This document provides information on various Pride events happening in June across the Midwest, including in Capital City, Cedar Rapids, Heartland region, Iowa City, and the Quad Cities area. Representatives from the Pride organizations in these areas shared the inspiration or themes for their 2013 Pride celebrations. One theme highlights the 35th anniversary of a Pride festival and the progress made towards LGBT equality and marriage rights since the first Pride march. The document also includes interviews on the history and mission of the DignityUSA Catholic organization and the comic strip "Kyle's Bed & Breakfast".
This is the letter that was sent by pastors asking President Obama to make a religious exception in the law concerning the hiring of LGBT individuals by religious organizations. Under current plans, President Obama would require religious organizations to hire members of the LGBT community in order to compete for dollars which have traditionally been delivered to religious organizations to help them serve the community and public. Will Obama respond favorably? Or will he simply impose his views without regard to closely held religious practices? We will see.
This is the letter that was sent by pastors asking President Obama to make a religious exception in the law concerning the hiring of LGBT individuals by religious organizations. Under current plans, President Obama would require religious organizations to hire members of the LGBT community in order to compete for dollars which have traditionally been delivered to religious organizations to help them serve the community and public. Will Obama respond favorably? Or will he simply impose his views without regard to closely held religious practices? We will see.
Essence the Brave begins on pg. 5 of the magazine.
This article discusses an incident my daughter Essence experienced as I was getting my degree in Kirksville, MO. A small town in NE Missouri, Kirksville houses some of the nicest people you will ever meet. It also is home to some of the most close-minded! Essences 5-year experience in Kindergarten taught me a lot about being brave, standing up for your ideals, and never loosing the goodness that we all have inside.
An honor killing or shame killing is the murder of a member of a family, due to the perpetrators' belief that the victim has brought shame or dishonor upon the family,
"Moving Beyond Bikelash!" Presented by Doug Gordon & Aaron Naparstek at the 2...naparstek
So you've got yourself some new bike lanes in your city. Great. But guess what you might also have? A bikelash! From cranky columnists complaining about scofflaw cyclists to parking-obsessed NIMBYs who never waste an opportunity to remind you that "this isn't Amsterdam," the addition of a bike lane to your community can open up a Pandora's box of bike hate. But fear not!
Using the tools of social media, old and new journalism, and even improv comedy, changing the conversation and moving beyond the bikelash can happen faster than you think. You just have to help it along.
A presentation by Aaron Naparstek of Streetsblog and MIT's Department of Urban Studies & Planning and Doug Gordon of BrooklynSpoke,com, at the 2014 National Bike Summit in Washington D.C., March 4, 2014
Essence the Brave begins on pg. 5 of the magazine.
This article discusses an incident my daughter Essence experienced as I was getting my degree in Kirksville, MO. A small town in NE Missouri, Kirksville houses some of the nicest people you will ever meet. It also is home to some of the most close-minded! Essences 5-year experience in Kindergarten taught me a lot about being brave, standing up for your ideals, and never loosing the goodness that we all have inside.
An honor killing or shame killing is the murder of a member of a family, due to the perpetrators' belief that the victim has brought shame or dishonor upon the family,
"Moving Beyond Bikelash!" Presented by Doug Gordon & Aaron Naparstek at the 2...naparstek
So you've got yourself some new bike lanes in your city. Great. But guess what you might also have? A bikelash! From cranky columnists complaining about scofflaw cyclists to parking-obsessed NIMBYs who never waste an opportunity to remind you that "this isn't Amsterdam," the addition of a bike lane to your community can open up a Pandora's box of bike hate. But fear not!
Using the tools of social media, old and new journalism, and even improv comedy, changing the conversation and moving beyond the bikelash can happen faster than you think. You just have to help it along.
A presentation by Aaron Naparstek of Streetsblog and MIT's Department of Urban Studies & Planning and Doug Gordon of BrooklynSpoke,com, at the 2014 National Bike Summit in Washington D.C., March 4, 2014
Sailpoint Training by expert consultants with hands-on. Join for Sailpoint IdentityIQ Online Training with us. we deliver corporate training for sailpoint"
Featuring Articles from:
Sara Stewart, Tabor 100 Lobbyist
Linda Kennedy, Tabor 100 Member
August General Meeting and 18th Annual Captains of Industry Gala Photos Courtesy of Flyright Productions
1. Page 13Page 10 Page 26Page 18 Page 23
What’s the theme
behind your Pride?
By Angela Geno-Stumme
Clifton Murray
TT page 11
What’sInside:Section 1: News & Politics
Letter to the Editor:LGBT Equality and SmallTown Iowa 3
Advertising rates 3
FFBC Scholarships 4
From the Heartland by Donna RedWing 5
Remarkables by JonathanWilson 5-6
Pride of the Bullied byTony Dillon-Hansen 6
Shrink Rap by LorenA Olson MD 7
Be Proud,BeAware,BeYourself by PaulWhannel 8
Tom Joyner’s homophobic message by Rev.Monroe 8
Minor Details:Pride by Robert Minor 9
Just Sayin’ by Beau Fodor 10
Creep of theWeek by D’AnneWitkowski 10
Section 2:Fun Guide
Entertainment Picks for the Month 11
Clifton Murray:Leads withHis Heart byArthur Breur 11
Inside Out:MyTribe by Ellen Krug 12
WiredThisWay by Rachel Eliason 13
How to Get Skinny:13 Rules by DaveyWavey 13
Midwest Pride Events 15
Finding that PerfectVenue By Scott Stevens 15
The NKOB are showing their Pride 18
I.C.Kings are bursing with Pride this June! 23
The Bookworm Sez byTerri Schlichenmeyer 26
Comics and Crossword Puzzle 26-27
How Far Out? By Bruce McCabe 27
PFLAG - Des Moines Chapter Meeting 28
SSSS=Second Saturday Social at Six 28
Transformations Iowa Meeting 28
Section 3:Community
FFBC:Sean Faircloth by Bruce Carr 29
New GOglbt Business Referral Group 29
PrimeTimers of Central Iowa 29
The Project of the Quad Cities 29
PITCH Calendar 2013 29
Pastor’s Pen:Foundation of Sexual Ethics by Rev.Page 31
Ask Lambda Legal :HIV Disclosure by Scott Schoettes 31
Business Directory 32-33
Blazing Saddle Promotes“Get Screened” 34
Health Care Equality by Ejay Jack 34
Diversity Focus Reports Understanding of Diversity 36TT B&B continued page 35
TT MINNESOTA continued page 4
Minnesota Legalizes
Same-Sex Marriage
by Angela Geno-Stumme
ACCESSlineCelebrates
Kyle’sBed&Breakfast
interviewbyArthurBreur
DignityUSA: You
can be LGBT &
Catholic interview by
Angela Geno-Stumme
InterviewbyArthurBreur
TT PRIDE continued on page 4
June is Pride month and throughout the Midwest
and the nation, people are getting together to celebrate
Pride. But there’s a theme flowing through those Pride
events, there’s inspiration driving everyone to celebrate.
Some Pride Fests will take a theme and change it year to
year, and some will be inspired by a permanent mission.
What is your Pride’s theme? Individuals from Capital City
Pride, Cedar Rapid Pride Fest, Heartland Pride, Iowa City
Pride, and QC Pride have taken the time to share their
inspiration or theme for Pride 2013.
“It’s our 35th Annual Pride Festival and the theme
was inspired by the beginning of Pride with 4 men
walking to the capital—one of those 4 men is Mongo
(Robert Eikelberry). From those 4 men walking to the
capital, to us 35 years later with gay marriage legal in
Iowa and many states following suit—that’s the focus
behind the theme.
What I hope people take away from this theme is
DignityUSA believes
LGBT Catholics should have
dignity within the Catholic
Church. It is organized to
unite gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgender Catholics,
as well as their families,
friends and loved ones in
order to develop leadership,
andbeaninstrumentthrough
which they may be heard by
and promote reform in the
Church. Executive Director
Marianne Duddy-Burke talks about DignityUSA’s history,
advocacy, public awareness, and her own beginnings with
DignityUSA.
How was DignityUSA started?
Marianne Duddy-Burke
TT DIGNITYUSA continued on page 30
Greg Fox is the author and artist for Kyle’s Bed & Break-
fast, a serial comic strip about a number of people living in a
bed and breakfast in Northport, New York. The characters
of the strip are predominantly, but not exclusively, gay men,
andtheircontinuingstorylinesandcreativelyillustratedlives
have graced the pages of The ACCESSline for 10 years, this
month. InadditiontobeingsyndicatedinLGBTpublications
acrossthecountry,Greghaspublishedtwobookscontaining
the strips and is working on compiling the third book now.
ArthurBreurhadtheopportunitytotalkwithGregaboutthe
conceptandtheexecutionoftheseengaging,imaginary—but
all-too-real—characters and the world they live in.
Where did the concept of Kyle’s Bed and Breakfast
come from?
I’d been playing around with the idea of doing a comic
strip with gay characters, just because I was working in the
comic book industry doing very mainstream kind of stuff
before this. I had always in the back of my mind wanted
to try something with gay characters. The one thing that
triggered it for me is the baseball character. I was working
OnMay13th
theMinnesotaSenatevotedtomakesame-
sexmarriagelegalwithavoteof37-30,thishappenedfour
days after the House passed the bill with a vote of 75-59.
On May 14th
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed
the Freedom to Marry bill on the Capitol steps. The law
legalizes same-sex marriage and recognizes marriages of
same-sex couples who’ve wed outside of the state, start-
Minneapolis, MN I35 Bridge
4. ing August 1st
.
Minnesotans and individuals
throughout the nation celebrated this
step towards equality. Artist Rachael
Kilgour of Duluth, MN had this to say:
“I am thrilled to have won the freedom
of marriage here in
my home state of
Minnesota. As I look
around me at my
friendsandmentorsin
the GLBT community,
I realize how privi-
leged I have been as a
lesbian woman of my
generation. The folks
who came before me endured unimagi-
nable trials for the freedom and respect I
enjoy today. I am eternally grateful. The
campaign for marriage equality has been
brilliantlyexecuted,andIhopewewilltake
our organized energy and keep moving
forwardonthemany,manysocialinjustices
that continue to exist in our society.”
ACCESSline columnist Ellen Krug of
Minneapolis, MN stated that the legaliza-
tion of same-sex marriage in Minnesota
came about “as a result of over-reaching
by political and religious conservatives in
the 2012 elections”.
She goes on to state that a previous
passed bill defining marriage as between
one man and one
woman led to a ballot
initiative aimed at
amending Minnesota’s
constitution to define
marriage as between
one man and one
woman.
“The advantage
to doing that, as ultra
conservativessawit,wasthatiftheamend-
ment passed, it would take a popular vote
to change the definition of marriage (e.g.
to allow gay marriage), something that’s
far more difficult than simply having state
legislators vote in gay marriage,” stated
the history of pride. The silent years of
hiding ones true self, the struggles and
risks through the Stonewall Riots, and
groups being formed to fight for equal
rights and gaining more LGBT places to
socialize at as successes. To today, fight-
ing the same struggles, such as; bullying,
suicides, bashings, to celebrating pride
and gay marriage within Iowa. I hope
they are inspired to celebrate through
the past silences and stances everyone
has made for us to be where we are right
now. Celebrating Capital City Pride’s 35th
Annual PrideFest that
started with 4 and has
become a Pridefest of
over 10,000. Such a
cause for celebration.”
Kerry Weyers,
Capital City Pride
“I designed the
2013 CRPride Fest
logo that won, the theme subtext is
“Shades of Pride”. Not because I wanted
to play off the “shades of grey” book
everyone is well aware of, but the theme
reinforces the fact there isn’t one type of
gay or transgendered person. Just like
with straight people, there is a wide array
of personalities, styles, ethnicities and
interests when it comes to self expression
and finding a partner. It is so refreshing
to see people break out of molds society
has placed them in, breaking the rules of
the “gaydar” and being proud of whom
you are as an individual, inside and out.
People shouldn’t be described or
referenced by their sexuality—that is
just one tiny aspect of what makes up
a person. “Shades of Pride” proves that
Cedar Rapids has a slow uprising of people
coming out in the community—people
choosing to be amongst other gays, to
build friendships and a family bond. But
also there has been a rise in the number
of straight people that come out to Club
CO2 to enjoy the New King on the Block
shows. Pride is advocating acceptance and
love—for anyone. It’s not just about being
proud of your sexuality and flaunting it,
but rather being out in public with open
arms to invite anyone to come join in the
festivities.”
Alana Hyatt, CR Pride Fest theme
winner
“Our theme this year is LIVE PROUD.
The theme was chosen from a list of 5
themes that we put up to a public vote.
The one that resonated with our commu-
nity is LIVE PROUD. We wanted a theme
that would have people immediately take
action! Just saying LIVE PROUD makes
people stand a little bit taller and feel a
little bit stronger.
We want people to walk away with a
greater sense of being proud of who they
are. In the world today we still have too
many kids who are turning to suicide as
an option to escape the hate and bully-
ing in this world and we wanted a theme
that everyone would be able to gain some
confidence from. Our goal was to inspire
all people to hold their heads up high and
LIVE PROUD!”
Beth Rigatuso,
Heartland Pride
“Our goal is to
build community and
acceptance through
Events that Celebrate
Diversity. This is also
ourMissionStatement.
So when we invite people to perform or
to be a vendor at our Pride, we accept
those individuals that are good people
that want to make connections with other
good people.
We usually have over 40 vendors that
are from churches, political parties, small
businesses, businesses that are just trying
to get off the ground, social groups and
nonprofit organizations.
Onourstagewewillhavelocalsingers
and multiple performance groups, and all
are guaranteed to be upbeat. Our festival
and parade are located in the downtown
area of Iowa City on and around the Ped
Mall.”
Jewell Amos, Iowa City Pride
Living out loud, no matter who you
are, lets us recognize our own value and
magnificence as a human being. It gives
us permission to accept ourselves and
to accept others who are living out loud;
creating an atmosphere of acceptance,
generosity and love. In turn, a culture of
knowing how to live out loud and accept-
ing others will create a world full of new
possibilities rather than languishing in
old probabilities!
Jeff Simpson, QC Pride President
Pride is unique to the person, to the
time, and to the area. But we all celebrate
Pride in ourselves, our friends, our family,
and most definitely our history. Take these
themes and inspirations to heart this
month when you are celebrating Pride. TT MINNESOTA cont’d page 16
I hope they are inspired
to celebrate through the past
silencesandstanceseveryone
has made for us to be where
we are right now.
SS continued from page 1
PRIDE
Ten 2013 Iowa high school graduates
were awarded the First Friday Breakfast
Club (FFBC) Scholarship for their efforts in
promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-
gender (LGBT) acceptance and highlighting
LGBT issues. Each scholarship is valued at
$2,500.
The ten recipients were: Rebecca
Barrett, Iowa City; Lily Clark, Norwalk;
Gabriella Daft, Newton; Christopher Krebill,
Donnellson;NadiaLoeppke,Dubuque;Char-
lotte Mann, Ames; Tanner Mote, Mt. Vernon;
Josie Mumm, Davenport; Christopher
Reising, Le Mars; and Jade Riley, Sioux City.
“Thesestudentshavegonetosignificant
lengths to call attention to LGBT issues,”
said FFBC President Jonathan Wilson. “We
honor their efforts in making their schools
and communities safer and more accepting
places.”
The recipients were involved with a
variety of activities including: establishing
gay-straight alliances (GSA’s), speaking out
against violence and bullying, organizing
alternativeproms,promotingsuicidepreven-
tion,servingonIowaPrideNetwork’sleader-
ship team, and organizing LGBT-awareness
events in their schools like the National Day
of Silence.
FFBC presents the scholarships to
the recipients at their high school senior
recognition ceremonies. Students and
their families will also gather for an award
ceremony during FFBC’s June 7 meeting at
Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines.
Since1997,FFBChasawarded$160,000
in scholarships to Iowa high school seniors
planning on post-secondary education.
FFBC is an educational, non-profit Des
Moinesbreakfastgroupforgay,bisexualand
transgender men. FFBC works to reduce
discrimination based on sexual orientation
andgenderidentityandpromoteacceptance.
Thegroupstrivestoprovideopinionleaders
and the general community with positive
images of LGBT people. FFBC, Iowa’s largest
breakfast club, meets monthly. For more
information go to ffbciowa.org.
Ten Students Receive FFBC
Scholarships for Promoting
LGBT Acceptance
SS continued from page 1
MINNESOTA
AsIlookaroundmeatmy
friends and mentors in the
GLBT community, I realize
how privileged I have been
as a lesbian woman of my
generation.
JUNE 2013ACCESSline Page 4
Section 1: News & Politics
5. Time For Some
Good Ol’-Fashioned
Discrimination
Before there were employment
protections written into Iowa law to guard
against discrimination based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation, I advocated
theinitiationofa“Fire aStraight”Day. The
idea,whichneverreallycaughton,wasthat
onthedesignateddaygayemployerswould
terminate the employment of a straight
staffmemberfornootherreasonthanthat.
I,forexample,haveaterrificsecretarywho
has been with me and supportive for many
years and throughout my coming out. She
has also been indispensible to the success
of the First Friday Breakfast Club. Her
capabilities, loyalty, and support could not
be questioned. That was the whole point.
If she was fired admittedly because she is
straight, it would bring home, graphically,
the lack of legal recourse for such an injus-
tice. The objective was to call to people’s
attention the fact that there are both gay
andstraightemployeesandemployers,and
theneededprotectionwouldprotectevery-
one. The idea never caught on because it
relied upon an obvious injustice—and we
live in Iowa where most folks are pretty
fair-minded. Hurting the innocent to
express homophobia or to make a point
would be equally anathema.
Thatsaid,Irecentlyreceivedasolicita-
tion from my insurance agent asking that
I renew my various insurance policies. I
have LOTS of insurance: auto; property
on multiple properties; public liability;
umbrella—you name it and I’ve got it. I
was confident he’d like to retain my busi-
ness.
Emboldened by
the aging process, I
found myself remind-
ed of an old hymn that
says that for each of us
there comes a moment to decide between
rightandwrong,betweenthegoodandthe
evil side—to take a principled stand. So I
called my insurance agent and told him I’d
received the solicitation and that I was at a
decision-pointinmylife. I’ddecidedtogive
preferenceinmybusinessdealingstothose
who support gay marriage; that seemed
emblematic of all things gay supportive.
I figured that if he were supportive of
equal access to marriage I could be fairly
confident he was supportive on other pro-
equality issues without being asked. I told
him I wouldn’t necessarily drop my insur-
ancethroughhim,butIwouldforsureshop
myinsuranceportfoliowithothers. IfIhad
his assurance on the marriage question, I
wouldn’t feel any need to
go shopping.
There was a preg-
nant pause, as you might
imagine. He said he’d
never been asked such a
question in his business
dealings. I said that he’d
never be able honestly to
say that again.
He then added, in
the hope that it would
placate me, that he does
not discriminate against customers based
upon their sexual orientation, nor do the
companies he represents. That was good,
as far as it went. It didn’t go far enough.
From years of conducting depositions I
have gained some skills in both asking
precise questions and then listening
carefully for truly responsive answers. I
pointedouttohimthathiswasn’t. Iwasnot
particularly surprised
about his willingness
to take money from
anyone, regardless
of sexual orientation.
Also I was not particu-
larly impressed by it either. I wanted to
know specifically about gay marriage.
There was another pregnant pause.
It was then that I realized that my life
decision-point was being shared with him.
He had a choice to make also. He similarly
had to choose between right and wrong,
between good and evil. And he chose to
do the right thing (whatever the motive).
He said unequivocally that he is in favor of
equal access to marriage. Thus satisfied,
I reviewed with him my coverages and
renewed the portfolio. I have, since that
incident, repeated it several times with
others and with similar outcomes.
The idea is not unique to me. I read
an article recently about the potential
that Rush Limbaugh may soon be parting
companywiththeCumulusRadionetwork.
A high-ranking Cumulus Radio official was
quoted as saying that 48 of the top 50
network advertisers have ‘excluded Rush
andHannity’orders. “Everymajornational
ad agency has the same dictate.”
Thepointtobetakenisthatmyexercise
ofmybuyingpower,ifreplicatedbyenough
others, could have a cumulative impact
and without doing a serious injustice like
a “Fire a Straight” Day directed drone -like
against the innocent. The fact is that any
single advertising purchaser would not
impact Cumulus Radio’s commitment to
RushLimbaugh. Butwhenthenumbergets
to 48 of the top 50 advertisers, a decision
has to be made and folks find motivation
to choose the right thing. The end result is
the same whether someone chooses to do
the right thing for a mercenary motive or
with a genuine attitude of altruism.
Are you at a decision-point yet?
The tee shirt that every hip Iowan will
wear to the Twin Cities Pride Celebration
at Loring Park, June 28-30th, will be the
newestofferingfromRaygunofDesMoines:
“Minnesota is finally as gay as Iowa!”
On May 13th, the Minnesota Senate
voted37-30toextendthefreedomtomarry
togayandlesbiancouples.Theweekbefore,
the Minnesota House
voted75-59toapprove
a similar bill with
bipartisan support.
The marriage trifecta
began with Rhode
Island, followed by
Delaware and finished
with Minnesota. Last November Minnesota
voters rejected a proposed constitutional
amendment that would have excluded
gay and lesbian couples from marriage
with clergy and community and groups
like Minnesotans United for All Families,
building on the historical work of Outfront
Minnesota and others.
No longer will Iowa stand as the only
state in the Midwest to extend the freedom
tomarry. TogetherIowaandMinnesotaare
the centerpiece of marriage equality maps,
which are now anchored by Washington
StatetoourwestandNewEnglandandmid
Atlantic states to our east.
How will the bipartisan vote in Minne-
sota impact Iowa? Perhaps fewer couples
from The North Star State will cross the
borderintoIowatogetmarried. Mymarried
friendsinMasonCity,whofrequentlytravel
in Minnesota, will no longer, as they say,
“feel divorced” when
they cross that border.
The legislative vote in
Minnesota, coupled
with our 2009 Iowa
Supreme Court ruling,
clearly demonstrates
that marriage equal-
ity is not an anomaly in the middle of the
country; it is not a coastal thing. It is, quite
frankly, the beginning of a national move-
ment, one that will end only when all loving
committed couples in every one of our
UnitedStateshavetheopportunitytomarry.
Ahandfulofourlegislatorsmadeafew
feeble attempts this year to derail marriage
equality and further punish the justices in
the Varnum ruling (with reduced salaries).
They should take a long hard look at the
numbers in the Minnesota vote. It was a
bipartisan vote. There were Republicans
who had the courage to put themselves on
the right side of history. In Iowa we have
seenthatkindofcouragefromconservatives
like former state senator Jeff Angelo and
political strategist David Kochel.
As the pundits and politicians begin to
prepare for the First-in-the-Nation 2016
caucuses, we have a phenomenal opportu-
nity to celebrate marriage, and to highlight
our ‘wins’ for the nation and for the world.
The state now recognizes children born to
lesbian couples as having two parents on
theirbirthcertificate,ensuringfullparental
rightsforbothparentsandequaltreatment
for gay and heterosexual couples. We have
celebrated more than six thousand same-
gendermarriagesinIowasincetheVarnum
ruling.Thesunstillriseseverymorning. We
have not gone to hell in a hand-basket. My
marriage to my life-partner of 26 years will
not diminish anyone else’s marriage. The
world moves forward. And Iowa, in those
heady pre-caucus weeks and months and
years, has an opportunity to model what
equality means.
Congratulations are in order to our
friends to the north. They worked so hard
and so long for marriage equality. But let
us not forget, we got there four years ago.
No longer will Iowa
stand as the only state in
the Midwest to extend the
freedom to marry.
From the Heartland by Donna Red Wing, Executive Director One Iowa
Donna Red Wing is the Executive
Director of One Iowa. She served
as Executive Director of Grassroots
Leadership, as Chief of Staff at
Interfaith Alliance, she was a member
of the Obama’s kitchen cabinet on
LGBT concerns, and was Howard
Dean’s outreach liaison to the LGBT
communities. Red Wing was the first
recipient of the Walter Cronkite Award
for Faith & Freedom. Red Wing serves
on the national board of the Velvet
Foundation, which is building the
national LGBT museum in Washington,
DC. Contact Donna at OneIowa.org or
donna@oneiowa.org.
Jonathan Wilson is an attorney at the
Davis Brown Law Firm in Des Moines,
and chairs the First Friday Breakfast Club
(ffbciowa.org), an educational, non-profit
corporation for gay men in Iowa who
gather on the first Friday of every month to
provide mutual support, to be educated on
community affairs, and to further educate
community opinion leaders with more
positive images of gay men.
It is the largest breakfast club in the
state of Iowa. He can be contacted at
JonathanWilson@DavisBrownLaw.com.
Remarkables by Jonathan Wilson
Hesimilarlyhadtochoose
between right and wrong,
between good and evil.
ACCESSline Page 5JUNE 2013
Section 1: News & Politics
6. Warning, the following article makes use
oflanguagethatmaybeoffensivetothereader.
If you have not been bullied, you will
never truly know what the bottom of a foot
looks like. If you have not been bullied, you
willneverknowwhatitfeelstobecompletely
alone in agony and torment. If you have not
been bullied consider yourself lucky to not
havethelearningoppor-
tunities of those who
havebeenbullied.Ifyou
have not been bullied,
consider yourself lucky
to not need the armor
to protect against what
life will throw.
If you have been
bullied,considerhowfar
youhavetraveledunder
so much duress and how much you have
movedabovetheuglyoflife.Considerthatyou
survivedandlearnedfromthoseexperiences.
Wearethenon-athletic,spectacle-faced,
different-looking, 4-eyes, retarded, non-
cliched, non-Christian, not-rich, fat, geeky,
and queer. We, the bullied, were The Scarlet
Lettereverydayatrecess,inthelockerroom,
on the way home, and even at home in many
cases. There would be no reason given. Even
moreironic,whenwecouldexcel,wewerestill
being ridiculed and persecuted. We wanted
to just be. Yet, our achievements and dreams
were fodder for the taunts just the same.
More than anything, we challenge the
teachings of Jesus to love our enemies or to
turntheothercheekonemoretime.Weknow
inourheartsthatwewouldliketoatleasthave
done to them what they have done to us. We
mayfindourselvesshakingfistsatGodforthe
apparentdisparityofexperiences.Further,the
people that were supposed to be there for us
werenowheretoconsoleortosupport.They
offered to us jerky idioms about sticks and
stones, but we know, for certain, that words
cancutpainfullydeep.Wehavebeenforcedto
sit on the sidelines of what it feels like to be a
person because of irrational hatred.
Thosebulliesgrowupandaresurprised
at how we feel about
them. Unfortunately,
theymaygoonbullying
people as well as their
own children while we
find more ways to build
more courage to work
another day without
much fanfare. We may
applaud for the under-
dogs, the comeback
kids,andwemayevenconsiderthatwefinally
escaped if we are able to leave the torment of
schoolyards, churches, or even our families.
Whenyougrowolder,youfindthereare
differentsortsofbulliesintheworld.Theycall
younamesbehindtheirhypocriticalreligious
views.Theytauntyouforlivingoutsidetheir
1950s TV sitcom of normal. They defile your
picture,yourideas,andverybeing.Theybeat
you into submission and force you to fall in
line. We cannot be frightened of Hell when
Earth has been the definition of horror.
Thesebullies,theywillneverknowwhat
sensationswillovercomeyouwhenpeoplerip
your child away because of some test of reli-
gionorsupposedlifestyle.Theywillnotknow
the betrayal felt when family members are
willing to hurt your spouse and kids because
they are not what they envisioned. They will
neverknowthedefeatyouhavewhenyouare
kickedoutofthehouseforsimplybeingwho
youare.Theywillnotknowtheawfultorment
ofknowingthatyourfamilywillbethefocusof
themanyattacksfromaroundthecommunity
because your family does not conform.
Fortunately for us, we, the bullied, have
learnedtonotliveinthepretenseofthepastor
stalesitcoms.Werealizethereissuchathing
as real respect and real compassion. Some of
us,instead,becomeempoweredbybitterness;
some by pride of finally feeling untouchable
bythebullies.Wecanquestionwhywecould
notenjoydayswithoutharassment,torment,
orphysicaltorture. Wedonotwanttowatch
sinister fingers scheme to hurt us again.
Still, bitterness is an attachment that
should be released, otherwise it may evolve
into more senseless hatred and violence.
Maybe, this is why many want to drown out
those memories and experiences through
alcohol and drugs to escape that haunting
history. Yet, we “made it” this far.
Wehaveoutlastedthetauntsandteasing.
Wehavelearnedtolaughattheridiculousness
of those taunts. We have learned the price of
intolerance and the grace of loving fully. We
have found refuge in places that they cannot
touch,likemusic,writing,religion,sports,and
even our own families.
That is why we like personalities that
push beyond those taunts and hateful
remarks. This is why people seek refuge in
religion because that realm is supposed to
be exempt from perpetual torture on Earth.
Yet,therearethosethatwanttoturnthatidea
into an exclusive arena that is more indica-
tive of the gladiator trials we faced at recess
instead of the place of solace mentioned in
the scriptures.
The bullied are not alone and will see
better days.
We, the bullied, have learned and will
continue to learn. We, the bullied, will march
withothersoulsbecausewe,too,haveaplace
and we, too, are part of loving families. We,
thebullied,willshowhowcompassionworks
because we know what real compassion is
rather than simply looks like. We will build
better families despite the ridicule. We will
embody that which Jesus taught because
we have already suffered Hell. Maybe, the
bullies will never learn, and maybe, they will
always find reasons to scorn people. We, the
bullied, will come to the aid of our brothers
andsisterslikesoldiersbecauselikesoldiers,
they should never be forgotten. We will be
shining examples of good people, even if the
bullies are blind to the facts. We, the bullied,
havepridebecausewearebetterthanbullies.
Improving Public
Education
I had occasion to be in Washington
DC recently with the Greater Des Moines
Partnership. It was the annual information
gatheringandlobbyingtripand,inaddition
to accomplishing both of those laudable
objectives, it affords an outstanding oppor-
tunity for networking
interactions between
and among the private
sectorandgovernment
representatives that
attend. The delegation
was nearly 200 strong,
again.
Onesessionwason
publiceducationpolicy
and there was an opportunity for Q and A. I
tookthechancetodeliverasermonettechal-
lenging two assertions made by a couple of
membersontheexpertpanel. Iquestioned
the assertion that public education deci-
sionsmustbemadeatthelowestlocallevel
possible because “one size does not fit all.”
I believe that one size can be made
to fit all, whether it’s a large urban school
district or a one room school house in rural
Iowa. Three things are required: First,
every child should be provided with an
Individual Education Plan (IEP) that right
now we reserve for Special Education
students. An IEP is developed to find out
exactly where a child is educationally and
what that individual child needs to achieve
his/her potential. The development of an
IEP requires the focused collaboration of
cross-disciplineprofessionalsfamiliarwith
theindividualstudent’scircumstances. The
plan identifies needs like nutrition; tutor-
ing; help with homework; the need for a
computer or other technology; the need
for tablets, pencils,
erasures, and consum-
able workbooks,
mentor couplings, and
even psychological
counselingifnecessary.
We have readily avail-
able the technology to
keeptrackofindividual
progress in all subject
areasfromweek-to-weekandyear-to-year.
Second, public tax dollars should be
used to fund fully the development and
implementation of each IEP, whether that
means a nutritious breakfast and lunch for
some kids, in-school tutors in subject areas
where a student is found deficient, or after-
schoolhelpwithhomework. Anddon’tgive
me that baloney about having parents help
with the homework. Some can and will.
Great. The public education system cannot
be premised upon that expectation. Too
many parents are struggling to make ends
meet, are exhausted in the evenings after a
long day at work or work a night shift, and
some may themselves have been less than
terrific students and may simply not have
theabilitytohelpwithhomework. Toexpect
individual students to succeed in a system
based on the commitment and capabilities
of their parents necessarily destines the
children of the disadvantaged to repeat
the cycle of the parents from generation to
generation.
Third, teachers should teach. They
should be expected to do only three things:
(1) attend administrative and IEP staff
meetings;(2)preparelessonplans;and(3)
teach and manage teacher assistants who
would take attendance; do all the bulletin
boards;handout,collect,andgradepapers;
fill out accountability reports; whatever.
Ialsoquestionedthewell-wornmaxim
that more money is not the answer to our
admittedlyfailingpublicschools. Thethree
things I have described that would “fit” the
urban school district, the one-room school
house, and everything in between, would
cost a lot of money. I, for one, cannot think
of a better way to be spending our tax
dollars in the long term. It would hold the
greatest promise of meeting uniform, high
standards; reducing drop outs; and assur-
ing that our country will maintain an edge
in an increasingly competitive world.
Watchingpubliceducationpolicyover
a period of decades, I’ve seen reform after
reform after reform. They have been no
I questioned the
assertion that public
education decisions must
bemadeatthelowestlocal
levelpossiblebecause“one
size does not fit all.”
Remarkables by Jonathan Wilson
Jonathan Wilson is an attorney at the
Davis Brown Law Firm in Des Moines,
and chairs the First Friday Breakfast Club
(ffbciowa.org), an educational, non-profit
corporation for gay men in Iowa who
gather on the first Friday of every month to
provide mutual support, to be educated on
community affairs, and to further educate
community opinion leaders with more
positive images of gay men.
It is the largest breakfast club in the
state of Iowa. He can be contacted at
JonathanWilson@DavisBrownLaw.com.
TT WILSON cont’d page 7
PrideoftheBulliedbyTonyDillon-Hansen
We, the bullied, were
The Scarlet Letter every
dayatrecess,inthelocker
room, on the way home,
andevenathomeinmany
cases. Tony E Dillon-Hansen is a web developer,
organizer, researcher, writer, martial artist,
and vocalist from Des Moines. For more
information go to tigersnapdragons.com.
JUNE 2013ACCESSline Page 6
Section 1: News & Politics
7. more than smoke and mirrors designed
to create the appearance of doing some-
thing meaningful. My dad used to say that
if things are complicated and you don’t
understand whatpeoplearetalkingabout,
asisthecasewithoperatingapubliceduca-
tion system, assume they’re talking about
money and you’ll almost always be right.
All other times they’re talking—usually
faster or in slogans—trying not to talk
about money.
I went out on a limb in DC and offered
the Des Moines Independent Community
School District as a demonstration project
for that three part proposal and invited a
federal grant to fund it. So far, no takers.
Do you suppose it’s possible that there
are those who are afraid that it just might
work? More money, properly spent, is the
one solution that hasn’t yet been tried.
In DC I heard lots of talk about the
national debt’s burden on future genera-
tions, but very little talk about under-
funding public education and the cost of
under-educating future generations.
Dr. Olson, I’m almost 51 and madly
in love with a 24 year old bodybuilder. I
haven’t come out to him. I think about
him every day and today I lit a candle in
churchforhim. AmIoutofmymind? Iam
so infatuated with someone I have never
met in person. Paul
Paul,
Until I saw the short film, “Fourplay:
Tales of Sexual Intimacy,” directed by Kyle
Henry, I thought I knew
about “normal” sex, but
allthathaschangednow.
I never thought a dog
treat could be a sex toy.
Stay with me here for a
minute.
Although some will
undoubtedly think so,
thisfilmisnotpornographic,butitdefinitely
pushes the limits of the ways sex acts have
been represented in film. In fact, I had to
watch it twice: The first time, I kept asking
myself,“AmIseeingwhatI’mseeing?” Ittook
asecondviewingtounderstandandconnect
more empathically with the characters.
Most of us don’t give much thought
to the idea that persons with significant
challenges—physically, emotionally and
socially—have the same needs for physical
intimacy and sexual expression as everyone
else. Thisshortfilmisactuallyaseriesoffour
shortfilmswoventogetherbythethemethat
what appears transgressive to some may be
transformative to others.
The stories take place in four different
cities. In “Skokie,” a middle-aged, closeted
woman’s sexual fantasies erupt while dog
sitting for her minister and his wife upon
whomshehasacrush. “Austin”exposesusto
athirty-something,heterosexualcouplewho
discover that when passion diminishes, as it
inevitably does, the game must be changed.
“Tampa” is the story of a young gay
man who seeks out sex in a mall restroom.
While the risk of finding a hook up (or a
perhaps a cop) heightens his sexual excite-
ment, it also elevates the potential perils of
disappointment, rejection and humiliation
represented metaphorically in this segment
by the concern “Luis” has about the size of
his masculinity. Jose Villarreal who plays
“Luis” captures all these negative emotions.
Inthefourthshort,
“San Francisco,” a
cross-dressing, male
prostitute named
“Aliya,” transforms
Tom, a helpless quad-
riplegic, into feeling
like a sex machine.
Aliya’s tender concern
for her client’s special needs will challenge
every stereotypical belief you have about
sex workers.
Aliya,exceptionallywell-playedbyPaul
Soileau, was hired by Tom’s wife who is also
Tom’scare-provider.Tom,silentlywell-acted
by Gary Chason, is unable to communicate
except by blinking his eyes “yes” or “no.”
Carlos Treviño’s father struggled to come
out as he was dying; his father’s situation
inspired Treviño to write this story.
This story touched me in a deeply
personal way. My late brother was a quad-
riplegic from the age of sixteen. His story is
too personal to detail here, but I knew that
although he’d lost the use of his hands and
legs, his sexual desires were undiminished;
what he had lost was his ability to express
his sexuality in expected ways.
My mother was my brother’s caretaker.
One day she and I, frankly and intimately,
discussedmybrother’ssexualneeds. Iknow
my mother loved him enough and under-
stood sexual need enough that she would
have considered hiring someone like “Aliya”
iftherehadbeenanyonelikethatinmysmall
hometown in Nebraska.
This is a small budget film but the
constraints of a limited budget work favor-
ably for it. The dialogue is very limited,
demanding that the actors (who most will
notknow)actuallyhavetoacttodelivertheir
characters’ personalities. Even though the
four stories could make it seem disjointed,
the common theme makes it flow smoothly
from one city to the next.
The cinematography allows you to feel
as if you’re eaves dropping in a church choir,
a mall restroom, or an adult book store. For
themostpartthecostumesmakeyoubelieve
youcouldbeatWal-Mart,exceptwhenneces-
sarily enhanced to express sexual fantasy.
This isn’t a movie about sex, although
there is a lot of sex and full frontal nudity in
it; this is a movie about whom we connect
withandaboutchallengingourstereotypical
beliefs about what some consider perver-
sions. I began to recognize that the ways I
express myself sexually on a daily basis—
well, less often now that I’m older—would
seem quite abnormal to a lot of heterosexu-
als, and when I believed I was straight, they
seemed that way to me, too.
You should watch this movie, but watch
it twice. Watch it once just to react to the
sex, sex that you may enjoy or you may
find challenging. But the second time, seek
out and find empathy for the humanness
of those who choose to or must engage in
sexual activities that some might consider
abnormal or deviant.
So, Paul, your relationship isn’t typical,
but enjoy it. As long as we don’t hurt others,
why does it matter?
Dr. Loren Olson will be doing a reading
of his book, “Finally Out: Letting Go of Living
Straight,aPsychiatrist’sOwnStory”,Thursday,
June 8th at 5:30 p.m. at Beaverdale Books.
Excerpts will be read and discussed, with a
discussionbyDr.Olsononhismotivationsand
processofwritingthebookandthenaQ&A.For
moreinformationgotoBeaverdaleBooks.com.
SS continued from page 6
WILSON
Shrink Rap by Loren A Olson MD
Loren A. Olson MD is a board certified
psychiatrist in the clinical practice of
psychiatry for over 35 years. Dr. Olson has
conducted research on mature gay and
bisexual men for his book, Finally Out:
Letting Go of Living Straight, a Psychiatrist’s
Own Story. He has presented on this subject
at conferences across the United States and
Internationally. His blog, MagneticFire.
com, has a strong following among mature
gay and bisexual men. He established Prime
Timers of Central Iowa, a social organization
for mature gay/bisexual men. For more
information go to FinallyOutBook.com or
contact him on Facebook.com.
You should watch this
movie, but watch it twice.
Watch it once just to react to
thesex,sexthatyoumayenjoy
or you may find challenging.
ACCESSline Page 7JUNE 2013
Section 1: News & Politics
8. Happy Pride Month from our staff!
Take time to reflect on the amazing history
the LGBT community has, the historic
advances made in marriage equality in the
past weeks, and celebrate to your rights
here in Iowa!
As it’s a month of celebration, I prom-
ised myself I wouldn’t do a “gloom and
doom” story about HIV. The best way to
do that is to celebrate the successes here
in our state, nationally, and around the
globe. But I do have a few points that
aren’t all sunshine.
First off, while I’ve cautioned (and
continue to caution) people about the
timetableforanHIVcure—whichhasbeen
highly sensationalized—I can say we’re
closer than ever before. New research is
being published every week highlighting
different vaccines and treatments that
may pave the way for a world free of HIV.
I can’t wait to hear people saying “I used to
have HIV.” Best case scenario? 5-10 years.
Worst case? We’ll never find a way to rid
a human of the virus. But we’re optimists.
Secondly, HIV prevention in Iowa isn’t
as bad as it could be. The State and Federal
Governments, through subcontracts, were
responsible for 5,390 HIV tests in Iowa
last year. That’s a lot of people who know
their status. And it’s not counting private
facilities, like private doctors offices or
our office.
Unfortunately, only 21 new cases
of HIV were reported to the State last
year. That’s down from 29 each in 2010
and 2011. While it
sounds nice that less
people are testing
positive, it means we
as prevention workers
aren’t testing the right
people—the people
who are actually infected and don’t know
it.
509. That’s a number we’ve used in
marketing campaigns before, because in
2010 and 2011, it’s been the estimated
number of Iowans who have HIV but don’t
know it. It’s probably a conservative esti-
mate; Iowa is unique in the way people
move in and out, and we have a hard time
tracking infections across state lines.
In 2012, that number increased to
531. Perhaps that’s because the number
of State-funded tests performed dropped
by almost 8% in 2012.
The State can do better. We can do
better.
531 Iowans who don’t know they’re
infected? Seems like a small number,
but think about the size our state. Those
people are spread throughout so many
social circles, and
according to the CDC,
those people account
for 54-71% of new
HIV infections. It’s not
the people who know
they’re positive you
should be worried about. It’s you.
This year, we’re going to be promot-
ing testing like never before. At PrideFest
in Des Moines, look for the Des Moines
University mobile clinic on Grand Avenue.
We’re partnering with Venus Family
Planning’s great staff to offer completely
confidential, free HIV testing along with
urine screens and blood draws for other
STIs. We’ll be offering testing both Satur-
day and Sunday, along with some great
information. That’s more testing than Des
Moines PrideFest has ever seen!
We hope to see you in our clinic or out
and about celebrating LGBT history and
culture this month. 2013 is a great year
for celebration, and here’s to many more!
On May 1st, Jason Collins, the 7’ 0”
center for the Washington Wizards, and a
former Boston Celtics, came out. His state-
ment, “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m
black. And I’m gay,” made the cover story
for the May 6 issue of “Sports Illustrated.”
OnMay2nd,threeMorehouseCollege
basketball athletes were accused of raping
an 18-year-old Spelman College student.
Thestorydidn’thitthe
airwavesastheCollins
story.
Many in the
African American
community were
silent on both inci-
dents because they
view both as poxes on
the community.
But for those who
did speak out on what
the African American
community’s order of
preference, focus and concern should be
about—Collins’ coming out story versus
the Spelman rape— it, sadly, revealed
where they stood in terms of valuing and
devaluing members in the community.
“While too many of us were concen-
tratingonanNBAplayer’ssexualitydespite
the fact that most of the population had
never heard of him, some much bigger
news was transpiring. Four Morehouse
athletes were arrested in connection with
sexual assaults,” Tom Joyner wrote in his
May 3rd op-ed, “Reading, Writing and
Rape? Sexual Assaults on Campuses Must
End” on his nationally renowned website
“BlackAmericaWeb.com.”
While Joyner is nowhere in the league
of a Rush Limbaugh
or a Rev. Rick Warren
in terms of spewing
homophobic vitriol,
he isn’t also just your
run-of-the-mill homo-
phobe. When Joyner
speaks black America
is listening. He’s the
founder of REACH
MEDIA, the largest
media platform reach-
ing African Americans
in the country and the
Caribbean.JoynerreachesasmanyAfrican
American homes as do the Black Church,
and he does it more often, and some would
say more effectively, too, because he’s the
nation’s number 1 syndicated urban radio
jock. His jewel “The Tom Joyner Morning
Show,” airs weekdays in more than 100
markets and reaches a listenership of over
eightmillion—approximately1in4African
Americans.
Whileincidentsofrapealwaysneedto
be called out, as Joyner did, and addressed
immediately, it shouldn’t be brought to
attention at the expense of denigrating
another minority group within the same
population, as Joyner also did.
But Joyner is not alone in his views
concerning Collins’ coming out story and
the Spelman rape.
Rather he points to the ongoing
struggle in the African American commu-
nity with its unresolved homophobia and
misogyny that falls on the backs of its
women and LGBTQ population, and how
the black community, like Joyner, pits one
disenfranchised group against another.
Violence against both groups is
an ongoing problem whether within
the hallowed halls of one of America’s
historically black colleges and universities
(HBCUs) or on urban streets.
Morehouse College Office of Commu-
nications released a statement that stated
in part, “Morehouse has a zero tolerance
policy related to violence of any kind.
Violence is the very antithesis of the More-
house ethos and the values of a Morehouse
Man.”
Morehouse is lauded as the jewel of
black academia. Founded two years after
the end of the Civil War by William Jeffer-
son White in the basement of Springfield
Baptist Church in Augusta, GA, Morehouse
continues to confer degrees on more men
of African descent than any institution of
higher education in this country.
Morehouse’s recent rape incident
points to an ongoing problem on college
campuses nationwide, especially among
male athletes. And within this rape culture
is also violence against its lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ)
students as well. (It’s one of the reasons
why LGBTQ fear coming out, especially
athletes on team sports. i.e. Collins)
And Morehouse has had its share of
incidents.
For example, its highly publicized
2002gay-bashingincidentwhereastudent
sustained a fractured skull from his class-
mate, sophomore Aaron Price, and not
surprisingly the son of an ultra-conser-
vative minister. Price uncontrollably beat
his victim on the head with a baseball bat
for allegedly looking at him in the shower.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s it was more
dangerous to be openly gay and bisexual
on Morehouse’s campus than it was on the
streets in black neighborhoods.
Jafari Sinclaire Allen, a professor at
University of Texas was an openly gay
Rev. Irene Monroe is a graduate from
Wellesley College and Union Theological
Seminary at Columbia University, and
she has served as a pastor at an African-
American church before coming to Harvard
Divinity School for her doctorate as Ford
Fellow. She is a syndicated queer religion
columnist who tries to inform the public
of the role religion plays in discrimination
against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
and queer people. Her website is
irenemonroe.com.
TomJoyner’shomophobicmessagebyRev.IreneMonroe
Collins coming out
story is good news
especiallyinlightofthe
Spelman rape because
both women and LGBTQ
people are frequent
subjects of violence in
our community.
TT MONROE cont’d page 9
Paul Whannel is the executive
director and co-founder of the
Midwestern AIDS Project, a non-
profit working to replace Iowa’s
lost HIV prevention programs and
improve quality of life for Iowans
living with HIV/AIDS.
It’s not the people who
know they’re positive you
shouldbeworriedabout. It’s
you.
BeProud,BeAware,BeYourselfbyPaulWhannel
I wish everybody could be right here and
see what I see. Today is a day for rejoicing
and celebrating in Minnesota. The dream
of a life filled with joy, a happy, healthy
family—that sounds so normal—and it’s
gonna come true.
~MNSen.ScottDibbleonMinnesotaapproving
same-sex marriage.
JUNE 2013ACCESSline Page 8
Section 1: News & Politics
9. Pride
There’s still a need for opportunities
toshowthatLGBTpeoplearenotonlyhere
but are glad they are. I’m not sure the best
way to do it is through today’s versions
of Pride Festivals, but nevertheless, I’m
convinced that any opportunity for LGBT
people to show to
others that they like
who they are is a gift
to society as a whole.
Most people have
gotten use to the idea
thatLGBTpeopleexist.
They might even have
come to tolerate the
fact that some could be attending their
church and providing them with their
music.
They might have come to know that
they could be working with some. And
they might even suspect that they have an
uncle or aunt that’s one of those people.
People are accustomed to laughing at
them on network sitcoms. As they have
withmanyminoritygroups,they’retickled
with the idea of LGBT people serving up
their food and entertainment.
They might deplore the attacks on
LGBT people and the suicides of lesbian
and gay teenagers who were bullied by
their peers. And they are likely to think
that the Phelps family’s Westboro Baptist
hate group that works out of a Topeka,
Kansas compound has gone too far, espe-
cially now that they picket the funerals of
straight people too.
Through the activism of past genera-
tions of LGBT people and their straight
allies, many people have come to tolerate
LGBT people. And that is progress.
But when we probe further, we see
that many people don’t mind LGBT people
around as long as straight people don’t
have to be reminded
of it—as long as (and
here is the language
that’s used of any
minority group who
doesn’t act enough
like the majority) they
don’t “flaunt it” or
“shove it in your face.”
Now, what this refers to is any time
an LGBT person does what the major-
ity always does—kisses their partner
goodbye at the airport, holds hands with
their beloved as they walk down the
street, puts their partner’s picture on their
office desk, talks about the events that
their partner attended without changing
the pronouns, inserts their engagement
or marriage announcement in the local
paper’s section for that, brings their
partnertofamilyandothergatherings,etc.
And when an LGBT person does this,
people will often accuse them of pushing
their sexual lives on the rest of the world.
The prejudice teaches that if two gay men
or lesbians are walking down the street
together they must have just had sex, must
be thinking about sex, must be going to
have sex, or must be flaunting their sexual
practices in some way.
One of the arguments used to support
marriageequalitybysomeisthatitwillget
same-sex sexuality under control, out of
thestreetsandbehindcloseddoors.Itwill,
at least, put their sex lives under the same
constraints as those that are supposed to
inhibit straight people.
Out and open Pride challenges the
limits that all this implies. It expects
more than tolerance and begrudging
acceptance.
It says that anyone can be proud to be
LGBT and that everyone should celebrate
andcherishthediversitythat LGBT people
can represent. It marginalizes bigots even
further by refusing to be defined by them.
The most bigoted, after all, want to
stereotype LGBT people as they do any
minority. Sick, lonely, psychologically
flawed, unhappy, envying straight people?
Yes. But proud and looking like an appeal-
ing way to live? Absolutely, positively not.
To the extent that the extreme bigots
are insecure in their own sexual orienta-
tions, they will fear that if LGBT people
appear too happy, secure, and free, if
being “gay” looks appealing, their children
and everyone they care about will choose
to be gay. That insecurity makes them
desperate to fight the mainstreaming of
LGBT humanity in the schools with claims
that such fairness and equality actually
“promotes the gay lifestyle.”
And that insecurity gets covered over
under religious and pseudo-scientific
arguments.
Out and proud LGBT people open up
all people to be able to come out of their
closets as full human beings. And that
scares the status quo.
They challenge the accepting church-
es that still don’t want to take a public
stand for equal rights. They say that when
they worry that if they do, they’ll become
or be known as “gay” churches, they are
actually still saying that whatever they
mean by “gay” would be a bad thing.
They will allow those religious and
other institutions to grow in their spiritu-
ality by facing whatever it is that they fear,
whether that be the opinions of others or
the full valuing of LGBT people. And if that
fear is that straight people will become a
minority in their congregation, are they
afraid that they will be treated the way
minorities are treated in this country and
in the history of religious institutions?
LGBT pride will free heterosexual
people to act “gay” if they want. They can
challenge the stifling limits in which the
straight role confines them.
They need no longer to be afraid
that when they wear the wrong color,
drive the wrong vehicle, cherish close
same-sex friendships, choose the wrong
careers, shop in the wrong places, present
themselves in the wrong manner, walk,
talk or gesture in the wrong way, and on
and on, they should be afraid that they
will be thought of as gay. And they them-
selves might actually stop worrying about
whether their freedom from these limits
means they are “gay.”
Pride will allow everyone to learn
from what LGBT people have to teach
society by their differences and even open
up the appreciation of diversity so white
people can better value the differences in
the cultures of peoples of color.
It might actually help us move beyond
a limited comfort level that says “they’re
okay; they’re just like us.” It can help us
face our fear of those not like us in some
way while seeing them as also sharing our
common humanity.
Minor Details by Robert Minor
Robert N. Minor, Ph.D.,
Professor Emeritus of Religious
Studies at the University of Kansas,
is author of When Religion Is an
Addiction;
Scared Straight: Why It’s So Hard
to Accept Gay People and Why It’s
So Hard to Be Human and Gay &
Healthy in a Sick Society.
Contact him at
www.FairnessProject.org.
OutandproudLGBTpeople
openupallpeopletobeable
tocomeoutoftheirclosetsas
full human beings. And that
scares the status quo.
student at Morehouse in the late 1980s
and early 1990s. He recalls fleeing campus
one evening after a forum to address
homophobiaturnedviolentlyhomophobic.
Andthroughoutthe1990’sMorehousewas
listed on the Princeton Review’s top 20
homophobic campuses.
Collins coming out story is good news
especially in light of the Spelman rape
because both women and LGBTQ people
are frequent subjects of violence in our
community.
Joyner’s derisive comment about
Collins reminds me of Morehouse sopho-
more Aaron Price bat wielding incident,
because Joyner’s remark serves as a
reminderofhowfrequently LGBTQ people
of African descent are figuratively as well
and physically bashed on the head by
members of our community who deliber-
ately want to strike out our existence.
Sinceitsinceptionin1867Morehouse
Collegeisnotedasthebastionofblackmale
leadership and masculinity. Embodying
W. E.B. Dubois’s theory of “The Talented
Tenth,” where “exceptional black men”
would be the ones to lead the race, More-
house College has produced unquestion-
ably a pantheon of noted black men; its
most famous alumnus Martin Luther King,
Jr., graduated from Morehouse in 1948.
And its alums maintain the “More-
house mystique” the college is renowned
for—“images of strong black men.”
And as strong black men they need to
both stop violating women and beating up
on GBTQ men.
SS continued from page 8
MONROE
ACCESSline Page 9JUNE 2013
Section 1: News & Politics
10. GayPride
“A sense of dignity and satisfaction in
connection with the public acknowledgment
of one’s own homosexuality.”
The definition sounds so honest and
rather innocent—and truly a reason to
celebrate how far we’ve come.
Some of my closest friends were at the
Stonewall Riots, and I personally know how
far we’ve come.
As a young, openly gay boy, I struggled
with being bullied my entire junior and high
school-age years. Some said they could beat
the “queer” out of me and tried. And gay
weddings were something out of a movie
called “Future Shock” (Google it) and the
entire 8th grade classroom laughed out loud
or loudly yelled, “Gross!”
But, fortunately, I found my way into
Greenwich Village in 1977 and found “my
people”. Andithonestlysavedmylife,because
Ihad,uptillthen,contemplatedsuicideevery
day.
After High School, I went into the Navy,
as a Hospital Corpsman, but was outed as a
“Homosexual”, and quickly discharged.
Then,in1984,cametheAIDSpandemic,
andtheGLBTcommunitywaspersecutedyet
again for that… for over a decade.
Then the tide
started to turn in the
late 90’s...gay was start-
ing to be okay and even
chic in some circles of
society. I was the token
fag who offered up
“Homo 101” and could
makemystraightfriends
laugh—make them feel
not so homophobic.
In 2009, as we all
know, Marriage Equal-
ity came into being and
I became Iowa’s Gay
WeddingsPlanner—Ineversawthatcoming!
I even got to make a T.V. pilot and several
episodes, which were deemed “too political”,
and the Production Company decided not to
continue filling with that format.
Now, with over 200 Pride events this
year, scheduled world-wide, everything has
changed. I am in awe of how far we’ve come,
and I am one hell of a proud gay man!
But in these past few weeks, I’ve also
cometobelievewestillhavealongwaytogo.
In fact, we’ve begun to be pushed back into
the closets. Sure, President Obama has our
backsfornow,butwhohashis?Certainlynot
theRepublicanParty!Somanyright-wingers
hating us and elitist gays ignoring it, that we
just cannot be complacent. We can’t afford
to be.
Justice John Roberts recently argued
gays in America have so much political
power they don’t need protection from
anti-gay bias. He’s absolutely right that gay
rights have progressed rapidly over the past
few years. But political
gains do not mean that
anti-gayviolenceisover.
As the gut-wrenching
murder of 32-year-old
Mark Carson in Green-
wich Village on Friday
remindsus.Hewasshot
in the face after a man
shouted anti-gay slurs
at him.
There have been
otheranti-gayattacksin
New York City recently.
A man said he was gay
bashed in the East Village, and three other
apparent anti-gay hate crimes in New York
in May. New York’s police Commissioner Ray
Kelly said anti-gay hate crime in New York
has spiked 70% this year. The New York City
Anti-ViolenceProject—whichcollectsdataon
hatecrimesagainstgay,lesbian,bisexual,and
transgender people—saw a 13% increase in
hatecrimereportsfrom2010to2011.Reports
of hate crimes against gay men nationwide
has also gone up in recent years, according
to FBI statistics.
While it’s possible that more gays are
reporting hate crimes, the reports do show
that anti-gay violence is still prevalent in
America.Thisviolencecomesaswehavemade
unprecedented political gains; the repeal of
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the legalization of gay
marriage in nine states, and tremendous
support from Republicans for same-sex
marriage.
However,thesegainshavemadetheanti-
gay movement feel threatened, and spurred
themontomorehatefulrhetoric.Ipointtothe
AmericanFamilyAssociationasoneexample
of a group with a lot of anti-gay rancor. That
grouplobbiesagainstgaymarriageandmakes
someprettynastyassertionsaboutgaypeople,
includingclaimingthatgaypeople“invented”
the AIDS virus.
What I think is going on, with respect to
anti-gayhatredinthiscountry,isaratcheting
Dr. Ken Hutcherson
Afew weeksagoifsomeonehadasked
you if you knew Jason Collins, you likely
would have said no. That is, unless you
were a big fan of the Washington Wizards
(which I doubt). But today, it seems like
Jason Collins is the only professional
basketball player in the world. His name
and face are everywhere. Because he’s
gay. Specifically, because he’s the first
openly gay professional player in a major
U.S. sport.
It’s a BFD. Even President Obama said
that he “couldn’t be prouder” of Collins for
coming out.
Which is evidence that Obama is
clearly taking orders from Satan, accord-
ing to Dr. Ken Hutcherson of the Antioch
Baptist Church in Redmond, Washington.
In a May 2 opinion piece for the
Christian Post, Hutcherson used the fact
that Obama praised a known homo-sexer
and that he spoke to Planned Parenthood
as proof of Obama’s Satanic usurping and
a vast conspiracy against Christians in
America.
“[D]o any of you believe there is
a connection between [Jason Collins]
announcing he is gay only 72 hours after
President Obama’s speech to Planned
Parenthood?” Hutcherson writes. “The
answer is a resounding YES! More proof
that Christian views are very much under
attack!”
Yes, very much under attack. Poor
Christian views in America. Just think of
all the taxes churches have to pay. Not
to mention the fact that there has never
been a single American President who
identifiesasChristian.Don’tgetmestarted
abouthowout-numberedChristiansarein
Congress. And just try getting Christmas
day off from work! Yes, it’s a tough life for
Christians in America. And it can all be
blamed on Planned Parenthood and Jason
Collins, a.k.a. “agents of Satan.”
“The connection between these two
stories should be very obvious: they both
go directly against God’s Holy Word,”
Hutchersoncontinues.“Afterall,Godhates
handsthatshedinnocentblood(Prov.617)
andissickenedbysodomy(Rom.1:24-27).”
In other words, Collins makes God
puke.
Of course, the joke is on Collins,
according to Hutcherson.
“Collins is being used as a pawn, in the
most dangerous game of Russian roulette
for his soul,” he writes. Silly Satan, souls
are for Christians.
Hutcherson also predicts a rude
awakening for Collins in the locker room:
“I can’t imagine that Collins, standing in
the shower after a game, and knowing
the vast majority of his teammates are not
gay, will go over very well. How about the
players standing in the shower with him,
knowing that one of their teammates likes
other men? Just saying…”
Let’s unpack that, shall we? First
of all, when someone ends an idea with
“just saying…” it means, “I have just said
something for which I do not want to take
responsibility” because it was probably a
sh*tty thing to say. And, indeed, this thinly
veiled “warning” about things not going
“over very well” for Collins the homo while
he is standing naked with a bunch of his
hetero teammates is worthy of distancing
yourself. Because it’s an asinine thing to
say.
Not only is Hutcherson implying that
Collins is some kind of pervert who won’t
be able to keep his eyes and hands off his
teammates, but he’s also implying that a
bunch of grown men can’t behave them-
selves if one of them is gay, especially if
they’re all naked. It’s an argument that has
always left me baffled: how little regard
folkslikeHutchersonhavenotjustforgays,
but for men entirely. As if a penis makes
it impossible to be a decent human being.
Then again, maybe Hutcherson is
projecting his own fantasy of getting in a
wrestlingmatchwithCollinsintheshower
while a bunch of other naked guys stand
around and watch. Just saying…
TT BEAU FODOR continued page 38
Thisviolencecomesaswe
have made unprecedented
political gains; the repeal
of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,
the legalization of gay
marriage in nine states,
and tremendous support
fromRepublicansforsame-
sex marriage.
Creep of the Week by D’Anne Witkowski
Just Sayin’ by Beau Fodor
Beau Fodor is the owner of PANACHE, an
Iowa event and wedding planner who
focuses specifically on weddings for the
LGBT community. He can be reached at his
blog www.panachepoints.com.
Photo courtesy of Toby Schuh Photography.
JUNE 2013ACCESSline Page 10
Section 1: News & Politics
11. TheCanadianquartet‘TheTenors’have
performed with Celine Dion on The Oprah
Winfrey Show, performed for Her Majesty
The Queen, shared the stage with Paul
McCartney, Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Cole
and are now coming to Des Moines, Iowa!
CliftonMurraytalksabouttheircurrenttour,
reinventing the concept of a tenor group, his
own life dreams, charity and HIV advocacy.
The Tenors are currently touring
across North America. Tell us about the
tour.
It starts in Canada and the US, the
seventy-cityNorthAmerican“LeadWithYour
Heart”tour,we’recallingit. Twenty-fivecities
inCanadawhichweregreatbigarenashows,
and now we’re coming back through the
UnitedStates,wehaveaboutforty-fivecities
in the US—all the major markets. And then
after that we’ll be heading over to Europe,
doing Venice and Istanbul, Czech Republic,
and London, then South Africa… so as the
success of the album grows, so too does the
distribution,andwejustkeeptouringasthey
add on dates. So it’s sort of turning into a
world tour, but right now we’re focusing on
the US tour because we’re here. We’ve had
a wonderful tour so far. It started in Raleigh
(NC). PBS has been airing our “Lead With
Your Heart” DVD concert on their channels
pretty much around the clock on their last
round of pledge drives in December and
again in March, and the response has been
incredible. It has allowed us to fill up these
housesacrosstheUnitedStates. Really,really
blessed,andsuperthankfulfortheresponse.
Our fans have been incredible.
For anyone who has never heard one
ofyoursongs,tellusaboutwhataperfor-
mance of The Tenors is like.
WhenyoucometoaperformanceofThe
Tenors, there’s really something for every-
body. Thisisatenorgroup,butit’smorelike
atenor“band”inthefactthatthemusicreally
comes from the four tenors. We write the
music, we write the arrangements, we play
instruments on stage, we tell stories in our
show. The music ranges as does the type of
voicesthatwehave. Fourtenors,but“tenor”
isjusttherangeinthevoice. Wehavea“pop”
tenor, we have a “musical theatre” tenor, we
have two “classical” tenors. So we’re able to
dosongsfromtheoperaticrepertoire,thepop
repertoire… Leonard Cohens “Halleluiah”,
Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young”, “Elton John’s
“Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word”… and
then songs from Puccini, “Nessum Dorma”,
crossover songs like David Foster’s “The
Prayer”,somefolkssongsaswell. Soyoucan
bringthefamily,youreallygetsomethingfor
everybody.
Our Picks for June
6/1-6/9, Des Moines Community Playhouse,
Des Moines, Iowa, Lend Me a Tenor,
DMPlayhouse.com
6/1, Greene Square Park, Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
Cedar Rapids Pride Fest, CRPridefest.com
6/1, Davenport, Iowa,
6th Annual QC PrideFest, QCPride.org
6/2, Paramount Theatre, Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
Bill Maher, ParamountTheareCR.com
6/6, Theatre Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
Our Town, TheatreCR.org
6/7, Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center,
Des Moines, Iowa, Iowa’s 2013 Matthew
Shepard Scholarship Awards Dinner,
eychanerFoundation.org
6/7-23, Stoner Theater, Des Moines, Iowa,
Time Stands Still, StageWestIowa.com
6/8, Des Moines, Iowa, Capital City Pride Fest,
CapitalCityPride.org
6/9, Civic Center, Des Moines, Iowa, The Tenors,
DesMoinesPerformingArts.org
6/13, Studio 13, Iowa City, Iowa, I.C. Kings
Performance, Facebook.com/I.C.Kings
6/14, Club CO2, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, NKOB: Pride,
Club-CO2.com
6/14-7/6, Lower City Park, Iowa City, Iowa, Hamlet,
RiversideTheatre.org
6/15, Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City Pride,
IowaCityPride.com
6/20, Omaha, Nebraska, Heartland Pride,
HeartlandPride.org
6/21, 920 Main, Dubuque, IA, NKOB
Performance, Facebook.com/NewKingsCR
6/27, Studio 13, Iowa City, Iowa, I.C. Kings
Performance, Facebook.com/I.C.Kings
6/28-7/20, Theatre Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
Spring Awakening, TheatreCR.org
...and July
7/12-7/27, Waterloo Community Playhouse, Waterloo,
Iowa, 9 to 5: The Musical, WCPBHCT.org
7/12-8/4, Des Moines Playhouse, Des Moines, Iowa,
Legally Blonde, DMPlayhouse.com
ACCESSline’s fun guide
TT CLIFTON MURRAY cont’d page 24
Clifton Murray
Clifton Murray: Leads with
His Heart interview by Arthur Breur
12. I think the band was belting out
Queen’s Under Pressure. I was stand-
ing—no, make that rocking hard with fist
jabbing—at Ecolab Plaza in Saint Paul
taking in the other four or five thousand
celebrants two hours after Governor
Dayton signed Minnesota’s marriage
equality law.
My bicycle was
parked a couple blocks
away. I had ridden
over from downtown
Minneapolis to avoid
traffic and to get some
exercise. Black and
pink sweaty spandex
covered me, but no one cared.
In between fist jabs, I looked out
over the crowd. I saw square-shaped
dykes kiss, wispy tee-shirted men hand
holding, twenty-something baby lesbians
giggle, and an old guy—maybe seventy-
five—wave a rainbow flag. The mood
was ecstatic, the scene historic. And the
memory…unforgettable.
At that moment, it hit me.
This is my tribe.
A couple months before, I had
celebrated my book launch. More than
100 people—straight and gay, queer and
trans—attended. I note this not for ego,
but to relate a story.
Shortly after the launch, a straight
friend who attended with his wife told
me about a conversation they’d had on
the way home. Both were born white, in
formerly arrow straight Minnesota.
My friend’s wife commented on how
much she liked the diversity that the book
launch attracted. She had never seen some
of the types that were present, which she
comparedtotheirchurch,whichmyfriend
described as very homogenous and not
at all GLBT.
“Maybe we should think about chang-
ing that,” my friend’s wife said.
I was humbled. One of my life goals
(ah, that would be in my life as Ellie Krug)
is to connect humanity, something I call
“human to human contact.” I believe that
when we understand how much we have
in common, great things can happen.
Like marriage equality.
When I was a dude, I resided in a
completely different world. It was white,
straight, fairly Republican (gasp), and
regimented. The cocktail hour subject de
jour for those people might be the latest
addition to the country club’s menu or
that wonderful secret getaway in Wine
Country.
That was one BMW and three Jeep
Cherokees ago.
I now drive a Honda.
“Those people” (isn’t it quite nice to
see the phrase turned around?) never
ignited me.
On the other hand, who can’t get
excited by purple
hair? Or full body
tattoos? Or six visible
piercings?
Now that’s my
people.
And cute gay
boys? Oh my god. Talk
about honesty, sexuality and style. Not to
mention a couple of men who’d walk over
hot flaming coals to rescue me.
They, too, are my people.
And GLBT people as a whole?
Let me say this: we are the most
human people I know. When I speak to
GLBT groups, my opening line always is,
“I’ve come home.”
That’s because all of us queers (sorry,
I don’t mean to offend) really are “family.”
Most of us have one thing in common—
we’ve struggled with identity and accept-
ing whom we are. We’ve disappointed
others, lost people, and had moments
where the nothingness of death seemed
a viable alternative.
In other words, we’re survivors.
I like that about us. I cherish the bond.
We are one for all and that other mucky
emotional stuff that we crave as human
beings.
So back to Ecolab Plaza on Marriage
Equality Day. The rock music echoed
across two blocks, making my ears hurt
and spirit soar. As the sun pinched the
horizon, it was time to head home.
I left downtown and rode past
the Cathedral of Saint Paul, Minnesota
Catholic headquarters. I couldn’t help
but wonder about the Bishop and how
he must have felt on that historic day, one
that the Catholic Church helped engineer
by pushing for an anti-gay marriage
amendment in the fall 2012 elections.
That hatemongering propelled the GLBT
community to act, which in turn, not
only defeated the amendment, but led
to the exact opposite of what the Church
wanted—marriage equality.
How ironic. How incredibly sweet
such irony tastes.
I went down Marshall Ave, over the
Lake Street Bridge, and onto West River
Parkway, which parallels the Mississippi
River. I pumped and glided along the river
until I crested a hill just south of down-
town Minneapolis.
That’s when I saw them.
Rainbows.
The Guthrie Theatre is a hulking mass
of navy blue glass and sharp lines that juts
out toward the river. It also has navy blue
smokestacks, which ordinarily vertically
display the titles of current productions
in blinking lights. On this night, however,
GLBT rainbow colors pulsated in lieu of
theatre titles.
How brilliant!
It was enough to make me stop for one
glass of Chardonnay—a solitary celebra-
tory drink.
I locked my bike and proceeded to the
maître d’ station of a restaurant on the
theatre’s first floor. “I just rode back from
the marriage celebration in Saint Paul,” I
explained. “I only stopped because of the
rainbows—they’re so beautiful.”
“Yes, it’s a great day,” the manager
answered. He was well dressed, polished,
and very friendly. “I wished I could have
gone,” he said.
“I’m Ellie,” I announced with an
extended hand. His name was Santi.
I asked if I could sit on the balcony,
which overlooks the river and the Stone
Arch Bridge. He answered affirmatively,
and then added, “I’m going to buy you that
glass of wine.”
I was amazed by his generosity.
Then I realized it was as written
above—humantohumancontactinaction.
Sometimes it gets you marriage rights.
Other times, it gets you a free glass of wine.
Santi led me to the balcony with my
glass of Chardonnay in hand. He pulled
the chair out for me and invited me to sit
for as long as I wanted. Then he was gone.
I settledinandwatchedthe sundisap-
pear on a perfect night. I felt an incredible
sense of peace and a wonderful feeling of
community.
Most of all, I felt at home.
Inside Out: My Tribe by Ellen Krug
Ellie Krug is a columnist and the author
of Getting to Ellen: A Memoir about Love,
Honesty and Gender Change. She resides in
Minneapolis and welcomes your comments
at ellenkrugwriter@gmail.com. Visit her
blog at www.gettingtoellen.com.
When I speak to GLBT
groups, my opening line
always is, “I’ve come
home.”
It’s easier to come out as gay to
straight people than to come out as
religioustogaypeople.Theexperience
has been so harmful, so abusive,
anyone who embraces both is kind of
an enigma.
~RetiredBishopGeneRobinsonongayChristians.
JUNE 2013ACCESSline Page 12
The Fun Guide
13. The Anonymous hacker group is one
of the oldest and most active hackivist
groups around today. They act frequently
out of a sense of social conscience that
often includes LGBT causes. This month
for pride I would like to explore a short
and partial list of LGBT friendly hacks they
have pulled off in the last couple of years.
Of all the hacker groups out there,
Anonymous is prob-
ably the most recog-
nizable name. They
hackintocomputers,
deface websites and
often crash servers
using the dreaded
DDoS routine. They
areinwaysthequint-
essential hacker
organization, if the
word organization
can be applied to a
group like Anony-
mous. They are more
alooseassociationof
people, hackers who
live in a shadowy world of online names
and personas.
The group originated on the 4chan
website. Not familiar with 4chan? 4chan
is an imageboard originally created to
discuss manga and anime. Its extremely
liberal posting policy and fierce support of
freedom of speech has made 4chan home
to many controversial topics. No subject
is taboo. The site has either hosted or
helped spread many internet sensations
and scandals.
Anonymous is a loose collective of
individuals with an interest in hacking.
It has no power structure, in fact most
of its members jealousy guard both their
real identities and their freedom. The
group has become known for the use of
the guy fawkes mask and text to speech
voice recordings to spread their public
messages.
Though hacking itself is illegal,
anonymous is not a criminal organization,
at least not in the common sense of the
word. They are not a ‘mafia’ of identity
thieves and they do not hack for money
or power. Originally their intent seemed
to be just having fun. They slowly split
with the closely related Lulz sec, whose
name lulz comes from lol—internet slang
for laugh out loud. Lulz
focused on having fun
by causing havoc online.
Anonymous on the
other hand has devel-
oped a growing social
conscience.
Unlike the Turk-
ishajan hacker group
that I wrote about last
fall, Anonymous is a
western organization
withawesterneducated
sensibility. Their social
conscience shows up in
their support of move-
ments like the Occupy
protesters, numerous attacks on govern-
ment sites in response to bills limiting
freedom of speech on the internet (CISPA,
SOPA and other internet privacy bills) and
in response to what they see as overzeal-
ous prosecution leading to the suicide of
hacker Aaron Schwartz.
In keeping with their ideals and with
the growing trend towards acceptance
of the LGBT community, Anonymous
hackers have instituted a number of
online campaigns for LGBT causes. For
pride month here is a short list of hacks
that have been done for the sake of LGBT
rights around the world.
Seizing control of websites is a
common hacker trick. Anonymous often
seizes control of websites for oppressive
government and post messages attacking
the stances of those governments. Which
they have done multiple times in Uganda.
In response to Uganda’s proposed
legislation to apply the death penalty to
homosexuality Anonymous hacked prime
minister Amama Mbabazi’s website and
left this public message:
“Your violations of the rights of LGBT
people have disgusted us. ALL people have
the right to live in dignity free from the
repression of someone else’s political and
religious beliefs. You should be PROUD of
your LGBT citizens, because they clearly
have more balls than you will ever have.”
“Real Ugandan Pride is demonstrated
in standing up to oppression despite
fearing the abuse, torture and murder
inflicted on LGBT at the hands of the
corrupt government.”
They also hacked myuganda.co.ug, a
huge public website and posted photos
from David Kato’s funeral. David Kato was
an openly gay man murdered in Uganda
in 2011. They hacked databases from the
department of Agriculture and released
administrators emails, usernames and
password.
Revealingsensitiveinformationabout
their opponents is another common strat-
egy hackers use. Anonymous has used this
against the anti-LGBT organization The
Florida Family Association. In December
of 2011 a hacker claiming to work under
the flag of Anonymous posted the associa-
tion’sentireemaillist.Thehackerincluded
information on what kind of credit card
each member had and it’s confirmation
code to prove that he had their credit
information as well, but he stopped
short of revealing the card numbers. He
explained this by saying the members of
the organization were mostly middle class
individuals who had been “mislead (sic)
by all your bullsh*t” and were also victims
of the groups hatred.
Which barely compares to the hatred
Anonymous has heaped on the notori-
ous Westboro Baptist Church in recent
years. Operation Westboro has its own
twitter hashtag #opwestboro and its
own twitter account @WestboroOps.
They have defaced the church’s website:
godhatesfags.com and posted a wealth
of personal information on the group’s
members: work phone numbers, personal
emails, and even arrest records. (A short
list can be found at: http://pastebin.com/
ygjBZDJB. )
They also target the group for
frequent DDoS attacks. The DDoS attack
is one of the most dreaded in the hackers
arsenal because it’s sheer simplicity
makes it hard to fight. Denial of Service
attacks flood a computer with inane
requests, overwhelming it and denying
access to anyone wanting to get to that
TT WIRED continued page 28
Wired This Way by Rachel Eliason
Revealing sensitive
information about
their opponents is
another common
strategy hackers use.
Anonymous has used
this against the anti-
LGBT organization
The Florida Family
Association.
Rachel Eliason is a forty two year old
Transsexual woman. She was given her
first computer, a Commodore Vic-20 when
she was twelve and she has been fascinated
by technology ever since. In the thirty years
since that first computer she has watched
in awe as the Internet has transformed
the LGBT community. In addition to her
column, Rachel has published a collection
of short stories, Tales the Wind Told Me
and is currently working on her debut
novel, Run, Clarissa, Run. Rachel can
be found all over the web, including on
Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Goodreads.
I think “athletic” or “healthy” are more
worthwhile goals than the pursuit of skin-
niness, but let’s face it–“skinny” is a popular
fitnessgoaltowhichmanypeopleaspire.Soif
youarelookingtoslimdownanddropsome
body fat, I’ve put together these simple and
straightforward guidelines:
1. Reduce (or eliminate) added sugar.
Even though sugar provides virtually no
nutritionalbenefits,Americanseat500calo-
ries of a day worth of added sugar. Cut it out.
2. Don’t deprive yourself of unhealthy
foods you love. The more you try to resist
unhealthy foods, the more you think about
unhealthy foods–and the more you crave
them. Allow yourself an occasional treat to
break the cycle. It’s about balance.
3. Cook your own meals. You’ll know
exactly what goes into the
foods you eat.
4. If you do eat out, avoid
the watch words. Don’t order
foods that are described
as crispy, fried, creamed,
crunchy, battered, bottom-
less, giant, loaded, cheesy or
breaded.
5. And if
you do eat
out, opt for steamed vegeta-
bles as your side.
6. Sleep well. People
who don’t get enough sleep
consume more calories.
7. Start your day with a
real breakfast. Boiled eggs,
no sugar added cereals,
fruits and Greek yogurt all
count. Danishes, doughnuts,
pastries or a cup of coffee
do not.
8. Replace simple carbs with complex
carbs. That means substituting white rice
withbrownriceandwhitebreadwithwhole
wheat bread.
9. Get 30+
grams of fiber
a day. 95% of
Americans don’t
get enough fiber;
eat fiber-rich
foods like vegeta-
bles, fruits, whole
grains, nuts and
seeds. In addition
to many other
importantbenefits,fiberhelpsyoufeelfuller
longer.
10. Don’t drink your calories. High
caloriealcoholbeveragesorsugardrinksare
calorie-dense but devoid of nutrients. Save
yourcaloriesforfoodsthatnourishyourbody
and keep you feeling full.
11. Learn to read nutrition labels.
12.Never eat a food directly from the
box or bag. Put it in a bowl; you’ll eat less
and avoid the mindless munchies.
13. Move more. Combine a healthy diet
withanactivelifestyleandexercise.Takethe
stairs. Join a gym. Go for a walk.
At its core, losing weight is really about
creatingacaloriedeficitbyconsumingfewer
calories than you burn. All the above guide-
linesarehelpfulinsupportingacaloriedeficit
throughnutritionandexercise.Sohaveatit!
Don’t order foods that
are described as crispy,
fried, creamed, crunchy,
battered, bottomless,
giant, loaded, cheesy or
breaded.
HowtoGetSkinny:13RulesbyDaveyWavey
Davey Wavey is an AFPA certified
personal trainer shares his passion for
and knowledge of fitness, exercise, health
and nutrition with the world. For more
information go to DaveyWaveyFitness.com.
ACCESSline Page 13JUNE 2013
The Fun Guide
15. One of the biggest concerns couples
have when they are planning their
wedding is picking the venue. No one
ever says, “Oh I liked Jeff and Nick’s last
wedding, let’s just copy what they did”. No,
you want the wedding venue to be unique
and to represent you as a couple. The
venue is going to be one of your biggest
wedding expenses, unless you have Vera
Wang designing your dress. You want it
comfortable to fit all the guests, meet your
budget, and represent your style.
Here are some tips on finding your
perfect venue. First, tell yourself that
there are no rules! This is your day, if you
want to get married on the top floor of an
elegant skyscraper or a simple outdoor
wedding with only a few friends and
family—it is your day and your choice.
However, my personal favorite would
be under the stars in the Science Center
of Iowa’s Star Theater—yes! They really
do weddings in the Star Theater! Sorry I
digress.
Personally, I would strongly recom-
mend getting a wedding planner to help
you. A good wedding planner, like Iowa’s
Gay Wedding Planner’s, will not only
save you time, but they will also save you
money! Theywill know your budget, style,
and work with your favorite venues. This
will get you what you want by asking the
questions you didn’t know to ask.
Here are few tips for all you DIY’s out
there. First, plan ahead! Many venues
are booked a year in advance! You don’t
want your special day to be rescheduled
because some snot nosed punk is having
his bar mitzvah. Second, know the details!
Many venues have required caterers,
decorating exemptions, even a minimum
food and spirits fee. Third, make sure you
know how much time you will be given
for setup and take down. It takes time to
setup and take down, many places require
you have everything cleaned up before
you leave. You don’t want to postpone
your honeymoon because you have to
clean up birdseed and beer bottles the
day after your wedding. Take your time,
look at your options and know the details.
Just remember don’t sweat the small stuff
and have fun!
However, my personal
favorite would be under
the stars in the Science
Center of Iowa’s Star
Theater—yes! They really
do weddings in the Star
Theater!
Finding that Perfect Venue
By Scott StevensIllinois
Rockford Pride Fest
Vasa Park, 6616 42nd Street,
Rockford, Illinois
Saturday, June 1st, 11 a.m.
Sunday, June 2nd, 8a.m.-5 p.m.
Metro East
Pridefest
Downtown Belleville, Illinois
Friday, June 21st-Saturday, June
22nd
Chicago Pride Fest
NorthHalsted, Chicago, Illinois
Saturday, June
22nd-Sunday,June 23rd
Iowa
Cedar Rapids
Pride Fest
Greene Square Park, Cedar
Rapids, Iowa
Saturday, June 1st, 4-8 p.m.
QCPrideFest 2013
2nd & Warren Streets,
Downtown Davenport, Iowa
Saturday, June 1st, noon-
Midnight.
Sunday, June 2nd, noon-8 p.m.
Capital City
PrideFest
East Village, Des Moines, Iowa
Saturday, June 8th
Sunday, June 9th
Iowa City Pride
Ped Mall,
downtown Iowa City, Iowa
Friday, June 14th 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, June
15th noon- 5 p.m.
Saturday, June 15th
Siouxland Pride
Riverside Park, Sioux City, Iowa
Saturday, June 22nd
Sunday, June 23rd
Cedar Valley
Pridefest
300 block of West 4th Street,
Downtown, Waterloo, Iowa
Saturday, August 24th, noon-
midnight
Minnesota
Twin Cities Pride
Loring Park,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Saturday, June 29th-Sunday,
June 30th
Rochester Minnesota
Pridefest
Peace Plaza,
Downtown Rochester,
Minnesota
Monday, July 15th-Sunday,
July 21st
Mankato PrideFest
Riverfront Park,
Mankato, Minnesota
Friday, September 6th, 7 p.m.
Saturday, September 7th,
11a.m.-Midnight
St. Cloud Pridefest
St. Cloud, Minnesota
Thursday, September
19th-Sunday, September 22nd
Missouri
Greater Ozarks
PrideFest
Downtown Springfield, Missouri
Saturday, June 15th
St. Louis Pride Fest
Soldiers’ Memorial,
Downtown St. Louis, Missouri
Saturday, June 29th-Sunday,
June 30th
Nebraska
Heartland Pride
Aksarben Village, Stinson Park,
Omaha, Nebraska
Thursday, June 20th,
7-9:30 p.m.
Friday, June 21st, 6-10 p.m.
Saturday, June 22nd
11 a.m.- 10 p.m.
Star City Pride
Lincoln, Nebraska
Thursday, July 11th-Sunday,
July 14th
South Dakota
2013 LGBT Pride
Rapid City, South Dakota
Location TBA
July 12th-13th
Sioux Falls Pride
Covell Lake Park, Sioux Falls,
South Dakota
Saturday, August 17th,
noon-6 p.m.
AIDS Walk
Pasley Park,
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Saturday, September, 21st
Wisconsin
Pride Fest
Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Friday, June 7th-Saturday,
June 9th
Wisconsin Capitol
Pride
Madison, Wisconsin
Saturday, August 17th-Sunday,
August 18th
Midwest Pride Events
Scott Stevens
I grew up in a small town in Wyoming
and in 1998 I moved to Iowa go go to
college. I graduated from Buena Vista
University with a degree in Marketing
and a minor in art and communications.
I am have been an active Member of
Metro Arts Alliance for over 10 years. I
am currently the Vise President and the
incoming president in 2014. I was the
Director of Development for One Iowa
when marriage was legalized in Iowa! In
2009 my friend Ben developed a website
to help same sex couples get married in
Iowa. In 2010 I purchased the website
and have had the pleasure with working
with newly weds all over the country.
ACCESSline Page 15JUNE 2013
The Fun Guide
16. Krug.
In response to this initiative the LGBT
communitywasgalvanizedintoactionwith
organizations like Minnesotans United for
All Families and Project 515.
“Minnesotans United called nearly
every Minnesotan with a telephone
number,”saidKrug.“Thetelephonediscus-
sions centered on how gay people can fall
in love too, and how marriage shouldn’t
be restricted to simply straight people.
This turned out to be a far more effective
message than one centered on equality or
the need to avoid discriminating against
others.”
The “anti-marriage” amendment, as
some called it, was defeated and Governor
Mark Dayton publicly stated that he’d sign
a gay marriage bill if the legislature voted
it in. Krug points out that Minnesotans
United had built a very efficient and effec-
tive political organization because of the
anti-marriage amendment, and once it
was defeated they shifted to pushing for
legalization of gay marriage in Minnesota.
“It was a classic example of biting the
tiger’s tail,” Krug remarked. “The ultra-
conservatives already had a law against
gay marriage, but that wasn’t good enough
for them. By pushing for a constitutional
amendment, too, they woke up the sleep-
ing gay and lesbian tiger. I’ve got to think
that some bishop in St. Paul is now shaking
his head wondering why they ever started
down this road in the first place.”
SS continued from page 4
MINNESOTA
JUNE 2013ACCESSline Page 16
The Fun Guide
18. The NKOB will be performing at CR
Pride Fest this year on the first of June in
addition to our monthly show (which is
PridethemedandwillbeJune14th
at10pm,
ClubCO2,CedarRapids,IA).Youcanalsosee
some of the NKOB perform at Main 920 in
Dubuque, IA on June 21st!
How do the NKOB show
their pride?
JaydenKnight:“AttheendofJuneIwill
be performing at Camp Pride at LV Camp-
ground, located in Coggon, IA with Monica
Knight,AlexandriaSteele,myfiancéeStarE
Knight, and Roxy Jo Steele. Not to mention
I’ll also be performing with the New Kings
on the Block at Cedar Rapids Pride Fest and
our Pride Show on the 14th
.
Chelsea Joy Lob and Jazmine Fritz:
“We are MC’ing CR PrideFest!”
Brave Crow: “I will be donating the
money I make during pride events to fund
Prideeventsinthefuture.ThekingsinCedar
Rapids care about the community. I began
doing live Drag Poetry, and I am always
trying to push the envelope.”
HunterDown:“IwillbebringingIowa
Pride to Las Vegas this year. Unfortunately,
I won’t be able to attend CR Pride Fest but
I will definitely bring the spirit of equality
and freedom to the city that never sleeps!”
Tatem: “Embracing my drag alter ego
andbreakingthebarriersofthetypicaldrag
audienceisalwaysanexcitingchallenge.My
partner, who is on the Rollerderby team,
brings the girls out to our shows for a night
out together”.
JD Lesbiani: “I am known for my love
for country, my signature song is “We Shall
Be Free” by Garth Brooks to help advo-
cate the message of equality and love for
everyone”.
Chelsea Joy Lob and Jazmine Fritz:
“WemetatIowaCityPridein2010andhave
been best friends since. And now we have
the opportunity to EmCee pride this year!
We are more than excited”.
To learn more about The NKOB you can
find them on Facebook at Facebook.com/
NewKingsCR.
Pictured from Bottom Left to Right Top. Tatem Trick flashes a smile for the cameras
during his “Pimp Juice” performance.
Jazmine Fritz is all smiles, celebrating her 25th Birthday
at the NKOTB Prom themed show May 10th.
JD Lesbiani makes a comeback on the CO2 stage
after taking a much needed break from performing.
Jayden Knight and fiance Star E. Knight pose at the photo booth.
Photos courtesy of Alana Hyatt. You can find Alana at facebook.com/AlanasArtwork.
The NKOB are showing their Pride Cedar Rapids, IA
JUNE 2013ACCESSline Page 18
The Fun Guide
23. I.C. Kings are bursing with Pride this June! Iowa City, IAThe I.C. Kings are bursting with pride
this June! How do these gender-benders
show their pride, you ask? The I.C. Kings
love getting involved in community events,
dancingaroundlikemaniacsandgivingaway
buttons, candy and mustaches (stop by their
booth at Iowa City Pride for the freebies)!
Theyalsoenjoyridingonfloats,wearingskin-
showingoutfits,waving,frolicking,cheering,
clapping, smiling and shimmying. But their
favoritewaystoshowpridearemeetingnew
people,makingcontributionstotheLGBTQA
community,supportingfellowcreativetypes,
encouragingfrivolityandmakingnewfriends.
And most of the I.C. Kings bring out a little
extra queerness for Pride events.
If you want to catch a glimpse of these
lovely bois, check out their June schedule
of shows and appearances, listed below. To
help you fabulous readers prepare for the
unbridled gaiety, here’s a taste of what you
might expect this month...
*HughJindapantsexplodingwithenergy,
rainbows, monkey noises, douchery and
magical sidechops.
* J.T. Amore making his “booty bounce”
and Miss Kitty swooning with passion at the
sight of it.
* Julius Fever enchanting everyone with
his dreamy mustache and foreign ways.
* Franky D. Lover performing a fan-
requested song and practicing his swishy
walk.
* Max E. Mum flirting with all the ladies
and showing off his tattoos.
* Joey D. being a heart-throb... all day,
every day.
* Scott Abigwun shooting rainbows of
awesomeness out of his fingertips (or other
places).
* Miss Kitty being her saucy, fine, feline
self!
* Guests, sexiness and ridiculous antics.
YourGuidetoSeeingthe
I.C.KingsinJune!
June 13th (Thursday)
I.C.Kingspresent“ShowUsYourPride!”
What: Drag King Show
Where: Studio 13, in Iowa City
When: 9pm – 12:30am
Cover: $5 (19+ until 10pm)
June 15th (Saturday)
I.C. Kings at I.C. PRIDE!
What: Pride parade, drag king perfor-
mances & I.C. Kings booth
Where: College Green Park & the Ped
Mall in Iowa City
When: Noon, 1:30pm (for performanc-
es), booth until 5pm
Free! (All ages!)
June 22nd (Saturday)
I.C. Kings at The Tool Box
What:ClosingPartyforTheToolBoxand
Photo Exhibit by Tonya Kehoe
Where: The Tool Box in Iowa City
When: 5pm – 9pm
Free!
June 27th (Thursday)
I.C. Kings present “Free for All!”
What: Drag King Show
Where: Studio 13, in Iowa City
When: 9pm – 12:30pm
Cover: $5 (19+ until 10pm)
ShowYOURPridebygettingouttothese
shindigs and all the other AMAZING events
scheduled in Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Des
Moines,theQuadCitiesandeverywhereelse!
For more information on the I.C. Kings go to
Facebook.com/I.C.Kings.
Above. Julius Fever and Franky D. Lover courtesy of Tanya Kehoe.
CatalogTKA.blogspot.com.
Below. Joey D. courtesy of Juan Carlos Herrera. JuanCarlosHerrera.net.
J.T. Amore courtesy of Tanya Kehoe. CatalogTKA.blogspot.com.
ACCESSline Page 23JUNE 2013
The Fun Guide
