Utah’s Gay and Lesbian Biweekly Newspaper Volume 2
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Issue 14 July 7–20
Gay Marriage Approved in Canada, Spain Martin: ‘It is important that you don’t cherry-pick rights’
UTA Transgender Bias Case Dismissed Judge Sam: Sex change not ‘mere failure to conform to stereotypes’
United Church of Christ Supports Gay Marriage 1.3 million member church says ‘all families should be cherished’
Center Declares Pride 2005 ‘Largest Ever’ Larabee: ‘We welcome feedback from the community’ Keys: ‘GLBT’ Not an Inclusive Term Ruby: Hatch Sponsors Ban on Fag Burning Gay Agenda Classifieds
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News WORLD AND NATIONAL
Gay Marriage Approved in Canada and Spain Spain Passes Gay Marriage
Canada Approves Same-Sex Marriage Legislation Toronto, Canada—Following Tuesday’s approval by the Canadian Parliament to allow same-sex marriage legislation throughout the country, Canada’s image throughout the world as one of most socially liberal nations has been firmly cemented, say a number of leading political analysts. “We are affirming once again our worldwide reputation as a country that is open, inclusive and welcoming,” Alex Munter, a spokesman for Canadians for Equal Marriage, said after the 158 to 133 vote came down Tuesday evening. Canada will become the fourth country after Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain to legalize gay marriage. In the United States, gay marriage is only legal in Massachusetts. Despite fierce opposition from Conservatives and religious leaders and following months of uncertainty among Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and his minority Liberal Party, legislation made it through the House of Commons this week and is expected to have an easy time passing Senate and becoming federal law by the end of July. Canada has a history of swinging more liberal on social issues than the United States, where President Bush continues to urge Congress to pass an amendment to the constitution banning gay marriages. “We are a nation of minorities,” Martin said in a press conference, according to Reuters. “And in a nation of minorities, it is important that you don’t cherry-pick rights.” Martin, a Roman Catholic, has said that despite personal beliefs, all Canadians should be granted the same rights to marriage. “Congratulate yourselves. You are part of the most diverse, tolerant and open-minded place on earth,” John Ibbitson, columnist for the Globe and Mail newspaper, which traditionally backs the ruling Liberal party, wrote in the paper’s Op-Ed pages Wednesday. “And yesterday proved the thesis once again.” There are an estimated 34,000 gay and lesbian couples throughout Canada, according to government statistics.—RVM
Washington, D.C.—Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese released a statement this week in response to the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, saying that the rights of “every American” are in “grave danger.” “Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has a long and distinguished record as a consensus builder in a closely Supreme Court Justice divided court... Sandra Day O’Connor The loss of Justice O’Connor’s moderate voice is a serious threat to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights, to women’s rights and to protections for racial, ethnic and religious minorities,” he said. “During her time on the court, Justice O’Connor became increasingly supportive of equal rights for all Americans. Her concurring opinion in Lawrence v. Texas recognized the basic equality of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people under law. In opinions in First Amendment cases she protected the constitutional
wall between church and state. Justice O’Connor also voted to uphold the right to choose and to preserve universities’ right to promote diversity. “The retirement of this mainstream and fair-minded Justice leaves a void on a court that is so closely divided. We need a nominee that all Americans can rally behind. As President Bush and the U.S. Senate consider a replacement on the bench, they should abandon partisanship and seek consensus on a nominee who will protect every American fairly. “America deserves a fair-minded justice who will recognize every American’s right to equality. As Justice O’Connor retires, there is an opportunity to select another Justice who recognizes the fundamental importance of equality under the law and whose decisions will be guided by it. Given the crucial role played by the Supreme Court in the protection of civil rights and civil liberties, the stakes for the country could not be higher. “President Bush should look to consult with the Senate on a Justice who walks in Justice O’Connor’s footsteps of fairness. Her moderate, thoughtful voice on the bench was a positive influence on the Court and we hope that her replacement mirrors those qualities.”
United Church of Christ Votes to Support Gay Marriage by Ross von Metzke Washington, D.C.—The General Synod of the 1.3 million member United Church of Christ approved a historic resolution endorsing marriage equality for same-sex couples at its biennial meeting in Atlanta, July 4. UCC, which evolved from congregational churches founded by the Pilgrims and German immigrant and African-American communities, is a denomination of 1.3 million members. Approval of the resolution makes UCC the largest Christian denomination to endorse marriage for same-sex couples. The Human Rights Campaign’s new Director of Religion and Faith Programs, Harry Knox, a United Church of Christ member was in Atlanta for the vote. “The United Church of Christ is sending a powerful and historic message that all families should be loved and cherished. The United Church of Christ took an important step forward today. Its call for full equality in all spheres of American life will be remembered and honored by future generations,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “The marriage resolution is a beacon to millions of people of faith worldwide that families are strengthened with love but weakened by discrimination. While marriage equality under the law should never impress houses of worship into recognizing unions between same-sex couples, we hope more and more people of faith demonstrate important values of understanding and fair-mindedness.”
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force National Religious Leadership Roundtable issued a statement of appreciation for the actions of the UCC: “The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force National Religious Leadership Roundtable celebrates with our partners in the United Church of Christ the passage of a resolution endorsing full religious and civil marriage equality for same-sex couples. In making this bold statement for the full inclusion of all its members in the life and ministry of the church and in the fabric of society, the denomination continues its historic place of leadership for the cause of equality. For more than 30 years, the United Church of Christ has provided a coherent, powerful and prophetic voice for the millions of Americans from across the spectrum of faith traditions that support the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. It has challenged those who wrap their homophobia in the guise of ‘deeply held religious belief’ to embrace a more just, honest, and compassionate faith. Through today’s resolution, we see that ‘God is, indeed, still speaking’ through the United Church of Christ. “The Roundtable expresses profound appreciation to UCC general minister and president, John H. Thomas, and Roundtable steering committee members Reverend Rebecca Voelkel and Reverend Mike Shuenemeyer, for the visionary leadership they have provided during the Atlanta General Synod.” —RVM
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Madrid, Spain—Spain became the third European country to legalize gay marriage Thursday in a parliament vote that left gay activists blowing kisses to lawmakers and the Catholic Church issuing calls for defiance. Just 24 hours after Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin’s push for legalized same-sex marriage got its final vote of approval June 30, Spain’s 350-seat Congress of Deputies, by a vote of 187-147 with four abstentions, approved the measure to give homosexual couples the same rights as heterosexual ones, including the right to adopt children. The controversial law, sponsored by Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and his party, has been debated extensively over the past year and has faced extensive opposition from the Catholic Church. Earlier this month, the country’s Catholic bishops told all Catholics to resist the law’s application. However, polls conducted in 2004 indicate that 70% of Spaniards favored legalizing same-gender marriage. After the tally was announced, activists watching from the spectator section of the chamber cried, cheered, hugged each other, waved to lawmakers and blew them kisses. “This is a disgrace,” shouted several members of the conservative opposition Popular Party, which vehemently opposed the bill. Those in favor stood and clapped. “It is a historic day for the world’s homosexuals. We have been fighting for many years,” said Beatriz Gimeno, a longtime leader of the gay rights movement in Spain. “Now comes the hardest part, which is changing society’s mentality.” In an interview with Reuters, Oscar-winning Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar, who is gay, said 21st century families don’t have to reflect the traditional Catholic model. “I don’t like marriage. I am not going to get married,” he said. “But it is important for this to be called marriage so people know that it is the same thing for everyone.” This victory supports what many political insiders have reported as a waning hold the Roman Catholic Church has over the government. The Church, which vehemently opposed the bill, was left smarting from the vote. “Marriage, understood as the union of a man and a woman, is no longer provided for in our laws,” the Spanish Bishops Conference stated after the vote, referring both to the gay marriage law and a bill passed that same day making it easier for Spaniards to divorce. “It is necessary to oppose these unfair laws through all legitimate means.” “We were not the first [to legalize gay marriage], but I am sure we will not be the last,” Zapatero said in a speech to the cabi-
net. “After us will come many other countries, driven, ladies and gentlemen, by two unstoppable forces: freedom and equality.” “We are not legislating…for remote unknown people,” he added. “We are expanding opportunities for the happiness of our neighbors, our work colleagues, our friends, our relatives.” A recent poll declared some 80 percent of Spaniards consider themselves Catholic. However, polls say nearly half the country’s Catholics rarely go to Mass, and a third say they are simply not religious.—RVM, JV
HRC: O’Connor Retirement Is a Serious Threat to Civil Rights
Publisher Michael Aaron Editor Jere Keys Arts Editor Eric J. Tierney Proofreader Nicholas Rupp
Opinion
Contributing Brandie Balken Writers Kim Burgess Vanessa Chang Jason Clark Beau Jarvis Laurie Mecham Rob Orton William T. Park Nicholas Rupp Mandy Q. Racer Ruby Ridge Kim Russo David Samsel Joel Shoemaker Brendan Shumway Eric J. Tierney Darren Tucker JoSelle Vanderhooft Ross von Metzke John Wilkes Ben Williams Contributing David Harris Photographers William H. Munk Kim Russo Joel Shoemaker Art Director Michael Aaron Designer Kris Kramer Sales Director Steven Peterson Display Ad Dave Harris Sales Russ Moss 801-323-9500 National Rivendell Media Advertising 212-242-6863 Representative 1248 Rte 22 West Mountainside NJ 07092
Office Mgr. Tony Hobday Distribution Jarrod Ames Brandon Hurst Russ Lane Courtney Moser Copyright © 2005 Metro Publishing, Inc.
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Storm Breaking Over Capitol Hill As we gaze into our crystal balls, it doesn’t take any true psychic powers to know that some divisive and angry days are coming up on Washington’s Capitol Hill. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female justice, has announced her retirement from the nation’s high court. Appointed by Reagan, O’Connor has been one of the most unpredictable voices on the Supreme Court. Known as a moderate who often made the majority on rulings, O’Connor has broken with her conservative peers on issues such as gay rights, abortion, women’s rights, the separation of church and state, and the right of universities to promote diversity. So you can understand why liberals across the nation are unnerved by O’Connor’s announcement. After taking a slim majority to win the White House, and maintaining a slim majority in the legislative branch, Republicans are now poised to lock a slim majority of conservative voices into the third and final branch of the United States government. To understand how long-term this change can affect us, the last time the make-up of the Supreme Court changed was 11 years ago when Bill Clinton appointed Justice Stephen Breyer. We know it can be hard, at times, to understand how government impacts our daily lives and why we should take an interest in any kind of politics. Thanks in part to Sandra Day O’Connor, gay sex is no longer illegal between consenting adults in Utah. If we have any hope of legalizing gay marriage nationwide, it’s going to happen at the level of the Supreme Court. Other issues the Supreme
Court could be ruling on in the next ten years include workplace discrimination, hate crime legislation and free speech issues. Queer leaders have been warning about this for several years now. We’ve known the delicate balance of the Supreme Court was in jeopardy since before the election. More recently, we’ve warned that the Bush administration’s attacks on “activist judges” are really just code for (liberal) judges they didn’t like. While our Canadian neighbors are celebrating the passage of their nationwide gay marriage bill (which, incidentally, was mandated by their high court), we’re going to be worried about what kind of ultraconservative, anti-gay nominee the Bush administration is going to come up with. Can you imagine that any Bush nominee is going to be in favor of same-gender marriage or abortion rights? This is why the Democrats fought so hard to keep the filibuster. Unfortunately, they ended up approving three anti-gay judges to the federal courts in the process, including William Pryor—considered by many to be the most anti-gay judge in the nation. No use crying over spilled milk, but Salt Lake Metro urges everyone to take an interest in the candidate that President Bush presents to Congress. We encourage you to write your senators immediately telling them that you want another moderate judge to replace O’Connor and not some far-right radical. Also, be prepared to look behind the marketing blitz. Bush and his allies have already raised millions of dollars to fight a PR campaign for his nominee.
From the Editor Language is Queeriffic! by Jere Keys jere@slmetro.com
As a writer, I love language. I love the way words can shape our perceptions of an issue and how phrases can convey so much more than they seem to at first. On those occasions when I get to speak to groups about queer experiences, I always end up discussing the use of labels and language—both how it can hurt and help a community. You may or may not have noticed by now that the acronym “GLBT” rarely gets used in Salt Lake Metro under my tenure. Unless it’s in a direct quote or the official name of an organization, I replace it with either “gay” or “queer” when I’m editing the paper. I dislike “GLBT” for two reasons. First of all, it’s not a word. It’s an acronym and it doesn’t flow from the tongue easily. I like to think that the tone of Metro is always as conversational as possible, so that it’s both enjoyable to read and easy to understand. Acronyms and abbreviations have a tendency to become “code words” that only those who are initiated into a particular group can understand. The second reason I dislike “GLBT” is that it is not, to my thinking, very inclusive at all. In all my years as a queer activist, I have met many wonderful people who are very much a part of our community, although they don’t consider themselves to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. We have straight allies who are politically or socially more involved in our community than many of those who do claim the labels included in “GLBT.” Think of straight people who have fought long and hard alongside us in HIV/AIDS issues, or think of straight people who are involved in the leather community. I much prefer the word “queer” because it is so inclusive. It simply means “different”—and while there are those who hate labeling ourselves as different, remember that different isn’t always bad. Queer simply means anyone who breaks with the old mainstream attitudes and norms. In other words: radicals and revolutionaries, shit-stirring eccentrics and courageous non-conformists. Another phrase you’ll see avoided in Metro is “same-sex.” Ever since a good friend of mine explained that “sex” is something you do and “gender” is something you are, I’ve avoided this phrase. “Same-sex” sounds like a very dull time in the bedroom to me. Same-gender, however, alerts me to the fact that we’re talking about two boys or two girls, as the case may be. I also get a chuckle out of the way mainstream media sometimes mishandles “same-sex” as a synonym for “gay.” A few months ago, I read a news story in one of our local daily newspapers that discussed a case where a girl’s same-sex parent was fighting for legal recognition. Taken at face value (and ignoring my own quibble about sex being different from gender), the article simply described the girl’s mother. I’m sure that what the reporter meant to say, however, was the child had a lesbian parent. Anyway, gender can be a tricky thing and it’s difficult to use in our community without becoming confusing. A few years back, in Vegas, I remember having an awfully hard time writing stories about the president of our Pride organization who had embezzled money from the organization. The person in question was best known to the community as a drag queen, but it was really confusing to keep referencing Josh as “she” or “her.” So, am I just a slave to political correctness or a conscientious wielder of language? Before you answer that, consider the phrases “activist judges,” “liberal elite/intellectual” and “protect marriage.” Who do you want defining our language?
Letters
Here and spoiled
Michael Shurtleff
Dear Editor, DirecTV has here! and the new gay and lesbian channel LOGO by MTV that will launch June 30. So if Comcast is not giving it to you, maybe you should consider going to a more forward-thinking, open-minded company that knows gay money is just as good as straight money. And let Comcast know why they are losing customers. Also, give me a break about the $5 for Pride, please. You spend ten times that on a Friday night at the bar. My wife and I paid $5 each and we are not even gay. We go just to enjoy the culture and hang with all our gay buddies (and maybe feel our inner queer). You have been very spoiled having it for free all these years.
Ogden, UT
Anonymous by request
Bulimic Polemic Dear Editor, After reading his long-winded, anti-twoparty-system/Democrat-bashing polemic in the June 23 Metro, I have three brief questions for our friend Bill Perdue. First: does it matter, if the Democrats are collective turncoats, whether “ ... they had the wrong answers to the big questions?” If Democratic candidates betray their platform after they are elected, doesn’t it follow that those answers are irrelevant anyway? Finally, which third party does Mr. Perdue represent?
William T. Park Designing Legislators by William Todd Park liam@slmetro.com
We’re not all greedy Daren C. Brabham If you ask most people what they think about bisexuality, they’ll tell you it’s this interim phase between gay and straight, an experimental place while someone figures out if they’re going to come out all the way as gay or whether they’re just exploring the bounds of their sexual attraction. While certainly there are some who come out as bi as a safe ground before committing to being gay, there are those of us who really are bi to the most complete definition of the word. For me, bisexuality is my sexuality, and I’m really sure of that. I am attracted to people emotionally and sexually and I am capable of loving them, regardless of their gender. It’s a pretty even split for me, too, as men and women catch my eye at the same rates. I guess my way of looking at attraction and love is, “what’s not to like?” Bisexuals get a bad rap. The fear in dating one is that they will cheat on you with the other gender. Not all bisexuals are promiscuous and unable to commit to monogamy. We’re not all greedy, which is another word I hear often regarding bisexuals. From my experience, what’s perhaps most disappointing about the gay community is that gay men have a far more difficult time dating me, a bi guy, than straight women do. Gay men are more suspicious, more willing to repeatedly question whether this whole bi thing is a just a phase. There’s a myth that the gay community stands together, lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender people united to fight discrimination. But the truth is that the community is pretty divided when it comes to making more of a symbolic stand. The truth is that we hardly understand each other. The bisexual woman has found her way into the fantasy worlds of heteronormative film and television. The woman who has sex with other women, especially if they don’t look butch, is a prized commodity in media. The common conception of the bi woman is a fetish for straight men’s fantasies. Bi men, however, are seen as either gayto-be, greedy, or really confused. It doesn’t seem like there’s much of an acceptable
middle ground. The idea of a decent, loving male bisexual who is able to commit to a single person forever and not cheat is lost in both the straight and gay communities. If Kinsey taught us anything, it’s that most people fall somewhere on a spectrum between zero and six, that most people aren’t exclusively gay or exclusively straight. In other words, there are probably more bisexual people than we think, and they come in all different shades of which gender they prefer. The society we live in, however, demands us to choose a side. The Kinsey scale, in real life, is not some horizontal line between two extremes; it is a mountain with three at the peak, and we all are encouraged to slide down one of its faces, into the valleys of gay or straight. Straddling the mountain is not an option in the real world, it seems, and I believe this pressure to choose a side causes much distress. In participating in Speakers Bureau panels through the University of Utah’s LGBT Resource Center, I’ve heard many people’s stories about how they dated a bisexual who cheated on them with a different gender. I’ve also heard plenty of reports of people’s friends who come out as bi and later admit they are really gay or that it was an experimental phase. To be sure, the stereotypes about bisexuals are not entirely false; most stereotypes evolve from shreds of true events. I don’t deny that some bisexuals are unfaithful or are in a phase. What I do hope to convey here, however, is that plenty of bisexuals are not like this. Maybe the best thing we can do to support the full range of sexual identity is just to stop asking each other how we identify. Out high school-age people are using the word queer with more regularity, defying the categories of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender. Identifying as queer also brings a semantic unity to the greater LGBT cause. Many LGBT people, especially generations older than me, balk at the term queer, still associating the word with its roots as a hateful label used by the straight community. Until we all can become comfortable with this new queer label, however, we should learn to embrace those in the middle ground who simply have love to give to both men and women. Daren Brabham is the University of Utah LGBT Center’s Speakers Bureau coordinator.
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Those gosh-durned legislators! You can’t help but show some pity on so many of them. There are times when I want to walk up to them with a sympathetic smile and gush with my best Utah accent about how awfully sorry I am that their mothers dropped ‘em clean on their heads as infants. That’s the only explanation I can come up with for their truth-is-stranger-than-fiction antics that make their way to the public. Why, just a couple of weeks ago, the Legislature’s Interim Education Committee spent a good while jawing away about some crazy notion that students should pass some sort of academic standard before moving on to the next grade. Seems the good ol’ boys’ got to yappin’ a little too long and Sen. Mark Madsen (R-Lehi) decided that things had gone on long enough. Well, boys and girls, time for a math problem. If three out of the five members of the committee agree with Madsen, does that meet the two-thirds majority requirement? It took a staffer from the Office of Legislative Research and General Council to figure out that three-fifths is less than two-thirds. What would we do without staffers? ‘Preciate ya! I sure am glad the state of Utah’s education is in such good and knowledgeable hands. Aren’t you? Just when we thought we were all safe from the man voted the best® insane politician, we’re tragically mistaken. Yes, I’m afraid Sen. Chris Buttars is at it again. Most of us were already shaking our heads when the neo-con was citing bedtime stories like C. S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters on the Senate floor as rationale for voting against a piece of legislation that would have extended some common decency to caregivers in non-traditional relationships. He and his illicit lover, Gayle Ruzicka of the Eagle Forum, are in their political action bed together, whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears about putting this thing I’m sure you’ve all heard about called “intelligent design” into the school curriculums. It’s bad enough that our legislators haven’t mastered fractions, now they’re going to make sure the kids learn they didn’t evolve from a pool of paramecium goo after all. Intelligent design might sound innocent enough, but it sure looks like that ol’ slippery slope argument they keep telling us about. Except this time, it’s the other slope and we’re headed for
Sunday school every day of the week. Perhaps this is the only way to keep the witch-hunts from thinning out their own ranks. The brown-shirt senator must have been a frustrated hellfire and brimstone fundamentalist preacher who miraculously got elected to the senate. Thankfully, he made his way to a ward house where the clergy would rather put on that plastic smile than flame-spray their parishioners. Won’t someone pass some green jello to the good senator? The irony of these educational flaps is quite simply that for such a supposedly pro-family measure, it smacks of legislators pushing parents into abrogating their responsibilities and putting the onus of moral and religious instruction on educators in the school system. Scott Berryessa, president of the Jordan Education Association, says he receives more complaints from parents and students about having the hotbed topic mentioned in the classroom rather than the other way around. Legislators quite simply need to collaborate with professional educators to establish academic standards, equip the schools with the facilities, instructional materials, and qualified teachers, and get out of the way. Berryessa, who represents some 2,100 teachers, just wants the legislature to “stop micromanaging the process of education—especially when it comes to issues as personal as these.” Teachers were already uncomfortable with demonstrating the fine art of putting a condom on a banana while keeping a straight face. Imagine the discomfort of trying to explain to a room full of restless kids how an invisible, all-powerful intelligent being sat at his drafting board and designed the planet and everything on it. The greatest gift any teacher gave me was that of answering my questions by asking me things that forced me to find my own answer. Parents must rise to the occasion of equipping their children with more than PlayStations and soccer uniforms, and begin teaching them to think for themselves. Religious leaders should be working within the bounds of their congregations to help parents imbue their families with the greater good that their particular faith espouses. The details like how long it took for the earth to be what it is will work themselves out. The government must extricate itself from legislating moral values and fulfill its constitutional role of governing, beginning with the lawmakers. Taking a so-called moral high ground by passing “message bills” can, in no way, mitigate ethics violations. Certainly, the government can and should be family-friendly, but it must, as well, be just to all.
Guest Editorial
BETTY. SEE SUNDAY, JULY 17
THE GAY AGENDA by Eric Tierney, eric@slmetro.com
7THURSDAY I’m so excited! You should be, too—the Pointer Sisters are coming! These ladies have more groove in one bootycheek than Beyonce has in her whole body. There’s a lot more to their music than just the hits—as if the hits weren’t enough. Come on, tonight’s the night they’re gonna make it happen! 7pm, Deer Valley, 2250 Deer Valley Drive South, Park City. Tickets $28–50, 355-2787 or arttix.org
Kismet is one of the best musicals you’ve probably never heard of. Set in Persia in the time of Viziers and Sultans, the score is largely based on the work of Russian opera composer Borodin, only Broadway-ed up a bit. The Utah Festival Opera in Logan opens the show tonight. 7:30pm tonight, July 15, 21, and August 5, 1pm July 13, 30, and August 4. Ellen Eccles Theatre, 43 S. Main Street, Logan. Tickets $17-$55 at 355-2787 or arttix.org.
8FRIDAY Mayor Rocky Anderson’s brainchild, the Salt Lake City International Jazz Festival, comes back to Washington Square for its fourth year. Free tickets are available at the gate or at Zions Bank branches (while there, bitch about them pulling their support for the HRC gala). Through Sunday at Washington Square, 200 E. 400 South. See schedule on next page. slcjazzfest.com.
Terrified by the mass hysteria of McCarthyism, playwright Arthur Miller penned The Crucible in 1953. The play, about the murderous lies surrounding the Salem witch trials in the 17th century, has since become a classic of American literature, revived on Broadway four times, adapted into a film—and turned into an opera. In their second opening of the weekend, tonight the Utah Festival Opera brings the sung version of the story to the stage. 7:30 tonight, July 14, August 4, 1pm July 21 and 29. Ellen Eccles Theatre, 43 S. Main Street, Logan. Tickets $17-$55 at 355-2787 or arttix.org.
Some things never get old. The Steve Miller Band has been making music for almost thirty years now, but damn if the boys can’t still rock. Tonight they’ll be playing tunes from throughout their career, although I’m sure they’ll bring the hits as well—I think they’re required by law to play “The Joker.” 7:30pm Usana Ampitheatre, 5400 South 6200 South. Tickets $20-$40 at 467-TIXX or smithstix.com
Looking at the weather so far this year, one would think we were living in the Pacific Northwest. If the lack of our usual oppressive heat and glaring sunlight has got you down, not to worry—the Center (as usual) has got your back. Join them tonight for a game of Queer Beach Bingo! Grab some tanning oil and a towel and join the fun.
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7pm, The Center, 361 N. 300 West. $5 at the door.
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boys for all those weepy campfire singalongs of “Dust in the Wind.”
If you’re like me, you like girls with spunk. You like girls who can’t bake pies but are quick with a rhyme. You like girls who pack heat. Well, Utah Festival Opera, in yet another opening, has got just the ticket for us—a high falutin’ production of Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun. Remember: when a woman with a gun tells you that anything you can do she can do better, just agree.
8pm, Sandy City Ampitheatre, 1300 E. 9400 South. Tickets $19-$23 at 467-TIXX or smithstix.com.
7:30pm tonight, July 13, 22, 28, 30, and August 6, 1pm July 16, and August 3. Ellen Eccles Theatre, 43 S. Main Street, Logan. Tickets $17-$55 at 355-2787 or arttix.org.
Summer symphony seasons are just like summer reading: light and frothy. In another night of easy-going music under the stars, the Utah Symphony presents a program of Classical Favorites—pieces like Gershwin’s An American in Paris, Copeland’s Rodeo, and Dvorak’s Serenade. Better for your brain than Dean Koontz, and twice as satisfying. 8pm, Sundance Theatre, north fork of Provo Canyon. Tickets $20-$44.
You’ll all recall that period in the seventies and eighties when the sound waves were fraught with what I call geographic rock – you know, America, Boston and the like. While they didn’t do as much for the form as, say, the Stones or Zeppelin, they did write some bitchin’ tunes, and you can hear a couple tonight when Kansas plays ... Sandy? Come out and thank the
10SUNDAY As a people, we are proud of our traditions and customs. And one of our most sacred traditions is brunch. Today, the Center will honor this queer ritual by kicking off a weekly Sunday Brunch Potluck, which all are invited to attend. Bring your favorite mid-morning dish and dish with your friends and neighbors. We may not have any civil rights, but no one can take away our eggs. (For the more health conscious, arrive an hour early with a yoga mat as The Center also introduces a free weekly yoga class!) 11am-2pm, The Center, 361 N 300 West. Free. Information at 539-8800.
I know I already mentioned this, but when you have Spyro Gyra, Lalah Hathaway and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy all playing for free in Salt Lake City at one time, you’d be pissed if I didn’t remind you. The Salt Lake City International Jazz Festival, wraps up tonight with this incredible lineup. 7pm, Washington Square, 200 E. 400 South. See schedule on next page. slcjazzfest.com.
11MONDAY As if the $47,000,000 and Lisa Kudrow sightings that the Festival brought to Utah this year weren’t enough, Sundance
is now offering us the Sundance Institute Outdoor Film Festival. Monday nights through the end of August, the Institute will show former Festival films at the Gallivan Center – for free! Tonight’s selection is more-accurate-than-we’dlike-to-admit regional portrait Napoleon Dynamite. Vote for Pedro? Not me—I’m casting my ballot for Redford!
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9pm, Gallivan Center, 239 S. Main. Free. slcgov.com/PublicServices/Gallivan/
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The good people at Plan-B Theatre just may have outdone themselves this time. After the phenomenal success of the event last year, they’re back with a new version of their celebration of the censored and the exiled. This year’s And the Banned Played On celebrates banned music and will be hosted by those irreverent rapscallions Kerry, Bill and Gina. Also on hand will be Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, Bill Frost, the Saliva Sisters and—oh joy!—the cast of Plan B’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch, amongst others. Almost worth banning stuff if you get an event like this out of it.
Seems that Gallivan is the place to be! After enjoying your free flick on Monday, come back for free music on Thursday. It’s time once again for the Twilight Concert Series. The programming this year is as diverse as usual—tonight’s show features Sarah Lee Guthrie, daughter of Arlo, and indie-rock icon Johnny Iron. As if that weren’t enough, Jake Shimabukuro will demonstrate his virtuosic ukulele playing. No, for real. 7pm, Gallivan Center, 239 South Main. Free. slcgov.com/arts/twilight/lineup.htm
15FRIDAY 50 Cent, Ludacris, Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz will all find themselves looking around tonight and thinking “How the hell did I wind up here?” when their tour pulls into da’ SLC. Even if you’re not into their music, I urge you to go—for sheer delicious absurdity, there’s nothing like the audience at a rap concert in Utah. Imagine the cast of the Mickey Mouse Club bouncing up and down and singing along to “In the Club.” Eerie. 6:30pm, Usana Ampitheatre. 5400 S. 6200 West. Tickets $26–70, 467-TIXX or smithstix.com.
The Young Dubliners are unlike any band out there. The lads combine traditional Irish anthems and pub tunes with the hardest of rock, and the resulting sound is equally at home at the Viper Room and a Sligoh watering hole. Irish fiddlers and electric guitar riffs ... sounds like a Tierney family reunion.
Paper Moon brings you the band of Showtime’s L Word—BETTY. BETTY wrote the new theme music for L Word and band members appeared on a few episodes individually and collectively. Paper Moon, a private club for members, 3737 S. State Street. Tickets at 713-0678.
7pm, Jeanne Wagner Theatre at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W Broadway. Tickets $30 at 355-2787 or arttix.org.
20WEDNESDAY Dire Straits was one of the best bands of the last thirty years and also one of the most underrated. Which makes Mark Knopfler one of the most underrated songwriters. He deserves better. Come out tonight and hear the guy play, and bring your credit card because I’ll just about guarantee you’ll walk out with an armload of CDs. 7:30pm Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple. Tickets $40-$55 at 355-2787 or arttix.org.
Salt Lake City International Jazz Festival WEDNESDAY, JULY 6 ABRAVANEL HALL The Brubecks, Eddie Daniels, Joe La Barbera, Tom Ranier, Dave Carpenter, Patrick Williams, and Greg Floor
16SATURDAY 7pm, Deer Valley, 2250 Deer Valley Drive South, Park City. Tickets $28-$50 at 3552787 or arttix.org.
Gates at 11, shows at 12, Utah State Fairpark, 155 N 1000 West. Tickets $25 at 467TIXX or smithstix.com
FRIDAY, JULY 8/WASHINGTON SQUARE 5:30pm 6:30 7:30 8:30 9:30
Great Basin Street Band Kathy Kosins Quintet, Herschel Bullen Spanky Wilson (SLCJO) Eddie Daniels Quartet Cold Blood
SATURDAY, JULY 9/WASHINGTON SQUARE 3:00pm 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00 8:20 9:30
High School All-Star Big Band performance NEW DEAL SWING featuring Tad Calcara Barbara Morrison (SLCJO) Hornheads Freddie Hubbard/New Jazz Composers Octet Clayton Brothers Kevin Mahogany & SLCJO
SUNDAY, JULY 10/WASHINGTON SQUARE 4:00pm 5:00 6:00 7:00 8:10 9:10
Fat Soul with Dave Halliday SLCJO/Kathy Kosins Salt Lake Alternative Jazz Orchestra Spyro Gyra Lalah Hathaway Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Hale Centre Theatre is something of an anomaly. There are not many fully professional theatres in this country that can afford to build themselves multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art facilities and then consistently manage to sell out their entire seasons – and it’s unheard of for strictly amateur community theatres to do so. Part of what makes Hale a success is that they know their audience intimately and they program accordingly; the house is the quintessential family theatre. While some productions are decidedly less than polished and a lot of the scripts are mundane at best, the current production of Ragtime proves that the theatre has become worthy of the palace it’s built for itself. Based on the novel by E.L. Doctrow, Ragtime follows the story of three families in turn of the (last) century New York. Widower Tateh has escaped Latvia with his daughter and hopes to give her the American dream. Mother and Father live with their family in a comfortable house in New Rochelle. And Coalhouse Walker, Jr., a Harlem piano player, has fathered a child with his lover Sarah. The story of how these three families—and their diverse cultures— navigate the volatile and tenuous class and racial struggles of an America in the throes of social revolution form a tapestry that is woven with historical characters like Harry Houdini, Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, and Booker T. Washington. Ragtime is a musical of epic scope. Ford Motor Company bought up two decrepit Times Square theatres and turned them into one immense space for the New York production, which featured one of the largest casts in Broadway history. The thought of such an enormous show—think Les Miserables or Miss Saigon—on the smallish Hale stage gives one pause, but the show is staged with such grace and care that the thirty or so people in the cast gives the impression of a cast of thousands. There are a number of truly powerful voices and the acting is, if not daring or sparkling, at least effective. The production values are remarkable, from
the enormous bridge that descends from the flies to the full-scale Model-T in which Coalhouse tools around the stage. The real star of any production of this show is the marvelous score. The music ranges from sweeping choral numbers to ballads to vaudeville comedy songs to complex passages almost operatic in scale. This is the kind of music that makes shows like Hairspray look like child’s play. While his singing voice is strong, Trevor Jerome is miscast as Coalhouse. He lacks the command and stage presence the role requires, and while he manages to get the job done, he’s never quite convincing. Meghan D. Parrish, however, has a lovely voice and brings intelligence and sincerity to the pivotal role of Mother. It is the sensitivity, delicacy and humor of Kelly DeHaan’s Tateh, however, that gives the show its heart. The show is not without its problems. The theatre-in-the-round format requires that actors adjust their positions constantly to ensure that no one in the audience is looking at their backs for too long. All too frequently in the production this problem is solved by means of the stage’s revolve, which means that entire scenes are played with actors endlessly rotating around the space. There is also a persistent grating sound emanating from somewhere in the theatre’s bowels that proves distracting. Also, despite a “copyright adherence” statement in the program, the producers have seen fit to change certain words in the text to make them more family-friendly. While this is obviously a choice made on moral grounds, it is nonetheless a compromise of the authors’ intent. Racial slurs, on the other hand, have been preserved. But when it succeeds, in moments like the gloriously-performed Act One finale, the show is an emotional, musical and visual powerhouse. If Hale can consistently produce shows of this quality, many a professional theatre in the region will no doubt sit up and take note. Continues Mondays through Saturdays at 7:30, Saturdays at 12:30 and 4 through July 23. Tickets $19-$21 at 984-9000 or HaleCentreTheatre.org
JULY 7, 2005 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 17
The Vans Warped Tour—billed this year as “the tour that won’t die!”—is back again, and this year is a typical mix of hot new bands, old favorites, and taking-a-last-shot has-beens. This year’s lineup includes No Use for a Name (first category), The Offspring (second) and Billy Idol (the last gasp). More than a chance to hear some good music, you’re certain to see scads of those willowy tight-T-shirt boys with their stringy hair and contemptuous scowls.
by Eric J. Tierney eric@slmetro.com
7:30pm, Velvet Room, 149 W. 200 South. Tickets $14 at 467-TIXX or smithstix.com.
Mary Chapin Carpenter. Need I say more? This lady has been known to write a pretty decent song now and again.
Music and Production Values Make ‘Ragtime’ a Triumph