Gay City News, September 14, 2011

Gay City A M E R I C A’ S L A R G E S T C I R C U L AT I O N G AY A N D L E S B I A N N E W S P A P E R !

NEWS

TM

Love & Marriage inside

SEPTEMBER 14-27, 2011 VOLUME 10, ISSUE 19

S E R V I N G G A Y, L E S B I A N , B I A N D T R A N S G E N D E R E D N E W Y O R K • W W W . G A Y C I T Y N E W S . C O M

■ POLITICS

■ POLITICS

AP Calls Special Race For Weiner Seat for GOP

Wisconsin’s Out Lesbian Tammy Baldwin Aims For US Senate

BY DUNCAN OSBORNE

T

TURNER P. 9

BY PAUL SCHINLDER

T

RICKPERRY.ORG

he September 13 special election between Democratic Assemblyman David Weprin and retired media executive Robert Turner, the Republican, to fill the Congressional seat vacated by Anthony Weiner ended in a stunning upset, with the Associated Press calling the race for the GOP candidate just before midnight, with more than 70 percent of precincts counted and Turner ahead by six percent.

The race drew national attention among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender political observers when the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), a conservative group that opposes same-sex marriage, spent at least $49,000 in independent expenditures that paid for direct mail and robocalls to voters opposing Weprin because he supported gay marriage in the State Assembly. Weprin established a pro-gay record in the Assembly and earlier in the New York City Council.

The NOM robocalls included messages from State Senator Ruben Diaz, a Bronx Democrat and a Pentecostal min-

GOVERNOR RICK PERRY HAS MADE NO RETREAT TO DATE ON HIS TIES TO RELIGIOUS RIGHT

Rick Perry’s Hearty Embrace of Extremism

BY NATHAN RILEY

A WEEKEND 21

t last week’s Republican presidential debate, Texas Governor Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, the more moderate former Massachusetts governor, were each invited to respond to both of the first two questions — a good indication of where NBC’s Brian Williams and Politico’s John Harris thought the evening’s action was. Perry and Romney stood next to each other, heightening the dramatic effect.

Answers were supposed to be limited to one minute, but it wasn’t until 14 minutes into the debate that Michele Bach-

mann, the Minnesota congresswoman who won the only contest to date in the nomination fight — Iowa’s August 13 Ames Straw Poll — was offered a chance to answer a question. That’s right — just one. Then it was on to Ron Paul, the quirky and cranky Texas congressman.

Eight candidates were in the debate, but two dominated it.

The rise of one of these two — Perry — was abrupt, so sudden it resembles a fairy tale. In a Gallup Poll issued a mere ten days after he announced his presidential run on August 13, Perry had shot to a 29 to 17 percent lead over Romney

PERRY P. 10

© GAY CITY NEWS 2011 • COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

ammy Baldwin, elected to the US House representing the Madison, Wisconsin, area in 1998, became the first Democrat to announce her candidacy to succeed Senator Herb Kohl, also a Democrat, who will not seek reelection next year.

Baldwin, who made her announcement on September 6, is one of four out lesbian or gay members of Congress, all of them Democrats, and would be the first out member of the Senate if elected in 2012.

Baldwin starts her campaign with the support of both the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and the Human Rights Campaign, as well as the National Organization for Women and Emily’s List, a group that promotes the election of pro-choice female candidates.

Her path to the Democratic nomination was smoothed by the recent announcement from former Senator

BALDWIN P. 8

In this issue: ■ EDITORIAL Moving beyond shock on transgender health ■ 36 —————————————————

■ ARTHUR EVANS, 1942-2011 Pioneer New York gay activist dies in San Francisco ■3 —————————————————

■ DOWN MEMORY LANE Wistful couples grope for happiness in “Follies”

■ 15

2

14 – 27 SEP 2011

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

Even when you’re out of town, you’re never out of touch.

With in-flight Wi-Fi on American, you can access everything you need to work, play or just say hello from 30,000 feet.

Gogo® Inflight Internet is available on the entire Boeing 767-200 fleet and select MD-80 and 737 aircraft for flights over the continental U.S. Visit AA.com/wifi for more details. Gogo is a trademark of Aircell LLC. AmericanAirlines, AA.com and AA.com/rainbow are marks of American Airlines, Inc. oneworld is a mark of the oneworld Alliance, LLC. © 2011 American Airlines, Inc. All rights reserved.

14 - 27 SEP 2011

Remembrance /3

Arthur Evans, Pioneering Activist, Dead at 68

BY PERRY BRASS

T

he contours of Arthur Evans’ life wer e amazing, beautiful, and, to me, incredibly romantic.

Evans died of complications from cardiovascular disease on September 11 in San Francisco, a month short of his 69th birthday.

By 1974, he was part of the great gay diaspora that had left New York and other cities on the East Coast and settled in San Francisco, making the Bay Area an epicenter of a more liberated gay culture.

I met Arthur in New York in 1970 when I was involved with the Gay Liberation Front. He was in Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) — in fact, he was one of the founders of this split-off from GLF — and I was, for a while as a young man in my early 20s, smitten with Arthur’s almost heroic handsomeness (of moderate height, but wiry and strikingly good-looking, he was like a shorter Clint Eastwood) and his shy, but flint-hard intelligence and wit.

He told me about his extremely lonely childhood, living out in the country in York, Pennsylvania, the “barbell capital of the world,” and coming from a working class family that had a difficult time understanding him. I could identify a hundred percent with that, but then so could so many gay men.

He reminded me, almost instantly, of one of those secretly queer Edwardian men who hid their deeper feelings behind a mask of intellect, like you’d find in an E. M. Forster novel. He was at the time living up near Columbia University, where he was finishing his PhD in philosophy with a concentration on the Greeks, and I remember spending the night with him several times in his spare apartment filled with books and one cat.

He was also involved with Arthur Bell (they were the “two Arthurs of GAA”), who would later go on to fame as the first openly gay columnist for the Village Voice, preceding Michael Musto, and as the author of a

tell-all book called “Dancing the Gay Lib Blues.” At GAA, the two Arthurs had very different roles: Arthur Evans was the thinking, strategizing center of much of the Gay Activists Alliance — he was one of the people who formulated the idea of the “zap,” a non-violent confrontation with homophobes in power, using blitzkrieg embarrassment as an engine to explode the dirtysecret nature of anti-gay prejudice. And Arthur Bell was good at getting people to demonstrations and zaps, as he was a much more public face.

I remember both of them testifying at the first New York City Council hearings on a new gay rights bill, back in 1972, when Evans talked about working for an employment agency that used code words to describe queer men.

Question: “What were the code words?”

Arthur replied: “You’d put initials on their resumes, like H.C.F.” “What did that stand for?”

“High Class Fairy.”

The 1972 gay rights bill did not pass; it could not even get out of the procedural committee headed by Thomas Cuite, a Roman Catholic Democrat from Brooklyn who was majority leader of the City Council. But even bringing a bill like that up in 1972, less than three years after Stonewall, was a triumph

RICH WANDEL/ COURTESY NYPL.ORG

A leader in post-Stonewall NY, he became probing historian, philosophy scholar in SF

Arthur Evans in an early 1970s GAA demonstration outside the New York City Board of Education.

who believed in classical idealism, made this the center of his life. In 1963, he dropped out of Brown University in Providence, where he was receiving

Using the nom-de-plume the Red Queen, he handed out a now-famous leaflet called “Afraid You’re Not Butch Enough?” for the burgeoning LGBT movement. It was also a high point in the late 1960s-early 1970s “liberation stage” of the movement that came to prominence with the idea that the personal — that is, your own life story — and the political, what governs the nation, must exist in one sphere.

This itself is a truly classical Greek idea, and Evans,

a complete scholarship, to live in Greenwich Village, because he’d read in Life magazine that the Village was the center of gay life on the East Coast. He said later that it was one of the best moves of his life.

In 1964, he met Arthur Bell, who was working as an editor in a large Madison Avenue publishing house. Both Bell and Evans were men who self-made

a culture around them: Bell had dropped out of high school, only to become a successful editor.

Evans re-entered college, got an undergraduate degree from City College, and then entered the Columbia PhD program.

But he used all of his own selfeducation to expose and challenge ideas that led to rigidity and anti-gay thinking.

In 1970, Evans, with Marty Robinson, a leader in GAA, and Dick Leitsch, the last president of the Mattachine Society, went on Dick Cavett’s late night show to talk about what was then the new gay movement — one that was completely open; that exploded stereotypes (Robinson, who worked as a carpenter, called himself “a gay hard hat); and that was no longer in the closet, like the old Mattachine, whose leaders mostly had to use pseudonyms.

By 1971, Bell and Evans had separated as lovers, and Evans — who wanted to be elected

president of GAA but was too introverted to oppose more public figures like Bruce Voeller, who did become president and later one of the founders of the National Gay Task Force — felt himself alienated from New York City gay culture and politics, and urban life in general.

Anticipating the move of many gay men to more rural areas — now seen in queer satellite communities all over the US — a year later, Arthur with his new lover, Jacob Schraeter, and a friend bought 40 acres of wooded land in an isolated corner of Washington State, and called it New Sodom. They invited other politically informed gay men to come out and colonize it. Their straight neighbors went ballistic, and started putting up posters saying: “Hunting Faggots Now in Season.”

Very disillusioned, Evans moved to San Francisco, where he became an auto mechanic specializing in VW bugs. Partnering with a friend from his old GAA days, Hal Offen, they called their new car venture The Buggery.

Throughout this period, Evans began delving into what would become his life’s work — investigating the real roots of homophobia, finding evidence of the death of a pagan woodland culture that suffused Europe for thousands of years until it was obliterated by Christianity and later capitalism. To counter this historical eclipse, he wanted to bring back a real “faery” culture, one based on human (and, very much, male) sharing, not competition; on fluid, role-less sexual connections (as opposed to a butch-fem dichotomy); and one definitely outside bourgeois careerism.

In 1978, he published “Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture,” in which he demonstrated that for centuries men and women who had been burned for witchcraft were in fact part of a same-sex underground. The book became one of the cornerstones of the modern “faery” movement, and it is still in print. In San Francisco, Evans became very involved in

䉴

EVANS, continued on p.39

14 – 27 SEP 2011

4

).$)#!4)/. REYATAZÂŽ (atazanavir sulfate) is a prescription medicine used in combination with other medicines to treat people 6 years of age and older who are infected with the human immunodeďŹ ciency virus (HIV).

REYATAZ has been studied in a 48-week trial in patients who have taken anti-HIV medicines and a 96-week trial in patients who have never taken anti-HIV medicines.

2%9!4!: DOES NOT CURE ()6 OR LOWER YOUR CHANCE OF PASSING ()6 TO OTHERS People taking REYATAZ may still get opportunistic infections or other conditions that happen with HIV infection. )-0/24!.4 3!&%49 ).&/2-!4)/. $O NOT TAKE 2%9!4!: IF YOU ARE ALLERGIC TO 2%9!4!: OR TO ANY OF ITS INGREDIENTS $O NOT TAKE 2%9!4!: IF YOU ARE TAKING THE FOLLOWING MEDICINES DUE TO POTENTIAL FOR SERIOUS

LIFE THREATENING SIDE EFFECTS OR DEATH VersedÂŽ (midazolam) when taken by mouth, HalcionÂŽ (triazolam), ergot medicines (dihydroergotamine, ergonovine, ergotamine, and methylergonovine such as CafergotÂŽ, MigranalÂŽ, D.H.E. 45ÂŽ, ergotrate maleate, MethergineÂŽ, and others), PropulsidÂŽ (cisapride), or OrapÂŽ (pimozide). $O NOT TAKE 2%9!4!: WITH THE FOLLOWING MEDICINES DUE TO POTENTIAL FOR SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS CamptosarÂŽ (irinotecan), CrixivanÂŽ (indinavir), MevacorÂŽ (lovastatin), ZocorÂŽ (simvastatin), UroxatralÂŽ (alfuzosin), or RevatioÂŽ (sildenaďŹ l). $O NOT TAKE 2%9!4!: WITH THE FOLLOWING MEDICINES AS THEY MAY LOWER THE AMOUNT OF 2%9!4!: IN YOUR BLOOD which may lead to increased HIV viral load and resistance to REYATAZ or other anti-HIV medicines: rifampin (also known as RimactaneÂŽ, RifadinÂŽ, RifaterÂŽ, or RifamateÂŽ), St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum)containing products, or ViramuneÂŽ (nevirapine).

Serevent DiskusŽ (salmeterol) and AdvairŽ (salmeterol with uticasone) are NOT RECOMMENDED WITH 2%9!4!: $O NOT TAKE VfendŽ (voriconazole) if you are taking REYATAZ and NorvirŽ (ritonavir).

The above lists of medicines are not complete. 4AKING 2%9!4!: WITH SOME OTHER MEDICINES MAY REQUIRE YOUR THERAPY TO BE MONITORED MORE CLOSELY OR MAY REQUIRE A CHANGE IN DOSE OR DOSE SCHEDULE OF 2%9!4!: OR THE OTHER MEDICINE Discuss with your healthcare provider all prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamin and herbal supplements, or other health preparations you are taking or plan to take.

4ELL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IF YOU ARE PREGNANT OR PLAN TO BECOME PREGNANT REYATAZ use during pregnancy has not been associated with an increase in birth defects. Pregnant women have experienced serious side effects when taking REYATAZ with other HIV medicines called nucleoside analogues. !FTER YOUR BABY IS BORN tell your healthcare provider if your baby’s skin or the white part of his/her eyes turns yellow.

9OU SHOULD NOT BREAST FEED if you are HIV-positive. !LSO TELL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IF YOU HAVE END STAGE KIDNEY DISEASE managed with hemodialysis or SEVERE LIVER DYSFUNCTION Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any side effects, symptoms, or conditions, including the following: s -ILD RASH (redness and itching) without other symptoms sometimes occurs in patients taking REYATAZ, most often in the ďŹ rst few weeks after the medicine is started, and usually goes away within 2 weeks with no change in treatment.

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

)-0/24!.4 3!&%49 ).&/2-!4)/. CONT D s 3EVERE RASH may develop with other symptoms that could be serious and potentially cause death. )F YOU DEVELOP A RASH WITH ANY OF THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS STOP USING 2%9!4!: AND CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER RIGHT AWAY — Shortness of breath – General ill-feeling or â€œďŹ‚u-likeâ€? symptoms – Fever – Muscle or joint aches – Conjunctivitis (red or inamed eyes, like “pink eyeâ€?) – Blisters – Mouth sores – Swelling of your face s 9 ELLOWING OF THE SKIN AND OR EYES may occur due to increases in bilirubin levels in the blood (bilirubin is made by the liver). s !

CHANGE IN THE WAY YOUR HEART BEATS may occur.

You may feel dizzy or lightheaded. These could be symptoms of a heart problem. s $IABETES AND HIGH BLOOD SUGAR may occur in patients taking protease inhibitor medicines like REYATAZ. Some patients may need changes in their diabetes medicine. s )F YOU HAVE LIVER DISEASE, including hepatitis B or C, it may get worse when you take anti-HIV medicines like REYATAZ. s + IDNEY STONES have been reported in patients taking REYATAZ. Signs or symptoms of kidney stones include pain in your side, blood in your urine, and pain when you urinate. s 3 OME PATIENTS WITH HEMOPHILIA have increased bleeding problems with protease inhibitor medicines like REYATAZ. s # HANGES IN BODY FAT have been seen in some patients taking anti-HIV medicines. The cause and long-term effects are not known at this time. s ) MMUNE RECONSTITUTION SYNDROME has been seen in some patients with advanced HIV infection (AIDS) and a history of opportunistic infection. Signs and symptoms of inammation from previous infections may occur soon after starting anti-HIV treatment, including REYATAZ. s 'ALLBLADDER DISORDERS (including gallstones and gallbladder inammation) have been reported in patients taking REYATAZ. /THER COMMON SIDE EFFECTS of REYATAZ taken with other anti-HIV medicines include: nausea; headache; stomach pain; vomiting; diarrhea; depression; fever; dizziness; trouble sleeping; numbness, tingling, or burning of hands or feet; and muscle pain.

You should take 2%9!4!: ONCE DAILY WITH FOOD (a meal or snack). Swallow the capsules whole; DO NOT OPEN THE CAPSULES 9OU SHOULD TAKE 2%9!4!: AND YOUR OTHER ANTI ()6 MEDICINES EXACTLY AS INSTRUCTED BY YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER 9OU ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS TO THE &$! 6ISIT WWW FDA GOV MEDWATCH OR CALL &$!

2%9!4!: IS ONE OF SEVERAL TREATMENT OPTIONS YOUR DOCTOR MAY CONSIDER

0LEASE SEE )MPORTANT 0ATIENT )NFORMATION ABOUT 2%9!4!: ON THE ADJACENT PAGES REYATAZ is a registered trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners and not of Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Š 2011 Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, NJ 08543 U.S.A. 687US11AB06104 06/11

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 – 27 SEP 2011

5

DETERMINED + UNDETECTABLE REYATAZ CAN HELP GET YOU TO UNDETECTABLE, SO YOU CAN FIGHT HIV YOUR WAY.

ONCE-DAILY REYATAZ IN HIV COMBINATION THERAPY: s # AN HELP LOWER YOUR VIRAL LOAD TO UNDETECTABLE* and help raise your T-cell (CD4+ cell) count s (AS BEEN PRESCRIBED BY PHYSICIANS FOR MORE THAN 200,000 HIV patients since 2003 † s # AN BE TAKEN BY ADULTS WHO ARE STARTING ()6 treatment for the first time and adults who have already been on HIV treatment Do not take REYATAZ if you are allergic to REYATAZ or to any of its ingredients.

REYATAZ does not cure HIV and has not been shown to reduce the risk of passing HIV to others.

Individual results may vary.

Ask your healthcare team how REYATAZ in combination therapy can help get you to undetectable.

Fight HIV your way.

www.REYATAZ.com * Undetectable was defined as a viral load of less than 400 copies/mL. † Wolters Kluwer. SDI Product Brand

Report. Total Patient Tracker; November 2010.

14 – 27 SEP 2011

6

FDA-Approved Patient Labeling Patient Information

REYATAZ® (RAY-ah-taz) (generic name = atazanavir sulfate) Capsules ALERT: Find out about medicines that should NOT be taken with REYATAZ (atazanavir sulfate). Read the section “What important information should I know about taking REYATAZ with other medicines?”

Read the Patient Information that comes with REYATAZ before you start using it and each time you get a refill. There may be new information. This leaflet provides a summary about REYATAZ and does not include everything there is to know about your medicine. This information does not take the place of talking with your healthcare provider about your medical condition or treatment.

What is REYATAZ? REYATAZ is a prescription medicine used with other anti-HIV medicines to treat people 6 years of age and older who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV is the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). REYATAZ is a type of anti-HIV medicine called a protease inhibitor. HIV infection destroys CD4+ (T) cells, which are important to the immune system.

The immune system helps fight infection. After a large number of (T) cells are destroyed, AIDS develops. REYATAZ helps to block HIV protease, an enzyme that is needed for the HIV virus to multiply. REYATAZ may lower the amount of HIV in your blood, help your body keep its supply of CD4+ (T) cells, and reduce the risk of death and illness associated with HIV. Does REYATAZ cure HIV or AIDS? REYATAZ does not cure HIV infection or AIDS. At present there is no cure for HIV infection. People taking REYATAZ may still get opportunistic infections or other conditions that happen with HIV infection. Opportunistic infections are infections that develop because the immune system is weak. Some of these conditions are pneumonia, herpes virus infections, and Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infections. It is very important that you see your healthcare provider regularly while taking REYATAZ. REYATAZ does not lower your chance of passing HIV to other people through sexual contact, sharing needles, or being exposed to your blood. For your health and the health of others, it is important to always practice safer sex by using a latex or polyurethane condom or other barrier to lower the chance of sexual contact with semen, vaginal secretions, or blood. Never use or share dirty needles.

Who should not take REYATAZ? Do not take REYATAZ if you: N are taking certain medicines. (See “What important information should I know about taking REYATAZ with other medicines?”) Serious life-threatening side effects or death may happen. Before you take REYATAZ, tell your healthcare provider about all medicines you are taking or planning to take.

These include other prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

N are allergic to REYATAZ or to any of its ingredients. The active ingredient is atazanavir sulfate. See the end of this leaflet for a complete list of ingredients in REYATAZ. Tell your healthcare provider if you think you have had an allergic reaction to any of these ingredients.

What should I tell my healthcare provider before I take REYATAZ? Tell your healthcare provider: N If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. REYATAZ use during pregnancy has not been associated with an increase in birth defects.

Pregnant women have experienced serious side effects when taking REYATAZ with other HIV medicines called nucleoside analogues. You and your healthcare provider will need to decide if REYATAZ is right for you. If you use REYATAZ while you are pregnant, talk to your healthcare provider about the Antiretroviral Pregnancy Registry.

N After your baby is born, tell your healthcare provider if your baby’s skin or the white part of his/her eyes turns yellow.

N If you are breast-feeding. You should not breast-feed if you are HIV-positive because of the chance of passing HIV to your baby. Also, it is not known if REYATAZ can pass into your breast milk and if it can harm your baby. If you are a woman who has or will have a baby, talk with your healthcare provider about the best way to feed your baby.

N If you have liver problems or are infected with the hepatitis B or C virus.

See “What are the possible side effects of REYATAZ?” N If you have end stage kidney disease managed with hemodialysis.

N If you have diabetes. See “What are the possible side effects of REYATAZ?” N If you have hemophilia. See “What are the possible side effects of REYATAZ?”

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

REYATAZ® (atazanavir sulfate) N

About all the medicines you take including prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Keep a list of your medicines with you to show your healthcare provider. For more information, see “What important information should I know about taking REYATAZ with other medicines?” and “Who should not take REYATAZ?” Some medicines can cause serious side effects if taken with REYATAZ. How should I take REYATAZ? N Take REYATAZ once every day exactly as instructed by your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider will prescribe the amount of REYATAZ that is right for you.

N Always take REYATAZ with food (a meal or snack) to help it work better.

Swallow the capsules whole. Do not open the capsules. Take REYATAZ at the same time each day.

N If you are taking antacids or didanosine (VIDEX® or VIDEX® EC), take REYATAZ 2 hours before or 1 hour after these medicines.

N If you are taking medicines for indigestion, heartburn, or ulcers such as AXID® (nizatidine), PEPCID AC® (famotidine), TAGAMET® (cimetidine), ZANTAC® (ranitidine), AcipHex® (rabeprazole), NEXIUM® (esomeprazole), PREVACID® (lansoprazole), PRILOSEC® (omeprazole), or PROTONIX® (pantoprazole), talk to your healthcare provider.

N Do not change your dose or stop taking REYATAZ without first talking with your healthcare provider. It is important to stay under a healthcare provider’s care while taking REYATAZ. N When your supply of REYATAZ starts to run low, get more from your healthcare provider or pharmacy. It is important not to run out of REYATAZ. The amount of HIV in your blood may increase if the medicine is stopped for even a short time.

N If you miss a dose of REYATAZ, take it as soon as possible and then take your next scheduled dose at its regular time. If, however, it is within 6 hours of your next dose, do not take the missed dose. Wait and take the next dose at the regular time. Do not double the next dose. It is important that you do not miss any doses of REYATAZ or your other anti-HIV medicines.

N If you take more than the prescribed dose of REYATAZ, call your healthcare provider or poison control center right away.

What are the possible side effects of REYATAZ? The following list of side effects is not complete. Report any new or continuing symptoms to your healthcare provider. If you have questions about side effects, ask your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider may be able to help you manage these side effects.

The following side effects have been reported with REYATAZ: N mild rash (redness and itching) without other symptoms sometimes occurs in patients taking REYATAZ, most often in the first few weeks after the medicine is started. Rashes usually go away within 2 weeks with no change in treatment. Tell your healthcare provider if rash occurs.

N severe rash: Rash may develop in association with other symptoms which could be serious and potentially cause death.

If you develop a rash with any of the following symptoms stop using REYATAZ and call your healthcare provider right away: N shortness of breath N general ill feeling or “flu-like” symptoms N fever N muscle or joint aches N conjunctivitis (red or inflamed eyes, like “pink eye”) N blisters N mouth sores N swelling of your face N yellowing of the skin or eyes. These effects may be due to increases in bilirubin levels in the blood (bilirubin is made by the liver). Although these effects may not be damaging to your liver, skin, or eyes, call your healthcare provider promptly if your skin or the white part of your eyes turn yellow.

N a change in the way your heart beats (heart rhythm change). Call your healthcare provider right away if you get dizzy or lightheaded. These could be symptoms of a heart problem.

N diabetes and high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) sometimes happen in patients taking protease inhibitor medicines like REYATAZ. Some patients had diabetes before taking protease inhibitors while others did not. Some patients may need changes in their diabetes medicine.

N if you have liver disease including hepatitis B or C, your liver disease may get worse when you take anti-HIV medicines like REYATAZ. N kidney stones have been reported in patients taking REYATAZ. If you develop signs or symptoms of kidney stones (pain in your side, blood in your urine, pain when you urinate) tell your healthcare provider promptly.

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 – 27 SEP 2011

7

REYATAZ® (atazanavir sulfate) N

some patients with hemophilia have increased bleeding problems with protease inhibitors like REYATAZ. N changes in body fat. These changes may include an increased amount of fat in the upper back and neck (“buffalo hump”), breast, and around the trunk.

Loss of fat from the legs, arms, and face may also happen. The cause and long-term health effects of these conditions are not known at this time.

N immune reconstitution syndrome. In some patients with advanced HIV infection (AIDS) and a history of opportunistic infection, signs and symptoms of inflammation from previous infections may occur soon after anti-HIV treatment, including REYATAZ, is started.

Other common side effects of REYATAZ taken with other anti-HIV medicines include nausea; headache; stomach pain; vomiting; diarrhea; depression; fever; dizziness; trouble sleeping; numbness, tingling, or burning of hands or feet; and muscle pain.

Gallbladder disorders (which may include gallstones and gallbladder inflammation) have been reported in patients taking REYATAZ. What important information should I know about taking REYATAZ with other medicines?

Do not take REYATAZ if you take the following medicines (not all brands may be listed; tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take).

REYATAZ may cause serious, life-threatening side effects or death when used with these medicines.

N Ergot medicines: dihydroergotamine, ergonovine, ergotamine, and methylergonovine such as CAFERGOT®, MIGRANAL®, D.H.E. 45®, ergotrate maleate, METHERGINE®, and others (used for migraine headaches).

N ORAP® (pimozide, used for Tourette’s disorder).

N PROPULSID® (cisapride, used for certain stomach problems).

N Triazolam, also known as HALCION® (used for insomnia).

N Midazolam, also known as VERSED® (used for sedation), when taken by mouth.

Do not take the following medicines with REYATAZ because of possible serious side effects: N CAMPTOSAR® (irinotecan, used for cancer).

N CRIXIVAN® (indinavir, used for HIV infection). Both REYATAZ and CRIXIVAN sometimes cause increased levels of bilirubin in the blood.

N Cholesterol-lowering medicines MEVACOR® (lovastatin) or ZOCOR® (simvastatin).

N UROXATRAL® (alfuzosin, used to treat benign enlargement of the prostate).

N REVATIO® (sildenafil, used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension).

Do not take the following medicines with REYATAZ because they may lower the amount of REYATAZ in your blood. This may lead to an increased HIV viral load. Resistance to REYATAZ or cross-resistance to other HIV medicines may develop: N Rifampin (also known as RIMACTANE®, RIFADIN®, RIFATER®, or RIFAMATE®, used for tuberculosis).

N St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum), an herbal product sold as a dietary supplement, or products containing St. John’s wort.

N VIRAMUNE® (nevirapine, used for HIV infection).

The following medicines are not recommended with REYATAZ: N SEREVENT DISKUS® (salmeterol) and ADVAIR® (salmeterol with fluticasone), used to treat asthma, emphysema/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease also known as COPD. Do not take the following medicine if you are taking REYATAZ and NORVIR® together: N VFEND® (voriconazole).

The following medicines may require your healthcare provider to monitor your therapy more closely (for some medicines a change in the dose or dose schedule may be needed): N CIALIS® (tadalafil), LEVITRA® (vardenafil), or VIAGRA® (sildenafil), used to treat erectile dysfunction. REYATAZ may increase the chances of serious side effects that can happen with CIALIS, LEVITRA, or VIAGRA. Do not use CIALIS, LEVITRA, or VIAGRA while you are taking REYATAZ unless your healthcare provider tells you it is okay.

N ADCIRCA® (tadalafil) or TRACLEER® (bosentan), used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension.

N LIPITOR® (atorvastatin) or CRESTOR® (rosuvastatin). There is an increased chance of serious side effects if you take REYATAZ with this cholesterollowering medicine.

N Medicines for abnormal heart rhythm: CORDARONE® (amiodarone), lidocaine, quinidine (also known as CARDIOQUIN®, QUINIDEX®, and others).

N MYCOBUTIN® (rifabutin, an antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis).

REYATAZ® (atazanavir sulfate) N

®

®

BUPRENEX , SUBUTEX , SUBOXONE®, (buprenorphine or buprenorphine/ naloxone, used to treat pain and addiction to narcotic painkillers).

N VASCOR® (bepridil, used for chest pain).

N COUMADIN® (warfarin).

N Tricyclic antidepressants such as ELAVIL® (amitriptyline), NORPRAMIN® (desipramine), SINEQUAN® (doxepin), SURMONTIL® (trimipramine), TOFRANIL® (imipramine), or VIVACTIL® (protriptyline).

N Medicines to prevent organ transplant rejection: SANDIMMUNE® or NEORAL® (cyclosporin), RAPAMUNE® (sirolimus), or PROGRAF® (tacrolimus).

N The antidepressant trazodone (DESYREL® and others).

N Fluticasone propionate (FLONASE®, FLOVENT®), given by nose or inhaled to treat allergic symptoms or asthma. Your doctor may choose not to keep you on fluticasone, especially if you are also taking NORVIR®.

N Colchicine (COLCRYS®), used to prevent or treat gout or treat familial Mediterranean fever.

The following medicines may require a change in the dose or dose schedule of either REYATAZ or the other medicine: N INVIRASE® (saquinavir).

N NORVIR® (ritonavir).

N SUSTIVA® (efavirenz).

N Antacids or buffered medicines.

N VIDEX® (didanosine).

N VIREAD® (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate).

N MYCOBUTIN® (rifabutin).

N Calcium channel blockers such as CARDIZEM® or TIAZAC® (diltiazem), COVERA-HS® or ISOPTIN SR® (verapamil) and others.

N BIAXIN® (clarithromycin).

N Medicines for indigestion, heartburn, or ulcers such as AXID® (nizatidine), PEPCID AC® (famotidine), TAGAMET® (cimetidine), or ZANTAC® (ranitidine).

Talk to your healthcare provider about choosing an effective method of contraception. REYATAZ may affect the safety and effectiveness of hormonal contraceptives such as birth control pills or the contraceptive patch. Hormonal contraceptives do not prevent the spread of HIV to others.

Remember: 1. Know all the medicines you take.

2. Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take.

3. Do not start a new medicine without talking to your healthcare provider.

How should I store REYATAZ? N Store REYATAZ Capsules at room temperature, 59° to 86° F (15° to 30° C).

Do not store this medicine in a damp place such as a bathroom medicine cabinet or near the kitchen sink.

N Keep your medicine in a tightly closed container.

N Keep all medicines out of the reach of children and pets at all times. Do not keep medicine that is out of date or that you no longer need. Dispose of unused medicines through community take-back disposal programs when available or place REYATAZ in an unrecognizable, closed container in the household trash.

General information about REYATAZ This medicine was prescribed for your particular condition. Do not use REYATAZ for another condition. Do not give REYATAZ to other people, even if they have the same symptoms you have. It may harm them. Keep REYATAZ and all medicines out of the reach of children and pets.

This summary does not include everything there is to know about REYATAZ. Medicines are sometimes prescribed for conditions that are not mentioned in patient information leaflets. Remember no written summary can replace careful discussion with your healthcare provider. If you would like more information, talk with your healthcare provider or you can call 1-800-321-1335.

What are the ingredients in REYATAZ? Active Ingredient: atazanavir sulfate Inactive Ingredients: Crospovidone, lactose monohydrate (milk sugar), magnesium stearate, gelatin, FD&C Blue #2, and titanium dioxide.

VIDEX® and REYATAZ® are registered trademarks of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.

COUMADIN® and SUSTIVA® are registered trademarks of Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Company. DESYREL® is a registered trademark of Mead Johnson and Company. Other brands listed are the trademarks of their respective owners and are not trademarks of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.

Princeton, NJ 08543 USA 1246226A9

F1-B0001B-02-11

Rev February 2011

14 - 27 SEP 2011

8/ Politics 䉴

BALDWIN, from p.1

Russ Feingold, who lost his seat in the 2010 election but remains popular among progressives, that he will not seek to replace Kohl.

Still, Baldwin trails the two strongest Republicans in the field — though only by margins of four to eight percent — according to an August poll conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP). The congresswoman, in a press teleconference on September 7, noted that polls also show she is currently known by no more than 55 percent of the Wisconsin elector ate.

“In any poll taken now statewide, the results would mostly be due to name recognition. That’s why we say, ‘Share, share, share,’” Baldwin said, in an allusion to Facebook and her campaign’s commitment to maximize the impact of social networking to build her name recognition. “For many people, it would be the first they know of Tammy Baldwin.”

Baldwin understands the challenges facing her as an openly lesbian Democratic candidate from what is known nationally as perhaps the most left-leaning small city in America.

“This is going to be a tough race for both the Democratic candidate and the Republican candidate,” she said, noting that Wisconsin is a classic swing state, split roughly evenly between the two parties.

The Capital T imes, a progressive journal in Madison, addressed Baldwin’s vulnerabilities directly, in a September 13 analysis, quoting Wisconsin-based political consultant Paul Maslin, who has worked for

message with voters ahead of any attack ads that might surface.

Baldwin is casting herself as aggressive and independent.

“There are labels thrown around in a campaign,” she said in last week’s press call. “I am a fighter. And when you stand up to powerful interests, you tend to be get those kinds of labels.”

Baldwin zeroed in on two issues where she dissented from conventional political wisdom — and her party’s leadership — in ways that now have strong popular appeal. In 2003, she voted against the war in Iraq, and in 1999, she opposed deregulation in the financial services industry that many experts now say led to the crisis that nearly brought down the banking system in 2008 and created the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Baldwin doubled down in her antiwar posture last week, saying she is dissatisfied with the pace of disengagement being pursued by the Obama administration.

“I would suggest to the president that he bring all the troops home… from Iraq and Afghanistan,” she said, adding, of plans to keep a significant force in Afghanistan, “I would like to draw as bright a line as possible on an end to the war.”

In a September 6 video message posted on her campaign website, Baldwin said, “It’s time politicians looked out for seniors, working families, and the middle class — instead of protecting the profits of big oil and Wall Street,” a theme the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said she voiced to link “herself to the political tradition” of Kohl and Feingold.

“In any poll taken now statewide, the results would mostly be due to name recognition.

That’s why we say, ‘Share, share, share.’”

Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, saying “Some people might say liberal, lesbian Madison woman, how is she going to do it? Even in Madison, they might say that. If you think that’s the only way this race gets defined, you might say sure, how is she doing to do it?”

Maslin went on to argue that a lot depends on how candidates define themselves and are defined by their opponents.

“Right now voters want to hear who is going to fight for me,” he told the Capital Times, which noted that Baldwin’s early entry into the race gives her the opportunity to establish her

But Maslin said of her maverick streak, “She has a chance to say, ‘I am not one of the boys.’”

Asked how her sexual orientation would play statewide in Wisconsin, Baldwin noted that a less urbanized congressional district in the western part of the state had elected Republican Steve Gunderson before she arrived in Washington in 1999. Gunderson, who was outed on the floor on the House in 1994 by fiery GOP rightwinger Bob Dornan of California, went on to win reelection that year, though he retired two years later.

Baldwin serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and on the

Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin got an early jump on the 2012 race for the US Senate.

subcommittees on Environment and Economy and on Health. Among her congressional affiliations is her membership in the Progressive Caucus.

The Journal Sentinel noted that Madison is the state’s second largest population center, and that no Democratic contender seems likely to emerge from the Milwaukee area.

The newspaper reported that Baldwin’s announcement puts pressure on two other Democrats — Congressman Ron Kind of LaCrosse and for mer Representative Steve Kagen of Appleton — to make up their minds.

Mark Neumann, a former Republican congressman who represented the state’s southeastern corner — centered on Kenosha, which lies between the Milwaukee and Chicago metropolitan areas — and has announced he will seek his party’s Senate nomination, noted that the National Journal ranked Baldwin as tied for the most liberal member of Congress.

The PPP poll, released on August 18 when Feingold’s name was still being mentioned in connection with the 2012 race, showed Neumann with a 44 to 40 percent lead over Baldwin, just outside the margin of error.

Baldwin trailed for mer longtime Republican Governor Tommy Thompson, who served as George W. Bush’s

secretary of Health and Human Ser vices, by a 50-42 margin. Thompson has not yet entered the race, however, and is considered vulnerable, according to PPP, to a challenge from the right by Neumann.

Another potential GOP candidate is Jeff Fitzgerald, the State Assembly speaker. Fitzgerald has been a key player in this year’s roiled climate in the state capital over Republican Governor Scott Walker’s success in severely curtailing the collective bargaining rights of government workers.

Asked how much she expected to have to raise to mount a successful campaign, Baldwin noted that last year’s gubernatorial candidates in Wisconsin each spent in the neighborhood of $13-$15 million. The Wisconsin Democracy Project pegged total spending in that race — by candidates and unaffiliated political action committees — at $37.4 million.

Baldwin said that candidates also spent heavily in State Senate special elections earlier this summer prompted by voter anger over Walker’s assault on public employees’ rights — a sign of how contentiously fought political contests are in the current Wisconsin climate.

Baldwin said she raised $500,000 in the second quarter this year, in an effort geared toward reelection to the House. On July 1, she had $1.1 million in cash on hand, though she declined to speculate on what her third quarter haul might be. She clearly expects the pace of fundraising to accelerate dramatically in the wake of her September 6 announcement.

LGBT advocacy groups are ener gized at the opportunity to elect the first out lesbian or gay member of what has long been dubbed “the world’s most exclusive club.”

“We are enor mously proud that Tammy has taken this courageous step, and we will be strong supporters of her campaign,” said Chuck Wolfe, head of the Victory Fund, which works to elect out LGBT candidates from both parties. “Tammy’s record in Congress proves she’ll be a fighter in the Senate for expanding fairness and freedom for all Americans, and Wisconsin families will have no better advocate in Washington.”

“Tammy Baldwin’s candidacy for the US Senate is monumental for both the state of Wisconsin and the country’s LGBT community,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, in announcing his group’s endorsement. “Tammy has proven herself as an effective legislator over the course of her 13 years in Congress and this campaign will be a top priority for the Human Rights Campaign.”

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

9

TURNER, from p.1

ister, as well as a senior rabbi in Brooklyn’s Jewish community.

Some leading Republicans posited the race as a referendum on President Barack Obama and his performance on the economy and treatment of Israel.

Former Democratic Mayor Ed Koch made a big show of crossing party lines –– something he has actually done on numerous occasions –– to back Turner, saying his election would send a message to Obama that the US must strengthen its commitment to Israel.

Among gay groups, Weprin, 55, was backed by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the Washington gay lobby, which donated $5,000 to the Democrat.

“We will be working to activate HRC members to volunteer and vote for Weprin,” Brian Ellner, a senior strategist at HRC, told Gay City News, adding that Weprin is “a strong supporter of LGBT rights and marriage equality.”

Three gay political groups, the Lesbian & Gay Democratic Club of Queens, the Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn, and the Stonewall Democrats, held a fundraiser for Weprin, and Lambda solicited volunteer support for the candidate. Erin Drinkwater, a Lambda vice president, told Gay City News, “Going into 2012, it would be a huge problem to give the GOP or Tea Party any momentum.”

In an op ed published online at gaycitynews.com, titled “The Race in the 9th Is About The Economy –– Not Israel or Gay Marriage,” Matthew McMor row, Lambda’s co-president, wrote that Koch’s focus on Israel and NOM’s effort to make Weprin’s marriage vote an issue were “red herrings.”

“If Brooklyn and Queens voters want to use this race to send a real message, let it be a rebuke of the radical and reckless Republican members of Congress who have damaged our nation’s credit rating, refused to compromise, and advocated for the dismantling of our nation’s services… without entertaining even the most modest proposals to increase revenue or to implement

TURNERFORCONGRESS.COM

䉴

14 – 27 SEP 2011

Republican Bob Turner, shown here being endorsed by former Mayor Ed Koch, won the US House seat Anthony Weiner vacated in June.

fairness in the tax code,” McMorrow wrote, voicing familiar Democratic Party arguments.

Weprin was endorsed by leading Democrats, liberal groups, and openly gay pols Christine Quinn, the City Council speaker, State Senator Thomas Duane, and Daniel Dromm, a city councilman who represents Jackson Heights in Queens. Duane and Quinn represent Chelsea.

The 9th Congressional district seat, which includes parts of Queens and Brooklyn, opened up when Anthony Weiner resigned during a sex scandal earlier this year. The special election to fill the seat was notable for its low turnout and generally low visibility, despite the national groups that participated in the race.

Weprin ran on the Democratic, the union-backed Working Families Party, and Independence Party lines, while Turner ran on the Republican and Conservative party lines.

Through August 24, Weprin raised nearly $451,000 and spent $248,400.

He had $202,000 in cash. Tur ner raised $204,000 and spent $119,000 through that date. He had $94,000 in cash and a $65,500 debt.

Turner, 70, won 40 percent of the vote against Weiner in 2010 in the heavily Democratic district. Turner is a retired TV executive who produced

talks shows hosted by Jerry Springer and Phil Donahue, as well as Rush Limbaugh’s short-lived TV program.

Weprin angered some gay leaders when he told Jewish Voz Iz Neias (VIN) News Service on July 28 that “there should be investigations” into possible procedural irregularities in the June 24 state Senate vote on samesex marriage. Some opponents of the law charged in a lawsuit that the Senate Republican conference, which is not subject to the state Open Meetings Law, violated that law when it declined to meet with marriage opponents.

“People have to feel that there was a fair process,” Weprin told VIN, “that the vote took place without coercion.”

In response, Duane initially took his name off of a Weprin fundraiser because of the VIN interview, as did the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, a gay political club.

Duane reversed course telling Politicker, “We all make mistakes and we all say things we wish we hadn’t. I am cutting him some slack.”

Allen Roskof f, president of Jim Owles, also had a change of heart, saying it is “obvious that people should be voting for Weprin when the choice is between him and a conservative Republican.”

— Additional reporting by Andy Humm and Paul Schindler

Accurate Building Inspectors

®

ÜÜÜ°>VVÕÀ>ÌiLÕ ` }°V ÊUÊ > J>VVÕÀ>ÌiLÕ ` }°V

800.640.8285

Proudly Serving the LGBT community Larry Ubell, President

We inspect homes, co-ops and condos, to most people it is obvious why you would have a house inspected, but an apartment? Whether you are buying a self manage brownstone co-op or an apartment in a 100-unit condo, this is a big investment and you would want to know that the building is being maintained properly. That is what we do; we are your building experts. We examine the apartment, the common spaces and the common equipment; we issue a full written report on our findings so you can be better informed.

Member of American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) Lic. In NY, NJ, CT, Mass.

Dedicated to Quality & Safety in Housing & Construction© Since 1961

14 - 27 SEP 2011

10/ Politics PERRY, from p.1

among Republican voters, the previous frontrunner in national surveys.

By the time of the September 7 event in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, a poll of voters in South Carolina showed Perry leading Mitt Romney 31 to 20 percent, with Bachman, who was polling strongly earlier this summer, lagging badly at 14 percent. South Carolina’s primary follows the Iowa Caucus, which traditionally skews conservative, and the New Hampshire Primary, which allows Independents to participate, making it a more moderate venue. In recent nomination contests, South Carolina has eliminated candidates who are falling behind, and its right-leaning GOP electorate could make it a tough third act for Romney.

The longest-serving governor in the history of Texas essentially entered the 2012 contest at the head of the Republican field.

How did Rick Perry so swiftly gain the exalted status of front-runner?

Not by making appeals to moder ates — that’s for sure. Instead, he has assiduously mined his base — to its very depths. Disappointing northeastern moderates and some party elites, he has courted red-meat conservatives. Polls show him most popular in the South and the West and among frequent churchgoers and Tea Party Republicans. For now, he’s ignoring moderates and Independents in favor of holding God-fearing Evangelicals tight in his embrace.

Given this strategy, even Perry’s crazi-

MITTROMNEY.COM & MICHELEBACHMANN.COM

䉴

In a highly successful campaign rollout, Rick Perry has shot past both Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney in the national polls.

Texas’ most impressive stadium to the Evangelicals for a giant rally that attracted national attention. “The Response” was called to address what organizers characterized as an American crisis through Christian prayer. Understanding who organized this rally will help explain why on July 15 Gallup gave Rick Perry four percent of likely Republican voters, while a month later — a week after the August 6 Houston event — he was number one.

Perry’s fighting words will cause trouble as the election attracts broader publics. But, right now, the Lone Star Republican is reaching out to the extreme — and he’s prospering. est statements make sense. He pleased the Tea Party and libertarian gold bugs by castigating Federal Reserve Board chair Ben Bernanke as “almost treasonous” for his easy money policy known

by Wall Street geeks as “quantitative easing.” And, in the debate, he doubled down on his description of Social Security as a Ponzi scheme.

These are not artful appeals to the middle. Among Republicans, like other Americans, Social Security is popular — and the Florida primary doesn’t come too much later than the South Carolina contest. Perry’s fighting words are offensive, and will cause trouble as the election attracts broader publics. But, right now, the Lone Star Republican is reaching out to the extreme — and he’s prospering.

His highest visibility endeavor this past summer was lending his name and

The public face of the rally was its web page that featured a big picture of Perry.

Reliant Stadium, as much an iconic venue in Houston as Yankee Stadium is in New York, has a retractable roof, making it air-cooled in the Texas heat. It also offers ample parking for huge crowds of people. In a nutshell, the event’s theme was: We don’t just talk about prayer, we practice prayer it in our daily lives.

The organizers, who promised to introduce new leadership who would helm a revival of religious and moral fervor, emphasized that God helps sinners avoid the temptation to drink, to steal, and to get lazy in the face of unemployment. The crowd at Reliant prayed to end the congressional deadlock over the debt ceiling.

The Response was a populist moment among a very specific demographic that

happens to play a critical role in GOP primaries.

And for Perry, who clearly relished the high profile the event and its website gave him, the event achieved the most fundamental task of a campaign — mobilizing voters. The first thing a visitor to the website encountered was the question: “Will you register?” Organizers expected 10,000 to turn out; in fact, the crowd on hand August 6 totaled 30,000. The number of people who registered at the site could easily have been a multiple of that.

A week before the Response was held, Perry was already identified in polling as the most popular candidate among Southern Republican voters. And after the rally, its organizers launched an ambitious Christian voter mobilization effort called Champion the Vote.

Strip away the Response’s revivalist veneer and you will find a disquieting core. The event’s lead organizer was the American Family Association of Tupelo, Mississippi. Trackers of right-wing extremists, like the Southern Poverty Law Center, label AFA a hate group because of its vituperative propaganda against the LGBT community. Bryan Fisher, its director of issue analysis, broadcasts daily on AFA’s Tupelo radio station and many of its 180 affiliates.

His most infamous statement — unfortunately, among many contenders — was, “Hitler discovered he could not get straight soldiers to be savage and brutal and vicious enough to carry out his orders, but that homosexual solders basically had no limits on the savagery and brutality they were willing to inflict.”

AFA is careful to state that Fisher’s opinions “do not necessarily reflect the

views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio,” but a caveat like that about its own issue analysis director seems like a distinction without a difference — especially from a group whose most visible activity is organizing boycotts of corporations that are gay-friendly.

Focus on the Family’s James Dobson presided over a portion of the Response.

Famous for his books on child-rearing that support spanking — emphasizing the traditional value of “spare the rod, spoil the child” — Dobson oversees a group that Southern Poverty Law has also designated a hate group. Focus on the Family traffics in pseudo-scientific studies purporting to show that homosexuals are prone to molesting children.

Still, the rally presented a benign public face. It wasn’t about gays, it was a “great awakening in support of” Christian values — even though at least some supporters acknowledged this was spin for public consumption. The evil mentioned most often in Houston was not homosexuality, but abortion, an issue that somewhere in the recent past became a safer target for political attack than gays.

To be sure, the Response had its critics. Shortly after it was announced, the Houston GLBT Political Caucus issued a statement of condemnation. But most of the criticism centered on the event’s lack of diversity.

The Jewish Anti-Defamation League organized a high-minded ecumenical critique of the rally.

“Houstonians may pray differently or not pray at all. We cherish the fact that we can pray freely in our own way,” the ADL wrote, in a statement to which dozens of religious groups signed on. The release went on to note, “This religious event is not open to all faiths.”

At a counter-rally the same day in Houston, organized by the American Civil Liberties Union, some noted that the groups gathered at Reliant Stadium represented an almost exclusively white constituency.

“There is still prejudice present today,” said William Lawson, an AfricanAmerican Baptist pastor, according to AmericanIndependent.com. “What Governor Perry is doing by hosting a Christian prayer rally and excluding everyone else is a new form of Jim Crow.”

In 2008, a public outcry forced Barack Obama to reject the views of his former Chicago minister, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Nothing approaching that sort of scrutiny was visited on Perry for his cozying up to the organizers of the Response. (That’s not for want of trying by Rachel Maddow, who featured hair-raising clips of participating ministers on her MSNBC show.)

䉴

PERRY, continued on p.11

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 – 27 SEP 2011

By PAUL SCHINDLER

DONNA ACETO

NEWS BRIEFS

11

Thousands gathered in Washington Square Park on October 3, 2010 in memory of LGBT youth suicide victims.

Dharun Ravi, Charged in Tyler Clementi Death, Will Proceed to Trial A Superior Court judge in New Jersey has ruled that there is sufficient evidence of bias-based intimidation and invasion of privacy to proceed with a trial against former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi, who was charged in a 15-count indictment earlier this year for secretly videotaping an intimate encounter between his roommate, Tyler Clementi, and another man, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Ravi’s conduct is alleged to have led 18-year-old Clementi, a gay college freshman, to end his life several days later by leaping from the George Washington Bridge.

Judge Glenn Berman’s September 9 ruling came in response to a motion by Ravi’s attorney that all charges in the case be dismissed.

Berman emphasized that his ruling was not a verdict on guilt

䉴

or innocence but rather a conclusion that the evidence presented to the grand jury and contained in the indictment, if proven, meet the standards for the crimes charged.

The Middlesex County prosecutor alleges that Ravi, who lives in Plainsboro, New Jersey, and was 19 at the time of his indictment, by videotaping and live Internet streaming of Clementi and the other man’s private conduct “intended to intimidate [then] because of their sexual orientation.”

The indictment states that Ravi “disclosed a photograph, film, videotape, recording, or other reproduction of the image of T.C. and/ or M.B. whose intimate parts were exposed or who were engaged in an act of sexual penetration or sexual contact without the consent of T.C. and/ or M.B.” New Jersey law defines invasion of privacy as a sexual offense.

Ravi is also charged with three counts of tampering with evidence, three counts of hampering his own apprehension, and one count of

PERRY, from p.10

Predictably for a Texan who cultivates a reputation for not backing down, Perry was not thrown off track by critics of the Response. Down the road, he will undoubtedly say that the more extreme homophobic rhetoric of his Response allies are not his views.

What may be harder to explain is his unwillingness to simply say, “No, thanks” to their political help.

Right now, Perry is cruising and pleased with his campaign, but a good many in the Republican establishment are not happy. Karl Rove, an erstwhile advisor, is unstinting in his criticism.

Joe Scarborough, a true-believer conservative and former House member from Florida, regularly mocks him on his

witness tampering. The prosecutor charged that the defendant deleted a Twitter post alerting others to the gay men’s September 21 encounter, replacing it “with a false post on Twitter intended to mislead the investigation.” He is also charged with providing false information to investigators and attempting to persuade witnesses not to testify against him.

While the third- and fourthdegree invasion of privacy charges expose Ravi to a penalty ranging from probation to five years in prison, the bias charge is a seconddegree offense, which could mean incarceration of five to ten years.

Reuters reported that on August 12, Ravi’s attorneys filed documents arguing, “Whatever feelings were controlling [Clementi’s] behavior appear to have had their roots far from Busch Campus, and far from” the defendant.

The attorneys say that instantmessage transcripts will show that Clementi, who grew up in

䉴

Dear I’m comin’ Out, Step out at Outfest on October 9.

BRIEFS, continued on p.12

“Morning Joe” show on MSNBC. After nearly 11 years as governor, Perry has more than his share of enemies in Texas, a fair number of them Republicans. His opponents, Congressman Paul among them, are chipping away at his record there.

On his 538 blog on newyorktimes. com, Nate Silver notes that Perry supporters and many other Republican primary voters believe in the Texas governor’s electability. Silver, however, believes that when his ties to extremist groups and his unorthodoxy on economic matters from the Federal Reserve to Social Security become better known, doubts about Perry’s ability to survive a general election race will grow.

Hammering away at Perry’s unfitness for office is a fight the LGBT community

P.S. Get your history straight and your nightlife gay.

14 – 27 SEP 2011

Thinking about quitting smoking?

SmokeFree

Tired of trying to quit again and again?

Do you want stronger motivation and new tools?

Project

WE CAN HELP! The LGBT SmokeFree Project presents a series of workshops for LGBT smokers.

This smoking cessation group and program begins with “Not Quite Ready to Quit,” a free 3 hour workshop which focuses on understanding nicotine addiction, increasing motivation, and eliminating roadblocks to making the decision to quit.

“Not Quite Ready to Quit” will meet on Wednesday, Oct 5th, from 6 to 9:00 pm and again on Sunday, Oct 9th, from 1 to 4:00 pm.

It is followed by six-weeks of group meetings of *“Commit to Quit,” to help develop a quit plan, build a support system, and effectively handle relapse pressure after you have quit. *“Commit to Quit” runs for six Wednesdays, beginning on Oct 12. The sessions will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. *There is a fee for this group. **You must attend one session of Not Quite Ready to Quit to attend this group.

You must call the LGBT SmokeFree Project Counselor for a phone screening @ 646-556-9300 or email smokefreeproject@gaycenter.org

>LZ[ [O :[YLL[ 5L^ @VYR 5@ NH`JLU[LY VYN

䉴

BRIEFS, from p.11

Ridgewood, told a friend about his mother’s attitude toward his homosexuality and argue that their client was comfortable with his roommate’s sexual orientation and has text messages to prove he tried to reassure Clementi on that point.

The defense attorneys demanded access to documents they say are in the possession of prosecutors that show that, before he left for college, Clementi had created computer files titled “Why does it have to be so painful” and “Sorry.”

Three days after creating the “Sorry” file in July 2010, a month before school started, Clementi used his cell phone camera to take three pictures of the George Washington Bridge, the defense claims.

Berman withheld ruling on that defense motion on September 9, the Inquirer reported. However, he ordered that Steven D. Altman, Ravi’s attorney, be given access to the identity of M.B., the man who was with Clementi at the time of the videotaping. Altman argued he wants the name to inquire as to whether M.B. felt intimidated by his client’s conduct.

Berman is expected to set a trial date at the next hearing on October 20.

AVP to Honor Don Lemon The New York City AntiViolence Project hosts its annual Courage Awards on September 22, and among those due to be honored is Don Lemon, a CNN anchor and Emmy and Edward R. Murrow Award-winner who published a May memoir, “Transparent,” in which he came out formally as a gay man.

In response to the strong interest in his coming out story, Lemon, named one of the Ebony Power 150 by Ebony Magazine in 2009, commented that anyone who has paid attention to his frequent tweets –– his account, @ donlemoncnn, identifies him as “Twitter King” –– would not have been caught off guard by the revelation.

AVP will also honor Andrew Sta. Ana, Ted Farley, and Virginia Goggin, attorneys in the group’s Domestic Violence Legal Clinic, and Time Warner Inc., for its “commitment to representing LGBTQH communities and the issues that matter most to us.” Time Warner is the parent company of CNN. Stage, film, and TV actor Michael-Leon Wooley will be host of the event, which will be held at Studio 450 at 450 West 31st Street, beginning at 6 p.m. Tick-

CNN

The LGBT

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

CNN anchor Don Lemon is among those the Anti-Violence Project will honor at its Courage Awards on September 22.

ets begin at $150 and can be purchased at avp.org.

Party king Daniel Nardicio and the Village Voice’s Michael Musto co-host an afterparty, in the same venue, beginning at 9 p.m. Tickets for that event are $50 at Dworld.us.

Mayor Dinkins to Officiate at Marjorie Hill Wedding Dr. Marjorie Hill, the chief executive officer of Gay Men’s Health Crisis, and Stacey Bridgeman will

legally wed on September 26 at a ceremony presided over by former Mayor David Dinkins. Hill served as Dinkins’ liaison to the LGBT community while he was mayor in the early 1990s. The marriage, to be held at the Riverview Restaurant in Long Island City, is the second commitment ceremony for the couple. They first took vows as a couple in September 2009, prior to the passage of New York’s marriage equality law.

䉴

BRIEFS, continued on p.13

GAY CITY NEWS

12

Dr. Marjorie Hill will legally wed her spouse, Stacey Bridgeman, in a September 26 ceremony officiated by former Mayor David Dinkins.

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

䉴

14 – 27 SEP 2011

13

BRIEFS, from p.12

GAY CITY NEWS

When the term “non-traditional casting” was first used several decades ago, it might have been employed to describe Morgan Freeman –– the versatile AfricanAmerican stage and screen actor who played Nelson Mandela in the 2010 film “Invictus” and created the role of Hoke Colburn for the 1987 Broadway premiere of “Driving Miss Daisy” (a role he reprised in the 1989 film) –– assuming the role of white-shoe attorney David Boies in Dustin Lance Black’s new play “8,” an account of the Prop 8 trial, based on the 2010 courtroom transcript.

The phrase takes on a whole new meaning when considering the casting for the role of Evan Wolfson, the soft-spoken attorney who has employed his patient intellect for nearly two decades at Lambda Legal and now Freedom to Marry to patiently engage judges, his fellow attorneys, and as much of the American pubic as his tireless schedule permits in gradually growing popular support –– case by case, state by state, audience by audience –– for marriage equal-

JEFF SHENG/ SIMON & SCHUSTER

The Night Evan Wolfson Kissed Me

Playwright and AIDS activist Larry Kramer will play Freedom to Marry executive director Evan Wolfson in a staged reading of Dustin Lance Black’s “8.”

ity.

Wolfson will be played by playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and firebrand AIDS activist Larry Kramer.

Brilliant is certainly a word many have applied to both men (Kramer, most recently, this spring when his 1985 AIDS play “The Normal Heart” was revived on

Broadway), but nobody would ever mistake one for the other.

The occasion for this casting is a September 19 staged reading of Black’s play being produced by Broadway Impact, a group of promarriage equality theater professionals, and the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), the organization founded to challenge

Prop 8 in federal court. AFER won its case at the district court level last August –– that trial being the basis for Black’s script –– and is currently preparing to defend its victory on appeal at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The September 19 reading, which will be held at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, is a one-night-only

event and an AFER fundraiser (tickets at afer.org/broadway8/).

Multiple Tony Award-winning director Joe Mantello (“Take Me Out,” “Assassins”) will helm the evening. Black won the 2009 Academy Award for best original screenplay for “Milk.”

Other cast members include John Lithgow as attorney Theo-

dore Olson, Boies colleague as attorney to AFER; Bradley Whitford as opposing counsel Charles Cooper; Cheyenne Jackson and Matt Bomer as gay plaintiff couple Paul Katami and Jeff Zarillo; Marisa Tomei and Christine Lahti as lesbian plaintiff couple Kris Perry and Sandi Stier; Anthony Edwards, Rory O’Malley, and Yeardley Smith as plaintiff witnesses Dr. Ilan Meyer, Ryan Kendall, and Professor Nancy Cott; Rob Reiner as Pro-Prop 8 witness David Blankenhorn; former CNN anchor Campbell Brown as a TV journalist; and Bob Balaban as Vaughn Walker, the presiding judge.

Poll Shows North Carolina Opposes Constitutional Marriage Ban With Republican legislators in North Carolina on September 13 pushing forward with authorization of a voter referendum in November 2012 banning marriage by samesex couples, a new poll from Elon University shows that 56 percent of voters there oppose or strongly oppose such a state constitutional

䉴

BRIEFS, continued on p.14

SONYMA celebrates the legalization of same sex marriage in New York State.

To help you with your dream of homeownership, please call:

1-800-382-Home (4663) or visit

www.sonyma.org

14 - 27 SEP 2011

14/ Legal

Suit v. Sodomy Sex Offender Status OKed Archaic Louisiana law making oral, anal sex solicitation “registry” offense challenged

BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD

A

federal district judge has a allowed a lawsuit challenging the requirement that defendants convicted under an archaic Louisiana Crime Against Nature by Solicitation Act maintain their registration as sex offenders.

Judge Martin L.C. Feldman found that a group of such individuals can sue for a violation of their right to equal protection of the laws under the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

The sex offender registry requirement applied to those soliciting anal and oral sex, but not vaginal sex.

Under a reform measure that Republican Governor Bobby Jindal signed on August 15, the requirement for sex offender registration ended, but, according to Associated Press, law professor Davida Finger of Loyola University of New Orleans stated that about 400 people previously convicted under the statute must maintain their registration. That penalty is at issue in this case.

The ruling in Doe v. Jindal granted the state’s motion to dismiss due process and 8th Amendment cruel and unusual punishment claims, however, as well as finding that Jindal qualified for immunity against the lawsuit.

Until the August reform law took affect, Louisiana statutes provided that those convicted of solicitation for prostitution were guilty of a misdemeanor that did not require registration as a sex offender, but the Crime Against

䉴

BRIEFS, from p.13

amendment.

In the past, Democrats in North Carolina have blocked GOP efforts to bring the divisive issue before voters, the Winston-Salem Journal reported, but with Republicans in charge of both State Senate and House since January, anti-gay forces seized their chance to move an amendment question forward.

The State Senate, in a 30-16 vote approved the referendum question. The evening before, the House passed the same measure,

Though Governor Bobby Jindal has signed a sex crimes reform law, Louisiana continues to defend sex registry status for anal and oral sex solicitation.

Nature by Solicitation statute, which the Huffington Post reports was originally adopted in 1805, imposed longer prison sentences, larger fines, and, in recent years, a sex offender registration requirement. The statute was clearly a lingering remnant of the tradition of criminalizing oral and anal sex.

Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 US Supr eme Court ruling that struck down the nation’s remaining sodomy laws, ended penalties for oral and anal sex for consenting adults in their private behavior. The high court, however, made clear it was not ruling on the constitutionality of laws governing commercial sex.

The argument made in this lawsuit is that there is no rational basis for imposing a more draconian punishment on prostitution solicitation when it involves oral or anal sex than

in a 75-42 vote. Three-fifths votes were required in both chambers.

“We need to put the decision to the people so that they can define what marriage is, and not us,” the newspaper quoted Republican House Speaker Pro Tempore Dale Folwell saying in advance of taking up the measure. “Why shouldn’t the people of North Carolina have the right to vote on something as important as this issue?”

In recent weeks, Folwell accused Governor Bev Perdue of pressuring her fellow Democrats to oppose the referendum.

in cases of vaginal intercourse.

Indeed, the misdemeanor law concerning solicitation for prostitution clearly covered oral and anal sex, but that behavior was also separately singled out for harsher treatment.

The plaintiffs argued that the main purpose for the sex offender registry is to protect children from sexual assaults, but that the crimes covered by the solicitation statute bore no rational relationship to that purpose.

In deciding this case, Feldman cited a 1972 Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Massachusetts law that prohibited distribution of contraceptives to single people while allowing it for married couples.

The right of married couples to access birth control had been guaranteed under a high court ruling seven years earlier.

Perdue had no veto option over the Legislature’s approval of the ballot question.

North Carolina already has a law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman, but, the Journal noted, is the only state in the Southeast without a constitutional amendment on the issue.

According to Equality North Carolina, the LGBT rights group there, the Elon poll also shows support for marriage equality or civil unions at 57 percent, up by nine points in the past two years.

“Over the past year, Equality

More directly on point, the court noted, was a 2006 California Supreme Court decision striking down, on equal protection grounds, a law imposing higher penalties on those who engaged in oral sex with a teenager than those who had vaginal intercourse with the same person. In that case, only those found guilty of oral sex with a teen were made to register as sex offenders. The California court found both groups of defendants “similarly situated in terms of the nature of their misconduct.”

Feldman pointed out the absurd lengths to which Louisiana’s counsel went in trying to justify having essentially the same conduct treated differently.

“When asked during oral argument why the Legislature has two statutes on the books if the sex acts of the Prostitution statute consume all of the acts of the Crime Against Nature by Solicitation statute, counsel persisted in advancing the fiction that bestiality was an act not covered by the Prostitution statute but is covered by the Crime Against Nature statute,” the judge wrote. “That comment defies credulity. Its absurdity is betrayed by the statutory text, the Louisiana Supreme Court’s pronouncements, and common sense.”

Feldman rejected the argument that the distinction could be justified out of public morality and public safety concerns.

On its face, he found, the plaintiffs alleged a “plausible equal protection claim.” Whether the

North Carolina has had thousands of conversations with citizens from across the state of every age, race, and background who oppose this discriminatory legislation and the harm it would cause to LGBT North Carolinians, our economy, and our state’s reputation,” said Alex Miller, the group’s interim executive director, in a September 2 release.

“These polls reflect these findings and track with national data that suggests the appetite for constitutional bans of same-sex marriage is waning.”

The Elon polling, Equality North

state can justify the differential treatment “must await a meritsinquiry,” he concluded.

Feldman did not, however, approve the plaintiffs’ rights to pursue a privacy claim under the Constitution’s Due Process Clause, pointing out that every attempt to challenge the constitutionality of sex offender registry laws with that argument has been unsuccessful.

On the 8 t h A m e n d m e n t cruel and unusual punishment claim, Feldman clung to the absurd contention –– accepted by other courts –– that requiring somebody to register as a sex offender is not “punishment.” That conclusion flies in the face of clear evidence that registered sex offenders are severely hobbled in their ability to carry on a normal life, but the myth of the non-punitive registry lives on for now.

Students at Loyola Law School’s Clinic in New Orleans are working on this case, as well as pro bono attorneys from Cleary Gottlieb in New York and Brooklyn attorney Andrea J. Ritchie. The plaintiffs are suing as “Doe” to preserve anonymity.

The Huffington Post reports that the sex offender requirement as applied to the 1805 law disproportionately affected gay and transgender defendants as well as poor women, many of them African-American, who engaged in “survival sex.”

The judge decided that the state’s demand to know the identity of the plaintiffs need not be decided at this stage of the proceeding.

Carolina said, squares with two recent surveys of voters in the state by Public Policy Polling, as well as numerous national polls showing attitudes on marriage equality shifting rapidly across the US. In the wake of Senate approval of the ballot measure, Miller said, “This legislative battle may be lost, but the fight goes on. While the proponents of this harmful, divisive, shameful legislation may have succeeded in throwing up a temporary barrier against the inevitable tide of acceptance and

equality, our struggle continues and the campaign to defeat this amendment at the ballot box begins today.”

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, issued a simultaneous statement saying, “At a time when all North Carolina families are worrying about job losses and cuts in education, it is unconscionable that the legislature add additional stress to a segment of those families,”

䉴

BRIEFS, continued on p.34

14 - 27 SEP 2011

Theater /15

Stumbling Down Memory Lane Wistful, woebegone couples grope for a last shot at happiness

BY DAVID KENNERLEY

FOLLIES Marquis Theatre 1535 Broadway at 44th St. Through Jan. 1 Tue. at 7 p.m.; Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m.

Wed., Sat., at 2 p.m.; Sun. at 3 p.m. $47-$175; ticketmaster.com

JOAN MARCUS

JOAN MARCUS

I

n transferring Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies” from the Kennedy Center in DC to the Marquis Theatre on Broadway, producers announced they were, along with making a few secondary cast changes, clarifying the plot.

Huh? When I saw the stunning DC revival, which starred the incomparable Bernadette Peters and earned every superlative loaded on by the critics, I felt its haunting power stemmed from a seemingly haphazard, almost ephemeral narrative structure.

Aside from the biting, insightful musical numbers, the show’s strength lies in its haunting mood, desperate characters, and messy unpredictability, with plot details taking a back seat.

Life doesn’t play out logically and isn’t all tied up in a bow, so why should this story be any dif-

Bernadette Peters and Jan Maxwell in the Marquis Theatre revival of “Follies.”

ferent?

So it was no small dose of relief when I saw that, despite some gratuitous tinkering, this production remains firmly intact

and may vie with the original as the definitive version against which all future revivals will be measured. The run is strictly limited, so you better get your

tickets now.

“Follies,” set in 1971 — when the show debuted on Broadway — in a crumbling theater slated to become a parking lot, follows the tangled trajectories of two long-married couples, Sally and Buddy and Phyllis and Ben, who have come to the reunion of a Ziegfeld-esque follies review that prospered between the two World Wars. Back in the day (30 years earlier) when they were barely out of their teens, the chorus girls and their randy dates would meet up at the Weismann Theater after their show and paint the town red.

Between the lively song-anddance numbers gamely put on

by aging hoofers trying to recapture a jolt of past glory, complications arise, chiefly, that the highly fragile Sally (Peters, in fine form) is still hopelessly in love with the hard-hearted Ben (Ron Raines). Their spouses, as it turns out, react with an icy sourness that uncovers decades of hidden mistrust and rancor. Do they love or loathe each other?

Under the direction of Eric Schaeffer, particularly poignant are the overlapping dual vignettes where the present-day couples are shadowed by their younger, more vibrant, and optimistic selves. Adding to the eerie nostalgia are the glamorously costumed showgirls of the bygone era (bedizened by Gregg Barnes), who hover over the proceedings like sage, slightly wounded ghosts.

The follies alumnae are gathered not only to say farewell to

䉴

MEMORY LANE, continued on p.22

Ready. Set. Strut...

Join us for a fundraising dog walk and festival to benefit homeless pets!

September 25 HUDSON RIVER PARK’S PIER 84 NEW YORK CITY Thanks to our National Partner

Thanks to our sponsors:

Featuring doggie yoga and massages, spa services for your pooch and entertainment! Register Today at:

strutyourmutt.org

14 – 27 SEP 2011

16

www.egrifta.com

Actual patient living with HIV since 2000

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 โ 27 SEP 2011

YOU HAVE YOUR HIV UNDER CONTROL. NOW, ON TO

HIV-RELATED EXCESS BELLY FAT. In two separate clinical trials of HIV-infected people with lipodystrophy, each lasting 6 months, EGRIFTAยฎ reduced HIV-related excess belly fat by an average of 18% in the first trial, and 14% in the second trial.

5IJT SFEVDUJPO JO FYDFTT CFMMZ GBU SFTVMUFE JO BO BQQSPYJNBUF JODI SFEVDUJPO JO XBJTU TJ[F *OEJWJEVBM SFTVMUT NBZ WBSZ 0O BWFSBHF QBUJFOUT PO EGRIFTAยก EJE OPU MPTF XFJHIU -JLF )*7 )*7 SFMBUFE FYDFTT CFMMZ GBU JT B DISPOJD DPOEJUJPO *O DMJOJDBM TUVEJFT r 1FPQMF XIP VTFE EGRIFTAยฎ DPOUJOVPVTMZ GPS ZFBS NBJOUBJOFE UIFJS SFTVMUT PWFS UIJT UJNF QFSJPE r 1FPQMF XIP TUPQQFE UBLJOH EGRIFTAยฎ BGUFS NPOUIT IBE UIFJS )*7 SFMBUFE FYDFTT CFMMZ GBU DPNF CBDL EGRIFTAยฎ JT CFMJFWFE UP XPSL XJUI ZPVS PXO CPEZ UP QSPEVDF OBUVSBM HSPXUI IPSNPOF UP SFEVDF ZPVS FYDFTT CFMMZ GBU Indication: EGRIFTAยก JT B EBJMZ JOKFDUBCMF QSFTDSJQUJPO NFEJDJOF UP SFEVDF UIF FYDFTT JO BCEPNJOBM GBU JO )*7 JOGFDUFE QBUJFOUT XJUI MJQPEZTUSPQIZ -JNJUBUJPOT PG VTF r 5IF JNQBDU BOE TBGFUZ PG EGRIFTAยก PO DBSEJPWBTDVMBS IFBMUI IBT OPU CFFO TUVEJFE r EGRIFTAยก JT OPU JOEJDBUFE GPS XFJHIU MPTT NBOBHFNFOU r *U T OPU LOPXO XIFUIFS UBLJOH EGRIFTAยก IFMQT JNQSPWF DPNQMJBODF XJUI BOUJSFUSPWJSBM NFEJDBUJPOT r EGRIFTAยก JT OPU SFDPNNFOEFE UP CF VTFE JO DIJMESFO Important Risk Information: Do not use EGRIFTAยฎ if you: r )BWF QJUVJUBSZ HMBOE UVNPS QJUVJUBSZ HMBOE TVSHFSZ PS PUIFS QSPCMFNT SFMBUFE UP ZPVS QJUVJUBSZ HMBOE r )BWF PS IBWF IBE B IJTUPSZ PG BDUJWF DBODFS FJUIFS OFXMZ EJBHOPTFE PS SFDVSSFOU

r "SF BMMFSHJD UP UFTBNPSFMJO PS BOZ PG UIF JOHSFEJFOUT JO EGRIFTAยก JODMVEJOH NBOOJUPM or sterile water r "SF QSFHOBOU PS CFDPNF QSFHOBOU Before using EGRIFTAยฎ, tell your healthcare provider if you: r )BWF PS IBWF IBE DBODFS r )BWF EJBCFUFT r "SF CSFBTUGFFEJOH PS QMBO UP CSFBTUGFFE r )BWF LJEOFZ PS MJWFS QSPCMFNT r )BWF BOZ PUIFS NFEJDBM DPOEJUJPO r 5BLF QSFTDSJQUJPO PS OPO QSFTDSJQUJPO NFEJDJOFT WJUBNJOT PS IFSCBM TVQQMFNFOUT EGRIFTAยฎ may cause serious side effects, including: r 4FSJPVT BMMFSHJD SFBDUJPO 4UPQ VTJOH EGRIFTAยก BOE HFU FNFSHFODZ IFMQ SJHIU BXBZ JG ZPV IBWF BOZ PG UIF GPMMPXJOH TZNQUPNT SBTI PWFS ZPVS CPEZ IJWFT TXFMMJOH PG ZPVS GBDF PS UISPBU TIPSUOFTT PG CSFBUI PS USPVCMF CSFBUIJOH GBTU IFBSUCFBU GFFMJOH PG faintness or fainting r 4XFMMJOH รกVJE SFUFOUJPO EGRIFTAยก DBO DBVTF TXFMMJOH JO TPNF QBSUT PG ZPVS CPEZ $BMM ZPVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS JG ZPV IBWF BO JODSFBTF JO KPJOU QBJO PS QBJO PS OVNCOFTT JO ZPVS IBOET PS XSJTU DBSQBM UVOOFM TZOESPNF

r *ODSFBTF JO HMVDPTF CMPPE TVHBS JOUPMFSBODF BOE EJBCFUFT r *OKFDUJPO TJUF SFBDUJPOT TVDI BT SFEOFTT JUDIJOH QBJO JSSJUBUJPO CMFFEJOH SBTI BOE TXFMMJOH $IBOHF SPUBUF ZPVS JOKFDUJPO TJUF UP IFMQ MPXFS ZPVS SJTL GPS JOKFDUJPO TJUF SFBDUJPOT

The most common side effects of EGRIFTAยฎ include: r KPJOU QBJO r OVNCOFTT BOE QSJDLJOH r QBJO JO MFHT BOE BSNT r OBVTFB r TXFMMJOH JO ZPVS MFHT r WPNJUJOH r NVTDMF TPSFOFTT r SBTI r UJOHMJOH r JUDIJOH EGRIFTAยก XJMM /05 DVSF )*7 PS MPXFS ZPVS DIBODF PG QBTTJOH )*7 UP PUIFST You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Please see Consumer Brief Summary of EGRIFTAยฎon following page.

Ask your healthcare provider if EGRIFTAยฎ, the first and only FDA-approved medicine for HIV-related excess belly fat, may be right for you. For more information, visit www.egrifta.com or call the AXIS Center at 1-877-714-AXIS (2947).

17

14 – 27 SEP 2011

18

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

Consumer Brief Summary for EGRIFTA® (tesamorelin for injection) EGRIFTA® FI (3*' UVI

UFTBNPSFMJO GPS JOKFDUJPO GPS TVCDVUBOFPVT VTF Read the Patient Information that comes with EGRIFTA® CFGPSF ZPV TUBSU UP UBLF JU BOE FBDI UJNF ZPV HFU B SFàMM 5IFSF NBZ CF OFX JOGPSNBUJPO 5IJT MFBáFU EPFT OPU UBLF UIF QMBDF PG UBMLJOH UP ZPVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS BCPVU ZPVS NFEJDBM DPOEJUJPO PS ZPVS USFBUNFOU What is EGRIFTA®? t EGRIFTA® JT BO JOKFDUBCMF QSFTDSJQUJPO NFEJDJOF UP SFEVDF UIF FYDFTT JO BCEPNJOBM GBU JO )*7 JOGFDUFE QBUJFOUT XJUI MJQPEZTUSPQIZ EGRIFTA® DPOUBJOT B HSPXUI IPSNPOF SFMFBTJOH GBDUPS (3'

t 5IF JNQBDU BOE TBGFUZ PG EGRIFTA® PO DBSEJPWBTDVMBS IFBMUI IBT OPU CFFO TUVEJFE t EGRIFTA® JT OPU JOEJDBUFE GPS XFJHIU MPTT NBOBHFNFOU t IU JT OPU LOPXO XIFUIFS UBLJOH EGRIFTA® helps improve compliance with BOUJSFUSPWJSBM NFEJDBUJPOT t *U JT OPU LOPXO JG EGRIFTA® JT TBGF BOE FGGFDUJWF JO DIJMESFO EGRIFTA® JT OPU SFDPNNFOEFE UP CF VTFE JO DIJMESFO Who should not use EGRIFTA®?

Do not use EGRIFTA® JG ZPV t I BWF QJUVJUBSZ HMBOE UVNPS QJUVJUBSZ HMBOE TVSHFSZ PS PUIFS QSPCMFNT SFMBUFE UP ZPVS QJUVJUBSZ HMBOE t IBWF PS IBWF IBE B IJTUPSZ PG BDUJWF DBODFS FJUIFS OFXMZ EJBHOPTFE PS SFDVSSFOU

t BSF BMMFSHJD UP UFTBNPSFMJO PS BOZ PG UIF JOHSFEJFOUT JO EGRIFTA® 4FF UIF FOE PG UIJT MFBáFU GPS B DPNQMFUF MJTU PG JOHSFEJFOUT JO EGRIFTA® t BSF QSFHOBOU PS CFDPNF QSFHOBOU *G ZPV CFDPNF QSFHOBOU TUPQ VTJOH EGRIFTA® BOE UBML XJUI ZPVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS 4FF i8IBU TIPVME * UFMM NZ IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS CFGPSF VTJOH EGRIFTA®?”

What should I tell my healthcare provider before using EGRIFTA®?

Before using EGRIFTA® UFMM ZPVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS JG ZPV t IBWF PS IBWF IBE DBODFS t IBWF EJBCFUFT t BSF CSFBTUGFFEJOH PS QMBO UP CSFBTUGFFE *U JT OPU LOPXO JG EGRIFTA® QBTTFT JOUP ZPVS CSFBTU NJML 5IF $FOUFST GPS %JTFBTF $POUSPM BOE 1SFWFOUJPO $%$ SFDPNNFOET UIBU )*7 JOGFDUFE NPUIFST OPU CSFBTUGFFE UP BWPJE UIF SJTL PG QBTTJOH )*7 JOGFDUJPO UP ZPVS CBCZ 5BML XJUI ZPVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS BCPVU UIF CFTU XBZ UP GFFE ZPVS CBCZ JG ZPV BSF UBLJOH EGRIFTA® t IBWF LJEOFZ PS MJWFS QSPCMFNT t IBWF BOZ PUIFS NFEJDBM DPOEJUJPO 5FMM ZPVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS BCPVU BMM UIF NFEJDJOFT ZPV UBLF JODMVEJOH QSFTDSJQUJPO BOE OPOQSFTDSJQUJPO NFEJDJOFT WJUBNJOT BOE IFSCBM TVQQMFNFOUT EGRIFTA® NBZ BGGFDU UIF XBZ PUIFS NFEJDJOFT XPSL BOE PUIFS NFEJDJOFT NBZ BGGFDU IPX EGRIFTA® XPSLT ,OPX UIF NFEJDJOFT ZPV UBLF ,FFQ B MJTU XJUI ZPV UP TIPX ZPVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS BOE QIBSNBDJTU XIFO ZPV HFU B OFX NFEJDJOF How should I use EGRIFTA®? t Read the detailed “Instructions for Use” that comes with EGRIFTA® CFGPSF ZPV TUBSU VTJOH EGRIFTA® :PVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS XJMM TIPX ZPV IPX UP JOKFDU EGRIFTA® t Use EGRIFTA® FYBDUMZ BT QSFTDSJCFE CZ ZPVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS t *OKFDU EGRIFTA® VOEFS UIF TLJO TVCDVUBOFPVTMZ PG ZPVS TUPNBDI BSFB BCEPNFO

t $IBOHF SPUBUF UIF JOKFDUJPO TJUF PO ZPVS TUPNBDI BSFB BCEPNFO XJUI FBDI EPTF %P OPU JOKFDU EGRIFTA® JOUP TDBS UJTTVF CSVJTFT PS ZPVS OBWFM t %P OPU TIBSF OFFEMFT PS TZSJOHFT XJUI PUIFS QFPQMF 4IBSJOH PG OFFEMFT DBO SFTVMU JO UIF USBOTNJTTJPO PG JOGFDUJPVT EJTFBTFT TVDI BT )*7 What are the possible side effects of EGRIFTA®?

EGRIFTA® NBZ DBVTF TFSJPVT TJEF FGGFDUT JODMVEJOH t 4FSJPVT BMMFSHJD SFBDUJPO 4PNF QFPQMF UBLJOH EGRIFTA® NBZ IBWF BO BMMFSHJD SFBDUJPO 4UPQ VTJOH EGRIFTA® BOE HFU FNFSHFODZ IFMQ SJHIU BXBZ JG ZPV IBWF BOZ PG UIF GPMMPXJOH TZNQUPNT m B SBTI PWFS ZPVS CPEZ

– hives m TXFMMJOH PG ZPVS GBDF PS UISPBU m TIPSUOFTT PG CSFBUI PS USPVCMF CSFBUIJOH m GBTU IFBSUCFBU – feeling of faintness or fainting t 4XFMMJOH áVJE SFUFOUJPO EGRIFTA® DBO DBVTF TXFMMJOH JO TPNF QBSUT PG ZPVS CPEZ $BMM ZPVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS JG ZPV IBWF BO JODSFBTF JO KPJOU QBJO PS QBJO PS OVNCOFTT JO ZPVS IBOET PS XSJTU DBSQBM UVOOFM TZOESPNF

t *ODSFBTF JO HMVDPTF CMPPE TVHBS JOUPMFSBODF BOE EJBCFUFT :PVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS XJMM

NFBTVSF ZPVS CMPPE TVHBS QFSJPEJDBMMZ t *OKFDUJPO TJUF SFBDUJPOT $IBOHF SPUBUF ZPVS JOKFDUJPO TJUF UP IFMQ MPXFS ZPVS SJTL GPS JOKFDUJPO

TJUF SFBDUJPOT $BMM ZPVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS GPS NFEJDBM BEWJDF JG ZPV IBWF UIF GPMMPXJOH TZNQUPNT BSPVOE UIF BSFB PG UIF JOKFDUJPO TJUF m SFEOFTT m CMFFEJOH – rash – itching – swelling – pain – irritation The most common side effects of EGRIFTA® include: m KPJOU QBJO – nausea – vomiting m QBJO JO MFHT BOE BSNT – rash m TXFMMJOH JO ZPVS MFHT – itching – muscle soreness m UJOHMJOH OVNCOFTT BOE QSJDLJOH 5FMM ZPVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS JG ZPV IBWF BOZ TJEF FGGFDU UIBU CPUIFST ZPV PS UIBU EPFT OPU HP BXBZ 5IFTF BSF OPU BMM UIF QPTTJCMF TJEF FGGFDUT PG EGRIFTA® 'PS NPSF JOGPSNBUJPO BTL ZPVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS PS QIBSNBDJTU $BMM ZPVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS GPS NFEJDBM BEWJDF BCPVU TJEF FGGFDUT 5P SFQPSU TJEF FGGFDUT DPOUBDU &.% 4FSPOP UPMM GSFF BU FYU :PV NBZ SFQPSU TJEF FGGFDUT UP UIF '%" BU '%" Keep EGRIFTA® and all medicines out of the reach of children.

General information about the safe and effective use of EGRIFTA®: .FEJDJOFT BSF TPNFUJNFT QSFTDSJCFE GPS QVSQPTFT PUIFS UIBO UIPTF MJTUFE JO B 1BUJFOU *OGPSNBUJPO MFBáFU %P OPU VTF EGRIFTA® GPS B DPOEJUJPO GPS XIJDI JU XBT OPU QSFTDSJCFE Do not give EGRIFTA® UP PUIFS QFPQMF FWFO JG UIFZ IBWF UIF TBNF TZNQUPNT ZPV IBWF *U NBZ harm them. %P OPU TIBSF ZPVS EGRIFTA® TZSJOHF XJUI BOPUIFS QFSTPO FWFO JG UIF OFFEMF JT DIBOHFE %P OPU TIBSF ZPVS EGRIFTA® OFFEMFT XJUI BOPUIFS QFSTPO 5IJT 1BUJFOU *OGPSNBUJPO MFBáFU TVNNBSJ[FT UIF NPTU JNQPSUBOU JOGPSNBUJPO BCPVU EGRIFTA®. If ZPV XPVME MJLF NPSF JOGPSNBUJPO UBML XJUI ZPVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS :PV DBO BTL ZPVS IFBMUIDBSF QSPWJEFS PS QIBSNBDJTU GPS JOGPSNBUJPO BCPVU EGRIFTA® that is written for healthcare professionals.

'PS NPSF JOGPSNBUJPO BCPVU EGRIFTA® HP UP XXX EGRIFTA DPN PS DPOUBDU UIF "9*4 $FOUFS UPMM GSFF BU What are the ingredients in EGRIFTA®?

"DUJWF JOHSFEJFOU UFTBNPSFMJO *OBDUJWF JOHSFEJFOUT NBOOJUPM BOE 4UFSJMF 8BUFS GPS *OKFDUJPO

¥ &.% 4FSPOP *OD "MM SJHIUT SFTFSWFE &(3*'5" JT B SFHJTUFSFE USBEFNBSL PG 5IFSBUFDIOPMPHJFT *OD

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 – 27 SEP 2011

19

“one of the most extraordinary productions of Baroque opera I have ever seen” —THE NEW YORK TIMES

DYLAN KEN

Ronald P. Stanton presents

Robert Patrick holds a picture of Joe Cino (r.) with Cino’s lover Johnny Torrey.

■ THEATER

Phot Ph hoto of Aty h ho Atys tys b ty

by Pier P rre G Grosb ros rosb osbo o ois is

Robert Patrick, Off-Off Pioneer, Honored Playwright broke ground from Village to West End, seeded US with his theater philosophy

BY ANDY HUMM

A

lmost 50 years after being one of the primary creative artists who launched the Off-Off-Broadway movement, playwright and actor Robert Patrick, now 74, is being given the 2011 Artistic Achievement Award from the New York Innovative Theatre Foundation.

The group will formally bestow the honor on Patrick at its annual ceremony honoring the best in OOB theater on September 19 at the Cooper Union, 51 Astor Place, at 7 p.m.

“Since 1964, Patrick has had thousands of productions of dozens of plays on six continents from ‘The Haunted Host’ at the first Off-Off-Broadway theatre, the Caffé Cino, to ‘Kennedy’s Children’ on the West End and Broadway,” the group said in its citation.

In response to the selection, Patrick said in the release, “The freedoms which Off-Off-Broadway helped win for the performing arts have changed theatre, movies, and television worldwide. Off-Off and the environments physical and spiritual which it created are more important than ever to teach and remind people that art can be personal and interesting, political and unaffiliated, creative and reconstructive, and that consciousness can exist uninterrupted by advertising.

To know that my work is remembered is a staggering and humbling experience.”

Gay City News spoke to Patrick from his Los Angeles home, and the interview

began with a discussion of the statement on his blog, robertpatrickpersonal.wordpress.com/, that he is available to “write, ghost, teach.”

I understood the “write” part from this author of 60 plays, whom Samuel French, the play publisher, once called “New York’s most-produced playwright of the 1960s.”

We talked about the “teach” part; he worked for the American Thespian Society, traveling for ten years to more than a thousand high schools, where, he said, he would “lecture, judge, speak on the history of playwriting and history of OffOff-Broadway. I visited every state but Hawaii.”

But his availability to be a “ghost” intrigued me, and that credential has nothing to do with his first play, “The Haunted Host,” a gay-themed hit in 1964 before there was much of a gay movement.

No, he ghostwrote TV scripts because producers didn’t want to look at anything from someone his age — that is, over 50 when he migrated to Los Angeles in the early 1990s.

“When I first moved to LA, I ran into young screenwriters who were getting jobs because they were young — but they couldn’t write,” he recalled. “They learned what I had to teach them and don’t need me anymore. I have trunks full of wonderful TV scripts” that were never produced.

䉴

PIONEER, continued on p.24

William Christie Les Arts Florissants Jean-Baptiste Lully

BAM.org

By JeanBaptiste Lully

Les Arts Florissants

Opéra Comique

Sep 18—24 only!

US Exclusive Engagement

Musical direction by William Christie

Directed by Jean-Marie Villégier

Co-produced by BAM, Opéra Comique, Théâtre de Caen, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Les Arts Florissants Atys is made possible with the generous support of Ronald P. Stanton and The Delancey Foundation.

Presenting sponsor for Atys

Leadership support for Atys provided by The Devitre Fund; Geoffrey C. Hughes Foundation; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The SHS Foundation; and The Florence Gould Foundation

14 - 27 SEP 2011

20/ Film

People Hearing Without Listening Eavesdropped rants from the late ‘80s raise troubling questions of voyeurism

BY GARY M. KRAMER

SHUT UP LITTLE MAN!: AN AUDIO MISADVENTURE

F

Directed by Matthew Bate Tribeca Film Opens Sep. 16 IFC Center 323 Sixth Ave. at W. Third St.

TRIBECA FILM

or anyone who has ever enjoyed the remarkable alcohol-fueled exchanges between gay “bitchy queen” Peter Hackett and “embittered redneck homophobe” Ray Huffman — captured on tape and circulated underground for decades — “Shut Up Little Man” will be music to their ears.

For those unfamiliar with these cult audio verite recordings, this amusing documentary may be illuminating, but could also be disquieting.

These odd-couple roommates, who lived in San Francisco back in 1987, fought regularly, often in the middle of the night. Their neighbors, Eddie Lee Sausage and Mitchell D., eavesdropping on dialogue they couldn’t help but overhear, decided to record their loud, outrageous, and profane rants about stealing vodka, “giggling falsely,” and getting dinner ready. That eavesdropping, surreptitious at first, apparently became known to Peter and Ray at some point.

In the pre-digital, pre-Internet age, Eddie and Mitchell circulated the tapes to a group of devotees who became obsessed with these conversations and traded them amongst themselves. This network of fans in time snowballed to spawn artists’ drawings, puppet shows, comic books, plays, and three potential film deals.

“Shut Up Little Man” traces

Eddie Lee Sausage (l.) and Mitchell D. have ridden the Peter and Ray gravy train for a quarter century.

the origins of the tapes and uses some deftly edited video footage, photographs, and sound recordings as well as animation and recreations of events to capture the insanity of what transpired between these two men. The result gives viewers who crave this kind of humor a “wish I’d been there” feeling. Others may be amazed by what they hear, or just bored by the juvenile antics and bad behavior.

As the film recounts, Eddie once approached Ray about the

disturbances he and Peter were causing, but the encounter with the drunk “Cro-Magnon, with the neck muscles of a newborn” did not exactly go well. So Eddie channeled the intimidation he felt into a sly form of revenge by putting an audio mike on a ski pole he conspicuously hung outside Peter and Ray’s window.

He captured their verbal sparring — including the putdown captured in the film’s title — in all its often purple-prosed glory.

The neighbors enjoyed these

snapshots of Peter and Ray’s “live tales of doom, shame, and degradation,” and even held parties when the rent was due, because arguments over money were particularly volatile. Sometimes, Mitchell would poke the bear — making prank phone calls, for example, asking the homophobic Ray if he was queer because it made such great fodder for their recordings.

But what began as ugly battles between Peter and Ray in time turned into sustained

struggles over legal issues like ownership and copyright and ethical questions about the exploitation of two men’s dysfunction. Here, director Matthew Bate gets at the greater purpose of his film: Was what Eddie and Mitchell did illegal or at least invasive? And are these recordings art or merely lurid voyeurism? Can Eddie and Mitchell copyright recordings of others speaking, and what rights does Peter, the elderly surviving member of the apartment odd couple, have to his own words?

Bate lets viewers decide for themselves. Eddie and Mitchell, who clearly played a big role in helping make this film happen, are not directly asked how much they profited from selling their tapes. There are, however, scenes of Eddie fulfilling orders for CDs, as well as scenes of various folks trying to buy any rights Peter may have — for prices ranging from $10 to $200, with a cache of alcohol thrown into the bargain.

Eddie and Mitchell’s tapes gained a cult following when the

䉴

SHUT UP, continued on p.26

Quiet Drive, But Lots of Roadkill Nicolas Winding Refn’s film a play for US audience — and Ryan Gosling stardom

BY STEVE ERICKSON

O

pening on 2,000 American screens, “Drive” is a bid for the American mainstream by Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn, whose past two films were made in the UK. A neo-noir action film suggesting a Michael Mann remake of Walter Hill’s “The Driver,” “Drive” alter nates between eye candy and brutal violence.

DRIVE Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn Film District Opens Sep. 16 citywide

It also offers Ryan Gosling a chance to reach American audiences who haven’t seen him in critically acclaimed indie films like “Half Nelson” and “The Believer.”

The film’s combination of sentiment and bloodshed also recalls much of Takeshi Kitano’s

best work. Gosling’s taciturn performance evokes Kitano’s own work in “Hana-bi,” where the actor/ director convincingly shows affection to his wife one minute and jabs a chopstick in a man’s eye the next.

Where Kitano blends bloodshed with moments of beauty, affection, and joy, Refn’s violence is often repulsive for its own sake, as when he has a gangster played by Albert Brooks stick a fork into some-

one’s eye — a seeming reference to “Hana-bi.” No doubt Refn would say that cinematic violence should be realistically ugly, but his film revels in macho bluster.

Driver (Gosling) works for a garage, stunt drives for movie productions, and does getaway driving for armed robberies at night. The film never refers to him by name. He’s attracted to his neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan), a waitress raising a small

child. Her husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac), is about to get out of jail.

When Standard does get released, the two men hit if off, but Driver discovers that Standard owes a huge debt to a prison-protection racket. After learning that gangsters have threatened Irene and her boy, he agrees to serve as the driver when Standard pulls off a

䉴

DRIVE, continued on p.30

14 - 27 SEP 2011

Film /21

Spending a Weekend Together One Night Chris New, out gay Brit actor, plays a queer political artist

A

ndrew Haigh’s excellent gay romance invites viewers to eavesdrop on the budding relationship between Russell (Tom Cullen) and Glen (Chris New). First meeting at a club, they spend the night together. And then the next day, and the next night, and the next day. One night becomes a “Weekend.”

Glen is an artist and has a queer political bent. Russell is more subdued, an everyman who just wants to be happy.

Their conversations are often poignant — Glen explains how he was outed in school — and sometimes heated, as when Russell argues his position on gay marriage. Haigh films these men in a documentary-like fashion in Russell’s apartment and chatting idly on public transit.

The director’s intimate approach gives “Weekend” its emotion power, which culminates in the film’s moving finale.

Audiences will find themselves invested in the relationship every bit as much as Russell — and maybe Glen, too.

The actors are fantastic in their roles. Handsome without being too pretty, they seem comfortable and natural together. Cullen nicely underplays his part; a scene at his goddaughter’s birthday party belies his desires to be with Glen. New is particularly charismatic. Watching these men connect is simply magical.

Gay City News spoke to the out gay New about making “Weekend.”

GARY M. KRAMER: You are very charming as Glen. How did you approach the character?

CHRIS NEW: My charm? I brought that to the film. Andrew had no charm. [Laughs.] I’m joking. We tried to make Glen as rounded as possible — not onenote or aggressive. Andrew let me bring my own kind of sense of humor to him. I enjoy the absurd, the strange little things in life. I wouldn’t say I’m a jokemeister.

GMK: How much of the film

was improvised?

CN: It’s hard to say what was in the script and what we improvised. It would be interesting to look at the original script now. We were very in the moment and did lots of ver sions. Because we were shooting in sequence, we could do that and not worry about saying something that we’d already shot. That was really great, and allowed us to relax.

GMK: How did you develop your rapport with your co-star Tom? CN: We didn’t do any specific techniques. The main things we did is try to relax around each other. The relationship on the set wasn’t one to one/ one on one, but a three-way between Andrew, Tom, and I. GMK: So you discussed everything right down to, well, who’s on top in the sex scene?

CN: You do have to discuss who’s on top when you’re doing a film with intimacy.

The characterization of sexuality as it’s discussed in the film — each character has a way they like to take part in sex — speaks to where they are in the world and what’s in their heads, as well. Because we were relaxed, there were no tensions when the camera rolled. We were open to try anything. So if Tom changed a line or a move or his intonation, we’d just go with it. That’s what made some of the more interesting moments in the film, when we create a nice chemistry.

GMK: Glen talks about getting caught wanking off to a freeze frame of Rupert Graves’ nude scene in “A Room with a View.” You have a quick full frontal shot in “Weekend.”

Do you imagine guys wanking off to your nude scene?

CN: [Laughs so hard he has to catch his breath]. Breathe!

Hardly! I’d be very surprised.

But if they want to have a go at a frozen screen, fine. Good luck!

GMK: Is Tom your type?

CN: No. He’s completely the opposite, sadly. Which made it kind of easier actually. [Laughs.]

WEEKEND Directed by Andrew Haigh IFC Films/ Sundance Selects Opens Sep. 23 IFC Center 323 Sixth Ave. at W. Third St. ifccenter.com

IFC FILMS/ SUNDANCE SELECTS

BY GARY M. KRAMER

Tom Cullen and Chris New (r.) star in Andrew Haigh’s new gay romance, “The Weekend.”

But he’s got quite a fan club now the films been released.

Apparently, he’s lots of people’s type.

GMK: Why do you think Glen and Russell are attracted to each other?

CN: I think as with a lot of relationships, it’s the accidental challenges that make it work.

They say the right thing, in the right frame of mind to each other. Their personalities… the timing is right. You are ready to have that experience. That happens with a lot of relationships, short or long, that right period where you respond to each other.

GMK: How did you identify with your character?

CN: I think I may have been like him at one point in my life — not wanting to get involved in a relationship. There are phases where we do that and isolate ourselves. I recognized that protective element of him, Glen wanting to remove himself from the game. This makes him cerebral, and that’s what Russell breaks down.

GMK: Glen is a bit political — talking about gay marriage, addressing issues of living in a straight world. How political are you?

CN: I am quite politically

minded, but I’m not sure if I agree with Glen’s politics.

It’s interesting, the generation I come from in England, feels slightly at a distance from the gay movement. We look at it and respect it and admire what people have done for us, but it’s hard for me to see what the relevance is. I’ve only just been learning about that in the past few years. It’s because I’m getting older. I see these things do have an effect.

I just got married last weekend. It was a shotgun wedding — I got him pregnant. [Laughs].

Taking that step, I had to think about the marriage question.

My partner and I don’t at all copy or attempt to simulate a straight marriage. The stereotypical way people look at that is to assume we have an open relationship, and that’s a cheap idea. A gay couple can get married and do it in a slightly different way.

We had no bridesmaids, no bouquets, no wedding lists, etc. Here in the UK, it’s called “partnership.” But I’m going to call it “marriage” and call him “my husband” and not let anyone stop me. Being gay, we can shape that anew for ourselves.

GMK: There are scenes where Glen and Russell bond over coming out stories. Can you discuss your coming out?

CN: My coming out was exactly timed when I came out of the womb. I was “If anyone has a problem — it’s their problem!” I was lucky. I am stubborn. I came out of the womb knowing I was going to be an actor and a homosexual. I don’t know why I knew it, but I did.

GMK: Why do you think it’s important to be an openly gay actor?

CN: There’s no reason not to be. If I miss out on a job, then I won’t know about it. My first agent told me not to tell the press I was gay, but I was in “Bent,” so I fired him.

GMK: Glen records his sexual experiences and reads Russell’s. Have you ever done this?

CN: I’ve never kept a record of those things. I don’t know why really I never keep a record of anything. I have the worst memory on earth. It’s strange to think why he would.

It’s not just for the art. It’s a way of exploring the emotions and reality, to explore it from a distance.

GMK: Last question: What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend?

CN: [Laughs]. Not sure…

Usually in bed. If you’ve got a good bed, life’s good. I’m a very hermit-like person. I just stay in. I’m the homebody. Not a very sexy answer, is it?

GMK: I like to read in bed.

What do you like to read?

CN: Jean Genet. I find his writings incredible. You read his novels, and you think everyone else is so lazy. He put more ideas in one page that others do in an entire book. It’s so sexy.

His mind is fascinating, dangerous. He takes you places you don’t want to go. I read BUTT magazine all the time too, but it’s frustrating they haven’t published in ages.

14 - 27 SEP 2011

22/ Theater

Hearts, Minds… And Aliens “Temporal Powers” is a beautifully rendered play, while “Voca People” is irresistible fun

I

s morality a function of an individual’s economic condition?

It’s a question as old as civilization. When principle collides with the realities of survival, conflict and, often, tragedy are inevitable. In the case of Teresa Deevy’s “Temporal Powers” — now getting a stunning production at The Mint — this collision creates extraordinary theater.

The play was first produced in Ireland in 1932, but it has never before been seen in the US. Michael and Min Donovan are a destitute couple, evicted from their home and forced to live in a makeshift dugout.

When Michael finds a packet of cash hidden there, Min believes that Providence has sent relief, but he correctly suspects he’s happened upon the proceeds of a robbery.

Michael refuses to keep the cash, preferring to entrust it to a priest’s safekeeping until its rightful owner can be found.

Min attacks Michael for insisting his morality must trump the dire need they face. Even as the mystery of the cash is resolved, the conflict exacts a heartbreaking toll on their relationship. Min excuses Ned Cooney’s robbery of the post office, saying, “It was the poverty that made him do it,” while Michael insists he could not live with the money despite their need.

䉴

MEMORY LANE, from p.15

a dying, Depression-era theater tradition, but also to their dreams of picture-perfect love and career success.

This psychologically complex show has spawned several iconic numbers that have taken on lives of their own, and in context they still pack a wallop. Jayne Houdyshell’s goofy, self-deprecating take on “Broadway Baby” had the house cheering. Despite the absence of a single wrinkle on her face, Elaine Page cuts close to the bone as she delivers “I’m Still Here” with gruff exasperation. Danny Burstein (who

mindful that moral arguments yield no absolutes.

TEMPORAL POWERS Mint Theater 311 W. 43rd St. Through Oct. 2 Fri.-Sat. at 8 p.m.; Sat. at 2 p.m.

Tue.-Thu. at 7 p.m. $55; ovationtix.com 212-315-0231

“V

Still, both Min and Michael are deeply conflicted in the stands they take, and that complexity is at the heart of this play.

Deevy populates her world with characters situated at a wide array of points on the spectrum between moral absolutism and pragmatic accommodation to reality. Each is realized with a clarity that makes “T emporal Powers” vibrantly alive.

Lizzie believes that if she can get Michael’s friend Moses to kiss her, their marriage is inevitable. The priest, a model of expediency but also ineffectualness, is set against Jim Slattery, the voice of secular authority. While this is essentially a play of moral argument, Deevy finds the humanity of each character. Unlike Shaw,

whose characters can seem little more than thinly disguised political postures, Deevy places real people on the stage, and we feel for each of them.

Director Jonathan Bank has done an exceptional job of plumbing the depths and conflicts of each character. The result is fluid, intimate, and compelling. Vicki R. Davis’ excellent set — a couple of rooms partially underground — wonderfully conveys the sense of restriction and poverty that underscores what’s at stake for each of these characters and the society they are part of.

The cast, too, is outstanding. Rose Benton gives a fearless and electric performance that, for all its pyrotechnics, has subtleties that make Min inherently sympathetic. Aidan Redmond as Michael, the most

conflicted of the characters, whose genuine love for Min is consistently evident, offers a standout performance. The passion that burns between Min and Michael, despite their conflict, creates the tragedy on which the play turns.

Eli James as Moses and Wrenn Schmidt as Lizzie both give fine performances, as does Fian Toibin in the comic relief role as Moses’ mother. The rest of the company — Con Horgan, Bairbre Dowling, Paul Carlin, and Robertson Carricart — add to the evening’s richness and realism.

Deevy’s themes clearly resonate today, but her play also feels contemporary because she doesn’t offer pat resolutions, instead exploring consequences. One leaves the play unsettled but moved — and

oca People” is a silly and engaging diversion that marries a slim concept with exceptional a capella singing. However much you may be inclined to roll your eyes, it will overcome you with its charm and good spirits.

The premise is that a group of aliens has landed on Earth and needs the power of music to help them get back to their planet. And so, they try to power up their ship by singing a selection of songs that ostensibly catalog human music since the dawn of time, but is really a rapid-fire survey of Western music since the 18th century.

The songs — 70 in all, though some just snippets, clearly selected for their showiness and adaptability — run the gamut from Mozart to Celine Dion. “Voca People” includes enforced audience participation, usually anathema to me, loving my fourth wall as I do, but even I was charmed when an alien stretched out across my lap.

The sheer force of personality, talent, surpassing skill, and whimsy completely won me over, and the 90 minutes flew by — almost, surprisingly, too quickly. As with every other classic alien invasion, resistance is futile and, in this case, would be as silly as the show itself.

plays Buddy) transforms “The God-Why-Don’t-You-Love-Me Blues” into a demented, hyperfrenetic freak show. And Peters doesn’t disappoint with her plaintive, captivating rendition of the tender torch song “Losing My Mind.”

As good as Peters is, the revelation in this “Follies” is Jan Maxwell, whose elegant, bitter Phyllis elicits sympathy even when she’s spewing venom. Her sardonic rendition of “Could I Leave You” is so acrid I winced and wanted to look away. She’s been up for four Tony Awards and should expect another nomination come spring.

While the musical numbers,

many which recall vaudeville and burlesque, may be classified as “follies,” the raw emotions that rise to the surface are anything but. This challenging work, a meditation on the tug-of-war between memory and the passage of time, seems to get better with age, and reminds us why Sondheim deserves his stature as a musical theater genius.

Schaeffer has pulled out all the stops, assembling a dreamteam cast of 41 and a lush, 28-piece orchestra. The cost is reported to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million. The set, crafted by Derek McLane, is a study in contrasts,

where a forlorn, dilapidated theater marked by a single iron staircase gives way to the fantasy world of “Loveland,” a riot of candy-colored pinks and crimsons.

Also remarkable is that the show runs practically real-time, beginning as attendees enter the reunion party and ending two-and-a-half hours later when it’s time for them (and us) to head home. Yet James Goldman, who wrote the book, and Sondheim, who wrote the score, have packed several lifetimes — supercharged with dance numbers, love affairs, rivalries, regrets, and recriminations — into this tiny space.

While this show is so durable it could work in almost any venue, it’s a shame they weren’t able to stage it in an old Broadway house that’s seen better days, especially in a theatrical season where site-specificity is all the rage. Attempts to cover up the walls of the bland, expansive 1986 Marquis Theatre to approximate a rundown 1920’ theater are rather sloppy.

During the curtain call, which had everyone on their feet, it didn’t feel right when Jan Maxwell came out second to last, right before Bernadette Peters. They should have taken their bows together.

VOCA PEOPLE Westside Theatre 403 W. 43rd St. Mon., Tue., Fri. at 8 p.m.; Thu. at 7 p.m.

Sat. at 3 & 9 p.m.; Sun. at 2 & 7 p.m. $25-$79.50; telecharge.com Or 212-239-6200

LEON SOKOLETSKI

BY CHRISTOPHER BYRNE

The whimsically wonderful aliens of “Voca People,” who will win you over despite reservations you may bring to the theater.

LOVE & MARRIAGE Gay City NEWS

WEDDING SUPPLEMENT

S E P . 1 4 - 2 7 2 0 11

■ LEGAL

After Hiatus, Prop 8 May Head Back Center Stage

BY PAUL SCHINDLER

I

t’s been 13 months since US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that Proposition 8, the 2008 California ballot initiative that threw out that state’s high court ruling in favor of marriage equality, violates the federal equal protection and due process rights of gay and lesbian couples.

Within days of Walker’s August 4 ruling last year, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay pending appeal.

Ninth Circuit action in the case, however, has been at a standstill since January 4, when the appeals court panel considering the issue referred a critical procedural issue to the California Supreme Court –– whether in the absence of the

governor or attorney general appealing Walker’s adverse ruling, the Official Proponents of the 2008 ballot initiative have standing to defend Prop 8.

On September 6, the Califor nia Supreme Court finally held oral argument on the question, in which it has been asked to issue an advisory opinion, not binding on the 9th Circuit, but one that could well be determinative.

Should the California high court find that under existing precedent the Official Proponents do not have standing, the 9th Circuit could well conclude that Prop 8 litigation is at an end and that Walker’s ruling in favor of the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry in that state is law.

A finding that Prop 8’s backers have

COURTESY: SARA KRULWICH/ THE NEW YORK TIMES

In separate hearings, AFER seeks release of trial video, disqualification of amendment backers

The New York Times’ Adam Liptak (l.) with David Boies and Ted Olson, lead litigators in the lawsuit challenging California’s Proposition 8, at a TimesTalk panel on March 10, 2010.

standing, on the other hand, would likely persuade the 9th Circuit to let the appeal go forward.

In a separate August 29 hearing

before US District Chief Judge James Ware, who assumed jurisdiction over the case when Walker retired early this year,

䉴

PROP 8, continued on p.6W

14 – 27 SEP 2011

2W

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

■ POLITICS

Left to Own Devices, NOM a Paper Tiger

Raising money and hiding donors, anti-marriage equality group short on successes

BY DUNCAN OSBORNE

GAY CITY NEWS

I

t is an article of faith in the gay and lesbian community that the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and its leaders Brian Brown and Maggie Gallagher are insidious purveyors of lies and half-truths about same-sex marriage.

But NOM’s failures, including its campaign against gay marriage in New York and its efforts on behalf of political candidates here and across the country, suggest that the conservative group lacks political skills and broad support.

“NOM does not have significant numbers of real grassroots connections to a large number of people that they can turn out,” said Evan Wolfson, president and founder of Freedom to Marry, a leader in the fight for same-sex marriage rights nationwide. “What NOM is, more than anything else, is a shell for funneling money from a small set of secret donors into anti-gay attacks with a small propaganda machine on top of it.”

Gallagher and Brown get a good deal of mainstream press coverage. Their pronouncements are closely followed on queer blogs and in left-leaning publica-

NOM’s Brian Brown (r.), with State Senator Ruben Diaz (in Stetson), at a May rally against gay marriage in the Bronx.

tions.

Their record is not good.

From March through June of this year, NOM spent just over $832,000 to oppose gay marriage in New York. With

Your Special Event is OurOnly Affair…

Pricing starts at $

59.

per

95 person

Reception Includes: Cocktail Hour, Choice of Entrees & Tiered Wedding Cake We have packages for all gatherings and events.

Please contact our Sales Department for packages and information.

Catering Manager: Ron Vogel • (718) 308-4769 RVogel@laguardia.meyerjabara.com

Courtyard Marriott La Guardia Airport 90-10 Grand Central Parkway ▪ East Elmhurst, NY 11369

marriage opponents spending roughly $924,000 altogether, NOM was the major funder. Its cash paid for robocalls and radio, television, and cable ads that targeted state senators.

Despite those efforts, a marriage bill easily passed the State Assembly –– for the fourth time –– on June 15, and cleared the Senate in a 33 to 29 vote on June 24. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed it the same day.

The five gay groups that led the marriage fight outspent opponents by at least three to one. In 2009, when a marriage bill failed in the State Senate in a 38 to 24 vote, “calls ran 10, 20, 30 to one against,” Brian Ellner, a senior strategist at the Human Rights Campaign, the gay lobby, said at an July 25 forum on the 2011 vote.

This year, proponents hired 35 fulltime canvassers, who generated 135,000 individual contacts.

“These were actual real contacts from

within the districts,” Ellner said.

NOM, which did not respond to a call seeking comment, has struggled in other campaigns. It spent just over $200,000 to oppose Democrat Barbara Boxer and support Republican Carly Fiorina in a 2010 US Senate race in California. Boxer won.

The group supported conservative Doug Hoffman in a 2009 Republican primary in an upstate New York Congressional district. NOM made at least $112,000 in independent expenditures for Hoffman, who lost the primary. The seat was ultimately won by Bill Owens, a Democrat.

NOM spent at least $49,000 backing Republican Robert Turner against Democrat David Weprin in the race to fill the Congressional seat representing parts of Queens and Brooklyn vacated by Anthony Weiner. As Gay City News went to press on September 13, that race was undecided. (See page 1 for final results.)

NOM has been more successful in raising money for anti-gay marriage ballot initiatives run by others. The group raised nearly $1.9 million for Proposition 8, according to data disclosed to California’s Secretary of State, and nearly $2 million for the 2009 effort that overturned Maine’s marriage equality law, according to a NOM filing that year with the Internal Revenue Service.

The Maine and California campaigns were run by Schubert Flint Public Affairs, a California consulting firm.

The Prop 8 campaign in California relied on tens of thousands of volunteers and donors.

NOM produced nothing close to that in New York.

NOM was also among five right-wing groups that spent nearly $1 million last year to remove three Iowa Supreme Court judges who voted in 2009 to strike

䉴

NOM, continued on p.7W

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 – 27 SEP 2011

3

14 – 27 SEP 2011

4W

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

■ LEGAL

Gays Win Another Round in Arizona DP Case on tap ‘til

TURKEY DAY

US 9th Circuit finds state must continue employee benefits while lawsuit proceeds

BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD

A

DRINK LOCAL AWARD-WINNING BEER BREWED IN NYC. Radio City 212-582-8244 Seaport 646-572-2337 Times Sq. 646-366-0235 Union Square West 212-645-3400 Empire State Building 212-563-3433 HB Burger 212-575-5848 Midtown W. 646-214-1000 heartlandbrewery.com

Celebrate on top of the world when you say “I DO, I DO”

725 Tenth Avenue

at 49th St. NYC 10019

845-857-3787

mgarcia@skylinehotelnyc.com

three-judge panel of the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has strongly signaled the likelihood that the Arizona statute repealing health benefits for domestic partners of state employees will ultimately be held unconstitutional.

The September 6 ruling nixed the state’s challenge to District Judge John W. Sedwick’s preliminary injunction requiring that the benefits continue while litigation proceeds.

Tara L. Borelli, a staff attorney in Lambda Legal’s Western regional office, represents a group of Arizona state employees and their same-sex partners in arguing that the law, rescinding benefits administratively extended to domestic partners in 2008, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment by legislating against the interest of a particular group of citizens without any legitimate justification.

In April 2008, Arizona’s executive branch, then led by Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano, amended its Administrative Code to expand eligibility for public employee benefits to include domestic partners of employees within the definition of “dependents,” under a plan authorizing coverage for spouses and dependents of employees.

When Napolitano resigned her office to become US secretary of Homeland Security, she was succeeded by Republican Jan Brewer, who, in September 2009, signed a law –– that went into effect on January 1, 2011 –– limiting the definition of “dependent” to legal spouses and dependent children of an employee. As a result, several hundred state employees who had signed up their partners and their partners’ children for health coverage stood to lose those benefits –– though how many such employees were in same-sex rather than different-sex relationships is not known.

Lambda argued that because different-sex partners could obtain the benefits by marrying, the new definition of dependent was targeted at same-sex partners, and that there was no rational justification for singling them out in this way. (In November 2008, Arizona voters strengthened the state’s refusal to give same-sex couples the right to marry by adopting a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to unions of one man and one woman.)

Lambda sought a preliminary injunction to require the state to maintain benefits for those who had signed up until the federal district court decides the case. In seeking a preliminary injunction, plaintiffs must show both that denial of such relief would subject them to irreparable injury and that there is a strong likelihood that they would win the constitutional argument.

District Judge Sedwick refused to grant the state’s motion to dismiss and ruled the plaintiffs could keep their benefits for now.

Even though the US Justice Department and several federal trial judges have recently adopted the view that discrimination based on sexual orientation must be subjected to heightened scrutiny –– under which Arizona would have to demonstrate important policy interests that justified its law –– Sedwick decided to evaluate it under the rational basis test. The plaintiffs were required to show that the state could provide no rational explanation for the statute.

Even applying that more lenient standard, however, he found that the law failed the test. Sedwick accepted the plaintiffs’ contention that the cost of providing the benefits was minimal compared to the state’s overall spending on employee health benefits, and found that the other arguments Arizona made to support the law also failed to make any rational case for it.

The court of appeals panel agreed, in an opinion by Circuit Judge Mary M. Schroeder. Since some of the plaintiffs had medical issues that made continued health coverage crucial, they easily met the test of showing irreparable injury should their benefits be rescinded.

Regarding the plaintiffs’ likelihood of success on the merits, the state encountered a problem in its failure to provide evidence that excluding same-sex couples from coverage would make a significant difference in terms of cost.

“The court was not provided any evidence of the actual amount of benefits the state paid for same-sex partners,” Schroeder wrote, which adversely affected its credibility in arguing the statute was justified as a cost-saving measure.

The court rejected the state’s argument that the district court had improperly recognized a “constitutional right to healthcare.” Arizona need not provide insurance for its employees, but having

䉴

ARIZONA, continued on p.6W

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 – 27 SEP 2011

5

Suffering Suffering from from Cocktail Fatigue?

Cocktail Fatigue?

Try something something new new that that is is actually actually Try

Scan code for Scan code for

cocktail cocktailrecipes recipes

new. new.

There’s a whole new world of cocktails waiting at www.piscoporton.com

Discover Pisco Portón Responsibly. Imported by Pisco Portón™, Manhasset, NY. 43% alc/vol. ©2011 Find us. Follow us.

14 – 27 SEP 2011

6W

䉴

Easy as ABC, Celebrate your Marriage @ Mott & Pell…

Enjoy All-You-Can-Drink “Adam’s Wine” (H2O)

$

Complete Dinner Special 13.

95

includes glass of wine, beer or soft drink, choice of soup, available entrees include vegetables, poultry, beef, pork & seafood plus dessert!

decided to offer such benefits, “it may not do so in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner that aversely affects particular groups that may be unpopular,” Schroeder wrote.

She pointed to a 1973 equal protection case in which the US Supreme Court invalidated a federal statutory provision that adopted a definition of “household” for the food stamp program that would have denied food stamps to households where unrelated adults lived together.

The legislative history showed that this stemmed from Congressional moral disapproval of unmarried cohabitation –– especially that scourge of the era: hippie communes.

If Congress aimed to help feed the hungry, the high court found, it could not exclude certain kinds of people based on their unpopularity with the electorate.

In the Arizona situation, the case was “more compelling,” Schroeder pointed out. The plaintiffs in the 1973 case “were

䉴

34 Pell Street – Chinatown, NYC 10013 212.346.9390 • 212.346.9391

ARIZONA, from p.4W

PROP 8, from p.1W

the team fighting to overturn Prop 8, led by the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), argued in favor of releasing the video transcript of the trial Walker presided over, arguing that the public has the same right to view that as it does the written transcript.

The question that the 9th Circuit kicked over to the California Supreme Court is whether Prop 8’s Official Proponents have either what is known as the particularized interest necessary to give them standing to appeal Walker’s ruling or, alternatively, authority under state law to represent California in defending a constitutional provision they proposed and voters accepted.

In a 1997 pronouncement in a lawsuit challenging an Arizona constitutional amendment requiring that all state business be conducted in English — passed by voters over the opposition of leading state officials, who then refused to defend it in the courts — the US Supreme Court observed that the ballot initiative proponents must meet one of those two conditions.

The 9th Circuit panel pointed out the thorny issue raised by this legal question: If an initiative is passed over the opposition of state officials and then challenged successfully in federal court, those officials would have an effective veto over the ballot question’s passage by refusing to appeal — unless its proponents are allowed to step in.

Arguing the point before the 9th Circuit panel, Charles Cooper, representing the Official Proponents, noted that the California high court already answered that question when it allowed his clients to defend Prop 8 in state litigation after the governor and attorney general declined to

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

prevented by financial circumstances from adjusting their status to gain eligibility, while same-sex couples in Arizona are prevented by operation of law” –– the ban on same-sex marriage.

The state also failed in its attempt to show that the statute aimed to promote marriage by eliminating benefits for domestic partners –– since denying partnership benefits to same-sex couples cannot promote marriage, an institution from which they are barred.

In one final swipe at the state, the appeals court panel also ruled there was no problem with Sedwick’s ruling that the plaintiffs would not have to post a bond to cover potential liability to the state if their lawsuit failed on the merits. When preliminary injunctions are issued, federal courts can require plaintiffs to put up a bond so the defendant can be reimbursed for its expenses in complying should it ultimately prevail.

Sedgwick, however, used his discretion in not requiring a bond, given his view that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail at the end of the day.

do so.

The 9th Circuit was not convinced, however, that the question had been definitively answered by California’s high court. In sending the question to Sacramento, however, the appeals panel voiced some sympathy for the Proponents’ case, writing, “Although the governor has chosen not to defend Proposition 8 in these proceedings, it is not clear whether he may, consistent with the California Constitution, achieve through a refusal to litigate what he may not do directly: effectively veto the initiative by refusing to defend it or appeal a judgment invalidating it.”

Legal observers noted that in the September 6 hearing, some members of the California Supreme Court voiced similar views, Justice Carol Corrigan saying the governor and attorney general do not have a “pocket veto” on an initiative passed at the ballot box.

AFER’s attorneys, led by all-star litigators Theodore Olson and David Boies –– who famously crossed swords in the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court case that settled the 2000 presidential election –– argue that the Official Proponents lack the right to represent the state’s interests in court. As a group, these attorneys argue, the Proponents cannot show compelling detrimental effect on themselves coming from Prop 8 being thrown out. In fact, they pointed out, Walker ruled, “Proponents… failed to articulate even one specific harm they may suffer.”

Some LGBT advocates expressed concern that AFER’s argument was not welcomed by the high court in the September 6 hearing.

Shannon Minter, the legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), who prior to the AFER case was

䉴

PROP 8, continued on p.7W

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

䉴

NOM, from p.2W

down that state’s law banning same-sex marriage and require the issuance of licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

Even as it has funneled substantial funds to ballot initiative campaigns and made independent expenditures on behalf of conservative candidates, NOM has fought to keep its donors secret. The group has filed at least six challenges to state campaign finance disclosure laws in federal court. It has consistently lost those cases, but has avoided revealing the names of donors by appealing those losses.

“They’re not speaking for people,” Wolfson said. “They’re speaking for the money, for a small set of donors.”

What may be NOM’s oddest project is the group’s vow to spend $2 million to

䉴

PROP 8, from p.6W

the leading marriage equality advocate arguing before the California Supreme Court, told Karen Ocamb at lgbtpov.com, “Both conservative and progressive elected officials have occasionally exercised… discretion in the past by choosing not to expend state resources to defend invalidated measures. Permitting special interest groups to usurp that decision-making authority would dramatically change the current law and take a giant step down the road of turning California into a mobocracy… I was disappointed that, with some notable exceptions, too many of the court’s questions… seemed to glorify the initiative process in the abstract and to abdicate a searching examination of the California Constitution in favor of emotional appeals to ‘the people.’”

In an August 25 press teleconference, Olson, who argued the issue of standing at the California court two weeks later, predicted that the high court would render a speedy opinion.

“Whether or not the Proponents have standing, we are confident that our plaintiffs will prevail now or at the 9th Circuit,” he said.

Olson expressed confidence that if the Proponents are denied standing, the 9th Circuit will allow gay marriage to resume in California. While that outcome would significantly increase the percentage of Americans living in marriage equality jurisdictions, it would halt consideration of Walker’s ruling by higher courts, a process that could take the issue to the US Supreme Court.

Observers in the major LGBT legal advocacy groups, including NCLR, Lambda Legal, and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, always viewed AFER’s commitment to take the issue to the Supreme Court, with its current membership, as risky. An adverse ruling could have a significant and longstanding negative impact on the marriage equality movement.

At the same time, a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court, if articulated in

14 – 27 SEP 2011 bring the New York marriage law to the ballot.

New York does not allow voters to directly place an initiative on the ballot. NOM would first have to defeat the Democrats and Republicans who supported marriage equality. The newly elected, presumably anti-gay marriage legislative majorities would then have to vote to place the marriage law on the ballot, get reelected, and then vote a second time for that ballot initiative. Only then would the question go to the voters.

At a July 24 rally to oppose gay marriage, Bronx Democratic State Senator Ruben Diaz, a Pentecostal minister and NOM ally, said the group’s plan would require divine intervention. It would be “very, very difficult, but nothing is impossible with God,” he said.

its broadest possible terms, could strike down anti-marriage equality provisions nationwide. If the Prop 8 litigation ends at this stage, AFER will face the challenge of finding another course of litigation to the nation’s high court –– and restarting the billing clock on its legal dream team.

The August 29 hearing before Judge Ware involved AFER’s effort to put the district trial court record before the American people, based in good measure on the widely held view that the Proponents failed completely in their goal of stating any harm that would come from striking down Prop 8.

As they did when they successfully blocked the live video transmission of the trial proceedings, Prop 8’s backers warn that releasing the video record would subject their witnesses to intimidation from gay marriage supporters.

Noting that the other side put only two witnesses on the stand –– Kenneth Miller and David Blankenhorn, both of them well-known commentators in the public debate over gay marriage –– AFER, in the August 25 press call, was openly contemptuous of efforts to keep the tapes under wraps. In a release titled “What Are the Proposition 8 Proponents Trying to Hide?,” AFER argued that both witnesses conceded that marriage equality benefits families and that Prop 8 was motivated by animus toward gay people (a constitutionally impermissible ground), and were able to provide no rational justification for marriage discrimination.

Theodore Boutrous, another AFER attorney, noted that the Supreme Court’s refusal to order live transmission of the trial as it proceeded in early 2010 was not based on the claims of potential harassment, but rather on a technical issue of compliance with 9th Circuit regulations as they existed at that moment.

A coalition of media groups –– including the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, CNN, Fox News, NBC News, and the Associated Press –– filed briefs in support of AFER’s motion for release of the trial videos. –– Additional reporting by Arthur S. Leonard

7W

NEWYORK’sPREMIERE KARAOKEVENUE private state-of-the art karaoke lounges hosting from 2-5 people, great for ALL special occasions, including weddings, office parties, b’days and all other celebrations…

RADIOSTAR

K A R A O K E & B A R 3W 35 St, NYC10001 ▪ (212) 564-2520/2521 RadioStar@RadioStarUS.com th

www.

RadioStarUS.com

You Have Your Perfect Partner, Now Meet Your Perfect Planner And At No Cost to You! Specializing in finding the Perfect Venue, whether it’s a Hotel, Club, Restaurant, Wigwam, Penthouse, Space Loft, Villa, we guide you through this Vibrant & Evolving City to Fulfill All Your Wedding Dreams!

SuccessfulAffairs.com ▪ 212/684-6402

www.

8

14 – 27 SEP 2011

COME OUT IN AC L>IM>F;>K +,&+.

FRID DAY

The Hearty Boys Restaurant Invasion Excitement… on the tip of your tongue The Foundation Room at Showboat

SATURDAY

Pool Party Wet. Wild. Wonderful.

Hosted by Las Vegas Phenom Frank Marino Ma^ Ihhe Zm AZkkZa l K^lhkm Sexual Chocolate Body Painting 2 Chicks with Chocolate Get Ready To Melt AZkkZa l K^lhkm

SUNDAY

Hangover Brunch What Happened Last Night?

AZkkZa l K^lhkm Gay Bingo Crazy, Outrageous, Fabulous, Unconventional

Ghm Rhnk @kZg]fhma^k l ;bg`h

AZkkZa l K^lhkm

Fo or Tickets & Informatio on, www.O OutInAC.com EXTEND YOUR SUMMER NI MH +. H??# AHM>E LM:RL

*Visit Total Rewards® Center for details. Restrictions may apply. Management reserves the right to change or cancel this promotion at any time without notice. Must be 21 or older to gamble, enter and remain in a New Jersey casino or participate in any Caesars Entertainment promotion. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem?

Call 1-800-GAMBLER. ©2011, Caesars License Company, LLC.

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 – 27 SEP 2011

23

■ IN THE NOH

Lovely Rita Richmond/DC delights, Liza’s godmother, reclaimed divas

MEDIA BLITZ

R

ita Gardner, who will forever be known as the original female lead in “The Fantasticks,” the longestrunning musical of all time, is performing her show, “Try to Remember: A Look Back at Off-Broadway, at the Metropolitan Room (34 W. 22nd St., Sep. 16-18; metropolitanroom.com).

I chatted with this elfin delight, possessed of a deliciously boisterous laugh three times her physical size, and was seriously charmed by her honesty, terrific taste, and total, humor-filled recall.

“I first did this show about ten years ago, at the Sullivan Street Playhouse [where ‘The Fantasticks’ played for 42 years],” Gardner said. “It’s about my life and what happened Off-Broadway, which the show helped to create. I went on to do other things and there were other things happening Off-Broadway, so it was wonderful to take all these stories and put them together. “‘The Fantasticks’ didn’t get great reviews at that time. Our producer, Lore Noto, may he rest in peace, kept it open.

We took a week off in August and went to the John Drew Theater in Easthampton, and the posh people came to see it, the magazine articles came out, and back in New York we had a hit. That was something you could do back then because it wasn’t that expensive.

“But I don’t think anybody thought it would go on for so long — makes you want to lie about your age. There were lots of other girls up for my role and how I got it was an accident I describe in my show, but most things, I think, are about being in the right place at the right time.”

Every bit the classic New York working actress, Gardner had just come from a voice-over audition and still takes voice and acting classes: “A lot of people think that when you get to a certain age, you can’t walk and talk at the same time.

But I started performing when I was a kid in Brooklyn. I could sing at an early age, so I was on the radio with Milton Cross as announcer on ‘Coast-to-Coast on a Bus,’ with people like Christopher Walken, Bobby White, and Ann Blyth. I sang cute songs like ‘Would You Like to Take a Little Walk?,’ and I think when you have that instilled in you, you don’t stop. A lot of my friends have retired and that’s a bad word, I think.”

Gardner has had such a varied, interesting career, I just had to besiege her with questions about the shows and people she’s been involved with, and she proved the most gracious and forthcoming of storytellers.

“Pal Joey” (1963): “Bobby Fosse was terrific in that and I loved working with

Rita Gardner, the original female lead in “The Fantasticks,” performs her show, “Try to Remember: A Look Back at OffBroadway, at the Metropolitan Room September 16-18.

him. I think Viveca Lindfors had a hard time playing Vera because she had never done a musical. Bad casting — a Swede playing a John O’Hara New York broad — and she knew it. A lovely lady who found herself in a piece she had no idea about.

“I played Linda, and what an eye Bobby had! He choreographed it, but thank God I didn’t dance a lot — I can move from here to here, but that’s it.

We went to our director Gus Schirmer’s apartment and watched the ‘From This Moment On’ number from ‘Kiss Me Kate’ — just brilliant — and Bobby always wanted to rehearse. It was just sad that they chose the wrong leading lady. Viveca had been brilliant in ‘Anastasia,’ but our conductor, Pembroke Davenport, who was even shorter than me, just shrunk further on the podium during her numbers.”

“The Cradle Will Rock” (1964): Composer “Marc Blitzstein was already dead [murdered that year by rough trade in Martinique] by the time of this revival.

He was very good friends with Leonard Bernstein, and we recorded it, and Bernstein came to the rehearsal. Lauri Peters sang ‘Nickel Under My Foot,’ and he said, ‘That’s not the way you do that song,’ and sat down at the piano and it truly became another song. Amazing! He so understood this show.

“Howard Da Silva, who was in the original [1937] production, directed it, but he was very, very difficult. We had a

hard time. I didn’t know him well but he was a hard person to know. He adored that piece too, but it wasn’t easy because there were people there who had such a past with the show. I think for Da Silva, it probably brought back a lot of memories, but it was fascinating, and Jerry Orbach, my terrific co-star from ‘The Fantasticks,’ was also in it.

“On a Clear Day” (1965), with that elusive Garbo of Broadway musicals, Barbara Harris: “She was wonderful but I was there as a standby because they were worried about her. She wasn’t well — I don’t know exactly — but she came in the first day of rehearsal and I said, ‘I’ll never go on for this lady.’ She was brilliant, could do anything. It has a great score, and that first day, Burton Lane played it and sang, ‘What Did I Have That I Don’t Have?’ and we all went, ‘Ohmigod!’”

“Steel Magnolias” (1987): “I didn’t care for the film they made of that, or ‘The Fantasticks.’ This was really a special little play they found, done at the Lucille Lortel, and it became successful and they did it again on Broadway. I didn’t want to see that. Some things should just stay the same. Lore Noto never moved ‘The Fantasticks’ from Sullivan Street, even though there was Broadway talk, as he felt that that was where it should stay and he was really right.”

Gardner is married to Robert Sevra, who like her former husband, Herb Gardner, is a writer: “He’s also a lyricist and did this show ‘Rogues to Riches,’ based on ‘The Beaux’ Strategem,’ that was done in the UK and is really terrific.

I guess I like writers — they’ve always been in my life and I’ve always admired the spoken word. I stayed away from actors — that I knew about. It’s all right

to work with them …”

As for Gardner’s dream role: “[‘Fantasticks’ lyricist] Tom Jones wrote a musical version of ‘Harold and Maude,’ which I did a reading of. It’s not perfect, but I so wanted to do that because I loved Ruth Gordon. It was done at Paper Mill with Estelle Parsons and that was not the right casting, with those difficult, very lyrical songs. I called Tom and said, ‘How can you do this? It’s my role!’ which I usually never do. He said, ‘But Rita, they wouldn’t do it without her!’

“I was so angry, I said, ‘Why don’t you rewrite it and let me do it?’ Gordon was such a marvelous lady and I loved the movie. When I was a kid I saw her in ‘The Matchmaker,’ and always identified with her because we’re both short and she was a writer and such an interesting woman.”

I

did a Labor Day getaway in Washington and Richmond, Virginia, and saw some interesting exhibits if you’re of a mind to be heading down that way.

The Roman statue “Capitolene Venus,” on loan to the National Gallery has just now returned to the Eternal City, but, in any event, it struck me as not a patch on the De Milo, being a somewhat blowsy beauty with big, mannish hands and a Snooki Jersey Shore coiffure.

I got a kick out of the rather scholarly presentation for Phyllis Diller at the Smithsonian Institute (up through Oct. 31), with her extensive gag file (“I never wash my windows. Why should I? I’ve seen the neighbors”) and her signature fright wig, cigarette holder, mini boots, and gloves all on display. It was surely more impressive than the puny, hard to

䉴

IN THE NOH, continued on p.28

DAVID NOH

BY DAVID NOH

Phyllis Diller’s signature fright wig, cigarette holder, mini boots, and gloves are all on display at the Smithsonian Institute through October 31.

14 - 27 SEP 2011

24/ Opera

Sorcery and Seduction in Small Rooms Opera Omnia rises on Bleecker; opera-comique served Anne Bogart’s “Carmen” at Glimmerglass

BY ELI JACOBSON

䉴

PIONEER, from p.19

Robert Patrick O’Connor (he later dropped the surname) was born in Kilgore, Texas and grew up in Roswell, New Mexico, where he got beat up not for being gay, which he was, but just for reading books.

“You’re making us look bad,” his tormentors would say.

His inspirations in those days were

JULIETA CERVANTES

O

Ginger Costa-Jackson as Carmen and Adam Diegel as Don José in the Glimmerglass production of Bizet’s “Carmen.”

imbroglios, it all ends happily with a double marriage that stretches credulity and mythological tradition.

The sleek Chinn made a dangerously slinky sex kitten of a Medea. Duke’s oboe-colored mezzo brought nobility to the distinctly ignoble and feckless Jason presented here.

Soprano Katherine Dain was spunky and clueless as the forsaken Queen Hypsipyle; Isai Jess Muñoz and Patrick Murray were amusing buffoons; and Mark Uhlemann and Nathan Baer provided lower voiced solidity as contrasting Argonaut soldiers. Baritone Matthew Singer, in the Ralph Bellamy role of the rejected suitor King Aegeus, scored in his Act III lament. Travesty tenor Karim Suleyman and soprano Sharon Apostolou played the heroines’ serving maids, one jaded and faded, the other young and lusty, and both cynical.

Artistic director Wesley Chinn stressed that “Giasone” was originally presented in the vernacular in an informal environment before a lively audience not averse to drinking, eating, and reveling

“Noel Coward, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, and Jean Kerr,” and later English playwright Christopher Fry, “the last in my Pantheon.”

But once he moved to New York and got involved with Joe Cino’s legendary Caffé Cino, he got to interact with young dramatists who would redefine the American theater in the latter 20th century.

“Role models? Try living with Lanford

OPERA OMNI

pera Omnia made a splashy debut in 2008 with a funny, hip presentation of Monteverdi’s “The Coronation of Poppea” at Le Poisson Rouge restaurant cabaret on Bleecker Street and then disappeared.

Small opera companies rise and fall so quickly in this town that I had little hope that Opera Omnia would rise again. But its sophomore effort, Francesco Cavalli’s “Giasone” (1649), just finished its run at Le Poisson Rouge last week with many of the same artists returning after a threeyear absence.

Music director Avi Stein provided expert harpsichord continuo leading a well-tuned consort of period instruments. Stage director Crystal Manich stressed the comedy with a lighthearted, minimal, detailed production that at times aimed below the belt (a pink latex sexual aid made a rare operatic appearance). Mezzos Cherry Duke and HaiTing Chinn played another pair of amoral royal lovers deceiving each other and their former partners with blithe insouciance.

“Giasone” was Cavalli’s biggest operatic hit and was written for a public opera house in Venice that catered to popular, not aristocratic tastes. Like the Elizabethan theater, sober tragedy and bawdy low comedy co-existed easily, the one commenting on the other.

The opera comes off as a screwballcomedy take on the myth of Jason and Argonauts and their capture of the Golden Fleece with the aid of the enamored barbarian sorceress and princess Medea. The emphasis is on the romantic musical chairs of the royal protagonists, with raunchy running commentary provided by a motley crew of cynical serving wenches, horny soldiers, and bumbling buffoons.

A few haunting laments briefly suspend time, but the dramatic pace is swift-moving, with lots of jaunty short ariosos in rollicking tempos suggestive of 17th century popular tavern songs or dance tunes. After many nearly fatal

The sleek Hai-Ting Chinn made a dangerously slinky sex kitten of a Medea in Cavalli’s “Giasone.”

during the show. The English translation by Paul C. Echols and Martin Morell and the close proximity of the dozen solo singers kept the audience involved and stimulated every moment. Certainly, most operas go down better with a cosmopolitan, though this critic didn’t sample the food menu.

In “Giasone,” Cavalli was aiming to entertain a diverse audience with a bawdy, lighthearted mythological romp.

Opera Omnia caught the spirit of fun in a mixture of West Village thrift shop hip informality, cabaret revue sassiness, and elegant early music scholarship.

T

he Glimmerglass Festival presented “Medea” in her infanticide mode in Cherubini’s opera, while the fatally seductive heroine of Bizet’s “Carmen” explored another facet of the destructive power of female sexuality.

Wilson and Tom Eyen and Sam Shepard and Claris Nelson and Irene Fornes and seeing them everyday,” he said.

Patrick shared digs with all of them at one time or another, including the bunkhouse of Ellen Stewart, the founder of La MaMa Experimental Theatre who died this past January.

“We lived in each other’s back pockets, exciting each other,” he said, adding they would use each other’s lines in their

Anne Bogart’s new production of “Carmen” for Glimmerglass was a dreary affair — three shabby distressed walls in various reconfigurations and set dressings that barely filled the stage. Like Richard Eyre at the Met (and Frank Corsaro at NYCO in the early 1980’s), Bogart updated the action to the Spanish Civil War era or the period just prior — the costumes suggested late ‘20s or very early ‘30s.

Ginger Costa-Jackson, the Met’s current successor to Isola Jones as the resident comprimario mezzo sexpot, made a striking role debut as the titular gypsy.

Her cat-eyed beauty, air of danger ous self-possession, and dusky mezzo revealed her to be a natural Carmen.

Bogart, unfortunately, saddled her with obvious “me so sexy” physical gyrations that the naturally sensual Costa-Jackson did not need. Her velvety lush sound filled out the music convincingly but encountered pitch problems negotiating around the lower break.

Tenor Adam Diegel as Don José revealed an impressive voice and stage presence but seemed oddly bottled up and inhibited. The voice was often as stiff and awkward as his stage demeanor. The Micaela of Anya Matanovi filled the house with pointed, silvery tone and aching pathos in her phrasing. Michael Todd Simpson as Escamillo hit all the notes cleanly in his tricky aria, offering a serviceable baritone and tall imposing stage presence.

The real interest here was the use of the original opera-comique version with spoken dialogue. The small house aided communication and intelligibility despite the inconsistent pronunciation by the cast. The dialogue provides smoother, more convincing transitions into the big musical set pieces, quickens the pace, and includes more background information than the familiar Guiraud recitatives.

The greater balance, clarity, and speed that this production embodied suggest that in smaller theaters with good coaching, this is the performing version of choice.

plays.

“Lanford took a line from ‘Haunted Host’ and put it in ‘The Madness of Lady Bright,’ and Carol Frost took a line from ‘Lady Bright’ and put it in ‘Heimskringla,’” Patrick said, comparing the group to Matisse and Picasso, borrowing from one another and, in doing so, paying homage to each other.

䉴

PIONEER, continued on p.25

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 – 27 SEP 2011

25

DYLAN KEN

www.lgbtHistoryMonth.com

Robert Patrick holds the Broadway poster for his play “Kennedy’s Children.”

䉴

PIONEER, from p.24

The height of Patrick’s commercial success in the theater was when his “Kennedy’s Children” got to Broadway, where I saw it in 1975. Set in an East Village bar in 1974, a lost generation of habitués ruminate over the ‘60s, particularly the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy — still as raw a memory then as the catastrophe of 9-11 is today.

The play ran 72 performances on Broadway, but won Shirley Knight the Tony for Best Actress. It was a hit in London just before that run, where Clive Barnes of the New York Times hailed “Mr. Patrick’s uncanny ear for the way people talk, and his equally uncanny ability to transmute that into the small yet totally convincing traffic of the stage.”

The play has been translated into 60 languages and performed all over the world. Go to his blog and see “Hello, Bob,” a multipart video of the hilarious play he wrote about his experience getting “Kennedy’s Children” produced.

The disillusionment Patrick reflected in his play in the 1970s is nothing compared to his view of what America has become today. He attributes our decline to “a generation raised from infancy by TV” that was told incessantly — especially by commercial advertisements — that “it smelled bad, its breath was foul, was ugly, and teeth were gray. Everything was wrong with it!” As a result, Patrick said, “They grew up hating themselves,” leading to a nation of “self-absorbed and self-hating people with no time or concern for others.”

He found younger colleagues impossible to work with, with some exceptions.

To continue the life in the theater that had been so promising in the 1960s, “I did lights, stage managed, did costumes, sets, sound, and promotion,” he said.

“By the end, I had no place to live and was sleeping in the lighting booths of theaters. It all became ridiculous.”

When Patrick moved to California to live with his sister, “I found the degradation of average Americans even worse.

All the revolution of the ‘60s did was to make them afraid of everything — afraid of air, water, food, each other, rich, poor, powerful, and powerless.”

That perspective has not mellowed.

Asked if there is a way out, Patrick replied, “I think we’re doomed.”

When he was getting started in the theater, Patrick had no fear — even of exploring gay themes.

“I didn’t set out to write gay theater,” he said. “Joe Cino didn’t set out to form a new kind of theater. He just told the kids to do what you have to do.”

That’s the message he tried to convey when he was on the lecture circuit to high schools for a decade: “You can do it, need to do it, and it’s important to do it.”

Patrick now does what he has to in order to survive. He would welcome a renaissance for his plays and is still open to ghosting, but he said that work ran out in 2003.

He next started reviewing porn for AVN — Adult Video News, which he said has “gone Christian and dropped gay reviews.” He now writes for an online outlet.

Patrick can’t afford to travel crosscountry and pick up his award in person from the New York Innovative Theatre Foundation, but he will be sending a video message that should be worth the price of admission — $25, available at nyitawards.com/shop/.

THE KUBA LAW FIRM

HELPING THE COMMUNITY FOR OVER 50 YEARS! Immigration Law

MAKE AN APPOINTMENT NOW!

(212) 732-5050 (845) 356-1313

Spousal and Family Petitions, Asylum, Deportation Defense, Adoptions, Work Visas, etc.

Criminal Law

Consult one of our attorneys to prevent your criminal case from causing problems with USCIS and removal from the USA

Civil Law

Employment discrimination, family law (divorces, custody, child support, marriage contracts, separations, etc.)

Tribeca Office 321 Broadway New York, NY 10007 (212) 732-5050 Fax (212) 766-0049

Rockland Office L.S. Plaza 230 W. Route 59 Spring Valley, NY 10977 (845) 356-1313

14 - 27 SEP 2011

26/ Dance

Dreams, Passions, and Naked Truths Movement vocabulary articulates Irish step dancing in Eriu Dance Company’s “No tú”

T

he small stage of the Irish Repertory Theatre seems an unlikely setting for a dance spectacle, but the Eriu Dance Company’s “No tú,” which opened there September 12 for a three-week run, worked surprisingly well.

This production from Ireland, conceived and directed by Riverdance alumnus Breandán de Gallai, is an attempt to let us “under the skin of those who perform in the dance world” to understand the passion that drives them. “No tú” is informed by the backstories of the three principals in brief monologues presented in a confessional spot — a grid of light on one wall (Michael O’Connor’s lighting making the most of a limited stock of equipment).

As with other popular folk forms like hip hop, “No tú” turns Irish step dancing, popularized by Riverdance and then Michael Flatley’s “Lord of the Dance,” into a movement vocabulary that can express a full range of emotion, not just virtuosic display. The intimacy of the theater suits the production, even though its small stage limits the amplitude of the highlegged prancing. Many of the big group formations face headon, shoulder to shoulder, like canned sardines, but solos and smaller groups are more threedimensional.

The dancers stroll onstage in

䉴

SHUT UP, from p.20

two distributed them, encouraging others to duplicate them for “artistic” purposes. When a playwright named Gregg Gibbs created a Peter and Ray stage show, they voiced no complaint.

However, when Gibbs tried to parlay the success of that show into a film deal, he was told the material was copyrighted.

The film includes some fascinating interviews with the principals. In one, a reporter tells Peter he is a pop culture sensation. In another, Mitchell asks Tony, who was a friend of Peter and Ray’s but also caused mischief between the two on occa-

ERIU DANCE COMPANY “No tú” Irish Repertory Theatre 132 W. 22nd St. Through Oct. 2 Mon. at 7 p.m., Tue.-Sat. at 8 p.m.

Wed., Sat., Sun. at 3 p.m. $55-$65; irishrep.org Or 212-727-2737

bright colored rehearsal clothes — shorts and tank tops or T-shirts — chatting with each other. They stretch their quads and hamstrings and do an aerobic warm-up class — there is, after all, a lot of jumping and hopping in Irish dance.

Next, they strip of f their practice togs and don black kilts and fitted tops (costumes

by Nikki Connor), giving us tantalizing glimpses of their nicely toned physiques. They’re young, fresh-faced, and stronglegged. Oddly, considering their prowess in the Irish styles, only seven of the 16 dancers are natives of that country.

The first big dance, “Senior Celli Invention,” crams all 16 onto the bite-size stage doing brisk, kaleidoscopic formations.

Their close-order, unison precision is as impressive as the accuracy of the intricate, lightningfast footwork. Strangely, they keep switching instantaneously from dour faces to beaming grins for no apparent reason, but with precision choreography.

Emotions carom somewhat randomly in subsequent sections, too, from “Anxiety” to

sion, if the roommates were ever lovers. The comments by Peter and Tony in these interviews should not be spoiled for those planning to see the movie.

Revealing as the interviews are, however, some viewers at this point may want “Shut Up Little Man” to simply shut up. The film milks Eddie and Mitchell and Peter and Ray’s 15 minutes for almost 90, but never convincingly makes the case that these recordings are significant in speaking to our “common humanity.”

One question “Shut Up Little Man” never ventures to ask is whether the fans who fol-

CAROL ROSEGG

BY GUS SOLOMONS JR.

Principal dancers Callum Spencer, Peta Anderson, and Nick O’Connell in Breandán de Gallai’s “No tú” at the Irish Repertory Theatre through October 2.

“Violently Happy” — danced to music by Björk. In “Shadow Dolls,” seven waifs in white tunics and masks dance as one. A repeated motif has them freeze momentarily on one foot and fix us with a menacing stare from their featureless faces.

Then, Callum Spencer dances to hornpipes by Sean O’Brien, blasting from a boom box, while Nick O’Connell sits motionless in a downstage corner.

The attempted “human interest” feels superfluous; in this

case, wonderful dancing doesn’t need text to enhance its emotional impact. The crackerjack skill of the ensemble and its disarming charm drive the show.

There are solos and a trio — including a brief pillow fight — for the three principals — Peta Anderson, ugly duckling turned swan; Spencer, the kid who’s taunted by rugby-playing mates for wanting to dance; and deerin- the-headlights O’Connell, who speaks volumes with his tautly held trunk and spectacu-

lar legs.

De Gallai’s eclectic musical taste ranges from traditional Irish music to Cake, Kate Bush, and Leonard Cohen. Traditional Irish steps fit the contemporary rhythms like a glove. And in the finale, the ensemble even takes on the “Infernal Dance” from Igor Stravinsky’s “The Firebird,” as well as pulsing, high-powered original music by Joe Csibi, with a pounding and ferocious tribal intensity that’s pretty irresistible.

low these “monotonous rants” and “directionless conversations” between two dysfunc-

is an unsavory pity that colors the chuckles anyone gets out of these tapes.

and turn our responses into performance art. People can film their own crazy neighbors’ shocking behavior for the world to see. But is it appropriate or even interesting?

“Shut Up Little Man” is reminiscent of last year’s viralvideo documentary “Winnebago Man,” about the “hilarious” epic meltdown by Jack Rebney. As “fans” of Peter and Ray have a laugh at someone else’s expense, Bate’s film asks, “Why do we watch, and what do we gain from it?”

Only voyeurs can answer. But anyone who sees this movie might feel themselves put squarely into that camp.

Was what Eddie and Mitchell did illegal or at least invasive?

And are these recordings art or merely lurid voyeurism? tion alcoholics are any better than Peter and Ray. It might just be time to let these sad men with their sad lives be left alone with whatever shred of dignity is left to them. There

To be sure, Bate leavens any potential disapproval of what Eddie and Mitchell did by pointing out that YouTube enables us all to watch Christian Bale’s rants on a film set

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 – 27 SEP 2011

TAKE PRIDE

NO MATTER WHICH WAY YOU GET YOUR WORKOUTS Bring this in for a workout on us ÝÛÛ~ Ûfq[Û_qeÛdg[YlagfkÛ

DVWRU SODFH XQLRQ VTXDUH ZHVW YLOODJH ZDOO VWUHHW PXUUD\ KLOO PLGWRZQ HDVW PLGWRZQ HDVW PLGWRZQ ZHVW XSSHU ZHVW VLGH IRUW JUHHQH SDUN VORSH FUXQFK FRP

27

14 – 27 SEP 2011

28

Check out Irvin’s incredible website kaythompsonwebsite.com for all things Kay, where you can also order “Think Pink!” a miraculous compilation of all her rare recordings, including her actually doing Eloise, in all her soignée brattitude.

IN THE NOH, from p.23

T

Kay Thompson may just have committed the greatest act of theft in film history, grabbing the spotlight clean away from Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn in “Funny Face.”

there it was in James’ library — a prominently displayed nubile St. Sebastian in all his naked, pierced glory.

tory, if only for the way she grabbed the spotlight clean away from Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn in “Funny Face.”

B

efore the fall cultural onslaught begins, I have been catching up with my favorite reading — showbiz bios — and there are some real honeys out there. Out in paperback on November 15 is “Kay Thompson: From Funny Face to Eloise” (Simon & Schuster), Sam Irvin’s jaw-droppingly researched, mesmerizing book about the woman who may just have committed the greatest act of theft in film his-

Scott O’Brien’s “Ann Harding: Cinema’s Gallant Lady” is a fascinating story of a fascinating actress who possessed beauty so patrician she made Grace Kelly look like trailer trash.

hompson may be a movie/ music connoisseur’s specialty, but when it comes to unearthing the really obscure yet worthy diva, no one has it over Scott O’Brien. The author of “Kay Francis: I Can’t Wait to Be Forgotten” has now come out with “Ann Harding: Cinema’s Gallant Lady” (Bear Manor), the fascinating story of a fascinating actress who possessed beauty so patrician she made Grace Kelly look like trailer trash, But beyond her classic features and waist-length spun-gold hair, Harding was a compelling, intelligent actress who radiated warmth and humor, even in her sudsiest roles.

My favorite film of hers is the heartbreaking, super -smart “The Flame Within” (1935), written and directed by gay auteur Edmund Goulding, in which she plays a psychiatrist coping with her feelings for one particularly difficult patient, played by Louis Hayward (a real life lover of Noel Coward’s).

But Harding was always watchable,

“I like writers — they’ve always been in my life and I’ve always admired the spoken word. I stayed away from actors — that I knew about.”

COURTESY: SCOTT O’BRIEN

locate centenary tribute to Lucille Ball at the Library of Congress (Madison Building, through Jan. 28), which consisted of little more than period magazine articles, sheet music for her TV show’s theme, a few personal photos, and the manuscript for the “Babalu” drum part. When one considers the Library’s extensive, permanent display for Bob Hope’s entire, comparatively dull life, it just makes you wanna go, “Ricky, waah!”

I was quite impressed by Richmond’s Museum of Fine Arts, a lavish, new pile with a word-class collection, much of it donated by the Mellons — you know, dear, dear Bunny, whose collection of totally useless, totally lavish Jean Schlumberger bibelots are on special exhibit and will make you gasp at the frivolous spending gambits of the filthy rich. There’s a gorgeous portrait of the great film director Jean Renoir as a boy, painted by his daddy, Pierre-August; a wonderful Toulouse-Lautrec oil of a tavern scene; an exquisite, small Van Gogh dockside view, and an ultra-chic, expressionistic Kees Van Dongen study of a lady with her dog.

I also visited Richmond’s Monument Avenue, with its impressive equestrian statues of the Civil War likes of Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, rather startlingly juxtaposed with a more recent one of Arthur Ashe. The Maymount estate is a Gilded Age mansion on 100 acres of elaborate gardens, donated by one loaded, childless couple, James and Sallie Dooley. Whenever I hear the word “childless” in the context of scrupulously assembled art and antiques, my gaydar somehow instantly goes off, and there I go, sniffing for queer clues. Sure enough,

SAM IRVIN COLLECTION

䉴

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

Thompson not only gave a brilliant, triple-threat, satiric musical portrait of Diana Vreeland in this one, but was a total Renaissance woman in real life.

She was a brilliant vocal arranger who taught the likes of Judy Garland and Lena Horne how to sing, created what many consider the greatest nightclub act of all time, wrote the eternally popular “Eloise” series of children’s books, and found time to be an inspirational godmother to Liza Minnelli, who paid total tribute to her in her last Broadway outing.

Irvin’s lifelong obsession with Thompson (née Kitty Fink) answers every question you may have ever had about this fascinating, difficult talent, from her rumored lesbianism to her affair with her one-time chorus boy Andy Williams, her endless litigiousness, and her involvement with the revolutionary 1974 Versailles fashion show in which black models sporting American ready-to-wear designer duds fully triumphed over Parisian haute couture.

Minnelli was the big get for Irvin in terms of interviewees and, after what he described to me as quite the merry chase, she rewarded him with a wealth of memories that help to make this one of the best performer bios ever done.

and the contrast between the humane nobility of so many of her onscreen characters and her formidable, real-life complexity is something O’Brien explores with his usual perceptiveness and exhaustive research.

In addition, O’Brien has also penned “Virginia Bruce: Under My Skin” about that feline-faced beauty best known for introducing “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” in the 1936 musical “Born to Dance.”

He’s currently working on the life of the superb Ruth Chatterton, perhaps the greatest largely forgotten actress of the last century.

For a complete guide to O’Brien’s work visit scottobrienauthor.com.

The publishing house of Bear Manor is to be commended for supporting these kinds of rarefied, “uncommercial” subjects at a time when all the major houses seem only to be interested in yet more unnecessary bios of Monroe, Bette, and Crawford, written by suspect hacks like Charlotte Chandler — whose books always seem like paste jobs from previously published bios, in the masquerade of offering “lengthy, in-depth, personal interviews.”

Contact David Noh at Inthenoh@aol. com and check out his new blog at http:// nohway.wordpress.com/.

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 – 27 SEP 2011

29

500 T-CELLS

OR LESS. IT’S TIME

TO TAKE ACTION. 250 380

500

750

Talk with your doctor and consider all the factors about starting treatment.

HIV treatment is now recommended for everyone with a T-cell count of 500 or less and should be considered when T-cells are higher than 500, according to the DHHS* and the IAS-USA†. Starting treatment early may help protect your immune system and vital organs. Today’s medicines may have fewer, more manageable side effects. They may help you live a longer, healthier life. Receive helpful information about living with HIV that you should know. Call toll free 1-888-453-2593, or visit TREATHIVNOW.COM. *DHHS = Department of Health and Human Services †IAS-USA = International AIDS Society USA. ©2011 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. UN9720 07/11

14 – 27 SEP 2011

30

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

New York’s 11th Annual

Diversity Employment Day

CAREER FAIR Friday, September 30, 2011

Show Hours 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Holiday Inn Midtown 57th Street 440 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019

MEET WITH NEW YORK’S TOP EMPLOYERS!

Hundreds of Jobs and Careers!

FASTRACK

FILM DISTRICT

Current Exhibitor’s Include: Gay City News, Verizon Wireless, Wells Fargo, BDO USA, NYPD Recruitment Unit, Citi, Curtis Wright Flow Control, The Rockefeller University, Visiting Nurse Regional Home Care, Take Shape For Life, Event Management Productions and Many More!

Pre-Schedule all your interviews prior to

FREE ! attending! Don’t wait in line. Just select your company and send your resume to fasttrack@citycareerfair.com with ssion Admi

NY in the Subject line. Please Join Us. Open to the Public.

Business Attire & Resumes Required. 18 + Over Employers it’s OPU UPP MBUF ‰ JOGP!DJUZDBSFFSGBJS DPN t XXX DJUZDBSFFSGBJS DPN

OfďŹ cial Healthy Living Sponsor

OfďŹ cial Corporate Sponsor

OfďŹ cial Corporate Sponsor

OfďŹ cial Corporate Sponsor

Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive� gives bigger audiences a chance to see Ryan Gosling’s work, though his role is not necessarily ingratiating.

䉴

DRIVE, from p.20

pawnshop robbery. However, things go badly awry.

Many critics have speculated that “Drive� will finally make Gosling a star.

That may be, but his performance isn’t particularly ingratiating. The times may have passed when films like Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Westerns could turn a Clint Eastwood into a star. Driver talks little and shows less emotion. His smile is appealing, but his outbursts of violence, while infrequent, are chilling. Gosling’s looks make the character’s contradictions go down easier. It might be easier to believe Driver’s badass attitude from an older or less handsome actor, but Irene’s attraction to Driver is more believable.

That said, the romance in “Drive� often feels obligatory, despite Gosling and Mulligan’s best efforts. On one level, that’s a function of the narrative. In order to keep Irene safe, she has to stay away from the plot’s main action. (The film’s only other female character dies quickly.) As macho as it is, the film has an odd sense of chivalry.

The closest “Drive� comes to bringing both worlds together is a scene set in an elevator. It’s the most jarring moment in the film precisely because Driver goes from making out with Irene to kicking a man’s head in. His lack of hesitation about the latter makes it clear that it was on his mind all the time, even while kissing Irene.

Like Mann, Refn has a passion for shallow-focus nocturnal cityscapes.

He loves shooting blurred lights out of car windows. The colors in “Drive� are bright and saturated. Mann has recently turned to high-definition digital video;

while Refn is still shooting in 35mm, he gets many of the same effects.

Composer Cliff Martinez’s score for “Drive� evokes the ‘80s. Heavy on the electronics, it could have been composed by the great disco producer Giorgio Moroder, who wrote the soundtracks for “American Gigolo� and “Midnight Express� and worked with Donna Summer. The soundtrack for “Drive� includes two songs from the Italians Do It Better record label, which is devoted to resurrecting the Eurodisco sound pioneered

by Moroder, albeit in a rawer, more DIY form.

Refn’s film attempts much the same sort of resuscitation as the music it uses.

I’ve only seen two of his previous films, and I wasn’t impressed by his “Valhalla Rising,� a pretentious trip through the Viking era. Refn may work better when he has a clear model to follow. “Drive� is a thoroughly cinephilic film, in the Tarantino mode. Refn fills his cast with great character actors, from Brooks to Christina Hendricks and Bryan Cranston. (Evidently, “Mad Men� and “Breaking Bad have made it to Denmark.) He gives Brooks a chance to play against type as a vicious gangster, and the actor tears into the role with great enthusiasm.

Humanity is not the film’s strong point — Driver and Irene’s connection seems more like a contrivance the more one thinks about it. However, this excursion into style is really seductive. Even if Refn continues down this road and winds up seeming like as much of an arrested adolescent as Tarantino often does, the “maturity� of “Valhalla Rising� suited him far less.

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 – 27 SEP 2011

31

Keep your backcountry clean.

No laxatives. No drugs. Just natural cleansing gentle enough for daily use. f leetnaturals.com

CBF-11-0007 NSP 9_7x10_5.indd 1

5/25/11 12:59 PM

14 – 27 SEP 2011

32

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 DAYS 14 NIGHTS THU.SEP.15

READING Warnock Keeps the Careening Lively # #

#$! # ! . " ! $"

$ !" $" ! # " " ! !( "# " !

$ !" & " " ' " $" ! # !# & ! $ # * + + ! (# "

$& " .1 & .,- # " %% # -/- !" / " " # # 6,2207,22

! * # $ # 7,22

!# 7,42

+20 !& +-,, * !

"!( +.,,' +/,,

! ! ! # # $! " # #" " # # 656-572-3774 !

1% " -

)) % " "" # ! $ # ! $" "$ !# $! !" " " !",

âœŻ

Kathleen Warnock, hosting her regular “Drunken!

Careening! Writers!� series welcomes Kelli Dunham, a nerd gone wild (mild?) stand-up comic; Jessie Male, founder of baddategreatstory.com and an MFA nonfiction student finishing up at Hunter College who recently received an Edward Albee Fellowship to support her writing; and Vanda, a playwright who just published her first nonfiction story, “Jack,� in Prairie Schooner.

KGB Bar, 85 E. Fourth St., btwn. Bowery & Second Ave. Sep. 15, 7 p.m. Admission is free. âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

GALLERY Awareness & Representation Among Lesbians “Lesbians Seeing Lesbians: building community in early feminist photography� focuses on three of the most prominent photographers of this generation of artists who emerged in the 1970s during the early years of the feminist revolution — Tee A. Corinne (1943-2006: St. Petersburg, Florida), JEB (Joan E. Biren, born in 1944, Washington DC), and Cathy Cade (born in 1942, Honolulu). In addition, this exhibition pays tribute to these pioneering women by showing work of contemporary lesbian photographers including Catherine Opie and Cass Bird that engages and reworks their founding vision in contemporary lesbian life. The Leslie/ Lohman Gallery, 26 Wooster St., btwn. Grand & Canal Sts. Tue.-Sat., noon-6 p.m., through Oct. 22. On Sep. 15, 6 - 8 p.m., exhibition curators Ilana Eloit, Julia Haas, and Jonathan David Katz lead a panel discussion featuring JEB and Cade.

More information at leslielohman.org. âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

a cross section formed by two overlapping orbits.�

Kucka’s new show, “Ultra Structures,� is on exhibit at Brenda Taylor Gallery, 505 W. 28th St., through Oct. 22. More information at brendataylorgallery.com.

Call 212-463-7166 to confirm exhibition hours.

âœŻ

âœŻ

Unity in Oppositions “Kathleen Kucka’s recent body of work combines two seemingly opposed entities — biomorphic forms and manmade structures,� writes critic Stephanie Buhmann, adding, “She moves freely between these poles, which when studied in relation, enhance each other’s unique characteristics. Through this parallel pursuit, Kucka establishes an imaginative zone,

Rudin Management Company, Inc.

* ! " * ! ( $!" / ! !" ! # / " $"

! !! / !

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

PERFORMANCE Joey & Basil “Arias with a Twist,� created by songtress Joey Arias and Basil Twist, had a sold-out eight-month run in 2008 — to enthusiastic reviews. The show returns for a four-week engagement. Updated for 2011, the madcap fantasy features the soaring song stylings of demented diva Arias surrounded by an eye-popping theatrical extravaganza conjured by a team of puppeteers under Twist’s direction. Channeling lurid celluloid dreams, macabre nightmares, and bizarre premonitions, the adventure begins with an alien abduction and concludes with a stupendous Busby Berkeley-esque finale.

Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand St., btwn. Pitt & Bialystoker Sts. Wed. – Fri. at 8 p.m.; Sat. at 8 & 10:30 p.m.; Sun. at 7 p.m., through Oct. 15. Tickets are $25- $65 at AbronsArtsCenter.org or 212-352-3101.

For more information, visit AriasWithATwist.com. âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

THEATER A Cooperative Stage In “Lush Valley,� performers and participants unite in an interactive art experience to form an idyllic yet still-attainable society. The evening is a guided theatrical journey shaped by real-time feedback as audience members become key players in fashioning an alternative of-the-moment national ethos through live video interviews, citizenship tests, lectures, voting procedures, and more. The production is the creation of dramaturg Mahayana Landowne, video artist Tal Yarden, and writers Robert Lyons and Qui Nguyen.

HERE Theater’s artistic director Kristin Marting directs.

HERE, 145 Sixth Ave. at Dominick St., just bel.

Spring St. Wed.-Mon., through Sep. 24, 8:30 p.m.

Tickets are $18 at here.org. âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

DANCE La Lune Noir Dance New Amsterdam (DNA), a progressive dance education and performance center, opens its 2011-1012 season with “Black Moon (La Lune Noir) Act I,â€? presented by collaborating artists Monstah Black and Major Scurlock. The dance fuses a score of Afrobeat and house music with spoken word from Arnold Schoenberg’s “Pierrot Lunaire,â€? and significant poems by Langston Hughes and Albert Giraud. The world premiere of this eclectic seven-scene AfricanAmerican theatrical adventure dives into topics of what it means to be a black artist during a special time of American history with the nation’s first black president. DNA, 280 Broadway, second fl., entrance of Chambers St. Sep. 15-16, 8 p.m. Tickets are $17; $14 for students & seniors at dnadance.org. On Sep. 16, Matthew Morrison, a Princeton University and Vassar College music educator, moderates a postperformance talkback. âœŻ

Kathleen Kucka (“Ultra Structures�): September 15

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

䉴

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

âœŻ

SEP 15, continued on p.33

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

䉴

14 – 27 SEP 2011

14 DAYS 14 NIGHTS SEP 15, from p.32

CABARET He’ Still Here… Singing OnStage Productions artistic director Richard Biever directs a cast that includes Sally Wilfert (“Assassins,” “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”) and Kate Wetherhead (“Legally Blonde,” “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”) in “Side By Side By Sondheim,” a musical revue of works from the legendary Broadway genius. The Laurie Beechman Theatre, inside West Bank Café, 407 W. 42nd St. Sep. 15, 7 p.m.

Tickets are $20, with a $15 food & drink minimum.

Reservations at 212-695-6909. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

Eder & Feinstein Are Two for the Road Michael Feinstein and Linda Eder share the spotlight in their show “Two For The Road,” which features classics from Harold Arlen, George Gershwin, and Sammy Cahn; hits from newer writers like Peter Allen, Joni Mitchell, and Michel Legrand; and selections from Feinstein’s upcoming CD “The Sinatra Legacy.” Music director Billy Jay Stein conducts a seven-piece band.

Loews Regency Hotel, 540 Park Av. at 61st St. Tue.-Thu., 8:30 p.m.; Fri-Sat., 8 p.m. & 10:30 p.m., Through Oct. 1. Cover charge is $95, with premium seats at $175-$250. All shows have a $40 food minimum. Information and reservations at 212-339-4095 or feinsteinsatloewsregency.com. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

FRI.SEP.16

ACTIVISM Standing With Those Who Stood Up For Us

Though New York State achieved marriage equality back in June, five members of the direct action grassroots group Queer Rising who put their own liberty at stake and performed civil disobedience as part of the fight are facing a court appearance today. The arrests of Kevin Donahue, Melissa Kleckner, Natasha Dillon, Robert Moore, and Ali Lozano were in connection with an April 4 protest outside Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Midtown office.

They will appear in the New York City Criminal Court House, 100 Centre St., Part A, in Foley Square, Sep. 16, 9:30 a.m. (additional details may appear on the Queer Rising Facebook page). If you can’t show your support in person, you can contact District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s LGBT advisor, Katie Doran, to press for dismissal of the charges at 212335-9291 or dorank@dany.nyc.gov. You can also support the Queer Rising group through purchase of a T-shirt ($20) at customink.com/signup/7tvlwfc. ✯

33

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

NIGHTLIFE Sexy Needlework What’s not to love about penetrating someone or being penetrated by someone with needles? Mistress Trish, a pro-domme, a maker of femme domme porn, and a kink, relationship, and sexuality educator, shares her enthusiasm for temporary piercing in an evening hosted by the Lesbian Sex Mafia. Whether you are

new to piercing or an experienced piercing top or bottom, this class is for you. Trish will cover the basics of needle play as well as some of the more advanced ways to safely incorporate needles into your scenes.

For gay, straight, bi, transsexual and intersex women 18 and older and any female-born trans person. LGBT Center, 208 W. 13th St. Sep. 16, 8-10 p.m. Admission is $10; $5 for LSM members. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

THEATER Bozo and Other Believers In Susana Cook’s latest play, a misunderstood miracle shakes a conservative congregation’s values to its core, when the beloved pastor becomes the center of a spectacular scandal. The resulting firestorm will forever shatter the congregants’ notions of sex, gender, and intercourse between animate beings. “The Homophobes, A Clown Show” is a transcendent trans-comedy of errors featuring mad ministers, Saturdayanic and divine interventions, confused angels, and maybe even the anti-Christ. Julian Mesri directs a ten-member cast that includes Cook. Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie St., btwn. Delancey & Rivington Sts. Fri.-Sat., 7:30 p.m., through Sep. 24. Tickets are $15 at dixonplace. org; $20 at the door. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

GALLERY Rauschenberg’s Camera Artist Robert Rauschenberg’s engagement with photography began in the late 1940s under the tutelage of Hazel Larsen Archer at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, after which he was unsure whether to pursue painting or photography as a career. He chose both and found ways to fold photography into his “Combines,” maintaining a practice of photographing friends and family, documenting the evolution of artworks, and occasionally dramatizing them by inserting himself into the picture frame. “The use of photograph has long been an essential device for Rauschenberg’s melding of imagery,” Walter Hopps wrote. “Without photography, much of Rauschenberg’s oeuvre would scarcely exist.” Rauschenberg himself said, “I’ve never stopped being a photographer.” “Robert Rauschenberg: Photographs 1949-1962” D.A.P./ Schirmer/ Mosel), edited By Susan Davidson and David White with text by Nicholas Cullinan, gathers and surveys for the first time Rauschenberg’s numerous uses of photography. The book contains portraits of friends Merce Cunningham and John Cage and lovers Cy Twombly and Jasper Johns. To celebrate the publication of this book, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation showcases rolling images selected from the book projected onto its warehouse space. 455 W. 19th St. Sep. 16-Oct. 3, noon-9 p.m. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

SAT.SEP. 17

COMMUNITY Heroes on an Atar

Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn, the borough’s LGBT political club honors “Heroes of Marriage Equality,” including Ron Zacchi of Marriage

䉴

SEP 17, continued on p.35

FOR FREE HIV TESTING, CALL

311

34

14 – 27 SEP 2011

Global Return On Inclusion was the theme of this year's 3-day annual gathering of global diversity policy makers, chief diversity officers, experts, practitioners, government and non-governmental organizations - The 2011 World Diversity Leadership Summit (WDLS). First launched in 2004, WDLS has become the leading source of global diversity strategies, best practices, applications and cutting edge global diversity research topics both globally and locally.

The kickoff event on Sept. 6 was held at the US Open with the USTA's ICON Awards honoring David N. Dinkins as the recipient of the Billie Jean King Legacy Award - presented by tennis legend and equal rights pioneer, Billie Jean King. It was a beautiful evening where everyone was entertained by Dia Frampton and her group, performing artist from "The Voice". The reception ended with closing remarks and champagne toast by Gordon Smith, USTA Director and COO. All sessions of the summit were L-R: Elise Gordon, Janet Salazar, Gwen Marcus, Paul Schindler, Dr. Marjorie held at El Museo del Barrio with a Hill, Bruce Knotts, Deena Fidas highlighted session LGBTQ Emergence, Global and Local Impact panel.

Moderated by Paul Schindler, founding editor in-chief of Gay City News, speakers discussed key LGBTQ issues ranging from corporate workplace practices, trends, retention policies and inclusion initiatives drawing examples from their respective companies and experiences, sociopolitical impact of the emerging LGBTQ prominence across all sectors, HIV-AIDS and other health issues, the Q in LGBTQ, the challenges of being Transgender viewed as the most "oppressed" group in the LGBTQ community, among others. The panelists were Bruce Knotts, Executive Director of Unitarian Universalist UN Office, Gwen Marcus, EVP, General Counsel for Showtime Networks, Elise Gordon, CEO of Purple Genie, Deena Fidas, Deputy Director of Project Workplace at Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Dr. Marjorie Hill, CEO of Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) and Nancy Di Dia, Executive Director at Boehringer Ingelheim.

Participants, guests and speakers were treated to another night of networking, hors d'oeuvres and free-flowing wine at the United Nations Reception. Foundation for the Support of the United Nations (FSUN), led

by Project Director, Constance J. Peak and the UN-accredited NGO partner of WDLS co-hosted the reception together with Draftfcb, Cisco and Enterprise Holdings. Janet C. Salazar, UN Representative of FSUN and Douglas Freeman, Founder and CEO of WDLS emceed the program, where everyone was formally welcomed to the United Nations by Roland Rich, Executive Head of UN Office for Partnerships.

The 3rd and last day of the Summit, Sept. 8 was another day featuring an array of expert panelists discussing timely and key diversity issues globally such as Diversity and Asia Veterans in America, Global Multi-cultural Sports Entertainment Models, Corporate Social Responsibility, Employee Resource Groups (ERG). The highlighted session of the day was the Virtcom Solutions Workshop: diversity-Return on Investment (d-ROI) by Douglas Freeman. The d-ROI methodology can actually answer the question, "How much money does my diversity initiative directly drive to the bottom-line of my company?" d-ROI is fast becoming the budgetary salvation and growth engine for both US and global diversity initiatives.

Finally, the Summit concluded with a Reception and Ceremony at New York Stock Exchange hosted by office of Naval Research, Adecco, EMC and Caesars Foundation Honoring the Montfort Point Marines.

World Diversity Leadership Summit (WDLS) was founded in Prague, Czech Republic in 2004 by Douglas Freeman, CEO of Virtcom Consulting and Robert Ingram, Publisher of Uptown Professional www.janetcsalazar.com Magazine.

By: Janet C. Salazar

䉴

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

BRIEFS, from p.14

Cheyenne Weds Beau in Intimate Ceremony Cheyenne Jackson, the versatile singer and actor whose recent credits include “Finian’s Rainbow” on Broadway, “Glee” and “30 Rock” on TV, and a duo performance with Michael Feinstein on the cabaret stage, married his longtime partner, physicist Monte Lapka, in a small sunset ceremony at Atlantic Beach in Amagansett, Long Island on September 3.

In a Twitter message, Jackson wrote, “It’s official, after 11 years together, Zora’s no longer a bastard. Married the best man I’ve ever known.”

Zora is the couple’s dog.

The Reverend Alison Caiola of Rainbow Wedding Clergy, an interfaith minister whose parents conducted same-sex weddings dating back to Stonewall, officiated.

Caiola, in an email message, said that Jackson, Lapka, and Zora, their “daughter-dog,” were joined by two friends at the service.

Jackson, who does work on behalf of amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, and the Hetrick-Martin Institute, which serves LGBTQ youth in New York City and administers the Harvey Milk High School, was active and visible in the fight for marriage equality here leading up to the victory in the State Senate on June 24.

Jackson is next scheduled to appear with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall on November 18 in a program titled “Cocktail Hour: Music of the Mad Men Era,” — featuring what the event’s producers term “the cool swinging tunes of the ‘50s and ‘60s,” including “Feeling Good,” “Luck Be a Lady,” and “Sway”.

Mistrial in 2008 Lawrence King Slaying The trial of a 17-year-old California man charged with the 2008 hate crime killing of 15-year-old Lawrence King ended in a 7-5 deadlock on September 1.

Defendant Brandon McInerney was 14 when he walked into the computer lab at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, put a 22-caliber gun to his gay classmate’s head, and shot twice.

The jury could have found McInerney guilty of either murder or manslaughter.

According to USA Today,

Cheyenne Jackson and husband Monte Lapka at their September 3 Amagansett, Long Island wedding.

prosecutor Maeve Fox said McInerney was upset because King, who from time to time wore makeup and girls’ boots to school, approached him and asked, “What’s up, baby?”

The newspaper said the prosecution argued that McInerney was intelligent but also abused and harbored both anti-gay and white supremacist attitudes. The shooter, the prosecution said, knew what he intended when he brought the gun to school.

McInerney, his attorneys argued, snapped due to King flirting with him and other male students and the school’s failure to address his discomfort with that behavior.

Many commentators complained that defense amounted to a “gay panic” argument focused on blaming the victim.

The school, responding to charges it had failed to address tensions in the school, took the position that King had the right to dress in the manner he wished. The young man had faced ongoing bullying from McInerney and other students.

Scott Wippert, one of McInerney’s attorneys, said jurors told him they had rejected the hate crime enhancement to the

charges his client faced, the Los Angeles Times reported, though no juror spoke to the newspaper.

The prosecution also declined comment, but indicated it would decide how to move forward with a retrial for McInerney within a month.

The Times reported that Greg and Dawn King, the victim’s parents, stormed out of the courtroom.

“The mistrial declared today is hard l y a s u r p r i s e , ” E l i z a Byard, the executive director of the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), said in a written statement.

“This was always destined to be a case with little resolution and no winners, whatever the verdict. The central facts remain the same: homophobia killed Larry King and destroyed Brandon McInerney’s life, and adults failed both young men because of their own inability to deal forthrightly and compassionately with the multiple challenges they each faced. The jury’s indecision is a sad reflection of our collective inability to find common ground and invest in a better future for all youth and a culture of respect for all.”

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 – 27 SEP 2011

35

14 DAYS 14 NIGHTS 䉴

SEP 17, from p.33

Equality New York, Brian Ellner of the Human Rights Campaign, activists Rich Murray, Jim Harvey, Joseph Tanzi, Mary Jo Kennedy, and Jo-Ann Shain, and Brooklyn members of the State Assembly and Senate who stood with and fought on behalf of the community. Commonwealth Bar, 497 Fifth Ave. at 12th St., Park Slope.

Sep. 17, 4-7 p.m. Admission is $30 at lidbrooklyn.org, lidbrooklyn@gmail.com, or 917-696-1781. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

JOIN FOR YOUR HEALTH STAY FOR YOUR WELL-BEING

✯

Music Al Fresco The New York City Gay Men’s Chorus presents the first annual NYCGMC Song-A-Thon, a fall afternoon of music in the park. Think song festival meets chorus garden party. Choral sets will be interspersed with smaller group and solo numbers — and there will be lots of sing-a-long opportunities for spectators. Jackson Square Park, W. 13th St. at Eighth Ave. (Rain locale is the LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St.) Sep. 17, 2-6 p.m. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

JOIN THE Y NOW AND PAY NO JOINER’S FEE

✯

Karen Finley: September 17

Kitchen Al Fresco The Kitchen kicks off the fall season in West Chelsea and the Highline area with an free afternoon block party featuring live performances as well as dozens of artist-led activities, including face-painting, puppet and mask-making, temporary tattoos, cookie decorating, collaborative sculpture projects, unusual photo booths, and hula-hoop and drumming workshops. 19th St., btwn. Tenth & Eleventh Aves. Sep. 17, noon-5 p.m.

Check out a video of last year’s Kitchen Block Party at vimeo.com/thekitchen/blockparty2011. For more information on this year’s event, visit thekitchen.org. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

In Support of Immigrant Rights For the second year in a row, Make the Road New York hosts a Walk For Immigration New York, a celebration of the metropolitan area’s many immigrant communities and a way to raise money to serve, educate, and empower those communities. Walkers gather at Northern Playground, Northern Blvd. at 93rd St., Jackson Heights, at 12:30 p.m., Sep. 17. The program starts at 1, with the walk beginning at 1:30. The walk ends at Hinton Park, 113th St. btwn. 34th & 35th Aves. in East Elmhurst. To participate, visit maketheroadny.org, walkforimmigrantny.org or contact katie.lyon-hart@maketheroadny.org or 718-418-7690, ext. 1234. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

PERFORMANCE It’s Up to You, Liza Minnelli, Liza Minnelli Performance artist Karen Finley presents an encore engagement of “Make Love,” a 2003 tribute to Liza Minnelli, whose tragicomic life is the backdrop as one New Yorker grasps to make sense of post-9/11 America. The “divaness” of Liza as an icon and symbol of New York is explored with pathos, hilarity, mockery, and taboo-smashing. Finley is narrator and appears with drag performer and artist Chris Tanner, pianist Lance Cruce, and a rotating roster of Minnelli impersonators.

The Laurie Beechman Theatre inside West Bank Café, 407 W. 42nd St. Sep. 17, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $22, with a $15 food & drink minimum. Reservations at SpinCycleNYC.com or 212-352-3101. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

GALLERY When You Can’t Get It Out of Your Head RH Gallery presents “Melodymania,” an exhibition based on the theme of songs that get stuck in your head. This experience is projected into artworks that emanate music, even in their silence. Newsha Tavakolian’s series of portraits, “Listen,” capture Persian female singers who have been banned from performing in public or producing albums in Iran. A portrait of Kurt Cobain by Mark Seliger depicts the tone of his music in his expression, as does the portrait of Bob Dylan by Elliott Landy. Bonnie Engelhardt Lautenberg’s striking portraits of Lady Gaga live in performance resonate similarly. Bruce Nauman’s print Violins/Violence is a pun that is simultaneously verbal, visual, and aural. Mathew Barney’s photograph “The Executioner’s Song” originated from his film “Cremaster 2,” loosely based on Norman Mailer’s book about Gary Gilmore, a convicted killer and the alleged grandson of Harry Houdini. RH Gallery, 137 Duane St., btwn. W. Broadway & Church St. Tue.-Sat., 11 a.m.-7 p.m., through Oct. 29. For more information, visit rhgallery. com. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

DOWNLOAD A FREE ONE-DAY PASS AT YMCANYC.ORG CALL (212) 630-YMCA FOR DETAILS

OPEN HOUSE SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9 12-4PM

✯

Weathered Beauty & Meaning Photographer and artist Christine Finkelson exhibits her series of fine art photographs, “Hidden Messages,” which explores the beauty of weathered materials and the process of decay, looking at the textures of surfaces and how one responds to them in a visceral way. “I spent the summer photographing the old util-

䉴

EXPERIENCE THE Y

SEP 17, continued on p.40

EVERYONE IS WELCOME. We work to eliminate all barriers to full participation. Ask at any Y about the Financial Assistance program.

14 - 27 SEP 2011

36/ Editorial ■ LETTER FROM THE EDITOR PUBLISHER & CO-FOUNDER JOHN W. SUTTER

JWSutter@communitymediallc.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER & CO-FOUNDER

Moving Beyond Shock on Transgender Health

BY PAUL SCHINDLER

TROY MASTERS

troy@gaycitynews.com EDITOR IN-CHIEF & CO-FOUNDER PAUL SCHINDLER

editor@gaycitynews.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Duncan Osborne

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Christopher Byrne (Theater), Susie Day, Doug Ireland (International), Brian McCormick (Dance), Dean P. Wrzeszcz

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Betsy Andrews, Seth J. Bookey, Anthony M.Brown, Kelly Jean Cogswell, Dean Daderko, Tate Dougherty, Andres Duque, Michael Ehrhardt, Steve Erickson, Nick Feitel, Jim Fouratt, Joe Fyfe, Deborah Garwood, Erasmo Guerra, Emily Harney, Andrey Henkin, Frank Holiday, Andy Humm, James Jorden, Brendan Keane, David Kennerley, Gary M. Kramer, Arthur S. Leonard, Rachael Liberman, Michael T. Luongo, Lawrence D. Mass, Winnie McCroy, Eileen McDermott, Gregory Montreuil, Ioannis Mookas, Carrie Moyer, Stephen Mueller, Christopher Murray, David Noh, Wayne Northcross, Lori Ortiz, Pauline Park, Sheila Pepe, John Reed, Nathan Riley, Andrew Robinson, Gerard Robinson, Chris Schmidt, Sarah D. Schulman, Jason Victor Serinus, Linda Shapiro, David Shengold, Gus Solomons Jr., David Spiher, Drew B. Straub, Stefen Styrsky, Jerry Tallmer, Stefanos Tsigrimanis, Kathleen Warnock, Benjamin Weinthal, Lee Ann Westover, James Withers, Kai Wright, Susan Yung

ART DIRECTOR Mark Hasselberger

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jamie Paakkonen

SENIOR VP OF ADVERTISING/MARKETING FRANCESCO REGINI

francesco@gaycitynews.com

ADVERTISING MANAGERS COLIN GREGORY ALLISON GREAKER KAREN KOSSMAN ELLYN ROTHSTEIN MICHAEL SLAGLE JULIO TUMBACO Please call (212) 229-1890 for advertising rates and availability.

BUSINESS MANAGER / CONTROLLER VERA MUSA vera@gaycitynews.com

NATIONAL DISPLAY ADVERTISING Rivendell Media / 212.242.6863

Web master Arturo Jimenez Arturo@gaycitynews.com Gay City News, The Newspaper Serving Gay and Lesbian NYC, is published by Community Media, LLC. Send all inquiries to: Gay City News, 515 Canal Street, Unit 1C, NYC 10013 Phone: 646.452.2500 Written permission of the publisher must be obtained before any of the contents of this paper, in part or whole, can be reproduced or redistributed. All contents (c) 2010 Gay City News.

Gay City News is a registered trademark of Community Media, LLC. John W. Sutter, President Fax: 646.452.2501; E-mail: JWSutter@communitymediallc.com

Subscriptions: 26 issues, $90.00 (c)2011 Gay City News.

All rights reserved.

E

ven for those with some knowledge of the economic, social, and health disparities facing the transgender community, an August New York Times Magazine story, “The High Price of Looking Like a Woman,” likely shocked the conscience.

The story explored an underground and little known practice by which so-called “pumpers” inject silicone into the breasts, buttocks, hips, and faces of transgender women aiming to feminize their appearance. The practice exists outside the medical care industry and without its safeguards –– or, usually, even anesthesia.

Among many medical risks associated with the practice is the customary use of loose silicone rather than enclosed implants, a procedure that can lead to the migration of silicone throughout the body and, in turn, disfigurement and scarring. The Times story, in gruesome detail, spelled out a host of other negative outcomes, including chronic infection, blood system poisoning, respiratory impairment, autoimmune reactions, pulmonary embolisms, and death.

The story cites a conclusion by the New York City health department that just over one-fifth of the estimated 12,500 transgender people in the city have undergone silicone injections.

Given the high proportion of that population that is uninsured and the widespread exclusion of gender transition procedures in both private and public health care plans, it is likely that the vast majority of those silicone procedures were carried out in the unsafe underground pumping economy.

It’s all too easy to come away from the Times’ account with nothing more constructive than the view that these pumpers must be stopped. Although the story quotes a practitioner identified only as S. saying, “I try to help the girls because they want to look feminine,” advocates for the transgender community familiar with the phenomenon make clear that pumpers are culpable for the significant harm

they cause.

Jillian Weiss, a legal scholar who teaches at New Jersey’s Ramapo College and works with corporations on transgender workplace diversity issues, told Gay City News, “The people who are doing this have to know the risks and are not informing those who come to them.”

Pauline Park, who heads up the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA), said, “Pumpers prey on naïve trans people.”

Weiss and Park agree that pumpers should face criminal prosecution, but neither is under any illusion that going after the “supply” side will curb the unmet demand the transgender community has for procedures and hormone therapies needed to facilitate their gender transition.

Mara Keisling, the executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, emphasized that it is simplistic and demeaning to suggest that efforts by transgender women to feminize their appearance are all about cosmetics. In her view, feminizing is, above all else, about “passing” –– and not getting killed.

“It’s about survival in getting a job, about not getting beat up on the subway, or maybe about finding a guy who will let them have a bed for the night,” she said.

Weiss and Park emphasized that true liberation for transgender people likely involves selfacceptance on matters including appearance. But, to get from one day to the next usually forces other considerations. “I don’t feel that passing should be necessary for a transgender identity,” Weiss said, “but in the real world, it is.”

The goal, then, must be to expand private and public health insurance access to the full range of services transgender people need to lead full and productive lives –– including mental health counseling, hormone treatments, and surgical interventions, ranging from genital reconstruction to breast augmentation to facial feminization.

In most health insurance programs, that is a steep climb.

Gender reassignment surgery, in particular, is widely disallowed.

Prohibitions and limitations on covering treatment related to gender transition –– even those that might be viewed as primarily “cosmetic” –– are based in prejudice. Breast augmentation is now viewed by society as a legitimate medical expense following a mastectomy, yet vital services are denied transgender people, despite the fact, as Keisling put it, that “science has rendered its judgment –– these are medically necessary.”

According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Medicare does not cover gender reassignment surgery, though “there is no exclusion under the federal Medicaid statute.”

As a result, the National Center for Lesbian Rights reports, “Almost every court that has ever considered the issue has concluded that states cannot categorically exclude sex reassignment surgeries for Medicaid coverage.”

Last month, for example, a three-judge federal court panel threw out a Wisconsin law banning hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgery for transsexual prison inmates. Cutting three transgender patients off from hormone treatment, the court found, amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment,” banned by the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution.

The 2005 Wisconsin statute that gave rise to the case, however, illustrates the political realities cutting against the posture federal courts have taken. When prison officials in the state first authorized hormone treatment for the three plaintiffs, a spate of news stories about taxpayerfunded “sex changes” led the Legislature to rush through a prohibition.

According to Park, NYAGRA, the Empire State Pride Agenda, and other groups have been working toward ending policies put in place during the Pataki administration that placed hurdles in the way of Medicaid funding for gender transition.

At the federal level, Park, Weiss, and Keisling all pointed to opportunities under the new health care law –– both in terms of banning discrimination based

on gender identity/expression in providing services and in defining the benefits available under expanded Medicaid eligibility and the health care exchanges the law establishes.

Discussions of these issues between advocates and staff at the Department of Health and Human Services have begun, but have not reached any definitive results. Keisling is upbeat about the possibilities: “The good thing about this administration is not that they do everything everyone wants, but that they are reasonable. We can go in, and if we show problems that can be fixed, I think we can get things done.”

Significant progress has made on comprehensive transgender health care at the nation’s largest corporate employees, due in good measure to pressure put on them by HRC through its Corporate Equality Index. According to the group, 25 percent of Fortune 100 and fully 40 percent of Fortune 1000 companies now offer transgender-inclusive health insurance.

Many transgender Americans, of course, do not work for the nation’s largest employers. Some work at jobs where they get no health care benefits; others scrape by in the underground economy, including sex work.

This situation is largely the legacy of pervasive discrimination.

Only determined efforts at education and advocacy will change this picture.

As Keisling pointed out, “Young trans folks are often mentored. If a mentor says, ‘Go get silicone,” many will follow that advise.” Outreach to transgender youth, many of them invisible or living on the streets, is required.

But the bigger education challenge involves the broader society, and that demands that the larger gay and lesbian community join with our trans brothers and sisters in tearing down stereotypes about gender and demanding equal employment and healthcare access. As the LGBT community fights high profile battles like marriage equality, it cannot –– in good conscience –– forsake this critical responsibility.

14 - 27 SEP 2011

Perspective /37 ■ SNIDE LINES

Pity The Poor Affluent: Save Dominique Strauss-Kahn

BY SUSIE DAY

L

ittle Dominique StraussKahn is only 62 years old, yet he struggles each day with a tragic disability: Try as he might, he cannot tell the difference between rape and consensual sex. Little Dominique suffers from a disabling moral affliction known as Assgrabbers Syndrome (AGS). You can save little Dominique — or you can turn this page.

Little Dominique was born into grinding affluence in an exclusive, upper -class suburb of Paris. His parents were too wealthy to afford the basic moral necessities. Dominique’s father, a tax attorney, and his other role models led a hand-tomouth existence in a ruthless, free-market “jungle capitaliste,” where “les profits” depended on daily toil — often from early morn’ ‘til the late evening salad course — and, sometimes, even past the cheese plate.

Trapped in this milieu of genteel brutality, little Dominique learned early how to acquire more, ever more property, businesses, and resources through the art of cutting “les boules” off the competition. He became so adept, in fact, that the corporate locals gave him the gang name of “DSK” as a rite of passage.

But because he had been

deprived of the proper ethical nutrients — and vowels — little DSK’s basic human conscience could not develop; it became stunted and shriveled. Studies show that being reduced to a diet of raw power and money is a major cause of AGS, and so

etary Fund.

Much in the way that children in developing countries are forced into prostitution, little DSK was made to offer huge IMF loans under impossible terms to desperately poor countries. Inevitably, when these

An illiterate immigrant woman from a dollar-a-day country who wants to make money? Now, that’s disgusting. little DSK came to believe that the sublime human experience of “l’amour” could be experienced merely in terms of mergers and acquisitions.

Yet the plucky little DSK struggled bravely against his crippling deformity. Although duty-bound to become a corporate attorney, he also joined the French Socialist Party, pitifully hoping that the universal love of a future classless society would heal his affliction. But his conscience remained a tiny, gnarled stump, and upon becoming the French finance minister, little DSK implemented many privatization and deregulation policies.

Ultimately, our wee Socialist hit rock bottom when he became head of the International Mon-

countries were unable to pay their debt, billions of nameless, faceless poor people — whose drinking water was polluted by corporations like Coca-Cola and whose air was polluted by corporations like Chevron — became even poorer. This created a dangerous situation for little DSK, whose heartrending Syndrome was soon to be exploited.

You see, poor foreigners in their own countries — countries like Guinea, for instance — are good, honest people. But when poor foreigners come to our country, hoping to become less poor, they turn shifty and bad.

Enter, from Guinea, Nafissatou Diallo.

Brazenly bor n where —

thanks largely to the IMF — the average person lives on less than $1.25 a day, the wily Nifassatou grew up stinking rich in poverty. Ms. Diallo longed to flaunt her illiteracy and her underprivileged background of penury, despair, and violence. But the flaunting prospects were few in her native land. As soon as she became poor enough, she emigrated to the United States, where she found work as a shameless hotel maid. There, victim-extraordinaire, she waited to victimize the first hapless global financier whose bed she could “turn down.”

So it was in May that little DSK, worn out from his travails, checked into a $3,000-anight suite at the Sofitel Hotel in Manhattan. Washing off the day’s residue of monopoly capital, he emerged from his cold, cold granite shower to find the uniformed Nafissatou hot in the act of “cleaning!” It was, to little DSK, as if Nafissatou were compelling him to help her develop her global market value!

Some kind of merger happened. Was it a tender offer? A leveraged buyout? Or, as Ms. Diallo insists, a hostile takeover? Alas, due to little DSK’s

moral defor mity, we shall never know. Apparently, it doesn’t matter.

It doesn’t matter because Nafissatou Diallo told some lies to the DA. Lies about things not having to do with the incident. When you’re an immigrant, lying counts a lot more than when you’re a CEO. As we read in the New York Times, “Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers… said in a statement that they had always maintained that the motivation of [Ms. Diallo’s lawyer] and his client was to make money.“ Rape-schmape: An illiter ate immigrant woman from a dollar -a-day country who wants to make money? Now, that’s disgusting. In fact, you might say that poor women like this, who prey on the inability of innocent tycoons to distinguish love from lust, only want to rape big bank accounts!

Don’t let this unspeakable violation happen to little Dominique Straus-Kahn — and to thousands of similarly impaired megalo-money men! Won’t you please help? Help find a cure for Assgrabbers Syndrome by donating your moral compass to: SAVE THE MOGULS, 666 World Trade Center, New York, NY 00000.

■ A DYKE ABROAD

Remembering September 11 on the Williamsburg Bridge

BY KELLY JEAN COGSWELL

F

riday night, we walked over the bridge to Williamsburg, grabbed a beer, and offered up our blood to the mosquitoes, which drank as much as they could hold and probably woke up hung over.

I hope so. So many welts. Why the ear? And three bites on one arm is excessive. That bone on my ankle couldn’t have been the most tender spot. I hope you broke your schnoz.

On the way back, the sky was just turning that dark velvety blue. And the windows of the skyscrapers were just then appearing in shining yellow blocks. The river was a

glassy black obsidian under us, and you could smell it over the exhaust of the trains that roared by now and then.

There was a Hispanic mom pushing a funny plastic car with a tiny boy slumped in it, and people of all races who had gotten a drink after work were staggering home with their backpacks and briefcases. A skirted Anglo woman peddled a wreck of a bike with an enormous basket on the handlebars that was full of potted flowers.

She was passed by all these thin, muscled guys going fast on their mountain bikes, and fat ones, too, driving themselves

up and over, gasping less than you’d expect, though one was slumped against the railing, staring at his bike, re-considering the matter. And there were tons of dykes spinning efficiently on their beaters.

We saw joggers and skateboarders and rollerbladers, including one beginner who crashed dramatically then picked herself up. On other days, I’ve seen the Hassidim getting a walk in after dinner — power-walking women with one or two strollers. And sweating couples blabbing as they went.

That’s the New York I like.

The strivers and talkers. The

self-propelled. Leaving messages for each other in the stickers and graffiti. Like the biologically correct heart at the Brooklyn end that pumps out a whole rainbowy flag from its broad red valves.

We are indestructible, and don’t need ceremonies to tell us so. What a mistake it was having that September 11 hoo-hah here in New York instead of D.C. or Dubuque. In the attacks, we lost 3,000 people, but not our soul. That was America, a little later, in a kind of postbombing suicide, when her citizens jumped in lockstep behind Bush as he used the opportuni-

ty of the two flaming monstrosities to make war.

And when too many were quoted smugly justifying torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo: “Better get them before they get us.” And didn’t offer a peep — and still don’t — as ordinary freedoms swirl down the drain, along with the common sense and generosity Americans used to be known for.

In an article in Spain’s El País, Moisés Naím reminded us of the moment just after the attacks when everybody was asking, “Where are the moder-

䉴

REMEMBERING, continued on p.39

14 – 27 SEP 2011

38

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

GCN CLASSIFIEDS/NIGHTLIFE DEADLINE WEDNESDAY 5:00PM MAIL 145 SIXTH AVENUE NEW YORK, NY 10013 TEL 646-452-2485 FAX 212.229.2790

APARTMENT RENTALS

BODYWORK

Freshly painted, 3 BRCharming ,1- 1/2 Ba apt FRENCH RIVIERA. town3 fam house Woodside.Quiet,restaurants, house, authentic village Gorges du Loup, shopping, Manhattan France, near easy Nice,toCannes, Grasse. #7, views, M,R, trains, Breathtaking 2 bdrm, 2 bath Woodside onround, LIRR., turn key $1250/wk.

Availablestop year $1850 plus utilities, 941-363-0925 furnished.

HOT BODYWORK Swedish, Deep Tissue, sensual nude bodywork. Done by Brazilian masseur.

(917) 435-4418. www.rentboy.com/fzaneti

CLASSES

HOME IMPROVEMENT Wall Women Painting & Plastering Over 25 yrs experience. Located in Chelsea area. Excellent References.

Free estimate Call 212-675-0631

PSYCHOTHERAPY

NO BROKERS FEE! Call 917-559-5904

VACATION RENTALS oceanhouseatlanticcity.com Down-to-earth gay men have been coming, at low rates, since 1964. 609-345-8203.

Near everything, open all year.

French Riviera, Charming Townhouse. Location: le Bar sur Loup (10 Kms Grasse, 25 Kms Nice), France.

Breathtaking views, 2 BM, 2 Baths, LR, DR, EIK. $1250/wk. Turn key furnished.

Photos at www.vrbo.com/268911.

(941) 363-0925 oceanhouseatlanticcity.com Down-to-earth gay men have been coming, at low rates, since 1964. 609-3458203. Near everything, open all year.

REAL ESTATE

APARTMENT TO BUY

0WZZ 5WPP]\a ;3R 1/A/1

Gowanus Arts 295 Douglass St., Brooklyn

1VSZaSO <G 3Oab =`O\US <8

*specials for youths and parents*

' ' % " ' $ '%! $%! #"!

TUTOR Creative Minds' Tutoring Pre-Kindergarten to Adults All subjects/levels, educational nannies, developmental therapies, itinerant teaching, early intervention & party planning.

Call Elizabeth @ 718/812-1910

ATTORNEYS

COMMERCIAL SPACE SOHO - Manufacturing space.

Ideal for service, industrial. Ground floor 5.750 sq ft plus basement $70/sf Call 212-944-7979

HOME FOR SALE

PTs / OTS / SLPs / SETTS / LCSWs Major NY healthcare provider has immed FT/PT openings (bilingual a PLUS) throughout the 5 boros.

For consideration e-mail resume Yfat@comprehensivecenter.com

Capoeira Classes: Mon, Wed, Fri, 7 - 9:30 p.m.

>agQV]bVS`O^g 1]c\aSZW\U @SZObW]\aVW^a /RRWQbW]\a /1=/ ASZT 3abSS[ :50B 67D /72A /TÂż`[W\U ]T 2WdS`aWbg $ gSO`a W\ >`WdObS >`OQbWQS AZWRW\U AQOZS 4`SS 1]\acZb

SHAPIRO,BEILLY & ARONOWITZ LAW FIRM Specializing in injury, discrimination,overtime, labor 225 BROADWAY, NYC 10007 TEL 212-267-9020 FAX 212-608-2072

MEDICAL CAREERS

WRITING HELP

Webster, NY Near Lake Ontario and the Finger Lakes, 20 mins to Downtown Rochester 3 BR, 2.5 BA, 1900-sf colonialstyle home hwd frs, master bath ensuite with Jacuzzi,2-car garage laundry rm, EIK, woodburnng or gas fireplace. Call 585-265-4742.

Bucks Cty, PA. Solebury $699,900 See www.5683PrivateRd.com Retreat In the woods -1+ Acre 3BR 2 ½ Bath Pat Olenick-Prudential Fox & Roach 215 280-6284 or 215 862-3385

For more info: 551-574-0644 or 917-971-7980

www.ďŹ canewyork.com

Write Right!

Essays, Masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thesis, doctoral dissertations, manuscripts of any and all sorts, in private sessions with editor, widely published fiction writer, newspaper feature writer, and college English teacher for twenty years with Ph.D. 646-234-3224

gaycity news.com

Need to place a legal ad for your business?

Call 646-452-2490 Julio Tumbaco

legalads@thevillager.com

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

ä&#x2030;´

EVANS, from p.3

local gay politics, joining Bay Area Gay Liberation and the San Francisco Gay Democratic Club, which became a vehicle for Harvey Milkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rise to citywide recognition. He also stridently criticized San Franciscoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s embrace of the Castro Street clone look and affect. Using the nom-deplume the Red Queen, he handed out a now-famous leaflet called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Afraid Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re Not Butch Enough?â&#x20AC;?

During the 1980s, as AIDS ravaged San Franciscoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gay population, Evans, who remained HIV-negative, stayed active in the LGBT movement as it turned its attention to groups like ACT UP/ San Francisco. With his good friend, the late Hank Wilson, he was arrested twice demonstrating against the drug maker Burroughs-Wellcome, accusing them of price-gouging, and once against a local TV station, charging its news team with defamation of people with AIDS. In 1988, Evans began work on a nineyear project on philosophy. With a grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission, in 1997, he published â&#x20AC;&#x153;Critique of Patriarchal Reason,â&#x20AC;? which was a monumental overview of Western philosophy from antiquity to the present and included artwork by San Francisco artist Frank Pietronigro. The book shows how misogyny and homophobia influenced the supposedly objective fields of formal logic, higher mathematics, and physical

ä&#x2030;´

REMEMBERING, from p.37

ate Muslims? Where are the leaders of this great religion that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t share either the twisted logic, motives, or passion for homicide and suicide of Al Qaeda?â&#x20AC;?

Now, ten years later, with Al Qaeda on the ropes, NaĂ­mâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new question is, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Where are the moderate leaders of Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Republican party?â&#x20AC;? That too, he writes, has been hijacked by an extremist minority that has the power, for reasons and methods distinct from Al Qaeda, to destabilize the world. They sneer at fundamental economic principles and basic science about global climate change. And everything else for that matter. Screw Darwin. They have enough rage for everyone, but only compassion for themselves.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s as if they are guiding a fading, senile nation, while imagining we are off to Disneyland but instead dragging the rest of the world with us to the grave. If you have to mourn something, it should be the decline of a nation that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know it is sick.

Is it reversible? Maybe. Depends on if the Tea Party is a symptom or the cause

14 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 27 SEP 2011 science. Evansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; former doctoral advisor at Columbia University, Paul Oskar Kristeller, called the work â&#x20AC;&#x153;a major contribution to the study of philosophy and its history.â&#x20AC;?

Toward the end of his life, Evans devoted time to improving neighborhood safety in the Haight-Ashbury district.

Some people felt he had become a doddering curmudgeon, but he was appalled by crime and litter on the street, often the results of San Franciscoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s large homeless population. In 2010, Evans was instrumental in helping pass Proposition L, the civil-sidewalks law. In addition to writing his own reports on the matter, he worked behind the scenes to get favorable coverage in various newspapers and on TV. His support for this measure provoked intense criticism from many of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s progressive quarters, to which, he replied: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Neighborhood safety is a progressive issue. How can we make the world a better place if we neglect improving our own neighborhoods?â&#x20AC;?

This harked back to Evansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s classical feeling that you take care of your own part of the agora, or gathering place, and this enlarged the world. I feel that losing someone like Arthur Evans has definitely shrunken ours.

Perry Brassâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newest book is â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Manly Art of Seduction, How to Meet, Talk to, and Become Intimate with Anyone.â&#x20AC;? He will in 2012 publish his 16th book, â&#x20AC;&#x153;King of Angels,â&#x20AC;? a novel. He can be reached at

of a greater dementia. Every dog has his day, you know, and then his final injection.

If you have to remember something, quit extolling a day or two of heroism and turn your attention to all those subsequent years we spent shooting ourselves in the collective foot. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the real tragedy. What Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll mourn until I die.

Leave New York to the New Yorkers.

This accumulation of islands renews itself daily. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re more solvent than the rest of you and have better debt ratings. If we have to walk home to stay within our budget, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll do it; weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not ashamed of green. Not on the bridge anyway.

And we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t check visas passing from the Lower East Side to Williamsburg and back. Everybody is welcome.

(Except you assholes on scooters. And the ferocious mosquitoes.)

For baby dykes, activists, and anybody whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ever wanted to save the world, visit the Lesbian Avenger Documentary Project at lesbianavengers.com. Check out Kelly Sans Culotte at http://kellyatlarge.blogspot.com/.

Find it in the archives www.GAYCITYNEWS.com

39

)MMIGRATION s "ANKRUPTCY s $IVORCE 4HE ,AW /FlCES OF

-ICHAEL ! #ERVINI 0 # s !CCIDENTS s &ALLS s 0OLICE !BUSE s -EDICAL -ALPRACTICE s &IRE !CCIDENTS s $ISCRIMINATION #ALL FOR A &2%% CONSULTATION 646-236-6000

A Lawyer You Can Trust Hablamos Hablamos espaĂąol espaĂąol www.cervinilawnyc.com cervinilaw.com

40-24 82nd Street, Jackson Heights 7 4RAIN TO ND 3T 3TOP

14 – 27 SEP 2011

40

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 DAYS 14 NIGHTS SEP 17, from p.35

ity poles on the barrier island of Fire Island that have been left with mysterious numbers, letters, sculptural forms, and symbols that suggested a hidden narrative between man and environment,” she says. “What I saw were beautiful abstract collages.” New Art Center, 580 Eighth Ave. at 38th St., fifth fl. Through Sep. 24. For more information, visit newartcenter.net. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

SUN.SEP.18

COMMUNITY Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell No More

American Veterans for Equal Rights New York (AVER-NY), an organization of gay and lesbian former military service members, celebrates the end of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, under which nearly 14,000 American soldiers, sailors, air men and women, and marines were discharged since 1994 because they were gay or lesbian. AVERNY has been dogged in its advocacy for an end to the discriminatory policy, and as a result of repeal legislation passed last December and signed by President Barack Obama, the 17-year-old DADT officially ends on Sep. 20. The AVER-NJ Color Guard will be on hand, as will the good tastes of Russell’s Pasta.

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

READING Remembering Jill Johnston On the first anniversary of the death of Jill Johnston, the feminist author and cultural critic who in 1973 wrote “Lesbian Nation,” her writings will be read at Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Sq. S. Sep. 18, 4-9 p.m. A reception will follow. More information at inyeboe@gmail.com or 212-960-3185. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

Trees, and Opera Too “Opera Grows in BOOKlyn” is an evening of vocal music based on texts by renowned and upand-coming Brooklyn writers. Guest curated by author and composer Daniel Felsenfeld, the concert feature works by David Lang, David T. Little, Paola Prestini, and other composers based on poems, short stories, plays, and even cookbooks with Brooklyn origins. Galapagos Art Space, 16 Main St. at Water St. Sep. 18, 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 at galapagosartspace.com; $20 at the door. The show is preceded at 6 p.m. by a discussion with critic Robert Levine about his new book, “Weep, Shudder, Die: A Guide to Loving Opera.” ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

PERFORMANCE Krazy Klezmer Klassicks

COMEDY Loekle’s Laughing Emmys

Metropolitan Klezmer is a queer-inclusive ensemble that presents a joyful and inspired genre-defying original repertoire, including rollicking dance and modal trance tunes, Yiddish swing and tango, klezmer cumbia, Soviet-era ballads, drinking songs, and animation soundtrack gems. The group appears in a brunch concert at City Winery, 155 Varick St., btwn. Vandam & Spring Sts. Sep. 18, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Admission is $10; kids under 13 enter free. Brunch seating begins at 10 a.m., and there is a full menu and wine list, but no minimum order.

Brad Loekle, host of the weekly “Electroshock Therapy Comedy Hour,” appears naked tonight — without his usual cast of comedians. In a naughty and bawdy Emmys viewing party, Loekle offers his own comedic commentary on the evening — when he is not incoherently cheering and crying with the winners and losers. Golden boys Johnny and Victorius will be feverishly serving up shots, snacks, and eye candy. Prizes for those who win the Emmy Ballot Battle. Therapy Bar, 348 W. 52nd St. Sep. 18, 8 p.m. There is no cover charge, and cosmos are $7 all night long.

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

TUE.SEP.20

COMMUNITY Open Military Service Arrives

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) and the historic Stonewall Inn host a celebration of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Day to mark the end of the 17-year-old discriminatory military policy. “Through the events taking place across the country, we will pay tribute to their service and sacrifice as we look forward to this new era of military service — an era that honors the contributions of all qualified Americans who wish to serve,” said Army veteran and SLDN executive director Aubrey Sarvis. Stonewall Inn, 53 Christopher St., btwn. Seventh Ave. S. & Grove St. Sep. 20, 7-9 p.m. The event is free, but contributions to support SLDN’s ongoing work on behalf of gay and lesbian service members. will be accepted. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

WED.SEP.21

PERFORMANCE Artists Respond to 9/11

The Kronos Quartet, which for two decades, has performed music that expresses the anxiety, tension,

䉴

✯

SEP 21, continued on p.42

3 4 5 B R O A D WAY

PRIME E S S E N T I A L S

AT LE O N A R D ST

NOW OPEN PRIME R E W A R D S

BRO

AL S T

LISPENARD ST

CAN

FRANKLIN ST

RC H

P R IM

ERE

TH O

WAR

MAS

C AT H

ER IN

DS

ST FE D ER

A L PL A ZA

E

P: 212.940.7900

E: info@penyc.com

WWW.PENYC.COM

www.PLUS972.com

WORTH ST

345 Broadway, NY, NY 10013

ST

OFFER NOT COMBINABLE WITH ANY OTHER PROMOTION.

LAFAYETTE ST

ST

Marketing by PLUS972

ST

EXTRA REWARD POINTS

*BRING THIS AD IN TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OFFER.

DUANE ST

READE ST

CHAMBERS ST KL IN

AY

ARD

WALKER ST

WARREN ST

MURRAY ST FR A N

ADW

EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNTS

LE N O

E

BROADWAY

A

NOW ACCPETING PRESCRIPTIONS

SPECIAL DEALS

V TH A 6 CHURCH ST

345 Broadway

T B RO

OPEN

FREE LOCAL DELIVERY

CHU

NOW

20% OFF FIRST PURCHASE* W ES

PHARMACY

THOMAS S

SIGN UP NOW FOR

WHITE ST

✯

LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St. Sep. 18, 2 p.m. For more information, visit averny.tripod. com or call 718 849-5665.

LEONARD ST

䉴

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 – 27 SEP 2011

41

14 – 27 SEP 2011

42

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 DAYS 14 NIGHTS 䉴

ferocious energy, and mystic yearnings of the 20th century — and in the process helping to preserve the string quartet genre — presents “Awakening: A Musical Meditation on the Anniversary of 9/11.” The performance features the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. The Financial Times writes, “Rarely has Kronos given its virtuosity and intellectual vigor such a noble agenda.”

The Kronos concerts are part of the 150th anniversary celebration of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, which continues through December of next year. BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton St. at Ashland Pl. Sep. 21-24, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20-$50 at bam.org.

On Sep. 22, 6 p.m., Kronos’ founder David Harrington and guests hold a talk, “Artists Respond to 9/11. BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave. at Ashland Pl. Tickets are $10 at bam.org. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

The Times Squares Square Dance Club, New York’s only such group serving the LGBT community, hosts free open houses to introduce newcomers to the fun.

It’s a great way to meet, socialize, get some exercise, and make friends. Make sure to wear comfortable clothes. Light refreshments are served. LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St. Aug. 20 & 27, 7:309:30 p.m. More information at timessquare.org. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

THU.SEP.22

POLITICS Honors from Jim Owles

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

PERFORMANCE DUMBO Dancing The 11th annual DUMBO Dance Festival presents work from 125 dancemakers from New York’s contemporary scene, sharing bills with rising choreographers from throughout the US, Canada, Italy, Japan, and Korea. This year’s festival takes place at locations all over DUMBO — the mainstage White Wave John Ryan Theater (25 Jay St. at the waterfront), at the Pier 1 waterfront, at the Fulton Ferry Landing, and on the Brooklyn Bridge Park lawn. Performances are the evenings of Sep. 22-25 and the afternoons of Sep.24-25. The opening night gala, Sep. 22, 7 p.m., is a benefit for White Wave. Tickets begin at $100 at 718-855-8822 and info@whitewavedance. com. All other performances are free. Information on all performances and venues at whitewavedance.com. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

“The Complete Vincente Minnelli” (Gene Kelly in “An American In Paris): September 23-November 2

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

FRI.SEP.23

“The Complete Vincente Minnelli” is the first full New York retrospective of the Hollywood master in more than two decades. This 35-film series pays homage to one of the all-time great Hollywood directors, with a career that included successful forays into the musical (“Meet Me in St. Louis,” “An American in Paris,” and “Gigi”), subversive and deeply personal melodramas and sensitive biopics (The Bad and the Beautiful,” “The Cobweb,” “Home From the Hill”), and airy comedies (“Father of the Bride”). BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave. at Ashland Pl. Sep. 23-Nov. 2. Admission is $12; $9 for students & seniors. Information at bam.org. ✯

PERFORMANCE Return to Queer

“Vulgar Tongues” is an evening of queer, grass-roots artistic exploration of how the anima/ animus manifest themselves inside each of us. Subversive, uncensored, and highly entertaining, the performance is a multimedia Molotov cocktail thrown in the face of misogyny, commercial gay culture, and the identity crisis of the homogenized majority in the US. The evening features Charlie Demos, Brandon Bartling, Busty Kitten, Saeed Jones, Kristen Tabbutt and a video from special guest Anti-Social. Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen St., btwn. Stanton & Rivington Sts. Sep. 23, 7 p.m. Free. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

Charles Ives in Park Slope

The Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, an LGBT organization, honors Brooklyn State Senator Eric Adams, Julie Menin, the chair of Lower Manhattan’s Community Board 1, Seth Weissman, a co-owner of the Madison Fire Island Pines, and Mark Silver, founder of Factory PR. The home of Mark Green & Deni Frand, 43 E. 19th St., Apt. 3. Sep. 22, 8 p.m. Tickets are $125 at aroskoff@mac.com. Tickets for 7 p.m. VIP reception are $250. ✯

✯

FILM All Films Minnelli

✯

NIGHTLIFE Swing Your Partner

✯

Jackson, NJ. Sep. 23, 6 p.m.-midnight. The park is home to 13 roller coasters, including Kingda Ka, the tallest coaster in the world and the fastest in North America.

Information on the tickets, the park, Fairgrounds VIII, and directions at gaysixflags.com. Admission begins at $50.

SEP 21, from p.40

The Brooklyn Art Song Society opens its fall season with “Charles Ives: 114 Songs (Part 1),” an iconic though unusual collection that single-handedly defined American music in the 20th century when published 90 years ago.

Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, 58 Seventh Ave. at Lincoln Pl., Park Slope. Sep. 23, 8 p.m. Tickets are $10-$20. Information at brooklynartsongsociety.org. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

NIGHTLIFE Rockin’ and Rollin’ More than 10,000 LGBT thrill-seekers are expected to attend Fairgrounds VIII, better known as Gay and Lesbian Day at Six Flags Great Adventure, in

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

SAT.SEP.24

THEATER Comic Book Heroes

Kelli O’Hara: September 24

The TOSOS Robert Chesley/ Jane Chambers Playwrights Project presents a reading of Chris Weikel’s “Secret Identity.” JT is a 16-year-old comic book nerd with something huge to hide, and that something flies, wears spandex, and battles evil. When adolescent fantasies come in heroic proportions, it’s hard to keep them under wraps. Kathleen Warnock directs a cast that includes Tim Abrams, J. Stephen Brantley, Hunter Gilmore, Robert Locke, Jim Nugent, John Oros, James Salem, and Bradley Wells. Bruce Mitchell Room at ART/ NY, 520 Eighth Ave., third fl., btwn. 36th & 37th Sts. Sep. 24, 7 p.m. A reception follows at Zuni, 598 Ninth Ave at 43rd St.

the People’s Voice Café, Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist, 40 E. 35th St. Sep. 24, 8 p.m. Admission is $15-$18 at the door.

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

PERFORMANCE A Fearless SONiA SONiA, from the band disappear fear, has been honored by OUTMusic, GLAMA, and GLAAD. She is a singer, songwriter, activist, and artist, who writes folk, blues, rock, and country, and sings in Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Tonight, she appears at

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

Kelli at Caramoor Three- time Tony Award-nominee Kelli O’Hara makes her Caramoor Fall Festival debut in a vibrant program of favorites from the world of musical theater and songs from her latest album “Always” — including “He Loves Me”, “This Nearly Was Mine,” and “Finishing the Hat.” Venetian Theater, Caramoor Fall Festival, Katonah, NY. Follow the signs from Route 22 & Girdle Ridge Rd. or take Metro North to Katonah. (Detailed directions at caramoor.org or 914-232-5035, ext. 2.) Sep. 24, 8 p.m. Tickets are $16-$67 at caramoor.org. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

SUN.SEP.25

SPORTS Unity Ride & Picnics

The Fast and Fabulous Cycling Club, the city’s queer cycling group, holds an easy-paced, 30-mile ride from Central Park, across the George Washington Bridge to the Alpine police station on River Road in New Jersey, and back. A picnic will follow at the 24th St. Pier at the Hudson River Park. Graham Weinstein of OutCycling leads the ride, which begins at 10 a.m., Sep. 25, at the Boathouse in Central Park. The club will provide a wide range of picnic foods, including vegetarian, for a $10 per attendee contribution. Contact fastnfab@yahoo.com or 212-567-7160 to RSVP and offer your food preferences. Rain cancels the event, but if you’re in doubt, check in at graham65@gmail.com or 917-273- 2791.

✯

Charlie Demos: September 23

䉴

SEP 25, continued on p.43

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

14 – 27 SEP 2011

43

14 DAYS 14 NIGHTS 䉴

SEP 25, from p.42

BENEFIT A Great White Way Flea Market Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS presents the 25th annual Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction, which is a dream-come true for theater fans looking to find showbiz treasures and memorabilia, meet their favorite stars, and bid on one-of-a-kind items and once-in-a-lifetime experiences — including walk-on roles on Broadway and TV. W. 44th St., btwn. Seventh & Eighth Aves. and Times Sq., btwn. 43rd & 44th Sts. Sep. 25, 10-7 p.m. Complete information, including pre-event auction bidding, is at broadwaycares.org. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

COMEDY Falling Out As the days get shorter, the laughs just get bigger at Brad Loekle’s “Electroshock Therapy Comedy Hour.”

Tonight, he welcomes Maureen Langan, Emily Epstein, and Adam Lehman. Therapy Bar, 348 W. 52nd St. Sep. 25, 10 p.m. No cover charge, and cosmos are $7 all night long. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

MON.SEP.26

THEATER A High-Heeled Night at the Tombs

“Chicago” meets “TransAmerica” in “Busted: The Musical,” actress Bianca Leigh’s one-woman retelling of the events surrounding her arrest for alleged solicitation against the backdrop of the Black Monday stock market crash of 1987. While cooling her six-inch heels in the clink awaiting arraignment, Bianca looks back at her past and tries to make sense of how a skinny Jersey boy with dreams of becoming a great Shakespearean actress ended up as a high-priced dominatrix.

She revisits her past as a young transwoman in early transition and brings to vivid life more than a dozen characters — from her disappointed mother to the sadistic corrections officer who enacts the ultimate humiliation. The show includes songs by Ellen Maddow, Taylor Mac, and “Avenue Q”’s Jeff Whitty. Laurie Beechman Theatre, 407 W. 42nd St, Sep. 26, Oct. 3 & 10, 7 p.m. Tickers are $18 at SpinCycleNYC. com or 212-3520-3101. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

The Cudgel of Leviticus On June 10th, 1982, Ronald D. Roberts, son of famous televangelist Oral Roberts, is found dead in his car with a bullet through his heart — the result of a suicide after years of depression and substance abuse. Nearly 30 years later, Ronnie’s nephew Randy Roberts Potts struggles to avoid the same fate; as he is tortured by a close-minded evangelical family, Randy fights to untangle his heart — damned by the biblical law of Leviticus and others who are unwavering to see beyond their own fears. Ryan Tofil’s play, based on Potts’ story unpublished memoir, “Leviticus in Love,” gets a staged reading tonight, starring

FOUR-YEAR BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS DEGREES and TWO-YEAR CONSERVATORY

REGIONAL AUDITIONS

Programs in Acting, Musical Theatre, Dance Theatre and Performing Arts

CITY NEAR YOU

Adam Lehman: September 25

Tom Berklund and directed by Matthew Corozine.

Randy Roberts Potts will appear during an audience talk back. Matthew Corozine Studio Theatre, Times Square Art Center, 300 W. 43rd St., Suite 502, within the Times Square Art Center. Sep. 26, 7 & 9 p.m. A $5 donation is suggestion. Information at matthewcorozinestudio.com. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

WED.SEP.28

WRITING Memoirs by Minkowitz

Donna Minkowitz — who won a Lambda Literary Award for her memoir “Ferocious Romance,” was a Village Voice columnist for eight years, and has also contributed to the New York Times Book Review, Salon, New York magazine, Ms., and the Nation — teaches a Wednesday evening memoir-writing class that runs from Sep. 28-Nov. 16, 7-9 p.m. The cost is $300. Minkowitz, who has taught memoir writing and creative nonfiction since 1998, at the 92nd Street Y, In Our Own Write, the World Fellowship Center, and The Kitchen, will focus on craft, particularly on using emotion, sensory details, and imagination to construct a profound and relatable piece of personal writing.

The class will be taught in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, near the R, D, and N subway lines. Email Minkowitiz@earthlink.net for full details. ✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

✯

RESERVE YOUR OPPORTUNITY TODAY

campuses in NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES

from the director of

COMING TO A

amda.edu 800.367.7908

milk and good will hunting

“Reminiscent of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘Harold and Maude’, and ‘Love Story’ - RESTLESS sets itself apart from the rest.

Mia Wasikowska is captivating. Henry Hopper makes an impressive debut.”

-A.M. Homes, VANITY FAIR

“When Gus Van Sant puts out a new movie, you go.”

-David Fear, TIME OUT NEW YORK

un certain regard opening night cannes film festival

toronto film festival 2011

henry hopper mia wasikowska

DANCE Peter Kyle at Triskelion Peter Kyle Dance presents a program of solos and duets that features the choreographer, Bessie awardwinner Holley Farmer, Mercedes Searer, actors Scott Giguere and Scott Nath, and cellist Lori Goldston.

Triskelion Arts, 118 N. 11th St., third fl., btwn.

Berry & Wythe Sts. (L train to Bedford; G train to Nassau). Sep. 28-Oct. 1, 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 at triskelionarts.org. Oct. 1 performance is a $50 benefit, with a VIP champagne toast.

JASON LEW PRODUCEDBYBRIAN GRAZER RONDIRECTEDHOWARD BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD GUS VAN SANT BYGUS VAN SANT WRITTEN BY

WWW.SONYCLASSICS.COM ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

STARTS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH!

AMC THEATRES REGAL CINEMAS UNION SQUARE B’WAY BET. 62ND & 63RD ST. FOR INFO & EMPIRE 25 ADVANCE TICKETS, CALL 212-757-2280 OR 42ND ST. (BET. 7TH & 13TH ST. & B’WAY VISIT WWW.LINCOLNPLAZACINEMA.COM 8TH AVE.) 398-3939 777-FILM #777

LINCOLN PLAZA CINEMAS

VIEW THE TRAILER AT WWW.RESTLESSMOVIE.COM

14

44

14 – 27 SEP 2011

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

Spacious light-filled floor plans, many with a study or generous terrace t Appealing amenities like a 24-hour attended lobby, fitness room and landsc aped cour t yard t Beautifully set in a park-side loc ation near shops, restaurants and transpor tation t And a 4 21A tax abatement too

95% SOLD • IMME DIATE OCCUPANCY TWO BEDROOMS FROM $429K • THREE BEDROOMS FROM $620K

B C D 3