Marriage Co-Sponsor: Call the Measure by KATE SOSIN Effort to Turn the Heat on Lawmakers Who Might Be Tempted to Delay a Controversial Vote Until After Elec- U.S

WCT talks with oscar nominee WINDY CITY joan THE VOICE OF CHICAGO’S GAY, LESBIAN, allen BI AND TRANS COMMUNITY SINCE 1985 Oct. 9, 2013 vol 29, no. 2

PAGE 23 www.WindyCityMediaGroup.comTIMES Marriage co-sponsor: Call the measure BY KATE SOSIN effort to turn the heat on lawmakers who might be tempted to delay a controversial vote until after elec- U.S. REP. Rep. Greg Harris, chief sponsor of the Illinois marriage tion filing deadlines later in the season. GUTIERREZ AT equality bill, has been cautious in comments since the Yingling’s comments come alongside reports that measure fell short in the spring. But other sponsors of sponsors and LGBT leaders might wait until January to TWIRL TRANS the bill report optimism. call the bill, a move that could spark community protest GROUP The strongest of those comments came from open- from supporters who expected a vote in May. page 13 ly gay co-sponsor Sam Yingling, who told Windy City Yingling said he wants to see a vote in veto session, Times that his roll call indicates that the bill has the 60 but that supporters also need to keep pressure on the votes it needs to pass in veto session. lawmakers to pass the bill. “I believe the votes are there,” Yingling said. “There “We still have to fight for this,” Yingling said. “This will always be excuses as to why the vote should be isn’t something that’s going to magically happen.” delayed, but the overwhelming majority of people in Rep. Sara Feigenholtz of Chicago was more reserved in Illinois support marriage equality, and we need to vote her predictions. on it and get it done.” “I think things are moving in the right direction,” she Yingling said he thinks that the bill has more votes said. “My sense is there is cautious optimism.” than in did in May, when Harris, faced with the possibil- Feigenholtz said that sponsors and LGBT leaders have ity of the bill failing, decided to hold off on a vote until made improvements since the May shortfall. fall veto session. “We are working,” she said. “There is constant vigi- Illinois Unites for Marriage Campaign Manager John lance on this.” Kohlhepp has said that his team is working with the The final decision on the vote timeline rests with Har- goal of seeing a vote during veto session. ris. He has stated repeatedly that he will not give a Veto session begins Oct. 22. Activists have planned timeline or a vote count for the bill. a massive march on the capitol that day at noon, an State rep. Sam Yingling. Photo courtesy of Yingling

ALD. DEB MELL TALKS MARRIAGE HITTING THE RIGHT NOTES AT TRIBUNE EVENT pagE 14

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out gay and hiv- positive actor mark patton on page 25 hollywood and ‘nightmare on elm street 2’ pagE 27 Windy City Times talks with LGBT musicians in two separate interviews: quartet Well-Strung and jazz vocalist Lucy Smith. Photo of Well-Strung by Scott Henrichsen; image of Smith by Olga Lopez 2 Oct. 9, 2013 WINDY CITY TIMES

Yobeloung here

At Elmhurst, you’ll find an exceptionally welcoming campus community. We embrace individual expression. We see our differences as sources of strength. And we clearly, openly, emphatically want you here.

Scholarships for LGBT students Our Enrichment Scholarship specifically benefits academically qualified students from minority groups—including LGBT students. The scholarship covers one-third of tuition. More than that, it underscores our commitment to affirming the identities and advancing the dreams of each individual student.

A wealth of programs and resources We support our LGBT students through a variety of campus organizations and events. The student group EQUAL “People at Elmhurst are (Elmhurst Queers and Allies) promotes awareness through accepting and supportive, events and advocacy. SAFE (Staff, Administrators and from the faculty and staff to Faculty for Equality) offers a support network for the LGBT my friends and fraternity community. An annual guestship and other special events brothers. My experience focus on issues of concern to the LGBT community. Our here has helped me embrace faculty is adding courses in LGBT studies. my sexuality and become the person I am today.” A step ahead of the rest Joey Carrillo “In a small but meaningful step, Elmhurst College is now officially telling applicants that gay students are welcome on campus. The private liberal arts college is the first college in the U.S. to ask potential students about their sexual orientation or “Elmhurst College does a gender identity on its application....The question is meant to great job of nurturing and increase diversity at the school, which is affiliated with the supporting LGBT students. United Church of Christ, and to direct incoming students Coming out was hard for toward services that might ease their transition into college life. me, but I’ve been blessed It’s also a strong signal that the school will embrace LGBT to have an accepting students and will do its best to support them.” community to come out to.” —Chicago Sun-Times Felicia Diaz

Hear our students’stories: www.elmhurst.edu/lgbt

facebook.com/ElmCol twitter.com/ElmhurstCollege WINDY CITY TIMES Oct. 9, 2013 3 this week in WINDY CITY TIMES NEWS ENTERTAINMENT/EVENTS Column: Royster 4Scottish Play Scott 17 Gay History Month: ‘Dr. Anonymous’ 5 Play looks at sex trafficking 22 OutHistory site is redesigned 6 Joan Allen interview 23 Friend Movement launches walk 8 Music: The men of Well-Strung 24 Local news: Gerber/Hart; Peoria 9 Lesbian jazz musician Lucy Smith 25 Knight: Valentine Road, We Are... 26 FAQs about Springfield march 10 Mark Patton on ‘Elm Street’ film 27 School of Opulence 12 Dish: Five Worth Finding 30 Pro-trans organization TWIRL 13 Billy Masters 33 Marriage events: Tribune, Marine 14 Gay in the Life 15 VIEWS: Pizzoli; letter 16 OUTLINES Classifieds 30 Calendar Q 32

Photos on cover (left, from top): PR photo of Joan Allen; photo of U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez and TWIRL by Tracy Baim; photo of Deb Mell at Tribune marriage-equality debate by Tracy Baim; image of Mark Patton in the film Nightmare on Elm Street 2

’S GAY, LESBIAN, CAGO CE 1985 THE VOICE OF CHI ND TRANS COMMUNITY SIN BI A t. 9, 2013 Oc 2 l 29, no. WCT WINDY CITYvo Talks WiTh osCar noMinee roup.com joan allen TIMESndyCityMediaG www.Wi

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n. e during veto sesvsioists have planned ing a vot . Acti oon, an Marriage co-sponsor:ee Oct. 22 e ins b goal of s ion beg pitol that day at nmight e ca ers w ho c- Veto sess arch on th mak e assive m e until after el a m rn th e heat on lawrsial vot effort to tu y a controve son. that to dela rts tempted es later in the seangside repo Call the measuredeadlin me al o l January to co tion filing wait unti s comments s might nity protest Yingling’ T leader ark commu IN marriage and LGB ould sp KATE SOS e Illinois e sponsors ve that c te in May. ion, BY r of th ce th a mo ted a vo eto sess ponso ents sin l the bill, o expec DOWNLOADin v e THIS! ef s m cal wh vote arris, chi s in com nsors of orters a on th eg H cautiou her spo om supp ants to see eep pressure . reP. Rep. Gr But ot fr id he w ed to k U.s T bill, has been ring. gling sa also ne reZ a equality the sp en- Yin porters his ier fell short in hat sup bill. GUT asure mism. s c ame from op City but t ss the ” Yingling said. “T rans me ort opti ent Windy ers to pa for this, happen.” irl T bill rep those comm o told 0 lawmak o fight agically in TW the st of ing, wh e 6 have t m e reserved stronge Yingl has th “We still s going to mor UP The r Sam that the bill ing that’ go was Gro co-sponso ates ometh hica 13 ly gay l call indic sion. here isn’t s igenholtz of C on,” she PAGE ol ses said. “T ara Fe directi that his r in veto gling be Rep. S ght Times ds to pass hould ctions. ng in the ri m.” it nee are there,” Yin vote s i optimis ve votes e votes y the ople in her pred hings are movi autious ders ha lieve th as to wh y of pe ere is c GBT lea “I be excuses ajorit o vote “I think t nse is th ors and L 14 ays be ing m need t e ons to page will alw overwhelm and we said. “My s aid that sp Turn t the quality, tz s bu iage e es Feigenhol delayed, ort marr vot ois supp has more Illin bill possibil- get it done.” s that the ith the on it and he think , faced w ntil f Yingling ling said ris esy o Go to ing off on a vote u ourt www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com Y May, when Har n did in ided to hold ling. Photo c than i iling, dec John Ying e bill fa Manager rep. Sam ity of th ign the State session. age Campa ng with fall veto for Marri is worki ois Unites Tes Illin aid that his team Kohlhepp has s

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en; enrichs by Scott H Then click on any ad and be taken directly to the advertiser’s Web site! -Strung of Well D hiV- oto ay an Lucy Smith. Ph oUT G alist e aCTor zz voc osiTiV rung and ja P TTon on t Well-St rk Pa ws: quarte Ma anD intervie WooD eparate holly ns in two s are on T musicia GhTM ith LGB ‘ni T 2’ talks w M sTree City Times el Windy lga Lopez E 27 f Smith by O PAG image o online exclusives at www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com JUST FOR LAUGHS Comedian Shawn Pelofsky (left) chats with WCT about gay cruises and physical comedy. Photo courtesy of GayStar

aaw-windy-city-quarterpage.pdf 1 10/3/13 11:29 AM

FEATURING ORIGINAL ARTWORK By DOZENS OF LOCAL ARTISTS SHOWCASED IN BUSINESSES THROUGHOUT THE Pathfinders NEIGHBORHOOD PLUS A VARIETY OF Director Eddie honored civil- LIVE SHOWS AND PERFORMANCES. Griffith talks about rights leaders his Web series in an event at WHAT’S cooking? Ken, which looks Celebrity chef Roble Ali dishes about Art Kingston Mines. at Blacks, faith and Photo of State Sen. Smith, Andy Cohen and preparing dishes homosexuality. Jacqueline Collins and for President Obama. Photo from Griffith Brenetta Howell Barrett by Vern Hester

SEASONS OF LOVE ‘ROAD’ WARRIORS Four Seasons Baltimore has launched a C

same-sex wedding program. M

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT MY Find out the latest about Jodie Foster, Leslie Jordan and Ryan Phillippe. CY

CMY

K plus The Illinois Safe Schools Alliance held its “On the Road” brunch Oct. 6. Night of 100 pARTies DAILY BREAKING NEWS Photo by Melissa Wasserman Friday, Oct 11 6 – 10pm Self-Guided Art Walk nightspots #1103 • Oct. 2, 2013 Show #542 Saturday, Oct 12 & Sunday, Oct 13 nightspots 11am – 6pm

PLUS Our 2011 Holiday Gift Guide Moose’s music gifts (and gaffes). andersonville.org page 10 C’MON, VOGUE Peter Pointers’ “12 Ways To Bliss-mas .“ page 25

Pubert’s Favorite Things. Richardpages 28-29 Knight, Jr. and the SERVING REALNESS Vogue much? Then you’ll get your chance at Berlin’s Vogue For Tots, Thu., Oct. 3; and at Spin’s Chicago Is Burning with DiDa Ritz and Gia Gunn, Sat., Oct. 5. See our calendar 31st Reeling Film Festival on page 26 for more info. Photo from 2012’s Vogue For Tots V. www.andersonville.org/artsweekend

Find Nightspots on www.WindyCityQueercast.com 4 Oct. 9, 2013 WINDY CITY TIMES

Cultural Q’s by FRANCESCA ROYSTER Queer Sparks: Creative Crush Stories I remember watching my father play- where s/he shimmied, shook.” — Misty ing drums in the park in the summers of DeBerry, Performance Artist. my childhood. On Saturdays, he’d come “His talent to cut the rug in a suit and prepared with his two canvas-covered pumps softens the butchest of bikers. congas waiting in the back seat of the The ability to contort his face in con- car and a red milk crate of percussion cert with the rest of his body celebrates instruments to share. grotesquery in its finest. Pee Wee Her- We’d drive by the park or the lake and man. At age seven, the word ‘camp’ was he’d listen out for the sound of others not part of my vocabulary, yet it got me, playing. I remember his face lifted up and it still gets me…through. I had no the sky when he played, eyes closed. idea that homosexuals, let alone gender- He seemed to be aware and not aware queers, existed, even when staring one of the other drummers, the dancers, the down in the mirror. Yet, there I was, audience, of his children by his side who every Saturday morning in front of the were beating out a 2/3 rhythm on the TV, crouched forward in my awkwardly fe- clave. I remember the iron smell of his male body, studying, imitating, flaming, sweat, wanting to be strong like his becoming.” — Rae Langes, Performance hands were strong, and the promise of Artist (https://sites.google.com/site/ being transformed through music. ralanges/) . “Was my first creative crush a metaphor- crazed singer-songwrit- er? A Broadway diva? “I remember the iron smell of A feminist poet? A dis- his sweat, wanting to be strong cordant jazz track? A political manifesto or like his hands were strong, and two? Which brash and unconventional female, the promise of being trans- which critique of nor- formed through music.” mal, led me to become a queer-form-loving es- sayist? My first serious literary crush was Doris Lessing’s five-book and What is creativity? Julia Cameron, au- somewhat autobiographical Children of thor of The Artist’s Way writes that “our Violence series, which I binge-read as creative dreams and yearnings come a young woman living alone in a studio from a divine source. As we move toward apartment, marveling at this epic por- our dreams, we move toward our divin- trait of a character named Martha Quest ity.” Designer Tim Brown describes it as who refused convention and witnessed recapturing the playful, uninhibited im- the 20th century imploding. The sleep- provisational state of childhood. Creativ- less weeks I spent reading these books ity is inherently queer, in that it can take are rewriting me still.” — Barrie Jean us out of the normative stories of our Borich, writer. lives that we’ve been given, and reorga- “I can still list the first three albums nize our relationship to our bodies, to that I ever brought. I had to put away family and sense of place. my Samantha Fox cassette tape—a hand In Summer of 2013, The New York me down from my mother’s collection— Times asked artists as well as readers and was still recovering from the revela- from all over the country to share motion of Milli Vanilli’s betrayal of public ments when they were inspired to pursue trust (Can we continue to blame it on a creative life. People listed Buffy, sculp- the rain?) But there in my hands I held ture, The Simpsons, a trip to the opera the first three items that would spark my at age 5. As I read these creative crush own creative journey: Boyz II Men’s II, stories, it made me want to collect some The Mighty Ducks 3 Original Motion Pic- from our own queer community here in ture Soundtrack, and Alanis Morisette’s Chicago, to think about what sparks link Jagged Little Pill. us. “It was the latter that most resonated Who knows? These stories might spark with me as a childhood friend and I re- a crush in you, too. enacted an imagined lived concert in “hop scotch on federal street with front of a VHS recorder, working our way the fire hydrant opened up. me and my through Morisette’s collection of iconic sister mopping the floor for mama with ’90’s hits. While I don’t think I quite un- old ratty t-shirts, we didn’t have much derstood the nuances and complexities money then and nothing made mama of her anger, hurt, and confusion, I still happier than a clean house when she attest that I gave my best performance came home from school. and soooo many to date in front of that camcorder, a beads in my plaited hair, (i did it all by spatula as my microphone. Unfortunate- myself!) swoosh swoosh, clickety-clack ly, that VHS tape suffered at the hands of time i turned my head. hula hooping on my mother, who went on to record over front porches. and sneaking off to the it the latest episode of All My Children, bathroom to find me turning grown. my but the memory—and the moment of crush, reverberating from everybody’s imagination—live on.” — Asher Diaz, everything, touched my spirit-self, multimedia artist

MarchOnSpringfield Francesca Royster is a Professor of English at DePaul University, where she ForMarriageEquality www.MarchOnSpringfield.org @IllinoisMarches teaches courses on Shakespeare, Popular Culture, gender, race, sexuality and performance. Her books include Sounding Like a No-No: Queer Sounds and Ec- Sponsors centric Acts in the Post-Soul Era (University of Michigan Press, 2013) and Be- coming Cleopatra: The Shifting Image of an Icon (Palgrave, 2003).

Chicago Black Gay Men’s Caucus

BestGayChicago.com WINDY CITY TIMES Oct. 9, 2013 5 GAY HISTORY MONTH PROJECT process. In places, where Fryer had initially written in past tense, he changed the words to present Forty years after APA decision, tense, perhaps as a means to communicate the ongoing impact of anti-gay sentiments, and he also modified singular first-person pronouns to ‘Dr. Anonymous’ letter plural, seemingly to emphasize that he was not alone in his petition. continues to educate The speech itself details the myriad pressures by jen colletta, Echevarria, HSP cataloguer who was then an ar- that LGBTs working in the psych field faced GAY HISTORY PROJECT chival processor, made the surprising discovery. keeping their personal and private lives sepa- “We were, of course, aware of Fryer’s speech rate, including the threat of persecution from With a stroke of a pen 40 years ago, LGBT people to the APA but when we were processing it, we employers to which they were loyal. were “cured.” weren’t aware the actual handwritten speech “Many of us work 20 hours daily to protect In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association was in the collection,” Echevarria said. “So institutions who would literally chew us up and (APA) made the groundbreaking move of declas- when I found it, that was a big moment. You spit us out if they know, or chose to acknowl- sifying homosexuality as a mental disorder, after love those moments when you can find some- edge, the ‘truth,’” Fryer wrote. a lengthy campaign by such activists as Frank thing historically important that’s right there in He finished his address by speaking directly to Kameny, Barbara Gittings and Kay Lahusen. front of you.” his fellow LGBT psychiatrists, an informal club But, one of the key factors thought to have HSP houses thousands of documents at its he dubbed “The GayPA,” urging them to speak spurred the policy change was a speech at the Philadelphia headquarters, and functions not out against anti-LGBT comments from their col- 1972 APA convention in Philadelphia—in which as a museum, but as a library and archives; re- leagues, to remain objective when treating LGBT The first two pages of the “Dr. Anonymous” “Dr. H. Anonymous,” clad in a mask, wig, baggy searchers, educators and anyone with a knack patients and to “pull your courage up by your letter. clothes and using a voice-altering microphone, for history can come in and peruse the collec- bootstraps and discover ways in which you as became the first gay U.S. psychiatrist to speak tions in person. About 77,000 of its documents homosexual psychiatrists can be appropriately publicly about his sexual orientation. are preserved in a digital database to promote involved in movements which attempt to change Now, 40 years after the APA’s decision, Dr. wider viewing. the attitudes of both homosexuals and hetero- Anonymous’ seminal speech continues to open When HSP was compiling selections for the sexuals toward homosexuality.” eyes. Preserving American Freedom project, which is Throughout the online exhibit, viewers can The original copy of the speech has been digi- funded by Bank of America and which also in- zoom in on documents, scroll across them and tized and included on the Historical Society of cludes such items as a handwritten draft of the read histories about the context of each piece. Pennsylvania’s (HSP’s) new Preserving American U.S. Constitution and William Penn’s 1682 deed “We think primary-source documents like this Freedom website, launched in September, which with the Delaware Indians, Fryer’s speech stood speech, where you can look directly at the words highlights 50 historic documents that examine out as a natural fit. as they were written, are really valuable,” Molo- the tenets of American freedom. “The history of gay rights in America is an shok said. The speech was discovered among the more- emerging history, and it’s an exciting, emerg- In addition to Fryer’s speech, the initiative than 200 boxes donated to HSP by the sister of ing history,” said Rachel Moloshok, Preserving also includes an original brochure of the 1968 Dr. John Fryer, the man behind Dr. Anonymous’ American Freedom project manager. “And this Annual Reminder at Philadelphia’s Indepen- mask. Fryer was a Temple University professor document is very groundbreaking; it speaks to dence Hall, one of the nation’s earliest LGBT- and one of the founders of the Philadelphia AIDS the need for the freedom of gay men and women rights demonstrations. Task Force. Upon his 2003 death, his sister do- to live openly, freely and honestly without being And many of Fryer’s other papers have been nated his papers to HSP. stigmatized as mentally ill.” digitized in HSP’s online database and are avail- In 2011, as the collection was being pro- The nine-page speech was written in felt-tip able for view in person at the archives. cessed as part of a civic-engagement project— marker on yellow legal paper and includes a Echevarria did caution that HSP had to put an effort supported by the National Historical number of scratched-out words and rephrasings, certain restrictions on some of his papers that Publications and Records Commission—Willhem allowing the viewer to follow Fryer’s thought Turn to page 14 6 Oct. 9, 2013 WINDY CITY TIMES Katz, D’Emilio reorganize OutHistory website By Carrie Maxwell tered something queer and what kind of impact free. Queer people did that media have on you as an LGBT person? have a long history In 2005 Jonathan Ned Katz, author and histo- ... What is the first LGBT organization that you of having to really rian of human sexuality, imagined a place on joined? What was the first time you found your- search for their own the web where LGBT history could reach a larger self in a group of other LGBT people and how did histories, and of audience. That site, OutHistory, was launched you get there?” said D’Emilio. “I am very excited other people giving in Oct. 2008 and just last month, the site re- about this and I’m approaching it with trepida- them misinforma- launched with a new look and interface. tion. I have no idea if it will work.” tion about who and In the fall of 2011, Katz enlisted the help of A few years ago OutHistory sponsored a con- what they are,” said John D’Emilio, author and professor of history test designed to get people to create commu- Potter. “I feel like and gender and women’s studies at the Univer- nity histories called “Since Stonewall,” D’Emilio OutHistory is tak- sity of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), to help rethink explained. That contest produced 40-50 entries ing a tradition of and reorganize the site as well as generate new and the winning entry was the Rainbow Rich- activist knowledge sources of funding. mond submission, said D’Emilio. created by people D’Emilio and Katz are also collaborating with “We’d like to do another contest and reach like Jonathan, Karla Claire Bond Potter, professor of history at The out to LGBT community centers and campus Jay, Leslie Feinberg New School for Public Engagement, on the re- LGBT groups around the country. This time the and others, and launch. Together they will serve as co-directors focus would be on the history of activism,” said conveying it to a and students from UIC will also be helping them D’Emilio. “We want to find different networks public that now Screenshot of www.outhistory.org. with the new site. that are already out there and encourage them turns first to new “The site looks completely different now,” said to create histories that can then go on our site. media for reading history. The three of us will be working together D’Emilio. “One of the difficulties with the previ- We are also talking about working with archives pleasure and to answer important questions.” to solicit new OutHistory content from the gen- ous site was the use of wiki software because around the country who may not have an LGBT “I’m really delighted to have John take the eral public and scholars. If you have interesting the initial vision was that it would be an LGBT archive but archives that have LGBT material lead in ushering in a new, improved website, and documents or want to recount a dramatic, telling history Wikipedia site. This created certain kinds and partner with them to make their archives to have Claire join us as a co-director,” said Katz. episode from your LGBT or Q life, please let us of constraints about the look and structure of more visible by putting two or three of their “John’s an old friend, and a pioneer in LGBTQ hear from you at [email protected].” the site. It hasn’t worked out as an open entry documents on our site with a link to the place history. Claire is a new friend and an untiring See www.outhistory.org. Wikipedia site for good reasons. Reasons that where the document came from. The plan for the activist on behalf of quality, free, public LGBTQ make sense.” next five years is to figure out how to organize D’Emilio said that redesigned site has birthday a steady stream of new material so that the site announcements, did you know section, pictures, always has surprises. Things that you haven’t 3-hour open bar, a Gift Bag, and a Guided easy search categories and a calendar that tells seen before.” Legacy Walk phase Tour of the Legacy Walk. All proceeds will visitors what happened this month, this week As for the site’s social-media presence, 2 dedication benefit the Legacy Project Education Initia- and this day. He also noted that the site is not D’Emilio noted there is a public Facebook page tive (LPEI). meant to be very academic because they want it where they are posting notices about interesting Oct. 11-12 See www.legacyprojectchicago.org. to be accessible to everyone who is looking for things that have happened in the LGBT commu- The Legacy Project announces the Two-Part information about LGBT history. nity and a private group page where members Dedication of Phase II of Chicago’s “Legacy Of the site, D’Emilio said, It’s potentially who have an interest in history can engage in Walk”—the only outdoor LGBT museum walk Police look about anything whereas other sites have a par- dialogue with each other and talk about the in the world—Friday, Oct.11, and Saturday, for suspects in ticular focus. Our site is meant to be a home for things they are working on. D’Emilio also shared Oct. 12. any kind of material about LGBT history. The site that a grad student will be managing the Twit- The new bronze plaques commemorate Walt Lakeview robberies is in its beginning stages and will be changing ter page. Whitman, U.S. poet; Lorraine Hansberry, play- Chicago police are on the lookout for sus- each week, month and year by year as we add “I like to joke about the fact that I sometimes wright; Dr. Tom Waddell, founder of the Gay pects in five recent night and early morning new content.” feel like I am a visitor to the 21st century. I was Games; Ruth Ellis, youth advocate; and Frank robberies in Lakeview. A new feature, “Tell Us Your Story,” allows very late in getting a cell phone or a Facebook Kameny, one of the most influential LGBT ac- According to a Sept. 30 community alert, the public to share experiences about particular page,” said D’Emilio. “What I’ve loved about do- tivists of the 20th century. two robberies took place on the 900 block topics and events related to LGBT history, noted ing this project is it’s made me study how the On Oct. 11 these five new plaques will join of W. Belmont Ave.; the first was Sept. 11 D’Emilio. The first two topics that the public can Web works. What sites do I come away from the 18 plaques of the Legacy Walk that were at 3:30 a.m. and the second was Sept. 28 contribute to are the 1987 March on Washington and think, ‘Wow, that was pretty easy’ or ‘Oh dedicated in 2012. The dedication will consist at 7:30 p.m. Incidents also occurred on the and Pride Marches/Parades, D’Emilio explained. my god—I am never going to that site again.’ I of a series of ceremonies conducted late af- 3500 block of North Sheffield Ave. on Sept. Each submission will be edited to make sure it feel like I’ve become a more intelligent Internet ternoon Oct. 11, and a celebration reception 28 at 4:10 a.m.; on the 1200 block of W. Cor- adheres to the standards of the site including user. Who knows this site might get me to join the following afternoon, Oct. 12. nelia on Sept. 30 at 12:20 a.m.; and the 600 whether the submission is factually and editori- Twitter as myself.” The on-street dedication ceremony for the block of West Belmont Ave. on Sept. 30 at ally sound, said D’Emilio. “I’m very excited to be working with two dis- five new plaques being added to the Legacy 12:50 p.m. “Other potential questions for the Tell Us Your tinguished scholars who are also long-time activ- Walk begins at 5:30 p.m. at the pylon located In the incidents, the assailants asked to use Story section include what is the first TV show ists. I believe that scholarship needs to be made at 3342 N. Halsted St. They will welcome each the victim’s cell phone, snatched their purse or movie or book you read in which you encoun- accessible, and available, to the larger public for new plaque onto the street in a small cer- or wallet, and/or used hands or feet to strike emony conducted by youth participants in the the victim. Pepper spray was used in two of Legacy Project Education Initiative (LPEI). the robberies. The traveling celebration will move north to- Information suggests that the suspects ward the final dedication at 3617 N. Halsted could be gender-variant. Police described the St. suspects as male and female African Ameri- The ceremonies will conclude at approxi- cans (or “men dressed as women”) ranging in mately 6:30 p.m. Friday evening’s dedications age from their late teens to their early 30s. will be followed by a pizza party at the Cen- In the first robbery in the 900 block of W. ter on Halsted, 6:30-8 p.m. for our students, Belmont Ave., the offender is described as their parents and special guests. A very lim- a male African-American wearing a blonde ited number of tickets are available for the long-haired wig and a dress. In the robbery public on a first-come, first-served basis for a that occurred on the 1200 block of West Cor- donation of $20. All proceeds will benefit the nelia Ave., the offender is described as a fe- Legacy Project Education Initiative (LPEI). male African American, 20-25 years of age, On Oct. 12, from 3-6 p.m., Sidetrack hosts 5’8” to 5’10,” wearing an orange hooded an afternoon of “Slushy Drinks”, musical sweatshirt with white lettering. In the purse guests, raffle prizes and a silent auction with snatching that occurred on the 600 block of great items. Hosted by WGN-TV’s Sean Lewis, West Belmont Ave., a male African-American, this community celebration will feature an 25-29 years of age, exited the back seat of open bar starting at 3 p.m. for VIPs and 4 a dark older model vehicle (possibly a Nis- p.m. for standard ticket holders. san Altima) that contained three or four male Saturday afternoon’s fundraiser will help African-Americans dressed as females. ensure another year of service to the LGBT Anyone with information is urged to call (and straight) youth of the Chicago metro- Area North Bureau of Detectives at 312-744- politan area through the Legacy Project Edu- 8263. cation Initiative. $50 standard tickets include —Matt Simonette 2-hour open bar; $100 VIP Tickets include WINDY CITY TIMES Oct. 9, 2013 7

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Jody Michael associates Career CoaChing • exeCuTive CoaChing 773.275.5566 www.jodymichael.com 8 Oct. 9, 2013 WINDY CITY TIMES Friend Movement starts cross-country walk By Carrie Maxwell Rodriguez said she is a Latina lesbian Episco- palian and has had to overcome bullying as well. The Friend Movement hosted You’ve Got a Friend, “I die every time I hear that a young person has A Bullying Prevention Panel Discussion at the hurt or killed themselves,” she said. Center on Halsted Oct. 4. Serio noted that he grew up in the Chicago Participants were Richard Pryor Jr., actor and suburbs and went to Catholic grade school and activist; Melba Rodriguez, vice president of in- high school. As a defense mechanism, Serio said stitution advancement at Northeastern Illinois he kept his head down in order to avoid being University; Joe Serio, psychologist; Andrew Kro- bullied. He said that prevention is the key to ma, student; Chris Hill, teacher; and Julius DC end bullying. Bautista, artist. Kroma, who is 20 years old, explained that he They spoke to about 25 people about the ef- came out as transgender two years ago and has fects of bullying on students and the role that been bullied on numerous occasions. friends can play in hastening suicides among Hill shared that he grew up just outside of young people. Colleen Tomanek, licensed clini- Springfield, Ill. and is a Chicago Public School cal social worker and tenured faculty counselor/ art teacher on the South Side. He said he was instructor in the Center for Multicultural Learn- lucky to have an amazing family and friends; ing at Harper College, served as the evening’s however, he was still bullied in school and did moderator. alcohol and drugs to numb the pain. The discussion took place ahead of Friend Bautista explained that he is an artist and Movement (a national anti-bullying grassroots through his art therapy project he hopes to put initiative) co-founders and Chicago-area natives an end to bullying. He noted that he was bullied Elliot London and Ronnie Kroell’s 37-day, 943- as a child and it upsets him that he finds himself mile multi-state walk in memory of the late Rut- repeating that negative behavior and bullying Friend Movement’s Ronnie Kroell (left) and Elliot London at the panel. Photo by Tracy Baim gers student Tyler Clementi. The next morning, others as an adult. Oct. 5, London and Kroell kicked-off their walk Tomanek asked the panel to share how they able. Serio said this was a rare instance where in recent weeks. His husband is an elementary to raise awareness for increased bullying pre- would define bullying and whether they had he witnessed an adult standing up to anti-gay school teacher in the suburbs and an advocate vention efforts across the country. (October is been bullied. Pryor said he went to a predomi- harassment. for Pride Youth. His husband found a note on National Bullying Prevention Month.) They left nately white school and kids bullied him almost Rodriguez said that bullying occurs at all ages. his car that said homosexuals have no business from Millennium Park and the walk is expected daily by calling him Kunta Kinte, the n-word and She said she ran for student government presi- teaching kids and that he should resign. The to end Nov. 10 in New York City. jungle bunny. Coming to terms with his sexu- dent in her college as an openly lesbian candi- school and police are treating this as a felony The group is selling watches to raise funds ality was difficult for Pryor and he noted that date. She put flyers up and someone had written hate crime. for their walk. Kroell spoke about being a bet- he couldn’t tell his family, church or teachers “dyke” on the posters but they misspelled it as Other questions included cyberbullying, why ter friend to ourselves and others. London, who because of the stigma in his community. “dike.” Instead of giving in, Rodriguez said she people who are bullied suffer in silence, if you grew up near Rockford, said he was bullied for “Bullying is anything that makes people feel stood up to the bully and kept the posters up were bullied how did it make you stronger, how being gay. less than they should,” said Serio. In high and ended up running the student government allies can help recognize the warning signs of Pryor, the son of comic Richard Pryor, said he school speech class Serio explained that a class- by the time she was a senior. bullying, why students and adults allow their has been bullied as a Black, gay celebrity on a mate created a product for an assignment called Bautista said that sometimes LGBT people peers to be bullied and the importance of friend- number of occasions and he also has attempted “Gay Away,” and the teacher gave the student an bully other LGBT people and they should know ship. suicide twice. “F” and told him that the product was unaccept- better. A send-off benefit party/meet and greet took As for the negative effects of bullying, Kroma place at Hamburger Mary’s following the panel said he has self-hatred and has been hospital- discussion. ized many times for depression and anxiety. See www.friendmovement.com for more infor- Kroma noted he has also attempted suicide. mation. Serio talked about his husband getting bullied A NEW LECTURE SERIES WINDY CITY TIMES PRESENTED BY & CENTER ON HALSTED Insurance broker employee

NeXt lecture Lavender University is a 9-month claims anti-gay harassment lecture series featuring top academic and activist LGBtQs working on a wide By Matt Simonette place I could be productive anymore.” Sat., Oct 12, 2013, 11am-1pm range of research and interests. it is E. Patrick Johnson sponsored by Windy city times and O’Connor said that part of his job was sell- center on halsted. An employee of online insurance broker Go- ing the GoHealth office as a desirable place Gathering honey: Health, LLC, has filed complaints with the to work, something he felt that he could no oral histories of Black southern Women Who Love Women E. Patrick Johnson is the Carlos Montezuma Professor in the Department of Performance Illinois Department of Labor and the City of longer honestly do. He went on unpaid leave Studies and African American Studies, Northwestern University. As a follow-up to Sweet Chicago Council on Human Relations, alleging connected with FMLA (the Family and Medical Tea: Black Gay Men of the South—An Oral History, E. Patrick Johnson has begun working one of the company’s vice-presidents verbally Leave Act). on a new oral history on black lesbians of the South, tentatively entitled, Honeypot: harassed him. “By the time that expired, I couldn’t do the Black Southern Women Who Love Women—An Oral History. In his presentation, Johnson will discuss the challenges to conducting oral histories of black same-gender-loving women based not only on gender Sean O’Connor of Chicago worked as a me- job rationally—apology or not, I didn’t see differences between his subjects and himself, but also the content of their stories. In addition, Johnson will dia associate for GoHealth until April of this myself passing this guy at the coffee machine share some of the women’s stories through performance. year. According to the complaints, he was at- every morning,” O’Connor said. Sun., 11/3/13 Sat., 3/1/14 tending a work function at John Barleycorn O’Connor has found a new job, but is con- in River North and speaking with colleagues templating legal action against his former Goldie Goldbloom Lourdes torres when GoHealth Vice-President of Sales Scott employer. He said that he experienced panic Working For Queer acceptance: Making Familia from scratch: Sullivan approached their group. O’Connor attacks and emotional distress after what Finding Love amongst the religious right towards a history of Latina Lesbian said Sullivan joined in the conversation. happened. organizing in chicago Sat., 12/7/13 Very suddenly and without provocation, “I’m not trying to play the victim,” he said. Sat., 4/5/14 Sullivan clenched his fists and twice called “But people still need to know that these owen Daniel-Mccarter O’Connor a “faggot motherfucker,” going kinds of things go on.” constitutional Law as it applies to anne Balay close enough to O’Connor as to make him fear O’Connor’s attorney, Betty Tsamis, said, transgender Prisoners steel closets: Gay, Lesbian, and for his safety. “This was a professional interaction, but that transgender steelworkers Sat., 1/4/14 Sullivan walked away, but then complained kind of language is obviously not appropriate Sat., 5/3/14 to GoHealth’s CEO, Clint Jones. Jones asked under any circumstances.” hyacinth Piel O’Connor to leave the party; Sullivan had told In August, GoHealth was awarded the right Ethical Problems in Gender identity timothy stewart-Winter him that he was “causing trouble,” the com- to sell subsidized plans under the Affordable construction From civil rights to Gay rights in plaints stated. Care Act. In June it was named as one of the chicago Sat., 2/1/14 O’Connor did not return to work following city’s “101 Best and Brightest Companies to upc OMING lectureS the confrontation. He received an apology Work For” by the National Association for Beth richie from Sullivan via email the following day, but Business Resources. arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence $25 per lecture still felt uncomfortable being around his col- When reached by Windy City Times, Brad and america’s Prison nation leagues, he said. Burd, general counsel for GoHealth, would “I needed some time to go over what hap- not comment on the complaints. https://community.centeronhalsted.org/lavenderuniversity pened,” O’Connor said. “It didn’t seem like a WINDY CITY TIMES Oct. 9, 2013 9 Gerber/Hart anticipating LGBT domestic-violence winter reopening murder stats stun advocates BY KATE SOSIN leged that it had shut out community access. BY KATE SOSIN in reporting from the national numbers. The In July, Windy City Times reported that former Center saw a 32-percent increase in reported It’s been nearly a year and a half of closed doors President Karen Sendziak, who stepped down LGBT domestic violence murders hit an all- domestic violence incidents from 2011, with for Chicago’s LGBT library, but the Gerber/Hart amid last year’s controversy of the organiza- time high last year. That is according to a new 126 reported survivors. The report notes that Library and Archives board is hoping to reopen tion’s governance, was overseeing the archive. report by LGBT anti-violence groups. could be due to lack of staff turnover dur- the space before year’s end. Barnett, however, said that most of the li- The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Pro- ing 2012. (The Center has since lost its two Board Member Carrie Barnett told Windy City brary’s archived have been installed in the li- grams (NCAVP) reported 21 domestic violence full-time and one part-time AVP staffers and Times that the organization is aiming for a De- brary and remain in the care of the board as a murders for 2012, more than three times its restructured the program.) cember reopening. whole. recorded number for 2010 and two more than In Chicago, nearly 53 percent of victims The library moved locations in May 2012 and “It’s all safely contained and ready to be pro- it recorded in 2011. identified as white, while the national num- has remained closed while construction on its cessed,” said Barnett. “The main archives are Those numbers are detailed in an exten- bers reported 35.5 percent of victims were new space is finished. The anticipated reopening in the location in a secure room, and there are sive report published Oct. 1 by LGBT groups white. In Chicago, almost 27 percent of vic- has been repeatedly pushed back. some additional items in a storage facility.” around the county, including in Chicago. tims identified as Black or African-American. “Without saying we’re absolutely going to be Sendziak remains a volunteer, Barnett con- Jane Merrill—the advocacy and community Fifteen percent said they were Latino, and 3 open in December, I will tell you that our goal is firmed. engagement coordinator for Center on Hal- percent said they were biracial. to have an open house and community meeting Barnett, a former Gerber/Hart president who sted, which houses Chicago’s Anti-Violence Those demographics reflect the Center’s im- in the space sometime in the very beginning of joined the board after last year’s fallout, said Project—said that while advocates knew mediate neighborhood, noted, Merrill, sug- December,” said Barnett. “If for some unfore- she was unable to talk about specifics of the about the homicides before compiling the re- gesting a need to for outreach beyond the seen reason, we are still not open then, we will lease due to confidentiality agreements with the port, they were still stunned by the numbers. North Side. still have a community meeting.” landlord. She said, however, that the organiza- “Surprising? No,” said Merrill. “Horrifying? In Chicago, almost 47 percent of survivors The library briefly unlocked doors for a com- tion is financially sound and is working to re- Yes…this is a really terrifying report with the identified themselves as cisgender (or not munity open house in June. President Brad build community participation. highest number of homicides ever recorded.” transgender). Twenty-nine percent were men, Tucker had forecasted a reopening shortly after. “I just want to express how important it is Still, overall reported violence across the and twenty percent identified as women. Barnett said that the library is waiting on an to me and to the members of the board to re- country was down by nearly 32 percent. Some Chicago also saw an increase in sexual vio- occupancy permit from the city before it can establish trust because I think there has been a of that decline is due to cutbacks at three or- lence and physical violence. Physical violence open. She added that volunteer recruitment and great loss of trust,” said Barnett. “We’re looking ganizations, but even without those groups, reports increased by 117 percent, the report training has been slowed by the lack of a permit. to recreate that and have more transparency, NCAVP found a nearly 30-percent decrease. notes. Sexual violence reports increased by a The library has long been a community insti- have more opportunities for people to be in- Youth, people of color, transgender people stunning 263 percent. At the same, 2012 saw tution, at least in part because it oversees an volved, to recommit ourselves to service to the and gay men were hardest hit by domestic a 43 percent decrease in reports of violence to extensive LGBT archive. It has been ensnared in community.” violence, according to the report. police, with just 12 survivors reporting to law controversy since before its move as some al- Men represented about 36 percent of survi- enforcement. vors compared with 33 percent of women. In Still, it can be hard to pull meaning from 2011, women represented more than half of such reports, advocates note. An increase in reported survivors. recorded incidents does not always mean an had seen the nightclub, as an integral part of Chicago largely followed the national trend increase in violence. Police look for a revival of business in downtown Peoria. for 2012, Merrill noted, with some exceptions. A copy of the report is at avp.org/storage/ ‘person of interest’ He told the Journal Star in November, 2012, Among them was an exact opposite trend documents/ncavp_2012_ipvreport.final.pdf. “It will be a dance floor in every sense of the after Peoria murder word. …(T)he hottest thing in the world right By Matt Simonette now is electronic dance music. The era of the nightclub is back.” PEORIA—Police are searching for a man Scholl was pronounced dead at the scene of www.lightingbyfox.com they’re calling a “person of interest” after the the fire Oct. 3 at 12:34 a.m. Police released murder of a nightclub owner Oct. 2. photos taken from surveillance footage from The body of Todd Scholl, 47—owner of the Scholl’s and other area businesses, and said bars Berlin and Diesel, which both at times that the man depicted is wanted for question- served a largely gay clientele—was found ing. dead in an apartment building at 105 SW Per- ry Ave., located close to Scholl’s businesses, after authorities responded to a fire there. Immigration forum Scholl had apparently been stabbed numer- at Center Oct. 15 ous times. A panel of Chicago-based attorneys will lead Police are now investigating whether the a discussion on the benefits and downfalls of blaze was set in order to cover Scholl’s mur- the landmark Windsor decision—in which the der, according to Peoria Journal Star. The fire U.S. Supreme Court found Section 3 of the was contained to a storage area where Scholl Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitu- kept items for his establishments. Damage tional—Tuesday, Oct. 15, 6:30-8 p.m., in the was estimated at about $25,000. John Baran Senior Center at Center on Hal- Scholl had long owned the Diesel nightclub sted, 3656 N. Halsted St. and had been excited about his second night- Joy Messinger will moderate. club, Berlin, which opened in late 2012. He Visit www.centeronhalsted.org.

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f Our website has most of the answers to your FAQs, here: www.marchonspringfield.org y o Especially handy is the Travel button, where you can find out about: t r i • Parking • Buses with seats for sale • If you are doing a private bus, there are links to maps for drop off and parking l • Train links • Housing/hotel info M a a u r q For buses we suggest arriving between 11 and noon and then departure 5 or 5:30 pm, because some political groups will be doing events and riage E lobbying 3-5 p.m. Oct. 22. The bus drop is on Monroe and 2nd Streets, one block from the rally.

M arch day, tue., oct. 22 m edia There will be a media riser for media, and hookups for broadcast needs. Concert, rally and march starting point are all at 2nd and Capital streets. For media signup, contact Kevin Boyer, [email protected].

Schedule for the March b athrooms Noon-1 p.m.: Rock the March concert with LGBT singers and choral groups. (Note some acts will be in the 1-2:30 p.m. timeslot) There will be port-o-lets, including one which is wheelchair accessible. Artemis Singers and Amasong Windy City Performing Arts w eather Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus Steve Grand The events will happen rain or shine, cold or hot, so come prepared with jackets and umbrellas. Sami Grisafe SONiA of disappear fear w hat color should i wear? De’Borah Marcus Terall & the Serenades The March’s color is dark purple, but feel free to wear what you want, or join in with your Stephen Leonard union, school or church colors/uniforms. KOKUMO! Sandra Antongiorgi s igns and MCs will be C.C. Carter and Honey West Please feel free to bring banners for your groups, and special signs for marriage. Note we will be 1-2:30 p.m.: Speakers and singers walking on the sidewalks, so large banners may not work. Make sure your signs are weatherproof Speakers from a wide variety of backgrounds, including activists, religious leaders, if possible. Also, signs are not allowed inside the capital. families and more. We will also have about 2,000 signs for people to carry in the March. 2:30-3:30 p.m.: March around the 4-block expanse of the capital, back to the 2nd and Capital starting point. s hould we come down early/stay late? Joining us for the March will be: Jammin’ for Justice EarthBeat Drummers There will be several advance events prior to the March on Springfield, Tuesday, Oct. 22. Lakeside Pride Freedom Marching Band If you can, we suggest you come down Monday, stay thru the Tuesday March, and then stay 3:30-5 p.m.: LGBT political groups including Equality Illinois may have events inside the State Wednesday for the legislative session. Or come even earlier for special events. Capital, including lobbying of your elected officials. So make sure to leave time to meet your state reps if you can. Also, bring a state-issued ID, and no signs allowed inside. You can also visit the great tourist attractions of Springfield, especially Abraham Lincoln muse- ums and more. See http://visit-springfieldillinois.com/ . S IGN LANGUAGE AND DISABILITY ISSUES The area LGBT and allied groups have events including benefits, bar events, concerts, church There will be a sign language interpreter. services, AA groups and more. There will be a roped-off area for wheelchairs, for those needing chairs and for the hearing impaired. We will be posting a full calendar of events, but here are some:

F OOD AND BEVERAGES e vents in springfield The March will not have food or beverages, but there are places nearby for food and drinks. Friday, Oct. 18, Phoenix Center of Springfield, 13th Annual Fall GAYla Dinner & Auction Come to the rally site at 2nd and Capital for maps and details. http://www.phoenixcenterspringfield.org/phoenix-center-calendar/ .

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. there will be free youth bus lunches available 1 block from the rally site. Sunday, Oct. 20, Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 10:30 a.m. service, RSVP for these to [email protected] so we know how many. 745 Woodside Rd., Springfield. “Unity and Diversity in the 21st Century” with special guest speaker, The Reverend Mark Kiyimba, minister and founder of the Unitarian Universalist Church For adults and families, we have several places providing food. of Uganda.

Options open starting 11 a.m. include: Monday, Oct 21, The Coalition of Rainbow Alliances (CORAL) for the Springfield area hosts a Station House bar lunch, 306 E. Washington St., 217-525-0438 picnic with PFLAG of Springfield, open to all March attendees, 4-10 p.m., at Lincoln Park, along Tin Can Pub, in conjunction with Scandals bar, at 225 E. Monroe St., 217-679-2018 North 5th from Sangamon Ave. southward. Augie’s Front Burner restaurant, 109 S. 5th Street (lunch specials all day), reservations 217- 544-6979 Tuesday, Oct. 22, Equality Illinois “Refresh & Recharge” reception open to all at Station House Maldaner’s, 222 S. 6th Street (at Monroe), reservations 217-522-4313 gay bar, 4-6 p.m., $5 donation, 306 E. Washington St., Springfield. Boone’s Saloon, 301 W. Edwards at College Street, specials $6.99-$9.99, 217-679-3752 WINDY CITY TIMES Oct. 9, 2013 11 12 Oct. 9, 2013 WINDY CITY TIMES School house rock: The ballroom scene By Melissa Wasserman

Mathematics, English and social studies, among others, are the typical subjects offered in schools. Unlike traditional fashion, Tommy Avant Garde takes the ballroom scene to school. As the headmaster of the School of Opulence, Avant Garde welcomes youth to learn and embrace the ballroom scene. As a youth living in Englewood in 1986, Avant Garde and his friends were getting ready to go out to a night at the bar. As they flipped through Vogue, while getting inspiration for their home- made outfits, the group researched ballroom. It was at that point they founded the artsy House of Avant Garde. “The ballroom, to me, is the creative outlet for people to express themselves,” said Avant Garde. “There are many kinds of people within the ballroom who can’t express themselves in their communities with their blood families and the ballroom allows you to be around people who acknowledge you and your differences and love you for that. You’re allowed to express yourself whichever way you want within the ballroom and gain the respect of your peers.” As a ballroom icon and headmaster, Avant Marge Summit at the chat. Photo by Tracy Baim Garde is known at the School of Opulence as, Tommy Avant Garde. Photo by Andrew Davis “Uncle Tommy.” With his experience as a gay youth growing up with a number of older men- helping them to address necessary issues. Serv- Marge Summit talks tors, he opened the school to provide similar ing as a resource to the ballroom community, mentorship along with what he calls, “love in Avant Garde said the school encourages every- spite of.” of her gay bar legacy body involved to express their creativity as well “I believe, at the School of Opulence, in bring- Longtime Chicago gay bar owner Marge Summit was the subject of Douglas O’Keeffe’s Oct. 2 as develop their professional life. ing those positive things out of them so they “Inside Leather History, A Fireside Chat” at Center on Halsted. The School of Opulence offers dance and run- can take the mainstream into the community Summit, who owned Chicago’s legendary His ‘n Hers bars for 20 years, discussed her personal way instruction along with risk reduction inter- and use those gifts for their good,” said Avant history, including surviving a violent attack; owning Ms bar downtown; the music and food of His ventions, advocacy, education, empowerment Garde. “I have so much love for the kids. I have ‘n Hers; raising an interracial adopted daughter; co-founding the wildly popular and influential tools and discussion groups focused on subjects prayed to my god, ‘give me the ability to love Gay Dollars campaign in the 1980s; and more memories of the gay community of Chicago. such as HIV/STD risk reduction, employment, people in spite of’ because I know people come “Inside Leather History, A Fireside Chat” is a live-on-stage interview project designed to cap- housing, education and health care. with different challenges. They have different ture for posterity the amazing and dynamic contributions of Chicago’s rich LGBT community. “There was a point where every time they things that are going on in their lives. So, I pray Douglas O’Keeffe co-produces “Inside Leather History, A Fireside Chat” with Joanne Gaddy as wanted to dance, they wanted to Vogue,” Avant daily for me to be able to love people in spite of. a public service. Previous Chats have included Chicago notables Chuck Renslow, Lori Cannon, Garde said. “Now I’ve seen they want to sit down It takes a lot of patience, but I’m rewarded when Vernita Gray and Jim Flint. The formal interview lasts about one hour. Following the interview and discuss their problems and they have no one I see someone make a change in their life.” the floor opened for audience questions. to talk to. Instead of two hours of dancing, now The school’s name originates from a ball Avant There is a video link at http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Marge-Summit-discusses- we’re doing two hours of discussion group and Garde attended when he heard someone say and her-gay-bar-legacy-/44639.html. they’re wanting to do more and stay longer. That spell, “opulence,” explaining it as owning ev- is rewarding to me because in the past nobody erything. wanted to talk about their issues. Now I have a “I just believe that opulence is the point The event program includes a free mini-photo generation that wants to talk about their issues where you are at the pinnacle of your success,” ‘Social Status Ball’ shoot at 9 p.m.; dinner and show at 10 p.m.; and now I have people here to discuss the issues said Avant Garde. “You’re at the highest point special awards and introductions at 11 p.m.; with them.” Oct. 25 at ETA theater of your life. That’s what I want for the young first half of ball talent competition at 12 a.m.; Although the school operates every other The House of Infiniti and In Demand Enter- adults; for them to reach that point where they and the second half at 1 a.m. Tuesday, there are various other meetings in tainment will present the 11th annual Social know their game is together. They’re on point, To purchase tickets in advance contact: Solo- which the community can participate. Parents Status Ball, Friday, Oct. 25, 9 p.m.-2 a.m. at so to speak, and that nothing can knock them mon Infiniti via email [email protected] meetings also known as leadership meetings in- ETA Creative Arts Theater, 7558 S. South Chicago off their box.” or call 773-495-1059. Also, see www.facebook. volving house parents within the city and com- Ave. The school was originally established in com/marquel.love or visit www.Brownpapertick- munity meetings are held to bring everybody A few hundred LGBT youth and adults will 2003/2004. After taking a hiatus in 2010, Avant ets.com. together as an alliance to get things done. gather for this house ball event and educational Garde started the school back up in June 2013 Each ticket sold in advance is $10 + a service Avant Garde jokingly said he feels like some- outreach opportunity. Male, female, transgender, and is determined to “spread the love.” Now at fee of $1.34 ($11.34) or $15 at the door before one’s grandmother through all his years in the and gender-nonconforming youth and young the Chicago-based school, specifically on the 10 p.m. and $20 after. Also, tables accommo- ballroom scene, while spreading the love and adults 13-36+ from a diversity of background South and West sides, approximately 40 students date six people and are $50 and up, including like Dr. Xavier with the X-Men guiding people are expected. attend on a regular basis. Students include LG- the attendees’ entry. as they channel their own unique gifts. He con- This event will include food, outreach, health BTQ youth and young adults and allies, who are Media partners include Windy City Times, Gay tinued to explain the ballroom scene, although screenings, rapid HIV testing, a performing 16-24 years old and come from various ballroom Liberation Network, mymetronews.org, Pride In- more announced now, at times still gets a bad and visual arts component—also referred to as houses nationally. The establishment relies on dex and CAN-TV programs. rap. His efforts are to bring out the surprising a “ball,” which includes presentations, perfor- community members, professionals and house aspects of it and to let people know there are mances, talent competitions, fashion shows, parents over the given age range to volunteer in helpful resources. drag shows and more. facilitating workshops. “I started to do the prevention at the balls that “I focused on School of Opulence because I we had here in Chicago and that snowballed,” thought I could reach more kids in that way,” 22-year-old wife Kenyatae Collier-Brewer in said Avant Garde. “Then I seen the need because said Avant Garde. “There’s a generation of 21-24 Gay man gets 2009 during a fake carjacking with his brother we might have the resources out here, however and there’s a generation of 16-18 and they’re all Dujuan Powe. a lot of times the African American community 99 years for gay kids that don’t have the proper mentorship. Multiple reports suggest that Brewer was a our youth or young adults are not aware of what I want to make sure they’re empowered also. I’m wife’s murder gay man. those resources are. So I wanted to be able to be hoping that more people within the community BY KATE SOSIN According to the Cook County state’s attor- there for them to make the resources available. step up to mentor the kids.” ney’s office, Judge Stanley Sacks sentenced So in the end, it’s their decision if they want to Previously, Avant Garde said the school was A gay man who allegedly carried out a plot to Brewer to 75 years in prison for murdering take advantage of those resources or not but I focused on HIV/AIDS education. He adds just murder his wife and collect on her life insur- Collier-Brewer plus 24 for aggravated kidnap- just wanted to make sure that they had the op- like the ballroom scene and the need to rein- ance policy faces 99 years behind bars after ping. Powe was sentenced to natural life for portunity to see what was out there.” vent, the school’s resurrection brought about a he was sentenced Sept. 23. the murder plus 21 years for the kidnapping. For more information about the School of reinvention. The new focus is empowerment and Darron Brewer was convicted of killing his The two were found guilty June 28. Opulence, visit http://www.schoolofopu- leadership, while ensuring they have a voice and lence.com. WINDY CITY TIMES Oct. 9, 2013 13 the life of a transsexual and all the things they Luis Gutierrez. He’s a supporter and that’s what go through to become a transsexual, they would I needed to hear.” admire us. They should be admiring us because “We want to open to everyone that needs help we made such a sacrifice for us to be the people and has issues or they want to transition,” said we want to be.” Fernandez. “If you want to transition and you Several trans women and allies attended the need advice of doing it, we want to help. I want launch meeting of TWIRL Sept. 23 at Efebina’s to let the youth know, it’s okay to be different. Café, 1640 S. Blue Island Ave., in the Pilsen We made it, so they can too. I want everybody neighborhood of Chicago. Their next meeting is to know we’re there and we exist. I can’t control Monday, Oct. 21, 7 p.m. at Efebina’s, and mem- what happens outside the facility, but I know bers plan to attend the March on Springfield the they’re going to be safe with me while I’m there. next day. I can’t control the community or society, but I One surprise guest at the Sept. 23 meeting just want to get the closure that I’m here to help was U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who was at the if they ever need help.” restaurant for a benefit. “I think it was a good To learn more about TWIRL, email turn out,” said Fernandez. “We did get to meet [email protected].

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez was a surprise guest at the Sept. 23 meeting of TWIRL. Photo by Tracy Baim Trans women take steps to ‘TWIRL’ freely By Melissa Wasserman have support in some areas, Fernandez and Ortiz both expressed instances of discrimination as From an ambition in a creative mind to real life, adults. Some discrimination came when finding three trans women put their troubles and con- jobs, finding apartments, police protection and cerns into action, constructing the organization as visitors at hospitals. Trans Women in Real Life (TWIRL). Fernandez was violently pushed at an HIV/ Monica Fernandez, Reyna Ortiz and GiGi Boom AIDS fundraiser last year when someone touched all began their transitioning process as teenag- her girlfriend and she in turn defended her. In ers and young adults. Which went through the that incident Fernandez felt unprotected be- Pastor Jamie Frazier (left) and Benjamin Reynolds. Photo by Tracy Baim experience with the advantage of having sup- cause of her being transgender. She said the po- portive families, they still felt some difficulties lice did not file a report, brushing the incident in other areas. under the rug. Lighthouse Church hosts “Being young and adding that pressure and “We’re human beings and we’re treated this complication of being trans on top of that, it way, not only by society, people like the police,” marriage-equality service made the situation really complicated,” said Or- said Fernandez. “Their motto is ‘to protect and Pastor Jamie Frazier of Lighthouse Church of Chicago preached a sermon on marriage equality tiz. “That’s why there is such a need for groups serve.’ They don’t protect us. Even then, we’re Oct. 3 at the church’s new site, 1800 S. Prairie Ave., in the Glessner House historic home. like us because there’s all these stresses in life doing stuff for people who are HIV-positive. Benjamin Reynolds of Illinois Unites spoke about the efforts to pass SB 10 (the marriage- already, but being trans adds to it. It’s a really It was a good thing we were doing, not a bad equality bill) in the state, and Chris Percy was there representing OFA-Illinois, which is also hard issue to deal with when you’re a teenager.” thing. Gay men treat us like step children. It’s working on same-sex marriage here. Tracy Baim, co-chair of the Oct. 22 March on Springfield for Fernandez, in particular, recalled her experi- tough to live this way. We’re not in 1320. We’re Marriage Equality, spoke about the plans for the march. ence being difficult, but she was confident in in 2013. That’s what we need to know.” Video of the evening is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q4gjgJqQBY&feature=youtu.be. how she wanted to live her life and could not Ortiz and Fernandez said trans women feel like be stopped. With no fear and unconditional love the stepchildren of the LGBTQ community. Ex- from her mother especially, she describes herself plaining there are events and literature focused as strong. on being pro-gay or pro-lesbian, there is a lack TPAN undergoes president of AMPA. “We urge other state na- As adults, each have gotten involved with var- of resources for trans women or transsexuals in tional guards who are refusing to comply with ious organizations and attended a focus group general. They say they experience significant CEO transition the Defense Department directive to process they felt was not geared enough toward trans stereotyping. Citing personal and professional reasons, all spouses for federal benefits to immediately woman. About four months ago, feeling like “They think they have programs for trans Bill Farrand has departed HIV/AIDS agency follow suit. there were no helpful or welcoming resources women, but I say otherwise,” said Fernandez. Test Positive Aware Network (TPAN) after sev- “As a Congressional letter to the Secretary of available for them, they decided to take action “I reached out to other programs like the Chi- en years of service. Defense pointed out, the use of federal equip- and create TWIRL. cago House and Howard Brown, different places, In a statement, Farrand said, “I have ac- ment and funds to discriminate against same- “What made us passionate or what made my- Project Vida, they don’t even have literature or complished the goals that I set for TPAN dur- gender military spouses is unlawful and needs self passionate is that I live this life every day,” pamphlets for transgender women. It’s all about ing my tenure as CEO for the last three years to be addressed.” said Ortiz. “We are trans women in real life. We gays and lesbians and I think it’s about time we and have made a decision to move forward One thousand members of Indiana’s National are part of society, but yet in some ways we do have that.” with other career objectives as a psychothera- Guard signed furlough paperwork immediately don’t feel part of society. We feel like we’re out- The reason the organization’s name centers pist and consultant in the private sector. I after the government shutdown Oct. 1, ac- casts. They make us feel like we’re so different around trans women specifically, they explained, am very excited for the future for both myself cording to ABC57.com. Gov. Mike Pence has from everybody else, but in actuality we’re the is because to them trans women are the most and TPAN.” allowed the state to continue paying 244 same. So we felt that there was a need. If we oppressed of the LGBTQ community. The board of directors has appointed Jeff guard staffers, who are state employees, for don’t stand up for ourselves, nobody is going to “Even trans men have it better than trans Berry to serve as interim CEO while a nation- at least a week. stand up for us, not even the gay community.” women because some of them fit into society so wide search is conducted for a replacement. TWIRL welcomes all walks of life. Regardless well that it’s just not even an issue,” said Ortiz. TPAN recently announced a move to 5050 N. AFC releases of age, race, religion and phase of transition, “To transition from a man to a woman is the Broadway, Suite 300. TWIRL exists to support and educate anyone hardest thing to do. You need the most surgery, report on homeless who identifies as a trans woman. Currently the you need the most money, the most everything. The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) re- organization is independent and funded out of So, I do think we are the most oppressed group Indiana Nat’l Guard cently published a report that details a plan the three founders’ pockets. Friends in the com- out of the LGBTQ community.” changes course, to house and better coordinate health care munity assist in providing some of the venues. One of TWIRL’s main purposes is to provide a for people who are homeless, diagnosed with “We want it not only to be pro-gay, we want sisterhood for young trans women that are hav- will process benefits at least one severe mental illness, and have a it to be pro-trans,” said Fernandez. “There’s so ing issues. The hope, Ortiz said, is for the group After legal review, the Indiana National history of alcohol or substance use. many things I want to do differently and I know to be national and gain a reputation of being Guard has reversed its previous direction to Under the Substance Abuse and Mental it’s going to take time and I just want to come made up of trans women who are here to make staff to stop processing same-sex spouses for Health Services Administration Chicago Com- out of the dark. I want to shine bright like a a difference, share their voices, and to mostly federal military benefits. munity Consortium, AFC brought together diamond, like Rihanna said.” educate people. The pro-LGBT American Military Partner As- leaders from more than 40 organizations in Fernandez said she hopes the organization “It’s a lack of education,” said Ortiz. “People sociation (AMPA) reacted to the development. Cook County to craft the plan. grows and gets funded in the future. She adds are scared of what they don’t know, yet they’re “We applaud the Indiana National Guard for See http://issuu.com/aidschicago/docs/ there is a need for safe houses for transgender so interested in transsexuals because it’s so dif- doing the right thing,” said Stephen Peters, afc_sahmsa_report_3ffdbbeaeff954. people in every ward of the city. Although they ferent and I think once people really understood 14 Oct. 9, 2013 WINDY CITY TIMES Marine vet looks to build inclusive marriage support By Matt Simonette State Rep. Kenneth Dunkin, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus and a co-sponsor of A former Marine sergeant who was kicked out of SB10 in the House, said, “This is something that the military for being gay has formed his own should have gone on a long time ago,” adding political action committee to rally support for the passage of SB10. His group will concentrate mainly on building support in communities of color. Marquell Smith said that being in the Marines had taught him the importance of sacrifice, and he hoped that his new PAC, Inclusive Commu- nity Project (ICP), would impart that relevance Chicago Tribune editorial page editor Bruce Dold; Robert Gilligan, executive director of the to members of the public who want to see same- Catholic Conference of Illinois; Chicago Ald. Deborah Mell (33rd); Peter Breen, vice president sex marriage brought to Illinois. and senior counsel for the Thomas More Society; and State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), lead At ICP’s inaugural gathering Oct. 3 at the Sher- sponsor of The Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act. Photo by Tracy Baim aton Hotel & Towers, 301 N. Water St., Smith said that when he was let go from the service under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), he was offered an honorable discharge only if he prom- Harris and Mell involved in ised not to fight the charges. But he refused to keep quiet about them. debate on merits of marriage “That meant I didn’t get benefits. That means I can’t get the GI Bill,” Smith said. By Matt Simonette the purpose of raising children. I have no doubt Marquell Smith. Photo by Matt Simonette that Alderman Mell loves her partner—” DADT is now in the past, but Smith hopes State Rep. Greg Harris and Ald. Deb Mell were “My wife,” Mell corrected. that some of the same tactics and energy that among the participants in a panel on marriage Gilligan further said that the love and nature brought it down can be applied to the state’s that he and his colleagues are being perceived equality conducted by Chicago Tribune Editorial of the relationship was not the important issue, marriage equality effort. as just meeting with older white gay men. Page Editor Bruce Dold Oct. 1. They were joined suggesting that what the church was concerned Smith earlier wrote an impassioned letter to “That is the perception, and that is a real issue by Catholic Conference of Illinois Executive Di- with was how effectively a couple in a redefined state lawmakers asking for the right to marry, in Springfield among Caucus members. … There rector Robert Gilligan and Thomas More Society marriage could transmit strong values and faith for example. Supporters of SB10 have to be pre- are members of my own caucus who want to im- Vice President and Senior Counsel Peter Breen. on to children. pared to make sacrifices, be it their time, energy peach me, and think that this bill is an abomi- Harris was initially asked about the status of But Harris reminded the audience that Illinois- and money, he said. nation,” Dunkin said. As such, supporters of the the bill and the likelihood of its being called for ans must be mindful of the myriad churches that ICP is part of the Illinois Unites for Marriage bill needed to “get active with their voice” and a vote in the fall. He said the bill was ready to want to see marriage equality come to pass. “We coalition and will focus on mobilizing communi- get the bill passed. be reconsidered. need to be respectful of the different faiths that ties of color, which are “an untapped resource,” “This group here is only the beginning,” “I hope that it can be one of the things that are practiced in our state,” he said. “There are according to an IPC statement that said majori- Dunkin said. get done because there are …thousands and many churches that wish to perform these mar- ties in both the Black and Latino communities ICP will be sponsoring buses to Springfield thousands of Illinois families who are suffering riages.” support marriage equality. for a lobbying day Nov. 5. For information, visit real harm every day because they are not getting Gilligan said that law often acts as a blunt www.inclusiveproject.org. the protections and denied the responsibilities instrument, and significant changes could have that marriage affords,” said Harris. unintended and far-reaching consequences. Alma United States v. Windsor, a challenge to the fed- He added that he did not call the bill for a School instruction might be disrupted, he sug- Izquierdo. eral Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). vote back in May because colleagues had asked gested, if new definitions of marriage and family Photo by For more information or to RSVP, contact Pro- for more time to speak with constituents: “Since had be integrated into school curriculums. Carrie fessor Christopher Schmidt at cschmidt@kent- that day the Supreme Court has ruled and the “The law is a very fine instrument,” Harris Maxwell law.iit.edu or 312-906-5389. landscape has changed. The Supreme Court of countered. “There is nothing about what may be the United States has now ruled that there is no taught in schools in this bill.” legitimate reason under law to treat one family The panel was lastly asked what they thought LETTER from page 5 differently than another family, and I think a this time and debate might look like 25 years Group to honor Gray, lot of my colleagues have taken in that message from now. included patient information. However, and they understand the climate of our state.” Gilligan said, “I just hope that we as a society Ewert, Izquierdo other personal documents include entries But Harris refused to say how many votes were realize the damage that we as a society are in- The organization By Women For Women, in from his diary from the day after the APA currently lined up, saying, “I hate to prognosti- flicting upon our children. Far too many children connection with Center on Halsted, will honor speech, letters between him and Kameny cate because, whatever number I say, I’ll prob- are born out of wedlock. Far too many children couple Vernita Gray and Pat Ewert as well as and correspondence with the APA when ably be a little bit off.” are raised in poverty. … To strengthen and to Alma Izquierdo Friday, Oct. 11, at Navy Pier’s some association leaders attempted to re- The coalition of organizations working toward promote marriage, and to recognize no amount Crystal Gardens, 6 p.m.-12 a.m. instate anti-gay policies. same-sex marriage equality, Illinois Unites for of love can make a mother and a father, and a The women will receive Community Leader “We also have a very rich collection re- Marriage, initially has 71 votes in the House as father and a mother. Hopefully, in 25 years we’ll Awards for their “countless efforts in advanc- garding the history of AIDS in Philadel- its goal. A Windy City Times survey of legisla- have strong, vibrant marriages, and we’ll have a ing the LGBTQ community,” according to a phia,” Echevarria said. “He was really the tors, however, showed that no new legislators second generation that will be even that much statement. Other highlights will include hors first psychiatrist who treated patients with had yet agreed to vote for the legislation. stronger.” d’oeuvres by Chef Nancy Duran and Phil Stefani AIDS. There’s a lot of information about the Mell admitted that the government “is still “I think that [the present day] is going to be Events; an interactive art show by Sam Kirk; a epidemic hitting Philadelphia, very rich in- trying to sort out” what protections an Illinois a shameful period in our history,” Mell said. “We fashion show; a live musical performance by formation.” couple has if they’ve been married out of state. are going to regret what we have done to our electric violinists The CoverGirls; and a silent Moloshok noted that the Preserving She said that a civil union in Illinois was not gay and lesbian families in this country. I’m re- auction to benefit Affinity Community Services American Freedom project gives viewers— sufficient for her and her partner, Christin Baker, ally heartened by the Supreme Court decisions and Amigas Latinas. whom she envisioned to be everyone from because their relationship “took the normal path and the states, and the District of Columbia, Tickets are $75-$100; see Community.Cen- students of all ages to anyone with a pas- that relationships take.” that now have it on the books. But I think as terOnHalsted.org/ByWomenForWomen. sion for history, politics or civil rights—a “There becomes a time in a relationship where a society we will move forward, and value all slice of the wealth of historical artifacts ‘partner’ is not enough, ‘girlfriend’ is not enough relationships.” HSP houses. and ‘civil union’ is not enough,” she added. “This Breen said that society would look back and IIT Chicago-Kent “These are just 50 documents of the is recognized throughout the world—marriage is realize that, within the last 50 years, “We’ve to host thousands and thousands we have,” she the highest level you can give two people who made a mess of marriage. …This debate is forc- said. “This hints at the depth and breadth love each other. I love my wife and she loves ing us as a people to start re-evaluating whether marriage forum of the content we have in our collections. me.” we should have marriage in the first place. I Chicago-Kent College of Law will mark Con- I do hope it’ll inspire people to dig deeper, Breen, whose organization is representing see a people 25 years from now who will have stitution Day with a panel discussion that will start asking more questions and do more five downstate counties in order to uphold the learned that lesson.” focus on issues related to same-sex marriages. research.” state’s ban on same-sex marriages, maintained Harris added that to make that prediction, one The panel discussion, “When Did It Become To view the Preserving American Free- that fighting the marriage lawsuit is a matter of only needed to look to the people of today, es- Unconstitutional for States to Ban Same-Sex dom project, visit http://digitalhistory. “public policy and a matter of law.” The issue, he pecially young people. Marriage?: Constitutional Interpretation in the hsp.org/preserving-american-freedom added, came down to a clash of world views. “Well over 70 percent support marriage equal- 21st Century,” will be held Thursday, Oct. 10, and, for the entire speech, see http:// Gilligan was then asked about the faith per- ity” Harris said. “So 25 years from now, I think 3:30-5 p.m., in the law school’s Governor Rich- digitalhistory.hsp.org/node/7484. To spective on the gay-marriage issue. “There’s a that this will be a given in society, that all fami- ard B. Ogilvie Auditorium, 565 W. Adams St. learn more about HSP or view the full lot of faiths out there that have perspectives on lies should be treated equally. They’re going to IIT Chicago-Kent Professor Steven Heyman will digital database, visit www.hsp.org. Col- this issue. …By nature men and women have a look back and say…’what were they thinking moderate a discussion of Hollingsworth v. Perry, letta can be reached at [email protected]. gender and they come together in a marriage for back then?’” a challenge to California’s Proposition 8, and WINDY CITY TIMES Oct. 9, 2013 15 When the local bakery that Jenny Urban was working with suddenly stopped production this summer, she was forced to bake scones in-house. “I decided to challenge myself and fresh bake our scones on site with a toaster oven,” Urban said. “I GAY in the didn’t think it would work out, but people are really loving them.” Wed., Oct. 16 Urban’s favorite combinations so far are cheddar jalapeno, blue cheese walnut with red onion, 7:30 p.m. LIFE butterscotch coconut, and golden raisin cinnamon caramel swirl. “I can barely keep up with the demand; we’re selling eight Jenny Urban times the amount that we were before,” she said. Abby Geni By ROSS FORMAN Urban spent several years teaching culinary arts to the homeless, ex-convicts and refugees. From there, she opened The Last Animal her own restaurant, Urban Café in North Lakeview. She then took a couple years off to be a stay-at-home mom. Launch Party Age “I have always been extremely fortunate in my career 33 path,” Urban said. “Old Town School of Folk Music is a Neighborhood perfect fit for me right now. I work with the most talented Edgewater musicians in the city and am making great connections.” Friday, Oct. 18 She has worked there for two years Relationship status “I am madly in love. She is a femme, “When my time as a stay-at-home mom was coming Bill Ayers an artist and a mother.” to an end, I knew I would need to start looking around,” she said. “One night I had a fortuitous, vivid Public Enemy: Hobbies dream. I dreamt that I was a chef at Old Town School “I am active in the queer music of Folk Music in their new building on Lincoln Avenue. Confessions of community, and play drums for several The dream was very detailed; I can remember the tiled local and touring acts.” floors, the equipment, everything. The next day I Job title dropped of a resume for them to keep on file.” an American Cafe manager at Old Town School of She was contacted a few weeks later when the Folk Music position opened up. Dissident “It was kismet,” said Urban, who noted that one Favorite TV shows of her job highlights is helping cater the green room Ted Talks, and Orange Is the New Black for the artists performing at Old Town. “Basically, I Favorite local queer musicians make hummus for my idols, which recently has included Congress of Starlings, Scott Free, Emily the Indigo Girls, Kristen Hirsch, Dar Williams, Allison 5233 N. Clark White, Ripley Caine, Elias Krell, Mike Kraus, Henry Rollins, Meshell Ndegeocello and many (773) 769-9299 Grimes, Kristen Ronne, Ellen Rosner, more. Nhojj, Shelley Miller “and the list could “Down the road, when my kids are old enough to go on and on for days.” help, I hope to have a concession trailer. I would Little-known fact specialize in brunch options and showcase a Tex-Mex “I am a proud mother of two girls.” themed menu.” Four people (living or dead) who [email protected] you’d like to have dinner with Left: Urban performs at womenandchildrenfirst.com “I would trade anything in the world to have dinner with my dad, mom and Touche. Photo by Parking Available two daughters.” Kirk Williamson Wheelchair Accessible

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Please see dealer for complete details. offers end 10/31/13. 16 Oct. 9, 2013 WINDY CITY TIMES VIEWPOINTS WINDY CITY TIMES two NYC bathhouses were aware of PEP or PrEP PEP treatment?” VOL. 29, No. 2, Oct. 9, 2013 Besides gay men needing to know about these The reply: “Chicago Medical School should be The combined forces of Windy City Times, interventions, hospitals could do a better job offering PEP after assessing the risk in the indi- founded Sept. 1985, and Outlines newspaper, FRANK too. viduals. Most of the medical teaching facilities founded May 1987. PIZZOLI The latest round of media attention around do this now.” PUBLISHER & EXECUTIVE EDITOR PEP began July 17, when members of ACT UP/ Questioner’s follow up to reply: “I agree CMS Tracy Baim NYC protested outside of Mt. Sinai Medical Cen- should be, but is it? You don’t have to answer this ter after when on July 5 a gay man had who in a nanosecond but I want to know which hospi- ASSISTANT PUBLISHER Terri Klinsky had unsafe sex visited the ER and had difficulty tal does, not which hospital might or should. That MANAGING EDITOR Andrew Davis BUSINESS MANAGER Ripley Caine acquiring PEP. is, please give me a definitive answer.” DIRECTOR OF NEW MEDIA Jean Albright Preventing At the time, the activists pointed out a wider Final online physician answer: “I am sorry, I do ART DIRECTOR Kirk Williamson problem regarding PrEP/PEP awareness. They not have a definitive answer. I am opting out of SALES Terri Klinsky, Amy Matheny, Kirk Williamson, HIV infection: had identified six examples of PEP refusal, dat- the question, which will open the question for Chris Cheuvront PROMOTIONAL SUPPORT Scott Duff ing from 2009 with four of them occurring in the other experts. Some expert would pick this NATIONAL SALES Rivendell Media, 212-242-6863 Time for a late 2012 or 2013. “When I have six different up to give you a very definitive center. Though I SENIOR WRITERS Bob Roehr, Rex Wockner, Marie incidents at six different hospitals over the last feel, best would be your primary care physician J. Kuda, David Byrne, Tony Peregrin, Lisa Keen, PEP rally? four years, something is wrong,” Jim Eigo told or urgent care clinic.” Yasmin Nair, Erica Demarest, Matt Simonette, Kate Sosin Gay City News. Final reply from original questioner: “Thank THEATER EDITOR Scott C. Morgan In September 2013, the Affordable Care Act puts “There is variable penetration in ERs regarding you. As I do not have health insurance and CINEMA WRITER Richard Knight, Jr. HIV-prevention money on the table but mu- their understanding and use of PEP. Not every therefore a primary care physician, I don’t want BOOKS WRITER Yasmin Nair nicipal health departments must apply for funds hospital has a program and there is always room to waste time trying to figure out where I can SPORTS WRITER Ross Forman with a plan in mind. ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT WRITERS for improvement,” said Demetre Daskalakis, MD, go. I appreciate your input, but I still do not Mary Shen Barnidge, Steve Warren, Lawrence Fer- However funded, will prevention programs go- a Gay Men’s Health Crisis board member who know where I can receive the PEP treatment in ber, Mel Ferrand, Jerry Nunn, Jonathan Abarbanel ing forward reflect the fast-changing preven- also heads HIV/AIDS services at NYC’s Mount Chicago—and that is my question.” COLUMNISTS/WRITERS: Yvonne Zipter, Jorjet tion-treatment continuum? Traditionally, pro- Sinai Hospital. By now, the 72-hour window of opportunity for Harper, Meghan Streit, Charlsie Dewey, Carrie grams by municipal health department programs Maxwell, Billy Masters, Sarah Toce, Dana Rudolph, It’s not a stretch for hospitals to offer PEP. PEP to be effective has expired. Sally Parsons, Melissa Wasserman, Jamie Anne have separated prevention based on condom use “ERs are used to offering PEP. Remember they Jill Dispenza—of the Illinois HIV/AIDS/STD Royce, Matthew C. Clark, Joe Franco or abstinence and treatment based on adherence had occupational programs long before PEP Hotline and HIV Testing & Prevention, also af- SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERS Mel Ferrand, Hal Baim, to combination therapies. came into use for recent sexual contact or other filiated with Center on Halsted—said the service Emmanuel Garcia, Tim Carroll, Ed Negron, Susan Mattes Now, more than ever, the lines between pre- risky behaviors,” Daskalakis pointed out. CDC gets “very few” calls about PEP. vention and treatment are blurred. CIRCULATION currently recommends use of Truvada and Isen- Incoming questions are “usually about HIV CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Jean Albright Treatment-based options that prevent infec- tress. testing, transmission, risk, medications, sexual DISTRIBUTION: Ashina, Allan, Dan, John, Renee, tion, like PrEP (pre-exposure prophylactic) and Daskalakis said, “The key is to offer PEP it assault,” she said. Sometimes callers will share Sue and Victor PEP (post-exposure prophylactic), present new quickly, without judgment, and with swift fol- “I just found out I’m HIV-positive and want WEB HOSTING: LoveYourWebsite.com (lead pro- grammer: Martie Marro) opportunities to integrate prevention and treat- low-up to assess compliance, and to set the to protect my partners,” Dispenza points out. ment models. stage for other services the person may need.” “Then the health educator asks if the caller Veteran HIV advocates in Chicago and NYC PEP is not recommended as a repeat strategy knows about PEP, if they think the caller would Copyright 2013 Lambda Publications Inc./Windy City Media think PEP, as a medical intervention, has a ma- Group; All rights reserved. Reprint by permission only. Back for preventing infection. Daskalakis said, “Re- benefit from learning about it,” she said. issues (if available) for $5 per issue (postage included). jor role to play especially within gay male and peated requests for PEP may represent an op- Right now, Chicago hotline track calls accord- Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, bi communities in which the HIV infection has and photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and portunity to talk about PrEP, a way for the in- ing to a caller’s original reason for making con- no responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials. risen by 12 percent, according to the Centers for dividual to prevent infection” going into sexual tact. All rights to letters, art and photographs sent to Windy Disease Control (CDC). Gay men are only about 2 City Times will be treated as unconditionally assigned activity rather than hoping to prevent infection “Our database doesn’t allow us to track more for publication purposes and as such, subject to editing percent of the U.S. population, but account for afterward. than one presenting concern,” Dispenza notes. and comment. The opinions expressed by the columnists, 63 percent of total infections in recent years. cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are their own All of these pre- and post-interventions sound That means unless a caller makes PEP the reason and do not necessarily reflect the position ofWindy City Most new infections are young gay men, and good on paper but are worthless if people don’t for a call that issue is not tracked. “Still, health Times. Publication of the name, photograph, or likeness of over half are Black gay men 13-24 years old. a person or organization in articles or advertising in Windy know about them. educators do inform callers about PEP if at all City Times is not to be construed as any indication of the The CDC says if current trends continue 50 per- A random online search of “PEP HIV Chicago” relevant to the nature of the call,” she said. Edu- sexual orientation of such person or organization. While cent of Black men who have sex with men and did not produce a single reference to PEP or cation by hotline staff also takes place “during we encourage readers to support the advertisers who make turned 18 in 2009 will be HIV+ by age 35. Fifty- this newspaper possible, Windy City Times cannot accept PrEP, other than the AIDS Foundation of Chi- the vast majority of our testing sessions, while responsibility for advertising claims. four percent of all men who have sex with men cago. doing outreach, during individual learning ses- (773) 871-7610 FAX (773) 871-7609 will be HIV-positive. One individual asked an online medical web- sions we also discuss PrEP,” Dispenza said. e-mail: [email protected] or In use for about 20 years, PEP can prove to be site, “I live in Chicago. Where can I receive the In Chicago, long-ime health advocate Jim Pick- [email protected] a significant factor in reducing new infections PEP treatment for my possible exposure to HIV ett—director of advocacy for the AIDS Founda- but only if hospitals and municipal health de- www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com two days ago via unprotected sex?” tion of Chicago—said, “PEP has been around a podcast: WindyCityQueercast.com partments forge ahead to educate about its use The online physician replied, “PEP can be pre- long time. We need to make better use of it as and actually offer the treatment. If prescribed scribed by your primary care physician or general a way to prevent infections. Awareness is the WINDY CITY MEDIA GROUP, within 72 hours and taken for 28 days, PEP is practitioner. You may also contact a hospital at- key.” He sees both PEP and PrEP as “a natural 5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, Illinois 60640 about 80 percent effective in preventing HIV in- U.S.A tached to a medical school for the prescription continuum.” (MAILING ADDRESS ONLY) fection. of PEP or an urgent care clinic. AIDS Foundation “PEP and the doors it opens to talk about PrEP Awareness is the key. of Chicago also can be contacted.” make it imperative that HIV activists advocates, Windy City Times Deadline every Wednesday. A 2011 study published in the journal Sexually The next online question was, “Which specific ER doctors and staff embrace this intervention,” Nightspots Deadline Wednesday prior to street date. OUT! Resource Guide ONLINE Transmitted Infections found that just 201, or teaching hospitals in the Chicago area offer the he said. Since once infected individuals will 36 percent, of 554 men who were interviewed in www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com eventually daily doses of HIV medicines making www.WindyCityQueercast.com any successful PEP or PrEP intervention cost ef- of God. Also, he expressed his desire for the fective. “Windy City Media Group generated Letters: Church to be accepting of all people. This is As the AIDS silo comes down while the Afford- enormous interest among their readers where Francis and George differ. The pope able Healthcare Act rises, incorporating blended in this year’s LGBT Consumer Index The cardinal and the pope clearly understands what the Church teaches prevention and treatment interventions is para- Survey. Out of approximately 100 and—contrary to the cardinal—he under- mount to new reducing infections. print and online media partners who To the editor: stands that by promoting those teachings un- In traditional style, the ACT UP/NYC group has participated in the survey, Windy der the mantle of judgment is not done in the already started the process with the formation City was the best performing regional I am responding to Cardinal Francis George’s spirit of love. of PHAG, Prevention of HIV Action Group, com- media in the U.S. Only survey partners response to Pope Francis’ call for the Catholic The Rainbow Sash Movement is calling on pleted with slogans: with a nationwide footprint were able to generate a greater number of Church to stop obsessing on same-sex mar- Cardinal George to honor the pope’s words —”All You Do Is Give Us Rubbers. We Want responses.” —David Marshall, Research riage, abortion and contraception. and stop attacking the Illinois LGBT com- Data” Director, Community Marketing, Inc. While the cardinal’s response supports the munity over marriage equality. We all know —”POZitively Fraudulent, Absolutely NEGli- general sense of love and mercy, he ignored Cardinal George and the Catholic Church are gent” (illustrating lack of data around PEP ef- Francis’ call for the Roman Catholic Church’s opposed to same-sex marriage. fectiveness) ministry to stop being “obsessed” with a In my opinion, when the pope inferred that —Referring to NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “disjointed multitude of doctrines,” and that “small-minded” people are driving the faith- health promotion efforts: without a new balance, “the moral edifice ful away from the Church, he was referring to “He Took Our Sodas, Took Our Smokes, But Left of the church is likely to fall like a house of cardinals and bishops such as George. HIV for the Queer Folks” cards.” He said “small-minded rules” are driv- The only question in my mind is what Cardi- —On the slow response to PEP as an interven- ing the faithful away. nal George can say positively about the LGBT tion: Pope Francis said he is “no one to judge” community without it being based in bigotry. “DOH Get A Clue! PEP 4 All, Not Just 4 U!” gay people who are of good will and in search Joe Murray, Chicago WINDY CITY TIMES Oct. 9, 2013 17 GOINGS-ON WINDY CITY TIMES’ ENTERTAINMENT SECTION

Photo from HBO Documentary Films A LONELY ‘ROAD’ The documentary Valentine Road looks at the killing of 15-year-old gay student Larry King (pictured) and its aftermath. See page 26. DISH THEATER MOVIES Shake it up. Mortal ‘Instruments.’ Claws and effect. Page 26 Page 20 Page 27

Photo of Benny’s Jiminy Cricket milkshake Photo of Mark Patton in the film by Andrew Davis Photo from Unwilling and Hostile Instruments Nightmare on Elm Street 2 by Emily Schwartz

DANCIN’ FEATS Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company are at the Dance Center of Columbia College, 1306 S. Michigan Ave., Thursday-Friday, Oct. 24-25 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 26 at 3 and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane 8 p.m. The show contains nudity and mature content. Tickets are $26-$30; call 312-369- dancer on company, 8330 or visit www.colum.edu/dance_center. Other October performances include: Lucky Plush Productions at Link’s Hall/Con- stellation, 3111 N. Western Ave., Thursdays- upcoming show Sundays, Oct 10-13. Performance times vary. Tickets are $20; call 773-281-0824 or visit www. By Vicki Crain “Something about the technique really spoke to linkshall.org. me,” he said. “Not that it was necessarily physi- Same Planet Different World and Peter Car- Get ready to hear some stories. cally easy, it was very challenging, but it was penter Performance Project at the Dance Cen- Story/Time, Bill T. Jones’ by-chance mix of something I really took a liking to.” ter of Columbia College, 1306 S. Michigan Ave., dance set to music and his short stories, comes He joined the Martha Graham Dance Company Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 10-12 at 8 p.m. Tickets to the Dance Center of Columbia College this right out of college and the Southern boy moved are $26-$30; call 312-369-8330 or visit www. month with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance to New York City. “I couldn’t wait to get out of colum.edu/dance_center. Company. Jones, who has been awarded a MacAr- there,” said Leonard. “No offense to Sarasota, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Fall Series at thur “Genius” award, two Tony Awards and was a it’s a nice town, but as far as art is concerned, the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Kennedy Center honoree, will be performing on there was nothing there at the time.” After a Randolph St., Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 10-13. Per- stage with his company. “It’s a treat for us and year with the Graham Company, performing a formance times vary. Tickets are $25-$99; call the audience to have him in that capacity again number of solo works, he joined Jones’ company 312-334-7777 or visit www.harristheaterchica- on stage,” said veteran dancer LaMichael Leon- in 2007. go.org. ard Jr., 32. “In this piece, he’s telling stories One of his career highlights so far is perform- Dance Chance Redux 5.0 at the Northeastern and he’s just as alive as if he were moving. He’s ing for President Obama at the Kennedy Center Illinois University Auditorium/Fine Arts Build- just sitting there at a desk telling stories and Honors in 2010 in honor of his boss. “To look ing, 3701 W. Bryn Mawr Rd., Friday, Oct. 11, at you’re completely enthralled.” out and see people like Oprah Winfrey, Paul Mc- LaMichael Leonard. 8 p.m. Tickets are $20; visit www.boxoffice.neiu. It’s clear Leonard and his fellow dancers are Cartney and Aerosmith…these are people I look is divided into 12 “boxes” and the dancers look edu/dance_chance. enthralled with their legendary boss too. “Bill is up to as an artist,” Leonard said. “Just to be in at their menu to see what to perform when and The Joffrey Ballet presents La Bayadere at the one of the most passionate directors I’ve worked the same room with them was incredible, but to where. “Every show is different,” Leonard said. Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 with and it rubs off on you. His brain works in perform for them on top of it and for them to get “You never get really comfortable with it as a E. Congress Pkwy., Wed., Oct. 16, through Sun- ways that I will never be able to connect with a chance to see what I do was amazing.” performer, so it creates this raw energy. You day, Oct. 27. Performance times vary. Tickets are and that’s exciting. Having him in the room di- So what makes Jones and his work so award- have to be super focused, super aware. Some- $31-$152; call 800-982-2787 or visit www.tick- recting and coaching, you’re hanging on his last worthy? Leonard thinks it’s the process. “We’re times you’re booked for five to seven minutes etmaster.com. word wondering what he’s going to say next.” always investigating,” he said. “We work a lot and that’s when it gets really difficult.” The 19th annual Dance Chicago festival opens Leonard—“a Southern boy”—grew up in Flor- of times in a two-dimensional idea. There’s an Does dancing with the man himself on stage at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport ida and started dancing when he attended a attention to the metaphysics of movement, so make Leonard nervous? “Yes. Yes, yes and a capi- Ave., Saturday, Oct. 19. Performance times and performing arts high school, where he came out things tend to be more dry, more clear. It’s black tal Y.E.S.,” he said. “Well, maybe nervous isn’t days vary. Tickets are $15-$47; call 773-935- at age 15. Originally in the journalism program and white; there’s no gray area. We cut straight the right word…anxious and excited. There’s 6875 or visit www.athenaeumtheatre.org. because he wanted to be on TV, he transferred to the point.” already a high level of expectation as a dance Giordano Dance Chicago’s fall engagement to the dance department and has been danc- In Story/Time, Jones throws in an element of when he’s not on stage. When he’s on stage with at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 ing ever since. He was a self-described “Graham surprise for the dancers with a “menu list” of you, you fell like you have to up your game and E. Randolph St., Friday-Saturday, Oct. 25-26, at baby” in college, referring to the technique items and sequences of movement to perform match his intensity.” 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15-$60; call 312-334- codified by iconic dancemaker Martha Graham. that changes in every performance. The stage 7777 or visit www.harristheaterchicago.org 18 Oct. 9, 2013 WINDY CITY TIMES

LGBT mysteries by Mark Zubro LGBT mysteries by Mark Zubro in the Tom and Scott series in the Paul Turner series All still available All still available as ebooks online and at as ebooks online and at Unabridged Bookstore Unabridged Bookstore

Coming this October: Book Eleven in the Paul Turner series, Pawn of Satan WINDY CITY TIMES Oct. 9, 2013 19

Coming this October: Book Eleven in the Paul Turner series, Pawn of Satan 20 Oct. 9, 2013 WINDY CITY TIMES

THEATER REVIEW cesses in countless student productions, but Anthony Burgess—yep, the Clockwork Orange Cyrano de Bergerac author—is less interested in chest-heaving Playwright: Edmond Rostand than he is in exploring the independent art- At: Chicago Shakespeare Theater ist’s ostracism by a stultifying conformist so- at Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave. ciety. Penny Metropulos’ direction affirms this Tickets: 312-595-5600; theme, making for a cerebrally stimulating, www.chicagoshakes.com; $48-$78 but curiously bloodless, interpretation. Runs through: Nov. 10 Such a bias can be refreshing: Roxane, for example, is not the familiar romantic- BY MARY SHEN BARNIDGE age airhead, but a “bookish” damsel whose quick wit enables her to gull adversaries in Edmond Rostand’s sword-and-cloak drama service of her allies, and whose penchant for was already retro when it premiered in 1898, pretty words reflects, not vanity, but a re- its predecessors by Dumas and Boucicault vulsion for vulgar animal appetites. On the having already enjoyed their heyday in all other hand, Burgess’ puritanism mandates a but the most remote corners of our coun- Cyrano so wholly absorbed in his own genius try’s touring circuits, before being displaced as to appear an unsuitable match for any wife by the domestic intimacy of Ibsen’s realism. not prepared to share his monastic lifestyle. Rostand’s Knight of the Protuberant Probos- Would the love of a good woman mellow him, cis, however, hearkens back to Shakespearean or would his misanthropy ultimately sour her? ideals in his mastery of skills both physical Unfortunately, we are past caring by the and intellectual, while his tragedy lies in his last 30 minutes of this three-hour presenta- willful rejection of the sensory emotions. tion, which are almost wholly given over to (The Renaissance Man’s expected accomplish- protracted bouts of downstage-center ser- ments, remember, included drinking wine.) monizing by our hero, as well as a singularly Unwilling and Hostile Instruments: 100 Years of Extraordinary Chicago Women. Photo by Emily This has not stopped the sad saga of Cyrano slow-paced opera-length death scene. (Ros- Schwartz de Bergerac from being copied in virtually tand wrote his play as a star vehicle, granted, every medium, short of having a candy bar but rarely has this factor ever been so obvi- named after him. You know the story—the by Emily Schwartz’ rhymed 1913 vaudeville- ous.) Metropulos tries to alleviate the oncom- THEATER REVIEW one about the ugly brainiac soldier who style broadside for Cora Strayer’s independently ing gloom by playing up the comic elements courts the pretty girl on behalf of his muscle- Unwilling and Hostile owned detective agency. Travis Williams’ seg- in the first act, but cannot prevent our initial headed buddy. You probably also know it from ment on Mavis Staples depicts the gospel sing- enthusiasm giving way to fatigue sending us the translation by Brian Hooker, whose florid Instruments: er’s recorded voice comforting fugitives of the home as weary and enervated as the veterans language continues to invoke ecstatic ex- 100 Years 1966 Marquette Park marches, while Ike Holter of the Gascon regiment. looks at the legacy of Jane Addams through a of Extraordinary confrontation between two street canvassers in 2012. Chicago Women These and the other plays sharing the bill Playwright: Seth Bockley, Brian Golden, would, by themselves, constitute an enjoyable Ike Holter, Elaine Romero, Emily Schwartz, and informative evening, but Theatre Seven ar- Motortown. Carla Stillwell, Nick Ward, tistic director Brian Golden escalates the educa- Photo from Steep Travis Williams, Lauren Yee tional factor by first introducing the framing de- Theatre At: Theatre Seven of Chicago at vice of a performance group rehearsing the show American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron St. we are viewing, then having them spend their Tickets: 773-409-4125; rest breaks discussing the issues surrounding its www.theatreseven.org; $20 content—whether Jane Addams was a lesbian, Runs through: Oct. 27 for example, or the closing of the Uptown Hull House (its site conflated into that of the flag- BY MARY SHEN BARNIDGE ship settlement near the UIC campus)—in the stilted heavily scripted dialogue so beloved of If improv shows are essentially acting exer- “youth-fiction” authors, e.g. a surfer-blond who cises that we pay money to witness, then The- insists, “You can learn a lot about famous wom- atre Seven’s Unwilling And Hostile Instruments en by watching Saved By The Bell!” (subtitled “100 Years of Extraordinary Chicago This conceit—intended to “contextualize” ex-girlfriend, Marley (Julia Siple), and seeking Women”) is a playwrighting exercise. The as- THEATER REVIEW the lessons of the past—is handy for the inclu- out ways to obtain a deadly weapon by the likes signment was to write a snapshot portrait of a sion of additional expository data, but it also of Tom (Eddie Reynolds) and the ruthless Paul you-know-what whose accomplishments figure Motortown stretches the evening to two and a half hours, Playwright: Simon Stephens (Peter Moore). significantly in our city’s history. Eight authors a major part devoted to actors sharing their ob- At: Steep Theatre, 1115 W. Berwyn Ave. Danny more than likely was involved in an took up the challenge and their work comprises servations on careers and aspirations—presum- Tickets: 773-649-3186 or Iraqi prison-torture scandal, and his string of the body of the presentation currently occupy- ably to lend verisimilitude to the illusion of off- www.steeptheatre.com; $20-$22 lies to the strangers he encounters (unnervingly ing the American Theatre Company auditorium. duty shop talk. All said, Elly Green’s direction Runs through Nov. 9 played by Ashleigh LaThrop, Kendra Thulin and As with many anthology shows, the tone of the renders what, with some trimming, could have Alex Gillmor) gives you a clue that Danny wasn’t individual episodes vary widely: Carla Stillwell’s been an assembly-ready pageant, performed by BY SCOTT C. MORGAN a man to be trusted before or after his overseas dramatization of Ida B. Wells’ agonized deci- a predictable squad of earnest young archetypes, tour of duty. Stephens leaves plenty of narra- sion in 1891 to flee the KKK-dominated South- in turn played by a likewise engaging ensemble There’s an extremely disturbing and violent tive blanks for the audience to fill in regarding ern states to continue her crusade for African- deserving of fresher material. scene in Steep Theatre’s North American pre- Danny’s actions, and most of that isn’t pretty. American women’s rights in Chicago is followed miere of Simon Stephens’ drama Motortown. So In Motortown, Stephens is addressing war vet- theatergoers averse to onstage depictions of erans’ rage at returning home to an unapprecia- mental and physical abuse would be advised to tive and (as they might see it) corrupt society. avoid it. But Stephens also takes to task the military’s But if you are willing to contextualize that drummed-in violence that allows for a manipula- shocking scene and seriously ponder how it fits tive monster like Danny to operate practically into the play’s many observations on modern undisciplined and unchecked. British society in the age of “The War on Terror,” With Motortown, Steep Theatre is once again then Motortown more than justifies its shocking presenting a work by the Olivier Award-winning moments. British playwright Stephens following acclaimed Director Robin Witt fashions Motortown into a production of his plays Harper Regan and Por- chilling and gripping show, and her amazing act- nography. The latter play explored uncomfort- ing ensemble is given plenty of flashy moments able relationships in the lead up to the London to show off not only their technical skills (the terrorist bombings of July 7, 2005, but Motor- dialects are spot on), but their complex motiva- town was actually written during those exuber- tions as well. ant and fraught days before and after the at- Motortown follows the actions of former Brit- tacks. ish soldier Danny (a butch and menacing Joel Motortown is not an easy play to watch at Reitsma) after a tour in Basra, Iraq. Danny is times. But the thoughtful issues explored and staying with his mentally challenged younger the sterling quality of the production certain- brother, Lee (a charming Chris Chmelik), in the ly makes it so that you can’t dismiss it for its Dagenham area of London (a manufacturing area flashes of ugly and unsettling violence. Consider that probably helped give the play its title). yourself warned. Once home, Danny spends his days bothering his WINDY CITY TIMES Oct. 9, 2013 21 SPOTLIGHT

Dance-theater troupe Lucky Plush Productions continues its repertory presentations of two dance works this upcoming weekend. Cinderbox 2.0 is a revision of 2007’s Cinderbox 18 that explores the media’s construct of “reality.” The Better Half is a dance-inspired take on the Old Jews Telling Jokes. Photo by Dan Rest stage thriller Angel Street and its 1940s film adaptation Gaslight. Both shows play Links Hall, 3111 N. Western Ave. Performances of Cinderbox 2.0 continue at 7 p.m. Friday through Saturday, Oct. 11-13, while performances of The Better Half are at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, and at 4 p.m. THEATER REVIEW But this isn’t that show. Old Jews Telling Jokes Saturday, Oct. 12. Tickets are $20, $15 for students. For more information, call 773-281-0824 is a performance piece with actors playing old or visit www.linkshall.org or www.luckyplush.com. Photo of Cinderbox 2.0 courtesy of Lucky Old Jews Telling Jokes Jews, not a revue with real Jewish comics do- Plush Productions Playwright: Peter Gethers ing stand-up routines. This show will have you and Daniel Ockrent groaning at some jokes, smiling or chuckling at years ago, even though they tell it wrong in the Goodrich (Reuben). Most are not Jews, but you At: Royal George Theatre others, and laughing out loud at least six times, show. There’s an innocuous opening song, an- don’t have to be Jewish to like Rosen’s Rye Tickets: 312-988-9000; but the jokes are not necessarily Jewish jokes. other in the middle and Nathan (Tim Kazurinsky) Bread nor need you be a Jew to play Shylock, www.TicketMaster.com; $49-$69 Your enjoyment doesn’t require knowledge of recites the lyrics of “Old Man River” with a Yid- Anne Frank or Fagin. It would be great fun to Runs through: Feb. 16, 2014 Yiddish beyond “oy vey” and schmuck nor any dish dialect (the archetypal song of Black endur- see Eddie Murphy in this show using his excel- deep understanding of American Jewish culture. ance was penned by two Jews). Each character lent Yiddish dialect. Three of the actors are— BY JONATHAN ABARBANEL Chopped liver and Israel aren’t mentioned even is fleshed out in a brief monolog with a tiny bit uh—middle-aged while two of them are young. once. of exposition, but there isn’t a story or more There’s no explanation why these two are not So, you want to know the difference between What the five performers do talk about are re- than minimal relationships between the charac- closer in age to the characters they are playing, a schlemiel, a schlimazel and a nudnik? A few tirement, sex, aches and pains, sex, marriage, ters. Clearly, though, there is great camaraderie which I found mildly disconcerting. years ago, there was a successful Broadway (and sex, business, sex, old age and sex-and-old-age, between the performers themselves, which has Most assuredly, however, Old Jews Telling Jokes touring) revue of Jewish comedians from the old all with plenty of four-letter words. There are been encouraged by director Marc Bruni. At 80 is a warm and amusing night out. It has neither Borscht Belt Circuit in the Catskills Mountains, jokes new, old and ancient. One story—about fast minutes, the running time is just right. great depth nor the authenticity of Borscht Belt and their jokes had a lot of Yiddish references a fart—derives from Tales of the Arabian Nights In addition to Kazurinsky, the charming per- comics, but as my Aunt Anne would say, “So and—veyizmir!—they were so funny you could (what kind of Jewish joke is that?), and I first formers are Gene Weygandt (Morty), Renee Mat- what’s not to like?” plotz. heard another from my father more than 50 thews (Bunny), Dara Cameron (Debbi) and Alex

Ballet meets Bollywood in this tale of mystery, vengeance and eternal love. La Bayadère: The Temple Dancer

Joffrey Premiere OctOber 16-27

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50 east congress parkway chicago Victoria Jaiani, Temur Suluashvili, april Daly | photo by christopher Duggan. 22 Oct. 9, 2013 WINDY CITY TIMES THEATER ‘Shadow Town’ aims to raise awareness about sex trafficking in Chicago by Derrick Clifton volved in sex trafficking, along with social workers, undercover detectives, parents, former Human trafficking is usually understood as an pimps and johns. From various threads of these international issue, but it also heavily affects firsthand accounts, Bonnett composed four rep- communities locally. According to various stud- resentative characters: Marisol from Humboldt ies, between 16,000 and 25,000 women and girls Park, Tatiana from the West Side, Ling Ling from in metropolitan Chicago are trafficked annually. China and Samantha from Naperville. Her Story Theatre’s newest original produc- Shortly after beginning interviews, Bonnett tion, Shadow Town, sets out to shift perceptions felt compelled to immediately begin writing. about the topic. “It was so timely ... and I felt there was a de- “These are real people. ... It’s our story and it’s mand to do it now because there’s a need to get Shadow Town. Photo from Her Story Theatre in our backyard. It’s a global issue but it’s here it out there. [Human trafficking] has exploded and people don’t believe that,” said Bonnett, over the last seven years,” said Bonnett, who is Shadow Town’s writer and director. also artistic director for Her Story Theatre. when I get on the stage, I have to let all of that sity Graduate School of Social Work. The play was borne from nearly two years of Shadow Town takes the audience through 10 go and just let myself be the person.” Shadow Town premieres Thursday, Oct. 10, research and outreach that began in January lessons on “how to become master of the game,” Thompson also noted that similar tensions ex- and runs through Thursday, Nov. 14, at The 2011. During this time, Bonnett contacted sev- which details how trafficking victims are recruit- tend to his interactions with female castmates, Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., with eral local organizations that work with trafficked, the abusive conditions they endure and how including Lindsey Scalise, who portrays Prime evening performances beginning at 7:30 ing victims for information and potential inter- they are mentally and emotionally manipulated Cut’s most loyal worker, Renee. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. mati- viewees. Many of them refused during the initial by pimps. Scalise said that, like other fellow castmates, nees on Sundays. six months of outreach, until discussions with Rashawn Thompson portrays one such pimp she learned more about human trafficking after Tickets are $35. To purchase tickets, call The Dreamcatcher Foundation and the Salvation in the play through his role as Prime Cut, who becoming involved in the production and par- 800-838-3006 or visit herstorytheatre.org Army’s PROMISE program proved fruitful. teaches “the game” to the audience. ticipating in cast discussion sessions with some for more information and the schedule of ce- Even then, Bonnett said it took many more Thompson, who has played famous R&B artists of the women and girls who inspired the script. lebrity performers. months before she was able to hear firsthand in musicals such as “The Marvin Gaye Story” at “From all the womens’ characters ... I would accounts. Black Ensemble Theatre, noted that his role as hope others have the same kind of awakening “It took a long time for them to trust because Prime Cut is a departure from most of his previ- that I had,” said Scalise. “I don’t want to speak Locals among it’s a private world and they protect everything ous work because of his character’s profane lan- for the audience but I would assume that most in it because they don’t know who’s going to guage and abusive treatment of women. people would be like me and wouldn’t have been American’s exploit it,” said Bonnett. “They really had to un- “I have to emotionally get myself prepared for exposed to this before. I would hope they would derstand what we were about.” it and let it go when I leave, because when you also be enraged that this is going on and that grant recipients Shadow Town is based on Bonnett’s interviews get into your characters so deep you can take culture celebrates it and turns it into entertain- Berwyn’s 16th Street Theater and Chica- of several local women and girls who were in- it home...” he said. “It’s a difficult subject but ment when it’s happening in their backyards.” go’s The Hypocrites are among the national Twenty-four rotating local celebrities and pub- recipients of the American Theatre Wing’s lic figures will each join the 11-member cast 2013 National Theatre Company Grants. during the run, portraying a parent of Samantha, Grants for the 2013 cycle in the amount CULTURE CLUB a Naperville teenager who disappeared while in of $10,000 each will be distributed for gen- “A clever... “A whimsically nautical “Charming and a nanny’s care during her parents’ overseas trav- eral operating support to these companies. whimsical, artfully tale...loaded with enthusiastic. el. After each show, Bonnet and Shadow Town’s Guidelines state that, among other things, handcrafted show.” charm, inventiveness A one-of-a-kind event.” -- Chicago Sun-Times and visual wit!” -- Chicago Tribune cast and crew participate in an open discussion, the companies have been in operation at --Time Out Chicago which includes a performance from a guest musi- least five but not more than 15 years. MidwEST PREMiERE cian. The play’s proceeds will benefit two local or- THE OLD MAN ganizations that provide services to female sex trafficking victims: The Dreamcatcher Founda- CRITICS’ PICKS AND tion and Anne’s House, part of The Salvation

N Melia. Photo by l iz aure . Army’s PROMISE program. THE OLD MOON ya A NEw PlAy wiTh MuSiC Attendees who are licensed counselors or so- by PigPEN ThEATRE CO. cial workers can also receive three free continu- 4000 Miles, Northlight Theatre at the

directed by associate artistic director STuART CARdEN a N Weschler d r aNd PigPEN ThEATRE CO. ing education units from the Dominican Univer- North Shore Arts Center, through Oct. 20. It’s got everything you need for a stupid NOW PLAYING play, but Amy Herzog never lets her char-

Performed at 325 Tudor Court, glencoe d Nuer N berger, Pictured: Matt 2 013- acters behave stupidly in this sharp-witted Minutes from Chicago on the Edens or the Metra exploration of intergenerational existential FOR TICKETS: WRITERSTHEATRE.ORG I 847-242-6000 SEASON anomie. MSB

2013/14 SEASON SPONSOR CORPORATE SPONSOR The Killer Angels, Lifeline Theatre, ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE through Oct. 27. Gettysburg, 1863: three shhh…OUT! days of slaughter that turned the tide of the Civil War. This skillful adaptation of Michael Lakeside Pride Jazz Ensemble Shaara’s novel, with period songs, brings Center on Halsted heart and soul to officers and enlisted men Hoover-Leppen Theatre alike in a beautiful ensemble production. 3656 N. Halsted, Chicago JA Oct 29 | 7:30 pm The Mountaintop, Court Theatre, through Oct. 13. Katori Hall’s play imagining a visit Program Highlights include: to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., on the eve of PORTER: I’ve Got You Under My Skin his assassination is full of drama and stage MONK/WILLIAMS: Round Midnight O’BRIEN: Time Warp magic in Ron OJ Parson’s strong Chicago premiere production. SCM. They’re coming! Save yourselves Pullman Porter Blues, Goodman Theatre, from the onslaught of flesh-eating through Oct. 20. Cheryl West’s panoramic zombies by joining our creepy account of rail travel’s golden era packs all monster mashup of music from the the intrigue of a Grand Hotel on wheels— Funk, Fusion, and Swing eras that’s with E. Faye Butler singing the blues, for sure to get under your skin. good measure. MSB Single Tickets: $20. $12 seniors & students. —By Abarbanel, Barnidge BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW! Go to LakesidePride.org and Morgan

RESIDENT MEDIA SPONSORS PARTNER WINDY CITY TIMES Oct. 9, 2013 23 NUNN ON ONE: THEATER Joan Allen is the ‘Wheel’ deal a tremendous impact on me and my experiences with her. I don’t think I could have done the play without going through what I went through as a mom, learning about life and love and all of that stuff. WCT: The show goes on such a journey. How was it working with the kids? JA: Great. The kids are amazing and incredible, so dedicated. Emma Gordon in particular is so focused and Daniel Pass too. They are like nine and 11 years old. They were just troupers. They love the theater and have done a lot of theater work themselves. I love them and the entire cast. The whole rehearsal process was phenom- enal. by Jerry Nunn Joan Allen. WCT: The Wheel seems like a good show for PR photo Halloween. I was thinking The Bad Seed for a Actress Joan Allen is known for the varied and minute there! challenging roles she has played over the years JA: [Laughs] Well, you know it becomes very onstage, film, and television. interesting. What is this little girl? Is she really to do that. changes things. Then it is really about what will Born in Rochelle, Ill., this local talent stud- bad or just a product of all of the things she WCT: Are you making some more movies? I she do once she finds out. ied at Eastern Illinois University where she has been exposed to? My character starts ques- am a huge Pleasantville, fan, even going back WCT: You are involved in these scary roles performed with John Malkovich. She joined the tioning because I sort of capitalize on whatever to Searching for Bobby Fischer. now. Would you want to be on American Hor- Steppenwolf Theatre Company when he asked people think about her in order for us to survive. JA: I just completed one in June. It is a Ste- ror Story? her and has been a member ever since. I am the one that needs money for the train so phen King film called A Good Marriage. JA: You know, I have not watched it. I am not Allen won a Tony for Burn This on Broadway, I ask her to pull a bullet out of a wounded guy’s WCT: Is it based on one of his short stories? a big television watcher but people say it is re- then received three Academy Award nomina- side. JA: It is a novella, actually. It is part of an ally great. My daughter loves it. Now that the tions for the films Nixon, The Crucible and The WCT: That was gross. anthology called Full Dark, No Stars. There are play is open maybe I will pull it up on Netflix Contender. She starred in The Ice Storm, Face/ JA: It advances things to see if I caused this. I four novellas and that is one of them. and watch it. Off and Pleasantville, then took over The Bourne have a line, “Is this my doing?” She hurts people The story is about a couple married 25 years WCT: Perfect for this time of the year! franchise as CIA Director Pamela Landy. and she does bad things but I think it is her with two children when the wife finds out he is JA: Exactly. She now returns to her roots to reunite with own guilt about what I have asked of this child a serial killer. The Wheel spins through the Steppen- Chicago’s theater scene after more than two de- to do. It is about war and children so pretty WCT: Scary! wolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St., Tuesdays cades to lead Steppenwolf’s The Wheel. It’s the intense. JA: Yes. Anthony LaPaglia plays my husband. through Sunday through Nov. 10. Tickets are story of a woman named Beatriz who goes on a WCT: I loved the art direction. The first part of the movie you think this is a available at www.steppenwolf.org or by call- journey in the middle of war-torn Spain. Windy JA: Isn’t it just incredible? good marriage then one night his wife stumbles ing 312-335-1650. City Times called her to discuss the past, present WCT: Soldiers wearing boas in one transition on something in the garage that completely and future of her career. was unique and the music is also done really Windy City Times: Hello, Joan. I originally well. met you at a screening for your movie Off the JA: Yes, even the way the play opens up with Map. Chaon Cross, who plays my sister. We were just NOW PLAYING Joan Allen: That was a while ago! talking last night behind that curtain saying, Make a date with the most extraordinary WCT: Roger Ebert came to that preview. “This is the coolest play ever and aren’t we so JA: Oh, yes; I remember that. lucky to be a part of it!” It is almost more of an poet, swordsman, and bon vivant

WCT: What brought you back to Steppenwolf experience than a play. The play opens with a the world has ever known. after all of these years? wedding and so conventional then I just love JA: It was timing. I have lived in New York it when Emma comes onstage for the first time. since 1983. I have a daughter who is now 19. I The audience has no idea what they are in for. had done a lot of theater with some very intense WCT: That’s true. plays in the ‘80s. I was a little burned-out and I JA: None, they have no idea what is going to had this child. I really wanted to devote myself happen once this girl comes into the picture. to her and knew I would only have one child. WCT: Chaon looks like your sister. She re- To come here and do a play takes three months sembles you a lot. of your life. I didn’t want to uproot her. I JA: I know. It’s really good. couldn’t not say “good night” to her for three WCT: It seems like it is meant to be that you months, to my only beloved daughter, so that are back in Chicago for this show. was also part of it. She is 19 now and I had JA: It is. Sometimes you have these moments been away from the theater for awhile. I had of synchronicity in your life. I have had two or some interesting, difficult life experiences for a three of them maybe. This is definitely one of few years that I think helped me develop as a them. This is the right time, the right play, the person. It was just the right time. right director, the right cast, the right home-

WCT: So when did you reconnect with them? coming, being back in the city. I am kind of high JA: Last December. I hadn’t done a play with over the whole thing! Steppenwolf for years and Martha Lavey, the ar- WCT: Are you getting to have fun in the city tistic director, came to New York and was excited while you are here? about the upcoming season. She invited me to JA: During the rehearsal things were really in- do a few play readings. I thought it would be tense and demanding in the best way but now a really good time for me to put my toe in the that the show is open and I have days free I may water and so I did. actually do something. It felt really good to do the play readings with My assistant doesn’t know the city. She is from ensemble members who I hadn’t read with in a North Carolina, and it was a such a glorious day long time. We ended up not doing those plays. the Monday after the show opened so we walked Last January Martha asked me if I would read The on the shore of Lake Michigan. I wanted to take Wheel. I had spent some time with the director the boat so we did the Chicago architecture tour. Tina Landau at those readings and I thought she It was so beautiful! We walked in Millennium was incredible. I read the play then talked to Park, which I hadn’t really seen. by EDMOND ROSTAND Martha and Tina and just felt like it was right. One Monday during rehearsal we got in the car translated and adapted for the stage by So that is how it happened. We then picked the and I wanted to drive past every apartment that ANTHONY BURGESS slot it was going to be in so I knew last January I ever lived in during the ‘70s and the ‘80s in 312.595.5600 • www.chicagoshakes.com directed by PENNY METROPULOS

that I would be doing it. Michael Brosilow. by photo Harry Groener, Pictured: Chicago. I wanted to look at every place where WCT: Having a daughter must have really PRODUCTION HOTEL PARTNERS MAJOR the theater has been so we did that including 2013/14 SEASON added to your performance in The Wheel. going up to Highland Park where the original SUPPORTERS JA: I can’t even begin to tell you! Yes, it had theater was on Deerfield Road. It was really cool 24 Oct. 9, 2013 WINDY CITY TIMES es. We tell people that, ‘Hey, no matter where you come from, if you set your mind to it you Music to our ears— can accomplish anything.’ WCT: Do you talk about growing up gay? Were any of you bullied or taunted for being Talking with Well-Strung gay as a kid? Daniel Shevlin: As far as the show goes, we by Tony Peregrin Daniel Shevlin: That we perform naked. We don’t broach the bullying topic. The show is not don’t know why. Maybe the name alludes to that about us growing up gay and discovering our Meet Well-Strung—the handsome and hunky, a little, and one of our posters from last year sexual identity. Our stories pertain to the four of all-male string quartet who are hitting all the was pretty scandalous. It was a great poster! us growing up as dorky musicians! right notes with their unique hybrid of classi- WCT: You mentioned the name of the quar- Chris Marchant: We just happen to be four gay cal music and contemporary pop. By putting tet—which one of you was clever enough to guys putting on this show. Any four classical their own spin on the music of Mozart, Vivaldi, come up with “Well-Strung?” musicians could put on this same show. Rihanna, Adele and Lady Gaga—Daniel Shevlin Chris Marchant: The name Well-Strung came up WCT: Speaking of growing up as “dorky (cello), Chris Marchant (violin), Edmund Bag- before the quartet existed. I did an interview musicians,” can I get your ages? How old are nell (violin), and Trevor Wadleight (viola)—are and photo-shoot with DNA magazine in the fall you? breaking down barriers between musical genres. of 2011, and the title of the spread was Well- Daniel Shevlin: We don’t want to say our The string and singing quartet (yes, they also Strung, and we decided to use it. ages—but I can tell you I am the oldest. sing) are comprised of four openly gay men who WCT: Clearly, each member of the quartet is Chris Marchant: And I am the second oldest. got their start in Provincetown, Mass. handsome and fit as a fiddle—do you simply WCT: For someone who has never seen your “P-Town is definitely a magical place—it own the fact that your physical appeal is part show, describe what it is you do. has such an amazing artistic community,” said of what draws people to the shows or does Chris Marchant: So, our show is essentially a Marchant, who was in Provincetown performing that reality annoy you on some level? juxtaposition of classical music against mostly in Naked Boys Singing—and playing violin on Chris Marchant: The idea behind that is… current Top 40s. We want to show that there is a the street to earn extra cash—when he was ap- [Pauses and starts again]The people who feel through-line running through it all, through all proached by a producer in 2010. That meeting confident about their appearance are going to music. Some people come to the show to hear eventually led to the formation of Well-Strung. be good performers. Our goal is not to create more pop; some people come to hear more clas- “What’s great about P-Town is that people the highest level of classical music perfection. sical. But they all end up saying they love it in are coming there from all over the country who Our goal is to expose audiences to new music in the end. We’re also the only string quartet in the are in the arts,” added Marchant. “There’s a con- new ways and in a fantastic way, and in order world who sings, so we’re actually more like a stant influx of tourists and when they go back to do that we need “performers.” Our goals are band, and that seems to surprise some people. to wherever they are from they tell people about different than those of a typical string quartet. Daniel Shevlin: We’re also different from oth- us—which really sets things up well for tour- We’ve often gotten criticism from people who er string quartets because we move around on ing.” say that there is no substance there, and that we stage. We’re not giving you ballet, mind you, but Before Well-Strung heads to London this fall just look pretty. But then people see the show we are moving around a lot! Donna Drake, our for their European debut, the quartet will be and their minds tend to change if they walk in director, gets us out of our chairs and into dif- performing in Chicago Oct. 18-19 at the Center with that perception. ferent positions. We don’t use music so we don’t on Halsted. Daniel Shevlin: Another thing about our show have music stands—everything is memorized— In an interview with Windy City Times, March- is that we talk about ourselves and how we got and that gives a lot more freedom for how we ant and Shevlin didn’t strike one false note as started. People get past the image they have us, can present ourselves on stage. they revealed what it’s like to be hot and well- I think, and see what is inside of us and what WCT: How do you select which contemporary strung, how they select their contemporary mu- we are about. songs to feature in the show? sic, and what they like most about Chicago. Chris Marchant: We talk about where we came Daniel Shevlin: When we are creating a show, Windy City Times: What do you think is the from and about our childhood, and we feature a we make lists of what songs we think are pop- Chris Marchant of Well-Strung. Photo by biggest misconception about Well-Strung? slideshow depicting each of our awkward phas- Jerrad Matthew Turn to page 31

Celebrate LGBTQ AMERICAN VAGABOND CONTRACTED Finland, Denmark, USA USA excellence in film. FRI 10/11 • 8:30 PM FRI 10/11 • 10:15 PM © SUN 10/13 • 2:15 PM WED 10/16 • 5:30 PM HUGO FILMS October 10 – 24 w AMC River East 21 w 322 E. Illinois St. Tickets on sale now! 312-332-FILM FLOATING ILLITERATE For the full Festival schedule, visit SKYSCRAPERS Poland Chile MON 10/21 • 8:45 PM FRI 10/11 • 5:45 PM WED 10/23 • 5:45 PM SUN 10/13 • 5:30 PM CHICAGOFILMFESTIVAL.COM TUE 10/22 • 1:00 PM

IN THE NAME OF… IT’S ALL SO QUIET KILL YOUR DARLINGS THE NUN SNAILS IN THE RAIN STOCKHOLM STORIES Poland Netherlands, Germany USA France, Germany, Belgium Israel Sweden FRI 10/11 • 6:00 PM FRI 10/11 • 3:30 PM FRI 10/11 • 8:15 PM TUE 10/15 • 12:40 PM SUN 10/20 • 8:45 PM SAT 10/12 • 6:00 PM SAT 10/12 • 3:30 PM SAT 10/19 • 7:15 PM SUN 10/20 • 1:00 PM TUE 10/22 • 5:30 PM SUN 10/13 • 7:45 PM SUN 10/20 • 6:00 PM WED 10/23 • 5:00 PM WED 10/16 • 1:30 PM

PROGRAM PARTNER

STRANGER BY VOYAGE WILL YOU STILL LOVE PRESENTING PARTNER OFFICIAL AIRLINE HEADQUARTERS HOTEL MEDIA PARTNER THE LAKE Hong Kong ME TOMORROW? France SUN 10/20 • 6:30 PM Taiwan FRI 10/18 • 9:15 PM TUE 10/22 • 8:30 PM SAT 10/19 • 7:00 PM SUN 10/20 • 4:10 PM TUE 10/22 • 6:15 PM WINDY CITY TIMES Oct. 9, 2013 25 white washed every year and re-painted by members of the community according to a theme. Lucy Smith: At the end of the project there is this huge wall mural that goes for many blocks. For the last three years I’ve been producing the music Lesbian jazz singer festival that goes along with the “Artists of the Wall” festival. The festival is always held on Fa- ther’s Day weekend in June. I’m so honored to be involved with this endeavor. In Rogers Park riffs on CD, inspirations we have a mixture of so many cultures. It’s not By Carrie Maxwell spent hours listening to and singing along with a melting pot; it’s a jambalaya. We don’t want to Josh White, Nina Simone, James Taylor, Aretha be like each other we want to know more about Openly lesbian jazz singer Lucy Smith’s “Songs Franklin, Trini Lopez, Mariam Makeba, Eric Car- each other. Volunteering in the community is My Mama Would Like” CD release party will take men, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Barry important to me. You have to know what is go- place at the Jazz Showcase on Oct. 15. Manilow. I would sing and dance myself into a ing on. Being out in the neighborhood is what A staple in the Chicago jazz scene, Smith has frenzy. I used the mirrors as a guide and prac- allows you to do that and it definitely informs performed at numerous venues for over 20 years. ticed my body movements and the placement of my music. She spoke with Windy City Times about her my pen or pencil that I used for a microphone. I Another thing that informs my music is I am a life, career and what people can expect at her wanted to be everyone I sang along with and go news junkie. Before I did music full-time I was CD release party. wherever they went and I still do. the associate director at the Crossroads Fund, Lucy Smith. Photo by Olga Lopez Windy City Times: What made you gravitate WCT: Tell me about your new CD Songs My which is a progressive foundation doing amazing towards singing jazz music? Mama Would Like and your band Autumn in social and economic justice work in the com- Lucy Smith: It was probably there for awhile. Augusta. and I acknowledge that politically, socially and munity. The first music I remember singing to in our LS: It’s been an amazing ride. I’m at a place culturally. I’ve had the opportunity to make music for house was soul, blues and jazz. Nina Simone, in in my life where I’ve been making music for over WCT: Who are some of your inspirations in special events and benefits for organizations particular, was an early influence because she 20 years. This is a very personal project and the the music world? working on social justice issues all around the had a political bent to her music that spoke to response has been amazing. I’m just blown away LS: Nina Simone, Lead Belly, Miriam Makeba, city. It’s what I am supposed to do. I’m a pro- me. At the base of jazz is blues and gospel and by it. Due to this project and the fact that it is Josh White, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, gressive at heart. all these other genres of music couldn’t exist getting played all over the world I am getting Marvin Gaye, The Jackson 5, Diana Ross and the WCT: Is there anything else you would like without blues and gospel. The cool thing about calls for so much more work. Every time people Supremes, James Brown... to tell the readers of WCT? being a musician is we can incorporate all of say that your mother would love that you are WCT: You are the leader/arranger for the LS: This project represents my musical rela- these genres and make it ours. doing this I am filled with joy. Lucy Smith Quartet/Quintet. tionship with my mother and I think it also rep- WCT: Tell me a little bit about growing up My mother was born and raised in Augusta, LS: Yes. Autumn in Augusta is just a year old resents many people’s relationships with their here in Chicago. Ga., and autumn was her favorite season so that so most of my work has been with the quintet. mom’s. Even though this is my personal journey LS: I grew up in various neighborhoods on the is where the name of the band came from. My We perform all over Chicago and the surrounding I think it’s music that will speak to a number South Side of Chicago and my earliest memories nephew coined the name of the band. This proj- suburbs. Chicago is an amazing place to make of people. are of when I walked with my brothers to school. ect is an homage to my mother and her music. music. It’s an honor to work with the quintet See www.lucysmithjazz.com, and www.au- My mom didn’t send us to the neighborhood WCT: Share a little bit about what it’s like and make music here. tumninaugusta.com for more information and public school she sent us to Catholic School. being an openly gay performer. WCT: What else do you do (hobbies etc.) to buy the CD visit www.cdbaby.com/cd/au- I remember that our living room had a wall LS: I don’t have time for anyone who has an that provides inspiration for your music? tumninaugusta. covered, floor to ceiling, with mirrored tiles that issue with me being queer and I’ve written tunes LS: I do things in my community of Rogers Check out Smith at the Jazz Showcase, 806 reflected what was happening outside on Racine that blatantly identify gender. I feel fortunate Park. I’m on the Loyola Park Advisory Council S. Plymouth Ct., on Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 8 Avenue. A console stereo with encased speakers, to be in a space where I haven’t encountered and one of the main projects that I work on p.m. and 10 p.m. Visit www.jazzshowcase. turntable and an AM/FM radio sat in the corner many issues with my being a lesbian in recent every year is called “Artists of the Wall.” At the com/upcoming_shows/lucy-smiths-autumn- of the room. I was in my own kind of heaven. I years. Chicago is a privileged space to be queer Loyola Park Beach there is a sea wall that is in-augusta-cd-release-party1.

siGNs OF liFe A New MusicAl DrAMA

when survival depends on hiding the truth, how does the truth survive?

sept 18 – Oct 27 Zacek McVay Theater at the Biograph For tickets call 773.871.3000 or visit Victorygardens.org Visit us at www.signsoflifethemusical.com 26 Oct. 9, 2013 WINDY CITY TIMES family “traditions.” Out actor Kelly McGillis has a small but telling part as a kindly neighbor. www. musicboxtheatre.com

KNIGHT Film notes: AT —A day of Halloween movies: If it’s October, it must be time for horror-movie marathons. The THE first up is The Massacre which is being held at MOVIES the Patio Theater, 6008 W. Irving Park Rd., and starts Saturday, Oct. 12, at 11 a.m. (A second 24-hour horror marathon is being held on Satur- day, Oct. 19, at the Music Box; there’ll be details on that line-up in next week’s column.) Highlights of The Massacre include a great By assortment of old and new creepy classics and Richard schlock masterpieces—Frankenstein Meets the Knight Jr. Wolf Man, Hellraiser II, Army of Darkness, April Fool’s Day and Slither, among them. The fest also includes a rare screening of 1985’s Night- Valentine Road; mare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge with a big bonus: Mark Patton, the openly gay, HIV- We Are What positive star of the film (see my interview with We Are; notes him in this issue) will be on hand for a post- screening Q&A, and sign autographs and pose On the morning of July 12, 2008, at approxi- for photos with fans. The Massacre includes ven- mately 8:15 a.m. while sitting in class at the dor tables, prizes, a live charity auction for Vital E O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, Ca- Bridges and more. https://www.facebook.com/ lif., 14-year-old Brandon McInerney pulled a events/490868644336874/ .22-caliber revolver out of his backpack and —Chicago home-movie day: All Chicagoans Fifteen-year-old homicide victim Larry King in Valentine Road. Photo from HBO Documentary shot another student in the back of the head. are invited to dig out the best of their Super Films McInerney dropped the gun, walked out of the 8 home movies—beloved records of family and school and was apprehended by authorities just cultural occasions—and bring these celluloid blocks away fewer than 10 minutes later. His moments that leave one enraged at the vile in- with the elusive Parker clan. But during a period histories to the Chicago History Museum (1601 victim, 15-year-old Larry King, died within two sidiousness of prejudice and the justification for of unending rain, accompanied by flooding of N. North Ave.) on Saturday, Oct. 19. From 11 days and was buried in a cemetery on Valentine violence done in its name. It’s never in doubt the area’s waterways, pieces of evidence surface a.m. to 3 p.m., members of the Northwest Chi- Road—which provides the ironic name for Marta that the diminutive King—an adopted child that suggest that the Parkers are a lot more than cago Film Society, which sponsors this annual Cunningham’s extraordinary documentary debut whose hardscrabble life finally found a measure the pious, churchy folk they seem to be. event (this is the third) will inspect your films, feature about the tragedy. of peace and acceptance when he was placed The death of Mrs. Parker in what appears to project them and offer tips on preservation and It’s ironic because two days before the shoot- in a group home for troubled youth—was the be a drowning (but is actually something much how to transfer them. This year’s attendees will ing King approached McInerney at school and tragic victim of a hate crime. more sinister) especially piques the curiosity of also get to participate in Home Movie Day Bingo asked him, in front of several of his friends, to However, the reasons for that crime by its the local forensics expert whose own daughter which features an assortment of prizes donated be his valentine. That wasn’t the first time the perpetrator—who also came from an extremely went missing years before. It won’t be long be- by local film organizations like the Gene Siskel openly gay King had publicly verbalized his at- troubled background—and the larger, complex fore various outsiders will attempt to pierce the Film Center and Chicago Filmmakers. Admission traction to McInerney, who was straight and the questions surrounding social and institutional shroud of mystery surrounding the family that is is free. http://www.chicagofilmarchives.org/ embarrassment of being the object of a same-sex attitudes toward sexual minorities, gun vio- headed by a stern patriarch (Bill Sage, who was current-events/chicago-home-movie-day-2013 attraction—in particular by a boy who also used lence and the judicial process are also explored so memorable as the child molester in Mysteri- —DVD of note: Laurence Anyways, from make-up and wore female clothing to school— in Cunningham’s remarkable film. Its horrify- ous Skin). out writer-director French Canadian wunderkind was widely seen as the motive for the killing. ing clear in the unforgettable Valentine Road, Mickle’s film is a moody, slow-building remake Xavier Dolan, is out on DVD from Breaking Glass In Cunningham’s film—which debuted Oct. 7 a deeply thought-provoking documentary, that of a 2010 Mexican movie that gives away the Pictures. Dolan’s nearly three-hour story is the on HBO and which will be broadcast throughout McInerney’s heinous crime had consequences far family secret long before it reaches its horrif- story of a French schoolteacher and the impact the month—King’s declaration and, even more, beyond the ultimate one suffered by his unfor- ic conclusion but that’s not necessarily a bad his transition to becoming female has on his his burgeoning acceptance and public display of tunate victim. http://www.hbo.com/documen- thing in this gorgeously shot and scored pic- relationship with his fiery girlfriend (portrayed his transgender status, are seen as just cause for taries/valentine-road ture which envelopes the audience in its dark, by Suzanne Clement in a career-altering per- McInerney to end his life. Time and time again, rain soaked landscape from beginning to end. formance). Dolan’s movie, epically scaled from the movie gives those involved—teachers, ju- Briefly noted: Director Jim Mickle’s We Are And there are some twists in the last half hour 1989 through the mid-’90s (the soundtrack and rors, attorneys, family, and friends—a platform What We Are, opening this Friday at the Music which are both surprising and may just satisfy fashions are spot-on) really gets at the heart of upon which they hang themselves by almost ea- Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., is another gore fans to boot. Michael Parks is wonderful the emotional challenges facing both the person gerly revealing their deeply ingrained prejudices welcome entry in the ongoing revival of hor- as the suspicious pathologist while Julia Garner desperately needing to transition and the con- toward King’s behavior and deride his insistence ror movies that relies on character and setting and Ambyr Childers are preternaturally beautiful flicts faced by their loved ones. Heartfelt, messy, on being his true self. Never have I seen a film rather than shock and gore to chill audiences to and eerie as the teenage Parker girls, charged filled with genuine emotional insight, Dolan’s that is a more telling example of the “blame the the marrow. No one seems to think it odd that by their unyielding father with continuing the movie is a marvel. http://bgpics.com/ victim” mentality. so many young women have gone missing and no one seems to connect their disappearances Cunningham’s film is filled with dozens of Bar, a collaboration between James Franco Reeling announces and Travis Mathews that ruminates on the movie line-up missing footage from director William Fried- Reeling, the second longest-running LGBT kin’s Cruising; and The Abominable Crime, film festival in the world and a Chicago staple which looks at the violence that gays and for more than 30 years, returns to the Music lesbians experience in Jamaica. Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., for its Complete information is at www.reelingfilm- opening-night presentation Thursday, Nov. 7, festival.org. and then moves on to its main venue, The Logan Theatre, 2646 N. Milwaukee Ave.), Nov. 8-14. Crystal Bowersox at The fest’s home base—Chicago Filmmakers, City Winery Oct. 15 5243 N. Clark St.—will also host screenings. Singer Crystal Bowersox is slated to perform Reeling launches its eight-day festival with at City Winery, 1200 W. Randolph St., this fall. the opening-night gala presentation of G.B.F., Bowersox, a season-nine finalist on Ameri- by Darren Stein (Jawbreaker). The movie fea- can Idol, is performing Tuesday, Oct. 15 ($25- tures performances by Megan Mullally, SNL’s $45). Her City Winery Chicago debut is in sup- Horatio Sanz, Jonathan Silverman, Rebecca port of her sophomore release, All That For Gayheart, Harry Potter’s Evanna Lynch and This, produced by Steve Berlin (Sheryl Crow, Natasha Lyonne. Los Lobos, John Lee Hooker). A closing-night reception will be held at the Among the many other acts that will per- Stan Mansion, 2408 N. Kedzie Ave. The mov- form at City Winery later this year are Rachael ies being shown Nov. 14 are Ludwig II, Reach- Yamagata (Oct. 16); Shawn Colvin (Oct. 22- ing for the Moon and Ian Harvie Superhero. 23); Lisa Marie Presley (Oct. 25); Cowboy Other highlights include Black Box, writer- Junkies (Oct. 26); Bettye LaVette (Oct. 28- director Stephen Cone’s follow-up to The Wise 29); and Sinead O’Connor (Nov. 4-6). Kids; Anna Margarita Albelo’s black comedy To purchase concert tickets, call 312-733- Who’s Afraid of Vagina Wolf?; Interior.Leather. WINE (9463) or visit www.citywinery.com. Julia Garner in We Are What We Are. Image from 2013 Entertainment One Films US WINDY CITY TIMES Oct. 9, 2013 27 Mark Patton: ‘Nightmare on Elm Street 2’ actor on the film’s gay subtext by RICHARD KNIGHT JR. led to a life-long friendship with Cher and the others in the cast—an incredible experience. To say that Mark Patton’s journey has been Mark Patton: It really was. In fact, I am writ- fraught with ups and downs is to define the cli- ing a book about that fantastic period which ché. should be coming out early next year. I’d been A fresh-faced young actor from Kansas City, thinking about it for quite a while, but losing Patton arrived in Manhattan in the early ‘80s both Marta Heflin and Karen Black recently really and quickly landed the role of Joe Qualley in lit a fire under me. Robert Altman’s off-Broadway sensation, Come WCT: I look forward to that. And Jimmy Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean eventually led to Night- Dean. Patton co-starred with Cher, Sandy Den- mare 2—which was a really coveted part, nis, a then-unknown Kathy Bates and a batch right? of other well-known actresses. The play became MP: It was huge, absolutely. Michael Murphy, a must-see for the New York glitterati and soon one of the producers of the film, said to me, Patton was nightclubbing with David Bowie, “You’re never hired as the star of a movie by Andy Warhol and the like. When it came time to accident.” Even if you’ve only done one of those make the film in 1982, Patton was immediately big Hollywood movies, it’s an amazing experi- signed to repeat his role as the fey teen boy ence to be selected in that way. It was wonder- who transitions to female, becoming the coolly ful. controlled woman played by the late Karen Black WCT: I’m going to guess that while you were Mark Patton (right) with Matt Dillon and Chaz Bono in the 1980s. Photo by Andy Warhol in one of her most intriguing roles. filming the movie you were maybe not clos- After moving to Hollywood, Patton won the eted but a little circumspect. This was the coveted lead in 1985 as Jesse, the mixed-up mid-’80s in Hollywood, after all. were filming—in that S&M kinda bar and that humor, to boot. You know how rare it is to teenager opposite Robert Englund’s maniacal MP: Well, actually, the way that it worked was shower scene—did you immediately get that? have an out gay man in a horror-film fran- Freddy Krueger in the first sequel to the Night- this: When I was in New York I just lived my MP: We filmed the bar scene at the Detour [an chise. mare on Elm Street horror franchise. This coup life, which is what one did in New York. Then I infamous West Coast leather bar]! I was way MP: Thank you—there was always a little and the financial success of the movie were bit- went to Hollywood and it was a completely and past it at that point—I knew what was going on voice in my ear whispering, “Show business isn’t tersweet, as Patton found being open about his utterly different story. Personally, I was always at that point. But literally the straight guys on through with you” and it seems that that voice the set—the director, the DP, the producers— was right. They call me the Greta Garbo of horror they were dumb as a box of rocks about this. It because I disappeared for so long. Now they call would not have entered their minds. Bob Shaye, me the Joan Crawford of horror because I’m so the owner of New Line, plays the bartender in good to my fans. the gay bar! WCT: [Laughs] “I AM one of your fans!!!” WCT: I believe you’ve said that the person MP: I do, I love my fans—especially my GLBT who inserted the gay subtext was the screen- fans and I can’t wait to meet them in Chicago. writer. See http://www.mark-patton.com and face- MP: David Chaskin, yes. This has been the big book.com/terrorintheaisles. question—why did he do it? He always said that he didn’t write it as a gay movie and he denied it forever. When really pushed up against the wall he would say, “Well, the actor in the lead—not even using my name—was so gay that he made the film gay” and I don’t know whether David is ‘Center on Culture’ gay or straight but I will tell you this: I think a closeted gay person in a position of power in through Oct. 26 show business is one of the most treacherous Center on Culture, a new theater series people that a gay actor can ever encounter. coordinated by Center on Halsted, is con- WCT: Did Robert Englund know about this? tinuing. MP: Not a clue. It just wasn’t on the radar The New York City-based, all-male, classi- of those guys. I mean, please, the coach, be- cal string and singing quartet Well-Strung fore they strap him up to the wall, he’s getting will be putting their own spin on the music shot at by balls—he’s playing with his balls and of Mozart, Vivaldi, Rihanna, Adele, Lady they’re shooting at him like they’re ejaculating Gaga and others Friday-Saturday, Oct. 18- out of penises. [Laughs] If you watch me in the 19, at 6 p.m. Mark Patton in Nightmare on Elm Street 2. bedroom scene when I’m naked in the bed and Lastly, there will be a special preview the room starts to melt—the candles look like performance of Larry Kramer’s The Normal gay sexuality was a taboo in Tinseltown. A few out. I don’t think I’ve ever been in the closet in big dicks and they’re dripping white wax on my Heart produced by TimeLine Theatre Com- years later, torn between accepting a leading my life and my boyfriend at the time who was on body like they’re coming on me. If you really pany at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. role in a television series as a gay character but Dallas—he’s passed away now—and we would take it all the way, like a couple of doctoral The special performance will be Saturday, told he’d have to remain in the closet, Patton do things like go to Merv Griffin’s house for din- students have—look at Freddy Krueger in con- Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. decided to leave acting behind. That bitter blow ner or to big A-list gay parties. Everybody was text—he’s always vicious to women. Visit https://community.centeronhal- was followed by a positive HIV diagnosis and out but the actors. WCT: Talk about closeted. sted.org/culture. For information on spon- years of health challenges. Generally, people sort of protected you. But MP: Right—but he’s lovely to me. He’s always sorship opportunities, contact Dustin Er- More than 25 years later Patton—now 49, socially, I was not allowed to live in West Hol- very tender with me. The only people who are ikstrup at 773-661-0957 or derikstrup@ healthy and relaxed—has reinvented himself as lywood and I could never go into a gay bar be- killed in that film are boys. Any boy who gets centeronhalsted.org. a successful Puerto Vallarta-based interior de- cause the agencies would post people at the close to me, he kills them. So, it’s been inter- signer who lives with husband Hector. He has door to sabotage people’s careers. There were esting for me to watch the revisionism on the Andersonville come to embrace his time in the spotlight star- only about 20 actors at the time—including tours I’ve done. Robert [Englund] will now say ring in A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Matt Damon and Brad Pitt, who both auditioned he knew all along and that it was part of the Arts Weekend Revenge and, thanks to the movie’s infamous for Nightmare 2—who would be considered for subtext for both of us. I love Robert but that’s gay subtext, his status as the world’s first male these roles and agents would do anything to get total bullshit! [Laughs] Oct. 11-13 “scream queen.” an advantage. It was pretty brutal. WCT: It’s hilarious to see this now but at The 11th annual Andersonville Arts The film will be shown Saturday, Oct. 12, as During the middle of Nightmare on Elm Street the time… Weekend will take place Friday-Sunday, part of the annual 24-hour horror marathon The I began to realize there was something fishy go- MP: It was terrifying. I started getting fan Oct. 11-13. Massacre at the Patio Theater, 6008 W. Irving ing on with the script and it was really terrifying. mail that said, “Faggot, faggot” and “Jesse’s a It will be centered at Clark Street and Park Rd. Patton will be on hand to sign auto- I thought, “I’m in a box here and I don’t know homo” and all that kind of stuff. It was a ter- Berwyn Avenue. graphs, pose for photos with fans and regale the how to get out of it.” This was my first leading rible time. My lover was dying and everybody The art walk will be open on Saturday audience with tales from his fascinating time role in a big movie and the question was, “Could had AIDS and I quit the business. I should have and Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. in Hollywood. Patton chatted with Windy City I play a normal guy?” I had the chops to play gone back to New York but instead I said, I’m Among the Friday (Oct. 11) events is Uni- Times from his home in Mexico. people having nervous breakdowns but could I done and I took off in another direction. ty Lutheran Church (1212 W. Balmoral Ave.) Windy City Times: You had this great suc- be the boy next door and be straight? WCT: As an out gay man, what I love about hosting a night of art, theater and dance. cess with “Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean”—a WCT: I can see where you’d read that script your journey, Mark, is to see someone come Visit www.andersonville.org/artsweekend year on Broadway and then the filming which and not get the gay subtext but when you full-circle and not only embrace your past but or call 773-728-2995. to be at peace about it and have a sense of 28 Oct. 9, 2013 WINDY CITY TIMES

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