Thou Shalt Not Hate - To Parent Directory

Transcription

Story on
Page
8
Changes at Miami-Based
Gay & Lesbian Foundation
Amen for the Animals
Story on
Page
6
ENTERTAINMENT
PREVIEW
69 Ways to be Entertained
Volume 4, Number 35
September 1, 2003
Murders Put
Big Chill
in Prague’s
‘Gay Spring’
Five Tourists Killed
Apparently by Rent Boys
See Q Cover Story
Thou Shalt Not Hate
Media Ignores Homophobia of Judge in Ten Commandments Story
By Phil LaPadula
Managing Editor
In recent days, reports about Judge Roy
Moore’s defiance of a federal court order to
remove a Ten Commandments monument
from the rotunda of Alabama’s state judicial
building have dominated the media. Images
of prayerful protesters vowing to prevent the
monument’s removal in the name of God have
filled the TV screens and front pages. Reports
indicate that most people view the story as a
classic church-state battle centering on a pious
man standing up for his religious beliefs
against what he sees as “godless liberalism.”
But there is a lot more about Judge Roy Moore
that the mainstream media is not telling the
American public.
In February 2002, Moore called for the
confinement and execution of gays and
lesbians after the Alabama Supreme Court
handed down a decision denying a lesbian
mother custody of her child. In his opinion,
Moore, chief justice of the Alabama Supreme
Court, called homosexuality “a crime against
nature, an inherent evil, and an act so heinous
that it defies one’s ability to describe it.” Moore
also wrote: “The State carries the power of
the sword, that is, the power to prohibit
conduct with physical penalties, such as
confinement and even execution. It must use
that power to prevent the subversion of
children toward this lifestyle, to not encourage
a criminal lifestyle.”
On Friday, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation (GLAAD) posted a
statement on its website denouncing the
mainstream media for ignoring Judge Moore’s
“virulently anti-gay comments” in its coverage
See Moore on page 2
Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy
Moore, left, looks at his Ten Commandments
monument on Aug. 22. The judge has called
for the confinement and execution of gay
people. (AP Photo/Montogomery Advertiser,
Julie Bennett)
Lazslo Sumegh, the founder of Project
Chance, a civic organization that helps
young homeless boys
S. Florida: the New Gay Marriage Mecca?
Couples to Flock Here for Three-Day Commitment Event
By Kevin Livingston
By Phil LaPadula
Special to The Express
Managing Editor
PRAGUE, Czech Republic — Like
many gay tourists traveling to the
Golden City, Grant Russell frequently
came to Prague for the cheap sex
provided by young male prostitutes. Last
May, the New Zealand native was found
murdered in an apartment in Vinohrday,
an upscale neighborhood east of the city
center, apparently at the hands of a “rent
boy” he had picked up days earlier.
Russell, a small man in his 50s, had
been suffocated to death and his body
lay strewn over the bathtub. Gone were
Russell’s money and possessions,
including a digital camera and a cell
phone. The apartment keys had
vanished, as had his killer.
Russell, who lived in the United
Kingdom, is not the first gay man to be
killed in Prague nor do social workers
dealing with the rising population of
street kids believe he will be the last.
Still, It is not an issue many men here
wish to discuss.
It is a reaction that has not sat well
with gay men living abroad who have
complained that silence from the gay
community is putting unsuspecting
tourists in danger. In the past few years,
as many as five gay tourists have been
murdered in Prague, apparently at the
hands of young men who sell themselves
for sex at the main train station and
nearby clubs, according to police. Nine
months ago, a tourist from the United
Kingdom was found dead near the main
See Prague on page 16
It may not rival Canada as the new gay
wedding destination or even Las Vegas as
an old straight hitching post, but South
Florida is about to become a place to go for
gay and lesbian couples throughout the
country who are looking to tie the knot.
From Sept. 25-27, the area will host “This
Moment On,” a vacation package whose
centerpiece is a group commitment
ceremony that will take place on Sept. 27 at
the Sheraton Yankee Trader Resort in Fort
Lauderdale.
The
event,
produced
by
MyGayVacation.com, is expected to draw
about 150 couples from throughout the U.S.
and possibly some foreign countries. It has
already attracted some big-name corporate
sponsors and mainstream media attention.
It is believed to be the first time a gay
commitment ceremony has been combined
with a vacation package.
“The idea was to promote gay tourism
in South Florida for couples rather than the
usual circuit party singles events,” says
Thomas Kucynski, principal and co-owner
of Aequus International, a marketing and
design firm that is the parent company of
MyGayVacation.com. “We wanted to offer
something different for the slow time of the
year in Fort Lauderdale, and with what’s
been happening politically, it just merged
together perfectly.”
Unlike the gay weddings in Canada,
commitment ceremonies of “This Moment
On’ are not legally binding. But Kucynski
still thinks he is making a political statement
while offering couples a chance to make a
personal statement about their love and
devotion for each other. “I’ve always
wanted to be an activist in terms of not
marriage but commitment rights,” he says.
Guests can take advantage of
discounted rates and special amenities at six
participating guesthouses and hotels: the
Sheraton Yankee Trader Resort, Royal
Palms Resort, Coral Reef Guesthouse, Saint
Sebastian Guesthouse, the Cabanas Resort
& Guesthouse and Orton Terrace
Guesthouse. The hoteliers have agreed to
add special amenities for the couples, such
as champagne in the rooms and luxury
baths.
The event’s sponsors include Comcast,
American Airlines, Jet Blue Airways,
Anheuser-Busch, Cabana Boy Rum, Wet
Lubricants, I.D. Lubricants and Party 93.1
radio station.
So far, the event has attracted a good
mix of both gay and lesbian couples, ranging
in age from about 30 to 55, Kuczynski says.
The event kicks off with a welcome
reception on Sept. 25 that organizers
promise will include “influential
personalities of local and national
prominence relating to the social and
political activities.” There will also be retail
representatives offering items such as
commitment rings and tuxedo rentals.
Complimentary cocktails and hors
d’oeuvres will be served.
A Bachelor/Bachelorette Beach Party
follows on Sept. 26 at Fort Lauderdale
Beach. Hosted by Party Radio 93.1, the
event will include games and prizes.
Cathode Ray Club will host an evening
on Sept. 26 with Budweiser and Cabana Boy
See Marriage on page 4
www.ExpressGayNews.com • September 1, 2003 1
THE EXPRESS
Page 4
Managing Editor
Phil LaPadula
[email protected]
The World
—as Seen Through Young Eyes
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Mary Damiano
[email protected]
Art Prodigy’s Work Reveals Distinctive Style at Stork’s
Palm Beach News
Page 9
Compass Names New Deputy Director
Zemina will Supervise Case Management, Work with Teens
Page 10
National News
Pink Pistols:
‘Armed Gays Don’t Get Bashed’
Waiting to Die
Palm Beach Correspondent
Chip Alfred
[email protected]
Features Editor
Andy Zeffer
[email protected]
Supervisor of Marketing and Development
Kevin Hopper
[email protected]
Account Executives
Craig Combs
[email protected]
Anthony Verrico
[email protected]
Jim Nixon
[email protected]
Classifieds Manager
Ralph Lankford
[email protected]
Gay Gun Group Loading Up New Chapter
Health and Fitness
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL
Broward News
Publisher
Norm Kent
[email protected]
BUSINESS
Inside
Volume 4, Number 35 Issue 144
Page 23
Three People with HIV/AIDS Die While on Government Waiting List
Moore from Front Page
of the Ten Commandments story. A GLAAD
representative also noted that Moore’s past conduct is
relevant to the story because it raises questions about
his credibility and character.
“What has been lost in the analysis of Moore’s
most recent attempt to assert his religious beliefs in
the public sphere is any mention of the virulently antigay comments Moore has made condemning gays and
lesbians in the past,” GLAAD wrote.
In an e-mail to The Express, GLAAD’s Southeast
regional media manager, Chalee Snorton, also stated:
“GLAAD has compiled the media coverage and exact
quotes made by Roy Moore in February of 2002. We
are reaching out individually to reporters who are
covering this issue, and more specifically Roy Moore’s
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore addresses a crowd
credibility.”
of supporters during a rally on the steps of the Capitol
After Moore’s remarks calling for the execution
in Montgomery, Ala., Aug. 16. (Photo: AP)
of gays were publicized in February 2002, the National
Gay & Lesbian Task Force organized a protest rally on the would take the monument if Alabama doesn’t want it.
steps of the Supreme Court of Alabama. Lorri L. Jean, then Barbour, the former chairman of the Republican National
executive director of NGLTF, issued a statement saying, Committee, said he would display the monument in the
“Moore’s opinion could have been written by the Taliban.” governor’s mansion if elected.
In a feature story on the NGLTF published in the July
The controversy has become a lightning rod for
1, 2002, edition of The Express, Jean described the action religious conservative activists from around the country,
taken against Moore. “We gathered almost 40 clergy of with representatives from the Christian Defense Coalition,
mainstream religions to speak out against the judge, and we Focus on the Family and other groups speaking out
worked to get every newspaper in the state editorializing strongly in favor of Moore’s position. Focus on the
against him,” she said.
Family’s James Dobson, who once declared on Larry King
But the current media coverage of Moore has lacked Live that hurricanes were caused by “the presence of sin
any mention of his anti-gay statements. On its website, in the world,” addressed a crowd at the Alabama
GLAAD included a CNN report and two Associated Press courthouse on Aug. 29.
reports on the Ten Commandments story, and there was no
Moore defended his decision to defy the federal court
mention of Moore’s anti-gay remarks in any of the stories. order and criticized Alabama’s attorney general and the
Instead, the CNN story led with a CNN-USA Today- state’s governor, both of whom urged him to comply with
Gallup poll that showed that 77 percent of Americans were the law. “It is a sad day in our country when the moral
siding with Moore and disagreeing with U.S. District Judge foundation of our law and the acknowledgment of God
Myron Thompson’s order to remove the monument.
has to be hidden from public view to appease a federal
Thompson ruled last year that the monument violated judge,” Moore told CNN.
the Constitution’s ban against government promotion of a
But the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of
religious doctrine. When Moore refused to comply with a Americans United for Separation of Church and State,
court order to remove it, he was overruled by his eight applauded the removal of the monument from the
colleagues on the Alabama Supreme Court, and was courthouse, calling it “a tremendous victory for the rule
suspended.
of law and respect for religious diversity.”
Meanwhile, in neighboring Mississippi, both
“Perhaps Roy Moore will soon leave the bench and
Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and Republican move into the pulpit, which he seems better suited for,”
gubernatorial candidate Haley Barbour have said that they Lynn said.
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Copyright © 2003 • Express Gay News, Inc.
2 www.ExpressGayNews.com • September 1, 2003
CONTRIBUTORS
September 1, 2003
The World—as Seen Through Young Eyes
Art Prodigy’s Work Reveals Distinctive Style at Stork’s
Managing Editor
Van Gogh only sold one painting in
his life. Chanel Lallouz has already sold
six—and she’s just 12 years old.
Chanel is the featured artist this
month at Stork’s Bakery and Café in
Wilton Manors. Her exhibit, titled Women
of the World, reveals a distinctive style
(large, expressive faces and small bodies)
and deft use of colors.
Five of her paintings on canvas and
paper from the Stork’s exhibit have sold—
two “Miss Hawaiis,” a “Miss USA,” a
“Miss India” and a self portrait. In
addition, Chanel has been commissioned
to paint a “Miss Sweden.”
Chanel, a peer counselor and honor
student in the gifted and advanced
program of a local school, first exhibited
her work in the ArtsUnited Young Artists
show a couple of months ago. Although
she’s straight, she had no problem with
her work being included in a show of
predominately gay and lesbian artists.
“Kids like Chanel have zero tolerance for
any kind of prejudice or intolerance,” says
Elyahou Lallouz, Chanel’s Father, who is
an accomplished artist himself. Chanel’s
mother, Rhonda, is a writer.
The Lallouzes have not only instilled
in Chanel an appreciation for the diversity
of the world but the need to give back to the
world in the form of charitable giving. The
couple have donated art to raise money for
several groups, including Kids in Distress
and the Dan Marino Foundation.
“Even though there are a lot of ‘starving
artists,’ we feel it is important for artists to
give back to the community,” says Elyahou
Conference to Offer Education,
Services for HIV+ Women
Sponsors and Volunteers Sought for Sept. 20 Event
From Staff Reports
MIAMI — The Center for Positive
Connections (TCPC) will host its Fifth
Annual HIV+ Women’s Conference on
Sept. 20 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on
400 SE Second Ave. in downtown Miami.
This free, full-day educational conference
and health fair is specifically designed to
meet both the educational and
psychosocial needs of South Florida
women diagnosed with HIV.
TCPC is currently seeking sponsors
and volunteers for the event. Anyone
interested in volunteering or making a taxdeductible donation toward the
conference should call Sheri Kaplan,
executive director, at 305.891.2066.
The women’s conference program
includes 5½ hours of educational lectures,
and a 2½-hour Health Fair offering BIA
testing,
hemoglobin
testing,
complimentary makeovers, massages and
acupuncture, haircuts, Reiki and other
healing modalities, and exhibit booths.
Current sponsors include Abbott,
Agouron Pfizer, BMS Virology, Gilead
Science, GlaxoSmithKline, Levi Strauss,
OrthoBiotech, Serono, and Willsand
Home Healthcare Services.
Through these activities, HIV positive
women will be able to congregate to
empower, enhance and enrich one
another’s lives while learning more about
HIV and maintaining the lifestyle of their
choice. This conference is designed for
HIV positive women of all ages, races,
ethnicities and economic statuses. A
child-care suite will be available on site.
Women interested in attending this free
event should RSVP to The Center for
Positive Connections (TCPC) at
305.891.2066
or
e-mail
to
[email protected] no later than Sept.
15.
The
Center
for
Positive
Connections (TCPC) is a holistic,
progressive, 8-year-old nonprofit AIDS
services organization providing
educational, emotional, social, holistic
and housing support services for all
individuals living with HIV/AIDS as
well as their affected family and
friends. Donations are welcome and tax
deductible.
Lallouz.
“I feel good that I’m helping
other people with my art,” says
Chanel, who has produced about
100 paintings so far.
“She has been doing it from the
time she could hold onto a crayon,”
Elyahou Lallouz says. “She used to
draw portraits of the family.”
Lallouz, whose Galleria Lallouz
art company has operated out of Rio
Vista for the past year, says he
eventually wants to open a children’s
gallery. A graduate of McGill
University with degrees in art and
communications, Lallouz has been
commissioned to do portraits for
former President Bill Clinton, tennis
star Andy Roddick, former Dolphin
Dan Marino, Isaac Hayes, Judge
Frank A. Orlando and others.
Chanel Lallouz is the featured artist this month at
Stork’s Bakery and Café in Wilton Manors.
Elyahou and Rhonda Lallouz have
presented Galleria Lallouz awards to
local people who have supported the arts,
Chanel, who loves to sing as well as
including Commissioner Dean Trantalis, Steve paint, has big plans for the future. Asked
Glassman (from the Broward Cultural Affairs where she would like to go to college, she
Division), Elaine Brown, Phyllis Bard from responded, “either Harvard or Yale.” She
Kids in Distress, and photographers Steve also has aspirations to become a judge
Shires and Pompano Bill.
some day, while still pursuing her artwork.
Photo by Phil LaPadula
By Phil LaPadula
Marriage from Front Page
Rum available free of charge.
The commitment ceremony itself will
take place Sept. 27 on the beach directly
across from the Sheraton. It will be an
outdoor ceremony with officials of three
different denominations giving words of
commitment, plus choral music, local
celebrity talent and a ring exchange.
The “From This Moment Reception”
wraps up the event with a four-course
dinner in the ballroom of the Sheraton.
The evening will include the “customary
couples first dance” followed by DJ
entertainment and special guest
performances.
Kuczynski sent out press releases to
newspapers and radio stations throughout
the country, including numerous religious
stations. “We even sent one to the Rev.
James Kennedy’s church,” Kuczynski
says, referring to the anti-gay minister of
Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.
Kuczynski notes that none of the rightwing church groups or radio stations
responded to the company’s press release.
“If they had created controversy over it,
it would have just strengthened the
movement,” he says.
On Aug. 6, Comcast’s “For the
People,” hosted by Stephen Goldstein,
began airing a segment on the event. In
addition, the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel
and the South Florida Business Journal
are all expected to release stories soon
covering different angles of the event. Gay
media that are expected to cover the event
include Instinct magazine, The Advocate,
UK Gay Times and Passport magazine.
The
company’s
website,
MyGayVacation.com, has received 1,611
hits, including hits in Austria, France and
Nicaragua.
Kuczynski said the company is “still
debating” whether to allow couples, such
as local residents, who want to participate
only in the commitment ceremony without
buying the whole package. But he
sounded like he was leaning in that
direction.
“While we’re trying to increase
tourism, we’re also trying to make a
political statement,” Kuczynski says.
Amen for the Animals
Religious Science Church Holds First Pet Blessing
By Dan Aiello
Local Correspondent
The universal devotion people have for
their pets was evident on Saturday, Aug. 23,
as more than 60 people and as many dogs
and other animals gathered in Wilton Manors
for Religious Science Fort Lauderdale’s first
annual pet blessing celebration.
With homage paid to Saint Francis of
Assisi—the Catholic’s patron saint of
animals who saw all God’s creations as his
brothers and sisters that reveal God’s love,
providence and beauty to us—the message
of the day was to honor unconditional love,
the type of love that is given to us by our
pets and that we often give back to them.
“We are celebrating all animals who are
devoted to us,” said Kent Barnard, a Keith and Chiro
practitioner at the church.
“It’s about unconditional
love. We’re honoring and
celebrating that because we
want to be more like them.”
Barnard noted that a group
from his church had been
wanting to organize the
celebration for a while and
credited The Express’
recent pet issue with
inspiring them to move
ahead and schedule it while
at a retreat in California.
Arleen Bump, one of
the pastors at the church,
performed the following
blessing: “Beloved spirit,
form and formlessness;
ocean and wave, you are Craig Combs and Arnaud Belobel, with Cleo Patches, Lulu
and Mickey Mouse
present in human and
animal and in all of creation. We invoke a
A shepard mix named Lady, an Italian
powerful blessing upon these animals today. greyhound named Francesca and a white
The love we feel for these creatures is your German Shepard named Dutchess, joined
love, flowing through us. May we always pugs, Jack Russell terriers, boxers, cocker
be kind and understanding with our pets. spaniels and many mixed breeds in a
May we provide for their care as though they morning atmosphere that was both jovial and
were the most sacred of all beings. May these gentle, social and serene.
creatures feel our love and be nourished by
Attendees included community
it, kept safe and loved and protected. May organizations and businesses such as Adoptour companionship together be blessed with A-Greyhound, a greyhound rescue group,
play, with wagging tails and loving affection. the Broward County Humane Society, Bon
We are deeply thankful for the many Apetit Boutique and Bakery, the Wildlife
blessings these pets bring into our lives. I do Care Center and Woof, Woof—a pet-sitting
now bless these and all animals, near and service.
far. May they remain in good health, live to
Barnard noted that although the majority
a vibrant mature age and always be a of attendees were church members, “about
reminder of the unconditional flowing love 20 percent” were not Religious scientists.
of you, beloved spirit. And so it is.”
The organizing committee for the event
With the exception of a cockatiel, the included Janna Carnes, Steve Hooks, Jerry
attending pets were of a canine persuasion. Pizer and Kent Barnard.
Joel Shapses with Trevor and Tyler
Lias Davis and Angel Boy
Dan Aiello, with Tasha and Cocoa
Dogs and owners gather for the blessing.
Penny Canzonen and Lilly
Photos by Steven Shires
Changes Abound at GLFSF
Foundation Elects New Board Members, Launches Initiatives
By Michael W. Sasser
“We’re delighted Alicia, Tim and Joe
have all indicated their willingness to stay
New faces and new initiatives abound as involved with the foundation, but we shall miss
the Miami-based Gay & Lesbian Foundation their regular board help,” Burks wrote.
of South Florida heads into season, with its
Several new members were subsequently
foremost community event, the annual elected to the board: Michael Aller, Dan
recognition dinner looming on the horizon in Cardinali, Ron English, Pete Halpern, Michael
November.
Kenny, Steve Kozlowski
“I think there is a real
and Rod Schimko. Board
commitment on the part of
membership now stands
the board and staff to really
at 14.
position the foundation as a
“I think we have a
sort of capacity building
very strong board,”
engine in the GLBT
Phelps said. “I am hoping
community,”
said
to find one more woman
Executive Director David
to join the board to have
Phelps. “We want to put
better lesbian or bisexual
ourselves more out there as
representation.”
a resource and look for
The GLFSF will
ways to support different
also be keeping a better
organizations.”
eye on projected finances
this year, after a
After last year’s tight
disappointing Winter
community focus on
Board president Darrell W. Burks
preserving Miami-Dade
Party in 2003 did not
County’s human rights
generate the revenue that
ordinance, this year presents GLFSF with an it had in 2002. Phelps said that the organization
opportunity to make necessary changes, is changing its fiscal year to a calendar model,
Phelps said. “It seems to me we have a window so as to be better able to project Winter Party
of opportunity this year and into next year to revenue in the future. “We ended up with
pull the community together, to learn to play about $70,000 less than we expected last year,”
to our strengths and work on our weaknesses.” Phelps said. “Since last year, we raised the
In June, GLFSF board members Alicia grant cap to $20,000 I think a lot of people
Apfel, Tim Bernum and Joe Guerrero stepped were disappointed.”
down. In a “community report” letter, board
Still, from June 2002 through June 2003,
president Darrell W. Burks stated that each a total of $127,000 was distributed in direct
deserved a vote of thanks.
grants to a variety of community
Miami-Dade Correspondent
organizations. The single largest sum—
$35,000—was given to the SAVE Dade
Foundation to aid its efforts in defense of the
human rights ordinance.
Other organizations receiving grants
included South Beach Gay Men’s Chorus,
Stonewall Library & Archives, GLSEN/
Miami, Project YES, Pridelines Youth
Services, the Ft. Lauderdale Gay Men’s
Chorus, Miami Light Project, Arts at St. John,
the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of
South Florida and SunServe Services.
“We’ve spent a lot of time the past several
months doing conservative numbers, and we
think that the change in the fiscal year will
make a difference,” Phelps said. “We’ll be able
to project Winter Party revenue a lot closer to
the event, so we will have a better grasp on
what it will generate.” He added that most
“circuit parties” around the United States were
down some 10 to 15 percent last year, so it
was not something intrinsic to Winter Party.
Phelps said he believes GLFSF is looking
at somewhere between $150,000 and
$175,000 to offer in grants this year. Although
there is no current effort to dismantle MiamiDade’s human rights ordinance, Phelps said
the organization was ready in case it had to
mobilize efforts once again.
Several new initiatives are either under
way or in the formative stages at GLFSF.
These include a commitment to an annual
report on the work of the organization, a new
feature allowing online donations
(www.glfsf.org) and a plan to host monthly
meetings of LGBT organization executive
directors. GLFSF already rolled out the first
in a new series of ongoing workshops designed
to provide training in critical areas such as
board development, creating a budget and
working with the media. The first workshop
on fundraising attracted 40 participants
representing 19 different organizations.
The organization is also set to tackle a
critical community issue—homeless LGBT
youth. Under the leadership of board member
Amy Rolnick, GLFSF has established a task
force to examine the current community
resources available and what needs to be done
to assist youth on the streets or in shelters. The
task force is open to all community members
who are interested in the issue.
“This is an extraordinarily important
issue,” Phelps said. “We’re trying to identify
resources and want to begin to put together
the training required to allow gay and lesbian
couples to become foster parents. Gays and
lesbians can, in fact, become foster parents,
and can help take these kids back in, get them
into school and take care of them—but there
are a lot of legal requirements.”
Burks might have summed up the state
of GLFSF in his “community report” letter.
“We are in challenging times,” he wrote. “But
GLFSF—with responsive leadership and a
commitment to accountability—can make a
strong and positive contribution to the
vibrancy, health and success of our
community.”
For information on GLFSF, call
305.572.1841.
Compass Names
New Deputy Director
Zemina will Supervise Case
Management, Work with Teens
By Chip Alfred
Palm Beach Correspondent
Nancy Zemina has been named deputy
director of Compass, Palm Beach County’s
LGBT Community Center. The
announcement was made by executive
director Tony Plakas. “Nancy has been my
greatest asset and most trustworthy ally,”
Plakas said. “She takes ownership to make
Compass a better place.”
In her new role, Zemina will supervise
HIV/AIDS case management and prevention
as well as the Hope Teens youth program.
She will also serve as executive director in
Plakas’ absence.
Zemina grew up in Fort Pierce, Florida,
better known for its farms and livestock than
its lively gay life. “I realized I was gay when
I was very young,” she says. “I knew that I
shouldn’t talk about it. I knew that I
shouldn’t do anything about it.”
The one safe haven she frequented as a
young adult was a bar called The Halfway
Inn. “The bar closed on Sunday evening to
all but gay people,” she recalls. “You had to
knock at the back door, then they looked out
a little peephole. If they knew you or thought
you looked okay, they would let you in,” she
says.
Zemina eventually moved to West Palm
Beach, where she says, “I felt like I could be
my own person.”
After working as a waitress for years,
she made up her mind it was time for a
change. “I just decided I would rather be
doing something that was more worthwhile,”
she says. She enrolled at Florida Atlantic
University (FAU) and earned her bachelor’s
degree in social work in 1998—more than
30 years after finishing high school. While
at FAU, she completed an internship at
Compass. After graduation, she accepted a
position in Compass’ HIV/AIDS case
management program.
“Most times, I feel really good about
what I’ve done for the day,” she says. “I
know that I’ve done my best to help people
get to a better place.” She describes one of
the clients she assisted in making a dramatic
transition. “When I first met her, you could
see all the bones in her neck. She was so
skinny, and she had to carry an oxygen tank,”
Zemina says. “The last time I saw her, she
had gained 35 pounds, had a job and was
opening Christmas gifts with her kids. You’d
never guess she was sick to look at her.” The
client thanked her for her support along the
way, but Zemina says just seeing this
woman’s incredible turnaround was thanks
enough.
In 2001, Zemina faced a health crisis of
her own. Her doctor discovered a lump in
M
Nancy Zemina, former HIV/AIDS services
coordinator at Compass, has been
promoted to deputy director.
her breast. It was a malignant tumor. Zemina
quickly decided to have a mastectomy and
reconstructive surgery.
She knew she was in for the battle of
her life, but she never imagined how rocky
the road to recovery would be. “I was really
not prepared for how affected I was by this
surgery,” she says. “You feel like six Mack
trucks ran over you.”
“Most times, I feel
really good about
what I’ve done for
the day. I know that
I’ve done my best
to help people get
to a better place.”
After the surgery came a regimen of
chemotherapy—her
biggest
fear.
“Everything I had read out about it said they
come as close as they possibly can to killing
you without actually killing you,” she says.
But she came through the chemo treatments
with flying colors. With the support of
family, friends and her partner Sue, Zemina
beat breast cancer. Her doctor has given her
a clean bill of health. Zemina says having
her partner by her side through this difficult
time made all the difference in the world.
“It’s just hard to say how much that kind of
loyalty means,” she says.
After this experience, Zemina was eager
to get back to work. She has been the driving
force behind an effort to get more women
involved with Compass and its activities. She
started a lesbian movie night,
which is held once a month, and
she’s organizing more events such
as brunches, picnics and a lesbian
dance.
Zemina says she looks forward
to the opportunities that lie ahead
for her. She constantly peruses
other community centers’ websites
and newsletters to come up with
ideas for new programs and events
at Compass. She also plans to
return to college next year for her
master’s degree. “There are just so
many things to do, I don’t know if
I’m going to have time to do it all,”
she says.
Pink Pistols: ‘Armed Gays
Don’t Get Bashed’
Gay Gun Group Loading Up New Chapter
LESLIE, Mich. (AP) — Gay rights
usually are seen as part of the liberal agenda,
with gun rights of interest to conservatives.
So gays with guns cut across the grain of
America’s political landscape.
That’s just fine with Albert Lowe, who
is starting a Michigan chapter of the Pink
Pistols, a gay gun-rights group with 37
chapters in the United States and at
least 5,000 members.
“I’m politically incorrect,
totally,” the Leslie resident told the
Detroit Free Press on Aug. 25.
If the group takes hold in
Michigan as it has in places such as
California and Tennessee, the state
could have a new set of hobby target
shooters and a broader, stronger gunrights lobby.
That is the aim of Lowe, who is
in the early stages of building
membership, and of some traditional
gun-rights groups, which are eager to
gain support.
“The more the merrier, in that
battle,” said Chuck Perricone,
executive director of the Michigan
Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners. “As
long as they’re supportive of the underlying
issue, which is self-defense, we welcome
their support.”
Lowe said his primary reason for
starting a Michigan chapter was to
provide a forum to “go out and have fun
target shooting” in an atmosphere that
is friendly to gays, lesbians and others
who may not feel comfortable in
traditional gun groups.
But Lowe, who said he has a permit to
carry concealed weapons, said he also
supports loosening Michigan’s gun laws.
“There are a lot of people in the lifestyle
who are interested in firearms,” said Lowe,
47. “And there are some of the more
conservative gun groups around who are not
friendly toward the gay lifestyle. I’ve run
across a few people who didn’t like me
because of my viewpoints and such.”
A few years ago, while living in
Chicago, Lowe met Doug Krick, who started
the first Pink Pistols group in Boston and
started a website.
“The next thing I know, I’m having
people calling me from across the country
saying, “I want to play. Can I set up a
chapter?’ It wasn’t my intention. But I’m not
complaining,” Krick said.
From there, the Pink Pistols morphed
from a collection of gun enthusiasts to a
more political group that educates, lobbies
and speaks out in favor of gun rights in the
gay community.
The Pink Pistols’ website is peppered
with adages boosting self-defense, such as
“Armed gays don’t get bashed” and “Pick
on someone your own caliber.”
Indeed, Krick said he believes
“when the queer community can
defend themselves, they’re no
longer going to be perceived as an
easy target.”
That is a dangerously misled
assumption,
said
Jeffrey
Montgomery, executive director the
Triangle Foundation, a Detroitbased gay rights group.
“Like
many
minority
communities who are routinely
targeted and highly at risk of being
victims of violence, ours would be a
community I would hope that would lead the
discussion and debate in favor of gun
control,” Montgomery said. “I firmly believe
the presence of guns in confrontations does
not diffuse those in any way, and does not
make anyone safer.”
From more information go to
www.pinkpistols.com
Calif. Senate Passes
Domestic Partners Bill
Landmark Measure Has the Support of Gov. Davis
From Staff Reports
SACRAMENTO — The California
State Senate on Aug. 28 passed AB 205,
Equality California’s landmark Domestic
Partners Rights and Responsibilities Act of
2003, by a 23-14 vote. The measure,
proposed and sponsored by EQCA and
authored by Assembly member Jackie
Goldberg (D-Los Angeles), would grant
registered domestic partners nearly all of the
state rights, benefits and responsibilities
currently granted only to married spouses.
“We are pleased that a majority of
legislators and the governor have now joined
a majority of Californians in supporting legal
protections for families of lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender Californians,” said
Geoffrey Kors, EQCA executive director.
“While AB 205 does not provide true
equality for same-sex couples since it does
nothing to change California’s
discriminatory marriage laws, it is an
important measure that will provide critical
protections for tens of thousands of
Californians.”
AB 205 now returns to the Assembly for
a concurrence vote. The Assembly passed an
earlier version of the bill in June. Governor
Gray Davis has already announced his intent
to sign the bill when it reaches his desk.
Report: Workplace Improving for Gays
Number of Companies Receiving Perfect Scores Doubles in HRC Survey
By Rebecca Carroll
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — More large
U.S. companies are providing better
working conditions for their gay and
lesbian employees, according to a report
released Aug. 25 by a gay rights advocacy
group.
The Human Rights Campaign
Foundation
reported
workplace
improvements at about a third of the
companies rated in the group’s second
annual survey of large corporations.
Companies were scored on seven
factors, including if they offered health
insurance coverage to employees’
same-sex partners and whether they had
nondiscrimination policies covering
sexual orientation and gender identity.
Airlines, banking and financial
services, high tech and equipment
manufacturers and telecommunications
businesses consistently scored above
average, the group found.
The report looked at 250 companies
from the Fortune 500 and Forbes 200
lists. It gave perfect scores to 21
companies, up from 11 last year.
No company received a score of zero;
last year three companies did.
The study found 64 percent of Fortune
500 companies include sexual orientation
in their nondiscrimination policies. Seventyone percent of the companies surveyed
advertised to the gay community, up from
61 percent in 2002.
“Corporate America has been
leading the way around equal treatment
for gay and lesbian people for some
time, so it’s not surprising that we
would continue to see improvement,”
said Kim I. Mills, the group’s education
director.
Mills said while “successful
businesses are increasingly recognizing
that equality works,” most companies can
do more.
Businesses that are lagging in policies
that encourage fair treatment include
hotels, resorts and casinos; mail and
freight delivery companies; and retail and
consumer products firms, the group said.
Outside a few standout companies, firms
in these industries generally rated below
average, the report found.
Information was gathered from a
voluntary questionnaire as well as
additional research by the advocacy
group.
A report released in May by the same
group found more companies of all sizes
are providing health benefits to same-sex
domestic partners.
Prosecutor Refuses to Pursue Hate-Crime Charge
Suspect Confessed to Killing Man Because He Was Gay
By 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff than a week earlier, but that family He has been indicted on charges of
HARDINSBURG, Ky. — A Kentucky
man charged in the killing of a gay
acquaintance confessed to his relatives that he
murdered the victim because he hates
homosexuals, but the prosecutor in the case
said a hate-crime charge is not necessary.
Josh Cottrell is accused of strangling
Guinn “Richie” Phillips with a belt and
then stuffing Phillips’ body in a suitcase.
The suitcase with Phillips’ body in it was
later found floating in Rough River lake.
Cottrell and Phillips had known each
other for about three years.
After Cottrell’s arrest on June 27, his
aunt, Wendy McAnly, told state police that
Cottrell had confessed to the crime more
members initially had not believed him.
Cottrell, according to his aunt, said
that he had invited Phillips to a motel
room, where he was staying the night of
the killing. Cottrell asked Phillips whether
he liked him without his shirt on, and
when Phillips said yes and touched him,
Cottrell allegedly told his aunt that he
“then put him in a headlock and choked
him.”
In addition, a cousin told Kentucky
State Police that Cottrell said he had
planned to kill Phillips because Phillips
was gay.
Cottrell, 22, is in the Breckinridge
County jail in lieu of a $500,000 bond.
murder, robbery, tampering with physical
evidence and being a persistent felon. But,
Commonwealth’s Attorney Kenton Smith
says that he does not plan to pursue hatecrime charges against him. Smith said that
the murder charge was sufficient to ensure
Cottrell would not offend again.
Hate-crime laws in Kentucky include
those committed against gays and
lesbians. Under the law that took effect
July 14, 2000, if a judge determines at
sentencing that bias against the victim’s
race, color, national origin, sexual
orientation or religion was a “primary
factor” in committing the offense, that fact
can be used to deny probation or parole.
www.ExpressGayNews.com
Priest’s Killer Called
‘Spawn of the Devil’
Father Says Druce Hates Gays, Blacks, Jews
By Martin Finucane
Associated Press Writer
SALEM, Mass. (AP) — It was May
1989 and Joseph L. Druce was in jail
awaiting trial for the murder of a gay man
who had picked him up hitchhiking when a
psychiatrist put together a blunt and chilling
profile.
“Angry,
frustrated,
blaming,
remorseless, intense determined man,
believes in Satan, unafraid, laughing as he
declares his intent to kill himself,” Dr.
Lawrence Climo’s handwritten notes say.
“Expects to go to Satan and await the
arrival of his enemies,” the report says later,
quoting Druce as saying, “I’ll wait with a
fork for them to come down too! ... I’ll die
before I serve a life sentence!”
More than a decade later, Druce’s fury
again would spill out when he allegedly
strangled defrocked priest John J. Geoghan.
According to a prosecutor, Druce, 37, had
spent weeks plotting the attack.
Geoghan, 68, serving time in the same
prison wing for inmates in protective
custody, was strangled with a stretched out
sock, a pillow case and one of his own shoes
that was pressed against his neck, Worcester
County District Attorney John J. Conte said
at a news conference on Aug. 25. He also
was beaten, his ribs broken and a lung
punctured, according to an autopsy.
Conte said Druce, who has been
cooperating with investigators, told
investigators he planned the attack for over
a month. Druce is expected to be charged
with murder once a grand jury is convened
in September, Conte said.
Records released by the state show that
Druce, 37, who then was known as Darrin
Ernest Smiledge, began a life of crime early
in life, getting charged for the first of more
than two dozen crimes when he was 17.
He changed his name in 1999,
apparently because he was afraid of
someone, according to published reports.
Many of the early crimes were minor:
operating a motor vehicle to endanger,
larceny, breaking and entering, forgery,
possession of drugs. But the records showed
a violent crescendo in 1988 with charges of
murder.
In that case, prosecutors said that Druce,
then 22, and a friend were picked up
hitchhiking by George Rollo, 51, a gay man.
After Rollo allegedly touched Druce in the
groin area, Druce beat the victim, then tied
his hands and feet and put him in the trunk
of the car.
The two took Rollo to a deserted parking
lot at a theater in Beverly where, despite
Rollo’s pleas for mercy, Druce strangled
Rollo, prosecutors said.
“I would say he’s the spawn of the
devil,” said Lt. Joseph Aiello, the Gloucester
policeman who investigated the case. “He’s
a very evil person, one of the most vicious
I’ve ever seen.”
In trying to prove that Druce was
innocent, Druce’s attorney at the time,
Martin Gideonse, who is now deceased,
argued that he wasn’t criminally responsible
because he had a mental disease that
prevented him from remaining focused and
controlling his impulses.
An Essex County Superior Court jury
didn’t buy the defense. Druce was convicted
in December 1989 of first-degree murder by
reason of “extreme atrocity and cruelty” and
sentenced to life in prison without parole.
While in the state maximum-security
prison in Walpole, Druce was still making
trouble outside prison walls. He was
convicted in May of sending fake anthrax
from prison to lawyers with Jewish-sounding
names and was sentenced to an additional
37 months in prison. And he also allegedly
mailed his own feces in a letter to the state
attorney general.
His father, Dana Smiledge, of Byfield,
couldn’t be reached by telephone on Aug.
25, but he has told Boston newspapers that
he has disowned his son. Smiledge also has
said his son hated blacks, Jews and gays, and
had threatened his own family.
At a news conference, Conte said that
Druce was proud of what he had allegedly
done to Geoghan, and viewed Geoghan as a
“prize.”
“I am not a psychologist and I am not a
psychiatrist, but I would say that he’s filled
with long-standing hate,” Conte said.
Church Leader: Sex Too
Easy in the Big Easy
Minister Vows to End ‘Orgy in the Streets’
at Southern Decadence Festival
By 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
NEW ORLEANS — A Conservative
Christian leader unveiled plans to make
gays feel unwelcome during the Southern
Decadence Festival, which was scheduled
to begin Friday.
The annual gay event draws more than
100,000 people to New Orleans for a
weekend of partying. But for the Rev Grant
Storms, the festival lives up to its name in
graphic terms.
Storms says there is rampant nudity and
sex in the streets and in gay bars in the Latin
Quarter and he has vowed to close down
the clubs.
On Aug. 25, Storms announced that a
parade of his followers through the area
would take place Friday when the festival
was expected to be in full swing.
“This year’s decadence will not be as
nasty or depraved as last year’s,” Storms
told a news conference. He also dismissed
an economic impact study done on the
festival that shows it brings about $70
million into the local economy.
“There’s no economic gain that justifies
an orgy in the streets,” Storms said. “That’s
all it is—a three-day orgy in the streets.”
Last year, Storms videotaped the
partying on Bourbon Street that he claimed
included shots of men having public sex. He
sent copies of the tape to state legislators,
hoping to bring an end to the celebration.
But, not even conservative Louisiana’s state
house was prepared to ban the event.
The Catholic Church also attacked
Southern Decadence, calling it immoral and
asking Catholics not to participate.
Rip Naquin the organizer of Southern
Decadence dismissed the attacks.
“This is just all gay-bashing, and we’re
easy targets,” Naquin said. “[Storms] thinks
we’re going to run and hide. We’re not.
Southern Decadence will go on.”
Queerleaders
Now—The Fort Lauderdale Queerleaders.
Watch them raise spirits with their splits, tumbles,
batons and towers.
The Queerleaders now recruiting perky
individuals, who will make appearances, raise funds
for local charities and parade in pride events. You
must be 21 years of age. Size doesn’t matter.
If interested in sponsoring this team or trying
out, or if you’d like to be notified about their
appearances, please contact Robby Kendall at
[email protected] or 954.525.7703.
Tori Amos in Concer
Concertt
Sept. 4—Tori Amos will perform at the Sound
Advice Amphitheatre, 601-7 Sansbury’s Way in
West Palm Beach. Tickets start at $35. For more
information and tickets, visit www.CC.com.
Tickets may also be purchased through any
Ticketmaster locations, through Ticketmaster.com
or by phone at 954.523.3309 in Broward,
561.966.3309 in Palm Beach and 305.358.5885 in
Miami-Dade.
MCC Softball Classic
Sept. 7—The Sunshine Cathedral’s MCC
Sluggers Co-Ed Softball team will host a benefit
Softball Classic at Mills Pond Park, beginning at 9
a.m. The Christian Kochan Memorial Softball
Classic was created to commemorate the life of
Christian Kochan, son of Chris Kochan, coach of
the MCC Sluggers. A rare and sudden illness
claimed the life of 10-year-old Christian on July
10, 2003.
As a result of this devastating loss, the
Sluggers were inspired to show their love and
support in a very special way.
The minimum donation for the event is $10
per person with all proceeds going to the Kochan
family and the Buffalo Children’s Hospital. A
special award will be given to the individual or
establishment with the most generous donation to
the cause. The day will begin at 9 a.m., and games
will run until approximately 5 p.m. Each player is
guaranteed to play a minimum of two games.
Following the games, the party and festivities
will continue at Georgie’s Alibi in Wilton Manors.
There will be food, drink specials and raffle
drawings for prizes. For more information and to
sign up for the Classic, call Julie LaMontagne at
954.525.6886 or e-mail at [email protected].
You may also show up at Mills Pond Park at 9 a.m.
to participate.
Gay and Lesbian Play Festival Classic Cars and Motorcycles
Sept. 13-14—Creative Arts Enterprises will
launch the Lavender Footlights Festival, a
weekend of staged readings of gay- and lesbianthemed plays at the Shores Performing Arts
Theater, 9806 NE Second Ave., in Miami.
Play Schedule:
Saturday, Sept. 13
6:30 p.m.—A Road Through Heaven
8:30 p.m.—Legion
Sunday, Sept. 14
3 p.m.—Hannah Free
5 p.m.—Movie Queens
7:30 p.m.—New Love
Tickets are available in advance by calling
305.573.2753.
Tickets are $10 for one show, $25 for three
shows and $40 for all five shows. Boxed
sandwich meals between shows are available if
ordered in advance for $12.50.
For more information, contact Doug
Williford at 305.695.0481 or Ellen Wedner at
305.573.6477.
For more information, visit the website at
www.caemia.org.
Sept. 14—Flamingo Auto Group South, The
Stonewall Knights and Georgie’s Alibi will present
A Classic Car & Motorcycle Show from 11:30 a.m.
to 4 p.m. For more information, e-mail
[email protected] or call 305.856.9361.
Gay Italian Americans to Meet
Sept. 15—GITA, the Gay Italian American
Social Club, has attracted large crowds to its
monthly dinner meetings in its four months of
existence. GITA is organized to provide a multitude
of social and cultural activities for its members. The
group is activity oriented and will be exploring
Italian art, food, culture and travel. Currently the
club is providing Italian Language classes on a
weekly basis. The next dinner meeting is going to
be held at Vico’s Restaurant in downtown Fort
Lauderdale at 7 p.m. Anyone interested in attending
the dinner, joining the group or just wanting more
information about GITA should visit their website
at www.GayGita.com or call 954.257.0922.
MDGLCC Networker
Sept. 19—The Miami Dade Gay & Lesbian
Chamber of Commerce will hold its next monthly
Business Networker from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the
Radisson Deauville, 6701 Collins Ave., in Miami
Beach. Admission is $5 for members and $10 for
nonmembers. For more information, visit
www.gogaymiami.com or call 305.534.3336.
Know Thy Neighbor
Sept. 19—Join Robby Kendall at ArtServe,
1350 E. Sunrise Blvd., for “Know Thy
Neighbor.” Watch as four couples compete for
prizes. Couples are asked to register for this game
show by Sept. 12. Tickets are $7, or reserve your
seats now for $5.
For more information, contact Robby
Kendall via e-mail at [email protected] or
via phone at 954.525.7703.
Theatre Night
Sept. 19—APFL will host Dan Goggins’
original Nunsense at the Broadway Theatre, 1455
S.E. 17 th Street Causeway, in Fort Lauderdale.
A wine and cheese reception will begin at 7:15
p.m., with the curtain up following promptly at
8 p.m.
Tickets are $25 and may be purchased by
calling 954.537.4111 ext. 108.
Etz Chaim Launches
New Website
Sept. 19—Congregation Etz Chaim is proud
to announce the creation of its renovated Website,
www.etzchaimfl.org. Thanks to a lot of hard work
from the members of the Newsletter/Website
Committee, CEC’s web pages are the cyberspace
place to see what is happening and who is making
it happen. On Friday, before and after the
Synagogue’s 8:30 p.m. Shabbat services, you will
be able to view the website on a giant screen with
the aid of a projection system.
Etz Chaim High Hol
y
Holy
Da
ys Sc
hedule
Days
Schedule
Sept. 26-27 and Oct. 5-6—Congregation Etz
Chaim will observe High Holy Days 5764 at the
Samuel M. & Helene Soref Jewish Community Center,
6501 W. Sunrise Blvd., in Plantation. The Rosh
Hashana Evening Service will be at 8 p.m. on Friday,
Sept. 26; and the Rosh Hashana Morning Service will
be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27. The Yom Kippur
Kol Nidre Service will be at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Oct.
5; and the Yom Kippur Morning Service will be at 10
a.m. on Monday, Oct. 6.
AIDS Run & Walk
Nov. 15—The first AIDS Project Florida
(APFL) “AIDS 5K Run & Walk” is stirring a lot of
attention in South Florida.
The event takes place along the Fort
Lauderdale Beach, starting and finishing in South
Beach Park, A1A.
Everyone who comes out to run or walk would
further APFL’s fundraising efforts by having
friends, family and co-workers sponsor them in the
race.
Continued advancement, particularly in the
field of HIV/AIDS, requires funds for research and
education. The “APFL AIDS 5K Run & Walk”
provides the opportunity to raise awareness about
HIV/AIDS and obtain vital funding for our research,
public and professional education and community
service programs.
Registration is $20 in advance and $25 on race
day. For your race fee, you will receive a
commemorative T-shirt. There will also be a variety
of food and beverages for all participants. Donations
and contributions are not required, but are
encouraged.
For information about the event and how to
participate, call 954.537.4111, ext 106.
Prague from Front Page
train station. Two years before that, another
British man was found murdered in an
apartment in Prague 8, northwest of the city
center.
While many gay men in Prague are
quick to point out that the city’s nightlife
does not strictly revolve around prostitution
and Prague remains a nice vacation getaway,
the few locals willing to discuss the murders
said those who do come to Prague for
prostitutes are taking a gamble.
“It is a danger for everybody,” said a
man at one of the local clubs on condition
of anonymity. “It is very bad. Foreigners are
very nervous.”
Other agreed.
“From what I am observing, these
[tourists] are taking an incredible risk,” said
Lazslo Sumegh, the founder of Project
Chance, a civic organization that helps
young homeless boys. “Most of them don’t
even realize how serious it is.”
Sumegh said he is not surprised at all to
hear that a tourist was more than likely killed
by one of the young men he works with. He
added that the number of murders would
likely climb if the police kept a statistical
category for gay-related homicide. “If they
had a category, the numbers would be
terrific,” he said.
Four months after Russell’s body was
discovered, the police have yet to arrest
anyone for the murder, although several
people have been taken in for questioning.
At Pinocchio, one of Prague’s most popular
gay nightspots and a main hub for prostitutes,
few people would discuss the crime out of
fear that publicity could bring
further police harassment and
unwanted attention. Since
“From what I am observing,
Russell’s murder, some men
these [tourists] are taking
have moved apartments and
an incredible risk,” said
others have changed their
Lazslo Sumegh, the founder
phone numbers, according to
men at the club. Hardly anyone
of Project Chance, a civic
interviewed for this story
organization that helps
would allow his name to be
young homeless boys.
used.
“Most of them don’t even
“It is more hype and stress
realize how serious it is.”
for everyone,” said one. “They
are afraid the police will come
in and arrest them.”
Those fears are not
unwarranted. On Aug. 9, police
raided Pinocchio, checking the
identification of the prostitutes
and asking patrons about the
murder. Police originally
suspected a Slovak prostitute
was behind Russell’s murder,
but after questioning and a
DNA test the young blond man with a history
Vladimír, an employee of Toucan
of drugs and criminal activity was released. Apartments, which provides short-term
Citing the ongoing investigation, police rentals to gay and straight tourists, found
spokeswoman Eva Miklikova would only Russell’s body when he went to clean the
say that detectives are following several apartment. He would not give his last name,
leads and that Russell visited several gay but said Russell was renting the apartment
clubs here.
for 14 days and the prostitute had been with
One man at Pinocchio, who also spoke him. Vladimír said he suspected Russell had
on condition of anonymity, said the been drugged, but he said the police had not
prostitute in question had a reputation for confirmed it.
slipping drugs into people’s drinks and
He said the situation has been very
robbing them. He said that soon after the stressful. “It is not nice to find a dead body,”
murder the boy was in the club flashing he said. He added that he was afraid the
around 10,000 Czech crowns or $353.
publicity would hurt business.
Since news of Russell’s murder began
appearing on Internet chat rooms and other
gay forums, concern has been raised that the
community in Prague is not doing enough
to warn travelers of the danger.
Many, such as Herbert Admonty of Los
Angeles, said Prague’s gay community has
instead tried to keep the information
underground and “not rock the boat.”
“I feel they have let down their gay
brothers and sisters abroad,” Admonty said.
“If this happened in any major city in the
States, you can be sure there would be
immediate outreach and a call to action.”
Canada Begins Distributing
Marijuana to PWAs
Ontario Court Strikes Down Laws Against Medicinal Use
By Jack Siu
365Gay.com Newscenter
TORONTO, Canada — Jari
Dvorak leaned back and drew a
long drag on a marijuana
cigarette. The Toronto man
is one of the first
Canadians legally
approved
for
medicinal marijuana.
Dvorak picked up
two 30-gram bags of
marijuana from his
doctor earlier in the day.
The pot had come from
the federal government
by courier. It was sealed
in golden packages
emblazoned with a red Maple
Leaf.
The drug costs Dvorak $150 for each
bag. That’s about $100 cheaper than street
prices. And, since the pot is legal, it is subject
to provincial and federal sales tax.
About 500 Canadians have been
approved by the federal Health Ministry to
receive medical grade marijuana, grown in
an old mine under contract to the
government. Initially, only six people will
be allowed to take advantage of the drug.
Dvorak, who was diagnosed with
HIV about 10 years ago, finds
the drug eases nausea
caused by the regimen
of drugs he takes. He
says he is relieved he
is now able to buy the
pot legally.
“I don’t want to
be a criminal when
I’m buying the
medication
from
dealers,” he said.
“It’s no big deal to get
pot these days, but it’s
costing a lot of money.”
The government reluctantly agreed
to begin distributing pot after an Ontario
court ruled laws preventing its medicinal use
were illegal. The ruling is under appeal. If
the government wins, Dvorak and other
Canadians who use marijuana to treat
illnesses would be forced to return to the
streets to buy their drugs.
Gay U.N. Envoy Dies in Baghdad
The terrorist attack at the United years before breaking up last December.
Nations headquarters in Baghdad claimed at
Hooper had worked in Norway for Fafo,
least one gay victim. Rick
Norwegian for Institute for
Hooper, a gay New Yorker
Applied Social Science,
who worked on peacekeeping
while also serving as
missions for the U.N., died on
assistant to the head of the
Aug. 19 in the explosion, The
U.N.’s special envoy to the
New York Blade reported.
Mideast peace negotiations
According to the Blade,
between the Palestinian
Hooper, 40, lived in Spanish
Authority and Israel, the
Harlem, where he had moved
Blade reported.
He
three years ago with his thenmaintained
apartments
in
Rick Hooper
lover, photographer Robert
Oslo and the Gaza Strip,
Zash. The two were together for nearly five before moving to New York.
Letters to the editor
Houston Anderson’s Special Gift
‘Turned Strangers into Friends’
Everyone who knew Houston Anderson said the same thing: “Houston knows no
strangers.” It was true. Regardless of the venue, Houston turned strangers into friends instantly
with his genuine smile and sincerely felt kind words. He was one of the most generous people
you could meet. He made himself available and open to anyone who needed a “shoulder,” and
his advice was tempered with his own varied experiences and heartfelt concern for everyone
he met. He was loved by more people than most of us could ever be, and he never took that
love for granted; he cherished all of it and fearlessly sought out more.
He was a spiritual human being in the truest sense of the word and felt very connected to
others, the Earth and the universe.
Houston’s wonderful gift of being able to play almost anything he heard on the piano was
his passport into the lives of many people who will never forget his smile, his clear blue eyes
or his laugh. His passing left an empty space in the lives of all those he called “friend,” but he
will live in our hearts forever.
Hank Doucet
Friend
Editor’s Note: A memorial service will be held for Houston Anderson on Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. at
Sunshine Cathedral, 1480 S.W. 9th Ave. in Fort Lauderdale.
Publisher’s Editorial
Spam Ruins the
Pleasures of the Job
Publisher Frustrated by Pleas for a Larger Penis
I am not talking luncheon
meat here. I am talking worms,
blasters, viruses and insects
eating at more than just the heart
and soul of my computer. They
are tearing at my being.
I mean it.
I like being exposed to
pleasurable things. I like coming
home and playing with my dogs,
watching a ballgame, relaxing
on the couch and finding a good
book. After a day at the clinic I
direct, I like coming home and
seeing a draft of The Express as
it is being created each week.
In order to make this paper
as newsworthy as possible, I have ensured
that we receive a wealth of information about
gay life from across the globe. My duty as
publisher is to make sure the items, which
are placed, capture gay life in South Florida
and the world.
Doing that requires I read magazines,
watch the news and review the assortment
of list serves that provide and supply us with
a cross section of national gay-related news
items.
I do not read e-mail anymore. It seems
I just delete it anyway. Even with the best
anti-spam software, I am exposed every day
to a barrage of offensive and demeaning filth
thrown my way, invading my space and
corrupting the pleasures one should be
afforded when opening up your mail.
I don’t want to read anymore about
larger penises, smaller mortgages or how
some Nigerian minister wants to endow me
with $20 million in cash. I don’t even want
to see it. And as a newspaper, can you
imagine, just imagine, how many e-mails I
receive a day; how much time it takes to
decipher the dirt, to find the gem in the
garbage, some level of legitimacy in the
lunacy?
There is an advertiser in West Palm
Beach who wanted to know why I have
ignored three e-mail requests he sent over
the past month, when in each he asked for
an ad rate book because he wanted to spend
money with us. But I did not recognize his
name, the subject seemed like an untoward
solicitation (earn $), so I just deleted him
for four weeks. The same thing happened
with a college buddy I had not seen in 20
years.
He heard me on the radio, and wanted
to drop me a note. I deleted him too.
Ninety percent of what I see is offensive,
sexual and violative of my privacy. I have
come to hate opening up my e-mail, come
to detest the time I spend eliminating garbage
I would never let in my home. It is frequently
unwholesome and spiritually demeaning.
Man, it’s like this: after reading my e-mail, I
almost want to take a bath.
Anyway, I was just thinking about the
toll it takes on my being. Mostly, it seems
these spam sandwiches just make it
unpleasant to do something I used to look
forward to doing—the breaking news story
coming legitimately off the Internet, the new
columnist with a great feature, a surprise note
from a long lost friend. I am about to hire
someone to read my mail for me and screen
out the crap, the ultimate bourgeois executive
perk.
What else can I do? I may even have to
start using one of those anti-spam
mechanisms that gives you automatic
answers and does not allow the e-mail to
reach me unless it is sent a second time by
the sender, so the computer can ascertain
whether it is coming from a computer
android or a breathing body.
I noticed this week columnists in both
the Herald and the Sun-Sentinel postured
about spam and e-mails this week. It is
beginning to take its tolls on newsrooms
everywhere. The cyberspace invasion of
charlatans selling you Viagra is about as
annoying as Moonies used to be in the
airports. And I am beginning to wish I could
react just like Robert Stack did in Airport
75. I want to punch someone in the mouth. I
want to draw blood from their body the way
they have been drawing it from my soul.
Hear Me Out
Harvey Milk School Is Refuge
for Abused Gay Students
Despite Critics’ Claims, It’s Not About Segregation
By Mubarak S. Dahir
Critics of the Harvey Milk School—a
New York City school for gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender high school
students—are misunderstanding and
misrepresenting the goals and purpose of
this special academy.
Contrary to the alarmist yelpings of the
naysayers, the Harvey Milk School does
not have as its goal the segregation and
isolation of gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender students from the mainstream.
It isn’t a step backward for integration or
mutual understanding. It isn’t some covert
plot to overthrow America’s school
systems and set up “Homo High Schools”
all across America.
The school is simply a last-resort
alternative for a small group of gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender students who have
been so harassed, so attacked in their regular
school systems, that they would otherwise
drop out altogether rather than face
continued persecution.
For students who face that grave
choice, the Harvey Milk School is their
safety net. For these students, the option is
usually to go to the Harvey Milk, or not to
go to school at all. For them, the Harvey
Milk School isn’t some horrible
segregationist plot—it is a chance to get
their high school diplomas unimpeded by
anti-gay tauntings and abuse. The school
gives these kids hope and a chance to
complete their education—to go onto a
better future. For many of the kids there, it
is the last hope they have for completing
school.
The Harvey Milk School is a program
of the Hetrick-Martin Institute, which deals
with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
youth. It’s not new. The program started in
1985, as an experimental, alternative school
option for very troubled gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender kids.
But the hoopla over the school started
this summer after New York tabloids
trumpeted the fact that the school district
intends to expand the program over time
from 50 to 170 students, and that the
school’s status will change from one of an
alternative program, to one of a fully
accredited high school. The expansion
begins this fall, when the school plans to
increase its student population from about
50 to around 100 students. The upgrade in
the school is being made possible by $3.2
million from the city’s Department of
Education.
The fact that taxpayer money is being
used to elevate the school has critics up in
arms. The argument is that the public
shouldn’t have to pay for gay segregation.
In fact, one of the school’s harshest
critics, New York State Sen. Ruben Diaz, a
Bronx Democrat, has even brought a lawsuit
against the school. His suit claims that the
school is illegal because it violates the
Education Department’s and the city’s laws
against bias based on sexual orientation. He
also claims that any money going to a
specifically “gay school” is illegal because
it sets up a so-called special class of students,
effectively creating illegal segregation, and
thus robbing money from other schools.
One has to wonder about Sen. Diaz’s
newfound concerns for gay and lesbian
students, and his sudden interest in gay civil
rights. After all, this is the same man who
once tried to stop the Gay Games from
happening in New York City, fearing that
the event would spread AIDS.
But part of the mission of any city’s
public education system is to create an
atmosphere where all kids can get a proper
education. For the kids who voluntarily
enroll in the Harvey Milk School, it’s
obvious that the school system is failing
them at their “regular” schools. The fact that
the Harvey Milk School has a nearly 20year track record of helping such kids, and
the fact that there is already a waiting list to
get into it, shows that the school is working.
The existence of the school, and its
expansion, is also evidence that the school
system is failing to protect and educate gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender students.
No one wants to weed out gay and
lesbian kids from schools, and isolate or
segregate them into a school ghetto. In a
more perfect world, kids would learn from
one another at school that sexual diversity
is natural, normal and healthy.
But we don’t live in that perfect world.
That doesn’t mean that the school systems
shouldn’t continue to improve programs,
diversity training and safeguards at all
public schools.
Someday, maybe a place like the
Harvey Milk School won’t be necessary.
But in the meantime, we shouldn’t turn our
backs on the students who feel so hassled,
so picked on, that they would rather give
up their education—and thus likely their
futures—rather than face the daily horror
of their school lives.
To Sen. Diaz and the other critics of
this program, I have to ask: Where were you
when these kids were getting hounded out
of school?
When Illusions of Youth Collide with Reality
‘In My Mind, I Am Still a Young Stallion…’
John and I believe that age is a mental ourselves and the eternal struggle with aging.
All too often though, what is comes face
thing as well as a physical thing. You are as
young as you feel. Physically, look good, to face with the illusion. In my head, when I
wake up in the morning, I am
feel good and you are good.
still a young stallion who has
Mentally, think young and you John & John
slept the night away naked, and
are young; think old, and you are
am waking up hard. After
old. For John and me, age is a
making mad and passionate love
combination of the physical and
to John, I am ready to leap out
the mental.
of bed and conquer the world.
Some of our youngest friends
But the reality is that I have not
are among the oldest acting; they
slept the night away, because I
think and act old. They can’t bear
have gotten up two or three
to change or learn something
times to go to the bathroom. I’m
new. Some of our oldest friends
chronologically are among our John Templeton not hard (as often) and haven’t
even spoken to John, and I am
youngest friends; they think and
act young. They are alive and active and wearing a nightshirt to keep myself warm.
Instead of leaping out of bed, I slide into my
seeking new and better ways to be.
Surprise! John and I view ourselves in slippers and stumble across the room into
the young group. We strive to be physically the bathroom and find myself staring at some
and mentally fit. We say we go to the gym stranger in the mirror. How can the young
regularly for reasons of health, but primarily stud that I imagine getting up in the bedroom
we want to look good. That means striving be the mature man staring me in the face in
for a 32-inch waist, good arms and bulging the bathroom?
Often when John and I go out for dinner,
calves. We know that we won’t ever be some
super hunk with washboard abs on the front I find myself cruising the waiter. I have been
of Men’s Health; but on the other hand, we known to choose a restaurant because of the
don’t want to be drooling from the cover of waiters rather than because of the food. The
20-something waiter may be tall and
the AARP Journal either.
Mentally we try to keep up. We read swarthy, and have that sophisticated edge
the most current magazines and books, watch about him that I find attractive. He may look
the news each night and listen to the most at me intently, and seem to give me extra
contemporary music. We don’t fight change, personal service; and he may kid with me,
and accept the challenge of keeping up to and make me feel terribly young again. In
date in our thinking and behavior. For men my head, I see the two of us meeting after
our age, John and I feel relatively good about he finishes work for a night of fun and
games.
Reality hits when he speaks
and says, “Sir.” His “sir” is not the
“sir” laden with the sexual
innuendo that lives in my
fantasy world as I
dominate some young
Greek or Italian stud.
It is the “sir” of
respect for someone
much older. It is the
“sir” that my mother
taught me as a child
to give my elders. It
is the “sir” that I do not
want to hear from some
young waiter respecting my
age when I want to make
mad love with him. It is the
“sir” of what is crashing in on
my world of illusion.
Sometimes when I am driving on the
highway, I get stuck behind some older
driver ambling down the freeway going
around 45 or 50 miles per hour. Naturally,
he is in the left lane making it impossible to
pass. I will huff and puff for whatever
number of miles it takes me to finally pass
him and move on with my trip, and I think
to myself, “Thank God, I am not like that.”
Miles later, I will suddenly hear a horn
honking behind me, and a red convertible
will be urging me to pull over into the right
lane so that it can pass. I will look down at
my speed and discover that I am well below
the speed limit. Have I become one of those
older drivers who
hog the road?
All around me, I see
older men. They are
working out at the gym or
shopping at the supermarket. They are telling
the same story again this week that I heard
last week. They go to the afternoon movie,
and they take advantage of the early bird
special. What frightens me is that even if I
am physically fit, and mentally alert, I am
they. In spite of what I think and how I feel,
my illusions of youth crash daily with the
reality of age.
John Templeton is retired and lives
with his partner, John Siegel, in
Atlanta, Georgia. He can be reached
at [email protected].
Mubarak Dahir receives e-mail at
[email protected].
The Drama Queens of Summer Camp
Counselor Offers ‘Queertations’ to Recite by the Fire
It never fails. Come the end of summer, Island) reached the point in the script which
invariably there’s some hale and hardy friend says, “The nuns sing Maria,” she stepped
who tries to convince me to go camping.
downstage, tossed her music aside and
“There’s nothing like
belted: Ma-riiiiia, I’ve just
sleeping outdoors,” he’ll say.
The Gospel kissed a nun named Maria…
“Yes, there is,” I reply. “It’s According
I knew then that I had
called homelessness.”
found my people.
to Marc
I’m what you call the
So it was with great
indoorsy type. My idea of
enthusiasm that I went to see
roughing it is no cell phone
the movie Camp, Todd Graff’s
service and a black and white TV.
nostalgic tribute to summer
I love nature, but I much prefer
drama camps. As someone who
to view it from behind the wheel
spent seven summers in places
of a convertible—or in a
just like Camp Ovation, you
beautifully photographed Sierra
would think I’d find it
Club calendar.
gratifying to see this slice of life
Still, each summer my Marc Acito
presented on the screen. But as
parents tried to instill in me an
I sat in the near-empty theater
appreciation for fresh air and wide-open cackling at jokes so obscure they’re
spaces by packing me off to camp.
practically cryptograms, I was shocked by
Drama camp.
how stunningly irrelevant my life experience
Suffice it to say that while I never must seem.
mastered pitching a tent, I grew quite skilled
(It’s the same feeling I get watching the
at pitching a fit.
Tony Awards, a show almost no one sees in
What can I say? I was a 9-year-old who which the prize for Best Musical is given to
could list all of Judy Garland’s movies. In the only show still running.)
order. (I can’t name my state representative
These are strange times for gay men.
or my blood type, but if you need to know On the one hand, campy behavior has never
what Jude the Insecure was doing in 1944, been more popular. Just look at the huge
I’m your man.)
success of Queer Eye and, in particular,
My first show at camp was a production fashion savant Carson Kressley, a man so
of The Sound of Music that was so low-tech light in the loafers you expect him to fly
the entire family Von Trapp had to squeeze south with the geese in Winged Migration.
behind a prop tree in order to hide from the
On the other hand, consider the fact that
Nazis. At the first rehearsal, when the Mother much of the criticism of the show comes
Abbess (a 15-year-old Jewess from Long from within the gay community—and
mostly from so-called “straight-acting” gay
guys. (Note: If you’re having sex with other
men, you’re not “straight-acting.”) I’ve got
nothing against gay men who can’t dance,
dress or decorate, but their criticism of
effeminacy borders on bullying.
I’m all for the blurring of identities, but
I fear that the screaming queen who loves
Sondheim and quotes All About Eve is fast
becoming an endangered species, destined
to be as marginalized as Renaissance Fair
geeks and those history nerds who do Civil
War re-enactments.
So in an effort to keep the old camp
traditions alive, I’ve prepared a little primer
for you containing the essential
“queertations.” Just think of me as your camp
counselor.
1) Life is a banquet…
A) And the lesbians are blocking the
buffet
B) And all the cater waiters are queer
C) And those poor girls on Friends
haven’t eaten in 10 years
2) Fasten your seat belts, it’s…
A) Howdy Doody Time
B) Raining Men
C) A Long Way to Tipperary
3) I have always depended on…
A) Xanax
B) My credit card
C) The hind ass of strangers
4) Finish the statement made by Saint
Jude
on
the
occasion of her
historic Carnegie
Hall concert: “I’ll
stay all night…”
A) Cause I’m
too drunk to drive
B) Or until my Judy Garland
prescription runs out
C) And we’ll make crank calls to that
dyke Ethel Merman
Don’t know the real answers? You’re
not alone.
VH-1’s recent documentary Totally Gay
cheerfully reported that we are a “post-gay”
society where labels no longer apply.
Apparently, straight guys are now free to
express their inner femme while gay guys
embrace their inner butch (or as I like to call
it, The Lesbian Within).
So I guess it’s only a matter of time
before an NFL linebacker turns to his
teammate and says proudly, “Y’know, just
because I shave my chest doesn’t mean I’m
gay.”
Then his teammate will put his hand on
his hip, cock his head, and say, “But you
are, Blanche, but you are.”
And that, my friends, is The Gospel
According to Marc.
Marc Acito wants to hear your camp stories.
Write him at [email protected].
An Eye for Relationships
How ‘Queer Eye’ Makes the Case for Gay Marriage
The Fab Five of Queer Eye for the it’s usually women we give advice to because
Straight Guy are doing the biggest makeover the men don’t want to have anything to do
of their lives, and they don’t even know it. with us.
Their test subject isn’t some
Can a TV show really
Slouching
unknown schlep or some superstar
influence the acceptance of gay
Through
like Jay Leno. It’s a whole
marriage? Yes, by subverting
institution: Marriage.
the stereotypes that support the
Gomorrah
Like one of its “before and
arguments against it.
after” classics, Queer Eye is
Like the one about gay men
transforming the drab and dour
wanting to “convert” straight
debate over gay marriage into a
men into their way of life,
creative and colorful conversation.
reducing the pool of suitors for
To the untrained eye, Queer
women and thus, reducing the
Eye is about transforming straight
number of marriages. The truth:
slobs into heartthrobs. But the
When it comes to straight men,
show is really about gay men
gays are more interested in
helping straight men connect more Michael Alvear
matchmaking than recruiting.
deeply with the women they love.
Every friend that comes over to my house to
And that strikes at the core of a watch the show cheers for the guy to win the
fundamental argument against gay marriage: girl. It’s like the Gay Super Bowl. We cheer
That gays will destroy heterosexual unions. for our team—straight men, hope they
A perfect example: The episode where a scramble for yardage, and pump our fists in
straight man wanted to ask his girlfriend to victory when they win the game. Or rather,
marry him. Only, he didn’t know how to do it the girl. Gay men don’t want to kick
in a way that would reflect the profound love heterosexual unions in the pants; we want to
he had for her. Enter the Fab Five. Exit the kick them through the goalposts.
doubt.
Or how about the stereotype that total
By the end of the show, the straight man acceptance of gay men will lead to the
cried in front of the gay men for their help in “feminization” of straight men, diminishing
making the most important night of his life a the traditional male role in marriage, therefore
smashing success. His girlfriend said, “Yes.” destabilizing it?
The take-away was inescapable: Gay men
The truth: No matter how many
don’t ruin straight marriages; they help create manicures, pedicures and facials you can
them. Of course, gay men have always helped throw at straight men, they’ll still want to shoot
straight couples head to the altar. The only guns, drink beer, marry women and join the
difference between the show and reality is that military. It’s just that they’ll do it with more
style.
And the final stereotype:
If gay men are allowed to
marry it’ll make it easier for
them to adopt, compromising
their children’s well-being and
ultimately striking at the
foundations of marriage.
Queer Eye skewers that
thought with its basic structure.
Look closely and you’ll see that
the model for the show’s
relationships isn’t friendship, it’s
fatherhood.
The show starts with five gay
men “adopting” a wayward son. They
socialize him like any good father
would: “Sit up straight, open doors for women,
mind your manners, chew with your mouth
shut.”
The greatest example of the show’s gay
parenting theme came in a recent episode
when Kyan, the stylist, watched the straight
guy cleaving rather than shaving his face.
Kyan said, “Didn’t anybody teach you
how to shave?”
“Uhm, no, not really,” said the straight
guy.
The Fab Fathers even teach their adopted
sons not to cuss. A hilarious example: When
Carson, the fashionista, holds up a ghastly shirt
and asks the straight guy where he bought it,
the guy says “Kmart.” Carson puts his fingers
on the guy’s lips and says, “Hey! Don’t you
use that kind of language with me!”
At the end of each episode the Fab Five
get together on the couch and
watch, via closed circuit TV, the fruits
of their labor. Like fathers watching their sons
ride the bike for the first time without training
wheels, you can’t help but be struck by the
depth to which these men care about helping
their “son” win the girl of his dreams.
Politics, religion and morality will
ultimately settle the question of gay marriage.
But television’s pink posse will add an
invaluable perspective as America watches the
Fab Five’s SUV ride into the sunset, having
saved—not ruined—yet another heterosexual
relationship.
Michael Alvear is the author of Men
Are Pigs But We Love Bacon. E-mail
him at [email protected].
The Dilemma of a Mixed-Status Relationship
HIV-Positive Partner Fears He will Infect Negative Boyfriend
Q: I’ve been HIV-positive for over a year
now and have been single that whole time. I
just recently met someone that I really like,
but he is HIV-negative and it has me afraid.
I’m worried that he might get tired of dealing
with HIV and dump me, or worse yet, that I
will infect him. I would never forgive myself
if that happened. He tells me that my status is
not an issue for him, but I still can’t relax,
especially during sex. What should I do? I
really like him.
A: The situation that you describe is one
that every person living with HIV is likely to
encounter at some point in his or her life. You
might be feeling that if you dump him because
he doesn’t have HIV, then you are no different
than someone who dumps you because you
do. I know many HIV-positive people that
only date other HIV-positive people just to
avoid these types of scenarios. However,
experience has shown me that when love finds
us, it doesn’t always conform to the rules that
we’ve set up for it. The simple answer is that
you have to do what works for you in your
life. If you think that your attitude will change least not if you are honest about your HIV
over time, either on your own or perhaps with status on your application. However, I would
the assistance of a counselor, then you might advise against lying because it is both illegal
want to give the relationship a try.
and easily detected from your
HIV ‘N’ Me
However, if you find that you still
medical records. The last thing
can’t relax, even when you aren’t
that you or anyone with HIV
being intimate, then you might be
needs is the added stress that
setting yourself up for an
comes with an angry health
uncomfortable and unsatisfying
insurance company prosecuting
relationship if you continue seeing
you for fraud. The good news is
him. Regardless of what choice
that health insurance offered
you make now, always remember
through an employer is done
that as you grow and change as a
under a group contract rather
person, your attitude on this matter
than on an individual basis. A
Timothy J. Critzer
may do so as well. It might not be
group contract requires the
this way forever.
insurance company to cover all employees,
regardless of their health status. Therefore, if
you land another job, you will likely be
Uninsured and Scared
Q: I just recently left my job and lost my covered under your new employer’s policy.
health insurance. They offered me COBRA Also, your loss of insurance may qualify you
insurance, but I couldn’t afford to pay $300 a to be added to your spouse’s or domestic
month, especially with no job. I saw some partner’s health insurance, depending upon
cheaper insurance advertised in the paper, but their employer’s policy. In the meantime, the
when I applied, they denied my application Ryan White Act has funded clinics around the
because I have HIV. I can’t afford to pay for country that provide basic medical services to
my drugs on my own. I’m really scared. What people with HIV or AIDS. Most states also
if I get really sick? Will I ever be able to get have an AIDS Drug Assistance Program
(ADAP) designed to provide free or low-cost
insurance again?
A: Unfortunately, by U.S. insurance medications to those who qualify, though
industry standards, people like us with HIV several states have waiting lists for their
or AIDS are considered uninsurable. It is program. For more information on these and
strictly a business issue with U.S. insurance other programs, contact a local HIV/AIDS
companies, as our high use of medical services service organization or call your state’s AIDS
is almost guaranteed to make them lose money hotline.
on our policies. This means that you won’t be You can e-mail Timothy Critzer at
able to get health insurance on your own, at [email protected].
Waiting to Die
Three People With HIV/AIDS Die While on Government Waiting List
By Michael James
Three HIV-positive people in West
Virginia have died waiting to receive free
antiretroviral drugs through the state’s AIDS
Drug Assistance Program since it stopped
taking new patients nearly seven months ago,
the AP/Charleston Daily Mail report.
The federal-state ADAP program
provides free or low-cost medication to lowincome HIV-positive individuals who do not
qualify for Medicaid or other drug assistance
programs. Many state ADAP programs,
including the one here in Florida, are
experiencing financial trouble due to high
demand for the drugs, soaring prescription
costs and state budget shortfalls.
West Virginia’s ADAP currently has
340 people enrolled in the program, and
enrollment has been increasing over the past
two to three years, Dr. Faisal Khan, director
of the state’s HIV/AIDS/STD program, told
the Daily Mail.
However, the program does not have
enough funds to cover everyone who needs
treatment; 14 people remain on the
program’s waiting list.
“People are now starting to die while
they’re on the waiting list,” Khan said,
adding, “It is a crisis that will continue.”
Federal funding for the program is based
on the number of people in the state who
have been diagnosed with AIDS, not on the
number of people who use the program.
According to the state Department of Health
and Human Resources, 554 people have
been diagnosed with AIDS in the state, a
small number compared with other states.
However, that number does not include
HIV-positive people who have not yet
developed AIDS or HIV-positive people
who moved to West Virginia after being
diagnosed and counted in another state.
N-9 Gets Slammed
(Officially)
As reported in The Express last year
(Vol. 3, Issue 33, Oct. 7, 2002, “Nonoxynol9 Research Alarms Local Community”), the
use of the spermicide nonoxynol-9 (N-9) not
only is of no help in the prevention of HIV
but actually can increase the risk of spreading
the disease. The reason is that N-9 actually
irritates the area that it contacts due to its
crystal-based formula.
The Express reports were followed in
subsequent months by stories in the Advocate,
365Gay.com and other news sources.
On Aug. 27 of this year, the Kaiser
Network reported that California state
lawmakers, HIV/AIDS advocates and
women’s advocacy groups sent an open
letter to the FDA, manufacturers and retailers
of condoms and lubricants calling for the
country’s largest producers of condoms to
stop using N-9.
The letter—which was signed by state
assembly member Paul Koretz (D),
Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D), AIDS
Healthcare Foundation President Michael
Weinstein and National Women’s Health
Network Board Chair Sonja Herbert—states,
“Until recently, N-9 was believed to be an
effective chemical barrier against HIV and
a variety of other sexually transmitted
infections. Recent studies published by
[UNAIDS], the World Health Organization,
the [CDC] and numerous peer-reviewed
medical journals have concluded that N-9
not only does not help prevent sexually
transmitted diseases, in some circumstances
it actually increases the risk of contracting
HIV.”
The use of N-9 could inflame rectal and
vaginal tissue, exposing blood vessels and
allowing fluids and HIV to be absorbed into
the body more quickly than if N-9 were not
used, according to new research released in
January.
The belief that N-9 could help prevent
HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases,
stemmed from an earlier laboratory report
that stated that the spermicide damages the
cell walls of organisms that cause STDs and
was active against some bacteria and viruses.
However, the same damage can also occur
in the cells lining the vagina and rectum, thus
increasing the risk of STD and HIV
transmission.
Approximately 35 percent of the
condoms sold in the United States contain
nonoxynol-9. Trojan and Lifestyle brand
condoms still contain the spermicide, while
it has been removed from the Kimono line
of condoms. It has also been removed from
Johnson & Johnson’s K-Y Jelly.
Vampire Lesbians—a Bloody Good Time
Campy Play Comes to Life at Sol Theatre
Review by Mary Damiano
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Kala Kaminsky and David Tarryn-Grae
Immortality is a real drag. A
vampire lesbian needs a good
rival to keep life among the
undead interesting.
That’s the thread running
through Charles Busch’s comedy,
Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, now
on stage at the Sol Theatre in Fort
Lauderdale.
Vampire Lesbians of Sodom
is not Busch’s finest work, but it
is one of his most popular. Unlike
some plays whose merits will
shine through no matter who’s
doing it, Vampire Lesbians’ worth
is determined by the strength of
its performers.
The playwright couldn’t ask
for a more capable bunch than the
troupe at the Sol Theatre, which
is why this production is a riproaring good time. Exaggeration
is the keyword here—every line, every
emotion is played to the hilt and over the
top.
Director Robert Hooker unleashes his
actors and keeps things brisk onstage. There
is also free wine for the audience, and theme
nights, to help the audience get into the spirit.
The play’s three acts take its audience
through several thousand years to several
different versions of Sodom. First up is the
ancient city of Sodom, in which a 14-year-
Photo by Steven Shires
old virgin loses a lottery and is served up as
a meal for a hungry, vampish succubus. The
play fast-forwards to a more modern Sodom,
1920s Hollywood. There, a movie queen and
a Broadway diva vie to claim the innocence
of a young starlet. Then, in the modern-day
Sodom of glitzy Las Vegas, a star runs into
a rival and attempts to settle old scores.
The great fun of Vampire Lesbians of
Sodom is that the cast is having a ball, and
their exuberance is infectious. If there
were any scenery on the bare-bones set,
it would be all chewed up by the evening’s
end. Daivd Tarryn-Grae manages to be
both elegant and a walking sight gag in
his flawless make-up, wigs and heels. At
well over six feet tall, he is especially
funny as the 14-year-old virgin sacrifice,
and towers over co-star Kala Kaminski’s
succubus in every scene.
Kaminski is pure vamp with a
sarcastic wit and sense of humor.
Kaminski acts with her eyes and
her body, and even if she never
uttered a word of dialogue
you’d know exactly what she
was saying.
Jim Gibbons turns in
another quirky character
performance as Etienne, a gaunt
butler with a murderous past.
Gibbons is an expert at being
funny while giving you the
creeps. Jeff Holmes is another
standout, as a Hollywood gossip
columnist with a hidden agenda.
Just seeing Holmes in a wig and
dress with his feet crammed into
heels is enough to make you fall
out of your seat laughing.
The Sol Theatre’s production
of Vampire Lesbians of Sodom is
great fun, just the thing to breathe
a little life into a the waning
theatre season.
Vampire Lesbians of Sodom runs
through Sept. 14 at the Sol Theatre,
1140 N.E. Flagler Dr. in Fort
Lauderdale. Showtimes are Thursday,
Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday
at 6 p.m. General admission is $20,
but there are student and senior
discounts, as well as lots of promotions
offering deep discounts. To make
reservations, call 954.525.6555.
By Charlene Lichtenstein
For the week of 9/1/03
The end of the summer brings happy endings to unresolved issues so let's
welcome September and its harvest moon. Mercury, Pluto and Mars change
course as Venus and the Sun amble into lovely Libra. Is it possible to have too
much of a good thing? Oh why not try!
ARIES (MARCH 21 - APRIL 20)
The greatest challenge you face now is to balance work with personal
satisfaction. Do you feel that what you do is not in sync with who you are? Pluto
comes to the rescue with a much needed escape to recharge. Don't forget to pack
the batteries!
TAURUS (APRIL 21 - MAY 21)
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, even if it differs from yours. Proud
Bulls may feel that friends are holding them back from true divahood. September
teaches you the difference between anchors and dead weights. Be sure to ask the
right seaman…
GEMINI (MAY 22 - JUNE 21)
Pink Twins cannot seem to please both employers and family and, just as you
cannot dance at two parties with only one tush, it is unfair to expect you to please
all the people all the time. Please yourself and the believers will follow.
CANCER (JUNE 22 - JULY 23)
September is the month to make yourself heard loud, proud and queer, even if
you think no one is listening. Not only are you fanning the air, you are making
a tsunami. Walk the gangplank and blow a few mast heads down, pink Crab.
Ahoy matey!
LEO (JULY 24 - AUGUST 23)
Redirecting planets are focusing on your finances and what you truly value in
life. Does money buy happiness, proud Lion? Not necessarily but it certainly
can buy tubloads full of expensive champage and lurid party weekends in gay
Paree.
VIRGO (AUGUST 24 - SEPTEMBER 23)
Life is a balancing act and you feel more in control of your life this September.
Gay Virgos are not usually the pioneering type, but the planets are sending you
on an expedition, alone if necessary. Yet you discover many new acquaintances
on the way….
LIBRA (SEPTEMBER 24 - OCTOBER 23)
Your intuition is on target as a pride parade of planets ying and yang
between the practical and the ephemeral. But don't abandon your obligations; the
cosmic flow can take you to the trash heap as easily as the top drawer. But maybe
you are into trash??
SCORPIO (OCTOBER 24 - NOVEMBER 22)
September brings a series of choices. Are you self made or a product of your
social environment, gay Scorp? The test comes when redirecting planets force a
standoff between you and your pals. Will you graze with the herd or munch on
your own?
SAGITTARIUS (NOVEMBER 23 - DECEMBER 22)
Proud Archers can parlay their talents into a bonafide corporate success. But
partners are unimpressed. Will you be pressured into compromising your gains
for their own selfish purposes? It is lonely at the top, but try seeing life
from the bottom...
CAPRICORN (DECEMBER 23 - JANUARY 20)
Pink Caps want to make a global splash. Redirecting planets speed you along
and pay the ticket. Are you packing too many ideas in your knapsack? Who
cares! Make your opinions known and there will be someone to help you carry the
rainbow flag.
AQUARIUS (JANUARY 21 - FEBRUARY 19)
Everyone and everything has its price. This September you have to decide if
the price for a sexy bauble is too high. Question the value of the company you
upkeep. Are you a well endowed benefactor, Aqueerius? I guess the situation
could be worse.
PISCES (FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 20)
There are times when your opinion is simply not as compelling as your partner's.
Guppies should heed others advice before taking a course of action. Those who
love you, warts and all, have your best interests at heart and hold you up to the
mirror. Uh oh.
© 2003 MADAM LICHTENSTEIN, LLC., All Rights Reserved.For Entertainment Purposes Only. Check out her
site www.AccessNewAge.com/Stargayzer for egreetings, horoscopes and Pride jewelry. Her book “HerScopes; A
Guide To Astrology For Lesbians” from Simon & Schuster is available at bookstores and major booksites.
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Jay McLaughlin, Carlos Marquez, Tom Zerella and Chaz
Miller at the GLCCSF’s Monte Carlo Night
Dr. Grover Lawlis and Nate Klarfeld at the
GLCCSF’s Monte Carlo Night
The RoughRiders perform a “Can Can” a the GLCCSF Monte Carlo Night
Charles Jacquer and Bob Bolen at Monte Carlo Night
Doug Curitor and Joe Bush watch as Charlie
rolls his dice at Monte Carlo Night
Edgar Hernandez deals to Mike Cruz, Bob Boen and others at Monte Carlo Night
Rod and Ed at the Gay Male
Empowerment Group (GMEG)
Herb Williams and John Newmark of East
Las Olas Psychological Group at GMEG
Gretchen and Ian Flanders at Monte Carlo Night
GLCC President Linda Woods deals a winning
hand at the GLCC Monte Carlo Night
Hector and Richard at the GMEG
Nora Gusel and Lori Pristo with Bill Peters (center) at
the GLCCSF Founders party
Ric and Walter at the GMEG
Bob, Tony, Hal and Gil at the GLCCSF Founders
Party
Bill Peters, new GLCCSF director, addresses his first Founders party
Marg, Molly,Carrie, Carla and Greg at the GLCCSF
Founders Party
Thome, Werner, Scott and John at the GLCCSF Founders party
Greg Moore takes a needed feeding break
at the GLCCSF Founders party
Photo by Pompano Bill
The APFL team at the Poverello Bowl-A-Thon
Mario Rosaria, Poverello VIP,
celebrating a birthday at the
Poverello Bowl-A-Thon
The Georgie’s Alibi team at the Poverello BowlA-Thon, held at Manor Lanes in Wilton Manors
The Bravo team at the Poverello Bowl-A-Thon
David Sneider at the Bowl-A-Thon
The Cathode Ray team at the Poverello Bowl-A-Thon
The Women’s Alliance of South Florida
team at the Poverello Bowl-A-Thon
Billy Gilliad and Anita Fixx at
the Poverello Bowl-A-Thon
The Tropics team at the Poverello Bowl-A-Thon
Scott Wyman and Jim Geaves after the
Source Spa Grand Opening Party
Dio Berrora, Debbie AcevedoKeneipp, and Ed Lacy at Source Spa
Norm Kent, executive director of APFL, eying a strike
The Hamburger Mary's team at the Poverello
Bowl-A-Thon
Source Spa staff hosting their grand opening
Jeff Hammonds, Toby White and Patrick
Schmid, at the Source Spa grand opening
Jeff Hammonds, Jeffery Jacobs, Eric Messer and Dave Grasher at Source Spa
Harry Kenny and Derek Courtney at the
Source Spa grand opening party
Ana M. Puga, MD, and James Blood of Children's Diagnostic and Treatment Center
Owner of Source Spa Marc Silverstone
and his nephew, Lewis
Eduardo and Gerard at the Source Spa grand opening party

Thou Shalt Not Hate - To Parent Directory

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