Military Discharges More Inguists For Being Gay FDA Keeps Gay

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WEEKLY OBSERVER
MAY 30, 2007
Military Discharges More
Inguists For Being Gay
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Observer Update) - Lawmakers who say the military
has kicked out 58 Arabic language
experts because they were Gay want
the Pentagon to explain how it can
afford to let the valuable specialists go,
the Associated Press on 365Gay.com.
Seizing on the latest discharge, involving three specialists,
House members wrote the House
Armed Services Committee chairman
on Wednesday (May 23) that the
continued loss of such “capable, highly
skilled Arabic linguists continues to
compromise our national security
during time of war.”
Former Navy Petty Officer 2nd
Class Stephen Benjamin, said his
supervisor tried to keep him on the job
and urged him to sign a statement
saying he was not Gay.
Benjamin said his lawyer
advised against signing because the
statement could be used against him
later if other evidence surfaced.
In an interview with The
Associated Press, Benjamin said he
was caught improperly using the
military’s secret level computer system
to send messages to his roommate,
who was serving in Iraq. In those
messages, he said, he may have
referred to being Gay or going on a
date.
“I’d always had been out since
the day I started working there,”
Benjamin said. “We had conversations
about being Gay in the military and
what it was like. There were no issues
with unit cohesion. I never caused
divisiveness or ever experienced
slurs,” said Benjamin, who was in the
Navy for nearly four years.
He was fired under the “don’t
ask, don’t tell” law passed in 1994. It
lets Gays serve if they keep their
sexual orientation private and do not
engage in homosexual acts. The law
prohibits commanders from asking
about a person’s sex life and requires
discharge of those who openly acknowledge they are Gay.
Rep. Marty Meehan, who has
sought a repeal, organized the letter to
Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., asking the
committee hold a hearing about the
Arabic linguists.
“At a time when our military is
stretched to the limit and our cultural
knowledge of the Middle East is
dangerously deficient, I just can’t
believe that kicking out able, competent Arabic linguists is making our
country any safer,” Meehan said.
The letter, signed by about 40
House members, says that the military
has discharged 58 Arabic linguists
under the policy and that Congress
should decide whether “don’t ask, don’t
tell” “is serving the nation well.”
For Benjamin, 23, the dis-
ISSUE 1193
Arrest Made In 2-Year Old
Arizona Murder
charge ended a military career he had
hoped to continue.
He said he was among about
70 people investigated at Fort Gordon
in Georgia for using the computer to
send personal notes. He said others
who are not Gay kept their jobs even
though they were caught sending
sexual and profane messages.
Benjamin said investigators
from the Defense Department’s inspector general’s office pulled the
message logs for one day and
reviewed them for violations. Some
people, he said, received administrative punishments for writing dirty jokes,
profanity and explicit sexual references.
According to researchers at
the California-based Michael D. Palm
Center, which tracks these issues,
three Arabic linguists were fired as a
result of the computer reviews. Their
names were not released. Benjamin
agreed to discuss the incident publicly.
The center’s director, Aaron
Belkin, said, “There is simply no
common sense reason for the military
to fire Arabic linguists in the midst of a
dire shortage of translators. Translating al-Qaida cables is more important
the making sure that the military is free
of Gays.”
Marine Maj. Stewart Upton, a
Pentagon spokesman, said the Pentagon is enforcing the law.
The Defense Department, he
said, “must ensure that the standards
for enlistment and appointment of
members of the armed forces reflect
the policies set forth by Congress,” he
said.
Benjamin said the computer
review was done last December, but
his discharge was not finalized until the
end of March. His roommate, he said,
was allowed to finish out his tour in Iraq
and came home in February, then was
discharged in early April.
“I was always discreet, I never
considered it would be an issue,” said
Benjamin, when asked why he joined
the military knowing the policy existed.
“I thought if I don’t say anything, they’re
not going to ask me. But, it was more
aggressive than I thought.”
Meehan’s bill to repeal the
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law has 124 cosponsors, but efforts to get Congress to
take another look at the issue have not
yet been successful.
Defense Secretary Robert
Gates has said he was not reviewing
the policy.
Amancio Corrales
Ruben Solorio
YUMA (Observer Update) - A 23-year
old Yuma man has been arrested in the
2005 killing of Amancio Corrales,
365Gay.com reported. Ruben Solorio
has been arraigned on one count of
second-degree murder. Bond was set
at $1 million.
cates throughout Arizona. Many believe that Corrales was the victim of a
hate crime, although investigators
have refused to label it as such.
The body of Amancio Corrales,
23, was found in the Colorado River on
May 6, 2005. Corrales was a well
known drag performer in Yuma and in
Mexico, performing under the name
Delilah. He was born in Sinaloa,
Mexico, and worked as a cosmetologist in Yuma. Corrales was seen the
night of his slaying at several bars in
Yuma in drag.
Investigators say that Corrales
suffered from violent trauma, but have
not released the exact cause of death.
Nor have they speculated on a motive.
The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office
made an arrest as a result of an
anonymous tip from the public and the
two year investigation into this case.
The killing sent shockwaves
through Yuma’s relatively small and
close knit gay community and became
a rallying cause for gay-rights advo-
“Whatever was the murderer’s
motivation, a suspect is in custody now
because the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
and Transgender (LGBT) community
united with Amancio’s family and
friends to keep his story alive,” said
Barbara McCullough-Jones, Executive
Director of the Arizona Human Rights
Fund.
“Had it not been for the efforts
of community activists to advocate for
Amancio and team up with his family,
this case may have never been
solved.”
In response to Corrales’ brutal
murder, local organizers in the LGBT
Community joined with members of the
immediate family and close friends of
Amancio to develop a strategy to offer
aid and comfort to the family and to
address the issues and concerns
which have arisen around this violent
crime. For more information, go online
to the amancioproject.org.
FDA Keeps Gay Blood Ban
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Observer Update) - Gay men remain banned for life
from donating blood, the government
said Wednesday, leaving in place - for
now - a 1983 prohibition meant to
prevent the spread of HIV through
transfusions, reported the Associated
Press on 365Gay.com.
The Food and Drug Administration reiterated its long-standing
policy on its Web site Wednesday (May
23), more than a year after the Red
Cross and two other blood groups
criticized the policy as “medically and
scientifically unwarranted.”
“I am disappointed, I must
confess,” said Dr. Celso Bianco,
executive vice president of America’s
Blood Centers, whose members provide nearly half the nation’s blood
supply.
Before giving blood, all men
are asked if they have had sex, even
once, with another man since 1977.
Those who say they have are
permanently banned from donating.
The FDA said those men are at
increased risk of infection by HIV that
can be transmitted to others by blood
transfusion.
In March 2006, the Red Cross,
the international blood association
AABB and America’s Blood Centers
proposed replacing the lifetime ban
with a one-year deferral following
male-to-male sexual contact. New and
improved tests, which can detect HIVpositive donors within just 10 to 21
days of infection, make the lifetime ban
unnecessary, the blood groups told the
FDA.
Continued On Page Two
PAGE TWO
Volunteer With
Wingspan
Anti-Violence Project
TUCSON - Are you looking for a way to
help make the world a better place?
Would you like to meet other LGBT
people and allies? Want to improve
your resume? Would you like to learn
more about domestic and sexual
violence, hate crimes, harassment or
discrimination?
Wingspan’s Anti-Violence
Project (AVP) will hold a free,
engaging, interactive and informative
training for potential crisis line volunteer advocates, service providers,
students, and interested community
members. The three-part training will
be presented June 8-10, 2007. Training Schedule: Friday, June 8 - 6:00
p.m. -10:00 p.m., Saturday, June 9,
9:00 am - 5:00 p.m., and Sunday, June
10, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
The Wingspan AVP is the only
organization in Arizona that provides
24-hour services specifically to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
victim/survivors of violence. Wingspan
AVP are a member of the National
Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects.
For more information or to register,
please contact Heather Hill at
hhill@wingspan.org or call (520) 6241779. If you or someone you know is
experiencing violence, please call our
24-hour crisis line at (520) 624-0348.
1in10 Youth Car Wash
June 2
PHOENIX (Observer Update)- Youth
ages 14-22 are organizing a car wash
fund raiser to support special program
activities at 1n10, Saturday, June 2,
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at the
Community Church of Hope, 4121 N.
7th Ave. All sizes of vehicles will be
hand washed and dried, including
window detail!
The 1n10 Youth
Council invites you to get your buggy
clean and support a great cause while
you’re at it! Proceeds go directly to
activities of the 1n10 Youth Council.
1n10 is the valley’s only youth
services organization providing weekly
support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender, Queer and questioning
youth (LGBTQ).
1n10 has been
providing services to valley youth
since 1993 and is currently serving up
to 100 youth each week at two drop-in
locations.
Can’t join us to get your car
washed? Send your donation to 1n10
MAY 30, 2007
Inc, PO Box 33367, Phoenix Arizona
85067. For more information contact
the 1n10 Director, Beck (602) 4757456 or coordinator@1n10.org.
OutFront Arizona:
Blessing All Our
Families June 1-2
PHOENIX (Observer Update) OutFront Arizona, a Christian educational conference exploring Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender
(LGBT) inclusion and family diversity
will take place June 1-2 at First
Congregational UCC, 1407 North
Second Street in Phoenix.
OutFront Arizona: Blessing all
our Families will present an alternative
to the discriminatory religious rhetoric
that has barraged the state in the last
year. It will give Arizonans the
opportunity to learn about an inclusive
vision of sexuality, gender, family
relationships, and faith from leaders in
the field of theological study. It is the
final conference of the 2006-2007
series of the Center for Lesbian and
Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry’s
OutFront Regional Conferences. These
conferences are designed to help
progressive people of faith and their
allies throughout the country become
voices of authority and agents of
societal change in the current heated
debates surrounding LGBT issues and
religion by developing and/or increasing their expertise in matters of
sexuality and religion.
OutFront Arizona is open to
the public. Registration: $35. For more
information,
see:
clgs.org/4/
events.cfm?Display=Full&EventID=218.
Japan’s Lesbian
Lawmaker Aims To
Move Up
OSAKA, Japan - Kanako Otsuji,
Japan’s first openly Gay politician,
announced her decision to run in July’s
national elections as a challenge to
government ignorance, advocate.com.
Officials confirmed that Otsuji, 32, will
run on the Democratic Party ticket for
the upper house of parliament. The
election will be held July 22.
In 2003, at the age of 28, Otsuji
became the youngest politician to hold
a seat on the Osaka prefectural
assembly. She was one of only seven
women on the 110-seat body. On her
Web site, she boasts of a policy
change to get public housing in Osaka,
Japan’s second-largest city, to rent to
same-sex couples. Halfway through
WEEKLY OBSERVER
her four-year term, Otsuji came out
with the publication of her autobiography, “Coming Out: A Journey to Find
Myself.” Although she did not purposefully hide her sexual orientation during
the election campaign, her aides
persuaded her not to mention it to
prevent controversy. Her decision to
come out was met with support from
voters, but Otsuji has faced ignorance
and homophobia among fellow lawmakers.
In a message on her Web site,
Otsuji said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
has failed to address sexual diversity
within Japan. “I think there is a
tendency to put forward one set of
values and make it seem as though
that is the only beautiful or right way,”
Otsuji told London’s Guardian newspaper. “But the reality is becoming more
diverse. Japanese society is not
engaging with the wide range of people
living in diverse ways, in terms of
nationality, race, sex, age and disabilities,” she said.
HIV+ Patient Makes
Lung-Transplant
History
PALERMO, Italy - Italian doctors have
performed the world’s first successful
lung transplant on a patient with HIV, a
medical institute announced Friday
(May 25), reported advocate.com. The
patient was reported to be in stable
condition after the operation.
The man, whose age was not
disclosed, suffered from terminal
respiratory problems. The transplant
was his only chance for survival. “This
is an important event in the progress of
transplants,” Alessandro Nanni Costa,
director of Italy’s National Transplant
Centre, said in a written statement.
Kidney and liver transplants are the
most common operations of this type
performed on HIV-positive patients,
according to the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
In the past, transplant centers
have refused people with HIV due to
higher complication and death rates.
With the improvement of HIV medication and the increased health of HIVpositive patients, transplants have
recently become a viable medical
option.
FDA Keeps Gay
Blood Ban
Continued from Page One
In a
document
posted
Wednesday (May 23), the FDA said it
would change its policy if given data
that show doing so wouldn’t pose a
“significant and preventable” risk to
blood recipients.
“It is a way of saying,
‘Whatever was presented to us was not
sufficient to make us change our
minds,’” Bianco said.
The FDA said HIV tests
currently in use are highly accurate,
but still cannot detect the virus 100
percent of the time. The estimated HIV
risk from a unit of blood is currently
about one per 2 million in the United
States, according to the agency.
Critics of the exclusionary
policy said it bars potential healthy
donors, despite the increasing need for
donated blood, and discriminates
against Gays. The FDA recognized the
policy defers many healthy donors but
rejected the suggestion it’s discriminatory.
Anyone who’s used intravenous drugs or been paid for sex also is
permanently barred from donating
blood.
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WEEKLY OBSERVER
MAY 30, 2007
G/L P
arishioner
sW
elcome
Parishioner
arishioners
Welcome
elcome,,
Tucson Bishop Sa
ys In Ne
wsletter
Say
Newsletter
TUCSON (Observer Update) - Bishop
Gerald F. Kicanas says he wants Gay
and Lesbian worshippers to know they
are welcome in his Roman Catholic
Diocese, Tucson’s morning newspaper reported. In the present edition of
The New Vision, the diocese’s newspaper, Kicanas writes, “I am very
sensitive to the concerns I have heard
from people of same-sex orientation
that they feel they have no place in our
parishes or in the household of faith.
“We need to consider how we as a
diocese or how I as bishop may be
generating such misunderstanding.”
Kicanas is asking parishioners
to help the diocese figure out how to
better serve the Gay and Lesbian
Catholic population. He said part of his
impetus for reaching out was criticism
he heard after he and Arizona’s other
two bishops publicly supported a
proposed ban on same-sex marriage,
civil unions and domestic partnerships.
In pledging their support for
Proposition 107, the bishops issued a
joint pastoral statement on marriage,
which reiterated Catholic teachings
that marriage as designed by God is a
faithful and exclusive lifelong union of
a man and woman. “So-called samesex unions lack both natural
complementarity and the ability to
generate new human life naturally,” the
statement said, Phoenix’s daily newspaper reported. “Societally, the implications of equating so-called samesex unions and marriage are profound
and unsettling.
Kicanas said the amendment
would prohibit domestic partner benefits by state or local governments, but
he said proposal would not stop private
and public firms from providing “reciprocal benefits” to employees’ household members as long as the benefits
weren’t based on a marriage like
relationship.
Overall, Kicanas said during a
telephone interview with Tucson’s
afternoon newspaper in 2006, the
pastoral statement was motivated by a
desire to uphold marriage as the
foundation of family life while not
diminishing the dignity of any people.
Critics also said Kicanas
ostracized Gays and Lesbians earlier
this year when he decided not to
extend an invitation to retired Detroit
bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton to speak
about homosexuality as part of a
program sponsored by the local lay
Catholic group Call to Action. Call to
Action members sent Kicanas a letter
of protest signed by 129 people,
including 14 nuns.
Kicanas said that the problem
wasn’t Gumbleton or the subject matter
of his talk. Gumbleton wasn’t welcomed by the local diocese because
Call to Action promotes messages that
go against church teaching, he said.
The group holds forums exploring
topics such as optional celibacy for
priests and allowing women into the
priesthood.
On May 16, during International Day Against Homphobia, Pope
Benedict XVI, the leader of the Catholic
Church was named by Human Rights
Watch to its “Hall of Shame.”
“This ‘hall of shame’ does not
claim to include the worst offenders,
but it highlights leaders who have lent
their authority to denying basic human
rights,” said Scott Long, director of the
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch, in a press release.
According to Human Rights
Watch, Pope Benedict went beyond
expressing the Church’s theological
views on homosexuality. The Pope has
intervened in politics in many other
countries to condemn and threaten
figures who support equal rights or any
form of recognition for Lesbian and
Gay families. After Spain legalized
same-sex marriage in 2005, Pope
Benedict’s Pontifical Council on the
Family commanded Spanish officials
to refuse to marry same-sex couples or
even to process the paperwork if they
tried to adopt a child.
Ala
bama Lists
Alabama
LGBT Among
Ter
oups
errrorist Gr
Groups
MONTGOMERY, Alabama - The Alabama Department of Homeland Security has taken down a Web site it
operated that included Gay rights and
anti-war organizations in a list of
groups that could include terrorists, the
Associated Press reported on
365Gay.com. The Web site identified
different types of terrorists, and
included a list of groups it believed
could spawn terrorists. The list also
included environmentalists, animal
rights advocates and abortion opponents.
The director of the department, Jim Walker, said his agency
received a number of calls and e-mails
from people who said they felt the site
unfairly targeted certain people just
PAGE THREE
because of their beliefs. He said he
plans to put the Web site back on the
Internet, but will no longer identify
specific types of groups. Howard
Bayliss, chairman of the Gay and
Lesbian advocacy group Equality
Alabama, said he doesn’t understand
why Gay rights advocates would be on
the list. “Our group has only had
peaceful demonstrations. I’m deeply
concerned we’ve been profiled in this
discriminatory matter,” Bayliss said.
The site included the groups
under a description of what it called
“single-issue” terrorists. That group
includes people who feel they are
trying to create a better world, the Web
site said. It said that in some
communities, law enforcement officers
consider certain single issue groups to
be a threat. “Single-issue extremists
often focus on issues that are
important to all of us. However, they
have no problem crossing the line
between legal protest and ... illegal
acts, to include even murder, to
succeed in their goals,” it read. Walker
said the site had been up since spring
2004, and had gotten a relatively small
number of hits until it recently became
the subject of blogs, he said. Birmingham attorney Eric Johnston, president
of the Alabama Pro Life Coalition, said
he was concerned about any list that
described people doing social justice
work as terrorists. “Our group’s main
mission is educational. The thought
that we would somehow be harboring
terrorists escapes me,” he said.
MAY 30, 2007
PAGE FOUR
WEEKLY OBSERVER
Actor Charles Nelson Reilly Dies
LOS ANGELES - Charles Nelson
Reilly, the Tony Award winner who
later became known for his ribald
appearances on the “Tonight Show”
and various game shows, has died. He
was 76, the Associated Press on
365Gay.com. Reilly died Friday (May
25) of complications from pneumonia,
his partner, Patrick Hughes, told the
New York Times.
Reilly began his career in New
York City, taking acting classes at a
studio with Steve McQueen, Geraldine
Page and Hal Holbrook. In 1962, he
appeared on Broadway as Bud Frump
in the original Broadway production of
“How to Succeed in Business Without
Really Trying.” The role won Reilly a
Tony Award. He was nominated for a
Tony again for playing Cornelius in
“Hello, Dolly!” In 1997 he received
another nomination for directing Julie
Harris and Charles Durning in a revival
of “The Gin Game.”
After moving to Hollywood in
1960s he appeared as the nervous
Claymore Gregg on TV’s “The Ghost
and Mrs. Muir” and as a featured guest
on “The Dean Martin Show.” He gained
fame by becoming what he described
as a “game show fixture” in the 1970s
and 80s. He was a regular on programs
like “Match Game” and “Hollywood
Squares,” often wearing giant glasses
and colorful suits with ascots. His
larger-than-life persona and affinity for
double-entendres also landed him on
the “Tonight Show” with Johnny
Carson more than 95 times.
Reilly ruefully admitted his
wild game show appearances adversely affected his acting career. “You
can’t do anything else once you do
game shows,” he told The Advocate,
the national gay magazine, in 2001.
“You have no career.” His final work
was an autobiographical one-man
show, “Save It for the Stage: The Life of
Reilly,” about his family life growing up
in the Bronx. The title grew out of the
fact that when he would act out as a
child, his mother would often admonish
him to “save it for the stage.” The stage
show was made into the 2006 feature
film called “The Life of Reilly.” Reilly’s
openly gay television persona was
ahead of its time, and sometimes stood
in his way. He recalled a network
executive telling him “they don’t let
queers on television.” Hughes, his only
immediate survivor, said Reilly had
been ill for more than a year. No
memorial plans had been announced.
Mary Cheney Has Son
***SATURDAY***
SONNY & BAND
On the patio @ 9pm!
***SUNDAY***
STEAK NIGHT
@ 7PM!
****************
ENJOY OUR 2 SWAMP
COOLED PATIOS!
Where our staff waits on
you!
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Mary Cheney,
the openly Lesbian daughter of Vice
President Dick Cheney, has given
birth to a son. Samuel David Cheney
was born this morning at Sibley
Hospital in Washington, weighing in at
8 lbs., 6 oz. Cheney and her partner of
15 years, Heather Poe, live in Virginia.
Under that state’s law Poe is not
considered a co-parent and has no
legal rights.
The White House, for the first
time ever on its Web site during the
Bush administration, recognized the
legitimacy of Gay couples as both
married and as parents. It was done,
innocuously enough, when the White
House published a photo of Vice
President Dick Cheney’s new grandson, the child of the VP’s lesbian
daughter and her lesbian spouse. The
White House not only published a
photo of the child with the VP and his
wife, but the caption was even more
telling:
“Vice President Dick Cheney
and his wife, Lynne Cheney, welcomed their sixth grandchild, Samuel
David Cheney, Wednesday, May 23,
2007. He weighed 8 lbs., 6 oz and was
Openly Gay Mary Cheney, shown
with her father, Vice President Dick
Cheney and his new Grandson
Samuel David.
born at 9:46 a.m. at Sibley Hospital in
Washington, D.C. His parents are the
Cheneys’ daughter Mary, and her
partner, Heather Poe.”
WEEKLY OBSERVER
MAY 30, 2007
PAGE FIVE
PAGE SIX
MAY 30, 2007
WEEKLY OBSERVER
Researchers Announce ‘Cure’ For
Hepatitis C
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RICHMOND, Virginia - Researchers
believe they’ve found a cure for
hepatitis C, a major cause of liver
cancer and other liver diseases,
gfn.com reported. The incidence of the
sexually transmitted hepatitis C is
particularly high in HIV-positive men,
notes one English study. Researchers
at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center reported their
findings at a conference in Washington
from a long-term follow-up study
designed to determine if the virus reemerges in patients once it’s no longer
detectable in their blood and after
treatment has stopped.
Of the 997 hepatitis C patients
treated with the drug peginterferon
alone, or in combination with another
drug, ribavirin, 987 showed no signs of
the virus in their blood up to seven
years later. “We at VCU are encouraged by this data because it is rare in
the treatment of life-threatening viral
diseases that we can tell patients they
may be cured,” said Mitchell Shiffman,
M.D., professor in the VCU School of
Medicine, and chief of hepatology and
medical director of the Liver Transplant
Program at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. “In
hepatitis C today, we are able to help
some patients achieve an outcome that
effectively enables them to put their
disease behind them,” said Shiffman.
The combination treatment,
which consists of a weekly injection of
peginterferon and several pills of
ribavirin per day for six months to a
year, can be difficult. Roche says sideeffects of peginterferon are common
including the following: Flu-like symptoms, fatigue; upset stomach, nausea/
vomiting; headache; irritability; loss of
appetite; difficulty in controlling blood
sugar levels (which may lead to
diabetes): skin reactions (such as
rash, dry or itchy skin, temporary hair
loss, or redness and swelling at the site
of injection); and, trouble sleeping.
Less common but more troubling sideeffects that can require stopping the
treatment include mental health problems such as depression, blood
problems, infections, and problems
with your lungs, eyes, immune system,
thyroid, liver, and heart.
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne
infectious disease of the liver and a
leading cause of cirrhosis, liver cancer
and the need for liver transplants.
According to a recent British study
which focused on London’s HIVpositive Gay men, more men are
getting hepatitis C through sex every
year. Last month, at the 13th BHIVA
Conference heard in Edinburgh, Scotland, researchers reported there were
60 cases in 2002, 77 in 2003, 85 in
2004, 100 in 2005 and 67 in the first six
months of 2006. This means that
hepatitis C infections are increasing by
one-third more each year. The overall
infection rate in HIV-positive men was
one infection per 110 clinic patients per
year, but by 2006 this had gone up to
one infection per 83 patients a year.
According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, an estimated
4.1 million Americans have been
infected with hepatitis C, and 3.2
million are chronically infected. The
number of new infections per year
declined from an average of 240,000 in
the 1980s to about 26,000 in 2004, the
latest year for which statistics are
available. The CDC estimates the
number of hepatitis C-related deaths
could increase to 38,000 annually by
the year 2010, surpassing annual HIV/
AIDS deaths.
OnLine Adoption Service
Settles With Gay Couple
SAN FRANCISCO - An internet
adoption service that refused to allow a
same-sex couple to use its service has
settled a lawsuit brought by the San
Jose couple, 365Gay.com reported.
Michael and Rich Butler filed the suit
with the held of the National Center for
Lesbian Rights and law firm Orrick,
Herrington & Sutcliffe. The suit claimed
the defendants’ policy of refusing
services to same-sex couples unlawfully discriminates on the basis of
sexual orientation, marital status, and
sex.
The agreement ends a dispute
that put into question whether internet
businesses can be bound by state
laws. The agency charges a fee for
permitting prospective adoptive parents to post internet profiles, which are
then viewed by birth mothers seeking
to place their children for adoption.
The companies, Adoption.com and
Adoption Profiles LLC are owned by
Arizona residents Nathan and Dale
Gwilliam, who were also named in the
suit. They had argued that because
they are based in Arizona and the
business was on the internet the
company did have to comply with
California anti-discrimination laws.
In April a federal court judge in
San Francisco rejected the defendants’ argument and ruled that the
lawsuit could proceed. “When an outof-state business solicits California
and does business with customers
living in California, California has an
interest in ensuring that the out-ofstate business does not discriminate
against the California customers,”
Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton’s ruling said.
The settlement avoids a lengthy trial.
According to the settlement,
Adoption.com and ParentProfiles.com
have agreed to either comply with
California antidiscrimination law or
cease providing their services to
Californians. The agreement, provides
that: “no Defendant shall Post Biographical Data of California residents
seeking to adopt directed to prospective birth parents unless the Service is
made equally available to all California
residents qualified to adopt in California.”
“This case was about ensuring
that these businesses stop discriminating against same-sex couples in
California by excluding them from
offering loving, stable homes to
children,” said Michael Butler. “We
have succeeded, and we believe this
case sends the message that Californians will not tolerate businesses that
discriminate.” “This case sends a clear
message. Regardless of where you are
headquartered, if you want to do
business in California, you must
comply with California law. The
defendants have conceded that they
must either comply with California law
or stop benefiting financially from
California consumers. With this settlement, we have stopped a serious
discriminatory practice, said attorney
Neel Chatterjee, a partner at Orrick,
Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.
In addition to its profiling
service for parents seeking to adopt,
Adoption.com lists profiles of foster
children who need adoptive homes. As
part of the settlement, the Defendants
agreed that the Adoption.com photo
listing of children in foster care waiting
to be adopted does not discriminate
and is available on an equal basis to
anyone seeking to adopt.
WEEKLY OBSERVER
Gene
va V
oter
s
Genev
Voter
oters
Bac
k G/L Equality
Back
GENEVA, Switzerland - A strong
majority of citizens participating in
Sunday’s (May 20) referendum
support the law giving homosexual
partners the same rights as married
couples, reported Tribune de Genève.
The referendum on Sunday brings the
canton’s laws into line with those in
the rest of the country. The change,
backed by 83 per cent of voters, gives
Gay and Lesbian couples equal
access to benefits and inheritance.
The referendum was necessary because it requires a change in
cantonal tax laws. All the political
parties in Geneva supported the
change, except for the right-wing
Swiss People’s Party (UDC). The
UDC was strongly criticized for a
poster campaign it ran, opposing the
changes as a tax bonus to “infertile
and well-off” Gays. A spokesman for
the UDC later acknowledged that the
wrong wording had been used for the
posters, which were eventually
removed.
Geneva voters also approved
a dozen technical changes to housing
laws that generally make regulations
less restrictive for property owners
renting out apartments. Many of the
rules are already in place. But following the passage of a referendum last
fall, all changes to housing regulations in Geneva - including those
introduced in the last two years - must
be submitted to a vote.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas - A
26-year-old Canadian has been
detained in Texas in connection with
the shooting death of a man at a
remote hunting camp in northern New
York. According to New York State
Police, Glen Race was apprehended
by the U.S. Border Patrol. Police said
Race had the .44-caliber rifle that was
stolen from the scene in Mooers,
N.Y., where Darcy Manor died from a
gunshot wound. The Royal Canadian
Mounted Police said that Race had
also earlier been charged in Nova
Scotia with the murders of Trevor
Brewster, 45, and Paul Michael Knott,
44. A judge Monday, May 21, ordered Race to remain in custody,
citing indications he could have
committed the crimes and that he is
both a flight risk and a danger to the
community. ...
LONDON - Two bishops at
the heart of the U.S. Episcopal
Church’s divisions over sexuality and
scripture will not be invited to next
year’s global gathering of Anglican
prelates, the archbishop of
Canterbury’s office said. Bishops V.
Gene Robinson of New Hampshire
and Martyn Minns of the breakaway
MAY 30, 2007
Across The Q Globe
Convocation of Anglicans in North
America were not among more than
850 bishops invited, said Canon
Kenneth Kearon, secretary-general of
the Anglican Communion. Robinson
was the first Anglican bishop to be
openly living in a same-sex relationship, and his election in 2003 opened
a huge rift between the liberal and
conservative wings of the church.
Minns was consecrated bishop on
May 5 in Woodbridge, Va., by Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, the
most outspoken of the numerous
Anglican critics of Robinson’s elevation. Robinson may be invited to
attend the Lambeth Conference as a
guest, but Archbishop of Canterbury
Rowan Williams is not contemplating
inviting Minns, Kearon said. ...
LAHORE, Pakistan -Police
have arrested a wife and her husband
- who was born biologically female
and had sex-reassignment surgery 16
years ago - and accused them of
lying about the husband’s gender to a
court in eastern Pakistan. The case
pits the bride’s father, who wants to
annul his daughter’s wedding on the
grounds that it is against Islam for two
women to marry, against the couple,
who said they married to protect the
bride from being sold into marriage to
pay off her uncle’s gambling debts.
The husband, Shumail Raj, 31, first
brought the case to court, appealing
for protection from harassment by
their relatives. But earlier this month,
the Lahore High Court ordered the
arrest of Raj and his wife, Shahzina
Tariq, 26, for lying to the court. “We
had planned to leave Faisalabad to
settle elsewhere permanently,” Tariq
said by phone. Aslam Tareen, a
senior police officer, said police will
wait for orders from the court, where
Raj and Tariq will appear, before
further investigating the case, including the claim Tariq’s uncle wanted to
sell her to pay off his debt. The
couple have not yet been charged
with any wrongdoing, Tareen said. ...
VILNIUS, Lithuania - Juozas
Imbrasas, the Mayor of Vilnius, has
today refused to give permission for
the “anti-discrimination truck” tour,
currently touring 19 Member States
as part of the “For Diversity: Against
Discrimination” information campaign,
to make its planned stop that took
place Friday, May 25. The Mayor’s
grounds for refusal were security
risks and that events around the truck
might cause riots. Reacting to the
ban of the EU anti-discrimination
truck into Vilnius, the European
Commission said in a statement that
“it highly regrets the decision to
CALL WILLIAM
CALL
WILLIAM
AT 834-5923
AT 834-5923
cancel the planned event.” “This is
the first time in the four years the truck
has been on tour that a stop has been
cancelled by local authorities,” the
statement continues. ...
CANBERRA, Australia - Gays
and Lesbians seeking asylum from
persecution are interviewed to establish their true sexuality, a Federal
Senate hearing has been told. Two
men claiming to be homosexual were
reportedly denied asylum in Australia
because officials were not convinced
they were genuinely Gay. Greens’
Senator Kerry Nettle said the men
were reportedly told they had only
entered into a sexual relationship
PAGE SEVEN
because they were in a detention
center and no female partners were
available. “How would (an official)
test the credibility of a person’s
sexuality?” Senator Nettle asked
officials during a Senate Estimates
hearing. “Well, it is not as if one has
a series of questions, that one just
ticks the boxes,” an official replied.
The department was aware of the
persecution of Gays in some jurisdictions and conducted interviews about
sexuality with great delicacy, officials
said.
MAY 30, 2007
final hurdle in the legislature in April
after Culver chided lawmakers for
stalling. The measure passed 59 - 37,
mostly along party lines, with little
PAGE EIGHT
R.I. Court To Take Up Lesbian
Divorce Case
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island - The
state Supreme Court has agreed to
hear arguments on whether a Gay
couple who wed in Massachusetts can
get divorced in Rhode Island, where
the law is silent on the legality of
same-sex marriages, 365Gay.com
reported. The justices said they would
decide only whether a lower court can
recognize a same-sex marriage performed in another state for the
purpose of handling a divorce petition.
Lawyers for both sides say the divorce
case won’t decide whether Gay
couples can get married in Rhode
Island.
Cassandra Ormiston and Margaret Chambers were married in 2004
after same-sex marriage became
legal in Massachusetts. Last year, the
couple filed for divorce in Rhode
Island, where they live, citing irreconcilable differences. In Dec. 2006,
Chief Family Court Judge Jeremiah S.
Jeremiah Jr. asked the Rhode Island
Supreme Court to decide whether he
had jurisdiction to handle what is
believed to be the state’s first samesex divorce case. The court returned
the case to him at first, saying it
needed more information about the
couple’s marriage. The justices agreed
to take the case and said it would
accept written briefs on or before Aug.
1. The court invited the attorney
general, the governor, state legislative
leaders and other interested parties to
file briefs. Earlier this year, Attorney
General Patrick Lynch wrote a legal
opinion urging the state to recognize
those marriages. A date for hearing
oral arguments has not been set.
“The fact is, this case will
proceed, and we’re hopeful for a
resolution before year’s end,” said
Louis Pulner, an attorney for Chambers. If the Supreme Court rules that
Jeremiah has jurisdiction over the
divorce case, then the matter would be
sent back to him to decide, Pulner
said. But if the court rules otherwise,
the only legal avenue may be for the
women to move to Massachusetts and
live there long enough to obtain a
divorce, Pulner said. Neither woman
is interested in that option, their
lawyers said. “I don’t see how it’s
possible for her financially,” said
Nancy Palmisciano, an attorney for
Ormiston. “That means setting up
roots in Massachusetts and becoming
a resident there and basically messing
up her entire life.”
Iowa Gets Civil Rights
DES MOINES, Iowa (Observer Update) - Gov. Chet Culver (D) Friday
(May 25) signed legislation adding
sexuality and gender identity to the
categories protected under the state’s
anti-discrimination law.
“[This is] a message that Iowa
is a welcoming place that values each
of its citizens whether it’s in the
neighborhood or the workplace,”
Culver said as he signed the bill. “We
send a message that intolerance and
discrimination have no place in our
state.”
It makes the Iowa the 19th
state, plus the District of Columbia, to
protect Gays and Lesbians in employment, housing and public accommodations. he Iowa legislation passed its
WEEKLY OBSERVER
debate. The law gives the state’s civil
rights commission the power to
investigate complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation.
N.J. Companies Continue To
Thumb Noses At Civil Unions
TRENTON, New Jersey - A growing
number of companies are refusing to
recognize the state’s civil unions law,
denying benefits to the same-sex
partners of employees, 365Gay.com
reported. The state Department of
Health and Senior Services said
Monday that 852 same-sex couple
had applied to enter civil unions in the
three months since the law took effect.
The low number took some
lawmakers by surprise but LGBT
rights advocates say it shows a
dissatisfaction with the law. Garden
State Equality’s Steven Goldstein said
that most same-sex couples are
holding out for full marriage. Although
the civil unions law gives same-sex
couples the same rights and responsibilities as marriage it is not recognized
by a growing number of companies all with federally regulated benefit
plans.
Under the federal so-called
Defense of Marriage Act the federal
government does not recognize samesex marriage. The law allows those
insurers to reject same-sex couples.
Nearly one in eight couples who have
had civil unions have been turned
down for company benefits Goldstein
said. Among the cases that have come
to Garden State Equality, said
Goldstein is one involving a woman
who told her employer she and her
partner had a civil union and was told
by the company, “We’re not going to
provide benefits. We still need the
word ‘marriage’ and you two aren’t
married.” Goldstein said the couple
have been together 16 years and have
adopted three special needs children.
“New Jersey should be celebrating
such couples,” said Goldstein. “Instead, civil-unioned couples across
New Jersey are still being denied
equal protection of the law.”
Goldstein said it is time the
Legislature amended the law to
provide for marriage. “For those who
ask, ‘So long as same-sex couples get
the rights, who cares what it’s called?’
the New Jersey experience has
answered the question once and for
all,” Goldstein said.
“Unless a
couple’s relationship is given the
imprimatur of marriage, that couple
may never see the rights. Marriage is
the only admissions ticket to equality
universally recognized in the real
world.
It’s the only currency of
commitment the real world always
accepts.”
WEEKLY OBSERVER
COMMENTARY.
...
Pride And Putin’s Soprano-State
By Wayne Besen
The first sign that Russia’s
march toward freedom was on a
downward spiral came on June 16,
2001, when George W. Bush said of
Russian President Vladimir Putin, “I
looked the man in the eye. I found him
to be very straight forward and
trustworthy and we had a very good
dialogue. I was able to get a sense of
his soul.” It turns out that Bush’s
judgment on Putin was only eclipsed
by his decision that fateful summer to
add “My Pet Goat” to his reading list at
the exclusion of a memorandum titled,
“Bin Laden Determined to Attack
Inside the United States.”
Sixteen years after the collapse of communism and only seven
years after Putin’s coming to power,
Russia is headed in the wrong
direction.
Putin’s
crooked
authoritarianism threatens to set off a
new Cold War and erase the hard-won
era of peace. Indeed, Alexei Bayer, a
guest columnist in the St. Petersburg
Times, said Putin’s rule is noted for its
“endemic corruption, rollback of democracy, blatant confiscation of private property and murky political
murders.” The Committee to Protect
Journalists described Russia as one of
the 10 countries that had seen the
greatest decline in media freedoms
during the past several years. Since
Putin came to power, at least thirteen
journalists have been whacked, turning Russia into a “Soprano-state.”
In any dictator’s playbook, the
way to justify grotesque abuses of
power and gain legitimacy is to wrap
oneself in the flag and claim to be the
great defender of traditional morality.
Thus, it is perfectly logical that Gay
pride marchers were met with deplorable state-sanctioned (or at least
supported) violence in Moscow. A rule
of thumb is that the less freedom a
nation offers, the more a regime cracks
down on its Gay population. The more
liberty enjoyed by Gay citizens, the
more freedom shared by the general
citizenry. With Putin’s regressive
Russia having little to offer other than
fiery nationalism, it should be no
surprise that flag waving hooligans
confronted the brave Gay men and
women that stood up for their civil
rights.
The chaotic scene at the
unauthorized Moscow rally was an
appalling example of naked right wing
brutality. The peaceful marchers were
met by neo-fascists and loving churchgoers who hurled insults, Bible verses
and eggs. Several of the demonstrators were slugged on film, while the
police sat by idly. When they finally did
get off their totalitarian asses, it was to
arrest the innocent Gay rights advocates, while the attackers were
allowed to waltz off into the sunset.
Many of those arrested (and punched)
were foreigners who came to support
Russia’s oppressed Gay community.
The contingent included British singer
Richard Fairbrass, of the band Right
Said Fred and London activist Peter
Tatchell. Also arrested were German
Green Party MP, Volker Beck, and a
European Parliament deputy from
Italy, Marco Cappato.
Watching the Gay rights activists get beaten boiled my blood. In
essence, an estimated one hundred
violent anti-Gay punks were intimidating an entire population of Gay
Russians with the message: Stay in the
closet or face violence. I’m traditionally
for peaceful protests, but we can’t
forget that Stonewall included fighting
back. A part of me thinks we should
PAGE NINE
MAY 30, 2007
show up next year in larger numbers
with the idea that we are going to
finally put our overpriced gym memberships to good use. Of course, my
retributive thoughts are tempered
with the realization that after Stonewall, the rebelling drag queens were
not iced with polonium-210, like
former KGB agent Alexander
Litvinenko. Nor, were they gunned
down in cold-blood like journalist
Anna Politkovskaya. A Russian Stonewall might very well end up as a row of
headstones, in remembrance of dead
activists.
The blame for this melee
rests at the feet of Moscow Mayor
Yury Luzhkov, who had banned the
march and previously called such
demonstrations “satanic,” as well as
Putin who has increasingly turned his
nation into a KGB-style police state.
While it is easy to pigeonhole this
brawl as a fight over Gay rights, it has
much broader implications and is
indicative of future relations between
Russia and the West. On one side of
the divide rests civilization that
respects basic human rights. On the
other, an emerging bellicose monstrosity that is a witches brew of past
Soviet repression, combined with a
new taste for unrestrained greed
fueled by oil wealth.
Until the Gay pride flag flies
proudly in the shadow of the Kremlin,
relations between Moscow and the
West will remain shadowy. In the
modern world, we simply don’t find
free countries that brutalize their Gay
citizens. If Moscow wants to go the
way of Zimbabwe or Iran, their Gay
populace will suffer, but so will all
Russians who will lose their membership in the economically and culturally advantageous world of civilized
nations.
COMMENTARY.
...
Beach Or Beaten In Moscow
By Sara Whitman
I sat at the beach today, and
wondered how many people thought
Allan and I, with Zachary in tow, thought
we were heterosexual. Okay, Allan in
his tiny Speedo and me in my giant one
piece Speedo and, of course, gym
shorts, were not exactly looking incredibly straight but the image was enough
to bother me.
I had read this morning that over
thirty Gay activists had been arrested in
Moscow. Nikolai Alekseev, who is
currently under arrest and held in a
central Moscow police station. At this
point, foreign activists have been set
free. Others have not. None of the
people throwing rocks, eggs and
threatening violence to the activists
have been arrested.
Only the queers.
I sat on the beach today with an
uneasy feeling of safety. While we in
America debate civil unions versus
marriage rights, job protections and
insurance coverage, people in Russia
who found the courage to take to the
streets in an incredibly homophobic
society are sitting in jail.
At Gay Pride, we debate how to
be family friendly and still true to our
roots as outlandish and spectacular.
How to dance on floats in leather but be
sure not to pass out condoms to kids (at
Boston Pride, the effort to avoid kids is
visible and appreciated).
In Moscow, politicians openly
disparage Gays and Lesbians. Rudy
Giuliani has gone on TV in a dress and
openly hateful comments come from the
extreme few. The reason why is the
years of effort by Gays and Lesbians to
be visible. The drag queens and bull
dykes of the Stonewall riots could not
hide and would not take the abuse from
the police anymore.
They took the streets. They
said no more.
As I sat in privilege and
comfort, not to mention the warm sun, I
wanted to paint a big, pink triangle on
my forehead. Allan and I talked about
our discomfort and Zachary heard us.
Why do you care? He asked.
Because it’s not who I am, I
said. I need to be who I am so you can
be whoever you want to be. No,
whoever you need to be.
The people of Stonewall did
not have a choice. The people in
Moscow did not have a choice either.
Why risk life and limb? Why do
I care if anyone thinks I’m straight when
they walk by me? Because the shame
of hiding is toxic. It eats away at your
core, your self-esteem and feeling like
you have a right to exist. It’s why Gays
and Lesbians have a high level of
alcoholism, substance abuse and
suicide- especially young people who
have yet to develop enough of a sense
of self to take jeers and the threat of
physical violence in stride. I don’t know
a single Gay or Lesbian person who
cannot convey at least one story of
personal shame from public condemnation.
It’s not about the right to hold
hands in public; it’s about the right not
to be beaten for holding hands in
public. I’m not shoving my Gayness
down anyone’s throat- I’m simply trying
to find a small space to breathe in a
culture that shoves heterosexuality
down my throat every media minute of
every day.
My invisibility bothered me
today because somewhere halfway
across the world, someone just like me
took to the streets and fought not for
Gay marriage or even civil rights but for
the basic right to breathe.
I was on the beach while Gays
and Lesbians were being beaten in
Moscow.
(Sara Whitman lives in
Auburndale, Massachusetts with her
partner and their three kids. She blogs
at SUBURBAN LESBIAN HOUSEWIFE and on The Huffington Post, from
which this is reprinted from.)
WEEKLY OBSERVER
POLITICS 2007
by Mark R. Kerr
Pink Elephantine Flip-Floppery
Some items you won’t read
about in the “mainstream media” or the
corporate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender (LGBT) media pantheons
about the ongoing presidential campaign when it comes to Republican flipflopping, especially on issues of
concern to the LGBT community:
Elephantine
presidential
wannabee, former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney blathered Thursday
(May 24) that his opposition to samesex marriage should not be interpreted
as intolerance of Gays and Lesbians.
So then, what about Romney’s:
Opposition to the proposed,
federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act;
Opposition to protecting the
rights of Gays and Lesbians in housing
and credit;
Opposition to favoring expanding federal hate crimes laws to cover
sexual orientation or gender identity;
and,
Support of “don’t ask, don’t tell”
Opposition to recognizing
same-sex relationships as civil unions,
domestic partnerships or otherwise
with his support of the proposed,
Federal Marriage Amendment for the
U.S. Constitution?
If it walks and talks like a
homophobe, Romney, protestations
otherwise, is a homophobe, a reformed
one since the “Savior of the Salt Lake
City Olympics” has stated otherwise,
with contrary views, as a candidate for
the U.S. Senate in 1994 and Governor
in 2002. Romney has also shown his
true character, a flip-flopper for convenience and for political advancement.
When it suits Mitt, he changes opinions
like he changes his socks. . . .
In an address at Houston
Baptist University (May 11), former
New York Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani
stated his support of Gay and Lesbian
relationships, as domestic partnerships. After this address, the LGBT
political and media glitterati heaped
praise on the Republican presidential
wannabee.
Courageous or forceful? Not
quite, just more flip-flopping on a grand
scale, since two weeks earlier, it was a
PAGE ELEVEN
MAY 30, 2007
different song that Giuliani was belting
out.
In a statement issued (Apr.
27), the day after the New Hampshire
legislature approved a measure creating civil unions with full rights for samesex couples, Giuliani’s campaign,
when asked by reporters for comment.
“Mayor Giuliani believes marriage is between one man and one
woman. Domestic partnerships are the
appropriate way to ensure that people
are treated fairly,” the Giuliani campaign said in a written response.
“In this specific case the law
states same sex civil unions are the
equivalent of marriage and recognizes
same sex unions from outside states.
This goes too far and Mayor Giuliani
does not support it,” Giuliani’s campaign said further in the statement.
So flip-flopping occurs, on
both “sides of the aisle.”
Lesbian Couple Sues
Mortgage Co., Over
Foreclosure Threat
NEW YORK CITY - A federal lawsuit
filed Thursday (May 24) accuses
mortgage company Countrywide with
discrimination after the firm allegedly
refused to add one partner to the
other’s existing mortgage and then
threatened to foreclose on their home,
365Gay.com reported. Countrywide
bills itself as “America’s #1 home loan
lender.”
Adola DeWolf, a teacher for
juveniles in the justice system and
Laura Watts, a college administrator,
have been in a committed relationship
since 2004. When they decided to
move in together in 2005, Watts sold
her house and moved into DeWolf’s
home outside of Rochester, N.Y. In an
attempt to make sure both partners
were protected in case of death, and to
share the responsibility for the mortgage, they contacted DeWolf’s mortgage company, Countrywide, to add
Watts as a party responsible for the
monthly payments. According to
Lambda Legal, which represents the
women, Countrywide provided instructions to the couple, including a
requirement that Watts be added to the
deed.
After the couple followed the
instructions to change the mortgage,
Countrywide responded by stating that
the couple had breached their agreement with the lender by changing the
deed and stated that the lender did not
recognize domestic partners as family,
the lawsuit alleges. The suit says that
Countrywide then told the couple that
they would foreclose on the house if
the $80,000 balance on the mortgage
were not paid in 30 days. “Everyone
from kids to creditors knows what it
means when two people say they are
married,” said Lambda spokesperson
David S. Buckel. “If these two women
had been able to marry in New York,
this never would have happened.
Instead, they were told they had 30
days to come up with almost $80,000
or else they were going to lose their
home.”
One of the claims in this case
is under the federal Equal Credit
Opportunity Act, which requires that
creditors not discriminate against
applicants based on marital status.
“We fell in love and made a
commitment for life. The next step was
to share the responsibility for home
ownership, but Countrywide said our
relationship didn’t count and then
threatened to take away our home,”
said Watts. Countrywide has not
responded to the court filing.
Douglas J. Newman, P.C.
A T T O R N E Y
A T
L A W
Corporations . Limited Liability Companies . General Business
Wills . Trusts . Estate & Estate Tax Planning . Probate
2650 North Country Club Road . Tucson, Arizona 85716
Phone 520-325-2053 . Fax 520-325-2274 . dougnewmanlaw.com
PAGE TWELVE
MAY 30, 2007
WEEKLY OBSERVER
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WEEKLY OBSERVER
MAY 30, 2007
NOTES FROM THE FOR-REAL SIDE
Galleries Past And Present
Art galleries are one of my
favorite economic anomalies. Anyone
who opens one is practically guaranteed to lose money. Everyone knows
this, but people keep opening them
anyway. A friend of mine opened one
on 4th Avenue 20 years ago thinking
that the art scene there was so zesty
she’d surely succeed.
And her
husband did consider the venture a
success of sorts: after a very brief run
they closed their doors only six grand
in the red.
I was talking to a gallery owner
recently who said that rich people own
galleries because they enjoy saying
the words, “my gallery.” Groups of
artists start their own galleries in many
cases because they can’t get gallery
representation any other way.
The Tucson gallery scene
right now is interesting. The last two
new galleries I’ve seen were massive
compared to the tiny pocket galleries
that were so common in the last
century. I’m talking about places
representing two or three artists that
were no bigger than the average living
room. I’ve already written about the
new spacious Tangerine gallery on Ft.
Lowell near Country Club. The one I
saw a few days ago was even bigger. It
was Arts Partnership Gallery at 1122
N. Stone. It looks like a cavernous
warehouse and may well have been
one at some point. It’s going to
represent about 30 artists. All the
shows will be juried. The juries will
only judge actual pieces of art, as
opposed to “slides” or photos of
artwork.
It could turn out to be
something substantial. The good news
is that it’s open to new talent. The bad
news is that the gallery split
will be 50%, as opposed to the usual
40.
When I visited the gallery it
didn’t appear to be ready for a formal
critical review, for example they were
awaiting the removal of two trees in
what will become their sculpture
garden.
The art gallery season
informally “opens” in late August or
early September and they plan to be
ready for it. The impression I got of the
place was that of established Tucson
artists like the ubiquitous Steven G.
Derks doing their established Tucson
art, which is to say high-quality serious
stuff by well respected folks.
My visit to this impressively
huge space got me to thinking about
what we have in the way of galleries
and what we don’t have. I’ve argued in
the past that we have one world-class
gallery for contemporary art, Davis
Dominguez, and that its success and
preeminence is based on the taste of
the people who run it. Their choices of
works and their extreme skill at putting
together shows have been bold
enough to earn the respect of artists
and safe enough to earn the interest of
art buyers, an exceedingly difficult
tightrope to walk.
I may be wrong but I don’t think
we currently have an off-campus
student run gallery for student art. We
used to have one such on Speedway
near Park. It was exciting. It changed
shows frequently and it had the
boldness and passion that students
frequently bring to their work. I miss it.
I wish some art students would get
together and hit their parents up for the
dough to get something like that going
again.
We have a gallery district that
does group promotions which seems to
me to be a very promising
marketing technique. We no longer
by Lee Thorn
have a branch of a famous Scottsdale
gallery whose mission it once was to
show Tucsonans how to sell art, a very
high-end yawn.
Our glaring absence, the thing
I’ve never here, is a large scale and
explicitly avant-garde gallery. Again,
with galleries coming and going like
soap bubbles, I could be wrong. But it
would be great to have a gallery to go to
where you could reasonably expect to
be shocked on a regular basis.
Attention rich people!
Are you
listening? You’re going to lose money
anyway.
Why not lose it doing
something interesting? How about a
gallery called, “The Wild and Crazy
Gallery?” When you say, “May gallery,
The Crazy,” little Phoebe’s eyes will
widen and she’ll squeal, “Oh my god,
Chauncy, is that really you?!” And, as
long as you’re doing something new,
you could add another aspect of
newness by having all juried shows but
never having the same jury. That way
you’d not only have great adventure —
you’d have continually diverse adventure. Not many galleries do it, but it’s
not uncommon for museums to use
guest juries.
I’ve given Arts Partnership a
pass for the moment, but, if there’s an
outpouring of public demand for it, I’ll
go back in September and subject
them to my usual rigorous analytical
scrutiny. It’s up to you.
(Thorn welcomes comments,
suggestions for future columns, and
tips on local skulduggery that ought to
be exposed. Write to Box 85571,
Tucson,
AZ
85754.
E-mail:
Doid3@aol.com.)
Colorado Gov.
SIgns Bill To Protect
G/L Citizens From
Discrimination
DENVER, Colorado (Observer Update) - Gays and Lesbians would be
protected from being fired based on
their sexual orientation under a bill
signed into law Friday (May 25) by
Gov. Bill Ritter, 365Gay.com reported.
Lawmakers have passed similar bills in the last two years but they
were vetoed by former Gov. Bill
Owens.
People who think they were
fired because of their sexual orientation would be able to file a lawsuit
against the employer. The measure
originally also would have made it
illegal to consider someone’s religion
in hiring and firing decisions. But
lawmakers amended it to allow small
religious organizations to give preference to people who support their
religious values.
PAGE THIRTEEN
PAGE FOURTEEN
Slain Man’s Mom Seeks S.C.
Hate Crimes Law
Sean Kennedy
GREENVILLE, South Carolina - The
mother of a friendly and popular South
Carolina 20-year-old killed this month
in an anti-Gay attack has vowed to
ensure that the state passes its first
hate crime law, advocate.com reported. “When Sean told me he was
Gay, he said, ‘Mom, I understand if you
don’t want to love me any more.’ I told
him there is nothing, ever, that you can
do to make me stop loving him,” Elke
Parker told WSPA-TV after her son
Sean Kennedy’s May 16 slaying. “If
your son or daughter is different, you
need to support them for who they
really need to be,” Parker said.
Kennedy died of fatal head
injuries the day after he was punched
MAY 30, 2007
WEEKLY OBSERVER
and fell on a crowded sidewalk. The
suspect, Steven Andrew Moller, 18,
faces state charges of murder; federal
authorities are investigating as well.
South Carolina is one of only four
states that lacks any kind of hate
crimes law. In March, state Rep. Seth
Whipper, D-Charleston, introduced a
bill, H3738, that makes it a felony to
threaten or harass someone on the
basis of sexual orientation and gender
identity, race, religion, age or ethnic
background, or to vandalize or destroy
their property. Conviction carries a
sentence of up to 15 years — with a twoyear mandatory minimum — and a fine.
The bill, now in the House Judiciary
Committee, has 12 co-sponsors; similar legislation is pending in the state
Senate. Parker and her family are
starting a nonprofit called “Sean’s Last
Wish,” selling bracelets and passing
out petitions to support the bill.
“It may not help Sean today,
but I want it to help future victims that
they can be assured that there is
justice,” Parker told WSPA. Seven
hundred people attended his funeral,
she said. “On his MySpace (page) we
had over 50,000 hits within two days
with messages from people: ‘We knew
Sean; we loved Sean; he did this for
me; this is how he helped me.’” “He
was a leader. He was a friend. He was
just a giver. No matter what you
needed, you didn’t even have to ask. “I
am proud that I was his mom. No. I am
proud that I am his mom, not was.”
Pope Benedict XVI
VATICAN CITY (Observer Update) Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday (May
24) praised a recent demonstration in
Rome against proposed legislation
granting legal rights to unmarried
couples, including Gay ones, saying it
showed that traditional family was at
the core of Italian society, the
Associated Press reported on
365Gay.com. Benedict called the May
12 Family Day rally, organized by
Catholic groups and family associations, a “great and extraordinary
popular festival.”
Hundreds of thousands of
people turned out for the demonstration to protest a bill that would grant
legal rights to unmarried couples,
including hospital visits and inheritance rights. The bill does not legalize
Gay marriage, as was done in other
European countries, such as Spain.
The bill has angered the Vatican, which
under Benedict has been conducting a
fierce campaign to protect traditional
family based on marriage between
man and woman.
In a speech to Italian bishops,
Benedict said he respected the
distinction between the church and
politics. But he added that the church
cannot ignore “what is good for man ...
what is good for the common good of
Italy.” He said the Family Day rally
“confirmed that the family itself is
profoundly rooted in the heart and life
of Italians.” Benedict’s speech came as
the government opened a conference
on the family in Florence to help it
create family policies that are, according to organizers, “more European and
more modern.” The conference was
organized by the two Cabinet ministers
spearheading the legislation on legal
recognition for unmarried couples.
GAY WEST - JUNE 23
WEEKLY OBSERVER
PAGE FIFTEEN
MAY 30, 2007
Teacher Threatened With Firing
Over Disciplining Students Who
Used Gay Slurs To Keep Job
WEST MILFORD, New Jersey - For
teacher Cheryl Bachmann there was
no question of what to do when two
students in separate instances used
Gay slurs in her classroom,
365Gay.com reported.
Both, a boy and a girl, were
sent to detention. On the way out of her
classroom at West Milford High School
the boy hit her in the head with a rolledup gum wrapper. Later, the girl was
heard threatening to kill her. But
Bachmann, who had previously received good performance reviews
suddenly found herself in danger of
losing her job. She had been recommended for tenure but that was
suddenly withdrawn.
Hayley Gorenberg, Deputy Legal
Director at Lambda Legal. “Denying
Ms. Bachman tenure for protecting her
students from harassment would be
reckless example for the West Milford
Board of Educations to set.” At a board
meeting that dragged on close to
midnight, the school trustees voted 5-4
to offer Bachmann tenure. “I want to
make sure students are safe in the
classroom,” said Board President
Midge Touw. “Our board doesn’t take
lightly that a teacher was threatened.”
School administrators accused
her of poor class management skills
and recommended she not be tenured.
That would mean at the end of the
school year she would be without a job.
With the help of Lambda Legal she
appealed. Students at the school also
became involved. About 200 walked
out and at a school board meeting
earlier this month hundreds of people
showed up to show their support.
Students, parents and fellow teachers
called Backmann a role model and said
that the board should be supporting her
and other teachers coping with disorderly students. Several speakers
referred to the Virginia Tech shootings,
saying Bachmann’s actions may have
prevented an incident that could have
escalated over time.
“More teachers should be
doing what she did,” said teacher Sean
Cosgrove. “Schools have a responsibility to create a harassment-free
learning environment and Cheryl
Bachman was trying to fulfill that
responsibility by disciplining a student
for using threatening language — now
she is in danger of losing her job,” said
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PAGE SIXTEEN
WEEKLY OBSERVER
HOROSCOPES
© 2007 Madam Lichtenstein
Life is full of happy surprises as Venus
trines Uranus this week. Everything
clicks into place in unexpected ways.
Keep your sunnyside up, lover. Strike
while the iron is hot and so are you.
This type of magic doesn’t come
around often enough.
ARIES (MARCH 21 - APRIL 20)
Gay Rams can feel like the sanitation
workers of the zodiac when Venus
trines Uranus. They haul and dump
all the ancestral garbage out of your
closet. Liberation abounds and you
begin to feel pretty darned good.
Even nasty home related projects
have closure and success. Now why
not kick up your feet and fully enjoy
your pink palace. Hey, where are the
gorgeous serfs?
TAURUS (APRIL 21 - MAY 21)
Venus and Uranus impact the way
you communicate. Queer Bulls
suddenly become awash in great
ideas. Your mind goes into overdrive
and you simply have to tell your
immediate world all about it. Advice:
Try to listen more than you speak,
especially to certain pals. A small
tidbit of gossip will be plastered on
the front pages. Maybe that is your
intent?
GEMINI (MAY 22 - JUNE 21)
Pink Twins feel content and self
satisfied with their current financial
position, but Venus and Uranus have
a way of joyously upending all best
laid plans to make them even better!
Opportunity knocks. Are you ready to
assume the position? Examine your
corporate game plan and see if it is
taking you where you want to be.
Your bottom line is ready for a lift.
CANCER (JUNE 22 - JULY 23)
Even the proudest Crabs might have
felt the tinge of self doubt last week.
Stop hunkering in the shadows;
Venus trines Uranus and not only
pumps up self confidence, it also
hands you a personal victory or three
and brings an adoring world to your
door. Suddenly you can do or say no
wrong. Thank goodness you never let
all this adulation go to your head,
ahem.
LEO (JULY 24 - AUGUST 23)
The most interesting aspect of the
Venus / Uranus trine is how you’ll
blend the mystical, higher karma of
volunteerism with raw animal magnetism. Proud Lions exude sexuality for
a change. Maybe you will meet that
perfect lover through your volunteer
work or maybe you will be viewed as
a charity case. Hey, whatever gets
you on their donor list!
VIRGO (AUGUST 24 SEPTEMBER 23)
Queer Virgins have trouble concentrating on just one project. Maybe that
is because your social calendar is
full-to-overflowing. Compadres help
you fill the time with delicious,
delightful diversions. Pick and
choose. Don’t be surprised if you
soon become overloaded with too
much of a good thing. And yet, can
there really be too much of a good
thing?
LIBRA (SEPTEMBER 24 OCTOBER 23)
If proud Libras have been feeling like
a pair of ragged claws toiling at the
grindstone for little recognition and
reward, worry no more. Now even a
half-hearted effort greatly impacts
your long term career. You haven’t
wasted your time struggling for
nothing all these months. In fact, it’s
what has gotten you this far and will
carry you to the finish line. Err then
what?
SCORPIO (OCTOBER 24 NOVEMBER 22)
Venus and Uranus give queer Scorps
the chance to gain the global recognition they deserve in an area of their
choosing. Think of your bliss and
reach for it. And it may not even
require a concerted effort on your
part; It is best achieved through
something creative, fun and totally
unexpected. Of course now that I’ve
told you, it might not be totally unexpected after all.
SAGITTARIUS (NOVEMBER 23 DECEMBER 22)
If you’ve been feeling less than zesty
and drier than sand, expect a refreshing splash of cosmic energy when
Venus trines Uranus. Gay Archers
start to feel their oats, along with a
few others. You attract admirers like
flies. Don’t let anyone rain on your
pride parade. It’s amazing how
talented and creative you can be
when you are inspired or is it just
perspired?
CAPRICORN (DECEMBER 23 JANUARY 20)
Pink Caps strive for parity. Unfortunately, equity was probably one of the
most difficult positions for you to
achieve in relationships. Scheme for
revenge no more; Venus and Uranus
enable you and your partner to see
eye to eye. All it will take is open
communication and a bit of patience.
Caps on the prowl can now find their
equal but I suggest that you aim much
higher.
AQUARIUS (JANUARY 21 FEBRUARY 19)
Even the most menial task has a
profitable payoff when Venus trines
Uranus. Aqueerians can muster their
best strategic insights to plot and plan
a financial attack from the deep
trenches of a foot soldier. And how
about a clear, sensible look at exercise and diet? You are about to make
a profitable job change and will want
to celebrate in those tight designer
peekaboos to a select audience.
PISCES (FEBRUARY 20 MARCH 20)
First impressions are shocking,
surprising and apt to create a social
wind storm that will keep them talking
for weeks. You will be offered a range
of rare opportunities that require
careful consideration to be maximized. What can you conjure up that
will get you in the public eye? Guppies think of something very creative
that works beautifully. Must be that
nude ballet routine.
Ending the violence.
Wingspan launches the
Anti-Violence Project –
a community initiative
to assist lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender
victims of discrimination,
domestic violence, sexual
assault and hate crimes.
Call the Anti-Violence
Project 24-Hour Crisis
Line at 624-0348, or
toll-free 1-800-553-9387.
Southern Arizona’s Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual & Transgender
Community Center
www.wingspan.org
Community Bars
1. THE BIZ
2900 E. Broadway 318-4838
2. IBT’S
616 N. 4th Ave. 882-3053
3. VENTURE-N
1239 N. 6th Ave. 882-8224
5. WOODY’S
3710 N. Oracle Road, 292-6702
6. HOWL AT THE MOON
915 W. Prince Rd. 293-7339
7. YARD DOG SALOON
2449 N. Stone, 624-3858
8. COLORS FOOD & SPIRITS
5305 E. Speedway 323-1840
Community Organizations
A. MCC - METROPOLITAN
COMMUNITY CHURCH
3269 N. Mountain - 292-9151
B. CORNERSTONE FELLOWSHIP
2902 N. Geronimo - 622-4626
D. WINGSPAN - 425 E. 7th St. - 624-1779
E. S.A.A.F. - 375 S. Euclid Ave. - 628-7223
F. RAINBOW PLANET COFFEE HOUSE
606 N. 4th Ave. - 620-1770
G. TIHAN -Tucson Interfaith
HIV/AIDS Network
1101 N. Craycroft, Ste 301. 299-6647
H. EON YOUTH CENTER 620-6245
MAY 30, 2007
WEEKLY OBSERVER
Non Bar Calendar
Wednesday, May 30
Men’s Social Network Open to men of
all ages, newcomers welcomed:
7:00pm Canasta hosted by Merlin and
Lee at 207-5336. MSN Canasta is
played every Wednesday at 7pm, but
check back here for the specific host.
Thursday, May 31
Men’s Social Network Open to men of
all ages, newcomers welcomed:
7:00p.m. Triangle Tribe-A Men’s Circle.
According to a recent study, very few
people have as many close friends as
they would like. Are you as connected
with other men as you want to be? Do
you get the support you need for issues
in your life? Do you wish you had more
meaningful friendships and relationships with other men? Join likeminded men at Wingspan to share
feelings, thoughts and ideas in a safe,
respectful space.
For the same
experience with both straight and gay
men, join us at the regular Circle of
Men meetings. Call Tom at 591-2828
for dates and times.
Friday, June 1
Tucson Prime Timers Cocktails –– 5:30
–– 7:00, Colors, 5305 E. Speedway
Men’s Social Network Open to men of
all ages, newcomers welcomed:
7:00p.m. Join Merlin and Lee for an
evening of Charades. Come out and
totally enjoy putting your acting/
miming and pantomime skills to the
test! For directions and reservations
[(a limited space event, please plan
ahead and phone early)], place a
telephone call to Lee and Merlin, your
gracious yet competitive emcees and
moderators, at 207-5336.
Saturday, June 2
#1 Men’s Social Network Open to men
of all ages, newcomers welcomed:
7:30a.m. J oin Robert for a morning of
Volleyball. This is played for fun, and
you’ll get to know some nice guys as
you play. Two great ways to work on
your game! For details and directions,
please call Robert at 400-1376.
#2 Men’s Social Network Open to men
of all ages, newcomers welcomed:
7:00p.m. MSN Potluck and Social
Night located at 6801 N. Oracle Road.
Just bring your favorite food to share
(already fully cooked please) and join
us for a relaxed evening of food and
conversation.
Sunday, June 3
#1 Men’s Social Network Open to men
of all ages, newcomers welcomed:
6p.m. MSN at KUAT-TV Studio U of A
PBS Fundraising Campaign Night and
Potluck .
#2Men’s Social Network Open to men
of all ages, newcomers welcomed:
6:30p.m.
Dinner Out at one of
Tucson’s Ultra-Fabulous Buffets. For
reservations and directions, contact
Thom
623-2941,
e-mail
thomsepals@hotmail.com , or Ken at
294-6606. Please contact Thom or Ken
by Sunday at Noon to facilitate
reservations. Price is usually under
$10. Check the Yahoo MSN on-line
calendar for the scheduled place. The
venue is rotated to include all parts of
town, and may occasionally be held at
a full-service menu restaurant.
529-0014.
#2Men’s Social Network Open to men
of all ages, newcomers welcomed:
7:00p.m. Canasta with Bruce. Call for
info and directions: 743-3890. Please
call ahead to assist your host in
planning the evening.
Wednesday, June 6
Men’s Social Network Open to men of
all ages, newcomers welcomed:
7:00pm. Hand and Foot with Bruce.
743-3890
Thursday, June 7
Men’s Social Network Open to men of
all ages, newcomers welcomed:
7:00p.m.
Triangle Tribe-A Men’s
Circle. According to a recent study,
very few people have as many close
friends as they would like. Are you as
connected with other men as you want
to be? Do you get the support you need
for issues in your life? Do you wish you
had more meaningful friendships and
relationships with other men? Join
like-minded men at Wingspan to share
feelings, thoughts and ideas in a safe,
respectful space.
For the same
experience with both straight and gay
men, join us at the regular Circle of
Men meetings. Call Tom at 591-2828
for dates and times.
Friday, June 8
Tucson Prime Timers Cocktails –– 5:30
PM, Colors, 5305 E. Speedway
Men’s Social Network Open to men of
all ages, newcomers welcomed: 7:00
p.m. Loyd hosts a word for word fun
evening of Scrabble. If you don’t know
how to play, we’ll be glad to teach you.
For reservations and directions, please
call Lloyd at 792-8537. If you’re
loquacious, erudite, or a wordsmith;
this man’s game just may be a triple
word score for you!
Saturday, June 9
Tucson Prime Timers Business Meeting –– 11 AM, Wingspan, 425 E. 7th St.
#1 Men’s Social Network Open to
men of all ages, newcomers welcomed: 6:30p.m.
MSN CLASSIC
MOVIE NIGHT hosted by Ross at 2992135. Enjoy an evening of good, clean
fun and this month’s great film. “The
Scarlet Empress” Dietrich and Old
Russia!
#2 Men’s Social Network Open to men
of all ages, newcomers welcomed:
7:00p.m. Shuffle over for Floating
Pinochle every Saturday of the month
except for first Saturday MSN Monthly
Pot Luck. Contact Marvin at 745-0304.
Sunday, June 10
Tucson Prime Timers Brunch, Colors,
5305 E. Speedway
Tucson Prime Timers Brunch –– Noon,
Colors, 5305 E. Speedway
Men’s Social Network Open to men of
all ages, newcomers welcomed:
6:30p.m.
Dinner Out at one of
Tucson’s Ultra-Fabulous Buffets. For
reservations and directions, contact
Thom
623-2941,
e-mail
thomsepals@hotmail.com , or Ken at
294-6606. Please contact Thom or
Ken by Sunday at Noon to facilitate
reservations. Price is usually under
$10. Check the Yahoo MSN on-line
calendar for the scheduled place. The
venue is rotated to include all parts of
town, and may occasionally be held at
a full-service menu restaurant.
Monday, June 4
Tucson Prime Timers Lunch –– 12:30
P.M., The Wildcat House, 1800 N.
Stone Ave.
Monday, June 11
Tucson Prime Timers Lunch –– 12:30
P.M., The Wildcat House, 800 N. Stone
Ave.
Men’s Social Network Open to men of
all ages, newcomers welcomed:
7:00p.m. Mexican Train Dominos.
Please call Karol at 744-9017 for
information and to reserve your place
at this limited seating event.
Men’s Social Network Open to men of
all ages, newcomers welcomed:
7:00p.m. Trivial Pursuit. Please call
Karol at 744-9017 for information and
to reserve your place at this limited
seating event.
Tuesday, June 5
#1Men’s Social Network Open to men
of all ages, newcomers welcomed:
7:00p.m. Gay Reading Group meets at
Wingspan. For info, contact Doug at
Tuesday, June 12
Men’s Social Network Open to men of
all ages, newcomers welcomed:
7:00p.m. Enjoy an evening of Bridge
twice a month on the second and fourth
PAGE SEVENTEEN
PAGE EIGHTEEN
DAILY BAR
CALENDAR
SUNDAY
THE BIZ - Open 3pm-2am; $2 Pitchers til 10pm
and Rotating Shot Specials all night; Latin Music with live
DJ at 9:30pm. Get ready!!! L Word Season 4 begins Jan.
7th at 8pm!
COLORS - Open 11am - 11pm Champagne
Brunch 11am - 2pm with choice of complimentary mimosa,
Bloody Mary or Screwdriver. Dickie Steed on piano during
brunch. Brunch served until 2pm. Happy Hour 4-7pm
$3.50 Skyy Cocktails, $2.75 Domestics and well.
Reduced price appetizers. Dinner served until10pm.
HOWL AT THE MOON –Open at 10am.
$2.50 Smirnoff Vodkas all day. Free Texas Hold-’Em
Poker Tournaments at 4:00, and 7:00 pm. Play for points
and prizes - no cash involved.
IBT’s -Troy’s Recovery Bar noon-4pm. 4-7:30
Karaoke on the patio. Benefit B-B-Q for the Pride Parade
5:30-7:30 and dance with DJ Mike Lopez 9pm to close.
VENTURE-N - Open 10am. Patio open 3pm.
$2.00 Bloody Marys or Screws til 3pm Patio Beer Bust 37.Burger BBQ 5-7. Selection of burger meats to choose
from. $3 proceeds go to Pet Watch (helping HIV/AIDS
clients with their veterinary bills).
WOODY’S - Open 11am.Happy Hour 11am-8pm
(excl spec events); Brunch 11:30am-2:30pm; Back
Pocket Patio Bar 2pm til 2am. Beer Bust 2-7pm; Bar-BQue 5-9pm; Karaoke with Michael D. 9p.m.; DJ Jeff in the
Back Pocket 9pm; Drag Bingo every other Sunday 8-9pm
MONDAY
THE BIZ - Open 3pm-10pm; Drink what you want
with ½ priced Happy Hour. Poke-Her Monday! Free card
lessons 5pm. Free Texas Hold-‘em Tourney at 6pm;
Prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd Places. Happy Hour pricing & Free
Food
COLORS - Closed on Mondays.
HOWL AT THE MOON – Open at 3 pm. Happy
Hour all day & night with $2.50 well, domestic longnecks
& pints. Kitchen closed. $3 taco & tostada bar 4-8 pm.
GLBT Movie Nite with shows at 6 & 8 pm,. Free pool all
day.
IBT’s -Open Noon. Happy Hour Noon-8pm, DJ
Craig Carter 10pm-2am $1.50 well vodka drinks, All drink
specials not available during special events.
VENTURE-N - Open 9am. Patio 6pm. Free pool
til 4pm. $2.75 Skyy Martinis 4-8pm..
WOODY’S - Open Noon til 2am. Happy Hour
Noon-8pm (excl spec events) Karaoke with Michael D.
9pm
YARD DOG - Open daily 8am. 50¢ off any Top
Shelf Rum until 8pm. Beer Bust 4-8pm. Patio Bar opens
7pm
TUESDAY
THE BIZ - Open 3pm-10pm; Drink What You
Want with ½ priced Happy Hour. Monthly Wine Tasting
nd
on 2 Tuesday of every month at 5:30pm. Please RSVP
by the first Monday of the Month. Wine bottles will be for
sale after the tasting at a special discounted price.
COLORS - Open 4-11pm. Happy Hour 4-7 $3.50
Skyy cocktails, $2.75 Domestics and well and reduced
price appetizers. Dinner served until 10pm.
HOWL AT THE MOON – Open at 3 pm. Happy
Hour 3 - 8 pm, $2.50 well, domestic longnecks & pints.
Kitchen open 4-9pm. Free Texas Hold-Em Poker for
women only at 6:30 p.m. Play for points and prizes - no
cash involved. Tequila Nite with $2.50 well tequila &
margaritas, 75¢ off call tequilas.
IBT’s - Open Noon. Happy Hour Noon-8pm,
Tropical Tuesdays $2.50 Tropical drinks and DJ Craig
Carter playing Retro Music 70’s, 80’s and 90’s 9pm-close.
VENTURE-N - Open 9am. Patio 7pm. Free Pool
til 4pm. Spaghetti Nite (2nd Tuesday every month $2.00).
WOODY’S - Open Noon til 2am. Happy Hour
Noon-8pm (excl spec events) 80s Nite with Alex 8-close
YARD DOG - Open daily 8am.50¢ off any Top
Shelf Tequila until 8pm Dart Tourney at 9am. Beer Bust
4-8pm. Patio Bar Opens 7pm.
WEDNESDAY
THE BIZ - Open 3pm-2am; Drink what You Want
with ½ priced Happy Hour 3-8pm; 18 to Party, 21 to Drink!
18 & Over Night w/DJ Shorty at 9:30pm! Rotating Shot
Specials all night.
COLORS - Open 4-11pm. Happy Hour 4-7pm,
$3.50 Skyy cocktails, $2.75 Domestics and well and
reduced price appetizers. Dinner served until 10pm.
HOWL AT THE MOON – Open at 3 pm. Happy
Hour 3 - 8 pm, $2.50 well, domestic longnecks & pints,
Kitchen open 4 - 9 pm. Free Pool all day and night. Free
Texas Hold-’Em Poker Tournament at 6:30 pm for
Women Only and open tournaments at 7 and 10. Play for
points & prizes - no cash involved. Great way to learn the
game or sharpen your skills.
IBT’s - Open Noon. Happy Hour Noon-8pm,
“Diva-Licious” show 9pm w/ Bunny Fu Fu& Friends. After
show dance with DJ Q til 2am,
VENTURE-N - Open 9am. Patio 7pm. Free Pool
til 4pm. $2.75 Cuervo Margaritas 4-8pm
WOODY’S - Open Noon til 2am; Happy Hour
Noon-8pm )excl Spec Events); Chili Dog Buffet 5-9pm;
Underwear/Fetish/Leather Party with Alex and Blake 9close - $1 off all drinks for those who participate (50¢ off
draught/schnapps) Back Pocket Patio Bar open 9pmclose.
YARD DOG - Open daily 8am.50¢ off any Top
Shelf Vodka until 8pm Beer Bust 4-8pm. Patio Bar Opens
7pm. Dart Tourney 8pm.
WEEKLY OBSERVER
MAY 30, 2007
THURSDAY
THE BIZ - Open3pm-2am; Drink What You
Want with ½ priced Happy Hour 3-8pm; ‘Thirsty
Thursday’ with Tori Steele & Friends! Drag show starts at
9:30pm with Tori Steele, Janee Starr, Diana Flair and
weekly special guests. $2 Pitchers and Rotating Shot
Specials. Followed by a new Surprise guest DJ!
COLORS - Open4pm-11pm. Happy Hour 47pm,$3.50 Skyy cocktails, $2.75 Domestics and Well
and reduced price appetizers. Dinner served until 10pm.
.
HOWL AT THE MOON – Open at 3 pm. Happy
Hour 3 - 8 pm, $2.50 well, domestic longnecks & pints.
Kitchen open 4 - 9 pm. Karaoke with Rosemary at
8:30pm. $2.50 Mexican Beers all night, $1.00 Jello
shots.
IBT’s -Open Noon. Happy Hour Noon-8pm,
Boyz Nite Out with your Bartenders & GoGo Boys
dancing in their undies and DJ Mike Lopez spinning Top
40 & All request $1.75 Long Islands and $1.50 Tequila
shots 10pm-2am.
VENTURE-N - Open 9am. Patio open 7pm.
Free Pool til 4pm. Pool Tourney 7pm. $3 entry. Special
prices for players. Steak Nite (3rd Thursday during
summer). Bring your own or get it here $6.00.
WOODY’S - Open Noon-2am; Happy Hour
Noon-8pm (excl Spec Events); Free Pool all day. Nacho
Chip Buffet 5-9pm; $1 PBRs Longnecks and $2 Tecate
Longnecks; Back Pocket Bar open 8-close.
YARD DOG - Open daily 8am.50¢ off any Top
Shelf Bourbon til 8pm. Beer Bust 4-8pm. Patio Bar opens
7pm.
FRIDAY
THE BIZ - Open 3pm-2am; Drink What You Want
with ½ priced Happy Hour 3-8pm; Rotating weeks Latin or
Hip Hop Music with DJ Shorty at 9:30pm. Rotating Shot
Specials all night!
COLORS - Open 4pm-1am. Happy Hour 4-7pm,
$3.50 Skyy cocktails, $2.75 Domestics and Well and
reduced prize appetizers. Dinner served until 10pm.
“Hot Jazz, Cool Martinis” with Susan Artemis and Craig
Faltin 6:30-9:30pm. “Guys & Dolls”comedy drag show
hosted by Lucinda Holliday at 10pm.
HOWL AT THE MOON – Open at 3 pm. Happy
Hour 3 - 8 pm, $2.50 well, domestic longnecks & pints.
Kitchen open 4 - 9 pm. $4.50 Fried Chicken dinner with
fries and slaw.
Free Two-Step lessons with Amanda
every other Friday. Call 293-7339 for schedule. DJ Pat
plays the best of contemporary and classic country 8:30
to close. Kitchen open 9 pm - midnight serving late night
munchies menu.
IBT’s - Open Noon. Happy Hour Noon-8pm, 9pm
Hot Dance with DJ Mike Lopez outside on the patio and
DJ Raynman spinning club music inside.9pm-2am.
VENTURE-N - Open 9am. Patio open 7pm. Free
Pool til 4pm.
WOODY’S - Open Noon-2am; Happy Hour
Noon-8pm (excl spec events); Martini Happy Hour 58pm-$1 off all call Martinis; Back Pocket Patio Bar open
8-close. DJ Jeff in the Back Pocket 9-close; Watch for
special events.
YARD DOG - Open daily 8am.50¢ off any Top
Shelf Gin until 8pm. Beer Bust 4-8pm. Patio Bar Opens
7pm
SATURDAY
THE BIZ - $1 Draught Beers until 10pm & $4
Finlandia Vodka Red Bull drinks until 11pm; Dance Party
with DJ Shorty at 9:30 mixing it up and playing what you
want to hear!
COLORS - Open 4pm-11pm, Lunch served until
4pm. Happy Hour 4-7pm, $3.50 Skyy cocktails, $2.75
Domestics and Well, reduced price appetizers. Dinner
served until10pm. Nightly dinner specials.
HOWL AT THE MOON – Open 11:00am. Happy
Hour 11am-8pm, $2.50 well, domestic longnecks & pints.
Kitchen open 11am-9pm. $2.50 Capt. Morgan or Mailbu.
Cheeseburger & Fries Special for $4.50 all day. Best
burgers around. Learn to plau Texas Hold-Em Poker
Lessons at noon with a friendly game to follow - no money
involved. DJ playing dance mix or check our ad for
special events. Kitchen open 9pm to midnight serving
late night munchies menu.
IBT’s - Open Noon. Happy Hour Noon-8pm, 58pm karaoke and Teryaki Kabobs on the patio. 8:30pm
Show time w/ Ajia Simone or Janee Star. DJ Q spinning
Club Music inside and Mike Lopez spinning on the patio
10pm to close..
VENTURE-N - Open 9am. Patio Bar open 3pm.
Patio Beer Bust 3-7pm.
WOODY’S - Open 10am-2am; Happy Hour
10am-8pm (excl spec events); Steak/Fish Dinner in the
Back Pocket 5-9pm. Back Pocket Patio Bar open 5-close.
Live Jazz with Arthur Migliazza in the Back Pocket 6-9pm;
DJ Jeff in the Back Pocket 9-close. Watch for special
events.
YARD DOG - Open daily 8am. Beer Bust 4-8pm.
$1.25 glass, $2.25 pitcher. Patio Bar Opens 7pm.
BAR CALENDAR
Of Upcoming Events
THURSDAY, MAY 31
THE BIZ - Thursday Thunder with a Drag Show at
9:30 p.m. hosted by Boy Sean.
SATURDAY, JUNE 2
HOWL AT THE MOON - “Sports Out Loud” magazine
promotion with Wet T-Shirt (for her) and Best Bum
(for him) contests. 9:00 pm.
WOODY’S - Arthur Migliazza and Julie Anne perform
from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. on the Back Pocket Patio.
YARD DOG - Sonny and Band on the patio beginning
at 9:00 p.m.
SUNDAY, JUNE 3
WOODY’S - Drag Bingo
yard dog saloon - Steak Night starting at 7:00 p.m.
SATURDAY, JUNE 9
HOWL AT THE MOON - Too Much Information is
here playing classic rock and blues. 9:00 p.m. $5.00
Cover.
WOODY’S - Pride Week starts out here with a Luau
Party and Bud Promotion.
FRIDAY, JUNE 15
WOODY’S - June Birthday Party. Register with the
bartender to take part.
SUNDAY, JUNE 17
WOODY’S - Drag Bingo
SATURDAY, JUNE 23
HOWL AT THE MOON - Mark your calendars for Gay
West at Old Tucson.
SATURDAY, JULY 7
HOWL AT THE MOON - Join Amanda Nicole and
special guests for a fabulour evening. 9:00 p.m. No
Cover
ABC Air
s Isaiah
Airs
Washington Ga
y PSA
Gay
LOS ANGELES (Observer Update) - A public service
announcement (PSA) aimed at combating homophobia that was taped by Grey’s Anatomy star Isaiah
Washington and began airing Thursday night (May
24) on ABC. The PSA is the result of a January
meeting with Neil G. Giuliano, president of the Gay &
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and Kevin
Jennings, founder and executive director of the Gay,
Lesbian & Straight Education Network following a
public outcry of Washington’s use of the word
“faggot” during a heated exchange with fellow Grey’s
star T.R. Knight and used the epithet again at the
Golden Globe Awards. The furor led to Knight outing
himself.
During the January meeting with GLAAD and
GLSEN, Washington apologized. He later issued a
public apology and went into residential treatment
facility to deal with anger management and
homophobia. But Washington’s future on Grey’s
remains up in the air. On the season finale his
character, Dr. Preston Burke, packed his bags.
Washington’s agent insists he will return next
season, but rumors on several entertainment Web
sites say he is being written out of the show. ABC has
not commented. “Words have power. The power to
express love, happiness and joy. They also have the
power to heal,” Washington says in the PSA. “When
you use words that demean a person because of their
sexual orientation, race or gender, you send a
message of hate. A very powerful message. But we
all have the power to demand better from one another
and from ourselves. We have the power to heal and
change the world by the words we use,” the spot
continues.
“When Isaiah Washington lends his voice to
that message — when he acknowledges the personal
responsibility that he and each of us have to create a
culture that rejects prejudice — it advances the kind of
dialogue that’s absolutely essential to changing
hearts and minds,” said GLAAD president Neil G.
Giuliano. “As an education organization, GLSEN
believes in the power of the teachable moment,” said
Kevin Jennings, founder and executive director of
GLSEN. “While there is no excuse for the use of this
kind of language, we welcome the opportunity to use
this incident to educate millions about the impact of
name-calling on young people. We are grateful to
ABC for bringing GLSEN’s message of respect to
millions of households.” The PSA was produced for
the two organizations by ABC.
WEEKLY OBSERVER
TUCSON KNIGHT OWLS (T.K.O) Openly
invites new members to our monthly
meetings which occur on the first Saturday
of every month at 12:00 pm., followed by a
beer bust from 2pm to 6pm., at our home
bar the Yard Dog saloon. T.K.O.’s annual
spring/summer fling is now called owls fling.
This year we will be going to Holly Lake July
27th - 30th. The run fee is $60 for members
and $70 for non-members. Applications will
be avaible at our next beer bust. You can
also pick one up from any T.K.O. member.
HALLELUJAH RECOVERY DRUG &
ALCOHOL 12-STEP. Every Thursday
5:30-6:30pm at Cornerstone Fellowship,
2902 N. Geronimo. 622-4626.
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE
CLINIC provided daily by the Pima County
Health Department. Gay friendly. Confidential. Treatment and Medication too!
Any questions? Call 624-8272
SOUTHERN ARIZONA AIDS FOUNDATION (SAAF), 375 S. EUCLID. Office
Hours 8am to 5pm, Monday through
Friday. Direct services and emotional
support for persons with and affected by
HIV. Anonymous HIV testing and support
groups available. Prevention education
programs. 628-SAAF (7223). World wide
web: http://www.saaf.org. VOLUNTEERS
WELCOME.
P.F.L.A.G. - Parents and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays - is a support group
available to anyone who has a son,
daughter or friend who is Gay. Call 3603795 or write P.O. Box 36264, Tucson, AZ
85740-6264. All replies confidential.
GLBT-friendly AL-ANON group meets
Saturdays at 11am at Unitarian Universalist Church, 4831 E. 22nd Street, Tucson.
YOUNG AND GAY?
GLBT Youth 23 and under, meet every
Saturday in Tucson for sharing, support
and information. Meetings are held at 425
E. 7th Street from 3 to 4:30 pm. You are not
alone. For more info call Wingspan, 6241779.
The TUCSON Chapter of PRIME TIMERS
WORLDWIDE invites Gay or Bisexual men
and their admirers to join and share Prime
Timers fellowship. We welcome mature
men (and admirers) who wish to become
involved with planned and future Prime
Timers (TPT) activities. Meetings luncheons and dinners are held monthly.
For dates, times and information call 2986727, leave name and phone number.
Tucsonpt@primetimersww,org
TUCSON GAY INFORMATION AND REFERRAL
For Information on human service organizations, health and mental health services, financial and government assistance, emergency services such as food
and shelter, education, etc. Call Information and Referral 881-1794 - 8 am - 5 pm
M-F.
AIDS HOTLINE - 326-AIDS. Hours M-F,
9:00 am to 10:00 pm. Information,
counseling, HIV-related services, Tucson.
GAY OR BI-SEXUAL MEN in relationships
with women. Need friends you can talk to?
Weekly support group meets Wednesdays
6:30 - 8:00 pm. Licensed psychologist
facilitator. Call 745-6977 in Tucson for
more information. Strictly confidential.
WINGSPAN - Tucson’s Gay, Lesbian &
Bisexual Community Center, 425 E. 7th
St., offers support groups / info line / social
events / library / meeting space. Volunteer
Opportunities. Board meetings every 2nd
Thursday (open to all), 6:00 p.m. Information 624-1779.
GREATER PHOENIX GAY & LESBIAN
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (GPGLCC)
P.O. BOX 2097, Phoenix, AZ 85001-2097.
E-mail: webmaster@gpglcc.org or call
(602)225-8444.
SOURCES UNLIMITED, a Lesbian & Gay
referral service. Business and individual
listings are free of charge. All information
available to anyone just simply by asking.
322-5655.
Leave
message.
TucsonSources@aol.com
GET NAKED with TNTucson MEN! We’re
a social and recreational club. Have you
ever longed to camp, swim, hike or play
with others who enjoy the same, dropping
all the masks and pretensions? We;re for
you! TNTucsonMEN@nethere.com, P.O.
Box 12176, Tucson 85792 or call 5149894
MAY 30, 2007
IINNER WISDOM - Try hypnotherapy for
pain relief, past life exploration and
addiction release. Also available: Spiritual
Counseling and Dream Interpretation.
579-9020
BEARS OF THE OLD PUEBLO — a social
club for bears and bigger, more robust
men (and of course, those who prefer their
company). For more info, Call the Bears
Hotline (520)790-5775 or write P.O. Box
43910, Tucson, AZ 85733-3910 of visit our
website at www.botop.com All are welcome to our general meetings/potlucks on
the 2nd Friday of every month, at 3202 E.
1st St. (the “Ward 6" Office Bldg.) Just
south of Speedway & East of Country
Club. PotLuck Dinner begins at 6:30 and
the monthly meeting follows at 7:15 p.m.
LESBIAN AND GAY AL-ANON - Affected
by someone’s drinking? Meeting every
Tuesday 8:45 to 9:45 p.m. at Lambda
Center, 2940 E. Thomas, Phoenix. Ellie
581-8850 or Ronn 968-2384.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE GROUP - Outreach to Gay and Lesbian people in
Arizona. Meets monthly. Write to P.O. Box
893, Phoenix, AZ 85001 or call Eddy
Walters, (602)371-1102
CRONIES SOCIAL GROUP. A Social
group for Gay men who enjoy the
fellowship of their peers. Call Leo at 6246768.
T-SQUARES Lesbian and Gay Square
Dance Club, dances Tuesdays. from 6:309 p.m. at Cornerstone Fellowship Social
Hall, 2902 N. Geronimo (Northwest of 1st
Ave. and Glenn). No experience, no
partner required! For more info contact
David
at
325-6739,
or
visit
www.azgaydance.org
LIGHTNING LIGHTING will provide lighting for AIDS and related benefits at no
charge. For more info call Adrienne at 8897298.
COME EXPLORE YOUR SPIRITUALITY!
St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church
offers a variety of Gay and Lesbian groups
and services for the spiritually minded.
Come meet the Family! For more
information call Debbie 579-9827 or David
323-7943.
LESBIAN/GAY WRITERS: Workshop at
7:00 p.m. third Wednesday of every
month. Read and critique current projects.
Network and support. For info call 3254737.
DESERT VOICES, Tucson’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Straight
Chorus, has been singing songs of pride,
hope and laughter for 16 seasons. Check
out our website at www.desertvoices.org,
or call (520)791-9662 for information
about upcoming concerts or how to join.
Join the LESBIAN & GAY PUBLIC
AWARENESS PROJECT. In Tucson write
Awareness Project, 3661 N. Campbell
Ave. #365, Tucson, AZ 85719.
AA Meeting with HIV/AIDS focus, Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m., Wingspan Annex, 425 E.
7th Street. All alcoholics welcome.
MEN’S SOCIAL NETWORK: Social organization for men of all ages. Building an
extended Gay family in Tucson. Monthly
social potluck gatherings the first Saturday
of each month and almost weekly social
activities. Call 690-9565 for information
and a newsletter. Check the Non-Bar
Calendar in the Observer.
CARE TEAMS ARE AVAILABLE to offer
support to people living with HIV/AIDS.
The Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network
offers trained, compassionate and committed volunteers to provide services
including friendly visits, light housekeeping, assistance with meals, shopping,
errands, transportation and companionship for medical appointments, and respite
care for primary care givers. No judgement
or proselytizing - we are here to be of
service. For information call Scott at 2996647.
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT SPORTS
TEAMS and updates on Gay Games,
contact TEAM ARIZONA at their website:
teamarizona.org
ARE YOU GAY OR BISEXUAL AND
UNDER 21 YEARS OF AGE? The Gay
Young Men’s Project is now looking for
volunteers for the project. We need people
who want to help create a positive social
change for young Gay men as well as
reduce the risk for HIV infection. For more
information please call 628-7223.
THE MEN’S MASSAGE GROUP meets
the 3rd Sunday of each month. It is a good
way to meet other men of all ages, safely,
and with the art of nurturing touch. There is
a fee. You must sign up in advance to
participate. Call Marc at 881-4582 for more
information or sign up.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE GLBT,
Tucson’s Gay and Lesbian business
networking group holds regular meetings
the third Thursday of every month. Call
615-6436
for
more
info.
www.tucsonglbtchamber.org
TUCSON PRIDE, INC. (Formerly Tucson
Lesbian and Gay Alliance - TLGA) meets
on the second Wednesday at 845 S.
Craycroft Road at 6pm. Tucson Pride
events: Pride Week, Gay West and
Pride Weekend. Inquiries about support
groups and individual needs should be
directed to Wingspan and other local
agencies listed here. For more information
call 622-3200 or visit the TPI website at
www.tucsonpride.com
LEARN TO BE A LISTENING FRIEND
Unique Hospital Volunteer Program
teaches listening skills to Volunteers who
provide a safe/compassionate environment to at-risk patients. Training every 6
weeks. 694-7063.
TUCSON INTERFAITH HIV/AIDS NETWORK (TIHAN), a coalition of faith
communities committed to a compassionate response to HIV/AIDS, provides HIV
education in congregational settings,
volunteer CareTeams to support HIV+
persons, a referral network of HIVsensitive clergy, and interfaith services of
healing and hope. For more information
call 299-6647.
ANONYMOUS HIV COUNSELING AND
TESTING is available through the Pima
County Health Department at sites throughout Tucson, Very Gay Friendly. For more
information or to make an appointment call
791-7676.
SMART (Self Management And Recovery
Training) a free non-12-step self-help
alternative for people working to overcome
addictive and other emotional problems
meets in Tucson Monday thru Thursdays
at different locations. For more information
about SMART, contact Jennifer at 8383975.
OUTLOUD! Tucson’s premiere Local
Lesbian and Gay Radio Show, broadcast
every Sunday from 7-8 pm on 91.3 FM,
Community Radio KXCI.
THEATER / DINNER / MOVIES / ETC!
Nonsmoking Lesbian Network meets
every month. If you’d like to meet women
50+ (flexible) and socialize in a smoke-free
environment, please call or email: 8888010 ‘til 9pm, or joycesmth1@aol.com.
The group dines OUT! and attends shows,
movies, comedy events, etc. Now in our
23rd year, 7th in Tucson.
SOUTHERN ARIZONA GENDER ALLIANCE (SAGA). The Southwest’s largest
transgender and gender-diversity advocacy organization. Speakers and panelists available. General meetings monthly
on the 1st Mondays at 7pm; Dezert Girlz
(MTF Support) meets 2nd Mondays at 7pm;
Dezert Boyz (FTM Support) meets 3rd
Tuesdays at 7pm. Also serving partners,
youth, intersex, service providers and
allies. Call (520)624-1779 x26 for more
info.
EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT GROUP FOR
ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLES. Not a dating club. Discreet. Meetings every Monday
evening. Call for more info. APEX (Arizona
Power Exchange) 602-415-1123. 24-hr
multi-choice message including information, calendar and location.
ARIZONA AIDS POLICY ALLIANCE
(AZAPA) seeks to educate legislators and
citizens about sound AIDS policy. For
more information write AZAPA, 6523 N.
14th St., #112, Phoenix, AZ 85014 or call
602-279-4805.
DESERT DOMINION, whose focus is
providing information and education for
people interested in the BDSM lifestyle,
meets monthly for group discussion and
social events. Visit our web site http://
www.desertdominion.org or call (520)7926424
SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS. Starting this February, the Tucson Rape crisis
Center will be providing free confidential
group services for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
and Transgender survivors of all manner
of sexual assault. Interested persons
please call Mirto Stone, MSW, at 327-1171
(if unavailable leave message with phone
number.
PAGE NINETEEN
AAPSP - ARIZONA ASSOCIATION OF
PUBLIC SAFETY PROFESSIONALS: a
confidential organization committed to
providing support and networking for all
Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual public safety
professionals in Arizona. Membership
open to Law Enforcement Officers,
Firefighters, Probation, Parole and Corrections Officers and civilians working
within these agencies. Website: AAPSP.org
or e-mail: AAPSP@aol.com or call Dave
(520)745-9059 (Tucson) or Kim (602)5346219 (Phoenix)
GLSEN - Gay, Lesbian and Straight
Education Network meets first Thursday of
every month at 4:30pm at Wingspan, 425
E.7th Street. 743-4800.
SAA (Sex Addicts Anonymous) has 5
meetings a week in Tucson. People who
wish to stop their compulsive sexual
behavior, please call (520) 745-0775 for
current information.
TUCSON GREATER SOFTBALL ASSOCIATION. Interested? Call Kelly Quinn,
(520)906-0669 and or Mona Garcia 2568728.
LUTHERANS CONCERNED — Tucson
chapter for Gay/Lesbian Lutherans meets
3rd Sunday, 6:30 p.m. each month at
Santa Cruz Lutheran Church, 6809 S.
Cardinal Ave. For information visit
www.lctucson.org write: LC, 7014 E. Golf
Links Road, PMB 212, Tucson, AZ 85730.
REVEILLE GAY MEN’S CHORUS rehearses Thursday evenings 7-10pm at the
Historic Y, corner of University Blvd. And
5th Ave. Join us!! Call 304-1758 for more
info.
“OUT ON THE TRAILS - EQUESTRIAN
FUN!”
Rider Club forming. Looking for women
and men to ride together on the trails of
Southern Arizona. Must have own horse,
truck and trailer. For more info write: “Out
On The Trails” P.O. Box 44045, Tucson,
AZ 85733-4045
THE MAN TO MAN Social/erotic education
club is the tantric men’s group that offers
passionate friendships, fun activities and
real Tantric sex education. Marc 881-4582
LGBT Buddhist Meditation Group. Join us
for two 20 minute silent sitting meditations,
and reading from Buddhist Spiritual text
and discussion. Bring a friend and a pillow
or cushion. Takes place every Sunday
from 10-11:30AM at Wingspan, 425 E. 7th
St. Donations accepted. Contact Maurice
Grossman for more info. 323-2293.
LGBT SUPPORT GROUP FOR VICTIM/
SURVIVORS OF Domestic Violence,
Sexual Assault, Hate Crimes, Bias Acts,
Harassment. Call Lori at Wingspan, 6241779, ext. 20. Services are free.
MEN’S HIKING CLUB - A peer-run
MEN’s outdoor club for hiking, biking, camping, boating etc, is now up and running in
the Tucson area. To join, go to SAGE-Tucson-subscribe @yahoogroups.com. See
you on the trails.
MEN’S KINK DISCUSSION GROUP (Open
to all who identify as male and are 18 or
older) meets 2nd Tuesday of the month,
7:00 p.m. at Desert Dominion, 3843 E. 37th
Street, Tucson, AZ. (Map available at
www.desertdominion,org) For those who
are kinky or just curious. No fee,
contributions are appreciated, but not
required.
The new MAN TO MAN INTENTIONAL
COMMUNITY is meeting about honoring
the spiritual side of ourselves. It is the
men’s social/erotic group that offers
passionate friendships, fun activities, and
real tantric sex education. Call Marc 8814582 in advance Check it out. We meet
the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays, 7-9pm.
Potluck dinner. Donation.
BROTHERS OF THE COMPASSIONATE
WAY. Pagan spiritual group for gay,
bisexual, transgendered men. Box 41623,
Tucson, AZ 85717.
PAGE TWENTY
MAY 30, 2007
WEEKLY OBSERVER
A TASTE OF CULTURE, ADVENTURE AND PRIDE.
HOW WILL DENVER AWAKEN YOU?
DENVER PRIDEFEST JUNE 23-24
Come enjoy the celebration of community and culture—featuring
a parade, rally, music, entertainment, food and more—with 200,000
others in Denver’s famous sunshine. Our lifestyle will energize
you, from the extraordinary scenery and thriving arts scene, to our
www.PrideFestDenver.org
nationally-recognized cuisine. Make plans now so you can take
advantage of great hotel rates. It’s time to visit the Mile High City.
www.DENVER.org
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