Pride Guide 2018 by Shepherd Express

LGBTQPROGRESSAWARDS2018

Shepherd Express LGBTQ Progress Awards 2018

LILA ARYAN

ach year the Shepherd Express’ LGBTQ Progress Awards honors people and organizations that have worked and taken risks to improve conditions for LGBTQ people in Wisconsin. Past winners have been active in many areas of life from health issues to politics and culture, and have included Si Smits, Plymouth Church, the BestD Clinic, the Saturday Softball Beer League and Carl Bogner and many others. The fourth annual Progress Awards dinner and ceremony will be held Thursday, Aug. 9, at Renaissance Place, 1451 N. Prospect Ave. Tickets can be reserved by visiting the events section at shepherdexpress.com. The Cream City Foundation is this year’s presenting sponsor.

Tanya Atkinson

TANYA ATKINSON

LGBTQ Progress in Health and HIV Awareness

Tanya Atkinson has worked with Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin (PPWI) for 14 years and is in her second year as the organization’s president and CEO. “This award is 100% for Planned Parenthood,” she insists, “and we really appreciate it. PPWI is a trusted place for sexual and reproductive health for anyone who needs us. It’s important for people to know that we serve all genders. We stand strong, we stand proud and we stand always with the LGBTQ community. I should also say that I have some understanding of the negativity that can be thrust on the community and, more importantly, I understand the progress that can be made when we work together.” A social worker by training, she grew up on a small dairy farm in southwest Wisconsin where accessing health care could be difficult. She settled in Milwaukee to work with the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, then joined PPWI as a community organizer and worked all across the state in public affairs, education and communication. “PPWI was one of the first organizations to sign on in opposition to anti-LGBT legislative efforts in Wisconsin. Whenever those initiatives come up, we stand beside the LGBTQ community. Not only is it right for social justice; we also see firsthand the effect that discrimination and marginalization can have on a person’s and their family’s health. We believe it’s incredibly important to get the politics out of reproductive and sexual health so people can live their most authentic lives without interference.” (John Schneider)

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MARK BEHAR

Progress in Activism

Mark Behar’s work on behalf of the LGBTQ community from the 1970s to the present has taken many forms. “In looking at it all,” he says, “what stands out is that these were not stereotypical activist things. You see a need and instead of just sitting back and being aghast, you call people; you find out how to change things. That’s political activism. It’s going out and doing something that will hopefully have a benefit, a positive outcome somewhere along the line.” Behar has worked with the National Association of Black and White Men Together (NABWMT) since the 1980s. From 2012-2016 he was national co-chair and he’s just created with NABWMT a smartphone app, Resist Racism, available on Androids and soon iPhones. Brilliantly constructed, it helps viewers understand everyday racism, especially as experienced by gay men of color. Also in the 1980s, he co-created the Milwaukee Lesbian and Gay Cable Network and its programs “Tri-Cable Tonight” and “New Tri-Cable”— award-winning magazine shows on local LBGTQ issues, events, people and histories—and the comedy series “Yellow on Thursday.” In 1977, he transformed the Milwaukee Gay People’s Union VD testing center into a functioning clinic as its first director; it’s now BESTD where he volunteers. In 1979, he helped produce and disseminate the first risk reduction guidelines in the nation for HIV/AIDS prevention. A physician’s assistant by profession, he’s worked for the Governor’s Council of Gay and Lesbian Issues in health care for LGBTQ people across the state. And so much more. (John Schneider)

Mark Behar

CHALLENGE PARTY Philanthropy

Like many aspects of Milwaukee’s LGBTQ community, funding its various causes and organizations has relied on activists within the community itself. Early on, when LGBTQs founded their own health clinics, social service agencies, arts groups, athletic leagues and other entities with their respective missions to serve the greater LGBTQ population, few philanthropic or government resources provided crucial financial support. So it fell upon the generosity of those who could financially contribute in the interest of the greater good. But individuals can only do so much. It was, however, soon recognized that a unified effort to underwrite those many deserving projects would produce a greater impact. Thus, three decades ago, a group of philanthropically minded individuals, the Challengers, joined to create The Challenge Party as a fundraising event. The idea was to host an annual gala in the home of a community member with all amenities donated. The Challengers invited a broad spectrum of attendees, offering them the opportunity to donate to selected organizations with 501(c)(3) status. Donors would give directly to the recipient and thereby avoid the administrative costs that would otherwise reduce the actual amount given. The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center and the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin were designated permanent recipients. Additionally, each year a committee selects a third organization, and sometimes a fourth, to receive Challenge Party support. Over the years, the Challengers have distributed more than $1.1 million to dozens of organizations and thereby significantly contributed to Milwaukee’s LGBTQ progress towards equality. (Paul Masterson)

MARK MARIUCCI Progress in Business

2018 marks the 25th anniversary of QUEST, Wisconsin’s longest continuously published LGBTQ lifestyle and entertainment magazine. Since 1993, ownereditor Mark Mariucci has provided a media platform for expression of local culture, proving the community its Mark Mariucci voice and celebrating its identity. When printers refused to print QUEST because of its LGBTQ content, Mariucci bought his own offset printers, enlisting the help of friends to run them. He personally delivered each edition, driving 14 hours throughout the state, dropping off bundles of magazines at distribution points. Over the two and half decades of publication, QUEST showcased all aspects of the queer world from the drag, leather, fetish and pageant scene, to the arts, politics and athletics as well as everything in between. During the HIV/ AIDS crisis QUEST promoted safe sex and victim support. Mariucci sought out writers and photographers to document Wisconsin’s alternative lifestyle and, in the process, gave them the opportunity to practice their craft. With rare exception, like President Barack Obama’s signing the end of DOMA, QUEST covers featured local personalities from beefcakes and drag queens to community leaders like Maria Cadenas and philanthropist Joe Pabst.

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For his commitment and contribution to international LGBTQ sports, Tommy Salzsieder was inducted into the NAGAAA Hall of Fame in 1998 and into the SSBL Hall of Fame in 2005. Today we recognized his role in Milwaukee’s LGBTQ Progress towards equality. (Paul Masterson)

For one Mother’s Day, the cover honored the proud moms of LGBTQ children. Although his business model may not have always been financially sound (he often donated advertising space to non-profits, wrote off debts or rolled with the punches of competitors), his business mission was an undeterred belief in the LGBTQ community, its inherent pride and dignity. (Paul Masterson)

ADRIENNE STRELCHECK AND DESHANDA WILLIAMS Progress in Youth Services

Tommy Salzsieder

Carmen A. Murguia

CARMEN A. MURGUIA

Progress in Arts and Culture

Writer/activist Carmen A. Murguia’s parents planted the seed of her activism. The family worked on behalf of civil rights, LGBTQ rights and Latinx rights. At age 7 in Catholic elementary school, Carmen says, “I walked into church, went to the front pew and said to God and Our Lady of Guadalupe, you made me Mexican, you made me a girl and you made me a girl who likes girls, so now please protect me!” LGBTQ children, she believes, have exceptional insight because “we’re on the fringes, we observe and learn, and we think and feel deeply.” In her 20s, she devoted herself to poetry and fiction. “I didn’t sit down to write about gay Latina Catholic politics, love and culture,” she says, “but my writing was activism. It’s me. I write about what happens around me.” She became arts editor of In Step magazine in the 1990s and covered LGBTQ culture. “I would slowly incorporate into the magazine stories about people of color in the community, visual artists who were activists in their own right and people in the HIV community. We didn’t have that strong a voice. I figured the voice would be through these articles and through my poetry. She published her first book, The Voices Inside: Mi Alma, Mi Cuerpo y Mi Spiritu, in 1993 and her fifth book, A Poem for All My People, last year. In it, she addresses her lesbian and Mexican ancestors in the poem “I Come from Greatness.” The title says it all. (John Schneider)

for the after party they not only established a local tradition, the Saturday Softball Beer League (SSBL), but also a national legacy, the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA). The idea was simply to have fun and form friendships through team spirit. Among the founders was Tommy Salzsieder. Salzsieder (familiarly known as Tommy Southsider since he’s from the South Side and naturally people heard “South Sider” when he introduced himself) believed America’s favorite pastime should be shared by his community as well. With Salzsieder’s encouragement, SSBL invited teams from major cities like Los Angeles and New York to play in a local tournament. The establishment of NAGAAA followed with Salzsieder as its first treasurer. NAGAAA has since grown to more than 46 leagues in cities throughout the USA and Canada with more than 17,000 athletes playing for 1,000 teams. SSBL and NAGAAA propelled lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender identity beyond the stereotypes and today they continue to encourage pride, inclusivity and diversity. In fact, you didn’t even have to play that well.

Twenty-40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ. Adrienne Strelcheck works the streets doing outreach and DeShanda Williams manages the Pathfinders Drop-in Center serving 11-26-year-olds. Strelcheck parks the Street Beat truck in neighborhoods from 92nd and Brown Deer to 27th and Oklahoma on a predictable weekly schedule and provides immediate services and information. Williams welcomes them to the Center, offering services like hygiene, clothing, meals, showers, lodging, storage or simply a safe space. “They can choose to talk to someone or choose to just be here and build community and relationships with other youth,” Williams explains. “We give them a family that is non-judgmental and very protective. A lot of young people who identify along the LGBTQ spectrum don’t feel safe checking that box. Others feel strong about who they are and are willing to continue to learn and grow in that.” “Our space is one of the few places I’ve known where LGBTQ people are completely part of the community,” Strelcheck adds. “LGBTQ and straight people make friends with each other. Their minds open up. They see one another as the individuals they are. They’ll correct themselves if someone is derogatory. And we see that continue into the community to make it safer out there, across those barriers in the rest of Milwaukee. They understand who they are because they were able to explore those aspects in a really safe space with people who love and care about them.” (John Schneider)

TOMMY SALZSIEDER Progress in Struggle for Equality

Forty-plus years ago, when a small group of Milwaukee gay men decided to play softball with the losers providing a keg of beer

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PRIDE GUIDE 2018

JUNE 7, 2018 | 5

HEARMEOUT

Happy Pride!

ear sweet baby Jesus rocking in the cradle! It’s here! Pride week is here! What does that mean for you? It means anything you want it to. It means laughing and loving and sharing and celebrating. It means seeing old friends and making new ones. It means dancing and drinking, singing and sashaying your way through the city’s many pride events. I always say that you need to make your pride celebration work for you— whether that means hitting the fest and the parade, brunching with friends, enjoying a concert, hosting a private party, riding your cycle or running a race. It’s pride time in Milwaukee, damn it! Make it special in your own way. Take a look at my social calendar for a list of this week’s pride events. Some you’re likely familiar with, others are new traditions to consider. Regardless of how you ﬂy your rainbow colors this week, make a pride celebration that creates memories, lifts your spirits and warms your heart. I’ll be back next week with a question from someone dealing with a shady co-worker, but until then know that from the top of my redhead to the bottom of my rummage-sale heels, I wish you the best pride week ever!

::RUTHIE’SSOCIALCALENDAR June 5: Pride Business Showcase at Goodman Community Center (149 Waubesa St., Madison): Join the Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce for this 5:30 to 8 p.m. event spotlighting what chamber members have to offer. Free and open to the public, the showcase helps you meet local businesses that share your values. To learn more, shoot a message to info@wislgbtchamber.com. June 6: Marriage Equality Celebration at First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee (1342 N. Astor St.): Ring in the three-year anniversary of marriage equality in Wisconsin during this 6:30 p.m. party. Wear your wedding-day finest as we celebrate the enormous occasion for the LGBTQ community.

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June 6: Audra McDonald at Marcus Center for the Performing Arts (929 N. Water St.): The Broadway diva blesses Brew Town with her incredible voice during a 7:30 p.m. concert. Accompanied by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Tony Award winner presents a night of American songs—from standards to Hollywood’s best. Swing by mso.org for tickets that range from $22 to $126. June 7: Big Gay 5K Run/Walk at Veterans Park (1010 N. Lincoln Memorial Drive): Take the first step to a great pride weekend when you kick it off with this seventh annual run. Sponsored by the Milwaukee Gay Sports Network, step off is at 6:30 p.m. with registration opening at 5 p.m. Learn more and register early at milwaukeegaysports.com. June 7-10: Milwaukee PrideFest 2018 at Summerfest Grounds (200 N. Harbor Drive): It’s here! The largest pride celebration in the state is upon us again, offering an extra day to celebrate! That’s right, kids! The gates open on Thursday this year (at 6 p.m.), so you can soak in the joy, laughter and love a bit longer. Visit pridefest.com for performance schedules (the B-52s...hooray!), maps, marketplace vendors, tickets and more. I’ll see you there! June 9: Ride with Pride Starting at Harley-Davidson Museum (400 W. Canal St.): Make your pride celebration even more memorable with this motorcycle ride! Meet at 10 a.m. before the rubber hits the road at 11. Stops include the Estabrook Park Biergarten before riders hit the Pridefest grounds. Best of all, participation includes a ticket to PrideFest! All types of motorcycles are welcomed. June 9: The Tea Dance White Party at The Iron Horse Hotel (500 W. Florida St.): The gang at this Cream City hotel are celebrating LGBTQ pride with a 2 p.m. tea dance. Wear your weekend whites and dance the afternoon away with a DJ and drink specials in the hotel’s newly renovated The Yard party space. Entry is free to this new event. June 10: Pre-Pride-Parade Brunch at Hamburger Mary’s (730 S. Fifth St.): Get your brunch on before you hit the parade (just a few blocks away) at this Sunday morning hot spot. The all-you-can-eat buffet opens, and the bottomless mimosas start flowing at 11 a.m. The Mary’s Divas hit the stage at noon with a special show featuring the Hamburger Mary’s show hostesses! Call 414-488-2555 for reservations. June 10: Milwaukee Pride Parade at South Second Street: This creative, colorful and sometimes kooky parade is a city tradition that’s simply not to be missed. Come see why this parade gets bigger and better year after year (and give me a wave while you’re there!). Free and open to all, the parade steps off at 2 p.m. from 1579 S. Second St. June 10: The Fat Dix Block Party at D.I.X. (739 S. First St.): After the Pride Parade, the party continues on National Avenue between First and Second streets. Shop local vendors and sip an assortment of adult drinks from various sidewalk bars. You’ll also find DJs, dancing and drag shows! The street fest runs noon to 10 p.m. See you there! Want to share an event with Ruthie? Need her advice? Email DearRuthie@Shepex.com and follow her on Instagram @ruthiekeester and Facebook at Dear Ruthie.

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Have a Happy (and Inclusive) PrideFest! ::BY PAUL MASTERSON

nce again, Milwaukee’s LGBTQ community celebrates PrideFest. Now in its 31st year, the annual celebration launches Milwaukee’s lakefront festival season with a show of Pride that represents all facets of Milwaukee’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer life. When it comes to inclusive diversity, PrideFest truly is, as I’ve often said before, the only act in town. In fact, the family friendly festival is known for its all-welcoming atmosphere where everyone, regardless of age, ethnicity, gender or affinity, enjoys the party and ambiance only LGBTQ folks can achieve. This year’s PrideFest opens on Thursday evening for the first time. Featured events include the Big Gay 5K Run/Walk and, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Dance Pavilion, a blow-out dance party with DJ Chomper among others. The night closes with electronic music group Cash Cash. Friday festivities begin at 2:30 p.m. with the PrideFest Opening Ceremony (at 3 p.m.). Friday’s activities include the PrideFit program of gym drills, yoga, urban and belly dance. The “Exercising Pride Health & Wellness Area” is open around the green just inside the PrideFest Main Gate and showcases LGBTQ nonprofit organizations dedicated to community wellbeing. It will be open on Saturday and Sunday as well. The Youth Area starts its weekend of activities of dance, drag, open mic and karaoke while The Wom!nz Spot Lounge & Café brings its usual lineup of lesbian-centric talent with the Dance Pavilion stage showcasing a full array of music, dance and drag. There’s also the audience-astounding Dinder Brothers Family Circus, a freak show of fire eaters and trapeze

artists. The night’s Miller Lite Main Stage headliner is singer-songwriter Daya. Then, beginning at noon Saturday, the party continues with a packed schedule of all PrideFest has to offer. The Stonewall Stage presents a lineup of information sessions from HIV health, sex, obstetrics and gynecology, to politics and meditation. The LGBT Film/Video Festival screens black and queer films. The Stonewall Stage continues on Sunday with presentations on PReP, spirituality, intersex issues and kink. Also on Saturday, The Children’s and Family Stage offers kid friendly acts and magic. Meanwhile, visitors can find all the various stages going full tilt with local and national talent including JoJo and culminating with Jussie Smollett, both on the Miller Lite Main Stage. Of course, it wouldn’t be PrideFest without Saturday’s traditional fireworks at 9:30 p.m. Sunday opens again at noon and once again all the stages are abuzz with another full day and night of entertainment. Drag divas, DJs and the Bottoms Up Aerial Burlesque round off the PrideFest weekend. The Sunday headliner is none other than the B-52’s, the band that rang out the 20th century and rang in the 21st with hardcore dance groves. Last year, PrideFest’s attendance set a record of more than 37,600. This year’s attendance will hopefully break that record. Of course, the 90-degree weather helped but for many, especially in these times, attending PrideFest is a political act, a true declaration of our Pride as LGBTQs and as allies and advocates for social justice and equality. Ultimately, our celebration was made possible by those who fought for our rights at Stonewall. We must never forget their struggle, and we must continue it. Happy Pride!

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PRIDE GUIDE 2018

JUNE 7, 2018 | 9

A New Vision for the Cream City Foundation

MARK R MARIUCCI

OFFTHECUFF

OFF THE CUFF WITH CEO BRETT BLOMME ::BY JOHN SCHNEIDER

rett Blomme fell in love with Milwaukee while an undergraduate at Marquette University. After graduation, he worked for the LBGT Community Center and Fair Wisconsin, then returned to his home state of Missouri for a law degree and then back to Milwaukee to work as a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney. He raised funds for the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin but wanted “a deeper relationship with the community and an opportunity to tackle the big issues facing LGBTQ+ folks today.” So a year ago this week, he accepted the position of president and CEO of the Cream City Foundation. What do you see as our big issues? After marriage equality in 2015, a historic day for LGBTQ+ folks, I think the community was left with the question, what’s next? As a foundation, we partnered with researchers from Marquette to conduct a strategic needs assessment. We interviewed 27 organizations across Wisconsin, looking to find what they viewed

as the greatest needs facing the community, and we found three emerging elevated priority areas: health, equity and prosperity. Explain, please. With health, we’re talking about access to health care and health insurance, about finding welcoming and culturally competent health care providers who feel adequate to respond to the needs of the LBGTQ+ community. With equity, we’re talking about a better understanding that our community is not monolithic but many different communities with different needs, different intersecting identities, experiences and oppressions. And prosperity means creating opportunities for our families and our individuals to earn livings and have access to healthy food and housing. So really, a lot of the issues that face the general community but they’re just more complicated when you lay your gender identity, your sexual orientation, on top of that. So what’s the work today? We’ve taken those three elevated priorities

SPANISH & PORTUGUESE INSPIRED CUISINE

What does this job mean to you? I truly believe that philanthropy can change communities. The research tells us that the LGBTQ community around the country is at a severe disadvantage when it comes to dollars invested in the community. So I have a role in helping to close that disparity. The concept that started the Foundation back in the early ’80s, when the community came together to respond to the AIDS epidemic, is that my thousand dollars and your thousand dollars pooled together will make a bigger statement and have a bigger impact. We’re a more powerful voice for the community when we work together. Brett Blomme

and laid them over our program work. We have a grantmaking program, an LGBTQ scholarship program and our convening program. Grantmaking is just that: We invite organizations to apply for funds specifically directed at issues of health, equity and prosperity in our community. And we’re in our third year of the scholarship program. After this year, we’ll have given out over $100,000 in scholarships. To help kids go to school? Exactly. That’s a program we’re very proud of and it continues to expand. This year we’re adding a requirement that our students also participate in a mentorship program through the LGBT Chamber of Commerce, to provide them opportunities to network, to have that connection to a business or to the arts community—somebody in their field of study so they have someone to go to when they’re looking for a job because we want to keep good people here in Milwaukee.

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And what is “convening?” I really view it as the cornerstone of our mission. We bring people together around the table to talk about these issues and try to move our community forward in big, bold ways. We bring together LGBTQ service organizations and allied service organizations. And that stems right into our grantmaking program. If you want to apply, we require that you partner with an LGBTQ organization and an allied organization because the research tells us those partnerships get bigger, bolder results.

How can we help? Our Summer Social is Tuesday, July 24, at 6 p.m. at the South Shore Terrace and Beer Garden. It helps us raise critical funds. Our Business Equality Luncheon comes up in October. We award our scholarships there and also celebrate those corporations that are proactively trying to make their workplaces more inclusive and welcoming for our LGBTQ community members. This year, Southwest Airlines’ senior vice president of diversity and inclusion will be our keynote speaker. She can talk about three decades of changes. I hope the corporate community and the LGBTQ community will come and participate in that. For more information visit creamcityfoundation.org. Correction: The name of one of the troupe choreographers listed in last week’s Off the Cuff, “Prismatic Flame Lights Up Milwaukee,” was spelled incorrectly. Her name is Lynn Szopinski.

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SHEPHERD EXPRESS

ASKTHEDENTIST:: SPONSORED CONTENT / BY DR. MURPHY

IS TONGUE SCRAPING MORE IMPORTANT THAN FLOSSING?

DOES ACTIVATED CHARCOAL WORK AS A TOOTH WHITENER?

There are definitely benefits to using a tongue cleaner. However, you feel as if you need to choose between the two, flossing is the clear winner. Some studies have suggested that cleaning the tongue removes bacteria and debris that contributes to bad breath. It can also make the tongue more esthetically pleasing by eliminating the white or brown coating that covers the surface. Another possible benefit is that decreasing the number of bacteria found in our mouths may help lower the rates of tooth decay or periodontal disease. While all of these things MIGHT be improved by using a tongue scraper, there is no doubt that flossing offers all of these benefits and many more. So feel free to invest in a tongue cleaning device, but don’t forget to floss!

Activated charcoal is a fine, black powder made of sawdust, bone char, coconut shells and/or other materials. These are then processed at high heat which “activates” them and increases the porosity. This makes the charcoal very good at trapping stains and toxins. There is some anecdotal evidence that using charcoal powder will make your teeth whiter by absorbing plaque and other substances that can darken your teeth. However, there are no long term studies on efficacy or the effects on oral health. My main concern with charcoal toothpaste is abrasiveness. Over time, the use of abrasive substances can actually wear the enamel away (and enamel cannot be replaced!). FDA approved dental products are all given a score on the Relative Dentin Abrasivity (RDA) scale; this scale indicates how likely a substance is to damage tooth structure. It is important to make sure that any toothpaste you are using scores a 200 or below.

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