-friendly twirling corps
JD: I think there is a great diversity of opinion among the top church leaders. It’s an evolving position that goes back and forth. Let’s just hope it continues to move forward.
in the West, we’re not exaggerating.
TW: After the church endorsed these or‑ dinances, there was a poll that said 67 percent of Utahns also supported the or‑ dinances. Which was an 11 percent jump. Which is cool — but also suggests a theo‑ cratic group mindset. That’s also scary.
know, a church can’t be uninvolved
JD: Yes, but if you can convince one person and change everything, isn’t that easier than a thousand demonstrations and a million chants? Do you want to be effective or just be out there enjoying the agitation? Remember, it was the church that single-handedly turned the country around on the M-X missile due to Ed Firmage in the mid ’80s. He convinced the church that this was not in their best interest. Those buffoons Orrin Hatch and Jake Garn were all for hiding these bombs all over Southern Utah in little shelters so that the commies would never know where they were. Hatch and Garn couldn’t be more for it until the church said they were against it. Then they switched gears.
exactly tell Argentine Mormons to
TW: Coming up, The Great Satan is meeting the Axis of Evil. You are heading to Iran to teach for six months? JD: Last May, I was asked to participate in a seminar in Tehran on “Sexual Minorities in Religious Communities.” I loved it. Every experience there was fabulous. After the seminar, we rented a vehicle and traveled all over Iran, and met amazing people. Invariably, wherever we were, people wanted to talk to us, invite us to their home, tell us how crazy their president was, recite poetry. These are a very spiritual people. Their culture is fabulous. I loved it and I’m going back. Q Podcast the entire interview at queergnosis.com.
SLAP: LDS Church Leadership Uh, President Monson? Just so you as an institution in a country’s debate over legalizing gay marriage if it allows a high-ranking church official to attend a rally against legalizing gay marriage. Even if you didn’t empty their pocketbooks and spend their Friday nights phone banking for the cause. Getting involved isn’t just about giving the world Proposition 8.2: Electric Boogaloo. And saying otherwise is cheating. And being dishonest.
SNAP: The Kindness of Strangers On July 15, QSaltLake publisher and editor Michael Aaron’s dog Chance wandered off for a stroll and didn’t come home. Staff, readers and Aaron himself were beside themselves with worry about the little guy until, a week later, a kind couple found him running down I-80, chased him down and brought him home — limping, dirty and hungry but no worse the wear. It’s often said that all dogs go to heaven, but we’re pretty sure that people who help lost and confused pups back to their homes are also on the fast track to the pearly gates. If you’re reading this, kind strangers, thank you from all of us here at Q Towers.
A
who’s your daddy? Happy Anniversary
You never know what you will find at Cahoots
by Christopher Katis
T THE END OF JULY, Kelly and I will celebrate our 22nd anniversary. Twenty-two years is a long time for any couple to be together, but for gay men it’s like being married 168 years! Our relationship has survived a lot over the past two decades: grad school, five major moves, a lot of new jobs, way too many deaths to count and two kids. I’ve heard a ton of people — mostly straight people — say that their partner “completes” them. Maybe it’s all those years of reading The Missing Piece and The Big O, but I never felt like I was waiting for anybody to complete me. Now, of course, Kelly complements me. He’s the yin to my yang. The peanut butter to my jelly. The Sonny to my Cher. He’s also the reason I’m a dad. Adopting kids was entirely Kelly’s idea. Don’t get me wrong. If I hadn’t wholeheartedly wanted to adopt the boys, we wouldn’t have. I was a more than willing participant, and I’m glad we became parents. But adding the kids to the relationship mix was a little like adding lighter fuel to a campfire: It could be pretty explosive. For example, as I write this anniversary column, Kelly and I are fighting. The source of the disagreement? Whether I overreacted to Gus’ refusal to clean up the mess he’d made in the living room. It’s not like I beat the crap out of the kid (or even laid a finger on him for that matter ... nor would I ever). No, my reaction was to raise my voice. You see, for a pretty small-built guy, I can have a rather intimidating voice — and I know how to use it. So to make myself clear about the mess, I used that voice. Kelly was — rightly — furious with me. His response was to use his own intimidating voice with me — something reserved almost exclusively for me, as a matter of fact. I ended up sequestering myself in my office for the remainder of the evening to write this column. I gave myself a time out. I think our disagreements about the boys can become more volatile than our average garden variety spats precisely because they deal with what we both love and want to protect more than anything else in the world:
our children. When the smoke has cleared after one of these arguments, we like to joke that most people stay together for the children; we stay together in spite of them. What no parenting book or class can teach you, what no well-intentioned family member or friend can convey to you is how your priorities change when you become a parent. Kelly is no longer the one person I love more than anyone else on the planet. Nor am I that person for him any longer. There are two little boys we both love more. But make no mistake, our love for one another runs deep. In fact, I’d argue we love each so much that we are free to love our children even more than we love one another. That’s how we’ve lasted for 22 years. That’s why I’d bet dollars to donuts we’re going to last another 22 years. And, heck, 22 years more after that. (OK, that’s rather unlikely; in another 44 years I’ll be kissing 100 and Kelly will be, well, dead.) But the point is, we’ve grown stronger with each passing year. And the boys, in a rather strange way, have helped us to realize that. Is our relationship perfect? Hell, no! Can it be dysfunctional at times? Definitely. But the basis for our relationship remains steadfastly unwavering: We love one another. And we’re learning from one another: how to be the type of men we want to be; how to become the type of fathers we know we can be. And I think the boys recognize that, too. Gus came into my office on his way to bed to apologize for not listening and to hug me. I have a sneaking suspicion it was Kelly’s suggestion. For the record, I apologized to Gus as well, and I really am working on keeping my “mean dad” voice in check. What’s really important, I think, is that the boys are beginning to recognize that not only do their parents love them unconditionally, but we also love each another so deeply that our relationship will be secure even while we fight. So, happy anniversary, Kelly. Here’s to 22 more years together, and another 22 after that — even if I’ll be 100 and you’ll be, well, dead, I’ll still love you. Q
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July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 17
QSa lt like Lake w adver to than ould tizers k our for b us ga y , and t lesbi ringing ra an and e nsgender , bi ntert news a i n m to U tah. ent Plea se su pport them .
OUR VIEWS
lambda lore Come and See My Shining Palace Built Upon the Sand by Ben Williams
T
HE STONEWALL REBELLION was a year old, and I had still never heard of it. Gays were marching in New York City to commemorate the riots on Christopher Street. It didn’t affect my world. At the beginning of the summer of 1970, I did not consider myself a “homosexual.” I was not one of those people, who were derided by decent people. No, I would not let myself entertain the thought. Nonetheless, there I was, 19 years old, and hopelessly, unrequitedly in love with a boy named John Cunningham. It was July 1970 and I had been longing for intimacy with the object of my affection. The only time I’d ever had an “intimate connection” with John was when I was scrubbing his feet to get rid of the tar balls that had washed ashore from the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. But this was 1970, a new decade. I was maturing emotionally as well as sexually, and I knew that something had to change in this romantic friendship I felt for John. The change came after spending a summer night at Disneyland, the Happiest Place on Earth. The fireworks over the Matterhorn had ended, and Tinker Bell was safely back in her domicile. John and I were on the Mark Twain Riverboat, back by the paddle wheel, peering out over the shimmering black water. We could hear the soft strains of a banjo nearby. I leaned as close into John as I dared, trying not to gaze at him
any more than I had the courage; I knew it exasperated him when I looked so lovelorn. Yes, it was a magical night; one that any romantic couple would treasure. However, I suddenly had a melancholy thought. I had loved John with all my mind, heart and soul for over a year and I had never told him. My mind kept informing me that all of it — this dream of John and I being together forever — was a façade, just like this fake riverboat and this fake Mississippi River in the middle of Orange County. None of it was real. After we left the park, as was our custom, we went to DK Donuts at the end of the Orange County Plaza near John’s house, where we ate our crumb donuts in silence. Finally, after being irritated by my mood swing for awhile, John demanded what was the matter. I felt leaden inside and simply said, “I can’t tell you. If I tell you, I will lose you.” I meant to say “as a friend,” but I didn’t. Sometime around midnight in the dimly lit Karmann Ghia, he said, “I think I know
anyway.” I told him he could not possibly know what I was feeling. “Damn it, then tell me,” John insisted. And so, I softly said, “I love you” while staring out the window into the nothingness of night. There was no response for what seemed forever, then a small, dull “Oh,” followed by a deadened, “Well, I don’t love you.” My heart was rent from that moment on. John went on to say that he had heard from guys in gym that I was that “way,” but he never believed them. He said that he had been seeing a girl and that they had made love. Even though I instinctively knew that was not true, the seed of jealousy was another “blow upon the bruise.” In the wee morning hours of July 10, John finally said he thought we ought not to see each other again. It really didn’t matter to me; at that point, my soul seemed to have shattered leaving me hopelessly weary of living. John and I departed. We never were really together again. I went home, hoping to
I was, 19 years old, and hopelessly, unrequitedly in love with a boy named John Cunningham
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1 8 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
cease the pain by sleeping, but even though I was in agony, there were no more tears, and no one with whom to share the worse secret of my life. The worse part of being a homosexual in 1970 was the feeling of complete isolation. I had said “I love you” to a boy. As Shirley MacLaine had cried out in anguish in The Children’s Hour, I too felt so damn dirty. Not only had I debased myself, I knew I had also shamed John for telling him that a boy loved him. He had to live with that stigma. I was contemplating leaving this old world when the telephone rang. It was Ralph Ludder, a college mate, who was desperate for me to come over to help him on a term paper. He pleaded so insistently that I had no choice but to repress my inconsolable hurt and go to him. I know Providence sends angels when we most need them. Ralph was that angel. Upon seeing me and realizing that I was shattered, he implored to know what was wrong. I passed it off by saying that I had broken up with a “girl.” Ralph gave me such a compassionate look that for some reason I could no longer keep living a lie and continue to live. So I blurted out that it wasn’t a girl. It was a boy, John Cunningham. Then it poured forth, all the bottled up emotions and passions I had felt for John since I fell in love with him that spring day in English class. I sobbed and drained my nose as well as my tear ducts, and when I was through I steeled myself for the rebuke I knew would come. Instead, Ralph looked at me and said, “Wow! You really do love him!” To the day I die, no kinder words could ever be spoken to me. Ralph was a hopeless heterosexual, engaged to be married. But he spent the rest of the summer with me on the beaches of Southern California where we two 19-yearolds would build sandcastles. Ralph would put a shell or stick on top and we would stay until the encroaching tide would come and wash pseudo-John and the sandcastle away. I will always remember the sand, the sun, the glistening foam, and my friend Ralph letting me know that he loved me for who I am, not for what the world said I should be. Gay liberation came to me in 1970 with the smells of the sea and the calls of sea birds. I would spend my lifetime after that summer learning what freedom meant for me. Q
mountain meadows mascara
H.G.U.W. Syndrome
D
by Ruby Ridge
ARLINGS, THERE IS A HORRIBLE condition running rampant through the Salt Lake Valley that we need to discuss. No, I’m not talking about the resurgence of syphilis (although maybe I should ... ); I’m talking about an appalling blight that seems to be spreading like wildfire among our hetero neighbors. For want of a better name I’m calling it H.G.U.W Syndrome, or Hot Guy, Ugly Wife Syndrome. I’m sure you have all seen one or two examples of this devastating condition over the years, but cherubs, last weekend I saw three — yes, three — separate incidences of smoking hot slabs of beefcake chained to horrible, bitchy, obnoxious women. It was a sickening sight, cherubs. One that I need to bleach my eyes to truly wash away. I first noticed this disturbing phenomenon a few years back when I saw this tall, drop dead gorgeous guy in a National Guard uniform at the supermarket being absolutely harangued by his overweight, overbearing and under made-up wife. I was gobsmacked! This guy could get any woman (and probably a disproportionate number of men) he wanted. Yet there he was, getting whipped in public by Wifezilla. I had to ask myself, pumpkins: Why would he put up with that crap? Where is the justice? Where is the cosmic respect for symmetry? You see, long ago I made peace with the idea that hot guy goes with hot girl (or another hot guy), the planets revolve around the sun, and the universe remains in synch. But this Hot Guy, Ugly Wife combination is a crime against nature and completely upsets my fragile world view. To quote Fred Phelps, “it’s an abomination!”
Now, I know I’m going to get all sorts of e-mails about being fat phobic, sexist, hateful and whatever. But seriously cupcakes, I just can’t wrap my head around this, or find the polite words to express myself. So I’m going with this: These women are evil hateful bitches! And if you don’t believe me, just ask my misunderstood BFF Mel Gibson. So far, this is the only way I’ve found to make any sense out of this: A) These women were previously hot, but eight pregnancies, 10 years of church assignments, and a losing fight with Lays potato chips and gravity, have taken their toll; or B) The stud muffin in question got Princess Shrek pregnant at an early age and was shot-gunned into a visually disturbing marriage of parental convenience. I could be wrong, so I’m still open for other explanations. On the bright side, though, if these muscular beefaronis are trapped in loveless “opposite” marriages to evil, unhappy, unappreciative shrews, then the jump over to the gay dark side might be fairly easy, and I should think about recruiting. Hmmm, maybe I should make brochures! Anyway, after seeing the hunky guy at Lowes on Sunday with the obnoxious wife who looked like Roseanne Barr (before she had money and underwire bras), I’m thinking that even Hot Guy and Hot Gay Mess would still be a vast improvement for most of these manwiches. Ciao, babies! Q
Yet there he was, getting whipped in public by Wifezilla. I had to ask myself, pumpkins: Why would he put up with that crap?
You can see Ruby Ridge and the Matrons of Mayhem in all of their polyester glory at Third Friday Bingo (every third Friday of the month at 7 p.m.) at First Baptist Church, 777 S. 1300 East.
See Ruby Ridge and the Matrons of Mayhem in all their polyester glory at Third Friday Bingo 7pm, First Baptist Church, 777 S 1300 East July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 19
OUR VIEWS
creep of the week National Organization of Marriage By D’Anne Witkowski
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Team Utah is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization to provide financial assistance to promote and expand opportunities to compete internationally.
I
F YOU’VE BEEN HEARING AIR raid sirens ever since July 8, they’re likely coming from National Organization for Marriage Headquarters where everybody is freaking out about the Defense of Marriage Act being ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge. “As irrational prejudice plainly never constitutes a legitimate government interest, this court must hold that Section 3 of DOMA, as applied to Plaintiffs, violates the equal protection principles embodied in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” declared U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro. Obviously, Tauro hates marriage and wants to ruin it for everybody, but the bigger issue for anti-gay marriage foes is the fact that the case was lost in the first place. After all, the case in favor of DOMA was argued by the Department of Justice. Yes, Obama’s DOJ, which, not incidentally, includes Solicitor General Elena Kagan. You know, the Supreme Court nominee? Hoo boy, if you thought anti-gay conservatives opposed her before this ruling, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. This all means, of course, that the Obama Administration intentionally lost the case in order to make everyone in the country get gay-married. Besides, everyone knows that Obama is only in office to serve the radical “homosexual agenda.” At least that’s how the folks at the National Organization for Marriage see things. “Under the guidance of Elena Kagan’s brief that she filed when she was solicitor general, Obama’s justice department deliberately sabotaged this case,” shrieked NOM President Brian Brown. That’s right: sabotage. Kagan might as well be a Russian spy. And how did she sabotage it? By including in the DOJ briefs that “this Administration does not support DOMA as a matter of policy, believes that it is discriminatory and supports its repeal.” Oh, snap! The way NOM sees it, poor little DOMA
was all alone with nobody to protect it. “Only an incompetent defense could have lost this case,” said NOM’s Maggie Gallagher. “With only Obama to defend DOMA, this federal judge has taken the extraordinary step of overturning a law passed by huge bipartisan majorities and signed into law by Pres. Clinton in 1996,” Brown lamented. “A single federal judge in Boston has no moral right to decide the definition of marriage for the people of the United States.” Last time I checked, law wasn’t based on Brown’s definition of morality, but hey, I’m not a legal scholar. Also, quit acting like Bill Clinton is your BFF. And need I mention that 1996 was 14 years ago? That’s ages in the fight for lesbian and gay rights. We’ve come a long way, baby. Fewer and fewer people hate gays because they recognize that gay folks are human beings. Which means it’s harder for groups like NOM to make convincing arguments that homos are coming after marriage on a search-and-destroy mission. In fact, it appears to be the other way around. “Does this federal judge want to start another culture war?” threatened Gallagher. “Does he really want another Roe v. Wade?” She’s right, of course. The whole “gay marriage” thing hasn’t ever been a controversial issue until this ruling. Besides, as Gallagher helpfully points out, judges should make rulings solely to pacify rightwingers who want the right to dictate the personal lives of others in the name of Jesus. Gallagher vowed that NOM will prevail in higher courts. We’ll see. One thing is for certain: this fight isn’t even close to over. Q
‘Under the guidance of Elena Kagan’s brief that she filed when she was solicitor general, Obama’s justice department deliberately sabotaged this case.’
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.
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Paint Park City pink at
Gay Park Silly Day Sunday, August 15
Miss Park Silly Contest, 1–2pm Get dolled up in your finest pink and glitter for your chance to win the title!
Chef Drew, 3–4pm Demonstration and entertainment by your Chef from Ecole Dijon Cooking School
salt lake
FE ATURESTORY
O
VER 9,000 REGISTRANTS FROM 70 countries participating in 35 sports and five cultural events will descend on Cologne to compete in Gay Games VIII. Although the number of registrants is down from previous years, officials are expecting large numbers to attend who have not yet registered. Amsterdam’s 1998 games had the largest number of registrants at 13,000. The Federation of Gay Games is an international non-profit organization that presents the Games every four years. Sports are open to athletes of all skill levels and the Games encourage anyone to train, participate and enjoy the events and the cultural gathering. Participants are encouraged to do their personal best, meet other athletes of all sexual orientations and gender identities, and learn about a different part of the world and its culture, while experiencing the host city and country. Although Utah is one of the least populated states, it has traditionally sent large contingents in the past — over 150 attended Gay Games VII in Chicago in 2006. The next Gay Games is planned for Cleveland, Ohio in 2014, and is expected to attract larger numbers from around the world. Locally, Team Utah has been raising funds to help athletes pay for registration, airfare, lodging and transportation for their equipment. As part of this, the team will host an official ‘Send-off Party’ on July 25 at Club JAM. To help raise money, club bartenders will wash cars from 4–6 p.m. and athletes will be selling Team Utah/Cologne T-shirts at a barbecue following. JAM, Studio 27, Janica Nicole Salon & Spa, Salt Lake City Gay Athletic Association, The Utah Pride Center, Au Naturale, the Queer Utah Aquatic Club, Winder Farms and QSaltLake have all helped the team’s fundraising efforts.
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Team Utah Seeking Gold at Gay Games Cologne 27 gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight Utah athletes are registered to attend Gay Games VIII in Cologne, Germany. From July 31–Aug. 7 they will represent Utah in swimming, water polo, cycling, bowling, women’s fast-pitch softball and basketball. by Brad Di Iorio
PHOTO: CATHERINE FEGAN-KIM
Utah Athlete Roll Call Cycling Utah’s most decorated Gay Games medalist, Margaret Douglass (above, in the lead), will compete in two races: the criterium, the enclosed bike track race in the Masters Women 50–54 category, and the road race, where women of all ages and skill levels race together on a marked road through the city and countryside. Douglass has an opportunity to add to her impressive collection of five gold and two silver medals from the New York and Sydney Gay Games. (See previous story, Issue 158, July 8, 2010.)
is considered a more recreational division. QUAC will compete in the Trophy division against rival teams West Hollywood, (Gay Games VII gold medalist), Amsterdam A, Toronto A, Atlanta, Melbourne, San Francisco and Sydney. QUAC’s first match is scheduled for the morning of Aug. 2 against Amsterdam A. They will also get the last match of the day against West Hollywood. QUAC and West Hollywood both made it to the finals at the 2006 Games in Chicago. “We have a very good mix of experienced and new QUAC players going to Cologne,” said Coach Pat Hayes. “The majority of the team has been with us for several years including our goalie Jason
QUAC Water Polo Usually, the QUAC water polo team would be attending the International Gay and Lesbian Association’s yearly tournament at this time of year. But IGLA doesn’t throw the tournament during the Gay Games. So, 14 QUAC members are registered to participate in Cologne’s water polo tournament. There are two divisions, the Trophy and the Cup. The Trophy division is considered the competitive division while the Cup, though still competitive,
PHOTO: LISA LEDUC
Olafson, Tom Taylor, Wes Heaps and Trina Pendleton.” “The new players that will make a definite impact for us are Todd Bradley, Tyler Poole and Brent Weldon,” he continued. “They are three of our youngest but also most experienced players. Tyler and Brent both play on the University of Utah club water polo team and Todd just finished four years on the U of U varsity swim team. All three played high school water polo in Utah.” QUAC co-founder Doug Fadel also asked Hayes and Andrew Hunt to start a water polo team to complement its swim team. Hayes recruited from QUAC swimmers and took a water polo team to the 2006 IGLA tournament in Ft. Lauderdale. Hayes played water polo throughout high school and went to the U of U where he became an All-American swimmer, where he still holds the 200 freestyle record. QUAC won the 2007 IGLA water polo tournament and placed 2nd in 2008. QUAC didn’t send a water polo team to IGLA in 2009. For Gay Games VIII, Hayes will be in the water, while assistant coach Tom Taylor will be doing most of the coaching. “I will be a primary offensive and defensive center forward as well as a driver, kind of like a forward in basketball,” said Hayes. “I will play more than Tom, so he will do most of the coaching on the deck but I am still considered the head coach and team captain.” Hayes says that Taylor’s help is invaluable as his knowledge of the game will not be surpassed in the tournament. Taylor will also play in Cologne and is considered an expert goalie. “While winning is important in a competitive situation like this, the most important thing is to enjoy the Gay Games experience and represent QUAC well,” said Hayes, who is straight. “I get a lot more out of my participation with QUAC than I could ever give. The love and the friendship I receive is very humbling.” Colin O’Connor will also help coach. A 25-year-old bisexual, he said that he was excited to join the water polo team when it started up. This will be O’Connor’s second Gay Games playing the sport. “I am really looking forward to traveling to another country and meeting lots of new people and doing lots of sightseeing,” he said. “I am also looking forward to reclaiming the gold medal from West Hollywood.” Also playing on the competitive team is Wes Heaps, QUAC board member, water polo liaison, and the point person for all QUAC athletes on Team Utah. Heaps played on QUAC’s B team in Chicago in 2006. “I usually play the top left-side or deep right-side,” he said. “The defense normally drops off the top left driver since it’s considered the weakest shot to take in water polo. However, I’ve got a pretty decent shot from both positions, so I hope to surprise a few goalies with it.” QUAC decided to get new team suits for the Gay Games, complete with a rubber ducky design. “It’s new this year in honor of Gay Games and if people like them, we might continue to use them for tournaments going forward,” Heaps added. QUAC’s water polo team will include women. “There are no rules on gender. The Germany tournament is open division,” explained Trina Pendleton, water polo team member, swim coach, and QUAC board member, who also plays on the club’s women’s water polo team. “I am playing the summer league in Kearns this year. It’s a women’s team. When I play against men I really have to rely on my speed, but against girls I can wrestle for positions more.” Although this will be Pendleton’s second Gay Games, she recently competed on Team USA at the 2009 IGLA water polo tournament. The team was made up of women from all over the United States who wanted to play water polo but didn’t have a team. “There are three of us girls going [for QUAC],” said Pendleton. “I am looking most forward to seeing my friends on other teams. We have all been Facebooking and the excitement is mounting.” QUAC’s water polo team is guaranteed five games during the tournament at the Gay Games, with the best teams competing for medals near the end of the week.
Gay Games (where they took the silver medal), and Steve Ratkay, from Chicago, who has never played with the team before. Team Hardwood will have nine team members and will also be competing in the new 35 and older division with five other teams for the gold. Captain Stewart Ralphs said the division will allow the team to bring home a gold this time.
QUAC Swimming Only one QUAC swimmer will attend this year’s Gay Games: Val Mansfield, who has been a part of the club since 1996. “My age used to be a closely guarded secret, but since I took up swimming it’s plastered all over heat sheets and meet results,” said Mansfield, 53. “It’s even worse at the meets as they show your age at the end of the year, which would be 54. I don’t really have any [swimming] history before I joined QUAC at age 40.” Mansfield, who is gay and partnered, has competed with QUAC at IGLA and attended the Chicago Gay Games. “I tried something different there, an 800 meter, and I didn’t die,” said Mansfield. “My standard events are 50 and 100 meter freestyle and 50 and 100 meter backstroke. I guess if I have a specialty stroke, it would have to be backstroke, but maybe that’s because my breaststroke and butterfly just suck.” Though Mansfield didn’t medal in Chicago, he netted a third place recognition at Ft. Lauderdale’s IGLA in 2006 as a part of relay team whose members’ combined ages reached over 200. He almost placed fourth in his age bracket at the 2007 Paris IGLA, but was disqualified because of a bad flip turn. He did his personal best at the 800 meter in Chicago Games. “I’m no medal hog like that Margaret Douglass from the last issue [of QSaltLake],” he joked. “I was an exchange student in Germany about 100 years ago (OK, it was 36), and I haven’t been back since. So seeing Germany again was part of the appeal and I have been spending a lot of time brushing up my German. I guess air fares or the economy dampened everyone else’s enthusiasm.”
Team Hardwood
PHOTO: BRAD DI IORIO
Mark Barr will be part of the gay basketball team representing Utah in Cologne. Barr, who plays flag football and is the founder and current leader of the Salt Lake Gay Athletic Association, will be joining two new additional teammates: Sam Foster from Orange County, Calif., who played with the team in the Chicago
Bowling John Bennett, 48, and Larry Lee, 52, will represent Utah in the Men’s doubles in the League competitive division and will also compete individually in the League division. While Bennett has participated in four Gay Games, competing in darts and bowling, this will be Lee’s first. Both are members of Good Times Bowling League and their averages here have qualified them to compete internationally at Cologne Gay Games. (See previous story, Issue 157, June 24, 2010.)
Women’s Fast-Pitch Softball Two local fast-pitch aficionados will be attending the Cologne Gay Games: Nancy Joyce, 47, and her partner, who would like to remain anonymous. They will join a Paris team at the games. “I lived in Berlin for 14 years and returned to SLC in 2006 after falling in love with my current spouse,” said Joyce, who was married in pre-Prop 8 California. “I know the BK Paris softball team because my softball team in Berlin, the Wilde Saeue, traveled to Paris one spring and played a few games with them.” Joyce grew up playing baseball/softball with her older brother and the neighborhood kids, but she wasn’t allowed to play Little League because of her sex. In graduate school she played with a lesbian slow-pitch softball team. After moving to Berlin, she played with another lesbian fast-pitch softball team that had been started by an American woman. “I posted on [Facebook] that I was having a bad day at work, and a former Berlin softball teammate who now lives in Paris immediately posted an invitation to play on the BK Paris softball team at the Gay Games. How could I refuse?” said Joyce. “I will be playing with several former teammates from Berlin. I believe the team consists of four women from Paris, three women from Berlin, me and my partner from SLC, a woman from Toronto, and a woman from Australia.” Because of the combination of teammates from all over the world, the team has taken the moniker, BK Paris International. Joyce and her partner will be traveling to Paris a week before the games to practice. Until then, the two have practicing grounders and fly balls, and also training in Wing Chun Kung Fu at Red Lotus School of Movement. Fast-pitch softball is a much more intense and faster-paced softball game with nearly identical rules to those of a baseball game, including allowing runners to lead off the base and steal bases. “I play softball for fun,” said Joyce. “Softball is a very social game for me — a great way to meet new people.” Team Utah will walk together in the parade of cities and states on July 31 at the game’s opening ceremonies in RheinEnergie Stadium. For more information, visit games-cologne.de.
July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 23
SE X Y INSALT LAKECIT Y
Hundreds Will Gather for a Rebellion by Michael Aaron
S
ALT LAKE CITY’S ONLY ANNUAL leather and fetish event turns five this year. Modeled after the Las Vegas SmokeOut and taking inspiration from other cities’ events, Rebellion draws hundreds of leather, BDSM, power play and other enthusiasts to Club Try-Angles for a three-day festival of kink. Event organizers Utah Rox and Master Tiger hope to have 500 participants this year and have a lot planned to draw them there. TitanMen performers Tony Buff and Derek da Silva will be joining the festivities this year. Pittsburgh-born Tony Buff may have a baby face and disarming smile, but don’t let that fool you, says Titan Media Vice President Keith Webb. “When it comes to BDSM, this 39-year-old Italian-American is recognized as one of the heaviest players on the national scene,” said Webb. “While he considers himself a power switch, it is his skill set as a top that brought him to the attention of the folks at Titan Media and success as a performer and director in the adult video industry.” Buff joined the Marine Corps at age 17 after graduating high school, then studied philosophy and political science at California State University, Long Beach. He now lives in Seattle where he works as a BDSM trainer, frequently traveling to demonstrate and teach BDSM skills
throughout the United States and Canada in addition to being a regular contributor to Instigator Magazine. He has been a praised presenter at Chicago Hellfire’s Inferno, Thunder in the Mountains, CLAW, Great Lakes Leather Alliance, International Mr. Leather, ShibariCon, Kink Fest and Tribal Fire. Chicago-born Derek da Silva has made a career of pushing the edges of gay video to represent the diversity of play found in the BDSM and Sex Fight communities. He made his debut with Shotgun Video and has since been signed by at least six others, including Titan Media alongside Tony Buff. Da Silva also has a career as a record producer and a musician. He enjoys serious literature, post structuralist philosophy, and is active in the BDSM community as a safer sex educator both on his own and through the Chicago Hellfire Club. He also is an avid martial arts practitioner and a practicing yogi — hence his vegetarian lifestyle. Other guests at Rebellion include Utah native Michael Aylett, aka Grand Master A, Pacific Northwest Mr. Leather SlaveMaster and Dallas author and filmmaker Hardy Haberman. Appearances by titleholders Mr. Rocky Mountain Olympus Leather 2010 Utah Rox, and
2 4 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
Mr. International Olympus Leather 2008 Andrew Love, can be expected, as well as performances by the Salt Lake Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps.
2010 Schedule: On Friday August 6th, all the special guests and participants can mingle at the Meet and Greet Social presented at Club Try-Angles from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., followed up by a special party hosted by Tony Buff and Derek da Silva. On Saturday, the Rebel Alley Day fair begins at 2 p.m. and includes vendors, six national presenters teaching leather lifestyle education workshops, music, beer and a barbecue. On hand will also be Southern Community Bootblack 2009 Curtis, along with lead bootblack Aaron, to make sure all that leather is kept looking its best. On Saturday night Club Try-Angles opens for a full-blown men’s Leather party at 8 p.m. Sunday brings the “Until Next Year” brunch at Off Trax at 11 a.m.. Tickets can be purchased for the entire weekend, Saturday only or the “dark spaces” party only. Q More information and tickets for the Utah rebellion can be found at utahrebellion.com.
Class Schedule, Saturday, August 7 2:30pm to 3:30pm Off Trax Cafe FLOGGING by Hardy Haberman 3:45pm to 4:45pm Try-Angles Dance Floor MEN IN UNIFORMS by Utah Rox 3:45pm to 5:15pm Off Trax Cafe MUMMIFICATION by SlaveMaster 5:30pm to 6:30pm Try-Angles Dance Floor BODY IMPACT by Tiger 5:30pm to 7:00pm Off Trax Cafe ROPE BONDAGE FOR MEN by Tony Buff & Derek da Silva
Partying with the Women of sWerve
“OUTRAGEOUSLY FUNNY. WONDERFUL. The best comedy about an American family since ... Since what? Precedents and grounds for comparison seem to be lacking, so I may have to let the superlative stand unqualified for now.” A.O. SCOTT
by JoSelle Vanderhooft
W
HETHER BATTLING BREAST cancer, marching on Capitol Hill, or putting together informative — and cheeky — sex ed classes, Utah’s queer women of all gender identities are a powerful political force who like to have a good time. And for the last decade, one prominent local group has helped them do both. sWerve (yes, the W is capitalized) began in 2000 by “a small group of women that started it to provide social opportunities for the queer female community as well as some civic things,” said Lynda Lee, the organization’s new marketing, promotions and public relations chair. “It had a lot of initial success because the organization filled a need that women wanted,” added Board President Jeri Tafoya. And what women wanted was community building mixed with a double shot of fun. Shortly after its founding, Lee said the organization’s focus shifted to holding monthly parties, which today include its popular Oktoberfest and Tie One On, a spring celebration combining speed dating, libations and, of course, sexy women in ties. But while Lee describes sWerve’s board as great “party planners,” the group hasn’t strayed from its civic commitment. “In 2003, sWerve was formed into three houses known as Learn, Serve and Connect,” said Tafoya. The three parts of the organization surveyed queer women about their needs and wants and came up with a number of service ideas including housing and garden projects. “Although the house idea didn’t flourish, the vision of the houses brought awareness and dialog to the special needs and interests that women had,” said Tafoya. “They saw behavior changes in and out of the community and brought a more positive awareness to the lesbians in general. They were very hands on with the community — painting homes, helping women move, etc.” This was also the year that sWerve’s board became the organizing force it is today. Past members have included Daisy Johnson, Claudia O’Grady, Doris Watson, former QSaltLake columnist Laurie Meecham and Brandie Balken, who now serves as executive director for statewide gay and transgender rights group equality Utah. Their work for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women is evident today in things like the Utah Pride Festival’s Dyke March, which Balken and other board members helped found in 2003. “They paved the road and gave [us] a great foundation in which to build on,” said Tafoya. In the past, sWerve has worked with a wide array of community organizations, and have worked or partnered with several that are women- or queer-focused. These have included the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault, the Gay Games, and 2004’s Don’t Amend Alliance, which was formed by the Political Action Campaign of Equality Utah (then called Unity Utah) to fight Utah’s ultimately successful constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. In addition, Tafoya noted that sWerve plans to
make a donation to the New Horizons Women’s Shelter this year. The group has also collected jackets, tents and bus tokens for local homeless youth — several of whom identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or otherwise non-straight. However, sWerve may be most famous for its scholarship program. Founded in 2004, the program awards two $500 scholarships to women in the community who exemplify the mission proclaimed on its website: “[T]o strengthen our community by promoting positive images and experiences of queer/ lesbian/ bisexual/ transgender women in Utah, building community among women, creating women-safe places, and engaging in civic action including education and community service.” One of its past recipients is Jordan Rullo, a graduate student in the University of Utah’s Clinical Psychology program who has facilitated a number of workshops on queer sexuality and emotional wellness. Today, sWerve’s board consists of eight members, whose term limit is two years. This year, four of those members are new, including one woman who is 21 years old. “She’ll add a great dimension,” said Lee. “We’re trying to attract more members from that age group because traditionally we haven’t gotten many young queer women.” The organization is also hoping to do better in reaching out to the transgender women as well as men — many of whom, Lee noted, identified as queer women before they identified as transgender men. Overall, Lee said that the group hopes to take its mission and its sense of fun well into the next decade and beyond. “It’s a good social atmosphere,” she said. “The thing that appealed most to me personally [when I joined] is that it is the one place you can go where you can see the women you know in the community.” With nearly 1,700 followers on its Facebook page and roughly 250 regular participants in its monthly parties, sWerve is always looking for new members age 21 and up (women-identified people age 18–20 are, however, welcome at sWerve events that are not held in age-restricted venues). The group’s next social event will be a camping trip near Payson Lake, Aug. 20–22. Families are welcome. The deadline for sWerve scholarship applications is Aug. 1. Q For more information about sWerve and its programs visit swerveutah.com. The group is a program of the Utah Pride Center.
July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 25
“HILARIOUS AND HEARTFELT. IRRESISTIBLE. ‘The Kids Are All Right’ makes its own special magic. The actors are to die for. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore nail every nuance. Mark Ruffalo is dynamite.” PETER TRAVERS
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Between peerless performances, lyrical direction and an adventurous script, this is the sort of pleasingly grown-up fare all too rare.” BETSY SHARKEY
“GRADE: A. FUNNY, SMART AND SEXY. This pitch-perfect movie charms audiences into a state of enlightenment. Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo are at the top of their games.” LISA SCHWARZBAUM
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SE X Y INSALT LAKECIT Y
The Bears are Out and Causing a Ruckus JoSelle Vanderhooft
I
T’S SUMMERTIME, WHICH MEANS THE bears are out in force, lounging by the hot springs, raiding the picnic baskets and, of course, playing some mean BINGO with a glitterybearded Cyber Slut or two during the Utah Bear Alliance’s annual Bear Ruckus: three days of camping, feasting and fun for (typically) burly, hairy gay and bisexual guys and their admirers and friends. Held each year at a llama ranch in scenic McCammon, Idaho (after the llamas have been cleared out, of course) the Ruckus is popular not just for Utah’s bears, but for their counterparts all over the West, including a few places in Canada. “Other than California, our bear group is the most organized and largest in the Pacific northwest,” said Billy Day, the Utah Bear Alliance’s treasurer and membership chair. “There are [a lot] from other states. We have a couple members who live in Montana, and we get a lot of guys from Colorado because we’re talking about doing a shared event with the Front Range Bears, maybe going to Colorado in August for camping.” At present, Day said the alliance boasts 86 paid members and a database of about 200 members — though this number includes inactive members. Day is hoping that at least 100 bears will show up to prowl through the campground from July 23–25, despite the sluggish economy that is keeping many Americans home this summer.
While Ruckus veterans may have noticed that this year’s ticket prices have gone up a bit ($60 for members and $75 for nonmembers). The increase, said Day, happened because the alliance will be supplying the food this year, instead of leaving bears to scrounge for their own grub. “The first day we’ll do sandwiches and it’ll be kind of a picnic type of lunch for people to eat as they come,” said Day, noting that campers typically arrive around 2 p.m. A “more formal camping dinner” will be provided at the first night’s “meet and greet,” and breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided Saturday, with breakfast and lunch on Sunday. Along with the readily available food, Day said that the Ruckus’ activities will be a little different than they have been in the event’s seven years. Although the bears are welcome to visit the area’s famous hot springs and go river riding, most of the activities are going to be held at the camp site, including movies, Cyber Slut Bingo Night, game night, and plenty of free time for bears, cubs (younger or smaller bears) and their friends to just hang out. “Last year we worried about people drinking and driving,” Day explained. He was quick to stress that the alliance’s decision was not prompted by any misbehavior, but by a desire to make sure everyone has a good time.
“We want to keep people entertained, but we’re trying to keep them there at the ranch. We just want to make sure that people are safe and that the people who live up there are safe.” The ranch itself, which is owned by a couple who are long-time alliance members, is scenic and secluded, making it ideal for, well, having a ruckus without having to go anywhere else. “It’s private and we can do what we want; there aren’t any restrictions on noise or alcohol or anything,” said Day. Naturally, the alliance will also provide alcohol for the event, including beer and what Day calls “jungle juice — a Long Island ice tea, but more fruity.” Bears who want something other than paper cups for their drinks can purchase a refillable mug for $10. T-shirts are also available for $15. While the weekend is billed as being for bears and cubs, Day added that gay and bisexual men of all body types and identities were welcome, because the alliance welcomes men who admire bears as well. “It really is personal,” he said of the bear identity. “[The Ruckus] is for people who think they’re bears or cubs, or who identify with that group, or they’re just lovers of that group. There are quite a few people at the Ruckus who, personally, I wouldn’t think are bears but they like bears or think of themselves as bears, so everybody’s welcome.” Bears, cubs and admirers who want to come but can’t make it to Idaho this month are more than welcome to come to Bear Coffee, the alliance’s Wednesday night gathering at Raw Bean on the corner of 600 S. and West Temple. For more information about the alliance and its social events — including dinner nights and this autumn’s Mr. Utah Bear and Mr. Utah Cub contest — visit utahbearalliance.com. Q The Ruckus is located at 3399 S Old Highway 91 in McCammon, Idaho.
26 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
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Please bring this ad for a free Vitamin B12 supplement July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 27
ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT
gay agenda Cock-A-Doodle-Doo by Tony Hobday
As you can see I’ve changed my profile photo. In it with me is my dear friend Richard Cocks, and in it I’m consoling him as he was recently fired from his job at Wheeler Farm, arousing people in bed. See, he’s been partying late into the night and then neglecting his cock-a-doodle-doo at sunrise. However, I am happy to say he’s in line for positions at McDonald’s as Chicken McNugget quality-control manager and as the MWFFL’s assistant cock blocker. So, if you like Cocks as much as I do, follow his shenanigans on his Facebook page.
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THURSDAY — Local painter JARED GILLETT’s new exhibit ‘Nostalgia’ ranges from precise representations of local Park City and Salt Lake urban settings to beautiful and nostalgic representations of childhood. As a commissioned artist, Gillett says of his work, “In my artwork I typically make maps of family relationships. Most commissions I’ve done have been about someone else’s family. Others have been a narrative surrounding a person or couple.” Regular gallery hours, through Apr. 11, 2011, Phoenix Gallery, 508 Main St., Park City. Free, 435-649-1006 or phoenixgalleryparkcity.com.
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FRIDAY — Rick DellaRatta, who heads JAZZFORPEACE, is considered to be one of the finest singer/pianists performing today. The band is going to provide a benefit concert at Snowbird to support the Samburu tribes-people of Kenya. The money raised will help the 19-year struggle for the advancement of their people in areas of education, health, the empowerment of women and more. 7pm, Snowbird Resort, 9600 E. Little Cottonwood Canyon. Tick-
ets $35, 801-942-6477 or jazzforpeace.org.
FRIDAY — If I remember correctly, the first film that was purchased at the Sundance Film Festival 2010 was THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT. It’s a family drama involving a lesbian couple, their two children and the sperm-donor father. The movie is witty and funny and moving. The simplicity of the story line, the commonality of the American family unit is brilliant — whether mainstream or alternative, it develops the same way. Plus, Annette Bening is spectacular. Times vary, Broadway Centre Cinemas, 111 E. 300 South. Tickets $6–8.50, 801-746-0288 or saltlakefilmsociety.org.
SATURDAY — Utah Symphony presents BRAVO BROADWAY: BROADWAY DIVAS! with openly gay conductor Jerry Steichen and special guest artists Lisa Vroman, Susan Egan and Jan Horvath. The program includes such favorites as “Let Me Entertain You” from Gypsy, “Glitter and Be Gay” from Candide, “Big Spender” from Sweet Charity and “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” from Evita. Fantabulicious! 7:30pm, Snow Park Amphitheater, 2250 Deer Valley Dr., Deer Valley. Tickets $30–85, 801-355-ARTS or arttix.org.
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QQ I like doubleheaders, though sometimes they put a kink in my neck ... tehehe! At the crack of dawn this morning Team QSaltLake takes on its arch nemesis Team Try-Angles in the PRIDE SOFTBALL LEAGUE. Now, they have always beaten us ... not in the good way, but as I’ve mentioned in the past, that’s because Gene pays us well. If you like watching kittens being slaughtered, come out and watch the game; if you don’t, like I, then come watch kittens getting blotto on the Club Try-Angles patio after the game ... thanks Gene Nate! 10am slaughter time, Jordan Park, 1060 S. 900 West & 2pm blotto time, Club Try-Angles, 251 W. 900 South.
MONDAY — Steven Fales (Confessions of a Mormon Boy) returns to Utah for a special engagement of MORMON AMERICAN PRINCESS where he transforms from princess to cowboy in 60 minutes ... I can do a cowboy in 6 minutes! Take that Steven ... oh wait, that’s not gloat worthy. Anyhoo, this hilarious and touching cabaret mines Fales colorful life with the help of renowned jazz vocalist Melissa Pace Tanner as his “Higher Power.” 7pm, Tavernacle, 201 E. Broadway. Tickets $15, 801-519-8900 or mormonboy.com. WEDNESDAY — In 1995 a Swedish band formed and has now become one of the largest ABBA tribute bands in the world. ARRIVAL-THE MUSIC OF ABBA is a 12-member performance band that really feels like the reincarnation of the original pop/glam-rock band of the 1970s and ’80s; every song is sung live and they wear exact replicas of the band’s costumes. This show should turn everyone into a ‘Dancing Queen.’ 8pm, Sandy Amphitheater, 1245 E. 9400 South. Tickets $15–25, 801-467-8499 or smithstix.com.
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SUNDAY — The five-time Grammy winner, MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER, blends folk, rock and country; all intertwined with her own original melodies and lyrics. Carpenter has always chosen her own path. From her first gigs as a rising star on Washington D.C.’s folk scene in the early 1980s, she has made a reputation as both a singer and songwriter. Over the course of an 11-album recording career, Carpenter has and sold over 13 million records. 7pm, Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre, 300 Wakara Way. Tickets $38–45, 801-585-0556 or redbuttegarden.org.
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WEDNESDAY — Wine, food and animals — a perfect combination! Have you ever seen an orangutan after too many martinis? ... It’s much like seeing me after too many martinis: falling out of trees, drunken bellowing and stumbling around bow-legged. Anyhoo, Hogle Zoo presents WILD ABOUT WINE, a two-night wine tasting and pairing. While nestled in the zoo’s Asian Highlands exhibit, you will enjoy 15 different wines paired with appetizers from Taste of the Wild Catering. I hear mosquito-rubbed tree bark will be on the menu. 6:30–9pm, tonight & Aug. 11, Hogle Zoo, 2600 Sunnyside Ave. Tickets $40, 801-584-1769 or hoglezoo.org.
QQ Over her 28-year career NATALIE MERCHANT has earned a place among America’s most respected recording artists with a reputation for being a songwriter of quality and a captivating performer. In 1994 Merchant began her solo career with, Tigerlily, which astounded the music industry by selling 4 million copies. Other notable albums include: an independently released album, in 2003, of traditional and contemporary folk music, The House Carpenter’s Daughter; and the recently released Leave Your Sleep, a collection of songs adapted from the works of various classic and contemporary poets, which Merchant has been researching, writing and recording for the last six years. 7:30pm, Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre, 300 Wakara Way. Tickets $44–51, 801-585-0556 or redbuttegarden.org.
UPCOMING EVENTS AUG 14 AUG 20 SEP 25 OCT 16 APR 11
The Cliks, The Complex Cyndi Lauper, Wendover, Nev. Wanda Sykes, Wendover, Nev. Spencer Day, Rose Wagner Lily Tomlin, Kingsbury Hall
save the date July 23–25 Utah Bear Ruckus utahbears.com
July 24–25 Utah Male Naturists Pio-nude Day Camp Out umen.org August 1 Mary Chapin Carpenter redbuttegarden.org August 6–7 Women’s Redrock Music Festival, Torrey redrockwomensfest.com August 6–8 Utah Rebellion utahrebellion.com August 7–8 Park City Arts Festival kimballartcenter.org August 8 Q Lagoon Day qsaltlake.com August 8 AquaAid quacquac.org August 15 Q Day at Park Silly Mkt parksillysundaymarket.com August 20 Cyndi Lauper, Wendover, Nev. wendoverfun.com August 22 Utah Pride Center Golf Classic utahpridecenter.org September 18 sWerve’s Oktoberfest swerveutah.com September 18 Walk for Life, Bike for Life utahaids.org September 28 Equality Utah Allies Dinner equalityutah.org October 9 National Coming Out Day Breakfast utahpridecenter.org October 16–20 Living With AIDS Conference pwacu.org November 25 Thanksgiving Dinners at the Utah Pride Center, Club Try-Angles and The Trapp December 10–11 Salt Lake Men’s Choir Christmas Concert saltlakemenschoir.org
Arts in Crisis? It’s All in the Planning by Tony Hobday
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HE JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER for the Performing Arts announced in 2009 a program called Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative, which is designed to provide emergency planning assistance to struggling arts organizations throughout the United States. It is a response to the emergency facing arts organizations today due to the economic climate that has reduced earned and contributed income, decimated endowments and has left some organizations struggling for survival. Companies of all sizes, localities and performing arts disciplines have been affected. Therefore, the center’s president, Michael Kaiser, who has b e e n dubbed “The Turnaround King,” spoke at Kingsbury Hall, July 15, winding down a 69-city nationwide tour sharing his expertise in arts management. Kaiser’s philosophy on arts management is simple but structurally different than that of most arts organizations. He said that fund raising is not the first or upmost important factor in running a successful nonprofit arts company; more importantly is making exciting and interesting art, and then marketing it “really aggressively.” The trend across the nation today is that arts organizations are in fiscal crisis and “their first response is to say ‘Hey, let’s cut programming’ or ‘let’s cut down on marketing.” “But when you do that, your institutional family — your subscribers, your contributors — begin to look elsewhere,” said Kaiser. Kaiser also stresses to these struggling arts companies to plan their programs, or seasons, five years in advance. In doing so, their institutional family will grow and will remain faithful. “Stay relevant, take risks and follow the audience,” said Kaiser. “Expect failure and budget for it.” Kaiser also believes talking about what your organization can offer and planning joint ventures with other companies will help sustain a healthy future. July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 29
The cuts in arts education in schools across the nation is also a big concern, according to Kaiser. “There is no systematic arts education in our schools, and if there is, it’s not consistent,” he said. The future of arts audiences is threatened because the interest is lost at a young age and could possibly never peak in adulthood. The Arts in Crisis initiative is open to non-profit 501(c)(3) performing arts organizations, and will provide free and confidential counsel in fund raising, building more effective Boards of Trustees, budgeting, marketing and other areas pertinent to maintaining a vital performing arts organization. Companies that would like to participate should visit www. artsincrisis.org and submit an online request. The initiative will also enable senior arts managers across the United States to volunteer to serve as mentors to other arts organizations. “There are many talented arts administrators around the country, and we encourage them to lend their expertise,” says Kaiser. “If all of us work together, we can turn a time of crisis into a time of opportunity.” Q
Homeless Youth Resource Center • Street Outreach Program • Daytime Drop-In Center • Transition Home 655 South State Street Salt Lake City, UT 84111
801-364-0744
ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT
Modern Family Forget summer blockbusters: The next big thing — from out director Lisa Cholodenko — might just be the SUZANNE TENNER
two-mom movie, The Kids Are All Right by Chris Azzopardi
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ULIANNE MOORE BREEZES INTO THE room — a cozy, sunlit suite at a Four Seasons in Los Angeles — with a perky bounce, appearing far shinier than the ordinary-looking lesbian mom she plays in The Kids Are All Right. Her wide smile’s luminosity challenges the light tugging at its glow, and when she unleashes her walloping cackle it’s so magical it swallows the room. She lets one loose while laughing off a question about kissing Annette Bening, her lover in the heartfelt slice-of-life feature, and then expresses agitation over Newsweek, giving a figurative middle-finger to the magazine for its anti-queer actor rant. Moore isn’t gay, of course, but she’s hardly a stranger to slipping into that role — and here she is again as Jules, a gay mom in a movie that’s really not very gay at all. The film’s only agenda is to have no agenda whatsoever. It doesn’t preach or force liberal propaganda down the throat of Middle America, even with a lesbian couple at its core. Jules and Nic (Bening) are just two relationship-challenged people trying to make it work. Oh, and they have two kids. No biggie. “The great thing about it is it’s making no statement at all. It just simply is,” Moore says. “And people keep me asking me whether movies influence culture and I think, actually, that more often they reflect it. So we’re able to have a movie like this because this is something that’s occurring in our society — all over the world right now.” Just because it exists, though, doesn’t mean the two-mom dramedy will fly with filmgoers; gay parents don’t get much play in popular cinema as it is. So how will audiences react to writer-director Lisa Cholodenko’s alt-family film in which the couple’s teenage children (Josh Hutcherson plays their son; Mia Wasikowska, of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, their daughter) find their sperm donor (Mark Ruffalo) and begin to bond with him? The best test might be reactions to this scene: Bening and Moore’s characters get kinky with a vibrator and some vintage male-on-male Colt Studio porn. Eyebrows, though, might be raised for a totally different reason — like, do lesbians really get off on dudes doing the dirty? You’re not the only one wondering. Told that Cholodenko and musician Wendy Melvoin, her partner, switched some on when the mood struck, co-writer Stuart Blumberg says: “I was like, ‘OK, let’s just stop right there ... because I thought I knew a thing or two.’” Blumberg insisted that be worked into the screenplay, which took several years because, he sarcastically gibes, “there were so
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many people dying to make a movie about 50-year-old lesbians” before Focus Features picked it up for $5 million after its Sundance Film Festival premiere this year. When it finally screened, it charmed. People laughed ... hard. It’s Cholodenko’s first film since receiving tremendous critical, but not commercial, success with 1998’s seductive tragedy High Art and its successor, Laurel Canyon. But The Kids Are All Right, her five-year-in-the-making movie, might be her mainstream launchpad. Even she was aware that this tiny picture, shot in a tight 21 days, could be her golden ticket. Cholodenko wanted this to be a welcoming work, then. That meant she had to pander to a broader crowd; she couldn’t just have, much to the letdown of lesbians everywhere, Moore and Bening wielding dildos. Ruffalo would have to get naked (much to the agreement of gays everywhere) ... and in bed with Moore. “In terms of accessibility and marketability, I’m not going to lie,” Cholodenko starts, absolutely shameless. “I think, sure, if that makes it easier for people to get with it, I’m OK with that.” It’s a story that’s universally told, and despite who’s doing whom (and with what), it’s about family and marriage and love and all the convolutions that affect each of those. Moore was sold before reading the script. Since seeing High Art — a film she regretfully wishes she were a part of, but was never pitched — working with Cholodenko has been on her to-do list. “I love her movies so much because they really are about the way we kind of fall in love with each other, how we communicate, and the nature of relationships,” Moore says. “There’s never a lot of plot in her movies; it’s really just about what people mean to one another and how they’re trying to connect.” Here, they just happen to be lesbians.
From sperm to script In a film where sperm was so important to the birth of the script, the topic can’t be ignored. And, no, Mark Ruffalo has never, ever donated. To that, he laughingly quips: “I think I wasted a lot of talent back then.” Blumberg, however, wasn’t throwing away any “talent;” he contributed some of his baby-making material while in college. That came up when he met Cholodenko, whom he knew only casually before running into her at an L.A. coffee shop while she was ill with writer’s block, trying to pen a project for the masses. She had the idea — two moms, a sperm donor, kids — but couldn’t get it on the page. Blumberg wanted what Cholodenko’s made a career of — an indie piece. The two met halfway.
“It was fun writing with a straight guy — somebody who has a very different perspective on men and women and what it’s like out in the world,” Cholodenko says. “For me, it was like any relationship. There were struggles, but it was a good one.” Good because Cholodenko took risks she’d never taken before as a filmmaker. This time, though, she let the ideas sitting in her imagination run onto the page — revealing the humor in the risqué bits that she otherwise would’ve left untouched. One such scene involves Moore and Ruffalo, who worked together previously on 2008’s sci-fi thriller Blindness, making whoopee during a hilarious sex scene. An irritated Cholodenko notes that the MPAA thought the frombehind banging lingered for just a little too long. It’s still memorable (very, very much so) and more graphic than the lesbian bed romp, which might give some the sense that Cholodenko’s catering too much to mainstream moviegoers. And, well, she is. “We could deconstruct it and say, ‘How much is this male identified or straight?’ or we could just say, ‘This is this representation of this family and these two people and this is how they get their freaky-freaky on,’” the director defends. “I guess it’s a two-fold answer, which is: Yes, in a sense it was calculated to reach and be accessible and feel inviting for more people to come to, and not be disingenuous in my own experience and understanding of gay relationships.” But The Kids Are All Right also isn’t just about gay relationships — it’s about relationships. Period. The good, the bad, the ugly — family aspects that Blumberg and Cholodenko were determined to expose, regardless of the sex, or any other trivial part of the parents. In agreement is Moore, who says, “A relationship is a relationship whether it’s two women, two men, or a man and a woman ... or, ya know, a dog and a cat. And a long-term one is challenging and rewarding. At the end of the day, it’s a portrait of that — and of a family.” Gay, straight — so what? Sexuality wasn’t all Cholodenko was concerned about when she casted The Kids Are All Right. For Nic and Jules, the actors needed to unfurl the nuances to humanize these very flawed, very real people; she needed talent to radiate these roles — and who better than Bening and Moore, both Oscar nominees? “It was important to have actresses who had established themselves and were known and who we knew could pull this off,” Cholodenko says. “Were there actresses who were gay, whether
PHOTO: SUZANNE TENNER
they were out or not, that I felt (were) perfect for it? I absolutely would’ve considered them, but they (Moore and Bening) ended up being the right ‘men’ for the job.” This all happened, of course, before Newsweek published a controversial column that debunked gay actors in straight roles. Moore got fired up over the magazine’s piece: “We were talking (on set) a lot about the Newsweek story, about the f’ing asshole who made that comment about gay actors not being able to play straight,” she spews. “I’m like, ‘Excuse me, gay actors have been playing straight roles for centuries. We’re acting!’” So will she pick up another issue? “I haven’t bought Newsweek and I never will again.” Of course she’d go gay again, though, as long as the role’s right, that’s a no-brainer for the actress and 2004 GLAAD Media Award winner. She’s already done a distraught housewife in The Hours — and kissed co-star Toni Collette. Just last year she lip-locked with Mamma Mia! actress Amanda Seyfried in the erotic Chloe; and again, with another woman in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. Directors she’s worked with, including Tom Ford on 2009’s stylish life-anddeath drama A Single Man (which also portrayed the gay union as simply a matter-of-fact), have been just as queer. “I don’t like to be divisive about people’s gender or sexuality or race or nationality,” Moore says. “People that I’ve worked with are telling stories, sometimes extreme stories, about what
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it is to be a human being, and I’m attracted to people with that kind of sensibility — whether they’re gay or straight or whatever.” That sensibility lured Ruffalo; his freewheeling dog of a donor dad goes from girls and motorcycles to — as the amiable actor, searching for the right word, calls him — a “lump.” In the film, he looks less like Jennifer Garner’s pretty boy in 13 Going on 30 and more rugged. But even with a shaggy hairdo and gray-speckled scruff, he throws off the same vulnerable charm that’s hard to resist in his character, Paul. For most people, anyway. During a TV interview the day before our sitdown, the female reporter ripped on the actor. As Ruffalo remembers, she said — seriously: “By the way, I’m a lesbian, so you lay off our women!” Shocked, he thought: “Are you kidding me? I support your women from head to toe. I am a lesbian!” Proof: He listens to Joni Mitchell. “Is Joni Mitchell lesbian music?” he obliviously inquires, after questioning his real-life music taste since he and Bening’s characters bond over the hippie legend in the film. Lesbian-loved tunes might escape Ruffalo, but he’s at least clear on the kind of movie he’s in — and how un-gay its gayness is: “It’s a ‘lesbian movie,’ and we’re in the middle of this huge debate about gay marriage, but what I really loved about it was how quickly the novelty of gay marriage and the sperm donor just falls away.” That his clothes do too isn’t anything to complain about either. Q
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July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 3 1
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Utah Male Naturists A social group for gay, bisexual and gay-friendly straight men that holds a variety of nonsexual naked social and recreational events, including pool/hottub parties, cocktail parties, potlucks, movie nights, overnight campouts and cabin retreats throughout the year. Most events are held at private homes and typically range in size from 10 to 40 members. Guests of members are welcome at most events.
umen.org
ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT
dvd reviews By Tony Hobday
Dream Boy
Hannah Free
Set in the Bible Belt backwoods of 1970’s St. Francisville, Louisiana — a population of approximately 1,500 — the 2008 film by writer/director James Bolton, Dream Boy, is a mysterious and psychological drama. Based on the novel by Jim Grimsley and starring two young, hopeful actors Stephen Bender as Nathan and Max Roeg as Roy, the film captures the innocence of first love shadowed in a cold and prickly script. Nathan is a lanky, plain and lonely teenager whose family moves from town to town, running from their own dysfunction. He meets his new next-door neighbor Roy, a slightly older and hunky student, using that nervous flirtation of young sexual desire. They develop a believable emotional bond that quickly turns physical; however, their respective hang-ups, family dynamics and God-fearing town turns their budding relationship into a struggle. The complexity of the characters is what drives the story. Nathan is smart, but obviously introverted, caused by some outside source. Roy is more dynamic, has friends and tries to lead a “normal” life, but something inside him ignites a level of psychosis: “I ain’t tryin’ to hurt nobody,” he reveals to Nathan. Then immediately strikes out with balled fists, “Who taught you to screw like that?” Then there’s Nathan’s mother Vivian, nicely depicted by Diana Scarwid, a mother in denial and whose years of secrets have worn her down, and his presumably distant father has somehow unraveled Nathan’s self-assurance. When the boys go on an overnight camping trip with Roy’s buddies Burke (Randy Wayne) and Randy (Owen Beckman), a turn for the worst comes when suspicions and jealousies surface. A mind-reeling scene in an abandoned, dilapidated, plantation house leads to an unexpected conclusion that will leave you scratching your head. Cinematographer Sarah Levy compiles an attractive vision of rural Louisiana, similar to that in Brokeback Mountain. But Richard Buckner’s instrumental scores are a bit more jarring than that of the sleepy pieces in Brokeback, which makes it more difficult to really feel the tones of the film. The themes in Dream Boy are, unfortunately, loosely woven, and the one that stands out the most, which I don’t think is intended, is the consequence of betrayal; the ethereal theme of the film, which could have made it ground breaking, is unfortunately lost leaving the film only mediocre.
“I want someone to know I was here. I want someone to know you were here too. The real you, not the you smiling at church bake sales. I want people to know about us ... who’s not afraid of what ‘us’ means.” This is Hannah’s final wish in Hannah Free, an eloquent adaptation of Claudia Allen’s play that spans several decades. The film stars the brilliant, Emmy award-winning, Sharon Gless (Queer As Folk, Cagney & Lacey) as the free-spirited Hannah. Hannah, now in her ‘golden years,’ revisits here lifelong affair with Rachel (Maureen Gallagher), a traditional small-town, pie-baking, homemaker. As depicted through past and present scenes, their relationship has endured not only the test of time — The Great Depression, World War II and women’s suffrage, but also has endured Hannah’s gypsy lifestyle, taking off for month’s at a time — experiencing the world ... as well as other women. Restricted to a nursing home hospital bed after a fall from a roof, Hannah spends her days bantering with a younger “spirit” of Rachel — whose body lies in a coma down the hall — and fighting off nosy candy stripers and patronizing nurses. “My body’s going to forget how to shit on its own if you keep shoving that up me every day,” Hannah scolds a nurse before receiving an enema. Then a young college student named Greta (Jacqui Jackson) shows up to interview Hannah for a school paper; they become quick friends and a kind of partners-in-crime. Director Wendy Jo Carlton maintains the “stage” ambience in the film, which keeps the story emotionally in tact. Sharon Gless, one of the best television actresses of all time, keeps the audience — even while being filmed in a hospital bed for more than half the movie — utterly captivated. This role of an obstinate, smartass lesbian was clearly made for her. Hannah Free is, I have to admit, one of those kind of movies that increases your heart rate from an overflow of emotion; and it could possibly be cherished as a stepping stone for all generations of women who love women. “You would always look at her like she could cure cancer.” It’s a beautiful testament to the powers of forgiveness, acceptance, and especially to the power of true love that will always lead you to where you belong.
Release Date: Aug. 25, $24.99, regentreleasing.com
Release Date: June 1, $24.95, wolfevideo.com
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Steven Fales (Confessions of a Mormon Boy) returns to Salt Lake City
Monday, July 26 7pm Music Direction by Kevin Scott Christensen
Tickets are $15 at www.mormonboy.com
Special musical guest
Melissa Pace Tanner
(Utah Symphony, New Deal Band)
From “Princess” to “Cowboy” in 60 minutes! “Fales knows how to sell it!” – New York Times
FOOD&DRINK
restaurant review Dinner at Caputo’s Downtown by Chef Drew Ellsworth
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FEW YEARS AGO, CAPUTO’S STARTED serving dinner, and at first, was met with all sorts of “new-restaurant-ictus.” The space, to the left of the deli, and perhaps Utah’s most spectacular cheese shop, is fun, inviting, and touts pretty impressive European views of flower baskets and a very green Pioneer Park in the background. I think the rocky beginning was probably a bit of an identity crisis that left the owners wondering, “Should we make this upscale, fine-dining? Do we want this to be a baby Cucina Toscana, a trendy Fresco, or what, exactly?” Well, nowadays, there seems to be no more questioning, what Caputo’s at night has become, in its latest transformation, is a neighborhood, blue-collar, in-expensive diner, with plenty of old-fashioned comfort foods and attentive service. All entrees are around $15 and pasta bowls are around $10. Our waitress was the be-dimpled Kim, and sort of American girl next-door,
pretty Mom who led us thru our evening—my dining partner was Brad di Iorio of QSaltLake. Here’s what we had: Kim brought us a beautiful Caprese—the traditional milky, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and fresh basil. However, there was a twist— the plate was spiked here and there with deli touches that made the salad zippy and unique. Mixed in with the fresh tomatoes were several chunks of locally made sun-dried tomatoes and
10 AM Gardeners, bring your produce to sell or trade!
FROM
SUNDAYS JUNE 13 THRU OCTOBER 24
INT’L PEACE GARDEN 1060 SOUTH 900 WEST www.slcpeoplesmarket.org
OUR 2010 SPONSORS
over-cooked and a little dry and the Lasagna, there were garnishes like pickled pearl onions although not bad, was pretty ordinary. and button mushrooms—on a hot night, with As a simple dessert, Kim brought us some very good bread and a glass of wine, this could Heavenly chocolates, very contemporary in debe a perfect meal. sign and very unusual. They were tiny and had We were treated next to something new to odd names like “Ants on a log.” I liked them a me—sautéed olives! In a little olive oil, garlic lot but Brad, claiming to be a chocolate expert, and fresh herbs a plethora of European olives said he has had better. were served hot on an appetizer plate—there I realize that I’m one of the most spoiled were also chunks of whole pickled garlic in the diners in Utah! In the last year, since I’ve been mix, delicious, whole almonds, also European writing these articles I have been to almost and quite different from their American cousins—our first plates were delightful and the best every new, fancy and over-the-top restaurant from Pago to Spruce to Frida. So, I don’t want part of our meal. in any way to discount what Caputo’s is doing. We were served a nice salad before our entrees came—mixed greens, doctored up a bit, All the entrees are around $15 and you get a lot of food. There were many, downtown diners on which I liked, a nice, simple Italian vinaigrette the scene, all very happy and eclectic—older and more pickled mushrooms and onions. On couples, younger couples on dates, families top were house-toasted croutons—far too many and single business men—all and far too large. enjoying themselves and thrilled Brad and I had chose the TONY CAPUTO’S by the great prices and the quaint Chicken Piccata and Grilled DOWNTOWN Halibut. The idea at Caputo’s views—it reminded me of Little Italy 314 W. 300 South is, give plenty of food, so our in San Diego where I’ve spent many Salt Lake City entrée plates were huge! The memorable evenings. 801-531-TONY Chicken was a large half breast—a I have to say that I had to stroll HOURS little overcooked and for me not over to the cheese counter just to Monday 9am–7pm enough sauce. I love making nose around a bit in the deli side Tues–Sat 9am–9pm Piccata Sauce, which when made of Caputo’s. I quizzed the sales Sunday 10am–5pm as the French do, is a variation of girl and she really knew her stuff. I CHEF DREW’S RATING a beurre-blanc. For me, it should was happy to see so many cheeses 88 be sautéed garlic and shallots, I knew from living in France and in reduced with lemon juice, lemon a large shallow basket, I gasped zest and white wine. Then, at just the right mowhen I saw it full of Black Truffles from Italy—real ment before serving the sauce, a whisk full of truffles! Just $200 per pound! Here is my list of softened butter is whipped in at the last second, awesome European cheese I think you should try along with minced capers and chopped parsley. from Caputo’s: On Caputo’s piccata, there was almost none 1. L’Edel de Cleron, $23 per pound of the above and I was disappointed—by the 2. Chaource Lincel, 9.95 each time we got our food, what sauce had been on 3. Brillat Savarin, 19.95 per pound the plate was sort of dried up. Along-side the 4. Camember “le Chatelain,” 8.00 each or chicken was an ample serving of penne pasta 15.95 per pound with a sausage, red sauce which was very good 5. Bleu d’Auvergne (my favorite), 12.49 per although I thought the penne, by itself was not pound fancy enough for a restaurant. 6. Testun al Barolo in wine must, 25.49 per I had the grilled fish which, once-again came pound on a large handsome plate with a boat-full of The overall experience and Caputo’s is very lasagna. The fish, like the chicken, was a bit nice and I recommend it—88 points. Q
3 4 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
BIG Chimichanga!
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Weekly Specials are available for Dine In only and may not be used with any other offers. Offer expires June 30th, 2010.
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481 E South Temple www.WildGrapeBistro.com
Now offering party of 6 or more pairing dinners. Check out our spring menu. July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 35
FOOD&DRINK
For people of all ages to hang out, play pool, get on the internet, play music
Next to Club Try-Angles, Half Block from TRAX in the NEW Gayborhood!
Home of the Happy Hangover
COFFEE BURGERS SANDWICHES SOUPS SALADS APPETIZERS BREAKFAST BRUNCH POOL TABLE VIDEO GAMES JUKE BOX FREE WIFI OPEN Mon-Thur 7a–7p Friday 7a-3p AND After Bar Closing Fridays and Saturdays
cocktail chatter A Yankee Sazerac
Sunday Brunch 11am–2pm Q PON
259 W 900 S 801 364-4307
www.offtraxslc.com
Free Soda or Coffee with food purchase
A DIVISION OF DREW ELLSWORTH CULINARY CONCEPTS
Ecole DijonCooking School COOKING CL ASSES SUNDAY NIGHT FOOD & WINE PAIRINGS
Learn about great wines and great food Wine taught by Wasatch Academy of Wine’s Sheral Schowe, and staff Food taught by Chef Drew Ellsworth, Certified Executive Chef Sunday, August 8th
Treat yourself or a loved one to cooking classes with Chef Drew Ellsworth, 34-year chef, wine manager of the Third West Wine Store, QSaltLake’s Restaurant reviewer. With small groups of no more than 8 students, Ecole Dijon gives you the opportunity to watch and interact with a professional chef preparing foods in an exciting and expeditious way. The atmosphere is very casual and warm and students can freely move around to see what the chef is doing. “Hands on” training is available when possible.
Columbia River Valley Wines and Northwest Cuisine Taste Amazing Wines new to the State of Utah Oven-smoked Fresh Salmon with Asian Glaze Home-made Orange Rolls White Pork Blanquette with Idaho Potatoes Graham Cake with High West Whiskey Sauce
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Learn how to make fresh bread and pastries in every class!
Classes are only $45 or 3 for $115. Wine classes have a $15 wine fee. Chef Drew will even hold classes at your home for as little as $40 per person. See the Web site for details.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CLASSES CATERING AND CULINARY PARTIES: www.EcoleDijonCookingSchool.com chefdrewe@aol.com 801-278-1039
By Ed Sikov
‘T
HIS IS LIKE JEZEBEL,” I snarled as I leafed through the cocktail books. Some were mine, but most came with the house, which was built by the guy who owned Showers — a bar in Chelsea that features guys in Speedos drenching, self-lovingly soaping and rinsing themselves on-stage. The old gang showers at the Columbia gym were hotter. Anyway, I was researching the Sazerac, a cocktail from the Big Easy. Easy? That’s a laugh! The recipes were so stuffy that they reminded me of Bette Davis’s Jezebel, in which Bette ruins her life by wearing the wrong gown to a cotillion. As a direct result, she loses her fiance (Henry Fonda) to a dreadfully cheerful Yankee but gets carted triumphantly away with Fonda to Leper Island in the happy ending. The Sazerac recipes were as impossibly stiff as Bette’s ruinous cotillion. “The South should have seceded,” I muttered. “These recipes are inane.” “Then don’t make them,” Dan sighed. “I’m sorry I brought it up. I had one at that conference in Satan’s humid maw (New Orleans), and I thought you’d like it. I should have my head examined.” “For what? Lice?” Poor Dan. “Listen to this,” I said. “‘Pack a 3½-ounce glass with ice. (‘Not a 4-ounce glass, not a 3-ounce glass, but a precious little 3½-ounce glass.’) In another 3.5-ounce glass, moisten a sugar cube with water, then crush it. (‘Oh sweet Mary!’) Blend with rye and bitters. Add cubes of ice and stir. Dump out the ice and pour in the absinthe. Coat the inside of the glass and pour out the excess. (‘No, asshole — drink it!’) Strain the rye into the absinthe-coated glass. Twist a lemon peel over the glass so that the lemon oil cascades into the drink. (‘Cascades! That’s Bette’s psycho asylum in Now, Voyager!’)
Then rub the peel over the rim of the glass.’” Then came the most idiotic sentence ever written in a cocktail recipe: “As Wilfred Frisby St. Bernard says, ‘Do not commit the sacrilege of dropping the peel into the drink.’” “Ohhhh,” I intoned. “It’s a sacrilege. Remind me to plop a whole lemon in.”’ Dan was getting sick of it. “I wish I — no, you — had never been born. Why don’t you drink Absolut and I’ll have Pernod and we’ll give the absinthe away to a needy child.” “No!” I shouted a bit too loud. (I’d been sneaking hits of absinthe all afternoon.) “I’ll make the damn Sazeracs. Only I’m going to do it my way. Let New friggin’ Orleans declare war on me.” By the third round of Sazeracs, which are quite powerful, we’d done 180s: I was extolling the virtues of antebellum gentility, while Dan was strategizing the next Civil War.
‘Do not commit the sacrilege of dropping the peel into the drink.’
The Sazerac: a Dan and Ed Co‑Production ¼-cup of rye 1-tsp “Really Simple Syrup” – put equal parts sugar and water into a jar, tighten the lid and shake until the sugar is dissolved 4 dashes of bitters (Snotty N’Awlanders demand Peychaud’s, but use Angostura on principle) Absinthe or Pernod — ½-tsp in the original, but pour as much as you want Dump all ingredients sloppily into any size glass except a 3½ ouncer. Disregard the lemon. Stir with your finger, lick the finger in front of your guests, and serve.
Ed Sikov is the author of Dark Victory; The Life of Bette Davis and other books about films and filmmakers.
3 6 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
dining guide Frida Bistro Sophisticated Mexican cuisine, wine and spirits 545 W. 700 South 801-983-6692 Loco Lizard Cantina Serious mexican food since 1999 at Kimball Junction. 1612 Ute Blvd., Park City 435-645-7000 Meditrina Small Plates & Wine Bar Encouraging gastronomic exploring in tapas tradition 1394 S. West Temple 801‑485‑2055 Metropolitan Handcrafted new American cooking 173 W Broadway 801‑364-3472 Off Trax Internet Café Coffee, wi-fi and pool 259 W 900 South 801‑364‑4307
BIG Chimichangas!
Open Mon-Sat 12-7PM
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If you’ve ever wanted easy access to the highest-quality natural foods and ingredients, Cali’s is your independent direct-source natural foods warehouse. • Year-Round Local Organics • Speciality Products • High Quality Pantry Goods • Bulk Organics • Socially Responsible
WEEKLY SPECIALS Sunday • Fajitas $11.99 Monday • 1/2 Off Select Apps Pitchers of Bud Light $8.00
1700 SOUTH 389 WEST, SLC 801-483-2254 CalisNaturalFoods.com
Taco Tuesday • Tacos $2.00 Tecate Beer $2.50 Wednesday • Beef Barbacoa $14.99 Thursday • Chipotle BBQ Ribs $11.99 Bucket of 5 “Coronitas” $10 Food Specials Start at 4 pm till items run out.
Omar’s Rawtopia Restaurant Organic live food 2148 S. Highland Dr. 801‑486‑0332 Sage’s Cafe The freshest and healthiest cuisine possible 473 E 300 South 801‑322‑3790 Tin Angel Cafe Local food, music, art. Serving lunch, dinner and Saturday brunch 365 W 400 South 801‑328-4155 Trolley Wing Company We’re Back! Open daily noon to 11pm 550 S 700 East 801-538-0745 Vertical Diner Vegetarian restaurant open seven days a week 10 a.m.–9 p.m. 2280 S West Temple 801‑484‑8378 The Wild Grape Bistro Eat where the locals eat 481 E South Temple 801‑746‑5565
To get listed in this section, please call 801‑649‑6663 and ask for Brad or e-mail brad@qsaltlake.com
+
Park City at Kimball Junction I-80 & Hwy. 224 (Behind Wells Fargo Bank)
=
435-645-7000 Weekly Specials are available for Dine In only and may not be used with any other offers. Offer expires June 30th, 2010.
Organizations that make the world a better place may grow like a flowerbed; some wither, many propagate. One Bloom is glorious, but a bouquet has power. Utah Nonprofits Association (UNA) exists to help nonprofit organizations succeed by providing their leaders with information, resources and training to help them manage their organizations. UNA is the only statewide membership association advocating for the full diversity of the nonprofit sector in Utah.
Join. Help. Grow.
QSaltLake Tweets @qsaltlake
801.595.1800 www.utahnonprofits.org July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 3 7
NIGHT LIFE
Q scene
A Hot July by Hunter Richardson
A
S I ROLLED OUT OF bed all excited for Independence Day, I remembered that it was falling on a Sunday this year, and that I’d have to hold my personal excitement for another day. But as it turns out, this one day wait was a good thing, because our community got an excuse to party for an extra night (like we need an excuse). Most enjoyed double the fireworks, double the BBQs, and, of course, double the drinks. Of course, many of our fine establishments cashed in on this double holiday; but don’t expect that to happen again for a few more years. One thing you can expect next year, though, is that JAM will be packed just like it was this year. I could not believe myself as I stood in line only to enter the club. It was the most crowded I’ve ever seen it. The usual suspects already had drinks in hand and more were arriving by the time I got in. This was truly “the place to be,” so mark your calendars early — as I’m sure you all plan ahead like I do. After the fireworks lit the sky and only smoke remained after the excitement, I immediately wondered what was in store for the rest of the summer (besides the well known “Cinco de Momo,” or Pioneer Day for you politically correct people). But luckily, our community is never without an event.
As for our usual nightclub establishments, there are some good evenings coming up that should promise to be most entertaining. Club Try-Angles has pool tournaments on Wednesday. Since I’m always excited to be involved in “get rich quick” schemes, I hope to see you all there, so bring your wallets! Moving onto Studio 27: From ice sculptures over fresh fruit to burlesque shows, this up-and-comer seems to know what Salt Lake City needed from a new nightclub. I won’t say too much about their “Speed Dating” night — you’ll have to visit and see for yourself. Regardless of the night or venue, it’s summer. Most people are at pools or BBQs or otherwise entertaining themselves outside of the nightlife scene. I hope this fact will quickly become a myth since I know that every bar, club and lounge is working hard for us: to make us feel welcome and appreciated, and to always make sure our drinks are cold and come with a smile (and the occasional slap on the ass). See you all out and about, and never be a stranger. Say hi when you see me and let me know your thoughts on Salt Lake City’s nightlife and what you would or wouldn’t like to see come from your community of support. Q
Q bar guide WEEKLY BAR EVENTS
CLUB TRY-ANGLES
251 W 900 S • D M N 801-364-3203 • clubtry-angles.com
SUNDAYS
MONDAYS
TUESDAYS
WEDNESDAYS
$1 DRAFTS BBQS AT 4PM
BEER-SOAKED WEENIES
$1 DRAFTS BACKROOM BLUES
POOL TOURNAMENTS
JAM U GAY COLLEGE NIGHT
SUPERSTAR KARAOKE WITH BRIAN G
KARAOKE W/ MR. SCOTT 8PM $1 CORONAS, RED STRIPE
JAM
BEER BUST BBQ AT 4PM BLOODY MARYS
KARAMBA
LATIN GAY NIGHT DJ FRANK GO-GO DANCERS
751 N 300 W • D F M N 801-891-1162 • jamslc.com 1051 E 2100 S • D M X 801-696-0639 • klubkaramba.com
PAPER MOON
3737 S State St • J K L 801-713-0648 • thepapermoon.info
STUDIO 27
615 W 100 South • D M 801-363-2200 • studio27slc.com
TAVERNACLE
201 E 300 South • K X 801-519-8800 • tavernacle.com
THE TRAPP
102 S 600 West • B N D K M 801-531-8727 • tinyurl.com/trappslc
FREE POOL $1 DRAFTS $1 MIMOSAS
FREE TEXAS HOLD-EM $4 PAPER MOON STEINS
LATIN NIGHT
$1 DRAFTS KARAOKE W/KEVAN 9PM
PIANO KARAOKE WITH ERIC 8–11PM
BBQ at 4PM
KARAOKE WITH JAMIE 9PM
POWERBALL KARAOKE W/ TROY 9PM
THURSDAYS
FRIDAYS
SATURDAYS
$1 DRAFTS DJ D / DJ BOYTOY
DANCE! DANCE! DANCE!
BLACK OUT DEEP HOUSE W/ DJ MIKE BABBITT
FRIDAY FIX WITH DJ TIDY
BOOM BOOM ROOM WITH DJ MIKE BABBITT
WHITE TRASH BINGO FREE POOL $2 WELLS, $3 BIG BUD CANS
COUNTRY LINE DANCING 7–9PM WILD WEE KARAOKE 9PM
POLES, CAGES, SEXY WOMEN BEST FEMALE DJs
WOMEN! WOMEN! WOMEN!
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE
DJ BRENT VINCENT $3 JAGER SHOTS $4 JAGER BOMBS
DJ NAOMI $5 LONG ISLANDS
DJ TONY MARINOS SUMMER MARTINI LUGE
DUELING PIANOS 9PM $3 BIG BUD LIGHT
DUELING PIANOS 9PM $3 BIG BUD LIGHT
DUELING PIANOS 9PM
DUELING PIANOS 9PM
DART TOURNAMENT 7PM DJ KEVAN
DJ KEVAN
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
3 8 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
Discount coupons now available at:
Cahoots Club Try-Angles QSaltLake Offices Off-Trax
Official T-Shirts Available NOW at the QSaltLake Offices 1055 E 2100 S, Ste 206
• All day picnic at the Maple Terrace • 4pm group photo at the Maple Terrace • Wear red to stand OUT
FUN&GAMES
Girls Just Want to Have Fun Across 1 Dumbledore might cast one 6 Butt 9 Mixed-up fruit 14 One to ten, e.g. 15 Maugham’s Cakes and ___ 16 Woodworker’s tool 17 Playful mammal 18 Hansberry’s A Raisin in the ___ 19 Very similar 20 Character of 37-/38-Across 23 Edge of ___ 24 Log Cabin member, for short 27 Muse for Millay 28 Punch sound 31 Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, e.g. 34 Situated correctly 37 With 38-Across, female singer seen kissing a girl at London’s G-A-Y club 38 See 37-Across 39 Frost quality 42 Closes back up 44 Pose for Diana Davies
45 Bruce Weber’s ___ Room with a View 47 Warhol China piece? 48 Direction from Stephen Pyles 50 Manhandle 51 Laura of Recount 52 Latest album of 37-/38-Across 55 Cockamamie 57 Nuts characteristic 60 Talk a blue streak 61 Saw 62 Smokers at St. Mary’s 63 Rye, wheat, et al. Down 1 Sign of a Broadway hit 2 Narrow walk 3 ___ Candy (Wonder Woman character) 4 Property claims 5 SNL producer Michaels 6 Bacon servings 7 Audre Lorde, to Hunter College 8 Barber’s partner 9 Sudden burst 10 Spear of Minnesota 11 Reclined 12 “Diana” singer 13 “Look at Me, I’m Sandra ___” 21 Spit it out, with confidence
22 Brightly-colored 24 Negligent 25 What drawers do 26 Pork provider 28 Two doctors in a twosome? 29 Pertaining to the peepers 30 Big oil company 32 Walt Whitman’s tool 33 Queer body part on TV 35 Mac rivals 36 Soap ingredient 40 William, who played with George Takei 41 Sniveling sorts 42 On a sofa, say 43 She loved Franklin and Lorena 46 Wed. preceder 49 Foams at the mouth 51 The Ref star Leary 53 Evening, in ads 54 ___ Hari 55 NCAA jock org. 56 What he becomes, with gender reassignment 58 Photographer Corinne 59 Meas. of a exaggerator? PUZZLE ANSWERS ON PAGE 47
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: Z = L Theme: A quote by Mary Bonauto, a lawyer with Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, which won its lawsuit challenging DOMA.
VMHEF VOK IMXUV NLPWZF EAALUPKH VOEV MXU IMXGVUF BMG’V VMZKUEVK NKIMGH-IZENN PEUULEYKN.
_____ ___ _____ ______ ________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ’_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ -_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . 4 0 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
CLUB MILITARY ID ID S L R A E V B H M E IT M W S O ER REE T SERVICEMEMB IVILEGES - EFR R R U P O S R IT O S F A H V IP MEMBERSH TELL — NO CO ’T N O D , K S A DON’T
N O I L L E B E R 6 H T S A U T G U U A , Y A FRID ET-N-GREET ME 7 T S U G U A , Y A SATURD TREET FAIR S Classes all day
8 T S U G U A , Y SUNDA AX R T F F O @ H BRUNC Buffet at 11am MONDAYS
U G A R D S ’ L RUPAeoUconcerts following
8pm – Vid
TUESDAYS
, After the boar nues ti n c ty the par next door at
S E U L B M O O R BACaKncing for sultry queers D 7pm t a in g e b s n o s s e Dance l
$1 DRAFTS S Y A D S E U T S WEENIES ▼ Y A D N O M DRAFTS ▼ 1 $ S , T F D A J R /D D Y 1 TO $ Y • Q at 4pm IDAYS DJ BO R F ▼ S T N SUNDAYS BB E M OOL TOURNA P S Y A D S E L NIGHT N L A E C N ▼WED A -D E C OPEN DAILY AT 2PM HE BAR T S DANCE-DAN Y T A U O D H R G U T U A O S 801-364-3203 251 W 900 S R ▼ REENS TH C S R U O N O 1/2 BLOCK FROM 9th S TRAX STATION SHY? TEXT HIM
m • offtraxslc.co s 0 0 9 w 9 5 2
▼
July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 4 1
WWW.CLUBTRY-ANGLES.COM
ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT
2010 Q giggles Celebrating their 5th year as Utah’s hottest annual mens leather event
August 6, 7, 8 at Club
Featuring Titanmen performers:
Tony Buff and Derek da Silva
Other appearances by: Grand Master A, SlaveMaster, Hardy Haberman, Master Tiger, Titleholders Mr. Rocky Mountain Olympus Leather 2010, Utah Rox, Mr. International Olympus Leather 2008, Andrew Love as well as performances by the Salt Lake Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps
Friday, August 6
Q doku doku Q
Level: Medium
Level: Medium
2 4 8 5 6 2 7
Begins at 2pm and includes vendors, 6 national presenters teaching Leather life style education workshops, music, beer and a BBQ. Southern Community Bootblack 2009, Curtis, along with lead bootblack, Aaron, will be on hand to make sure all that leather is kept looking its best.
Sunday, August 8
Until Next Year brunch at Off Trax
8 1 5 8
1 6 7
8
2 1
3
4
2
4 9
5
2
5 2 7 4 8 6
6
1 2
8 7 6 4 9 1
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4
9 8
2 1 7 6
2 3 4
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Saturday, August 7
Rebel Alley Day Fair
7
6 9 7 8 2 1 8
Meet and Greet Social
8pm – 10pm followed up by a special party hosted by Tony Buff and Derek da Silva
Each Sudoku puzzle has a unique solution which can be reached logically without guessing. Enterwhich digitscan 1 through 9 into the Each Sudoku puzzle has a unique solution be reached logically withoutblank guessing. EnterEvery digitsrow 1 through into theone blank Everyasrow spaces. must9contain ofspaces. each digit, must must contain one of each must each column each 3x3five square. each column anddigit, eachas3x3 square. Qdokuand is actually Qdoku is actually five separate, but connected, Sudoku puzzles. separate, but connected, Sudoku puzzles.
9 4
3 8 3 6 5
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42 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
4
5
8
8 3 5 7 8 9
6 4 5 3 9 2 7
Q Scopes
Stop and Think, Leo! By Jack Fertig
As the Sun enters Leo, he offers chances to reconcile the opposition between Saturn in Libra (conservative social controls) and Uranus in Aries (individualistic impulses). Standing up for yourself and looking good may feel too important. Focus on the special gifts you have to offer others. The real challenge there is to keep generosity untainted by ego. Paradoxically, the best way is to acknowledge your own selfish motivations.
e
ARIES (March 20–April 19) Fun and games can help you dodge problems in relationships even when they feel like solutions. The real solution lies in working through your most private fears and pains. Direct those playful urges to creative healing.
r
TAURUS (April 20–May 20) Cleaning house is not the problem, but could be the solution. Focus on questions about your friends and your future while putting things into order and the answers will surprise you with their clarity and foresight.
t
GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Sure, all work and no play – what kind of creative fun can be used to bolster your work rather than to distract from t it? Reassessing your goals may be a necessary step toward that answer.
d
y
CANCER (June 21–July 22) The clash of your ambitions against the roots of your traditions shows some creative awareness, but those roots are important. Find a meeting point in your personal values. Reconciliation comes better from empathy than logical ideology.
u
LEO (July 23–August 22) You’re feeling your oats and ready to roar, but stop and think. You can focus all that brainpower and energy into something really spectacular. Greatness takes work, patience and discipline. Be ready to transform yourself as prerequisite to changing the world.
i
VIRGO (August 23–September 22) New erotic ideas are stoking your imagination. Within your fantasies it’s all fair game, but with a partner you’ll need to reconcile dreams with real-life limits. Some limits are open to renegotiation at least!
o
LIBRA (September 23–October 22) In these tough times your instinct is to hunker down and get serious, but your partner (or your impulse to find one) is proving disruptive. Think ahead, welcome new input, but do it with careful consideration, grounding and discipline.
p
SCORPIO (October 23–Nov. 21) Careful, conservative instincts will help you get to the top. More daring ideas from colleagues and aides can be useful. At least consider them and see how they can fit in constructively. Use expert opinions from authorities and those “in the trenches.”
[
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22–Dec. 20) Welcome new ideas even if they do send your mind into a dizzying variety of directions. Talk with friends to get integration and grounding. New insights into family problems offer you a chance to ameliorate problems that may never be entirely solved.
]
CAPRICORN (December 21–Jan. 19) Behind-the-scenes work will still be noticed, and will help boost your career. Family and community support may look counter-productive, but harnessing that support constructively is key to your success.
q
AQUARIUS (January 20–Feb. 18) Crazy new ideas are knocking against long-held ideals. You can’t solve the dilemma on your own, but engaging a partner or a respected opponent can help you see how the pieces can fit together.
w
PISCES (February 19–March 19) Look into any potential health problems you have been neglecting. You’re due for a rude surprise, but can still nip it in the bud. Pay special attention to your heart, circulation, kidneys and pancreas.
Jack Fertig, a professional astrologer since 1977, is available for personal and business consultations in person in San Francisco, or online everywhere. He can be reached at 415-864-8302, through his website at starjack.com or qscopes@ qsyndicate.com
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:
Name the actor who co-stars in the lesbian comedy The Kids Are Alright.
KOLA FUR FARM ____ _______ PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ARE ON PAGE 39
July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 43
SPORTS
Fall Softball Starting
July 18 Scores Pride Counseling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Paper Moon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Fall League games of the Pride Community Softball League begin Aug. 23
Q Salt Lake. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Capers By Meditrina . . . . . . . . . . . 0
on Monday nights at Jordan Park’s southwest field. The number of teams
Bonwood Bowl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Softball Ninjas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
will be limited to 8 or 10. Registration is in person at the Salt Lake County
The Trapp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Trash Talkers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Sports Office, 5201 S. Murray Park Lane in Murray, or at the Web site,
Off Trax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Softball Heroes/JAM . . . . . . . . . . . 6
tinyurl.com/pcsl-fall. Players who don’t have a team can email psl@pride-
Royal Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Wasatch Heating & Air. . . . . . . . . . 5
league.com with their name, sex, contact info, and positions they play.
Royal Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Salt Lake’s Fynest . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
JULY 21 WED
JULY 22 THUR
JULY 23 FRI
JULY 24 SAT
Wasatch Division
Utah Stonewall Democrats. . . . . 10 Ace Trashers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Ace Trashers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Los Gatos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Damn These Heels. . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Los Gatos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Standings:
Bonwood Bowl Los Gatos The Trapp Wasatch Heating & Air Off Trax
W L
Softball Heroes/JAM Capers By Meditrina Paper Moon Utah Stonewall Democrats Salt Lake’s Fynest Softball Ninjas
7 6 6 6 4 2
Oquirrh Division
Olympus Division
W L
10 10 10 6 6
1 1 2 3 5
W L
Pride Counseling Ace Trashers Royal Court Q Salt Lake Trash Talkers Damn These Heels
5 5 4 7 4 7 2 7 2 8 0 12
Variety night with Este Pizza , So You Think You Can Dance and dance to 80's music all night . NO COVER CHARGE
New Wave New York Thursday with DJ JORY spinning old school and new wave music all night, performance by PRINCESS KENNEDY. NO COVER CHARGE
She is back! Star stunning performance by Utah’s original dance diva PORSHEA, celebrating Utah’s birthday like a true cowgirl! Dance the night away with DJ NAOMI. NO COVER CHARGE
Featuring DJ TONY MARINOS, performance by the all male BACKDOOR BURLESQUE, martini luge, and VIP tickets and book to be signed by Chelsea Handler at the “Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang” Show. NO COVER CHARGE
JULY 25 SUN
Utah’s Latin community is coming home. A new, innovative Latin night with performances by COKO COUTURE, SIRENA & VANESSA. Corona buckets, and $4 dollar Polama and margaritas, $3 COVER CHARGE AFTER 11 PM
$5 DOLLAR SPECIALTY LONG ISLANDS & CHEAP DRINKS, 4 DOLLAR JAGER BOMBS VISIT WWW.STUDIO27SLC.COM OR STUDIO 27 SLC ON FACEBOOK STUDIO 27 FEATURES A LUXURIOUS VIP LOUNGE & PRIVATE BOOTHS WITH FLATSCREEN TV’S. FOR BOOKING, CALL PETER AT 801.347.5648 4 4 | Q S a l t L a k e | i s s u e 1 5 98 | J u l y 20 28 , 2 0 1 0
5 4 4 4 6 9
honor roll These businesses brought you this issue of QSaltLake. Make sure to thank them with your patronage. A New Day Spa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-272-3900 Affinity Wealth Solutions . . . . . . . . . . 801-403-5230 Bach Chiropractic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-487-1010 The Beer Nut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-531-8182 Cahoots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-538-0606
T
Cali’s Natural Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-483-2254 Chapman-Richards & Assoc.. . . . . . . 801-278-4414 Club JAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jamslc.com Club Karamba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-696-0639 Club Try-Angles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-364-3203 The Dog Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-466-6100 Dog’s R Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-485-7387 Don Austin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-485-9225 Downtown Alliance. . . . . . . . . . . . . downtownslc.org Frida Bistro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-983-6692 Hutchison & Neider. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877-399-2889 Katt’s Paw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-448-6369 KRCL-FM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-363-1818 Landis Salon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . landissalons.com Le Croissant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-466-2537 Loco Lizard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435-645-7000 MediCruiser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-484-5504 MegaPhone, code 5772. . . . . . . . . . . 801-595-0005
EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT !!! FROM 9:00 PM AT CLUB
Meditrina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-485-2055 Now Playing Utah . . . . . . . . . . . nowplayingutah.com Off Trax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-364-4307 Omar’s Rawtopia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-486-0332 Paper Moon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-713-0678 Park City Performing Arts . . . . . . . . . ecclescenter.org Patton Group Properties. . . . . . . . . . . 801-412-7493 Pride Counseling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-595-0666 Pride Massage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-486-5500 Pride Studios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pridestudios.com Rice Restaurant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-328-3888 Ron’s Rub. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-532-4263 Sam Weller’s Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-328-2586 Julie Silveous Realtor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-502-4507 Skinworks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-530-0001 Squarepeg Concerts. . . . . . . squarepegconcerts.com Studio 27. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-363-2200
THE BEST LATINO GAY NIGHT WITH THE BEST MUSIC BY DJ FRANK THE HOTTEST GO- GO DANCERS SHOWS & ENTERTAINMENT AND THE BEST CROWD IN UTAH...
Sugarhouse Gallery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-486-4893 Tammy Radice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-277-0533 The Tavernacle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-519-8900
&
The Trapp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-531-8727 Tin Angel Cafe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-328-4155 Trolley Wing Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-538-0745 Uinta Brewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . uintabrewing.com Utah Pride Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-539-8800 Utah Symphony/Opera. . . . . . . . . utahsymphony.org Steve Walker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-688-1918 Wesley Green Roofing. . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-486-3411 Jeff Williams Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-971-6287 Dr. Douglas Woseth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-266-8841
4 6 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 159 | July 22, 2010
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QTALES
the perils of petunia pap-smear A Tale of Smear the Queer by Petunia Pap-Smear
T
HE ROAD TO BED BATH & Beyond is fraught with danger and excitement. I am a size queen! This statement will come as no big surprise to anyone who knows me. I am also a queen of size — substantially gravity enhanced. To allow myself to survive within modern fashion’s dictates of thinness, I’ve decided that if I surround myself with large objects, I will look smaller. And so, I try to gather big things: Big cars, big hair, big friends, big “personalities,” big jewels, and, of course, big sex toys. As I see it, bigger is always better until it comes to boogers — there I have to draw the line. In my efforts to obtain all things large, I had great fortune to graduate from an intimate queen-size bed to a party-sized king bed capable of accommodating large “social gatherings.” This came in very handy as my bed was such a high traffic area. Thus, I had the great fortune of being able donate my queen-size bed to a princess-in-training. I do not own a truck, so transportation was going to be problematic. At first, a good wanna-bebutch buddy of mine lent me his Ford Explorer for the task. Unfortunately, a queen-size box spring will not fit into the back of an Explorer. So once again, “Queer-Tanic,” my 1975 Buick Electra Land Yacht, came to the rescue, thus proving its superiority among vehicles. The acreage on Queer-Tanic’s top rivals that of an aircraft carrier, so it easily accommodated the large box spring and mattress. In fact, with a little ingenious knot tying (thank you, Boy Scouts of America) and generous use of bungee cords, I was able to place about 10 other boxes of pillows, blankets, dust ruffles and doilies up there as well. After she was all
puzzle solutions
loaded up, Queer-Tanic most closely resembled the truck in the Beverly Hillbillies. I could actually hear Jerry Scoggins, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs singing “Te Ballad of Jed Clampett” as I drove into the sunset. Trying my best to emulate Mrs. Drysdale, the gold standard for drag queens from that show, I donned my most excellent traveling frock, operalength driving gloves, four inch pumps and a stylish string of pearls. I jumped behind the wheel, and set off to make my delivery. Unfortunately, I underestimated both the height of the cargo and its potential wind drag. I’m sure that the mattress on top of the car had the aerodynamic lift capacity of a C-130 transport, but come hell or high water, there was a princess in need of a queen’s bed, and I was determined to deliver. Despite being the object of pointing fingers and ridicule on the roadway, all went fairly well until I reached the part where I-215 crosses over the 201 freeway. Suddenly, an unexpected gust of wind hit Queer-Tanic just like the tidal wave that capsized the USS Poseidon. I was forced to swerve into the adjacent lane. Then I apparently over-corrected trying to get back into my lane. The resulting strain on the ropes and bungees proved to be too great for my knot tying abilities; about eight of the boxes decided it was time to leave the car and become an obstacle course on the freeway. Thanks be to Mary Kay, traffic was not too heavy at the moment, and oncoming cars were able to swerve and avoid hitting the boxes. I pulled into the emergency lane, put on the hazards and jumped out of the car. I hiked up my skirt, thrust my leg out into traffic and held my opera-gloved hand to my forehead in the classic damsel-in-distress pose, to attract the
assistance of a gallant hero. But to my dismay, Utah drivers proved to be uncharitable. Even though I was showing my entire thigh, not one inconsiderate bastard pulled over and offered to help. When did chivalry die? It seems that impeccable fashion sense and superior manners will get you nothing in this state. I guess in order to get help in Utah, you must offer verifiable service hours for your priesthood records. It’s dramatic times like this that every Queen must prepare for: “Petunia, Queen of the Damned,” alone against the world. I scurried about on the busy freeway, faster than Granny Clampett could have collected road kill, dodging cars as I pushed each box over to the side. This quickly evolved into a real life and death game of “Smear the Queer” as my heel got caught in a crack on the blacktop, just as a Mac Truck was quickly advancing upon me. I felt like that one lone protester facing down the column of army tanks during the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Where are Jethro and Ellie Mae when you need some speedy muscles? Finally, after about 25 minutes of box wrangling, I was able to get back on the road, a
little ruffled around the edges, but still looking like Mrs. Drysdale even though I had sweated enough to look like Ellie Mae had pushed me into the “cement pond” for a wrestle. I’m grateful for all my drag queen training. All that shopping frenzy experience increases your speed and agility for when you really need it. Like always, these events leave us with many eternal questions: 1. Do all your lesbian friends who own trucks automatically disappear whenever it’s time to move something? 2. Does this story make you hungry for some grits and possum? 3. When fishing for help on the road, how much leg should you expose? 4. Would my chances improve if I shaved my legs first? 5. Would Miss Jane have rescued me faster than Jethro? 6. How much aerodynamic lift does a beehive hairdo generate? These and other important questions to be answered in future chapters of “The Perils of Petunia Pap-Smear.” Q
Cryptogram: Today the court simply affirmed that our country won’t tolerate second-class marriages.
Anagram: Mark Ruffalo
July 22, 2010 | issue 159 | QSa lt L a k e | 47
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