OCTOBER 16 - 22, 2008 VOLUME SEVEN, ISSUE 42

YOUR FREE
WEEKLY HELP SAVE GAY MARRIAGE
NEWSPAPER Do your part for California / Visit NoOnProp8.com SEE PAGE 9
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 W E E K LY N E W S P A P E R !

Gay City
NEWS
TM

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

Connecticut
Gay
Marriage
Win “Safe”
BY PAUL SCHINDLER

I
n the wake of Friday’s mar-
riage equality ruling from
the Connecticut Supreme
Court, advocates and legisla-
tive leaders are voicing confi-
dence that the ruling is in little
danger of being overturned
by referendum, despite the
fact that voters already face a
November 4 ballot question
whether the state legislature
should call a constitutional
convention next year.
P. 8

■ GAY CLIMB

COURTESY: GLAD
Tough Manhattan
state Senate run
■2
—————————————— BETH KERRIGAN & JODY MOCK OF W. HARTFORD, TOGETHER 13 YEARS WITH TWIN SIX-YEAR-OLD BOYS, CELEBRATE MARRIAGE WIN
■ FIRM LIMITS
Bill Thompson blasts
“poll tax” move
——————————————
■ YOUTH TARGETS
■4
And Now,
Homeless drop-in
funding cut
——————————————
■ SEAGULL SOARS
Chekhov brought
■ 17
Connecticut!
State Supreme Court, 4-3, Says Civil Unions Won’t Do
back right
■ 22 BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD ples with access to all the state-law rights passage of civil union laws in both states.
—————————————— of married different-sex couples, failed the The Connecticut court faced a question

T
he Connecticut Supreme Court on
October 10 ruled by a 4-3 vote that
same-sex couples have the same
right to marry under the state’s Constitu-
tion as different-sex couples.
The ruling ended a protracted period
of suspense that began on May 14, 2007,
when the case was argued before the high
court.
Justice Richard N. Palmer, writing for
the court, found that the state’s 2005 Civil
KITT JOHNSON
21
Union Act, which provides same-sex cou-
state Constitution’s requirement of equal
protection of the laws.
Connecticut thus became the third
state in which the highest court has ruled
in favor of a same-sex marriage claim, fol-
lowing Massachusetts in 2003 and Cali-
fornia earlier this year. Courts in Vermont
and New Jersey had also found a constitu-
tional violation in the state’s denial of the
benefits of marriage to same-sex couples,
but left it to their legislatures to remedy
the constitutional defect, resulting in the
similar to that confronted in California,
where the Legislature had also established
a legal status other than marriage for
same-sex couples providing near-parity in
state legal rights, called domestic partner-
ship in that state. Although the Connecti-
cut court did not go as far as the Califor-
nia court in constructing a constitutional
theory for requiring the state to go all the
way to marriage, it did break new consti-
tutional ground for Connecticut.
The case was originally filed by Gay &

© GAY CITY NEWS 2008 • COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED P. 6
2/ Politics 16 - 22 OCT 2008

GOP Gay’s “Uphill” Fight 7 DAYS

John Chromczak aims for Lower Manhattan-Brooklyn state Senate seat
BY PAUL SCHINDLER
I
n a state Senate district
that runs from the Lower
East Side down to Battery
Park and includes portions
of Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Heights, Cobble Hill, and Car-
roll Gardens as well, Republi-
can John Chromczak knows
he’s got a tough challenge on
his hands. The area’s party
registrations overwhelm-
ingly favor Democrats, and
his opponent is a well-funded
insurgent, Daniel Squad-
ron, who toppled the 30-year
incumbent, Martin Connor,
after a high-profile primary
fight in September.
Still, Chromczak, a 38-year-
old out gay medical technolo-
gist who lives in Lower Man-
hattan, said he believes that
his chances improve “the more
people I get in touch with.” The
candidate said that in recent
months he’s knocked on an
astounding 10,000 doors in
the 25th Senate District.
Yet, in a year when the
LGBT community is focused
on Senate races statewide,
Chromczak conceded, when
asked about the reaction of the
gay community to his candi-
dacy, “I don’t think they know
what to do with me, to be hon-
est.” He said he has never spo-
ken to the Empire State Pride
Agenda, New York’s LGBT
lobby, though he had put out
what he termed “feelers” to the
group.
“They’re so entrenched in
the Democratic Party,” Chrom-
czak said by way of shrugging
off the lack of dialogue with
ESPA.
For its part, ESPA, on Octo-
ber 15, announced its endorse-
ment of Squadron, after hav-
ing sat out his primary fight
with incumbent Connor. The
group said Chromczak did not
fill out its candidate question-
John Chromczak, a gay Republican,
acknowledges he is the clear underdog in
his Manhattan-Brooklyn race for the state
Senate.
naire and that his website and
literature made no mention of
LGBT issues.
An ESPA endorsement of
the Republican was probably
not in the cards in any event.
After years of carefully steer-
ing a bipartisan course, which
most prominently included
endorsement of Gover nor
George Pataki in 2002, the
group made clear its view that
continued Republican leader-
ship of the Senate made prog-
ress on key agenda items such
as marriage equality and gen-
der rights legislation, already
approved by the Assembly and
supported by Governor David
Paterson, impossible.
The Democrats need just
two seats to take control of the
Senate. Holding the seat Con-
nor has held in Democratic
hands is integral to that effort,
and Squadron is an outspoken
LGBT rights supporter, hav-
ing told Gay City News this
summer that marriage equal-
ity “is a drum I plan to beat as
aggressively as anybody.”
Chromczak, however, argues
that as a gay Republican he is
the one better able to win over
converts on marriage equal-
ity. In the 62-seat Senate, six
Democrats have evidenced
opposition to gay marriage, so
even if the party captures the
chamber there will be politick-
ing left to do on the issue. If
minority Republican votes are
needed, he believes he would
be an effective messenger.
What concerns the Pride
Agenda and other marriage
advocates, though, is that the
loss of an existing Democratic
seat could keep the Senate in
Republican hands. The GOP
leadership has been grudging
over the years in allowing votes
on gay rights issues and, at a
Log Cabin Republican recep-
tion in Manhattan last month,
Dean Skelos of Long Island,
the new majority leader, sig-
naled that he has no inten-
tion of changing course from
his predecessor, Joe Bruno,
in blocking marriage equality
from going to the floor.
Pressed on a GOP-majority
scenario, Chromczak insisted,
rather boldly for a prospective
freshman senator, “I am basi-
cally going to tell them that
it’s a priority for me, it’s a pri-
ority for people in my district.
It’s going to have to get to the
floor of the Senate and if that
means we’re going to have to
hold out on other issues to get
that legislation to the floor it’s
something that I’m going to
have to do.”
Asked whether that warning
could have an impact, he noted
that senators elect a majority
leader in January and said, “I
don’t think anyone should take
anything how I should vote for
granted.” Does that mean he
might vote to make the cur-
rent minority leader, Queens
Democratic Senator Malcolm
Smith, the new majority lead-
er? Chromczak responded,
“What I’m saying is I’m going to
vote for the person who’s going
to have the same priorities I do
as a legislator.”
But Chromczak seems to
share many of the priorities of
the current Republican major-
ity, and the state party has
given him roughly $20,000
out of the estimated $60,000
he will spend on his race. At a
candidate forum last week at
the LGBT Community Center,
moderated by this reporter,
he followed a presentation by
Chelsea Democratic Assem-
blyman Dick Gottfried, and in
pointed response said, “I just
don’t think we can keep taxing
ourselves out of every crisis.”
Careful in an interview this
week to emphasize that he
does not advocate “draconian,
across-the-board spending
cuts,” he said that “absolute-
ly” state expenditures need to
be trimmed, citing specifically
New York’s massive Medicaid
budget. He did concede, how-
ever, that the wealthiest New
Yorkers might need to pay a
higher share of total taxes,
a point Gottfried had talked
about at the Center forum but
one that Chromczak faulted
Democrats for not advancing
more aggressively.
One issue on which Chrom-
czak is likely out of step with
many in the LGBT commu-
nity is his pro-life posture; in
fact, West Village Democratic
Assemblywoman Deborah
Glick, an out lesbian who
appeared after him at the
forum last week, spent much
of her time criticizing his posi-
tion. Specifically, he believes
that New York State law should
be amended to require paren-
tal approval of abortion for
minors, except in exceptional
circumstances, and greater
䉴 CHROMCZAK, continued on p.19
7 NIGHTS
THU.OCT.16
POLITICS
Sexy People Vote!
In the final of three candidate
nights, the LGBT Community Center
and Gay Men’s Health Crisis host an
evening of Manhattan congressional
candidates, moderated by Marcus
Mabry of the New York Times. 208 W.
13th St., 6:30-8:30 p.m.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
BOOKS
Kathleen Warnock hosts another
evening of “Drunken! Careening! Writ-
ers!,” tonight featuring Brooklyn poet
and writer Cheryl Burke, Ed Hamilton,
author of “Legends of the Chelsea
Hotel,” Nita Noveno, founder of the
Sunday Salon series, and vittoria repet-
to, whose first poetry book is “Not Just
A Personal Ad.” KGB Bar, 85 E. Fourth
St., btwn. Bowery & Second Ave., 7
p.m. Free.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
RELATIONSHIPS
Making Love
Want connection? Frustrated from
trying everything you know and get-
ting no results? Angelo Pezzote, a gay
psychotherapist, columnist, and author
(“Straight Acting: Gay Men, Masculin-
ity, and Finding True Love”), talks about
releasing roadblocks to intimacy and
manifesting love. Dress comfortably
and bring a blanket and pillow, if you
can. LGBT Community Center, 208
W. 13th St., room 410, 8-10 p.m. Free.
For more information, visit askangelo.
com.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
CABARET
The Clown Dump
Vermillion Lies has charmed audi-
ences the world over with their unique
brand of beauty, silliness, and creativ-
ity. With songs ranging from lyrical
folk ballads to raucous circus marches,
real Life sisters, Zoe and Kim Boek-
binder “Vermillion,” have spent their
lives honing their craft at clown boot
camp and the local dump, where they

NEWS BRIEFS By ANDY HUMM

Catholic
Bishop
Endorses
Obama
Archbishop John Onaiyekan
of Nigeria said he would vote
for Obama for president if he
could, despite the Democrat’s
pro-choice stance. He told the
National Catholic Reporter, “If
my choice is between a person
who makes room for abortion,
but who is really pro-life in
terms of justice in the world,
peace in the world, I will prefer
him to somebody who doesn’t
support abortion but who is
driving millions of people in the
world to death.”
Onaiyekan is “widely seen as
the spokesperson for Catholicism
in Africa,” the newspaper said.
Catholic
Bishop Fires
Gay Priest
Father Geoffrey Farrow,
the Fresno Catholic priest who
came out of the closet and
against California’s anti-gay
marriage amendment, has been
dismissed as pastor of the St.
Paul Newman Center by Bishop
John Steinbock, who wrote,
“It is tragic that Proposition
8 opponents have convinced
some well-intentioned people
that Proposition 8, as a legiti-
mate initiative to define the
institution of marriage, is some-
how a condemnation of people
of same-sex orientation.”
Foster Care
Crosscurrents
in Arkansas
The Arkansas Department
of Social Services has ruled
that unmarried gay and straight
couples can be foster parents,
ending a ban imposed in 2005.
Governor Mike Beebe backs the
change, citing the shortage of
foster homes in the state.
Voters go to the polls on
November 4 to decide whether
to prohibit couples who are
unmarried from adopting chil-
dren or being foster parents. It
is being fought by arkansasfam-
iliesfirst.org and the Foster Care
Alumni of America.
Five Years for
Killing Philly
Transwoman
Terron Oates, 20, was sen-
tenced to five-to-ten years for
the killing of Alexis King in 2006.
䉴 BRIEFS, continued on p.15
found their favorite instruments like toy
piano, accordion, typewriter, and BBQ
grill. The Zipper Factory, 336 W. 37th
St., 10 p.m. Tickets are $20 at thezip-
perfactory.com.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
Star Dust
Klea Blackhurst took New York by
storm with her acclaimed tribute to
Ethel Merman, “Everything the Traffic
Will Allow.” Billy Stritch is an award-
winning composer, arranger, vocalist,
and jazz pianist. The two collaborate
on a review based on the music of
䉴 OCT 16, continued on p.8
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 16 – 22 OCT 2008 3

www.KPAXpharm.com

Pharmaceutical Quality Supplements

10%
OFF
in
Invince-A-Tor™
Naturally Lower Super Probiotics
OCTOBER
Cholesterol and Strengthen
Triglyceride Your Gut With
Levels! Immune Support
Beneficial Bacteria! Protein Blend
Immune Support Formula
The Only Research Proven New Flavor!
Immune Booster! The Best Immune
(*Covered By ADAP) Support Protein
Powder Available!
New Website! (†Covered By Medicaid)

30 New Products!
Visit www.KPAXpharm.com and receive
a FREE bottle of Immune Support Vitamins
and FREE info papers at our Medical Condition Library
by Dr. Jon Kaiser and Lark Lands, Ph.D.

* Requires a physician’s prescription † Medicaid coverage only with weight loss

K PAX
4/ Politics 16 - 22 OCT 2008

Thompson Blasts Term Extension

City comptroller, mayoral hopeful, notes potential 2009 gay Council candidates stymied
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE
Likening Mayor Michael
R. Bloomberg’s proposal to
increase term limits for city
elected officials to poll taxes
and literacy tests that were
used to bar African Americans
from voting, city Comptroller
William Thompson said any
change to New York City’s term
1996 vote.
Thompson said that any
change to the law should be
put before the voters. Coun-
cilmembers David Weprin, Bill
de Blasio, and Letitia James
have introduced legislation that
would require voter approval of
any change to the term limits
law.
Thompson recruited African-
licity stunt,” James said. “The
mayor just doesn’t get it. This is
about democracy.”
Prior to the start of the
event, James said that 18 of
the 51 Council members were
opposed to having the Council
change the law. “We’re close,
very close,” James said.
NY 1 News, the local cable
news station, has been keep-

limits law should be decided by
the voters.
“Whether term limits should
be changed or not should go
back to the voters,” Thompson
said at an October 10 press
conference held on the steps
of City Hall. “Democracy and
voter’s rights are what’s impor-
tant.”
Bloomberg is seeking a vote
in the City Council that would
extend terms for the mayor,
City Council members, and
other elected officials from the
current two four-year terms
to three terms. The term lim-
its law was approved in a 1993
voter referendum and voters
declined to amend that law in a
American ministers to take to
their pulpits and speak against
the Bloomberg initiative begin-
ning on October 19. Some of
those ministers joined him at
City Hall. The New York Times
reported on October 10 that
a different group of African-
American ministers supported
the Bloomberg proposal in a
letter to the City Council.
Joining Thompson at City
Hall were Councilmembers de
Blasio, James, Darlene Mealy,
and Charles Barron, all of
whom represent parts of Brook-
lyn, and Weprin, who repre-
sents part of Queens.
“The mayor said this morn-
ing that this was a cheap pub-
ing a running tally that shows
19 opposed, 15 supporting
the change, and 18 undecided
as of October 15. On October
12, Council Speaker Christine
Quinn endorsed the Bloomberg
proposal.
“In these difficult times, I
believe voters should have the
choice to keep the leadership
in our city,” Quinn said at a
press conference. Quinn, an
out lesbian, previously opposed
changing the law.
Bloomberg has said that the
dismal state of the economy
and what will certainly be diffi-
cult financial times for the city
in the near future require his
experience and skills.
MARLA MARITZER
Comptroller William Thompson, surrounded by City Council members, at an October 10 rally
protesting the effort to amend the city’s term limit law legislatively.
Thompson was also joined Bloomberg had been a suc-
by state Assemblyman cessful mayor and said, “This
Hakeem Jeffries and state is nothing short of a power
Senators Eric Adams and grab.”
Kevin S. Parker, all three The ter m limits debate
of whom represent parts of is complicated by the self-
Brooklyn. Parker and Jeffries interest of the politicians
have introduced legislation and political insiders who
in Albany that would require are currently holding that
a referendum to change term debate. Many, such as Quinn
limits. and Thompson, were prepar-
Calling Bloomberg’s seven ing to run for another office
years in office a “record of
failure,” Parker disputed that 䉴 THOMPSON, continued on p.19

15th Annual Race to Deliver

God’s Love We Deliver

MILEWALKRUNAMs+IDS&UN2UNSTARTSATAM

November 16, 2008 - Central Park

Help us continue to provide meals and nutrition counseling to men, women
and children living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-altering illnesses

www.racetodeliver.org
'ODS,OVE7E$ELIVER!VENUEOFTHE!MERICAS.EW9ORK.9
sWWWGODSLOVEWEDELIVERORG
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 16 – 22 OCT 2008 5

2008 COURAGE AWARDS

A benefit for the Anti-Violence Project

HONORING
MERCEDES-BENZ WILLOW HOUSE
USA, LLC a program of Safe Horizon

MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2008

ESPACE
635 West 42nd Street
between 11th and 12th Avenues

6:30 PM (FOFSBM
3FDFQUJPO


r


7:30 PM Dinner & Awards Presentation

Cocktail attire

Tickets can be purchased online at

www.courageawards.eventbrite.com
For more information: (212) 219-0111 avp@stampeventco.com
www.avp.org
Tickets start at $500. Guests must RSVP and be 21 or older to attend.

THE NEW YORK CITY ANTI-VIOLENCE PROJECT

is dedicated to eliminating hate violence, sexual assault, stalking, and domestic violence in lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV-affected communities through counseling, advocacy,
organizing, and public education.

Beverages provided by
6/ Politics
And Now, Connecticut
State Supreme Court, 4-3, says civil unions won’t do
䉴 CONNECTICUT, from p.1
Lesbian Advocates & Defend-
ers, the Boston-based public
interest law firm, on behalf of
eight same-sex couples whose
applications for marriage
licenses had been denied.
At the time, GLAD had
recently achieved its trium-
phant victory in Massachu-
setts and was seeking to build
on that victory in a neighbor-
ing state where attempts to
achieve legal recognition for
same-sex couples had not got-
ten very far in the legislature.
Many state and national orga-
nizations joined in support of
the litigation through amicus
briefs and other forms of assis-
tance to the plaintiffs. GLAD
attorney Bennett Klein was
lead counsel on the case.
Filing of the suit, however,
helped to spur the General
Assembly, Connecticut’s leg-
islature, on to the adoption of
the Civil Union Act, making
the state the first to adopt civil
union without being ordered
to take action by a state high
court ruling, although in Cali-
fornia progress toward a broad
domestic partnership law simi-
larly proceeded without the
spur of a court order. Once the
law was enacted, the State of
Connecticut moved for sum-
mary judgment in the marriage
case, arguing that its passage
cured any possible constitu-
tional defect.
This argument persuaded
the trial judge, who granted
the state’s motion for sum-
mary judgment, concluding
that whatever difference there
was between civil unions and
marriage was not significant
enough to raise a constitution-
al claim.
Every judge on the seven-
member court disagreed with
In contrast, the least
demanding level of judicial
review is the “rational basis
test,” where the right at stake
is not deemed fundamental, or
the law does not embrace a sus-
pect classification. This mode of
judicial review presumes the
constitutionality of the law and
puts the burden on the law’s
challenger to show that there is
no rational basis for it.
In some cases, courts have
COURTESY: GLAD
recognized a level of review
intermediate between these
two, where important indi-
Jeffrey Busch and Stephen Davis of Wilton, vidual interests are at stake or
one of the plaintiff couples, together since where the law disadvantages
1989, with their son, Eli. based on a classification that
might be called “quasi-sus-
that initial proposition. The pect.” In these cases, the bur-
majority and the three dissent- den of justification is placed on
ing justices all agreed on this the government to show that
one point — that civil unions the challenged law advances
and marriage are different some important state interest
things, because marriage is and does so better than any
more than just a bundle of less discriminatory alternative.
legal rights. Marriage, as they The court’s decision of which
all recognized, is a social insti- level of review to use plays a
tution of long standing that major role in the outcome of a
has meaning and social sta- case.
tus beyond the concrete legal In the California marriage
rights and responsibilities cases, the court decided that
associated with it. the marriage law’s exclusion
All the judges, then, agreed of same-sex couples discrimi-
that the plaintiffs had raised a nated regarding a fundamen-
valid constitutional question. tal right — the right to marry
The main disagreement was — and involved a suspect clas-
over the appropriate standard sification, sexual orientation.
by which the court would eval- As a result, the court applied
uate this constitutional chal- strict scrutiny, and the state’s
lenge. The most demanding arguments in support of the
level of judicial review is strict law were not persuasive to the
scrutiny, under which a law majority.
that abridges a fundamental The Connecticut court was
right or disadvantages people not willing to go that far, but
based on a classification con- the majority concluded that
sidered suspect of facing dis- the law does discriminate on
crimination is presumed to be the basis of sexual orientation,
unconstitutional unless the and that gay people should be
state can show a compelling regarded as a “quasi-suspect
need for the law that can only class” under the state Constitu-
be achieved through the policy tion, putting the burden on the
being challenged. state to justify excluding them
BUSINESS CARD DIRECTORY
Advertise Your Business or Service Here.
It’s Affordable and Delivers Results!
Call Allison @ 646-452-2485
from the right to marry.
Unlike the federal Consti-
tution, the Connecticut Con-
stitution contains an express
enumeration of the “suspect
classes,” which do not include
sexual orientation, and the
court was not willing to adopt
the argument, which the Cali-
fornia Supreme Court found
appealing, that denying gay
couples the right marry was
also sex discrimination.
However, in Connecticut, the
court noted that its own past
decisions had suggested that
the Constitution’s enumeration
of suspect classes did not pre-
clude the existence of interme-
diate categories, since the Con-
stitution also made clear that
the guarantee of equal protec-
tion extends to everyone.
Justice Palmer carefully
examined each of the factors
that the US Supreme Court
has used in identifying “quasi-
suspect” classes. The Connect-
icut justices generally agreed
that of the four factors used by
the US high court, gay people
would qualify on three of them
— a history of invidious dis-
crimination, that the charac-
teristic in question is not rel-
evant to a person’s ability to
participate in society, and that
the characteristic in question
is either immutable or so fun-
damental to personal identity
that the government could not
insist on the individual trying
to change it.
Where the dispute came
was on the question of politi-
cal power. The Supreme Court
has sometimes indicated that
groups who are unable to pro-
tect their interests in the leg-
islative process due to lack
of political power may need
the assistance of the courts
through judicial review.
On this point, the dissenters
David Restrepo RPH
Elina Kaminsky RPH
SM
1235 1st Ave | New York, NY 10021
tel: 212-628-1110 | fax: 212-628-1117
NEED COMPUTER HELP OR TRAINING?
toll free: 866-628-5255
CALL 212-444-8904
mon-fri 8:30-8 and sat 9:30-7:30
Free delivery | All plans Check
accepted |out
vitamins
injectables | chemo | surgical supplies & beauty aids
Your Private & Trusted Source for HIV Pharmacy Care
We deliver free to all of NYC and ship nation-wide!
16 - 22 OCT 2008
argued that gay people actu-
ally have lots of political clout
in Connecticut. After all, the
state was among the earliest to
reform their sodomy laws, and
over the past several decades
Connecticut has passed a
broad gay rights law, has leg-
islated to allow second-parent
adoptions, and has passed the
civil union law. Clearly, in the
dissenters’ view, these legisla-
tive victories would have been
impossible had gay people been
unable to form the political alli-
ances necessary to advance
their interests.
Dissenting Judge David
M. Borden also noted that a
same-sex marriage bill had
been introduced in the General
Assembly to great fanfare, had
achieved significant co-spon-
sorship, and had even been
approved in committee, but had
not been subjected to floor votes
yet for a variety of reasons.
To Borden and the other dis-
senters — Justices Christine S.
Vertefeuille and Peter T. Zarella
— gay political power in Con-
necticut was too far advanced
to hold that gay people needed
special protection of the courts.
However, the court’s majority
concluded otherwise. Palmer
pointed out that the neither
the US Supreme Court nor the
Connecticut Supreme Court
had invariably insisted that all
four factors must be present
to justify treating a particular
group as needing judicial pro-
tection from discrimination.
Indeed, he noted, it was clear
from recent US Supreme Court
decisions that the current polit-
ical power of a group was not a
determinative factor.
For example, the high court
has recently found that race
remains a suspect classifica-
䉴 CONNECTICUT, continued on p.7
our| organic
great and non toxic reviews
customer products at
www.puterfix.com
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 16 – 22 OCT 2008 7

䉴 CONNECTICUT, from p.6
tion, even though some racial
minorities have achieved sub-
stantial political power in this
country, and that sex remains
a suspect classification, even
though women constitute a
majority of the electorate and
have made steady gains in plac-
ing their issues at the head of
the legislative agenda. And, in
so-called “reverse discrimina-
tion” cases, the Court has used
strict scrutiny to evaluate race
discrimination claims by white
plaintiffs, even though it would
be hard to justify treating white
people, as a group, as politically
disadvantaged.
Palmer found the analogy of
gays and women to be appro-
priate for purposes of this anal-
ysis. Although the Connecticut
Constitution expressly makes
sex a suspect classification, the
Supreme Court has refused to
go that far under the federal
Constitution, instead using its
four-pronged test to deem sex
a “quasi-suspect” classification
invoking intermediate scru-
tiny. Women, like gays, have
substantial political power, but
suffer from a history of discrim-
inatory treatment by the state,
usually based on stereotypes
about the group.
Having concluded that inter-
mediate or heightened scrutiny
applies, the court put the bur-
den on the state to justify hav-
ing made available state law
rights but denied the status of
marriage. The court accepted
the plaintiffs’ argument that
civil unions are a lesser sta-
tus than marriage, since civil
unions are merely a bundle of
legal rights and responsibili-
ties, while marriage is a long-
standing social institution.
Indeed, noting the long history
of discrimination against gay
people in our society, the court
majority saw the creation of
a separate status — in a law
that included a declaration that
only a man and a woman could
marry — as a clear indication of
inferior status.
The State of Connecticut,
in defending the status quo,
disavowed the bizarre theory
accepted by the high courts
of New York, Maryland, and
Washington — that marriage
is necessary for heterosexual
couples in order to “channel”
their procreation into stable
family units. In looking at the
arguments made by the state,
the court found only two justi-
fications there — an interest in
maintaining uniformity with
the marriage laws of other
states, and an interest in pre-
serving the long-standing tra-
ditional definition of marriage.
The court found both of these
justifications lacking.
The state had not explained
why it was important to main-
tain uniformity, Palmer wrote.
Clearly, such uniformity is
breaking down, as neighboring
Massachusetts and Califor-
nia — at least for now — have
same-sex marriage. A desire
for uniformity might provide a
rational basis for the distinc-
tion between same-sex and dif-
ferent-sex couples, but Palmer
found that under intermediate
scrutiny the state had a bur-
den to show why it was impor-
tant, not merely rational, and
had not done so.
In terms of preserving the
traditional definition, Palmer
dismissed this without great
effort, pointing out that it was a
way of saying that discrimina-
tion is insulated from challenge
just because it is longstanding,
a point not deemed worth much
refutation.
Borden’s dissent, joined by
Vertefeuille, focused primar-
ily on the political power point,
although he had differences
with other parts of the majority
decision, including the court’s
conclusion, in the absence of
any real proof — at least in his
view — that civil unions would
turn out in the long run to be of
lesser status than marriages.
Zarella, by contrast, differed
with the majority on virtu-
ally every point, to the extent
of reviving, on behalf of the
state, the channeling procre-
ation argument. An essential
element of the court’s equal
protection analysis was the
assertion that same-sex and
different-sex couples are simi-
larly situated regarding the
significance of marriage as an
institution, a point the major-
ity embraced based on its view
that marriage was not just
about procreation or necessar-
ily about procreation.
Zarella argued that marriage
was, at its base, all about pro-
creation, which he deemed the
main justification for the state
recognizing and buttressing
this institution. If procreation is
so central, then same-sex and
different-sex couples are not
similarly situated, in his view,
because gay and lesbian cou-
ples cannot procreate through
sex as a couple.
All of the dissenters
expressed concerns about the
court preempting the political
process by constitutionalizing
a right to same-sex marriage,
with Borden emphasizing his
view that the political pro-
cess was just chugging along
toward same-sex marriage
in any event, so there was no
need for the court to rush in
and finish the task.
Palmer’s rejoinder was to
point out that the marriage bill
had been pulled off the floor
without a vote due to many
legislators stating they were
not ready to vote on the issue.
He also noted that at the time
when the Supreme Court
decided to treat sex as a quasi-
suspect classification, there
were arguments that the pend-
ing Equal Rights Amendment to
the federal Constitution, which
had been approved by Con-
gress overwhelmingly and sent
to the states for ratification,
would take care of the problem
of sex discrimination, making
it unnecessary to interpret the
Equal Protection Clause to pro-
vide special judicial protection
for women. The ERA, of course,
fell short of the necessary states
for ratification.
The court’s decision con-
cludes with an order to send
the case back to the trial
court, with directions to grant
summary judgment in favor
of the plaintiffs. The court’s
opinion did not expressly
state when and how the rul-
ing would be implemented, so
we await word from experts on
Connecticut procedure.
However, Connecticut has
the practice of releasing opin-
ions long in advance of their
official effective date. As this
opinion is designated as offi-
cially released on October 28,
the remand to the trial court
does not go into effect until
then. GLAD said the decision
is likely to take effect on or
soon after November 7.

CASTING CALL
WA$TED – an eco-makeover show

• Do you have extremely high utility bills?

• Do your kids not know the meaning of “recycle”?
• Does your husband run your air conditioner even
while you’re not home?
• Are you interested in saving MONEY?
• Are you reluctant to adopt a more earth-friendly lifestyle?
SMALL STEPS CAN MAKE A • Do you think that eco-friendly alternatives are a waste of time?

BIG IMPACT.
Take your first step today.
We are currently casting families, homes and businesses in the tri-state
area for the second season of the hit makeover show WASTED for Planet
Green. The eco-makeover will involve lifestyle tips, cool gadgets and
Call or go online today to register. products, and superficial changes to the home. And the best part – we
help you save MONEY! We are looking for people with bizarre, energy-
wasting habits that just need a little push in the right direction for an
October 26th, 2008 efficient, effective green household.

South Street Seaport Requirements:

Must live within 2 hours of NYC
diabetes.org/stepout 1-888-DIABETES Must own home/apartment
SHOOT is about 2 days, plus some additional time over the
Thanks to Our National Event Sponsors Special Thanks to Our National Teams course of a month

Application:
Thanks to Our Local Event Sponsors Please submit photos and a short bio of why you think your family needs
Novo Nordisk Duane Reade Queens Hospital Center an eco-makeover to Joey.Lucas@liontv.us or Sarah.Kanter@liontv.us
8/ Politics
Conn. Marriage Win “Safe”
Constitutional convention possible, but legislative votes are there
䉴 SAFE, from p.1
“I definitely agr ee that
we have a marriage equal-
ity majority in the legislature,”
said Michael P. Lawlor, an out
gay Democratic member of the
State House of Representa-
tives from East Haven and the
chair of the Judiciary Com-
mittee.
If voters approve the consti-
tutional convention call, the
legislature, known in Connect-
icut as the General Assembly,
has a year to call one. It is
within the General Assembly’s
sole prerogative to set terms
by which they select delegates,
and then those delegates have
autonomy in terms of what
matters they take up.
Democrats are close to
having the two-thirds major-
ity in both houses needed for
the selection of delegates, but
in any event marriage equal-
ity, Lawlor said, has significant
bipartisan support.
Republican Governor Jodi
Rell is opposed to marriage
equality, but has no legal role
in calling the constitutional
convention.
“If there is a constitutional
convention, it is much more
likely to take up matters such
as whether the right to health-
care should be incorporated
into the state Constitution, or
whether Roe v. Wade should
become part of the Constitu-
tion,” Lawlor said.
Anne Stanback, a spokes-
woman for Love Makes A Fam-
ily, the LGBT rights group in
Connecticut, said that her
group expects that the marriage
equality majority in the General
Assembly will grow as the result
of the November 4 elections.
Lawlor, however, said that
no matter what happens in
November — and a reversal of
Democrats’ fortunes is certain-
ly not expected — the marriage
ruling should safe.
“If such a referendum were
held in Connecticut,” he said,
referring to an anti-marriage
ballot question, something not
possible until after a constitu-
tional convention, “voters would
vote it down.”
Lawlor pointed to a recent
Quinnipiac College poll that
found that about 20 percent of
voters in the state oppose any
legal recognition for lesbian
and gay couples, but that the
remainder support either civil
unions or full marriage recog-
nition, in about equal percent-
ages. “Once you get past the
Geraldine and Suzanne Artis of Clinton, one of the eight plaintiff couples, together for 12
years, have three children — nine-year-old Geras and seven-year-old twins, Zanagee and
Gezani.
issue of accepting homosexu-
ality, it’s pretty hard to argue
against marriage for same-sex
couples,” he said.
Lawlor noted that Republi-
can Congressman Chris Shays,
a moderate who represents
southwestern Connecticut
and is in a battle for his politic
life with Democrat Jim Himes,
supports same-sex marriage;
in fact, he said, the two candi-
dates argue about which one is
stronger on the issue.
Stanback acknowledged that
the Knights of Columbus, a
Catholic fraternal organization
headquartered in New Haven,
was identified this week as the
largest institutional contributor
to the effort to defeat marriage
equality at the polls in Califor-
nia next month, ponying up
$1.25 million. The group sev-
eral years ago circulated anti-
marriage petitions in parishes
across Connecticut, but “many
Catholics refused to sign,” she
said.
Lawlor said the high court’s
ruling caps a nine-year debate
in Connecticut over same-sex
partnership recognition and
that the process the General
Assembly has gone through
has been helpful in educating
legislators and voters and in
building support for full mar-
riage equality. In 2005, Con-
necticut became the first state
to adopt civil unions without
pressure from a court ruling.
That law was signed by Rell, the
Republican governor.
In 2007, Lawlor’s Judiciary
Committee, which includes
about a quarter of the total
House membership, approved
a bill that would have upgraded
civil unions to full marriage by
a vote of 27-15. The full Gen-
eral Assembly never voted on
lic Health, which supervises
marriage registration, and the
Madison town registrar of vital
statistics.
In June 2006, Judge Patty
Jenkins Pittman found that
excluding same-sex couples
from marriage did not violate
the Connecticut Constitution.
GLAD appealed the ruling to
the state Supreme Court and,
on May 14, 2007, the group’s
Ben Klein argued the case
before the high court. The state
attorney general represent-
COURTESY: GLAD
ed the Department of Public
Health.
It took the Supreme Court 17
months to render its decision.
“In an historic decision,
Connecticut’s Supreme Court
ruled today that gay and lesbi-
the measure, but Lawlor said an couples in the Constitution
the votes were clearly there in State deserve marriage,” GLAD
the Senate and almost there said in a written statement. “
in the House. Some of his col- Not domestic partnerships or
leagues told him they would civil unions, but full and equal
come around on the marriage marriage and the respect and
equality issue, but wanted civil security that only marriage pro-
unions to be in place a bit lon- vides.”
ger before making the move. “Today’s victory fulfills the
Since that time, he said, a hopes and dreams of gay and
number of members, Demo- lesbian families to live as full
crats and Republicans, have and equal citizens in Connecti-
told him they are prepared to cut,” Klein, the lead attorney,
take the next step. said. “Marriage is unparalleled
Lawlor said that vote will still in the dignity, respect, and pro-
have to be made, since there tection it gives families.”
must be a legal mechanism for Plaintiffs Beth Kerrigan and
couples in civil unions to have Jodie Mock, whose names are
their status converted to mar- part of the case’s title, said of
riage without their having to the ruling, “We are overjoyed
start over. to tell our twin boys that we
House Speaker James A. will be married, just like their
Amann, of Milford, and Senate friends’ parents. We are pro-
President Pro Tempore Donald foundly grateful to live in a
E. Williams, of Brooklyn — both state which recognizes our
Democrats — are marriage equality.”
equality supporters. In New York, the decision
Still, Stanback said Love was immediately greeted with
Makes A Family is not compla- praise by gay marriage advo-
cent about protecting the new cates.
victory. “This is a huge win for mar-
“We are taking nothing for riage equality,” said Cathy-
granted and will work very hard Marion Thomas, executive
between now and the opening director of Marriage Equality
of the new legislative session New York, a grassroots group.
in January,” she said. “With “It is a wonderful decision
continued work, this decision against civil unions.”
should stand.” Marino-Thomas said that
The October 10 victory came the arguments made in the
in a lawsuit filed in August Connecticut majority opinion
2004 by Gay & Lesbian Advo- that civil unions are insuf-
cates & Defenders, a public ficient in delivering equality
interest law firm located in for gay and lesbian couples
Boston, on behalf of eight gay will strengthen the case in
and lesbian couples who had Vermont, New Jersey, and
been denied marriage licens- New Hampshire that the legal
es in Madison, Connecticut. structures created there are
Each of the couples had been inadequate and that full mar-
together for between ten and riage rights must be substi-
30 years, many of them raising tuted.
children. The defendants were
the state Department of Pub- 䉴 SAFE, continued on p.9
16 - 22 OCT 2008
7 DAYS
䉴
7 NIGHTS
OCT 16, from p.2
Hoagy Carmichael, one of America’s
most treasured songwriters who
wrote “Star Dust” (the most recorded
song ever), “Georgia On My Mind,”
and “Skylark.” Metropolitan Room,
34 W. 22nd St. Oct. 16-17, Nov.
20-21, 9:45 p.m.; Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m.
The cover charge is $30, with a two-
drink minimum. Reservations at metro-
politanroom.com or 212-206-0440.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
PERFORMANCE
An Artist to Watch
Utah-based Amy Caron is an ath-
lete, a product of rural life, a formally
trained artist, and someone with a
quick wit. She arrives in the East Village
with “Waves of Mu,” a neuroscience-
based installation/performance work
that is essentially a wall-to-wall, floor-
to-ceiling representation of the brain,
a memorable anatomy lesson. Walking
through this beautifully complex instal-
lation, a play on scope and scale, gives
a wow factor to the organ riding around
in our skulls that we easily forget is our
ultimate source. The room is a portal
for a deeper understanding of the mind.
Performance Space 122, Oct. 16-18,
7:30 p.m.; Oct. 19, 5:30 p.m. Tickets
are $20, $15 for students & seniors,
$10 for P.S. 122 members at ps122.org.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
GALLERY
Uncover the Clues
Gabriela Alva curates “Crime
Drama,” a show of new work from
Andrew Robinson, whose 20-year-plus
history in ceramic arts leads the show,
mingling with painting, sculpture, and
installation. As the title infers, crimes,
or imperfect histories, are explored
through sculptural multimedia por-
traits and objects that serve to suggest
secretive narratives begging to be dis-
covered. Eye Level Gallery at Victor
Osborne Atelier, 364 Leonard St. at
Withers St., Williamsburg. Mon.-
Fri, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. through Nov. 1.
347-463-9716.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
ACTIVISM
What Do We Want?
“Out Now” is an artistic attempt
to explore the possibilities for a sym-
pathetic cultural backdrop to press
for urgent action toward ending the
Iraq War. Artists participating include
Friends of William Blake, a loose-knit
New York artists’ collective who in the
past collaborated on “The New York-
ers’ Guide to Military Recruitment in
the Five Boroughs” and “The People’s
Guide to the Republican National Con-
vention”; peace activist Kathy Kelly;
artist and writer Trevor Paglen; video,
sculpture, and performance artists
䉴 OCT 16, continued on p.10
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 16 – 22 OCT 2008 9

䉴 SAFE, from p.8 ment recognition of legal marriages in
the states.
The increasing shift by New York “Now New Yorkers can drive across
State’s neighbors toward marriage the border to a second state, get a
equality will also be helpful in Albany, marriage license that will be recog-
she said, as the Senate next year, per- nized as legal and valid here at home,
haps with a new Democratic majority, and have access to the vast majority of
confronts the gay marriage bill already the 1,324 rights and responsibilities
approved by the Assembly and sup- New York provides with it,” said Alan
ported by Governor David Paterson. Van Capelle, executive director of the
Marino-Thomas said that with Cali- Empire State Pride Agenda, New York’s
fornia and additional states in the gay rights lobby. “While we realize that
Northeast adopting marriage equality, some families will do this because
there will soon be “a good base for a they need the protections right now
federal fight” over the Defense of Mar- that come with a marriage license, we
riage Act, which precludes US govern- believe that our families should not
have to leave our home state to get
married.”
A New York state appeals court in
February ruled that legal gay marriag-
es from other jurisdictions should be
recognized here, and, in May, Paterson
directed all executive branch agencies
to develop procedures for complying
with that ruling.
“The State Assembly, Governor Pat-
erson, and a majority of New Yorkers
agree it is time” to act, Van Capelle
continued. “The State Senate needs to
get the message and act now.”
Marino-Thomas voiced concern that
the Connecticut ruling might spur
greater right-wing contributions to
the effort to overturn the recent Cali-
fornia marriage equality ruling in the
November 4 referendum. Gay rights
advocates this week warned that the
anti-marriage forces have raised more
than $25 million versus just under
$16 million by those working to pro-
tect the court ruling, and that polling
has recently swung against the mar-
riage equality side.
“I’m scared,” Marino-Thomas said.
“If you’ve never given a dollar to the
fight for marriage equality, now is the
time to give money to the fight in Cali-
fornia.”

FUNDS TO DEFEND CALIFORNIA GAY MARRIAGE GROW

One week after calling an “emergency” con-
ference call with the LGBT media to emphasize
the risk that California’s Proposition 8 — turn-
ing back the recent state Supreme Court ruling
in favor of marriage equality — could prevail
at the ballot box on November 4, leaders of the
effort to defeat the measure said fundraising
to protect the newly-won right had stepped up
significantly and that polling suggested that
their message, when heard, is effective.
As of October 7, supporters of Prop 8 had
raised more than $25 million versus just under
$16 million for the pro-gay side. That financial
superiority allowed opponents of gay marriage
to get a leg up on media advertising, officials
from the No on Prop 8 campaign said, and poll-
ing data, just weeks before very promising for
LGBT advocates, had moved sharply in favor
of voters approving the Defense of Marriage
amendment.
But on October 14, Patrick Guerriero, the
former head of the Log Cabin Republicans cur-
rently on loan from the Gill Foundation to the
No on Prop 8 campaign, said that opponents
of the marriage ban are now raising almost $1
million a day, helping to close the nearly $10
million gap of a week before. But, he added,
that fundraising pace needs to be kept up
through election day and the donor pool of
only 30,000 contributors must be expanded
considerably.
He stated that tracking polls done by the No
on Prop 8 campaign were finding that where vot-
ers had only heard the anti-gay ads, the marriage
ban was showing a double-digit advantage, but
that when marriage equality ads compete the
measure loses by about five points.
“So our message is working,” he said. “We
need to be more places, ramp up not only on
TV but also on radio. It’s an air war. It is that
black and white.” Later, he added, “There is a
great sense that the public wants to be on our
side. They want to hear our arguments.”
Guerriero noted that the Prop 8 fight will
turn out to be the most expensive LGBT referen-
dum ever; it will also likely be the most heavily
funded race this year outside of the presiden-
tial contest. He promised a get-out-the-vote
field game leading up to and on election day on
par with a US Senate campaign, and noted that
the lack of competitiveness in the presidential
contest in California means there are many
progressive activists willing to donate volun-
teer time to the effort to defeat Prop 8.
The No on Prop 8 campaign just released
a commercial featuring Ellen DeGeneres and
Guerriero responded to criticism that too few
LGBT faces have appeared in ads against the
referendum by stating that new direct mail
pieces and TV ads would include “LGBT faces
and families.”
He acknowledged, however, that DeGe-
neres was among a large number of promi-
nent, wealthy lesbian and gay Americans the
group continues to ask “to write a check.”
“We are talking to everyone that has money
and hasn’t given,” Guerriero said. “There will
be some breakthrough news in the next sev-
eral days.”
To view the pro-gay campaign’s advertis-
ing spots and to make a donation, visit NoOn-
Prop8.com. — Paul Schindler

Metropolitan Community Church of New York Gay travel to Peru and . . .

Worth Believing!
Metropolitan Community Church of New York is the Spiritual Center of the Queer community
Machu Picchu
in New York City. Our congregation offers a range of celebrations, outreach programs and
support services, including Homeless Youth Services and the Sylvia Rivera Food Pantry.
CHECK OUT www.MCCNY.org for information about our progams, services, and events,
including CHURCH LADY BINGO and MCCNY'S JACKSON HALL ART GALLERY.

a church of lesbian, gay, bisexual and

transgender people - open to all
The Reverend Pat Bumgardner, Pastor

Weekly Sunday Services: 9 am (Traditional), 11 am (Celebration) Travel in comfort and style to the ‘lost city’ of the Incas,
3 pm (Mandarin) and 7 pm (Praise & Worship)
11 am features ASL interpreter (first and last Sunday of each month only)
Machu Picchu. Enjoy 3-5 star hotels, a boutique Sacred
446 West 36th St. bet. 9th & 10th Ave. NY, NY 10018 212-629-7440 Valley resort and travel first class on the Hiram Bingham
website: www.mccny.org email: info@mccny.org Orient Express train. Visit remote Quechua Indian villages,
shop at colorful local craft markets and savor wonderful
GUEST PASS HIGH STYLE - ALL VINTAGE - ALL FOR SALE Peruvian cuisine and wine.
Options can include horseback excursions to remote Inca
THE MODERN SHOW sites, paragliding, hot stone massage and river rafting
20th CENTURY ART  DESIGN through the Urubamba--the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

8 days / 7 nights
OCTOBER 17-18-19
90 exhibitors selling 20th Century furniture, art, objects, lighting,
March 6-13 and Nov. 20-27, 2009
$3,495* with 4+ travelers
silver, prints, glass, ceramics, posters, paintings, sculpture, books,
designer jewelry, textiles.  Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Mid-Century Modern, Amazon Rainforest Extension: 5d/4n
Industrial Design  Artist Designed & Couture Runway Jewelry  Special
Exhibit: FOCUS ON FASHION - 1960’s M. Shaw Photography Collection. $1,985 with 4+ travelers
*Int’l airfare to Peru not included
Admit One THE ARMORY DOWNTOWN www.ecoimagephototravel.com
Complimentary to
The Modern Show Lexington Ave. @ 26th St., NYC
with this ad Fri. & Sat. 11-7, Sun. 11-5 • Regular Admission $15 • 973-808-5015 Cell: 917-757-8609
Exchange at the box office DETAILS AND DEALER LISTS AT STELLASHOWS.COM
for one admission ticket peruboy@mac.com
Oct. 17-18-19, 2008 BE GREEN - BUY VINTAGE! www.stellashows.com
10/ Human Rights
Iranian Queer RR Launched
Gay refugee works to speed transit to asylum-willing nations
BY DOUG IRELAND
A
rsham Parsi, the
well-known Irani-
an gay activist, has
announced the launch of the
Iranian Queer Railroad (IRQR),
a new organization designed
specifically to help the grow-
ing number of LGBT Iranians
forced to leave their country by
the violently homophobic poli-
cies of the ayatollahs’ theocra-
cy. Homosexuality is a capital
crime in Iran.
Parsi, 28, founded the first
Iranian gay group, the Persian
Gay and Lesbian Organization
(PGLO), in 2004 while still liv-
ing in Iran. With the police on
his tail for his gay activism,
Parsi fled to Turkey in 2005,
where he continued his work
to publicize the plight of LGBT
Iranians, and eventually was
granted asylum as a sexual
refugee by Canada, where
he moved two years ago and
changed the name of the PGLO
to the Iranian Queer Organiza-
tion (IRQO).
Earlier this year, Parsi and
the IRQO were honored by the
International Gay and Lesbian
Human Rights Commission
with its Felipa Award for pio-
neering gay activism.
Parsi traveled to Turkey
in August to meet with Ira-
nian LGBT refugees and plead
their case with the office of the
United Nations High Commis-
sioner for Human Rights that
is located there. The UNHCR
must grant these queer exiles
official refugee status before
they can be accepted for asy-
lum in gay-friendly countries.
As the result of that trip, Parsi
concluded that a new organi-
zation dedicated exclusively to
helping sexual dissidents flee
persecution in Iran was neces-
sary.
“I decided to call our new
group the Iranian Queer Rail-
road after the Underground
Railroad in the 19th cen-
tury, which was an informal
network of routes and safe
houses helping black slaves in
America to escape to freedom
in Canada,” Parsi told Gay
City News by telephone from
Toronto, where he now lives.
He said a board of directors
and an advisory committee for
the new organization would be
announced soon.
Parsi said he and his organi-
zation are now in contact with
145 LGBT Iranian refugees
currently in limbo and seek-
ing permanent asylum — 85
Arsham Parsi, a gay sexual refugee living in Toronto, (seen here at right accepting this year’s
Felipa Award from IGLHRC, alongside Chilean trans activist Andrés Ignacio Rivera Duarte) is
pressing the fight to help queer Iranian refugees find suitable resettlement.
of them are in Turkey, which
shares a lengthy border with
Iran and where cultural and
political homophobia is ram-
pant, while the rest are scat-
tered throughout Europe,
including in the Netherlands,
Sweden, Germany, Switzer-
land, and Norway. Some 22 are
in the United Kingdom, which
has been extremely reluctant
to grant permanent asylum
to gay Iranian refugees, and
where in the last several years
two Iranians have committed
suicide after receiving depor-
tation orders back to certain
torture and possible death in
Iran.
But, said Parsi, “there are
many, many more queer refu-
gees from Iran who haven’t yet
been in contact with us and
who also desperately need
help.
“One of our goals with the
Iranian Queer Organization
was to increase the level of
awareness about the Iranian
queer situation and the hor-
rible persecution that goes on
to build a strong relationship
with the UNHCR, who are now
aware of the Iranian queer
situation, and of our organiza-
tion, and on each of my trips
I’ve been able to secure inter-
national refugee protection
status for more and more Ira-
nian LGBT refugees in Turkey,
which is the necessary first
step to being granted asylum,”
Parsi said. “After my last trip
there in August, we now have
20 more refugees who’ve been
newly granted this status and
are now awaiting flights to gay-
friendly countries like Canada
and Australia.”
Parsi told this reporter of a
29-year -old Iranian lesbian
refugee he was able to help get
an early legal interview with
the UNHCR
“She had a terrible life in
an abusive situation,” he
explained. “Her family forced
her to marry with one of their
relatives, and her legal hus-
band raped her every night,
and she could do nothing
about it because one of the
first duties of women in the
Islamic Republic of Iran is sex-
ual delivery to their husbands.
“This poor girl went to a doc-
tor after all the rapes, and the
GAY CITY NEWS
doctor told her, ‘You appear
to have been raped by an ani-
mal, and you need urgent
health care now.’ But her fam-
ily ordered her to be patient
and stay at her husband’s
home. She was severely beat-
daily in Iran, and to provide a en repeatedly by her husband
steady stream of information and eventually escaped and
about homosexuality and the went to a friend’s house.
transgendered via Internet “But while she was there,
into Iran, and I think we’ve had her brothers came while she
great success in doing that. was out and told her friend
“But after several years they were going to kill her
of working with PGLO and to save the family’s honor
IRQO, I have a lot more expe- because she left her husband
rience now, and it was clear and has suspicious connec-
to me we needed a new orga- tions with other women. That’s
nization with fresh blood and when she fled Iran to Turkey,
a structure dedicated solely where she was put in touch
to helping queer refugees, to with us by one of our members
help them flee Iran, to support in Iran. When she told me her
them while they are still in story, she cried, and I lost con-
transit countries like Turkey, trol, too. I told her, ‘Don’t go
to assist them in finding their back to Iran, we don’t want to
way through the harrowing lose any more members of our
bureaucratic maze that faces queer family.’”
them in order to gain asylum, Parsi’s dedication to these
and to help them get settled refugees is fueled by his own
and cope with setting up a new experience as an exile in Tur-
life in gay-friendly countries.” key.
Since being granted asylum “It was the hardest experi-
in Canada, Parsi has been able ence in my life,” he said. “To
to make a number of trips to suddenly find myself in an
Turkey to help gay refugees unexpected situation in a hos-
and has built a relationship tile country without money,
with the UNHCR office there.
“I’m so happy I’ve been able 䉴 IRANIAN, continued on p.11
16 - 22 OCT 2008
7 DAYS
䉴
7 NIGHTS
OCT 16, from p.8
Martha Rosler and Natascha Sadr
Haghighian; interactivity pioneer Rirkrit
Tiravanija; writer and artist Jala Toufic;
and Berlin and New York-based artist
Anton Vidokle. E-flux, 41 Essex St.
btwn. Grand & Essex Sts., Tue.-Sat.
noon –6 p.m. through Nov. 8. Kathy
Kelly will give a lecture on the project
at Cooper Union, Oct. 16, 7 p.m.
Patrick Cockburn will speak there Oct.
22, 7 p.m. For more information, visit
e-flux.com or call 212-619-3356.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
BOOKS
FRI.OCT.17
A Life Well-Lived
John Giorno is a poet and Bowery
artists whose career was intertwined
with contemporaries like Andy War-
hol, William S. Burroughs, and Brion
Gysin. He helped pioneer the open
exploration and celebration of queer
sexuality in poetry in the 1960s; his
anti-war work with Abbie Hoffmann
resulted in Spiro Agnew labeling
him one of the “Hanoi Hannahs” in
the 1970s; and his AIDS Treatment
Project, begun in 1984, set the bar
for direct, compassionate action in
the AIDS crisis. Tonight, he reads
from his newly published anthology
of collected works from his 50-year
career, “Subduing Demons In Amer-
ica: Selected Poems 1962–2007”
(Soft Skull Press). New Museum of
Contemporary Art, 235 Bowery at
Prince St., 7:30-8:30 p.m. Free with
museum admission of $12; $10 for
seniors; $8 for students.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
FILM
Courage at the End
“Freeheld” is the story of Lau-
rel Hester, a 25-year veteran of the
Ocean County, New Jersey, police
force, who after being diagnosed
with cancer spent her dying months
fighting a courageous battle against
public officials to make certain that
her benefits earned as a police offi-
cer be given to her partner, Stacie
Andree. Award-winning director
Cynthia Wade lived with the couple
for the last ten weeks of Hester’s
life, creating an intimate, emotional
piece. Lesbian Cinema Arts screens
this film, followed by a Q&A with
director Wade. LGBT Community
Center, 208 W. 13th St., 7:30 p.m.
Admission is $8 and seating is lim-
ited. Reservations at gaycenter.org.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
THEATER
A Welcome
Resurrection
In 1997, playwright Terrence
䉴 OCT 17, continued on p.18
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
䉴 IRANIAN, from p.10
with no personal safety or security for
13 months wasn’t easy.”
Parsi added, “I cannot forget the
day in Turkey when I was walking
with Amir, another gay refugee who
had been tortured and flogged in Iran.
We were chased in the street by a
homophobic crowd, who beat us hard
and tried to kill us. Nobody helped.
There were no police who came to our
assistance and people were just stand-
ing around watching as we were beat-
en, simply for being gay refugees in
their country. I‘ll never forget my refu-
gee life in Turkey, and that‘s why I‘ve
decided to dedicate myself exclusively
to making queer refugees’ stay in Tur-
key as short as possible and to help
them get to freedom in gay-friendly
countries.”
Parsi told this reporter, “I just
received a phone call from Turkey.
Two of our refugees — one who is 28
and one who is 29 — who had rented
a room together, were visited by the
mother of the landlord who told them,
‘We just found out you are gay, and you
have to leave because you are gay.’
“Our two refugees, who didn’t speak
much Turkish, called the police, who
instead of admonishing the landlord
arrested our refugees. While in cus-
tody, one of them, who is diabetic,
went into diabetic shock, but was not
allowed by the police to take his insu-
lin. The police insulted them and told
them, ‘If you’re not happy here, go
back to Iran.’ Turkish police are very
hostile to gay people in general and
Corporate accounts welcome 212-206-8555
16 – 22 OCT 2008
to gay Iranian refugees in particular.
Beatings are very common. That’s
just another illustration of why it is so
urgent to get these refugees out of Tur-
key to a safe country.”
Parsi provided Gay City News with
translations from Persian of several
short statements left on the IRQO and
IRQR websites from Iranian queers giv-
ing their personal histories. The stories
were posted as part of their applications
for assistance in finding asylum.
Ali, who is 30, escaped from Iran to
Turkey in December 2007, where he is
now awaiting resettlement.
“I was caught when I was having
sex with a guy by his father, who was
a member of the Islamic Revolution-
ary Guard,” Ali wrote. “As a result, I
lost my job and I and my family were
threatened with death. I was arrested
several times in Iran, the last time was
in the summer of 2007 while I was
on vacation in the north of Iran, and
the Islamic Guard arrested me simply
because I was wearing a T -shirt and
jeans and had spiky hair. I don’t feel
safe even here in Turkey because the
father of the guy I had sex with is in
the Revolutionary Guard and has the
ability to find me here and have me
killed so he can cover up the scandal
of his queer son.
“I didn’t do anything, I’m just a gay
man who was born in a country in
which my existence was forbidden, just
for being gay, just for having a special
feeling which is not that of a majority of
society. I love guys. It is my right to be
free, but I have to live in exile for it. I
need help.”
Hossein, 22, escaped from Iran to
Turkey in September 2006, where he
has been languishing while awaiting
official refugee status and the granting
of asylum in a gay-friendly country.
“I am a musician,” Hossein wrote,
“and I used to perform at various cel-
ebrations, including weddings and
parties. These gatherings were often
raided, but usually the host would pay
the authorities a bribe and that would
end the matter. I am homosexual. I had
my first relationship at age 12 with the
son of a neighbor, it lasted two years.
In September 2006 I was playing along
with other musicians at a private gay
party in a home. The party was raided
and the police attacked us viciously.
One person was beaten so badly that
later I learned he had died from it. I was
beaten for ten minutes and lost con-
sciousness for about ten hours. I was
later arrested while I was in hospital.
“Eventually my mother and a friend
of mine came to the hospital, my friend
was dressed in the uniform of a ser-
geant in the disciplinary forces, and
pretended to relieve the soldier who
was guarding my room. I put on a hos-
pital worker’s uniform and was able to
escape. After I was smuggled into Tur-
key, my family’s home was raided and
my mother and father arrested for three
days on charges of helping me escape
for being gay. My father was detained
and tortured for a year and later died.
I’m waiting to be granted refugee status
by UNHCR and I need your help.”
Parsi told Gay City News that he
financed his August trip to Turkey out
of his own pocket from money he’d
11
saved while working in a Toronto res-
taurant. Now, Parsi said, he’s plan-
ning another urgent trip to Turkey in
November to try to get UNHCR refugee
status for still more Iranian queer ref-
ugees, but has no personal resources
left and is raising money for the trip.
“I know you gay Americans are pre-
occupied with your elections,“ Parsi
said, “but I beg you to spare a thought
for these poor queer refugees in Tur-
key, who are living in terribly squalid
conditions, unable to work because
they don’t speak Turkish and because
of queerophobia, and who are state-
less and without hope until they can
be granted legal, international recog-
nition of their status as refugees by
UNHCR.
“We also need money to begin Eng-
lish language and computer courses
for them to prepare them for new lives
in freedom and to help them pass the
time and escape those feelings of hope-
lessness. Please, spare us a few dollars
for your queer brothers and sisters who
are victims of religious persecution.”
Donations for Parsi’s urgent Novem-
ber trip and to support LGBT Iranian
refugees may be made in two ways —
via credit card on the secure PayPal
“donate” button on the Iranian Queer
Railroad’s web site at http://www.irqr.
net/, or by check to Iranian Queer Rail-
road c/o Arsham Parsi, PH4-150 Gray-
don Hall Drive, Toronto, Ontario, M3A
3B3 Canada.
Doug Ireland can be reached through
his blog, DIRELAND, at
http://direland.typepad.com/.
12 16 – 22 OCT 2008 WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

I’m anti violence

and pro respect.
Everyone deserves to be treated with respect. We’re no different. That's why I
stand behind the New York City Anti-Violence Project. AVP works to end violence
in our LGBTQ communities and keep our homes and our streets safe. If you need
help, call 212-714-1141 or visit avp.org

Live without fear

WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 16 – 22 OCT 2008 13
14/ Perspective 16 - 22 OCT 2008

■ TERM POLITICS

PUBLISHER & CO-FOUNDER

A Rotten Deal at City Hall
JOHN W. SUTTER BY NATHAN RILEY
646.452.2500
JWSutter@communitymediallc.com

T
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER & CO-FOUNDER he Bloomberg-Quinn ciple by twisting it into a trans- is absurd. This is the man who assisting these people. This
TROY MASTERS proposal to suspend parent political deal. Terms fought for a football stadium mayor lords over the Council;
646.452.2502 term limits is a crock. limits have by and large been in Midtown Manhattan, who the next mayor should work
troy@gaycitynews.com The mayor and the City Coun- a right-wing tool based on tried to grab MTA property for with it.
EDITOR IN-CHIEF & CO-FOUNDER cil speaker ran for office know- the principle that politicians that purpose for a song. His The Democratic candidate
PAUL SCHINDLER ing they could only serve eight are crooks, in part, because administration has arrested for president just laid out a
646.452.2503
editor@gaycitynews.com
years. Suddenly they are irre- government itself should not more people for smoking mari- program of economic relief.
placeable — nobody else can aim to play a positive role in juana than any other city in Barack Obama’s priorities are
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Duncan Osborne do the job as well as they have. people’s lives. The concept the world. Gay bars in untold helping people facing foreclo-
This plan is offensive. substitutes fiat for thought numbers have been closed and sure, fighting unemployment
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Christopher Byrne (Theater), Susie Day, Why personalize the quar- and automatically dismisses street cruising harassed. That with a jobs program, and
Doug Ireland (International), rel? Because that is the crux elected officials. Yet, the Char- last policy has been a failure harnessing the tax code to
Brian McCormick (Dance) of the case made by those ter change was enacted by the — AIDS cases among gay and help the unemployed. Obama
Dean P. Wrzeszcz supporting the plan. The bill voters — and three years later bisexual men are increasing in wants the Federal Reserve
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS amends the voter -approved affirmed by them. the city. and Treasury to lend money
Betsy Andrews, Seth J. Bookey,
Anthony M.Brown, Kelly Jean Cogswell,
limit of two terms to three And that, of course, is the A new mayor would take to states and cities with tight
Dean Daderko, Tate Dougherty, Andres Duque, four-year terms, but the clear rub. To treat New Yorkers fair- a fresh look at these issues. budgets.
Michael Ehrhardt, Steve Erickson, Nick Feitel, understanding is that the ly and to respect the history of Bloomberg has his strong Forgive me, but who believes
Jim Fouratt, Joe Fyfe, Deborah Garwood,
Erasmo Guerra, Emily Harney, Andrey Henkin, issue will be revisited by a this provision of city law, the points, and he has his flaws. that these themes would be
Frank Holiday, Andy Humm, James Jorden, Charter Revision Commission; proposal should be put to the He has needed legislators to Bloomberg’s priorities? He is
Brendan Keane, David Kennerley, Gary M. Kramer, the mayor won over term-limit voters. The Council is under help him govern. He is not political, and he has his own
Arthur S. Leonard, Rachael Liberman,
Michael T. Luongo, Lawrence D. Mass, champion Ron Lauder, a fellow increasing fire because the indispensible. priorities. He is not a leader on
Winnie McCroy, Eileen McDermott, billionaire, by assuring him proposal lacks basic legiti- New Yorkers are going to a white horse.
Gregory Montreuil, Ioannis Mookas, Carrie Moyer,
Stephen Mueller, Christopher Murray,
that he will have the opportu- macy. It is devious and self- suffer in the coming economic The Council should hold the
David Noh, Wayne Northcross, Lori Ortiz, nity to restore the eight-year aggrandizing. The public is recession. They will need help. mayor to his contract. When
Pauline Park, Sheila Pepe, John Reed, maximum in 2010. figuring this out, and a vote for We must never repeat the mis- he started, it specified two
Nathan Riley, Andrew Robinson, Gerard Robinson,
Chris Schmidt, Sarah D. Schulman, In that way, the whole it will cause serious problems take of imposing the city’s suf- terms only. The only fair way
Jason Victor Serinus, Linda Shapiro, scheme plays favorites, and next year. Though initiated fering on its young men. In the to change this agreement is by
David Shengold, Gus Solomons Jr., David Spiher, Bloomberg’s argument for by Bloomberg, who has given 1970s, New York experienced letting the voters decide.
Drew B. Straub, Stefen Styrsky, Jerry Tallmer,
Stefanos Tsigrimanis, Kathleen Warnock, pushing it is extraordinary: we support over the past seven its gravest economic hardship Passing this legislation
Benjamin Weinthal, Lee Ann Westover, are facing a financial crisis and years to the Republicans, it since the Great Depression. will in time prove a victory
James Withers, Kai Wright, Susan Yung
he is the best person to handle will give the GOP and con- More than 50 percent of young for Republicans and conser-
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Mark Hasselberger, Jamie Paakkonen
that. servatives generally a chance black males were unemployed, vatives. It will sow division
This proposal is not law to wrap their cause in a false often homeless and without among Democrats. The Work-
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING
FRANCESCO REGINI
-making. It unfairly creates an populism by pointing out that benefits. We need policies that ing Families Party is already
646.452.2496 elite. It violates the principle the overwhelmingly Democrat- ensure that any new burdens opposed. These divisions will
francesco@gaycitynews.com that laws must be fair and ic Council members wouldn’t are spread more fairly. harden if the bill is enacted.
ADVERTISING MANAGERS impartial in their impact on let the voters decide. Bloomberg is not the best It will make Democrats in
MATT LEWIS everybody. The notion that Michael person to consider these New York City weak just as
646.452.2504 The effort is too clever by Bloomberg is such a good needs. The Council will play a they are gaining ascendancy
matt@gaycitynews.com
COLIN GREGORY half. It debases a great prin- mayor nobody can replace him major, if not the lead role, in nationwide.
646.452.2468
colin@gaycitynews.com ■ SNIDE LINES
ALLISON GREAKER
646.452.2485
allison@gaycitynews.com The Mad Activist’s Declaration of
JENNIFER HOLLAND
646.452.2499
Jennifer@gaycitynews.com
Codependence
LEE CASTORO BY SUSIE DAY
646-452-2505

T
lee@gaycitynews.com he sages of History say, praying that one day her pre- loves me. America remains distant, dis-
LORET GAMBOA Know Thyself — and I cious dickwad will walk out Oh sure, I stay at home a lot, tracted — even when I ago-
646-452-2483
loret@gaycitynews.com do. I used to be a peace of prison — because, really, weeping into my pillow. But nize about losing my job; even
activist, but thanks to the wasn’t the whole thing her then I remember that America when I say my health plan’s
ACCOUNTING
DAVID JAFFE
sages of pop psychology, I see fault? hurts, too. America may seem running out. It’s my fault, I
646-452-2477 now that I am a codependent. If I give up the best years needy and demanding, but, guess; I tend to pick emotion-
david@gaycitynews.com Yet I refuse to be your ordi- of my life, it’s not going to be secretly, America is afraid I will ally unavailable governments.
NATIONAL DISPLAY ADVERTISING nary, run-of-the-mill code- to “enable” the destructive go over to some other power. From time to time, I panic
Rivendell Media pendent, who’s stuck in a behavior of one measly alco- That’s why America searches and revert to the naïve, 1960s
212.242.6863 crappy relationship with just holic; it’s going to be for an my bag and taps my phone. mode of communication. I go
Web master one needy, abusive individual. entire government, see? As an America is jealous. It’s kind to anti-war rallies; I write let-
Arturo Jimenez
Arturo@gaycitynews.com I say Nyet to that. I’m not the activist-turned-codependent, of cute. America: Love him or ters asking why America has
Gay City News, The Newspaper Serving Gay and Lesbian NYC, is pub- “oh-my-man-I-love-him-so” my purpose in life is to enable leave him. hurt so many people so bad.
lishedby Community Media, LLC. Send all inquiries to: Gay City News,
145 Sixth Ave., First Fl., NYC 10013 Phone: 646.452.2500 Written wifey whose husband beats the destructive behavior of the Actually, I see America as But America tells me to shut
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 her senseless, steals her credit United States of America. a sort of megalomaniacal, up; America says all this is
contents (c) 2008 Gay City News.
cards to pay off his gambling So even though Ameri- paranoid, schizophrenic rage- for my own good. So I shut
Subscriptions: 26 issues, $90.00 debts, kicks her cat through ca steals my money to pay aholic – but in a good way, like up because if I don’t, I’ll lose
(c)2008 Gay City News. a window, then goes out on a of f gambling debts, beats for global dominance? Some- this relationship. And, really,
All rights reserved.
Gay City News is a registered trademark drunken binge and murders me senseless, kicks my cat times, I talk to America; I try to there’s nothing I can do to stop
of Community Media, LLC.
John W. Sutter, President
nine people. I’m not the girl through a window, then goes tell America how my day was, America. Is there?
Fax: 646.452.2501; who quits her job, forgets her out on power-drunken binges, what I’m feeling. I have this This is called having low
E-mail: JWSutter@communitymediallc.com
dreams of becoming an award- bombing people, poisoning the shameful hope that America self-esteem. However, as an
winning cha-cha dancer, and planet, and annihilating whole will someday see me for the American codependent, I can
spends the rest of her life set- civilizations — I know that, fragile, iridescent, unrepeat-
ting up legal defense teams, deep down, America really able person that I am. But 䉴 SNIDE LINES, continued on p.15
16 - 22 OCT 2008
■ A DYKE ABROAD
Perspective/15
Losing Gay Marriage in California
BY KELLY JEAN COGSWELL

Apparently, there’s some
fixed amount of freedom in the
world, like oil in the ground,
or gold, and anybody in their
right mind tries to hoard it.
That’s the idea I get, anyway,
when somebody’s explaining
why you can’t give more rights
to women (or people of color
or immigrants). It’ll be coming
right out of their pocket, and
they can’t afford it.
That seems to be the main
argument in California, where
proponents of Proposition 8
are claiming that same-sex
marriage is somehow allowing
queer opportunists to deprive
them of their personal and
religious freedom. If things go
on as they are, advertisements
say, God-fearing Christians
won’t be free to even say same-
sex marriage is wrong because
the thought police will be able
to sue you. Churches won’t be
free to mount anti-gay cam-
paigns and lobby for anti-gay
politicians unless they want to
lose their tax-exempt status,
and teachers won’t be free to
ignore gay marriage, unless
they want to lose their jobs.
Coupled with an enormous
cash infusion, a cool $10 mil-
lion more than queers, this
campaign is working far bet-
ter than old-style smear cam-
paigns painting us as the
usual monsters and child
molesters. Instead, by mak-
ing it seem like a question of
lost rights, Californians can
oppose gay marriage with-
out feeling like bigots. In fact,
they’re the real victims here,
with their civil liberties under
attack from those clever gays.
It’s practically patriotic to vote
for Proposition 8.
And what are embattled
queer people countering that
with? Ads with reassuring
heterosexual faces explaining
that we’re not going to take
over the world. That’s right.
The voice for same sex-mar-
riage is embodied in smarmy
hets like San Francisco Mayor
Gavin Newsom. If you want
straights, you should at least
get them from Massachusetts
where they can attest that
after several years of gay mar-
riage nobody’s civil or religious
freedoms have been abridged.
The sky didn’t fall. Just a few
maple leaves.
If the Proposition passes,
ending same-sex marriage,
I’ll blame national gay leader-
ship, especially Democrats,
that already agreed to be invis-
ible in the Obama campaign.
By banning us from the cam-
era, they make us seem like a
bunch of pervs. It’s for our own
good, of course. Always for our
own good. Mesmerized by their
homophobic voices, we’ve lost
our pride, and the belief in our
own American stories of loss
and striving, like our fights
to visit our partners in hospi-
tals, share health insurance,
make lives together, all the
stories that could persuade a
reluctant audience that does,
essentially, value equality and
civil rights.
Talking about lost rights
is compelling on both sides.
You’ve seen them, surely:
gypped Americans standing
on theirs? They’re unstoppa-
ble. Which is why politicians
play on issues of rights all the
time. Sometimes for the force
of good, like we could do in
California to protect same-sex
marriage.
But usually it’s a conserva-
tive tactic. Every law, every
regulation is a constraint, a
subtraction of your rights. It’s
why Bush was so successful
deregulating the finance indus-
try, and why he got pretty far
promising to privatize social
security. “Don’t you want to
control your future?”
Of course we do. Phrased
that way, social security
sounds more like a noose than
a safety net. Who could sup-
port it but corrupt politicians?
The problem, of course, is that
nobody ever says what we’d do
with all those folks who seized
control of their futures, decid-
ed to invest in the stock mar-
ket, and failed. I guess now
they’d have the right to eat cat
food and sleep in the street.
It’s always effective to evoke
imaginary lost rights when
there are so many real losses
— lost jobs, lost homes, lost
income, lost sons, and lost
daughters. Especially now,
when it feels like everything
has slipped through our fin-
gers under Bush. The Iraq
War, prosperity, national pride,
the Constitution.
There’s also quantifiable
loss. Between military expen-
ditures and the little matter of
the $700 billion bailout, we’re
so far in the hole we ran out
of digits on the National Debt
Clock in New York.
It is tempting to cling to
the little we have, hoard our
rights. Like with children, I
suppose the only counter to
miserly behavior is to explain
the benefit of sharing. In the
case of same-sex marriage, we
could argue that it strengthens
an institution plenty of hetero-
sexuals are turning away from,
and also guarantees that we
queers take care of our part-
ners so that they don’t become
burdens on “society.”
On the other hand, if our fel-
low citizens refuse to share the
wealth with same-sex couples,
maybe we should shift our
focus altogether, and demand
they quit awarding any special
rights to heterosexual mar-
riages. Then we can all share
the loss.

䉴 SNIDE LINES, from p.14
have low self-esteem and be
proud. Actually, thinking you
don’t count for much is kind
of patriotic. I mean, what does
your life matter when you’re
poor and 19 and shooting it
out in Iraq, defending democ-
racy against those mentally-
ill suicide bombers? In fact, I
think most of the US military
is probably even more code-
pendent about America than
I am, bless their needy little
hearts.
But in the Big Picture, I
know that I am serving His-
tory — which is chock full of
brave “codependentistas” who
gave up happiness or careers
to enable some truly depraved
people. Some of them, such
as Jesus, Super man, and
Eva Braun, I have put on my
screen saver.
Occasionally, History speaks
of codependents who tried to
achieve a sort of national self-
actualization. Like those recov-
ering Russian codependents in
1917 who stormed the Winter
Palace? But History shows that
those people usually end up
way more depressed than they
started out. So I’m burning my
Al-Anon card and embracing
my shame.
I have to, because
America has just taken
$700,000,000,000 of my
money to “bail out” a few fellow
addicts. Maybe it was my code-
pendence; maybe I was tem-
porarily stunned by Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson’s per-
plexing resemblance to Michel
Foucault. In any case, I just
couldn’t do much about it.
Oh, I might have clicked on
a few e-petitions, asking for
more “accountability.” The
upshot is: if I couldn’t stop
America — also on my dime
— from murdering uncount-
able thousands of Iraqi and
Afghani human beings, what
right or ability do I have to stop
this bailout? If I have been too
psychologically paralyzed to
respond to the annihilation of
an entire culture — how can I
seriously contest the destruc-
tion of my own economy?
I know what you’re thinking:
that America is addicted to oil;
that some day soon, they’ll cut
the mainline and kick America
out of rehab. Then America
and I will die together in the
gutter. But I don’t care. I don’t
even care if, one night, Ameri-
ca comes home from one of its
drunken binges and murders
me. Codependents don’t ask
for much; we give. I have given
my house, my job, my kids, my
health, my air — to America.
But it’s okay. See, I am part of
History.

䉴 BRIEFS, from p.2
Oates maintained that only when
the two had sex did he discover that
King, a transwoman, had a penis.
Oates claimed “the whole situation
got out of control” and he shot her
twice, the Philadelphia Gay News
reported. His defense argued he
acted in the heat of passion.
The judge in the case convicted
Oates of voluntary manslaughter,
“without giving an explanation for
his ruling,” the newspaper said.
Andrea Ransom, King’s mom,
testified before the sentencing to
her love for her daughter, calling it
“everlasting and unconditional.”
Allan Spear,
Early Gay
Elected Official,
Dies
Allan H. Spear, a former state
senator in Minnesota who was
one of the first public officials
to come out as gay in 1974, died
October 12 at the age of 71 of
complications from heart surgery.
Chuck Wolfe of the Gay and
Lesbian Victory Fund, which
works to elect out LGBT candi-
dates, said that Spear “chose
service over silence and proved
that honesty and openness could
overcome fear and hatred.”
Spear was the first non-attor-
ney to head the Senate Judiciary
Committee, led the fight for pas-
sage of a state law banning dis-
crimination based on sexual orien-
tation in 1993, and was president
of the Senate from 1993 to 2000.
His former colleague in the Sen-
ate, Roger Moe, who was major-
ity leader, called him “one of the
brightest members who served.”
Senator Barack Obama
praised Spear’s “evenhanded-
ness, his command of the issues,
and his ability to reach across the
aisle and work with colleagues of
both parties were legendary and
should inspire us all.”
Spear is survived by his part-
ner, Junjiro Tusji.
Service for
Sydney Pokorny
October 18
There will be a service for les-
bian writer and activist Sydney
Pokorny on Saturday, October
18 at 11 a.m. at the Community
Presbyterian Church, Deer Path
and Meeting House Lane, in
Mountainside, New Jesey.
Pokorny, who died on Sep-
tember 1 at the age of 42, was
an early member of the Women’s
Caucus of ACT UP and a writer
for such publications as Boston’s
Gay Community News, New
York’s Outweek, and LGNY, the
predecessor of Gay City News.
With her former partner Liz Trac-
ey, once LGNY’s editor, she wrote
“So You Want to Be a Lesbian”
in 1995 and was nominated for
a Lambda Literary Award. The
women also wrote the “Dead
Jackie Susann Quarterly,” a self-
published zine, together.
Wasilla Library
Judges Gay-
Themed Kids’
Books
After it was alleged that
Sarah Palin, as mayor of Wasilla,
Alaska, had taken steps to get
some gay-themed books removed
from the town library’s shelves,
gay activist Michael Petrelis
donated copies of “Heather has
Two Mommies” and “Daddy’s
Roommate,” two such picture
books for children, to the Wasilla
Public Library.
The Library Journal’s blog got
the Wasilla librarian’s verdict
on the worthiness of the dona-
tions. Norm Oder said that while
those books were in their collec-
tion in the past, “anything on the
book shelves has to earn its real
estate” and these titles do not,
though the library “holds many
titles that deal with the same
subject matter, including the pop-
ular ‘And Tango Makes Three,’”
which deals with male penguins
raising a chick.
Oder went on to critique the
older books, saying that they are
“poorly constructed, lack engaging
illustrations, and have too many
words on the page to be useful to
young readers.” He acknowledged
that the books were “groundbreak-
ing” 15 years ago, but that “there
are better choices for a dynamic,
current, and appealing children’s
collection.”
The rejected books will be put
in the library’s annual sale. Petre-
lis blogged that he was “disap-
pointed,” but “still happy, as a
gay man who supports strength-
ening public libraries,” that they
will benefit Wasilla’s.
Meanwhile, Palin declined a
request from Petrelis to declare
October 11 “National Coming
Out Day” in Alaska, but did pro-
claim “Alaska-Taiwan Friendship
Week” and “10th Annual Christian
Heritage Week” in October.
16 16 – 22 OCT 2008 WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

Autumn in the

Hudson Valley To Advertise Contact: Lee Castoro - 646-452-2505 - lee@communitymediallc.com

Come to Where the Country Begins... The Garrison

Come to Putnam County Located an hour north of New York City in the
picturesque Hudson Highlands, The Garrison is a
Cold Spring-on-Hudson 300-acre property with sweeping views of the Hud-
Step back in time in historic Cold Spring, a quaint vil- son River and surrounding mountainous landscape.
lage nestled in the Hudson Highlands, that caters to The Garrison offers guests an 18-hole golf course
the shopper, the diner, the outdoorsy and the history with stunning views, a critically-acclaimed fine din-
buff. Stroll along tree-lined Main St. or ride the jaunty ing restaurant called Valley, overnight accommoda-
green trolley. Visit art and antiques galleries, charming tions in the four-room Inn, private event spaces,
boutiques, gift and novelty stores. Hike the Highlands and a day spa and yoga center. A relaxing refuge
and tour historic Manitoga or Boscobel Restoration, that offers an abundance of outdoor and nearby
home of the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. Please cultural activities, The Garrison is perfect for a
call for a free travel guide and events calendar. No car restorative weekend getaway of spa treatments,
necessary, take Metro-North Hudson Line. outdoor activities, and fabulous cuisine. We’d be
delighted to host your LGBT celebration!
Putnam Visitors Bureau | 110 Old Route 6 | Carmel, NY 10512
1-800-470-4854 | www.VisitPutnam.org 2015 Route 9
Garrison, NY 10524
Thunder Ridge Ski Area 845-424-3604 | www.thegarrison.com

Enjoy the beautiful autumn foliage at Thunder

Ridge Ski Area’s Fall Festival Weekends. Satur-
days & Sunday, October 18, 19, 25 & 26. Ride a
chairlift to the top of the mountain, take a scenic
hayride, pick a pumpkin, visit with farm animals
and check out the antique farm equipment. Even
a lights-on Haunted House for the little ghoulies!
Only one hour north of NYC or save gas and take
the 11:49am Metro-North Train from Grand Cen-
tral to Patterson, NY and catch the free shuttle to
the mountain.

137 Birch Hill Road | Patterson, NY 12563

845-878-4100 | www.thunderridgeski.com

Cathryn’s Tuscan Grill The Bird & Bottle Inn

One of the best Italian Restaurants in the US, as
and Restaurant
rated by the Zagat Survey, Cathryn’s is sure to This historical 1761 pre-revolutionary Inn with oak plank floors
please. After receiving the Award of Excellence and wood beam ceilings takes you back in time to stagecoaches,
from Wine Spectator, Cathryn’s now has a lovely the Pony Express, and Washington’s army. Fabulous fireplaces
informal wine tasting every Tuesday evening and create a romantic and intimate setting where you will enjoy the
delicious $16.09 lunches M-F. The freshest ingre- freshest seasonal autumn game fare. Enjoy the Tavern Menu,
dients combined with a brilliant chef, create culi- Saturday and Sunday Brunch, or Fine Dining creations Thursday
nary splendor at this lovely restaurant tucked away through Sunday in cozy dining rooms. Our award winning Ameri-
along a garden walkway in Cold Spring. Cathryn’s can cuisine delights even the most sophisticated palate. Join us at
is rated “Very Good” by The New York Times and the bar for cocktails or an evening nightcap. Make all your spe-
graciously welcomes all Hudson Valley Getaways travelers. We are open seven days. cial occasions memorable at one of the finest Inn’s in America.
91 Main Street | Cold Spring, NY 10516 1123 Old Albany Post Road (Route 9) | Garrison, NY 10524
845-265-5582 | www.TuscanGrill.com 845-424-2333 | www.thebirdandbottleinn.com
Le Petit Chateau Inn The Pig Hill Inn
One –half mile to Culinary Institute of America, Our European hospitality is sure to relieve the
Le Petit Chateau is nestled amongst trees and a pressures of your everyday routine. From our gor-
beautiful pond in Hyde Park. ur CIA Chefs impart geous individually decorated rooms to the peace-
techniques while preparing breakfast. Artisanal fulness of our garden terrace you will enjoy privacy
Cheese Plates from Hudson Valley purveyors and romance while our staff pampers you. When
and French wine prepare you for a relaxed escape. you return home you will feel refreshed, relaxed
Our rooms have modern amenities with beautiful and rejuvenated. Cold Spring-on-Hudson is eas-
linens, private baths, cable TV, Wireless Internet ily reached from New York City by train or car.
Our fireplaces make romantic getaways. Antique This quaint little Hudson River town is home to
shopping, local arts and crafts in our quaint villages, experience a slower pace of life. Biking, fine dining, antique shops, boutiques, art galler-
cross country skiing, and hiking. Concierge services: Private Chef Dinners and Lunches, Sea- ies, theatre festivals, hiking trails, numerous historic attractions and so much more. Come for a
sonal Packages, and restaurant reservations at the CIA. weekend getaway or stay for a whole week!
39 West Dorsey Lane | Hyde Park, NY 12538 73 Main Street | Cold Spring, NY 10516
845-437-4688 | www.lepetitchateauinn.com 845-265-9247 | www.pighillinn.com
16 - 22 OCT 2008 Politics/17
Youth Homeless Center Threatened
Jerry Nadler leads officials in denouncing Ali Forney Center cuts
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE of $3.3 million. The drop-in
location is its sole intake site,

A
leading provider of and all AFC clients first come
services for New York through there.
City’s homeless queer Congressman Jerrold L.
youth may have to close its Nadler, who represents parts
Chelsea drop-in location. The of Manhattan’s West Side and
city health department told of Brooklyn, joined Siciliano at
the agency that the $600,000 the press event and slammed
contract that funds the loca- the city for the cut.
tion will be ended in June of “Those of us in Washington
2009. who have fought very hard,
“For the homeless LGBT every year we have fought
youth of our city, the Ali For- very hard, to maintain and
ney Center has been the differ- increase HOPWA funding are
ence between acceptance and not pleased that the city, with-
rejection, frankly, between life out any direction from Wash-
and death,” said Carl Sicilia- ington, suddenly takes it upon

GAY CITY NEWS

no, executive director of the
Ali Forney Center (AFC), at an
October 14 press conference.
“I do not believe that the city
would consciously disrespect
the LGBT community by turn-
ing its back on our most vul-
nerable kids.”
The drop-in location, which
opened in 2005, is funded
under the federal Housing
Opportunities for People With
AIDS program (HOPWA). The
itself to eliminate an entire
category of funding within the
HOPWA program, leaving so
Congressman Jerrold Nadler is flanked by Tom Duane, Scott Stringer, Dick Gottfried, Deborah Glick, and Carl Siciliano in denouncing cuts to many vulnerable young people
the Ali Forney Center’s Chelsea drop-in center. exposed,” Nadler said. “It is
intolerable that these funding
funds are administered by The $600,00 is the entire bud- placed 50 HIV-positive clients cuts can eliminate a center like
the health department and, get for the drop-in center. into care and housing, Sicilia- the Ali Forney Center.”
after increasing the dollars In 2007, the drop-in loca- no said. The city told AFC that it was
from $300,000 to $600,000 tion had more than 500 cli- AFC has 12 service or one of five programs doing “out-
in 2007, that agency told AFC ents, placed 200 in emergency administrative sites in the city, reach” with HOPWA dollars
six weeks ago that the dollars housing, served 10,000 meals, including the drop-in location,
would be eliminated entirely. performed 250 HIV tests, and and has an annual budget 䉴 HOMELESS, continued on p.19

The Cold Spring Depot

Autumn in the

Hudson Valley
This Fall, take one of the most beauti-
ful train rides in the world—visit Cold
Spring in Autumn. Upon your arrival
to Cold Spring, check out the historic
train station built in 1884. “The Cold
Robert A. McCaffrey Spring Depot Restaurant” hosts an
Realty Inc. Oktoberfest celebration all October,
featuring Oktoberfest Bier, authentic
Robert A. McCaffrey Realty Inc. was estab- German food, and an Oompah Band
lished in 1987 and is a major realtor serving playing in the Gazebo next to the
Philipstown (Garrison, Cold Spring), Putnam,
outdoor clam bar. Sit under umbrella
Dutchess and Or-ange Counties. Offering a
wide range of proper-ties, from luxurious Hud- tables as the 68 trains rush by. The De-
son River estates to village cottages, residential pot offers a variety of American foods
and commercial, R. A. McCaffrey Realty is es- including steaks, seafood, comfort
pecially active in the luxury market. Our offi food, and homemade desserts. Dur-
ce team of associate brokers and sales agents, ing the winter enjoy the warm atmo-
all local residents, can provide the personalized, sphere of two fireplaces and the library setting of the Depot balcony. Eat, drink and be merry
knowledgeable service you deserve. Mr. McCaffrey is a fourth generation resident of at a fun place to enjoy the warm Fall days and crisp Fall evenings. The Depot is 25 years old
Philipstown and can provide answers to any questions about the area. but the food is brought in fresh every day.
143 Main St. | Cold Spring, NY 10516 1 Depot Square | Cold Spring, NY 10516
845-265-4113 | www.mccaffreyrealty.com 845-265-5000 | www.coldspringdepot.com

Hudson Valley: A True Escape
By: Lee A. Castoro
Growing up in the Hudson Valley, one might think that I know all there is about this
beautiful region, however, I often find something new to explore or some historic element
to uncover. The area undoubtedly has a rich, vibrant past—the beautiful Hudson is indeed
America’s river, so vital for our independence and our formation as a nation. The breathtak-
ing mountains & highlands have inspired many notable American artists and everyday New
Yorkers take the 1-hour train ride to find a haven, a refuge from the hustle of Manhattan.
An hour-and-a-half north in Hyde Park you’ll find FDR’s home and The Culinary Institute of
America. Le Petit Chateau Inn offers customizable CIA gourmet-cooking classes on premises
and an outstanding environment which will make you want to turn off the Blackberry. Down
south in Putnam County you’ll find 2 gems—Cold Spring and Garrison. The quaint village of Cold
Spring is an antique-lover’s dream, with rows of eclectic and decorative shops and some fine culi-
nary treasures. Cathryn’s Tuscan Grill was recently voted one of the finest Italian restaurants in
the US and features an award-winning wine list. The Cold Spring Depot offers a family-friendly
atmosphere in the original historic train depot and serves casual wholesome favorites. The
Pig Hill Inn is a “gem within a gem”. The lovely, tastefully decorated boutique B&B is the per-
fect place to unwind after a day of shopping, kayaking or hiking, with the kindest innkeepers
in the business. If you’re looking for a second home or a permanent escape from Manhattan,
allow Bob at Robert McCaffrey Realty to show you some of the finest homes available.
In nearby Garrison you’ll be inspired. This quaint hamlet provides incredible pan-
oramic views of the region. Boscobel, a beautiful federal period mansion offers
museum tours. The Russel Wright Design Center/Manitoga is an architectural
masterpiece. The Bird & Bottle Inn is absolutely stunning. Centuries old and fully re-
stored, the Inn has an exceptional menu and picturesque grounds to host your spe-
cial occasion. Nearby, The Garrison Resort offers everything you’ll need for a per-
fect getaway—fabulous food, an 18-hole golf course, spa and exceptional cuisine.
Whatever it is you desire in an escape, a Hudson Valley autumn will most surely provide.
The area is by far, one of the most decorated and beautiful in America, and deservingly so.
For more information about the region, contact Putnam Visitors Bureau and Dutchess
County Tourism. Metro North takes you there from Grand Central in about an hour.
18
■ LEGAL
Maryland Co-Parent Win
“Exceptional circumstances” cited in lesbian visitation ruling
BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD
I
n a ruling that may be the
first of its kind in Mary-
land, a Baltimore circuit
court judge has granted a
lesbian co-parent visitation
rights with the child borne
by her former partner during
their relationship.
Finding “exceptional cir -
cumstances,” Judge Lawrence
R. Daniels ruled on October
7 that Larissa S. should have
visitation rights with that child,
but not the child’s younger
sibling, conceived while the
women were together but born
after they had separated.
The Maryland Daily
Record, a legal newspaper,
reported the ruling the day it
was handed down from the
bench. Daniels issued a brief,
non-explanatory order, but
the newspaper noted that the
state’s highest court ruled in
May that Maryland law does
not recognize the doctrine
of “de facto parent,” under
which courts elsewhere have
$300,000 Verdict Upheld
California appeals court finds “deliberate indifference” by high school
BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD
L
ambda Legal suc-
cessfully defended
a $300,00 0 v e r d i c t
awarded by a San Diego
Superior Court jury to two
former students from Poway
High School who suffered
severe anti-gay harassment
that school officials failed to
redress. A unanimous three-
judge panel of California’s 4th
District Court of Appeal found
that the evidence introduced
at trial was sufficient to sup-
port the jury’s verdict. An
erroneous jury instruction by
the trial judge did not require
setting the verdict aside, they
stated.
Plaintif fs Megan Dono-
van and Joseph Ramelli
encountered such frequent
and severe harassment while
attending the school from
2000 to 2003 — going beyond
vicious name-calling to
threats of violence, assaults,
and property damage — that
the school district made no
effort to argue that it was not
severe and pervasive. Both
plaintiffs enrolled in a special
program that allowed them
to complete their senior year
through home study rather
than have to face continued
recognized family ties between
same-sex partners who raised
children together and granted
visitation rights after the rela-
tionship ended.
Larissa S. and Melissa B.
were in a relationship when the
couple, according to Larissa’s
testimony, decided that Melis-
sa would attempt to become
pregnant with a man selected
“because he shared Larissa’s
Hispanic heritage,” the Daily
Record reported. Melissa, in
contrast, contended that hav-
ing the child was her decision,
not a joint decision. The child
was born in 2001, and the
couple split up between the
time Melissa became pregnant
again and her second child
was born in 2003.
Daniels ruled after a 2006
trial that Larissa was a “de
facto” parent of the child,
based on evidence of her exten-
sive parenting involvement and
psychological bonding with the
little boy. He denied visitation
rights, however, finding that
she had no such relationship
harassment. The district
contended that it should be
relieved of liability because its
response did not constitute
“deliberate indifference” to
the harassment.
The court found plenty of
evidence to support the jury’s
conclusion that the officials
were deliberately indiffer -
ent. Both plaintiffs brought
the problem to the atten-
tion of principal Scott Fisher
and assistant principal Ed
Giles many times, including
through formal written com-
plaints, but the usual inves-
tigation and sanction pro-
cedures regarding offending
students were apparently not
followed. Things got no bet-
ter after they complained, not
even temporarily.
The issue on appeal was
what standard is appropri-
ate in interpreting a Cali-
fornia law prohibiting sex-
ual orientation discrimina-
tion in public schools and
whether students can sue
for damages when they suf-
fer such harassment by fel-
low students. The plaintiffs
had argued at trial that the
standard should be drawn
by analogy from the Fair
Employment and Housing
Code, which also bans sexual
16 – 22 OCT 2008
with the second child, and that
visitation might damage the
sibling relationship between
the children.
On appeal, the intermediate
appellate court affirmed Dan-
iels’ ruling that Larissa was a
de facto parent, but rejected
the rationale for denying visita-
tion rights with the older child.
That ruling became unten-
able this May when the state’s
highest court ruled against the
de facto parent doctrine.
In that case, the court insist-
ed that only in “exceptional
circumstances” could a court
order that a biological parent
allow an unrelated person to
have visitation with her child.
Larissa’s petition was returned
to Daniels’ court to determine
whether she could qualify for
visitation under this more
demanding standard.
Daniels concluded that
exceptional circumstances
existed, but refrained from
spelling those circumstanc-
es out in his written order.
According to the Daily Record
orientation discrimination,
but the defendants argued
that the school should not be
held liable unless “deliberate
indifference” could be proved.
The trial judge agreed with
the plaintiffs that the fair
housing standard should
be applied to their state law
claim, but, regarding their
constitutional claim that
their equal protection rights
had been violated, the plain-
tiffs were required to dem-
onstrate the school’s “delib-
erate indifference.” The jury
found for the plaintiffs on
both claims.
The appeals court agreed
with the defendants, the
school and its officials, that
the state law standard under
which they lost was not suf-
ficiently stringent, but that
proved a pyrrhic victory,
because the court found that
the jury’s conclusion that
the students’ equal protec-
tion rights had been violated
because of the school’s delib-
erate indifference satisfied
the appropriate standard for
the statutory claim as well.
The appeals court also agreed
that the principal and his
assistant were the “appropri-
ate officials” to deal with the
harassment, so their actions
account, at the hearing the
judge stated that Larissa was
involved with “all aspects of
parenting,” including select-
ing the child’s name, feeding
him, and toilet training him.
The child refers to Larissa as
“mommy.” He also found that
those circumstances do not
exist with the younger child,
with whom Larissa had only
occasional contact.
Daniels ordered that the
older child receive “reunifica-
tion therapy with the assis-
tance of a mental health pro-
fessional” before visitation
resumes.
The Daily Record reported
that Alyson D. Meiselman rep-
resents Larissa and Steven L.
Tiedemann represents Melis-
sa. Tiedemann indicated that
he would file an appeal and
seek a stay of the visitation
order. Meiselman expressed
regret that visitation would not
resume immediately, and that
a stay would delay it further,
prolonging the separation of
her client from the child.
were legally binding on the
school district.
Even though federal law
does not provide for sexu-
al orientation harassment
claims to be brought, it does
allow students to make sex-
ual harassment claims, and
the California court applied
the same principle to the
state law provision bar -
ring sexual orientation dis-
crimination, accepting the
students’ right to take legal
action. The court also looked
to federal precedent on the
issue of damages and con-
cluded there was support
there, as well, for the right
of the student plaintiffs to
receive a monetary award.
The school district also
challenged the award of more
than $400,000 in attorney
fees — more than the dam-
ages for the plaintiffs — but
the court found that the billing
was actually on the low side of
reasonable. Brian Chase, from
Lambda Legal’s Los Angeles
office, was the group’s lead
attorney on the case, joined by
Lambda’s deputy legal director
Hayley Gorenberg as well as
by co-counsel Paula S. Rosen-
stein and Bridget J. Wilson of
the San Diego law firm Rosen-
stein, Wilson & Dean, P. L. C.
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
7 DAYS
䉴
7 NIGHTS
OCT 17, from p.10
McNally stirred enormous contro-
versy, even death threats, with his
play “Corpus Christi,” a re-telling of
Jesus’ passion depicting him and his
disciples as gay men. The play returns
to New York for a two-week staging.
Rattlestick Playwright’s Theater,
224 Waverly Pl., west of Seventh
Ave. at 11th St., Tue.-Sat., 8 p.m.;
Sun., 3 p.m. through Oct. 26. Tick-
ets are $18-$50 visit rattlestick.org.
Portions of the $25 and $50 tickets
will support the work of the Matthew
Shepard Foundation, a group founded
by the parents of the Wyoming col-
lege student slain ten years ago this
month to battle homophobia and anti-
LGBT violence.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
No Olive, Please
Basil Twist’s innovative puppetry
unites with drag diva Joey Arias’ leg-
endary voice to transport audiences
to unpredictable worlds, channeling
ecstatic desires, lavish nightmares,
and bizarre premonitions. “Arias With
a Twist” is a feast for the senses, cen-
tering on rare songs and reinventions
of popular favorites. HERE Arts Cen-
ter, 145 Sixth Ave. at Dominick St.,
one block below Spring St. Wed.-
Sun., 9 .m. through Dec. 31. Tickets
are $35-$100 at here.org or 212-352-
3101. More information at http://
www.basiltwist.com.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
PERFORMANCE
Carnival, South
Street Style
Ross Mollison once again pres-
ents Spiegelworld’s annual summer
carnival at the South Street Seaport,
Pier 17. Spiegelworld delivers a
non-stop program of groundbreak-
ing shows, intimate concerts, brazen
burlesque, top DJs, and great dining.
Among three shows, Spiegelworld
will present the world premiere of
“Désir,” a theatrical circus experi-
ence inspired by the sexual, intellec-
tual, and artistic adventures of early
20th century Paris. “Absinthe,” the
acro-burlesque production, returns
once again this year, reprising its
hit runs of the last two years. Gay
City News critic Gus Solomons, jr.,
wrote, “In ‘Absinthe,’ awesome
stunts stirred into a tangy batter of
raunchiness kept the crowd shuttling
between awed ovations and belly
laughs, while ‘Désir’ relies more for
its impact on elegant execution and
the physical beauty of its talented
cast of scantily clad acrobats.” Pier
17 is located at the South Street
Seaport on the East River right
below the Brooklyn Bridge.
Through Nov. 2. Tickets range from
$25-$69 at spiegelworld.com or
212-279-4200. Consult the website
for complete performance schedule
details.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
䉴 OCT 17, continued on p.22
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 16 – 22 OCT 2008 19

䉴 THOMPSON, from p.4
in 2009 as they faced the end of their
two terms in office.
The term limits law has produced
its desired effect. There has been
regular turnover in elected positions
and 2009 held particular promise for
gay or lesbian candidates. At least
ten such candidates, with three of
them vying for Quinn’s seat, said
they would run for the City Council
next year.
“The LGBT community is involved
in a continuous struggle to have their
rights recognized,” Thompson said.
“It’s another struggle for rights, and
䉴 HOMELESS, from p.17
that were being cut and that the dollars
would be used to build housing.
“The use is not a bad use, you want
more housing,” Nadler said. “This kind
of thing is critical, so you shouldn’t be
diverting this money for that.”
Nadler recruited Assemblymembers
Deborah Glick and Richard Gottfried,
state Senator Thomas K. Duane, and
Manhattan Borough President Scott
Stringer to join him at the press confer-
ence.
All four roundly criticized the decision
to cut the AFC dollars and they released
an October 14 letter they sent to Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg asking him to
reverse the cut.
“This is a tough community to raise
private funds for generally,” said Duane,
who is openly gay and represents Chel-
that is what we are talking about
now.”
The advantages of incumbency
— the very thing that term limits are
meant to overcome — are such that
those prospective candidates would
likely change their minds. Many would
also not want to offend their fellow
party members by opposing them.
“They would all have to reconsider
whether they would run against an
incumbent,” Thompson said. “If term
limits are overturned or whether they
extended them from two terms to three,
they would have to consider whether
they would run against an incumbent.
Given the high success rate of incum-
sea. “Ali Forney depends on govern-
ment funding and it’s precisely the
kind of program that deserves govern-
ment funding so, believing that Mayor
Bloomberg has a heart, I believe we can
save this program.”
Nadler, Gottfried, and Glick all said
that the city, state, and federal govern-
ments had been very generous with tax
cuts or abatements when the economy
was healthy, but when it turned sour,
they ask the most vulnerable popula-
tions to sacrifice.
“If the real issue is that the city doesn’t
have the funding for housing, then per-
haps they should hold on to some of the
money that they give to developers for
luxury housing that goes in the form of
tax abatements,” said Glick, an out les-
bian who represents portions of Man-
hattan centered on the West Village.
“New York State and New York City as
bents for reelection, a number of them
probably would not run.”
Quinn said she would run for her
current position if term limits are
increased. Thompson declined to
detail his plans.
Thompson and Quinn were effec-
tively announced candidates for
mayor in 2009. Thompson and Con-
gressman Anthony Weiner, another
mayoral contender, would face a
formidable foe in Bloomberg if the
mayor is able to run for a third term.
In published reports, Bloomberg
operatives said he would spend as
much as $80 million on a reelection
bid.
well as the federal government have year
after year been relentlessly giving mas-
sive tax cuts to the wealthiest people in
our society,” said Gottfried, who repre-
sents Chelsea. “For any level of govern-
ment to say ‘Well, sorry, it’s tough times,
we don’t have the money,’ that doesn’t
wash.”
City Council Speaker Christine C.
Quinn and Councilmembers Rosie
Mendez and Lewis A. Fidler signed the
letter, but did not attend the press con-
ference.
Asked for comment, the health
department wrote that it “continues
to fund housing for people living with
HIV/AIDS and will support more than
330 newly constructed housing units
next year.” The department said it
would fund one outreach contract per
borough in the 2010 fiscal year that
begins next July.
䉴 CHROMCZAK, from p.4
restrictions on late-term abortions.
He was explicit this week, however,
in saying he does not advocate over-
turning Roe v. Wade, which he called
“the law of the land,” or of returning to
the days of “back-alley abortions.”
In facing off against Squadron, who
garnered almost 13,000 votes in the
primary, defeating Connor by a roughly
2,000-vote margin, Chromczak steps
gingerly around the critique that his
opponent’s advantages in life as the
son of a successful attorney mean he
is less able to “relate… to the working
class and the middle class.”
“You’re electing somebody from the
Fifth Avenue crowd, from the Cen-
tral Park West crowd, somebody who
doesn’t work 9 to 5 and isn’t impacted
by the nickel and diming that Albany
does, whereas I am,” he said. “Going
from private school to private school to
working for Chuck Schumer to working
for Knickerbocker, an Albany lobby-
ing firm, I don’t think that’s the kind of
experience that we need in Albany any-
more.”
But offering his own experience is
going to mean first convincing a whole
lot of New York City Democrats to send
a little-known Republican to the State
Senate, and even winning over LGBT
voters is going to be difficult given what
he acknowledged is his party’s failure
“to do the outreach to the gay com-
munity.” That’s a point that clearly
frustrates John Chromczak, who said,
“When I go out and talk to a lot of peo-
ple, they agree with me.”

Does Your Business Need A BOOST?

Win two nights accommodation Join the Manhattan

at The Lexington House in beautiful Chamber of Commerce
New Hope, Pennsylvania
And Build Your Business Through…
Networking Events • Business Education • Pro-Business Advocacy
International Business Contacts • Shared Resources
M/WBE & LGBT Support • Member-to-Member Discounts
MCC Business Matters newspaper • Part-time Job Website
MCC TV of Events/Speakers

And Get Involved in Our Initiatives…

Tourism, Women Business, Diversity, Green Business, LGBT Business,
Global, and Technology/New Media

MCC will offer a 20% discount for

small business readers of Gay City News.
Just go to the www.manhattancc.org ‘Join’ page,
register and and enter this code: GAYCITY

Retailers and Restaurants can join MCC

for a flat rate of $200 per location.
Please contact us at info@manhattancc.org
for details on how to take advantage of this offer.
Th is picturesque region is perfect for a fall getaway
with that special someone. Simply log on to Don’t Delay! Join Online Today!
gaycitynews.com, click on “win a trip to PA” and you’re Questions? Contact us at 212-479-7772 or info@manhattancc.org
all set. Proud to be New Yorkers. Proud of our diversity.
Proud to be number one. Proud to be Gay City News. Manhattan Chamber of Commerce • 1375 Broadway, Third Floor
New York, NY 10018 • www.manhattancc.org
20
FYQMPSF
OFX
IPQFMBNCFSUWJMMF
To Advertise Contact: Lee Castoro - 646-452-2505 - lee@gaycitynews.com
Lexington House B&B
One of the things we like about New Hope is that
all B&B’s are gay-friendly. But The Lexington
House is also gay-owned. And only one B&B can
be ranked #1 in New Hope on www.TripAdvisor.
com, and that’s The Lexington House. Come visit
us and find out why. Mention this ad and receive
5% off of a two-night stay. Or come visit for three
nights and get the fourth night free (both offers
good until the end of November, 2008). You might
enter as strangers, but will leave as friends. We look
forward to meeting you! -Mike and Ed
6171 Upper York Road | New Hope, PA 18938
215-794-0811 | www.lexingtonhouse.com
Hotel Du Village
We are a country inn, nestled in the Bucks County countryside,
just one and a half miles north of New Hope providing easy ac-
cess to the many fine shops and entertainment in the area. Our
inn offers 20 rooms, all with private bath and air conditioning
and a bridal suite for weddings. The inn is located on the same
grounds as the restaurant, making it convenient for visitors af-
ter a day in town. We also provide a continental breakfast for
guests staying at the inn. Our restaurant, specializing in country
French cuisine, is open for dinner every evening with the excep-
tions of Monday and Tuesday. We are very proud supporters of
the LGBT community and look forward to greeting you!
2535 River Road | New Hope, PA 18938
215-862-9911 | www.hotelduvillage.com
Gallery Piquel
Featuring Bronze Sculpture, Contemporary Oil Paint-
ings and original “Wearable Art” Jewelry, Gallery Piquel
presents the work of an array of international and lo-
cal artists. Some hold positions of honor in important
Museum and Corporate Collections, while others are
just emerging on the art scene. Each has a unique point
of view and their work has that special “something” to
engage and inspire.
Open Friday-Sunday 12pm-5pm or later, often on
other days and happily by appointment.
39 North Main Street
New Hope, PA 18938
215-862-3523 | www.gallerypiquel.com
Bucks County, PA
Jim Briggs, Associate Broker,
16 – 22 OCT 2008
“Zuider Zee”, egg tempera & oil on panel,
by M. Briscoe.
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
The Mansion Inn
A beautifully restored 1865 Victorian manor home, located on
the banks of the Delaware River in historic New Hope, PA,
known for its art and antiques shopping. The Mansion Inn is a
perfect location for your civil union, family reunion, business
meeting or just a leisure trip. The Inn offers award-winning fine
dining on premises and luxurious rooms and amenities.
Visit our sister property: The Majestic Hotel, 19
Main Avenue, Ocean Grove, NJ 07756. 732-775-6100.
www.majesticoceangrove.com (walking distance of Asbury Park).
9 South Main Street
New Hope, PA 18938
www.themansioninn.com
J&W Gallery – Fine Art
Celebrating it’s 11th year in 2008, this sophisticated yet re-
laxed space is now the oldest Fine Art Gallery in New Hope.
Opened in 1997 by Joseph Licata and Walter Czajkowski, it rep-
resents over 30 established and emerging artists in oils, mixed-
media and photography. Featured Provincetown artist: Michael
McGuire: oils, Sept. 26 - Oct. 27. Opening reception: Saturday,
Sept. 27, 6-9pm. Visit the Gallery and see why it is known as
“The Destination for Fine Art in New Hope”. Come and cele-
brate the Arts every Second Saturday of the month for special ex-
hibitions, food and entertainment: 9/13,10/11,11/8 & 12/13.
20 West Bridge Street
New Hope, PA 18938
215-862-5119 | www.jwgallery.com Michael McGuire - Lone Shack - 36x36, oil on canvas, 2008.
Reinboth & Company
Reinboth is a luxury interior design and retail stu-
dio that started in 1992 in Lambertville, NJ. To-
day, Reinboth is the standard-bearer of good taste
and sumptuous living in the region. Specializing
in the modern aesthetic, Reinboth has designed
several upscale residential and commercial projects
in Northern New Jersey, Princeton, Bucks County,
South Carolina, New York City, Florida, and the
Hamptons. Scott Reinboth, as the principal design-
er, works with a team that takes inspiration from
fashion design, great architecture, fine hotels, and clients’ ever changing lifestyles. These influences allow
the Reinboth team to implement successfully non-traditional solutions to traditional challenges.
45 Bridge Street | Lambertville, NJ 08530
609-397-2216 | www.reinbothandcompany.com






         

GRI, CRS, AHLS, Prudential          
Fox & Roach Realtors 
       ! " #
 


     
Experience the country life in Bucks County, PA. From the his- 
 
         
toric covered bridges, quaint antique homes or new low main-
       

 
 
 

   
tenance townhouse, New Hope and vicinity is the perfect week-
 !
! 
 "#
 ##!$
end retreat. I’ll share my 30+ year knowledge of the area and real
 !
% ! 
 
estate expertise. I have a vested interest in the community and    & 
       '    * +
do my best to give back by my extensive community involve- ()*  + 
  
 ,% " # ! $  %  ),),-
ment and comprehensive service as a real estate professional. &'('&)
"""


4 Gazebo Place | New Hope, PA 18938    !#
 -!
(# "(#+ 
-" 
 .
//0 - 1 
215-862-3385 Ext. 8409 - Direct: 215-862-0202
www.jimbriggsrealestate.com
16 - 22 OCT 2008 Dance/21
On The Origin Of Species
Kitt Johnson’s body origami reveals inherent genus
BY BRIAN MCCORMICK ing imperceptibly fades up, stands, creating the shadow of
remaining so dark the eyes a jackal demon’s head using

T
he belief that species played tricks. Eyes strain to her fingers.
are immutable produc- see something glowing, hang- Naked except for a pair of
tions and were sepa- ing inside Charlotte Oster - shorts, with her long braid tied
rately created might still have gaard’s black backdrop — red, to her waist, and contorted
an audience in fundamentalist muted, like the center of the into functional shapes, her
circles, but in the world of the earth, or a womb. humanness, her nudity dimin-
body and physical reason, as Then blackness, the void ish — a familiar experience in
Kitt Johnson starkly details, again. Static. A spotlight rests the face of primitivism. With
we are all born from the same on the horizon of the stage. one elbow, she hooks her knee,
egg. Flesh emerges from the black and crouching low to the floor,
Johnson, an athlete and curtain where it is illuminated she locomotes sideways, like
artist from Denmark, last per- — a naked back, shoulders, an injured or mutated crab, an
formed here in 2004, present- elbows, and hands. The skull early arachnid, experimenting
ing her remarkable solo work is hidden. Instead, the orb of with the travel, awkward and
“The Mirror.” She returned light suggests an oversized but incredible.
to Danspace Project at St. empty vessel. Light shifts across and
Mark’s Church October 9-11 Using only her shoulders, behind the blackness, expos-
for the New York premiere of arms, hands, and the poly- ing swaths of various textures,

PER MORTEN ABRAMSON

the Danish word for cirripede
— a crustacean subclass that
includes barnacles.
From darkness to light, from
conceptual to physical to meta-
physical, this work unfolded
with less illusion than “The
Mirror,” but conveys equal
amounts of contemplation
about the evolution embodied
in our anatomy.
morphous topography of
her back’s musculature, she
evokes an organism with only
limited powers of movement,
and none of transportation.
Kitt Johnson, in the opening moments of “Rankefod,” evokes an organism with only limited She is rooted, but she rises,
powers of movement, and none of transportation. and eventually emerges, criss-
crossing her limbs in quick
Sture Ericson’s score blends insect sounds, evoking the beats with her back obscur-
a primordial soup of nearly nature of the Big Bang, qui- ing all but a flash of feet and
interchangeable electronic and etly. Mogens Kjempff’s light- hands at each side. Then she
smooth and satiny surfaces,
deep ruffled cocoons, and
gauzy translucent layers. Cen-
turies pass.
Johnson’s body transmutes
again, illustrating the strange
and amazing arm-leg sym-
metry humans have evolved
by shifting our attention from
䉴 SPECIES, continued on p.27

FYQMPSF “opera in your own backyard”...

OFX
IPQFMBNCFSUWJMMF
New Hope-Lambertville: A Close-to-Home Haven
By Lee A. Castoro
About an hour-and-a-half southwest of Manhattan rests the tiny area of New Hope, PA
and Lambertville, NJ along the Delaware River. The region is noted for its rich, colorful his-
tory, where art enthusiasts can collect a treasured piece, where the hustle flows as slow as the
Delaware.
To get there, our friends at Dollar-Thrifty Car Rental are offering a special rate for men-
tioning the code WCVIP. There are three, equally distinctive places for you to stay with
something unique to offer. The Lexington House B&B, is simply a “slice of heaven”. With
250+ years of history, a fabulous pool, impeccable grounds and the kindest innkeepers in the
business, your stay is sure to be memorable. Taking a little stroll through the heart of New
Hope you’ll find The Mansion Inn, a beautiful manor home, chosen by Country Inns Maga-
zine as one of the “Top 12 American Inns” in the US, with tasteful gourmet dining on prem-
ises. A little outside the town rests Hotel Du Village, with it’s sweeping grounds. This beauti-
ful quiet alternative to the main business district offers tennis and the best of both worlds. The
restaurant features the freshest local ingredients prepared in a variety of ways.
Two art galleries stand out in town: The J&W Art Gallery & Gallery Piquel offer a
fabulous variety of both traditional and contemporary pieces which will appeal to even the
most discerning collector. Directly across the bridge in Lambertville, NJ you’ll find Reinboth
& Company, Interior Design Group. Internationally renown for its tasteful collection, Re-
inboth caters to exclusive Manhattan residences.
Finally, if you are like the many who fall in love with the region and its easy accessibility This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
to Manhattan, let Jim Briggs at Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors show you your next
dream home. With over 30 years of expertise in the region, Jim will be happy to work with you Nov 7 & 8 at 7:30 p.m.
to find that special gem.
Nov 9 at 3:30 p.m.
Getting to the area is simple: Take I-78 to 202 and follow signs into PA. A quiet St. Peter’s Church www.ChelseaOpera.org
haven awaits.... 346 West 20th Street 212-260-1796
22/ Theater
Classical Evenings
“Seagull” soars, while “Man for All Seasons” remains earthbound
BY CHRISTOPHER BYRNE
“I
want to see this group
do every Chekhov
play,” said my boy-
friend as the lights fell on the
Royal Court Theatre’s spec-
tacular production of “The
Seagull,” at the Walter Kerr. I
agree.
In a world where the clas-
sics are often mauled or sim-
ply endured, this production,
using a new version of the
play by Christopher Hamp-
ton, shows just how excit-
ing, riveting, theatrical, and
enthralling Chekhov can be.
Director Ian Rickson
directs his uniformly stel-
lar company with a preci-
sion and attention to detail
that finds every nuance in
this heartbreaking comedy of
love, longing, and delusion.
Hampton’s two-act version of
the original four -act play is
tightened and focused, and
only slightly contemporized
in terms of language.
Chekhov once said, “The
stage reflects in itself the
quintessence of life, so one
must not introduce on it any-
thing that is superfluous.”
That is the guiding principle
of this production; by paring
this play down to its essence
and focusing on the charac-
ters, one is served a sumptu-
ous feast of humanity.
In his fiction, Chekhov con-
tinually cast a cold eye on the
artifice most people construct
around their identities. The
tragedy in his characters is
their blindness. That theme
permeates here, in Chekhov’s
first major work for the stage,
written in 1895. As in his
short stories, Chekhov also
eschewed conventional plot-
ting, concentrating instead
on the individual journeys of
each character. The drama
emerges as these stories col-
lide.
The actress Arkadina and
her lover, the popular novel-
ist Trigorin, collide with Arka-
dina’s son, a failed symbol-
ist playwright, Konstantin,
who is smitten by the young
actress Nina. She in turn falls
for Trigorin and steals him for
a time from Arkadina. Mean-
while, Masha, the daughter
of Arkadina’s estate man-
ager, is desperately in love
with Konstantin, but makes
an unhappy marriage to the
impoverished schoolmaster
Medvedenko.
The intertwining of these
THE SEAGULL
Walter Kerr Theatre
219 W. 48th St.
Tue.-Sat. at 8 p.m.;
Wed., Sat. at 2 p.m.; Sun. at 3 p.m.
Through Dec. 21
$25-$135; 212-239-6200
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS
Roundabout Theatre Company
At the American Airlines Theatre
227 W. 42nd St.
Tue.-Sat. at 8 p.m.;
Wed., Sat., Sun. at 2 p.m.
$56.50-$101.50; 212-719-1300
stories creates a play. In less-
er hands than director Rick-
son’s, the fragile balance of
each of these characters often
collapses on itself. Here it is
rich and rueful, the magic
coming from Rickson’s bril-
liant distinction between real-
ism and naturalism; the trick
is to reflect life rather than
replicate it.
It doesn’t hurt that the
company is perfection. Kristin
Scott Thomas as Arkadina is
spellbinding. She is the diva
with downtime, constantly
aware that wherever she is,
she is on stage. Her hunger
for attention and her inabil-
ity to confront life, except
through performance, is mag-
nificent. She can almost seem
real at times, and yet she is
constantly watchful, waiting
for her cue.
Arkadina is smart and
resourceful, a survivor, but
there is also an undercur -
rent of fear, and a knowledge
that her hall of mirrors could
crack at any moment. When
she grabs Masha, who is 20
years younger than she, and
proclaims herself the more
youthful, we would be horri-
fied if we didn’t see how much
she needs that belief. She
simply can’t see herself as
ridiculous. Every moment of
Thomas’ performance, every
look, and every gesture is
sublime, and it flows effort-
lessly.
Peter Sarsgaard is a fine
Trigorin. He is a flawed man,
an opportunist who knows
that the accolades he receives
can’t obscure his knowledge
of himself as no great artist.
He is venal and self-involved,
but that fits him like a com-
fortable suit, and his easy
amorality is a stark contrast
to Arkadina.
Mackenzie Crook as Kon-
stantin is the picture of con-
tained desperation. Even his
modicum of success can’t
Kristin Scott Thomas as Arkadina is spellbinding in Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of
Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” directed by Ian Rickson.
lift him from his torpor, and
where T rigorin shrugs of f
his own mediocrity and goes
on about his life, Konstantin
cannot stomach his own.
Ann Dowd is a remarkable
Nina, beautiful but damaged
and as unable to find peace
as Konstantin is. Unlike other
Ninas I’ve seen, Dowd han-
dles the second act unravel-
ing with awe-inspiring art-
istry and a clarity that takes
a very long speech and makes
it crystal clear and heart-
breaking.
Zoe Kazan stands out as
Masha, in a performance that
is finely executed and com-
pletely believable. This is a
Masha who, if she just could
16 - 22 OCT 2008
7 DAYS
䉴
7 NIGHTS
OCT 17, from p.18
GALLERY
Art From
Experience
SAGE, Services and Advocacy for
GLBT Elders, is hosting a month-long
exhibition celebrating the important
artistic contributions seniors make to
the gay community. This afternoon,
the LGBT Community Center hosts
a free reception for the show. 208
W. 13th St., 4 p.m. The exhibition
runs through Oct. 30.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
BENEFIT
SAT.OCT.18
Joining Hands For
Health
The beautiful town of Milford,
Pennsylvania, on the Delaware River
just 75 miles west of Manhattan,
plays host to the Second Annual
Milford Walkathon, raising money
for amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS
Research; the Northeast Pennsylva-
nia Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for
the Cure; and the Episcopal Church of
the Good Shepherd Pipe Organ Fund.
This year’s 10K walk steps off at 9
a.m. at the Church of the Good
Shepherd, Catherine & Fifth Sts.,
and proceeds to Milford Beach, con-
tinues along the river to Old Milford
Road. Complimentary food, bever-
ages, and entertainment, and prizes
will be awarded to top fundraisers.
For more information, visit milford-
walkathon.org or call 570-296-8123.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
GALLERY
The Even Couple
Gilbert and George met in 1967
while students in London and began
JOAN MARCUS
to create art together, developing a
uniquely recognizable style both in
their pictures and in their presenta-
tions of themselves as living sculp-
tures. Over 40 years, they developed
a new format that created large-
harden enough to be cyni- scale pictures, visually and emotion-
cal, might survive — but she ally powerful, through a unique cre-
can’t. Kazan imbues every ative process. The Brooklyn Museum
moment of the performance is the final venue in an international
with bleak but appealing life tour that marks the first retrospec-
and the tragedy that such tive of the artists’ work in more than
clear self-knowledge brings. 20 years. The exhibition was orga-
Masha is probably the only nized by the Tate Modern, London,
fully aware character, psy- with the collaboration of the artists,
chologically speaking, in this who consider this to be the definitive
piece, and that tragedy is presentation of their art. 200 East-
inescapable. ern Parkway at Washington Ave.
This production ranks near Grand Army Plaza. Wed.-
with Andrei Serban’s “Cherry Fri., 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat. 11 a.m.-6
Orchard” starring Irene Worth p.m. (until 11 p.m. first Sat.); Sun.
and Terry Gilliam’s “A Doll’s 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Exhibition runs
House” starring Janet McTeer through Jan. 11. Admission is $8;
as one of the most unforget- $4 for students & seniors.
table nights in the theater. ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
䉴 CLASSICAL, continued on p.23 䉴 OCT 18, continued on p.23
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
7 DAYS Junior High Musical
䉴
7 NIGHTS The ’tween set gets its own Broadway show. Kewl.
OCT 18, from p.22
The Dude Next
Store
Los Angeles photographer Blake
Little’s new exhibit “The Company of
Men” is inspired by what Rank Rodri-
guez in Butt Magazine called “a shad-
ow world, a buddy system way below
the radar, yet one that is all around
us… a micro-society developed over
the Internet.” All across the country,
Little’s subjects were shot in their own
clothes, in their own homes — the
antithesis of a celebrity shoot. Each
man represents someone totally com-
fortable in his own skin, with a kind
of intrinsic, unconscious masculinity.
Wessel + O’Connor Fine Art, 111
Front St. at Adams St., DUMBO.
Exhibit runs through Nov. 1, Wed.-
Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ delayed several minutes,
Fleshing Out
Street Life
Catherine Opie’s body of photo-
graphic work, created since the early
1990s, spans such diverse genres as
studio portraiture, landscape photog-
raphy, and urban street photography to
explore notions of communal, sexual,
and cultural identity. From her early
portraits of queer subcultures to her
expansive urban landscapes, Opie has
offered profound insights into the con-
ditions in which communities form and
the terms by which they are defined.
Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth
Ave. at E. 89th St., Sat.-Wed., 10
a.m.-5:45 p.m.; Fri., 10 a.m.-7:45
p.m. Through Jan. 7. Admission is
$18; $15 for students & seniors; pay
what you wish Fri. after 5:45 p.m. The
LGBT Community Center presents a
survey of Opie’s exhibit and career in
its Second Tuesday series, Nov. 11, 6
p.m. 208 W. 13th St. Tickets are $10 at
gaycenter.org.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ Elish and Robert Horn, which
COMEDY
SUN.OCT.19
Lay Your Money
Down
“The Electro Shock Therapy Com-
edy Hour,”, the longest running weekly
queer comedy show, welcomes a bevy
of gypsies, tramps, and thieves. Brad
Loekle hosts Bernadette Pauley (Com-
edy Central, VH1), Charlie Ballard (San
Francisco’s Native American sensa-
tion), Helen Hong (Gotham, Comix), and
Kate McKinnon (Logo’s “Big Gay Sketch
Show”). Therapy, 348 W. 52nd St., 10
p.m. $6 cosmos all night.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ Essentially a story of
MON.OCT.20 I
POLITICS
Luv the Guv
The Empire State Pride Agenda,
New York State’s LGBT political lobby,
hosts it annual fall dinner, featuring
䉴 OCT 20, continued on p.25
13, A NEW MUSICAL
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
242 W. 45th St.
Tue.-Sat. at 8 p.m.,
Sat., Sun. at 2 p.m.,
Sun. at 7 p.m.
$76.50-$111.50;
212-239-6200 or telecharge.com
BY DAVID KENNERLEY
I
t sounded like a gimmick
with “cutesy” written all
over it. A Broadway musi-
cal titled “13” featuring a cast
of 13 thirteen-year-old kids
singing, dancing, and pre-
sumably mugging their little
hearts out. Plus a rock band
comprised mostly of teenagers.
My doubts deepened when
the preview I attended was
waiting for a substantial por-
tion of the fidgety audience
to get settled in their booster
seats.
This is one reason why
they seat critics on the aisle, I
reminded myself.
Yet astonishingly, within
the first few minutes after
a gangly Graham Phillips
bounded onto the stage and
the musical stylings of Jason
Robert Brown filled the air,
my fears evaporated. My
inner teen was hooked.
For “13” is char mingly
savvy and adorably engaging.
Think “Rent” for the ‘tween
set, with a dash of “Spring
Awakening” tossed in for good
measure. Under the confi-
dently fluid direction of Jer-
emy Sams, this little tuner is
also achingly funny.
Where to begin? Let’s start
with the book, devised by Dan
adds some inspired twists to
a standard-issue teen angst
coming-of-age tale. Protago-
nist Evan Goldman (played
by Phillips), a well-adjusted,
popular kid “standing on the
edge” of manhood who’s plan-
ning a kick-ass Bar Mitzvah
party in Manhattan, must
suddenly move to a small
town in Indiana, “where UFOs
go to refuel,” after his parents
split up.
While scheming to get the
䉴 CLASSICAL, from p.22
wish I could say the same
for the Roundabout pro-
duction of “A Man for All
Seasons.” Despite wonder -
ful performances by Frank
Langella as Thomas More
and Zach Grenier as Thom-
as Cromwell, this generally
workmanlike performance
seems heavy handed and
16 – 22 OCT 2008
Graham Phillips and the cast of “13.”
cool kids to like him at Dan
Quayle Junior High, Evan
stomps on a few toes, namely,
those of Patrice (Allie Trimm),
a down-to-earth but maligned
misfit. Brett (Eric M. Nelsen),
the school’s cocky quarter -
back, whose MySpace homep-
age has a waitlist, pressures
Evan into setting him up with
ditzy beauty Kendra (Delaney
Moro). When Archie (Aaron
Simon Gross), the dork with a
degenerative neuromuscular
disease, also demands some
knee-touching time with Ken-
dra, confusion ensues.
Although cast members
may only be 13, or in some
cases a tad older, they are as
appealing as any grown-up
ensemble. Phillips’ sweetly
commanding vocals make up
for his gawky dance moves.
As Lucy, Kendra’s two-faced
friend, Elizabeth Egan Gil-
lies just might be a little Idina
Menzel in the making. As for
Brett’s crew, Malik Hammond
and Al Calderon are lovable
cut-ups, if a bit awkward.
Perhaps the most engag-
ing character of all is Archie.
Gross plays the becrutched
plodding.
speaking truth to power and
the consequences of relying
on the law and religion for
protection, the play is a talk-
fest. Fortunately, the actors
all speak well, but aside from
Langella and Grenier, the cast
brings nothing unexpected
to the roles. Langella’s fine
work keeps it from being a
boy with just the right bal-
ance of pluck and vulnerabili-
ty, delivering lines like “A little
Ritalin and Red Bull and I’m
up for anything,” and “No one
says ‘no’ to a boy with termi-
nal illness” with an easygoing
conviction.
The staging is smart
enough to keep even ado-
lescents with ADD amused.
An intricate date scene at a
movie theater, with the kids
facing the audience, watch-
ing a slasher film while trying
to “do the tongue” (kidspeak
for French kissing) is truly a
hoot.
But what really lifts this
show above ordinary teen
fare is Brown’s catchy score,
a fresh blend of traditional
musical genres. Likewise the
zippy choreography by Chris-
topher Gattelli. The jazzy
musical number “Terminal
Illness” exudes shades of
“Puttin’ on the Ritz.”
And “Getting Ready,” where
the boys prepare for their
crucial dates at the mov-
ies, oddly feels like a nod to
“Tonight” from “West Side
Story.” There’s even a gossipy
total rout, but the production
never really shines.
Worse, Santo Loquasto’s
set, a spare framework,
obscured some of the actors
from where I was sitting,
which diminished the scenes.
For instance, I couldn’t see
Langella in More’s major
first act scene with Cardinal
Woolsey, which blunted the
impact, and Henry VIII kept
23
JOAN MARCUS
telephone number borrowed
from “Bye Birdie.”
The hip-hop inflected lyrics
amuse more for their weird
irony than goofy wit. “I wanna
get all up in yo’ bidness, girl,”
screeches the bleach-blond
Brett.
You may recall that Brown
won the Best Original Score
Tony Award for “Parade”
a decade ago, and he’s
returned to top form here ––
impressively, the original cast
recording debuted at #2 on
the iTunes soundtrack chart.
The gifted composer admits to
a traumatic period in his own
childhood, when he became
“the new kid” in fourth grade,
and tapped into that reservoir
of latent anxiety.
Granted, the hormones-
gone-haywire “13” is geared
towards the young, or adults
willing to travel back to their
own ‘tweenhood. Pulsat-
ing with vitality, the show is
savvy without being cynical.
When it comes down to it,
you’re never too old to appre-
ciate the burning yearnings
of finding friendship, fitting
in, and getting tongue.
disappearing behind the col-
umns, which undermined the
energy and neurosis Patrick
Page brought to the then-
young king.
It’s easy to understand
why someone would want to
revive this 47-year-old play,
but what this production did
for me was remind me how
fatiguing polarization and
polemics can be.
24/ Books
The Fall Season, 2008
Gibraltar may tumble, candidates come and go, but good reading is here to stay
BY IOANNIS MOOKAS
POETRY
Rick Barot, “Want” (Sara-
bande Books, $13.95)
One of the figures in “Captiv-
ity Narrative” — “He is running
across the ice / fast enough so
that it doesn’t know it should /
be breaking” — could describe
the poet’s own way with form
in this second book. Barot
inventories desire, and knows
the hunger of “the deer in the
cover away from the soldiers, /
its mouth eating even the bark,
even thorns.”
Joshua Beckman and Mat-
thew Zapruder, eds., “State
of the Union: 50 Political
Poems” (Wave Books, $14)
More than a topical affair,
this anthology counts John
Ashbery, Lucille Clifton,
Eileen Myles, Marvin Bell, and
Wanda Coleman among its
urgent chorus. Reginald Shep-
herd observed in “Maritime”
how “Market fluctuations and
assorted / human rights vio-
lations are duly noted in the
ledger, cement / that holds
society together, the concrete
world.”
Linda Gregg, “All of It
Singing: New and Selected
Poems” (Graywolf Press, $24)
Generous selections from
Gregg’s previous six books,
augmented by 22 new poems,
make this a satisfying volume.
In “August in the East Village,”
a chance encounter with queer
eros — “Across the courtyard
the painter / is making love
to a young man” — melts into
quiet euphoria: “They are wav-
ing / without the morning light
/ leaving them.”
Richard Howard, “Without
Saying” (Turtle Point Press,
$16.95)
These new poems find How-
ard waxing camp-classical with
“The Rape of the Daughters of
Leucippus by Castor and Pol-
lux”: “How the plains of Sparta
echoed to maiden plaints!”
Longer works like “Only Dif-
ferent” alternate with more
compact ones (“Mind Under
Matter”), climaxing in two mul-
tifold sequences, “Exposures”
and “School Days.”
Katy Lederer, “The Heav-
en-Sent Leaf” (BOA Editions,
$16)
From the airy haunts of
hedge fund management,
Lederer retrieves blasted son-
nets that whisper with “The
shedding of leaves from the
wallet of morning.” In the guise
of a “brainworker,” she fords
the torrent of capital, discern-
ing beyond it a “nothingness”
that might be “the genius of
time.” Once the tide abates,
“His castle is drying to wind.”
Glyn Maxwell, “Hide Now”
(Houghton Mifflin, $22)
Maxwell repeatedly sum-
mons Cassandra (“Cassandra
Tells Fortunes,” “Cassandra
by the Wall”), and brings ver-
nacular grace to both the pub-
lic gesture (“Martial Diptych,”
“Rendition”) and the com-
pressed inscapes of “Dream-
I-Believe” or “The Deal”: “The
trick of the day was won / so
handily by the sun / when
the cards spread out and
shone...”
Maureen N. McLane,
“Same Life” (Farrar, Straus
and Giroux, $22)
An urbane first book, for-
mally taut and prepossess-
ing. If at times McLane muses
dejectedly, “In this dark / I
think my life’s an old hinge /
creaking in silence,” banked-
down embers nonetheless glow
dangerously: “Still you must
admit the old light / in your
eyes has turned somewhat
feral ... you have birthed a wild
obsession.”
Gabriela Mistral, “Mad-
women: The Locas mujeres
Poems of Gabriela Mistral,”
translated and edited by
Randall Couch (University of
Chicago Press, $25)
The poems mock a social
rule that allows no “sane”
response as thoroughly as
the queer Chilean poet herself
confounded personal catego-
ries. Couch gives us Mistral
at her most bracingly vision-
ary. In “Cross-Eyed Mother,”
she is Gaia: “They made her a
tomb / for the hour that had
come / and she laughed and
laughed / to see how they
would dig it.”
Eleni Sikelianos, “Body
Clock” (Coffee House Press,
$18)
C’mon, she baits, “tonight,
let’s round all the corners / of
the house and light the edges.”
A log of the poet’s transit to
parenthood, festooned with
notebook drawings and crack-
ling with formally unbound,
exultant lyrics. “I love it /
when women eat sweet ribbon,
sweet / rabbit, sweet meat,
when women / are the scene /
of several utopias.”
Kevin Young, “Dear Dark-
ness” (Knopf, $26.95)
Young can peel back the
grievous heart of the blues
(“My pleasant things all /
ashes are. / No horizon — you
can tell / the sky & ground /
apart only / by guessing.”),
but can also playfully admit
how much he needs them
to lift his song: “Despair, /
if you’ve moved / I wish you
would / send word / or ring. /
How I would sing / like a ket-
tle to keep you.”
FICTION
Céline Curiol, Voice Over,
translated by Sam Richard
(Seven Stories Press, $24.95)
Don’t let me be lonely:
when Curiol’s narrator, a PA
announcer in Paris’ gare du
Nord, falls hard for a prom-
ised man, disquieting kinks
result. “What she needs is to
filter out a certain blue wave-
length which makes the world
a little too cold for her.” Alas,
the world obtrudes. “Every
time she thinks about him, the
pieces of lead shift, crushing
her insides.”
Emma Donoghue, “The
Sealed Letter” (Harcourt,
$26)
“As if reading Fido’s mind,
Helen clings to her hand like a
drowning woman. ‘If you cast
me off or betray me like these
men have, I’ll perish.’ ” Dono-
ghue dramatizes the real-life
early British feminist Emily
“Fido” Faithfull and her explo-
sive entanglement with Helen
Codrington, stippling 1860s
London with a brisk assurance
anchored in solid learning.
Samir El-Youssef, “The
Illusion of Return” (Melville
House, $13)
“Both Maher and I were
aware that Sameh was a homo-
sexual but we pretended that
we didn’t know.” El-Youssef’s
candidly probing, elegiac first
novel in English looks back on
youth in occupied Lebanon,
through the splintered lens
of lost friendships — “friend-
ship which was only possible
as long as we kept away from
each other’s personal lives.”
Forrest Gander, “As a
Friend” (New Directions,
$13.95)
“Maybe I fell in love with
Les through Sarah, but what
16 - 22 OCT 2008
it looked like to some people
was that I had fallen in love
with her.” Gander’s first novel
triangulates desire against a
torrid Ozarks backdrop. “Two
nuthatches were chasing each
other around the scaley bark of
a bull pine. Les pulled out the
legs of the tripod and clamped
the distance meter to it.”
Jim Grimsley, “Jesus Is
Sending You This Message”
(Alyson Books, $14.95)
These 16 stories gloss real-
ism, romance, and other staple
fare, but in Grimsley’s incor-
rigibly inventive hands things
can swerve just as plausibly
into the fantastic. “One more
time they killed me and I woke
under the eye, with the wind
of that place scouring through
me and the searching of that
eye above me, never blinking
or moving.”
Randa Jarrar, “A Map of
Home” (Other Press, $24.95)
Jarrar’s youthful heroine
makes the journey to these
shores (“being in Alexandria
that winter was like being in
the company of a man in a suit
who is usually a fabulous drag
queen”) and relates Arab-immi-
grant adolescence as never
before. “I sat over him, took his
hand and rocked it back and
forth over my clit until I could
let go and he could guess the
rhythm himself.”
Dennis Lehane, “The
Given Day” (William Morrow,
$27.95)
Having plied “Mystic River”
to the striking plateau of
“Shutter Island,” Lehane now
unfurls a huge historical can-
vas of tumultuous Wilsonian-
era Boston. Danny Coughlin,
heir to corrupt police brass,
䉴 BOOKS, continued on p.25
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
7 DAYS
䉴
7 NIGHTS
OCT 20, from p.25
keynote speaker Governor David Pat-
erson. The governor this past May
directed all state agencies to prepare
procedures for complying with an
appellate court order that New York
recognize legally valid gay marriages
from other jurisdictions. As a result,
same-sex couples who marry in Mas-
sachusetts, Connecticut, California,
Canada, Spain, or elsewhere will be
legally married here in Gotham. The
evening will be emceed by Whoopi
Goldberg, and Kellie O’Hara, a Tony
nominee for “South Pacific,” will
entertain. Sheraton New York
Hotel & Towers, Seventh Ave. at
53rd St.. Cocktail reception at 5:30
p.m.; dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets are
$500 at prideagenda.org.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ Laird (New York Review Books,
CABARET
Live From 17th
Street
Alysha Umphress, seen most
recently in the William Finn revue
“Make Me A Song,” serves up the
latest tunes from the stage, follow-
ing the video madness of “Musical
Mondays,” a screening of the best
䉴 OCT 20, continued on p.26
䉴 BOOKS, from p.24
must infiltrate a seditious
immigrant anarchist ring,
while the Coughlins’ house-
keeper Luther Laurence, flown
north from Tulsa, faces his
own trials.
David Rhodes, “Driftless”
(Milkweed Editions, $24)
Closing a 30-year pause,
the author’s new novel is a
serenely impassioned home-
coming. Wholly current in its
slant on predatory agribusi-
ness (“Some just can’t take
hold of the tools of new tech-
nology.”), Rhodes’ small patch
of rural Wisconsin dilates
in scope and resonance, its
characters outlining the nega-
tive space of a furtive, flicker-
ing center.
Vladimir Sorokin, “The
Queue”; translated by Sally
$14.95)
A sensation when first
published in France in 1983,
Sorokin’s debut novel has
matured in stature as a sca-
brous bauble of that late
Soviet period when a third of
each day was spent waiting on
lines. Everything — grousing,
scheming, flirting, eating, rail-
ing, doin’ the deed, sleeping —
happens on one vast line, and
16 – 22 OCT 2008
it’s told entirely in salt-cured
dialogue.
Nu Nu Yi, “Smile As They
Bow,” translated by Thi Thi
Aye and Alfred Birnbaum
(Hyperion, $21.95)
Daisy Bond, the gay tran-
nie natkadaw superdiva,
reliably floors the pilgrims
to Burma’s annual Taung-
byon festival (“Hey, you back
there, all strung out about
your brute. Come up here by
Mama... Mama’s gonna make
him come back.”), but her love
jones for Min Min, her belea-
guered, stoic assistant, boils
over when a tender street waif
turns the lad’s eye.
NONFICTION
Michelle Cliff, “If I Could
Write This In Fire” (Universi-
ty of Minnesota Press, $21.95)
“He tries to pay a bus driv-
er with a rabbit he pulls from
a sack. The driver accepts.”
A writhing Medusa’s head
of a memoir. Cliff unspar -
ingly excavates her Jamai-
can childhood and an adult
life confronting racism and
homophobia. It savors not
of cinnamon but spleen. “So
much for lightheartedness.
Trickery. The Signifying Mon-
key signs off.”
25
Peter W. Galbraith, “Unin-
tended Consequences: How
War in Iraq Strengthened
America’s Enemies” (Simon
& Schuster, $23)
A sensible appraisal of Gulf
War II’s progress and pros-
pects. Galbraith tallies victors
(Iran, Iraqi Shiites, the Kurds)
and losers (Iraq’s Sunni Arabs,
secular Iraqis), and weighs the
stakes for Turkey and Syria.
Timely morsels abound: the
“democratic” Iraqi factions
favored by McCain don’t “advo-
cate, or practice, democracy as
we might recognize it.”
gave a diverse cohort time to
Marjorie Garber, “Patron- tell their stories, listened with
izing the Arts” (Princeton care, and quilted the oral his-
University Press, $24.95) tories into a shimmering pied
T raining her sights on coat, big enough to hold gen-
Americans’ “besetting ambiva- erations. The richly complicat-
lence toward the arts,” Garber ing testimonies on Southern
unpacks the contradictions urban and rural life, and the
— everyone agrees art is good, men’s varied examples of pres-
but how do we value artists? sin’ their way, are a lasting
— by means of a thorough, benefaction.
spirited survey of state and
corporate sponsorship, private Regina Kunzel, “Criminal
philanthropy, and university Intimacy: Prison and the
backing, among other models Uneven History of Modern
for underwriting the muses. American Sexuality” (Univer-
sity of Chicago Press, $29)
E. Patrick Johnson, Jockers, wolves, punks,
“Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men queens, wives, gang rape, and
of the South” (University of HIV/AIDS each take their turn
North Carolina Press, $35) before the lens, and in Kunzel’s
Johnson canvassed the
South for black gay men, 䉴 BOOKS, continued on p.30
26
■ IN THE NOH
Alice Lets Rip
Kohler’s cornucopia, Priestley goodness, NY Film Fest musings
BY DAVID NOH
T
he radiantly talented
Alice Ripley is one of the
stars headlining Scott
Siegel’s “Broadway Originals”
at Town Hall on October 19,
with actors singing songs they
performed in original Broad-
way casts.
“I don’t know what I’m doing
yet. What do you think I should
do?” she asked me, and then
referring to the show in which,
with Emily Skinner, she played
one-half of circus Siamese
twins, Violet and Daisy Hilton,
she added, “I can’t do anything
from ‘Side Show,’ because they
were all duets, but maybe ‘Sun-
set Boulevard.’ I was there for
the whole New York run — it
was nice to be employed for two
years — and I did it with all the
Normas — Glenn Close, Betty
Buckley, Elaine Page, Maureen
Moore, Barbara Walsh, Karen
Mason.
“Glenn was just a dream ––
one of those people I look up to
in this business because she’s
managed to become a well-
known, respected, and com-
pensated artist who also has a
family that means a lot to her,
and she gets what she wants by
being kind and considerate. I’m
hoping I’ll sing something from
that show, as I don’t often get
to do that, or maybe ‘Tommy.’
I’m still good friends with that
cast –– Michael Cerveris, She-
rie Scott, Christian Hoff, and
Norm Lewis, with all his warm
chocolatey-velvet goodness.”
Asked what her dream role
would be, Ripley replied, “It
doesn’t exist yet, but I used to
say Evita. I just got finished
singing ‘Rainbow High’ at the
Times Square Center with Seth
Rudetsky. Seth always pulls
that out because he’s obsessed
with Patti Lupone and me belt-
ing high E flats.
“Evita is a really good role for
my voice and personality, but it
kind of goes against my law of
working with original material.
It’s just better for everybody
–– the audience gets to have a
fresh new hunk of material and
it’s great if I can hunt down a
good show and help develop
it, like ‘Next to Normal,’” which
ran earlier this year at Second
Stage.
“We’re starting rehearsals
for that again for Arena Stage
in DC. I think it’s a really good
show, still in development,
that’s been around for about
ten years. I don’t know what’s
going to happen after we fin-
ish in January ––– it would be
great if it continued, but that’s
Alice Ripley will be one of the stars headlining Scott Siegel’s “Broadway Originals” at Town
Hall on October 19.
In J.B. Priestley’s “The Glass Cage,” Saxon Palmer is a devastatingly prescient, funny, and
touching drunkard, and Jeanine Seralles gives the finest female performance as his too-
smart-for-her-own-good sister.
not my business, and I’m just
focusing on this production
and the significant changes the
writers have made.”
“A lot of people could have
played Betty, but this is a role
I was born to play. Diana Good-
man lets me be myself, which is
the easiest way into a charac-
ter. She’s a very normal woman
— normal meaning completely
fucked up. [Laughs]. She’s got
the dog and pony show and
the public face that I definitely
understand. She’s my age —
44 — has two kids and a beau-
tiful husband, and they live in
the suburbs, and the story is
the grief over a loss that breaks
her mentally.
“I definitely couldn’t have
played her as fully even just a
few years ago. She needs to be
a real grown-up woman; she
has kids, for no other reason.”
As for having kids herself,
with her husband, musi-
cian Shannon Ford, Ripley,
who comes from a family of
11 children, said, “I think it
would be a surprise. We’ve
chosen no kids. I just thought
it was natural not to have kids
when you’re a full-time actor,
16 – 22 OCT 2008
the right mix. That’s why the
Beatles were so fascinating ––
in the right place at the right
time, all game, with nothing to
lose, which I think is the nature
of rock and roll. Oh, if you get
me to talk about the band, I
won’t shut up.”
At the Times Square Center,
Rudetsky played a clip from
the 1997 Tony Awards, where
Ripley and Skinner sang “I Will
Never Leave You” from “Side
Show.”
“Seth paused the tape and
pointed out to the audience
how I screwed up the words
in the beginning and asked
me why,” Ripley said. “I was at
Radio City Music Hall with all
these people and I had just put
on my Violet costume for the
first time in months and just
wanted to go off and be alone
with her, not a thinking thing
but a physical/emotional feel-
ing. I paused for a moment, but
they kept going and I realized I
had said the wrong words and
Emily brought me back in one
of those great moments. There
she was again, my teammate
helping me, and that’s usually
the moment when you’re most
alive on stage, when something
RICHARD TERMINE
goes wrong and you have to
deal with it right in the moment
and make it real.
“‘Side Show’ was ahead of
its time and a strong piece for
women, which I always try to
do. Some thought it an odd
because we’re always, moving, subject matter, but in the end
traveling. But if I suddenly got I think the gay community
pregnant, I would stay home understood it right away. It’s
and stop working. a piece about the mismatched
“It’s a quandary I’ve been in family — a troupe of people
since my early 20s. If I had a who are pushed to the side and
kid, I’d definitely stay at home,
but who’s gonna make my
income because I’ve always
what do they do? They band
together and put on a show.”
B
made my own way, and these acked by the best
days, even if you don’t have band I’ve heard this
kids and have a longtime rela- year, Karen Kohler
tionship, you still have to pull performed the first half of her
your own weight.” ambitious two-part “Little
For now, Ripley gets to Death: Songs of Coming and
indulge the rock chick side of Going” at the Zipper Factory
herself with her husband and on October 8. Dealing with
band at her home in Albertson, sex, Kohler tackled a stagger-
Long Island, “a prototype for ing range of music, from blues
Levittown, one of the original to Brecht/Weill, encompass-
suburbs. Our neighbors are ing Leonard Cohen’s lilting
musicians, so we have a band “Dance Me to the End of Love,”
house thing. People come by a haunting German version of
and we play and record, and no “In the Still of the Night,” Jane
one complains about the noise, Siberry’s ebullient “Temple,”
and we save on paying for a and that Mae West raunchfest,
studio. “A Guy What Takes His Time.”
“I’ve put out a couple of Led by Doug Oberhamer,
albums with my band and am her five-piece combo, including
always hoping the next one will stunning violinist Meg Okura,
be even more coherent. I liter- followed her peregrination in
ally always want to make the
sound a priority, but some-
masterly fashion, culminating
times it takes years to get just 䉴 ALICE, continued on p.27
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
7 DAYS
7 NIGHTS
䉴 OCT 20, from p.26
from the Broadway archive. Splash
Bar, 50 W. 17th St., performance at
11:30 p.m., but get their early to grab
a seat and enjoy the videos. Admission
is free until 10 p.m.; $5 afterward. You
must be 21.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
HISTORY
TUE.OCT.21
The Virtual Past
CLAGS, the Center for Lesbian and
Gay Studies at CUNY, and the LGBT
Community Center launch OutHistory.
org, a new web resource on queer his-
tory, developed by CLAGS with the sup-
port of the Arcus Foundation. OutHisto-
ry.org is an open-source site, allowing
anyone to contribute data, documents,
or citations. Pioneering gay historian
Jonathan Ned Katz will be on hand for
the launch. Snacks and drinks served.
LGBT Community Center, David
Bohnett Cyber Center, 208 W. 13th
St., 6-8 p.m. Free.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
BOOKS
Black Lesbian
Self-Examination
Linda Villarosa’s “Passing for Black,”
which probes race, desire, sexual-
ity, family, friendship, religion, and hair,
was named one of Essence Magazine’s
“10 Summer Sizzlers” and featured as
an Ebony “hot pick.” Fiona Zedde is one
of the black lesbian community’s most
dependable writers, her vivid storytell-
ing brought to life in her characters.
“Hungry For It” is her new novel. Villa-
rosa and Zedde appear tonight at Cen-
ter Voices. LGBT Community Center,
208 W. 13th St., 6 p.m. reception; 7
p.m. program. Admission is $10; res-
ervations at gaycenter.org.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
THEATER
THU.OCT.23
The Unspoken
Spoken
Jason S. Little presents a concert
version of “Hedwig and the Angry
Inch,” with Mark Fiffer, Kate Pazakis,
Mary Ann McSweeney, Greg Utzig, and
Ray Marchica, as part of the Harold
Clurman Festival of the Arts, hosted by
the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Zip-
per Factory Theater, 336 W. 37th St.,
Oct. 23 & 31, 11 p.m. Tickets are $20
at thezipperfactory.com. For complete
information on the Harold Clurman Fes-
tival, which brings artists from many
disciplines together for poetry read-
ings, concerts, panel discussions, and
theater and dance performances and
runs Oct. 17-27, visit http://stellaadler.
com/festival.html. The festival’s theme
this year is “Art & Social Activism.”
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
gaycity
news.com
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 16 – 22 OCT 2008 27

䉴 ALICE, from p.26 a charmingly affecting look at an art-

in purest aural ecstasy with the Astor
Piazzola/ Grace Jones “Libertango,”
reason alone to catch this show when it
repeats on October 22.
The second half, which adresses
death, will be performed on October 15
and 29, and I cannot wait to hear what
Kohler cooks up, everything from Pur-
cell to Tom Waits.
ist adrift one summer in Paris in a self- An Exciting and Rewarding Career in
made ghetto of fellow Koreans.
In Olivier Assayas’ “Summer Hours,”
the dismantling of a family home’s
antiques spurs a moving, thoughtful
rumination about the dismantling of
ADVERTISING
French culture. Community Media publishes award winning weekly
“Wendy and Lucy” is for those besot- newspapers Gay City News, The Villager, Downtown Express, Chelsea Now
ted by dog movies, with Michelle Wil- and a senior newspaper Thrive NYC and their very popular corresponding
liams good in a role that was probably websites seeks outstanding and self-confident advertising sales pros.
far more demanding than the much-

T
he riveting Mint Theater pro-
duction of J.B. Priestley’s “The
Glass Cage” (seen October 9) is
everything the lousy, overrated Broad-
way revival of “The Seagull,” with its
vulgar translation by that tirelessly
employed hack, Christopher Hampton,
is not –– an intelligently directed family
drama, with a strong ensemble, play-
ing mostly in perfect synch. After seeing
this, “An Inspector Calls,” and the fasci-
nating “Time and the Conways” –– not
to mention the films “The Good Com-
panions” and “The Old Dark House”
–– I am desperate to see all of Priestley’s
plays and wish producers had the savvy
of the Mint, instead of endlessly reviving
Miller/Tennessee/O’Neill chestnuts.
Saxon Palmer is a devastatingly pre-
scient, funny, and touching drunkard,
and the prodigious Jeanine Seralles
gives the finest female performance I’ve
seen this year, as his too-smart-for-
her-own-good sister. She’s bracingly
modern in this Edwardian period piece,
but never dramatically out of tune or
jarringly anachronistic, in much the
same manner that the young Katharine
Hepburn ravishingly revivified “Little
Women.”
touted one of her late partner, Heath
Ledger, in “the Dark Knight.”
“After School” is 25-year-old Anto-
nio Campos’ stultifying, self-indulgent,
porn-obsessed look at a prep school
that merely proves that one can be a
dirty young man to rival even such
juvenile-obsessed seniors as Larry Clark
and Gus Van Sant.
“Let It Rain,” Agnes Jaoui’s light-
weight satire, contained the best female
performance of the Festival –– non-pro-
fessional Mimouna Hadji basically play-
ing herself in what she described as her
first and last movie.
Mickey Rourke will probably win this
year’s Oscar for “The Wrestler,” since
Hollywood loves a good comeback story,
and he delivers a portrait of real tragic
dimension in the unlikeliest of milieus.
At the press conference, he cited direc-
tor Darren Aronofsky’s toughness, as
well as the humbling experience of hav-
ing to finally change his self-destructive
life around, in being able to really work
again.
In “Changeling,” Clint Eastwood’s
directorial hand has never been heavi-
er or more out of touch. The film is a
garish soapera, which tosses around
terms like “self-esteem” as if they real-
You: articulate, never gives up, persuasive,
ready with a message, smart, organized,
energetic, a graduate of an accredited 4 year
college or university (preferred, but) and have
previous advertising or related sales experience
(newspaper advertising sales experience is
a plus). You should have a general under-
standing of selling display advertising, creating
sales proposals, using Excel and Word, selling
on rate cards and communicating demographic
data research to make your sale. Knowledge of
contact management software is helpful.
You: Be a team player, enjoy working in a
diverse environment, able to meet and exceed
$$ goals, fearless...ready to make tons of cold
calls both in person and on the phone, and
prospect everywhere and everything for new
advertisers. Skilled in getting passed the gate keepers and onto the decision makers.
Your composure, oral and written presentation skills should be excellent.
Salary + commission, vacation/benefits. Please send your resume and tell us why you would
be a great fit for our company.
FrancescoRegini@communitymediallc.com

N
ew York Film Festival thoughts:
“The Class,” Laurent Can-
tet’s amazing study of a year
ly used them in 1928. And can Ange-
lina Jolie really act, or is everyone just
blown away by that general intensity,
GLBT JEWELRY
in a French junior high school, is prob- that face, and her tabloid life?
ably the year’s best film, both viscerally
and intellectually involving. Contact David Noh at Inthenoh@aol.
Hong Sang Soo’s “Night and Day” is com.
WEDDING
䉴 SPECIES, from p.21 aware of her body and something else.
Trembling, bent over, and facing
the standard vertical orientation to away, her hamstrings and glutes now
horizontal, equating elbow with knee,
hand with foot. She makes her head
invisible again, forcing the focus onto
pulsate and glimmer like beautiful
porpoises. Facing front, she jumps
sideways, in quick hops. She repeats
GIFTS/DECORATIONS
a single arm and leg connected by a this while squatting, offering more
central nucleus. than a passing resemblance to the pri-
While the difference in the over - mate family. Legs are awesome, and
all mass of the unequal limbs elicits
the first response — like the reaction
to seeing a deformity — the exquisite
they never lie!
Finally, consciousness. Johnson
leaves the internal world she has
CUSTOM EMBROIDERY
design of it becomes mesmerizing, as inhabited for the last hour, the Dar-
she rolls her knee and elbow in oppo- winian chamber of anatomical truth.
sition. We are more curious and allur- She becomes aware of her environ-
ing than we dare to consider.
When she stands and walks, loud,
low deep bass reverberates, suggest-
ment — a church, no less — and con-
sequently of her neutral observers.
Whither we evolve shall be dictated by
AND MUCH MORE !
ing a sacred primal singing ritual, a genes, free will, and intelligent design
spiritual passage. She rubs her clavi- produced by genomic research, i.e.,
cle, scratches her rib; she is becoming the economy. GAY RAINBOW SISTERS Emporium
The TRADITIONAL Gay PRIDE STORE
From Boise to Bankok!
ONE OF THE 50 GREATEST GAY BARS IN THE WORLD!
Neighborhood
Fusion! SUN. $3.50 Screwdrivers and Our Famous Bloody
Mary’s, $2.50 Miller Lite Drafts and Bud Bottles
Mon. $4 Mojito’s all flavors Tues. $2 Margarita’s Visit us at:
Wed. $4 Caipirinha’s Thurs. $5 Cosmo’s & Appletini’s
Fri. $5 Pomtini’s Sat. $5 Surprise Specials GayRainbowSistersEmporium.com
281 W 12th St @ 4th St. NYC 212-243-9041
28 16 – 22 OCT 2008 WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 16 – 22 OCT 2008 29

%*4$07&3
Provincetow n N E W E N G L A N D ’ S PA R A D I S E
To Advertise Contact: Lee A Castoro - 646-452-2505 - lee@gaycitynews.com

Lyman-Eyer Gallery Ernden Fine Art Gallery

Contemporary & Modern Fine Art Ernden Fine Art Gallery is a cutting edge modern and contem-
porary art gallery located in the heart of the Gallery District in
Landscape, Abstraction, Male & Female Figu- historic Provincetown, MA. Provincetown is the oldest estab-
rative, Still Life & Sculpture by 35 national art- lished artist colony in the USA and Ernden is among one of the
ists. Please visit in person or peruse our web finest galleries representing 15 artists whose creative expres-
site to experience our wide selection of fine sion both tell their story while as the same time enlightening
art & download our 2008 Exhibition Brochure the viewer. Our summer hours are daily from noon-4pm and
and Event Schedule. I hope to visit with you 7-11pm. For further information call 508-487-6700 or email us
soon. at erndengallery@att.net.

- James Lyman, Director. 397 Commercial Street

Black Sea, by Jeannie Motherwell
Provincetown, MA 02657
P.O. Box 492
Phone/Fax: 508-487-6700, 1-888-304-ARTS | www.ernden.com
432 Commercial Street
Provincetown, MA 02657
508-487-3937
www.lymaneyerart.com Bowersock Gallery
Bowersock Gallery represents Provincetown artists, as well as,
regional and nationally known Artists and Artisans from New
England, with artists whom are members of The Guild of Bos-
ton Artists, Copley Society of Art, National Sculpture Society
and Pastel Society of America. Featuring Fine Art highlighted
for both the contemporary, modern, abstract and classic col-
lector. Painting by Dustan Knight, “Bonnies Susan”, Medium;
Watercolor. Art Opening; Dream of Music & Art, Reception 7
to 9 Friday, September 12th. Artist Dustan Knight and Lauren
March Branches, by CJ Lori Pollaro featuring music provided by Susan Moreabito. Through
October 7th. Open Year round!
Untitled No. 5,
373 Commercial Street | Provincetown, MA 02657
by Keith Breitfeller
508-487-4994 | www.bowersockgallery.com

Thomas D. Brown Real Estate Associates Bubala’s by the Bay

Bubala’s is a buzzing bistro, gateway to the West
End of Provincetown. It has earned its reputation
for serving fantastic food made with high quality
GRACIOUS EAST END HOME ingredients, flavored with a big dash of fun. Burg-
ers to lobsters, exotic salads to rack of lamb, you
Lovely Federal style home on quiet lane in Gal- could eat here every day of your visit and not have
lery District; hidden terrace, fascinating features, the same thing twice. Brunch, lunch, and dinner
living & dining rooms, library, fireplaces, master daily, with free parking. The bar offers martinis,
suite, wood floors; perfect for entertaining. Park- specialty drinks, beers, a celebrated wine list and
ing. $1,200,000 live music nightly in season. Whether you prefer
water view seats inside or a ringside street scene table outside, Bubala’s delivers big time!

185 Commercial Street | Provincetown, MA 02657

508 -487-0773 | www.bubalas.com

EAST END WATERFRONT The Crown & Anchor

Premier location & casual beachfront living with Provincetown’s Premier Entertainment Complex,
this 2-family residence; stunning views of Cape located in the heart of P-Town, The Crown & An-
Cod Bay, Provincetown Harbor, Long Point Light. chor features six unique bar venues including the
5BR home enjoys large yard, multiple decks, inc. town’s largest nightclub (Paramount), the town’s
beachfront deck, stairs to beach. $2,995,000 only video bar (Wave), a cabaret venue, a poolside
bar with heated pool, a piano bar and an ever-
popular leather bar (The Vault). The Crown also
Lucy J. Brown features the Central House Bar & Grille—a year-
Thomas D Brown round restaurant offering lunch and dinner—and
the Crown & Anchor Inn—a waterfront hotel with eighteen rooms and luxury suites.
Real Estate Associates
Cape Vacation Rentals, Inc. 247 Commercial Street | Provincetown, MA 02657
Office: 508-349-2700 | Cell: 508-237-1006 | www.thomasdbrown.com 508-487-1430 | www.onlyatthecrown.com
30/ Opera
Diva Trumps Hunk
Karita Mattila delivered in Salome; Erwin Schrott disappointed in “Don Giovanni”
BY JAMES JORDEN
I
n a star-studded opening
week at the Metropolitan
Opera, a highly-touted
opera hunk fizzled, but a vet-
eran diva delivered the goods.
Make no mistake about it,
bass-baritone Erwin Schrott
is a gorgeous man with a clas-
sic profile and the bronzed,
toned torso of a soap star.
Curiously, though, in the title
role of “Don Giovanni” (seen
October 1), he fails to gen-
erate sex appeal or, for that
matter, much sense of dan-
ger.
Schrott’s emotional range
runs the gamut from peevish
to petulant, and his aimless
prancing and foppish silk
blouse evoke Gob Bluth’s
flop-sweat magic act. Sadly,
Schr ott’s singing was no
more focused than his acting.
The basic instrument is solid
if nothing special, but he
does little to color or phrase
beyond alternating between
very loud and very soft sing-
ing.
In particular, the celebrated
second act serenade sounded
perfunctory, without a foun-
dation of legato. This artist
lacks neither natural gifts nor
publicity; let’s hope in future
performances he can live up
to his hype.
So listless was Schrott’s
performance that Ildebrando
d’Arcangelo’s parody of his
master’s lounge lizard act
was far more appealing than
the original. His is not a voice
for the ages, but he knows
how to put over Italian text
䉴 BOOKS, from p.25
historically rigorous, warmly
compassionate study, each
illuminates another facet of
how prisons and prisoners
have served as a necessarily
constitutive “other” for defin-
ing and regulating norma-
tive sexualities in society at
large.
Laurence A. Rickels,
“Ulrike Ottinger: The Auto-
biography of Art Cinema”
(University of Minnesota Press,
$22)
We already knew Ottinger
as pillar of the queer German
cinema, but Rickels refocuses
on the German-Jewish auteur
and multimedia savant, his
lively exposition amply illus-
trated with Ottinger’s own
Erwin Schrott, seen here standing over Ildebrando d’Arcangelo, looked terrific in “Don Giovanni,” but offered little in the way of a focused perfor-
mance, in either his singing or his acting.
without ever losing the line of
singing.
The other outstanding
stylist of the night was Mat-
thew Polenzani (Don Ottavio),
whose sweet lyric tenor might
have enjoyed more freedom
from Louis Langrée’s stiff
time-beating.
Susan Graham was, I
think, miscast as Donna Elvi-
ra. This talented mezzo is a
fine comedienne with a bril-
liantly responsive voice, but
she lacks tragic grandeur. “Mi
tradì” impressed primarily as
a triumph of pinpoint florid
technique.
Working with less lavish
vocal material, Krassimira
Stoyanova spun out a lovely
“Non mi dir,” though I wish
she would (or could) let the
top A’s ring out more freely
photos. The sheaf of Tabea
Blumenschein’s voluptué
incarnations, and of Delphine
Seyrig as Frau Dr. Mabuse
and Lady Windermere, makes
in “Or sai chi l’onore.” Isabel
Leonard was a demure, lady-
like Zerlina, which is to say
no Zerlina at all.
Across the board the cast
tended to oversing the recita-
tives in an undifferentiated
moderate tempo, normalizing
racy comedy and high trag-
edy into unthreatening ora-
torio blandness. After three
hours of this jokeless, thrill-
free production (originally
by Marthe Keller, revived by
Gina Lapinski), I hope never
to see another exposed brick
wall, ever.
T
he Jürgen Flimm pro-
duction of “Salome”
(revived September 26)
offers more than a few thrills,
not the least of which is the
brief glimpse of soprano Kari-
this irresistible.
David R. Roediger, “How
Race Survived U.S. History:
From Settlement and Slav-
ery to the Obama Phenom-
enon” (Verso, $26.95)
In six chapters, Roedi-
ger condenses the repub-
lic’s entire history of white
supremacy to lay his ground
for the questions put to
Obama’s vision of a color -
blind, “postracial” America.
Can an electorally meaning-
ful black-Latino-immigrant
bloc be forged? Has affirma-
tive action been strategically
renounced? How far can you
walk the tightrope?
Jeff Sharlet, “The Family:
The Secret Fundamental-
ism at the Heart of Ameri-
can Power” (Harper, $25.95)
16 - 22 OCT 2008
long final scene in superb
voice. Only on the very last
phrase of the opera did she
strain momentarily, and even
an off-center high A-sharp
inspired gratitude that this
excellent artist had given her
all.
It does seem a shame
that so fine a performance
as Mattila’s should be ham-
pered by less than brilliant
conducting. In contrast to
Valery Gergiev’s splashy but
MARTY SOHL/METROPOLITAN OPERA
sloppy leadership a few years
ago, Patrick Summers kept
the Met Orchestra together
without ever coaxing the
most shimmering colors from
Richard Strauss’s score.
Kim Begley and Ildikó
Komlósi were a tasteful, even
understated Herod couple; if
anything, Komlósi’s creamy
ta Mattila’s well-toned nudity mezzo is too beautiful for all
at the climax of her “Dance the cackling and shrieking
of the Seven Veils.” Mattila her role entails.
has rethought somewhat the Juha Uusitalo seems to me
wrong-headed characteriza- to be what the Germans call a
tion I criticized (“champagne- Kavalierbariton, a lyric, noble
sozzled celebutante”) when I voice suitable for parts like
first saw this production back Eugene Onegin and Wolfram
in 2004. in “Tannhäuser.” In the boom-
The soprano has made even ing phrases of Jokanaan, he
greater strides in her sing- sounded underpowered, even
ing of this long and treacher- from inside the cistern where
ous role. Four years ago, she he was amplified on the Met’s
attempted too much nuance, 1940s radio quality sound
coloring the voice and enunci- system. It seems almost per-
ating the text to the point that verse to import so unsuitable
she sometimes disconnected a singer while superb young
from the voice. Now her vocal- Met artists like Morris Robin-
izing sounds more physical son and Keith Miller languish
and vital, the rich, healthy as Nazarene and Soldier,
tone swelling to a thrilling respectively.
brilliance on top.
Mattila never spared her- James Jorden blogs about
self and yet arrived at the opera at parterre.com.
Why don’t Palin’s defects fiction master gathers sev-
matter? “Scandal does not eral short, feuilleton-esque
destroy American fundamen- pieces balanced by meatier
talism. Rather, like a natu- efforts like “Opium” or “The
ral fire that purges the forest Souvenirs of Communism.”
... it makes the movement From the inaugural slate of
stronger.” Sharlet penetrates a promising new publisher.
the theocratic vanguard’s
stealth networks, and tracks Rosanna Warren, “Fables
their influence to the highest of the Self: Studies in Lyric
levels. As Reagan let slip in Poetry” (Norton, $27.95)
1985, “it’s working precisely Between treatments of
because it is private.” Sappho, Dante, Melville,
a n d H a r d y , Wa r r e n s u p -
Dubravka Ugresic, plies original translations of
“Nobody’s Home,” trans- Gérard de Nerval’s Letter to
lated by Ellen Elias-Bursac Dumas, his story Octavie,
(Open Letter Books, $16.95) and six haunting sonnets,
“Anyone who is interest- including Delfica: Remem-
ed will be able to find out ber the temple of vast colon-
in museums how the world nades, / the bitter lemons
of work and exchange of your teeth once printed, /
labor used to look in the old and the sea cavern, fatal to
days.” A contemporary non- careless guests...”
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 16 – 22 OCT 2008 31

GAY CITY CLASSIFIEDS

DEADLINE WEDNESDAY 5:00PM MAIL 145 SIXTH AVENUE NEW YORK, NY 10013 TEL 646-452-2485 FAX 212.229.2790

APARTMENT RENTALS REAL ESTATE

FRENCH RIVIERA. Charming town-
house, authentic village Gorges du
Loup, France, near Nice,Cannes,
Grasse. Breathtaking views, 2 bdrm,
2 bath. $1250/wk. Available year round,
turn key furnished. 941-363-0925
LEGAL

FALSE ARREST
FALSE
IMPRISONMENT
IMMIGRATION LAW
CALL KAPLAN & KAPLAN
16 COURT STREET
SUITE 2305
EMPLOYMENT
Your Ad Here
BROOKLYN, N Y 11241 Your Ad Here
718-596-8800 Your Ad Here
ELECTRICAL SERVICES
Rainbow Staffing/Diversity Services Group
is a boutique staffing and consulting group Your Ad Here
seeking a seasoned personal executive as-
Your Ad Here
24 HOUR sistant for a mid-town Manhattan real estate
executive. Candidate must be extremely
Your Ad Here
EMERGENCY
customer service & detailed oriented with

Your Ad Here
a meticulous focus on administrative tasks.

SERVICE
A self motivated team player with superior

Your Ad Here
communication & organizational skills.

ALTMAN GayCityNews.com This position will require the management

ELECTRIC
RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL
FREE MOVING AND STORAGE
of the day to day needs of three residences
(New York, Long Island, Florida) scheduling
vendors & trades, experience coordinating
Your Ad Here
To place a classified ad call
646-452-2485
OVER 50 YEARS
formal & informal styles of entertainment,
IN THE BUSINESS ESTIMATES IDEAL MOVING & STORAGE, INC. maintaining household inventory, valet and ADULT
1-800-287-7774 LICENSED ELECTRICAL The only gay owned & operated wardrobe, calendar, and travel itineraries
212-924-0400 CONTRACTORS
TRACK LIGHTING
mover in New York. Ideal is the
community favorite local mover.
and arrangements. In addition, candidate
must possess expert level in MS Word, Excel DANIEL
283 West 11th St. VIOLATIONS REMOVED and Outlook. Polished and professional ap-
New York, NY We are fully licensed & insured,
CO-OP REMODELING pearance is an absolute must. FULL BODY MASSAGE
10014 leading the industry with a 96%
(NUDE, SENSUAL) &
referral rate. Reliable, dependable Please submit resumes to
& personalized service. Open 24/7. sstrother@diversity-services.com MUCH MORE
GayCityNews.com (212) 777-5507 or 718-728-5318.
www.idealmoving.com See our display BODYWORK W 46TH ST. LOC. 24/7
ad under Moving & Storage. HOT BODYWORK Swedish, Deep Tis-
sue, sensual nude bodywork. Done by HOTEL CALLS
MOVING AND STORAGE Brazilian masseur. (917) 435-4418.
www.rentboy.com/fzaneti WELCOME!
LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION IN $300/ OUT $400
Cash/ Credit Card
LEARN 212-302-8217
FRENCH
with a native
French speaker
Masters
and D.E.A.
Paris University La Sorbonne
•Basic French Grammar
•Pronunciation/Phonetics
•Conversation
•One on One or Small Group Classes
•French Culture and Civilization

(212)332-0023
32 16 – 22 OCT 2008 WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

get in the game

Leasing Gallery Now Open

free, reserved garage parking with two

bedroom apartments for a limited time*
*Offer and terms subject to change without notice.

UpperGrand.com 1.866.464.2079
1130 Adams Street | Hoboken | Corner of 12th and Adams

1 BDR/1 BTH from $2275

2 BDR/2 BTH from $2900
3 BDR/2 BTH from $4950
Prices subject to change

YOUR NEW HOBOKEN TARRAGON