OUT October 21, 2011 | Volume IX Issue 12 Frank Kameny The Queer Encampment at Occupy Baltimore LGBT Rights Icon By Corey Reidy Guest contributor from Baltimore Frank Kameny Independent Reader While there was a pronounced discus- Dies at 86 sion, within activist circles, about the Oc- cupy Wall Street movement, it was not at By Steve Charing the forefront of public awareness until af- It is fitting that when Frank Kameny ter several incidents involving police vio- eventually passed on it would oc- lence and mass arrests. Quickly, Occupy cur on National Coming Out Day. Everywhere jumped from a social media Dubbed the “Father of the Gay phenomenon into actualization in cities Rights Movement,” Kameny, often and towns across the globe. Occupy Ev- blunt in his manner, was a pioneer- erywhere is both a stance in solidarity with ing activist whose tireless and ag- Occupy Wall Street, and a way of organiz- gressive efforts over the course of ing around the local; bringing the move- six decades helped advance the ment home. rights of LGBT citizens all over Movements begin with thought put into the U.S. The man who coined the action; Occupy Baltimore began well be- phrase “Gay is Good” was found fore masses gathered at McKeldin Square dead of natural causes in his Wash- on October 4. It began with the last move- ington D.C. apartment on October ment and the movement before that; and 11. with the organizing in-between the rise and Franklin Edward Kameny was —continued on page 2 photo: Clayton Conn born on May 21, 1925 in New York City. He became a World War II combat veteran in Europe. “They asked and I lied and didn’t tell” in don’t threaten the system – looking for 1943 to get into the service, “though corporate recognition of LGBT employee as a healthy teenager I can tell you Sex & the Economic Crisis groups or same-sex partners. Where the that I had things to tell,” he said. b y Roger Green position is in the first place the history gay movement could have been voice He attended Queens College Is there anything to say about the sexual poli- of people fighting for economic justice. for, say, universal healthcare, instead it (NY) where he received his B.S. tics of the current economic crash? At least Ever since the rise of identity movements blocked what could have been a larger in Physics in 1948. Kameny then one notable economist thinks there is. The of the 1960s, there’s always been a left- coalition with people who are suffering earned a Masters and PhD in as- following is an interview with a former Wall ist critique that says, say, feminism or the in this economy. Why should access to tronomy from Harvard University in Street insider who’s well connected in policy gay movement doesn’t have its eye on the medicine or a pension depend on marital 1949 and 1956, respectively. circles, thinks Occupy Wall Street is a hope- prize. On this view, we have to focus on status? So in the midst of this economic Kameny went on to work as a ful sign, and is gay. Currently he teaches at basic material questions of fairness. Oth- crisis, is the old leftist suspicion of iden- civilian for the Army Map service a well-known university, but prefers here to er problems will either take care of them- tity politics vindicated? as an astronomer. When the Army stay anonymous. We’ll call him “Mr. X”. selves or are secondary. But of course X: Yes, I think so. There’s a basic ques- found out he was homosexual, he RG: The history of leftist political op- in the ’70s, identity movements became tion now: Are we confronting a final crisis of was fired in 1957 although they nev- the center of grav- capitalism in this current financial crisis? Or is er cited any evidence. At the time, ity of what liberation this simply the latest in a series of collapsed gays were prohibited from federal meant to most peo- bubbles to which unregulated capitalism gives employment as a result of Presi- ple in the West. The rise? Is this a final crisis in the sense that one dent Eisenhower’s 1953 executive old left was eclipsed, more time we’re seeing a politically unsustain- order denying security clearances tarnished as it was by able concentration of economic power in the to “people who engaged in sexual the failures of Rus- hands of the wealthiest part of society? perversion.” sia and China. The In the 1880s and 1930s, financial cri- But Kameny stood up for him- gay movement deals ses that similarly involved concentration of self. He appealed to the White occasionally with wealth and impoverishment of large numbers House, the Civil Service Commis- economic questions, of people gave rise, respectively, to the Pro- but in ways that —continued on page 9 —continued on page 3 news

Occupy Baltimore tification because they’re so shamed by With phrases like “80% off!” and then – continued from front page capitalism. It is also the queer camp. Be- in small print things like “Human Dignity”

cause it is important to have a discourse ... “Latest Fashions: Direct from Third Co-Publishers fall of social movement tides. about identity issues in places like this. It’s World Countries,” Mortville inserts the art Jim Becker • Jim Williams Mortville stands not just to recognize our “culture remix zone”. It’s our “identity of spectacle as protest directly into the Oc- [email protected] the human body as it struggles under in- remix zone”. Michael said, “It’s our ‘Queer cupy movement. Executive Editor Jim Becker terwoven systems of oppression. Also im- Slumber Party’, in some ways a parody, A movement that sorely needs to re- [email protected] mersed in the knowledge that the legacy and in other ways the anti-Tea Party.” member some sort of collective past, Mort- Managing Editor we inherit, as radical queers, it is rooted Mortville, Occupy Baltimore’s Queer ville remembers the art of spectacle as Dana LaRocca in the fight for liberation. The legacy that Camp is occupying space within the oc- protest. [email protected] Stonewall veterans, ACT UP! Fighters, cupation, waving two large banners, de- Occupy Baltimore’s first planning meet- Production Director Lesbian Avengers, and others, fought for claring its proud existence. As Queer/ ing was on Sunday, October 3. Over 200 Bill Andriette us to inherit. Trans caucuses spring-up in few other people piled into the 2640 Space to dis- Sales Director Mary Taylor Nevertheless, we have our identities occupations, Baltimore’s Mortville goes a cuss building a movement here in Charm [email protected] marginalized and invisibilized; similarly, step further. Applying the Occupy rhetoric City. Operating under the utopian dream of Leather Columnist our queer/gay identities are co-opted for to themselves, they refuse to merely co- consensus, but at times defaulting to super Rodney Burger capitalist rewards. alesce under the idea of identity. Rather, majority vote, together the crowd agreed to Contributing Writers The rallying cry at Occupy Baltimore’s they take public space and organize with begin the occupation on Tuesday, October Shawn Bradley • Cathy Brennan • Terrence Brower • Steve Charing • Jeffrey Clagett • Jeffrey Clouser • Chuck Duncan planning meeting was, “We are the 99%!” that reality in mind and practice, to go forth 4, both to maintain the momentum, and in • Gerry Fisher • Eva Hersh MD • Sam Kunz • Jessica Lemmo • Signs amass around McKeldin, bearing from that place of identity and ACT. attempt to stand in solidarity with the al- Jay Loane • Meredith Moise • Vann Mills • Colin Riley • the same phrase. It is meant to be a cry And act Mortville has. With open arms, ready planned demonstration “The Stop Gregg Shapiro • that we are all suffering under the forces queer camp founders: Mike, Ryan, Joy, the Youth Jail March”. Graphics of capitalism, a recognition that wealth is and Kory – welcome me, and then later McKeldin Square was largely chosen Joe Velasquez • Bob Wellington merely in the hands of the one-percent of Steve, Anne Marie, and others. They care for the legal implications of the park and Cartoonist the population. It brings us together rec- little if you identify as queer (though the as a symbol for taking back space, that has Bruce Garrett (www.brucegarrett.com) ognizing the ills, under systems of oppres- majority does identify that way), but rather, been stolen from us in the name of corpo- Photographers sion, perpetuated on our collective human that you embrace the Mortville motif. Orga- rate greed, super capitalism, big business, Bruce Garrett • Jay W Photos • Justin Nixon body. However, as a mantra alone, it in- nize with spectacle tactics and the belief and gentrification. The establishment of Web Editor validates our differences and how capital- that glamour is for everyone, not just the the Inner Harbor, as we now know it, was Anja Saine [email protected] ism and oppression attack with different one-percent. executed under the auspices that it would Managed Web Services approaches, to different bodies in order to They have done actions as varying as a bring economic prosperity into the city – in- The Fusio Group create systemic change. We should not get ‘Military Industrial Complex S&M Pageant Pro- stead it has funnelled money into corpo- 866-322-7498, www.thefusiogroup.com caught up in what separates us. We are test’ to mark the Ten Year Anniversary of the rations and proceeded to conduct multiple National Advertising Rep Rivendell Media human. We should fight together as hu- Invasion of Afghanistan – to a Susan Saran- human rights violations onto the Baltimore 908-232-2021 man. Yet, it is crucial that we recognize our don Costume Appreciation Party / Rocky Hor- —continued on page 4 Founders differences and act accordingly. ror Picture Show screening – an immensely Jim Becker • Joe Berg • Mike Chase • “Mortville is a nod to desperate living, clever “coupon” action: where they passed out Lee Mooney (1959-2007) • Jim Williams where everyone must live in constant mor- coupons to two local big businesses. Baltimore OUTloud P.O. Box 3640, Baltimore, Maryland 21214 410-244-6780 www.baltimoreoutloud.com

Additional Information Baltimore OUTloud is published every other Friday by Pride Media, Ltd. in Baltimore, Maryland. Readers comments and unsolicited materials are welcomed and may be sent to: editor@ baltimoreoutloud.com. All materials appearing in this newspaper are the property of Pride Media, Ltd. and may not be reproduced Steve without the written permission of the editor. Charing’s column,

The opinions expressed in Baltimore OUTloud are solely those of OUTspoken, the writers unless otherwise indicated and do not necessarily reflect the views of Pride Media, Ltd.

now appears © 2011 – All rights reserved Chair of the Board of Trustees – Jim Becker President – Jim Williams on page 10 Secretary and Treasurer – Mike Chase

2 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com snew

designated as a D.C. Historic Landmark by “Dr. Frank Kameny was an American gay rights. It was the first time that demon- Frank Kameny Dies at 86 the District of Columbia’s Historic Preser- hero who transformed our nation’s lesbian, strators self-identified as gay and lesbian – continued from front page vation Review Board in February 2009. A gay, bisexual and transgender community,” and openly and proudly demanded equality. year later, following a unanimous vote by said OPM’s openly gay director John Berry The Annual Reminders laid the groundwork the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood in a statement that perhaps best describes sion, and the Civil Service Committees for the Stonewall Riots.” Commission, D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty un- the life of Kameny. of the U.S. House and Senate but lost at In 1963, Kameny and Mattachine veiled new street signs designating 17th “His courage, his brilliance, his force of each step of the way. With the assistance launched a campaign to overturn D.C. sod- Street between P and R streets, N.W. as will led to victory in a decades-long fight of the ACLU, he challenged the decision omy laws; he personally drafted a bill that “Frank Kameny Way” in Kameny’s honor. for equality. He helped make it possible in court. Kameny lost two rounds. Although finally passed in 1993. He also worked to He fought hard to end ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t for countless of patriotic Americans to hold the ACLU abandoned the effort, he wrote remove the classification of homosexual- Tell,’ and when it was signed into law, he told security clearances and high government his own appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. ity as a mental disorder from the American Metro Weekly, “I didn’t think I’d live to see it.” positions, including me. And in so doing, He filed in January 1961 and in March Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental He lived long enough to see the ban officially he showed everyone what was possible for he was denied a hearing by the court. But disorders. end on September 20. every employer in our country.” t it marked the first ever civil rights claim He described the day, December 15, based on sexual orientation. 1973, when the American Psychological Later that year, Kameny, with Jack Association removed homosexuality from Nichols, co-founded the Washington D.C. its manual of mental disorders as the day Kameny’s Connection to Baltimore chapter of the Mattachine Society – a when “we were cured en masse by the psy- group that aggressively pushed for gay chiatrists.” By Dana LaRocca In 1971, Kameny became the first Given Baltimore’s proximity to DC, it was Charles Hughes, another origi- Kameny described openly gay candidate for the U.S. Congress quite natural for the founders of the Bal- nal member of BGA remembers Frank when he unsuccessfully ran in the District timore Gay Alliance to seek out Frank speaking to the BGA membership at a the day, December of Columbia’s first election for a non-voting Kameny for advice when they started meeting in Baltimore. “Frank was a very 15, 1973, when the delegate to Congress. BGA (which later spun off the GLCCB). good speaker, and provided us with his Following that election, Kameny and He was one of the most visible gay men insights gleaned from years of activism – American Psychological his campaign organization created the Gay in the country and had made Washing- the dos and don’ts. He had strong opin- Association removed and Lesbian Alliance of Washington, D.C., ton home for years ions and spoke forcefully – in all caps.” an organization which continues to lobby It was 1975, six years post Stone- Jim Becker, a founder and co-publisher of homosexuality from government and press the case for equal wall, and Baltimore had no organization Baltimore OUTloud, said, “As a recently rights. of gays and lesbians energized activist, its manual of mental A day after the October 11, 1987, March advocating for the I was so thankful to disorders as the day on Washington for LGBT rights, Kameny rights of the com- Frank for his pioneer- joined the demonstration at the U.S. Su- munity. That spring ing work when almost when ‘we were cured preme Court protesting the infamous 5-4 a group of men and everyone was in the Bowers v. Hardwick decision the year before women met in the closet. Because I en masse by the upholding Georgia’s anti-sodomy statute. apartment of the came of age during psychiatrists.’ Kameny was appointed as the first pastor of the Metro- the civil rights and openly gay member of the District of Co- politan Community anti-war movements lumbia’s Human Rights Commission in the Church and founded when social mores and lesbian rights. In 1965 it became the 1970s. He served 20 years on the Selec- BGA. Within a few were beginning to first group to picket the White House seek- tive Service board. weeks, members open up, I saw Frank photo: DCVirago ing fair and equal treatment of gay employ- In 2007, Kameny’s death was mistak- sought out Frank and as at once an incredible radical, ees in the federal government by fighting enly reported by The Advocate in its May he readily agreed to meet with them. but a bit conservative for the 1970s. That security clearance denials, employment 22 “Pride issue” alongside a mistaken re- Over the next several months, Frank said, he was just this amazing character restrictions and dismissals, and working port of his infection by AIDS/HIV, which hosted BGA members at his home and and we all had tremendous respect for with other groups to press for equality for never occurred. The report was retracted came to Baltimore to attend a member- what he had done.” gay citizens. The male protesters wore with an apology, and Kameny asked The ship meeting. Frank led his life fearlessly. He was jackets and ties and the women dresses Advocate “Did you give a date of death?” On learning of Frank’s death, several a First Amendment absolutist and never to demonstrate that they were just like the Later that year, Kameny wrote an open BGA founders spoke about his contribu- shied away from controversy. In 1981, rest of society. letter of protest to NBC journalist Tom Bro- tions to the early success of the orga- he came to Baltimore to the GLCCB and The Mattachine Society of Washington, kaw (and his publisher Random House), nization. Harvey Schwartz, who later took part in a panel discussion at a na- with the help from the New York Matta- who wrote Boom! – Voices of the Sixties: became the first elected president and tional conference of the North American chine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis, Personal Reflections on the ’60s and To- first executive director of the GLCCB, Man / Boy Love association. Many com- expanded the picketing to the Pentagon, day, over the total lack of mention of gay remembered Frank’s willingness to munity leaders were hostile to NAMBLA the U.S. Civil Service Commission (now and lesbian rights activism during the share his time and experience in bat- but Frank didn’t flinch when asked to the Office of Personnel Management), and 1960s; upbraiding Brokaw for having “‘de- tling extreme homophobia. Harvey was participate in the panel. to Philadelphia’s Independence Hall and gayed’ an entire generation.” impressed with Frank’s single-minded Frank had a strong internal compass the Liberty Bell for what became known as In 2007, the Smithsonian Institution’s focus on combating the injustices faced that guided him to do what he thought the Annual Reminder for gay rights – an National Museum of American History in- by gay people. “Frank impressed me be- was right, regardless of the consequenc- event that took place from 1965-1969. cluded Kameny’s picket signs carried in cause he had no doubt about the righ- es. We have benefitted greatly from “The first of the Annual Reminders was front of the White House in 1965, in the teousness of our cause and pushed for Frank’s incredible life, and Baltimoreans attended by 40 activists from Washington, Smithsonian exhibit “Treasures of Ameri- justice no matter the personal cost to owe a special debt for his sage advice at New York and Philadelphia,” said Chip Al- can History.” himself, Harvey said. the beginning of our activism. t fred, spokesman for Equality Forum. “At Kameny’s home in Washington was that time it was the largest gathering for BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com q 3 news

Occupy Baltimore human condition – and being queer – they – continued from page 2 approach it from a queer lens, and their re- Marriage Equality goes to Special Session sponse will inherently be queer. body. Hundreds have now made the square Attacking oppression from multiple van- By Mikal Morales Rev. Dr. Jamie Washington of Unity Fellow- their home, in an effort to take back the tage points enables revolution. Some say Sixty hardy souls converged on Annapolis on ship Church of Baltimore spoke about greeting city from the theft of capitalism. Reclaiming the movement isn’t valid for queer people October 17 to ask legislators to support next legislators in the spirit of love and cooperation. space that once was the people’s. because it isn’t centered on solely specific session’s marriage equality bill. Although the Rev. Offer declared, “We are standing on the Will Occupy Baltimore be the awaken- queer issues. It is about human issues. If weather was quite cooperative, some legisla- side of love. Meet resistance (from legislators) in ing and the galvanization that this city? you want to make it accessible, come in, tors were not. Many citizen activists were seen love.” He urged the assembly of citizen activists Critics attack the movement for being and influence via your perspective. literally running down the halls after hard to to move forward despite the possible reception without goals. It is a privileged conversa- Mortville’s Michael says that he believes reach legislators as the lawmakers were run- they may get from anti gay legislators. “We are tion, the ability to participate in a movement Occupy Baltimore is functioning as a train- ning to offices and special committees. able to move this bill forward in a different way. without demands. Yet, people take root in ing ground. Spring of 2012 could be their Maryland for Marriage campaign director We will get bill passed in love and compassion. the square, queers and nonqueers. They Arab Spring. All the ingredients are ripe for Sultan Shakir rallied the LGBT friendly crowd Go in with that energy!” he declared. don’t have specific goals, but they take public it. Right now, they are learning the ropes. gathered at Lawyer’s Mall in front of the State- The good reverend and his partner had to space, that is rightfully theirs. They are setting For Mortvillians, the utopia is one of house. Shakir told the 60 plus throng that he had practice this strategy as witnesses observed aside the space, purposefully, and deciding to anti-assimilation. They do not dream of seen a number of delegates during the morning. arch anti gay legislator Del. Emmett burns seem- learn how to organize with one another. Per- being the next gay male co-opted image He urged those present to “persistently lobby ingly yelling at a group of affirming clergy about haps, collectively, they don’t know the world or the next erased dyke image. They do delegates.” Shakir demonstrated the “walk and the gay rights movement appropriating the civil they want. They know it isn’t this one. not seek acceptance through systems of follow” technique with a campaign aide in front rights movement. Witnesses reported Burns an- Maybe Occupy is formulated around a domination or hierarchy. They use his- of the audience. He readily conceded that they grily asserted, “I was born this way,” while point- privileged conversation. Maybe. In a city like torical memory given by those who fought did not know where legislators would be. “We ing to the color of his skin on his hand. Appar- Baltimore, it is essential that we don’t discount before, creating a new collective memory are not sure where the delegates will be today,” ently, one gay clergy person present during the the idea that Occupy’s central viewpoints and refusing to let it be eradicated, using Shakir admitted. He asked the crowd to sched- confrontation yelled back “So was I. I was born originally grew from a space of privilege. spectacle to attack spectacle – to garner ule meetings with specific legislators if they could gay!” True to their word, both Rev. Offer and his Mortville comes and sets up tents. They your attention and make you act. They will not find them while trolling the halls of state office partner Dr. Washington, quietly and persistently put on silver leashes, crawl around on the live without shame, disregarding mere tol- buildings. “Ask for district meetings so we can tried to talk to Del. Burns all the while quelling ground. They do not limit themselves to erance. know what can know what we do to move their emotional outbursts of those present. acting on what is traditionally defined as Don’t sacrifice the radical legacy support (for same sex marriage),” Shakir urged. Marriage organizers hope that the day will queer subject matter. For them, everything you’ve inherited for a comfortable seat at Clergy were also on hand for the impromptu stir a groundswell of support for same sex mar- is worth acting on that is relevant to the the table of hierarchy. t lobby day. Rev. Samuel Offer and his partner riage in Maryland. t

“Beyond college, beyond law school, beyond all other challenges and experiences that pushed me to become better in some way than I started, it has always been my Bryn Mawr that is my touchstone, that is the whisper in my ear to be bold though I feel meek; to be unafraid though I am scared.” Julie R. Rubin ’91

The excellence of a Bryn Mawr education awaits your daughter. Join us to learn more.

Bryn Mawr’s Fall Visiting Days November 3, 30, and December 1 www.brynmawrschool.org/fvd 410-323-8800 x1232

4 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com news Bringing Back the Good Ole Days Local Club Gets Thumbs Up Grand Central to host anniversary reunion for The Allegro Challenges elsewhere By Mary Taylor with two other investors, opened Central By Dana LaRocca Baltimore City has had an ordinance in place Twenty-five years ago in the basement of Station. Don said “working two bars was Late in September, a Transwoman was asked since 2002 that prohibits discrimination based a building on the corner of Chase and Ca- hard,” so in 1993 Don sold his share of The to leave the women’s restroom in Lexington on gender identity or expression. The city or- thedral, two businessmen, Don Davis and Allegro to Rick. market. In a similar incident, on October 1, a dinance has a clear exception, though, written Rick Morgenthaler, started a piano bar. After buying the building, which transman is alleged to have barred from the into the definition: “Excepting further, it shall They named it The Allegro. On Sunday, housed the Stagecoach and after opening Hippo after being told that he had used the not be discrimination for any person to provide November 6, twenty-five years to the date, the walls, Don re-named the club Grand “wrong” restroom. In the Lexington Market inci- separate toilet facilities for males and females.” Grand Central will host the 25th Reunion Central on May 30, 2003. It became an dent Sandy Rawls, of Trans-United met with the Members of the transgender community are Anniversary Party, to relive some of the expansive double bar “disco” with a state- management of Lexington Market. Their policy, pleased with the positive actions offered by the good old days with staff, performers according to Rawls, is that “if you are a Trans- Hippo, but as Owen Smith warns, the law is only and friends. Women or Trans-Male using the restroom in one step in an evolving process of education. I spoke with Don and Rick and Baltimore’s Lexington Market you will have to In separate incidents in Charles Village ac- found out some great history about show an ID that says female or male if you are tivists have contacted Baltimore OUTloud con- the bar and how it got its start. Don stopped and questioned by security.” cerning, what they consider to be targeting of said that while walking home from In the Hippo incident, Owen Smith, of Equality transwomen by the police. the bars one night, bored, he told his Maryland, spoke with the owner and manager of The North Baltimore Patch reported on Oc- then partner Vernon “I want to open a the club. Arrangements are being made, accord- tober 18, that transgender prostitution was one of piano bar.’” Vernon shrugged off the ing to Smith, for staff training, and the posting of the major issues on the agenda for a meeting to comment. a non-discrimination policy in the restrooms at the discuss Charles Village crime. Those attending The next morning Don said it club. When asked if he thought the offer was sin- included Councilman Carl Stokes, Councilwoman again. So starts the dream, looking for a of-the-art dance floor added to the original cere, Smith said that he believes the manager was Mary Pat Clarke, Northern District police com- place and the right partner. After a few property and an additional upstairs lounge. genuine, “The Hippo staff and owner both seem mander Maj. Sabrina Tapp-Harper and State’s meetings with Rick, he was on board and a Now that he is the sole owner of Grand personally shaken by the incident. They were liken- Attorney Gregg Bernstein, according to the Patch. partnership was formed. I asked Rick how Central, Don will be celebrating the bar’s ing it to the days when gay people weren’t allowed Leaders in the LGBT community, and their the guys came up with the name. He was 20th Anniversary in conjunction with The in bars,” he told Baltimore OUTloud.” allies, are concerned that community organiz- very proud to say he had thought of the Allegro’s on November 6; two reasons to While Maryland has no anti-discrimination ers active with the transgender community name. “It means quick and fast, and there come to the bar to party. law offering protections for gender-identity, were not contacted concerning this meeting. t was a very successful bar in Philly by that Steve Ludlow, Grand Central’s current name. But the best reason is we would be General Manager, said, “I started working for the first bar in any list because we start Don in June 2007. Don is the best person to with the letter A.” work for. He doesn’t micro manage me, but I With the help of Vernon and Leah Beth, always know he is there if I need him.” the first of many employees, the doors of Michael (Magoo) Serio, who worked The Allegro opened. A few months later for Rick as a doorman at The Allegro said, on November 6, 1986, they had the grand “He was one of the nicest people to work opening. Don said, “The invitations were for. He was good to his customers and his sent for the grand opening and then the employees.” doors opened to the public at eight.” Don With Don doing his thing on one cor- told me about a night he came home from ner of Charles and Eager, and Rick just up a trip, went right to the bar, bags in hand, the street, both businesses did well. Rick and there was a line to get into the club. kept going with his cutting edge events. That was not the only time that happened. The Allegro held the First King and Queen All was going well, but as we all know, of Pride and many other benefits for the times change and so must bars. In 1987, community. Rick told me they were the first with a home stereo system to start with, bar to have a three-story flag, carried by disco found its way into the bar, with not cute men, wearing swim trunks in the Pride only disco, but country and western, too. Parade. The money tossed into flag went “We had a group of 15 guys who loved their to AIDS Action Baltimore and the GLCCB. Country and Western music and line danc- Rick attributes The Allegro’s success ing,” Don said. So this small group grew to, “The Bar, maybe because of its small- and from 4 to 9 p.m., and on Sundays they ness, our employees but most of all the did country, 9 p.m. to close, 70s and 80s. customers.” However, all good things come This was the start of what Rick called to an end. At the bar’s close of business in their cutting edge. “We did a lot of firsts,” late October 2003, Rick told the employ- Rick told me, recalling Christy Carter and ees the doors were closing for good. Alexander St. John and their Calendar I along with many others in Baltimore Boys, Josie Foster and her Drag-A-Thon, have fond memories of The Allegro. Come Ladies and Men’s night, and Wooden Nick- out on November 6 at the Grand Central to el Wednesdays, to name a few. share the good times and your memories On September 12, 1991, Don Davis, with and about Don and Rick. t

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com q 5 b eyond the beltway compiled by Jim Becker University and the University of Arizona LGBT youth that is building itself from the up to Rebecca Cooper’s classroom in a are among the schools that include gender Wash. State’s youth ground-up. A fundraiser for Foyer of Phila- cramped, low-ceilinged portable building identity in non-discrimination policies. delphia began Oct. 19 at Triumph Brew- to do what a lot of kids do – braid each suicide prevention The proposal, which was approved on ery, 117 Chestnut St. Foyer works to meet other’s hair or practice gymnastics in the a 3-2 vote, was put forward this summer funds may be cut the needs of LGBT youth struggling with grass outside. But they also do what a lot by Equality Maricopa, a group of Maricopa homelessness. The event runs through of kids will never have to do: trade phone Community College employees and allies, Seattle, WA – Each week in Washington Oct. 23 and includes the unveiling of the numbers so that when they come out to and supported by the administration of the state, an average of two young people die first installment of photographer Kathy their family, they’ve got a place to go and colleges. A similar proposal was consid- by suicide and another 17 suicide attempts McLean’s “Images of Homeless LGBTQ a support group if the conversation ends in ered in 2008, but never reached a vote of result in hospitalization. And yet, accord- Youth in Philadel- a fight, or worse – homelessness or even the board. Lori Girshick, former president ing to Vicki Wagner, executive director for phia.” a suicide attempt. An estimated 20 to 40 of Equality Maricopa, told the board that Washington state’s Youth Suicide Preven- Tickets are percent of homeless youth are LGBTQ, ac- the gender identity issue is a classic civil tion Program (YSPP), our state govern- $10 at the door, cording to the National Gay and Lesbian rights struggle. “This is happening now be- ment is proposing to cut off all funding to and 40 percent Task Force. cause it’s the right thing to do,” she said. the organization. YSPP and OUTLoud, of the artwork Gay-Straight Alliance clubs save lives. “This is an oppor- the LGBT component of the organiza- sold will support It’s as simple as that. Southwest High tunity to be on the tion (the only one in the state), are on the Foyer’s upcom- School sponsor Rebecca Cooper says side of fairness front lines of the youth suicide prevention ing winter shelter, which, in partnership she’s seen it with her own eyes: GSAs and positive social battle, which the CDC recently called an with the Student-Run Emergency Housing serve as safe spaces where lesbian, gay, change.” epidemic. Unit of Philadelphia – a collaboration of lo- bisexual, transgender, queer and question- Sharon Slater, To think that funding would be cut to a cal college students – and the First Unit- ing students can feel empowered rather president of Fam- statewide organization dedicated to saving ed Church of Christ, will provide 10 beds than intimidated. “Because there’s a lack ily Watch Inter- the lives of youth seems unbelievable. But nightly for LGBT youth from December- of fear [at GSAs],” says Cooper, students national, a conservative advocacy group the threat is real, even though we know February. The local Foyer is modeled after are confident in sharing their own personal based in Gilbert, spoke in opposition to the that more than one in every 10 Washington a European concept of youth-service pro- experiences to help their peers. At a meet- change. She warned that the new policy state high school students reported hav- gramming and, once its housing programs ing, says Cooper, you might have a kid could be abused, suggesting a biologi- ing attempted suicide, nearly one in four are fully established, will be the first Foyer who says, “I thought about suicide three cal male who identified as a female could (20%-25%) have seriously considered it, in the nation to cater specifically to LGBT days ago.” But “before you know it,” she demand the use of bathrooms and locker over 30% of LGBTQ youth report at least youth. says, “You’ve got six, eight, 10 kids around rooms of the opposite sex. Slater said that one suicide attempt within the last year, Foyer of Philadelphia executive direc- him, like swoosh. They’re going, ‘Here’s 550 members of her group had e-mailed over 50% of Transgender youth will have tor Leigh Braden is hoping to spread the my phone number, I’ve been there.’” the board to oppose the policy. Board had at least one suicide attempt by their agency’s innovative message to a new Anti-bullying efforts have moved to the member Debra Pearson, who voted against 20th birthday, and youth suicides outnum- crowd of supporters through the upcom- forefront of the national conversation in the change, said she was offended by the tac- ber youth homicides. Those are chilling ing show. “I’m hoping that people who the past couple of years, thanks in part to tics of supporters for the change. She claimed statistics. A high school student (who will don’t yet know anything about us will be high-profile campaigns like Dan Savage’s that they “used hateful terms to describe any- remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of participating in the event,” she said. “Most “It Gets Better” project. But every week – one who disagrees... It’s intimidation and the subject) who received YSPP’s suicide of our outreach has been within the LGBT and every night, and every day, students in harassment in reverse.” (Echo Magazine – prevention materials said, ‘It opened my community, which has been incredibly Fort Worth’s Gay-Straight Alliances have Glenn Gullickson at Echomag.com eyes to suicide and depression so I can supportive of us throughout this entire pro- been telling each other that it gets better, use it in my life.’ cess, but we also want to open ourselves that there’s someone out there who cares. Over the past year, Seattle Gay News up to people who may work in construc- What is so impactful Cooper says is that up has been heavily involved in raising mon- tion, architecture or design who will be at- to 70 percent of her club is straight. (Dal- Philly gay man to ey for YSPP. The LGBT community has a tending.” The art ranges from photography las Voice – Andrea Grimes at dallasvoice. responsibility to protect our youth from sui- to drawings to paintings. “We cast out a com) be deported cide. OUTLoud and YSPP are the profes- net among local artists and got a real wide sionals making the biggest impact. Please range of people who responded,” Braden P hiladelphia, PA – Philadelphia immigra- tell the state not to cut funding for suicide said. “It’s really eclectic but they’re all AZ community tion officials have denied a request to halt prevention so that more young people who people who want to support the work we’re deportation proceedings against a local just want their pain to stop do not die by doing with LGBT youth.” (Philadelphia Gay college adds trans Philadelphia gay man. suicide. (Seattle Gay News – Shaun Knit- News – Jen Colletta at Epgn.com) At an October 7 meeting, Immigration tel at sgn.org)[Ed. Note: OUTLoud has no protections and Customs Enforcement rejected Anton connection with Baltimore Outloud] Tanumihardja’s petition for deferred action, T empe, AZ – In the end, it came down to an a means of indefi- Ft. Worth GSA issue of civil rights as the Maricopa Com- nitely stopping gives students munity Colleges Governing Board added deportation used Philly artists stage gender identity as a protected class in its for low-priority benefit for homeless safety and support non-discrimination policy. “To me, discrimi- cases. nation is discrimination,” said Randolph Tanumihardja LGBT youth Fort Worth, TX – It’s been 10 years since Lumm, board president, as he cast the came to Philadel- two high school boys started the first Gay- deciding vote to amend the policy. Lumm phia on a tourist P hiladelphia, PA – Philadelphia’s pre- Straight Alliance club in Tarrant County at noted that the effort is part of a movement visa in 2002 and miere architecture and design event will Fort Worth’s Southwest High School, and of laws and court decisions toward pro- A nton Tanumihardja applied unsuc- this year include an art show benefiting an membership is way, way up. This year, tecting transgender individuals as part of and partner cessfully several LGBT organization focusing on homeless on any given Friday, dozens of kids show non-discrimination policies. Arizona State Brian Andersen times for asylum, 6 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com beyond the beltway based on the fact that he could face perse- when three men wearing black suits tried any other political family in the history of highest amount of executions in the coun- cution in Indonesia because of his orienta- to force him into the back of a van. “The our state and our nation. The family will ac- try. The three were judged in the revolu- tion, as well as the fact that he is Catholic three men, who had guns hanging from cept the award together at our 12th annual tionary court of Ahwaz city, section 17 and ethnically Chinese. their belts, forced me out of my car and Spirit of Justice Award Dinner on Oct. 21 at (behind closed In June, ICE announced guidelines shoved me into a van, hitting my head,” the Boston Marriott Copley Hotel. doors). The ruling to direct ICE officials in their “prosecuto- Bishr, a devout Muslim, told Ahram’s Ara- Katherine says the family “is incred- was approved by rial discretion,” laying out a list of factors, bic portal from his hospital bed. ibly honored” to be receiving the Spirit of Section 14 of the such as community ties, a lack of criminal Bishr’s son, Mahmoud, said that his Justice Award, which was created to honor Iranian Supreme activity or family relationships that should father had previously met with a group of people whose work and achievements re- Court. be considered in prioritizing deportation unidentified people – who spoke Arabic in flect a profound dedication to GLAD’s ideal According to cases. In August, Department of Homeland an Iraqi or Syrian dialect – and had been of a just society. “A lot of the time we sort of s p o k e s p e r s o n Security said it would launch a working offered LE2 million pounds (US$333,000) get invited as ’the Governor and guest,’ or Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam of the Iran group to evaluate open deportation cases to impersonate the late dictator in a porno- ’the Governor and family,’ and [GLAD has] Human Rights (IHR), executions only for and clarified that same-sex relationships graphic video. Bishr refused. His son said done such an extraordinary job to really sodomy are rare. Iranian authorities usu- were included among “family ties,” al- that after the meeting his father had re- let us know that ally present such cases as rape in order though that provision was not formally put ceived several telephone calls threatening each one of us in to legitimize the case for execution. “This in writing. Tanumihardja legally married his him with kidnapping if he didn’t change his our own right has of course contradicts the infamous state- partner, Brian Andersen, this past summer mind and shoot the Saddam sex tape. It is done a lot to put ment of Ahmadinejad that gays do not exist in Washington, D.C. believed his kidnappers would have tried to a hand into this in Iran”, he added in a conversation with The couple’s attorney, Lavi Soloway, pass off the video recording they made as movement. I think GME’s editor. founder of Stop the Deportations, called genuine and sell it to international media. as a family, as a Mohammad Mustafaei, the esteemed the decision a “devastating setback... This was not the first time Bishr has been team, it’s just an Iranian Human Rights lawyer, now exiled in [that] demonstrates that the administra- harassed because of his looks, according to incredible hon- Norway, wrote an open letter to President tion has not instructed ICE deportation his sons. They said other Iraqis in Egypt had The Patricks or to know that Ahmadinejad in protest of the execution officers on the implementation of the previously assaulted their father, telling him we’ve done so of the three. He called the execution arbi- LGBT-inclusive prosecutorial discretion “you are Saddam Hussein and we will turn much to help this cause.” Indeed, the fam- trary and demanded further clarifications: guidelines for an individual with a final or- you in for the million-dollar reward.” Bishr ily became international role models after “Three men under the pretext of being ‘gay’ der of removal.” has changed his residence four times to Katherine shared her coming out story that and committing sodomy were sentenced to In a statement released after the de- avoid such harassment, they claimed. (Ah- revealed the family lovingly embraced and death and executed,” he insisted. Musta- nial, DHS acknowledged that ICE officers ram Online at English.ahram.org) supported her, who was just 18 at the time. faei further highlighted that they may have have not yet been trained on the updated (Bay Windows – Laura Kiritsy at baywin- been tortured by the authorities to confess “prosecutorial discretion” guidelines, and dows.com) for the “crime,” which indeed is a very com- that the working group has not yet un- GLAD to honor mon in Iran. “Mr. President,” he protested, dertaken its review of outstanding cases. “you have blood on your hands.” t (Gay (Philadelphia Gay News – Jen Colletta at Massachusetts Iran executes Middleeast.com – Dan Littauer, Executive Epgn.com) First Family three men for Editor at Gaymiddleeast.com) Boston, MA – When Katherine Patrick sodomy matter-of-factly declares of her family, These news notes have been compiled from the on “We’re a team,” she’s really not kidding. Ahwaz, Iran – The Prosecutor General line version of various newspapers and other web On the evening Gov. Deval Patrick’s out Office of Khuzestan Province, Iran an- sites. We thank those publications that have allowed lesbian daughter called to chat about nounced in a press conference that three us to bring you their news stories. Usually the reports have been significantly edited and you can read the GLAD’s annual Spirit of Justice Award Din- people were hanged at Karoun prison in full story by going to the web site mentioned following ner, I was under the impression she’d be Ahwaz city, for sodomy early on Sunday, the item. Comments are strictly the opinions of Jim the only member of the Commonwealth’s September 4th. Khuzestan/Al-Ahwaz is a Becker and not of Baltimore Outloud or Pride Media. First Family on the line. Instead, Katherine mostly Arab province in Iran and has the announced that her mom, First Lady Diane Mohamed Bishr Patrick; her sister Sarah and Sarah’s hus- band Marco Morgese (who joined the con- Saddam lookalike versation from Rome via Skype); and her aunt Lynn Prime, who was visiting from At- kidnapped to do lanta, were all on the call to lend her some porn film moral support. The impromptu group in- terview is a perfect example of why GLAD (Gays and Lesbians Against Defamation) Alexandria, Egypt – An Egyptian man was chose to honor the entire Patrick family severely beaten after an Iraqi gang tried to with its Spirit of Justice Award. kidnap and force him to film pornographic Time and again, the Patricks have set a videos because of his astonishing resem- significant and inspiring example of a fam- blance to former Iraqi strongman Saddam ily that practices what some have called Hussein. Mohamed Bishr says he was on “a perfect combination of leadership and his way to a cafe in the bustling downtown love,” and in so doing they have done more area of Egypt’s second city of Alexandria to advance equality for LGBT people than

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com q 7 EDITORIAL The Battle is Joined! After years of attacks, average folk are say- ity regardless of sexual orientation. ing enough! On October 4, Baltimore joined While marriage equality and gender cities across the country in taking to the rights are important to our cause as a streets seeking economic justice. Inspired people, our connection with the rest of our by the Occupy Wall Street Movement that nation lies in our willingness to fight for jus- began in New York City five weeks ago, les- tice and equality for all of us. “As long as bian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, one of us is bound, none of us are free,” is young and old, were among the Baltimor- the refrain of the song that can bring har- eans that answered the call and converged mony to a hurt nation. Let us embrace the on McKeldin Square in the Inner Harbor. At common cause of millions of Americans, press time, the movement is continuing and the 99%, and work for economic and social gaining momentum. Baltimore OUTloud justice that will only prevail when we work says, finally, let’s all join in! together, as a people, and a community. Among the endless wars in which this No doubt there are differences on the country has been engaged since World margins among the two dominant political War II, one has been waged relentlessly parties, and we would never presume to right here at home – a war of the financial suggest that voting has no consequences. and corporate class, the moneyed 1 per- As sexual minorities, these differences cent against the rest of us. As Warren Buf- have real life significance. However, fun- fet famously said, there is class warfare in this country and his class is winning. Among the endless wars LGBT workers have been marginalized no less than any other segment of our pop- in which this country ulation. Media often portray us as white, has been engaged since privileged, and wealthy. Most of us are not. Nevertheless, moneyed interests do have World War II, one’s a voice within our communities. In April of this year some of the key players in the fi- been waged right here nancial failure of America, Deutsche Bank, at home – a war of the Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan financial and corporate Stanley, hosted an Out on the Street LGBT Leadership Summit at Deutsche Bank’s class, the moneyed 1% headquarters in New York. against the rest of us. We cannot be fooled by such largess. While corporate sponsorship of LGBT or- ganizations was unthinkable 40 years ago, damental change won’t come from either and may seem like progress, it is in fact a party. In America’s class war, both parties sign of the co-opting of our liberation. What are in the end on the same side – the 1% have these banks done to alleviate the job- against the rest of us. Grassroots mobiliza- lessness, discrimination, and marginaliza- tions can produce fundamental change. tion of our community? Support to a few The Occupy Movement is leaderless, national organizations only promotes the and therein lives its power. Here in Balti- top-down mentality of many of our LGBT more, as elsewhere, the evening meetings organizations. Grassroots organizing has are facilitated at the General Assembly. in many cases been replaced with lavish There are no votes, per se, but comments fundraisers where money talks louder than are measured by hand signals that denote the people who were not invited. Com- various levels of approval or disapproval. munity alliances with such organizations Any interested party may speak and all are come with a huge cost, and we are mis- accorded the same level of consideration. taken if we think that the LGBT wealthy will It is direct democracy. join the battle for economic justice. While some of us are participants in Baltimore OUTloud calls on all nation- Occupy Baltimore, we don’t presume to al and local LGBT organizations to listen speak for it. However, we endorse it and to the 99%. You may derive dollars from suggest consideration of the following corporate sponsors, but your legitimacy principles that we believe will improve the comes from the people whom you claim economic wellbeing of all: a workers bill to serve. The future of organizations that of rights, progressive taxation, universal claim the title of “progressive,” or claim the health care, and a guaranteed income for moniker of “Civil Rights Organization,” will all. be measured in terms of their commitment Is the nascent Occupy Movement the to all of the people, not a privileged minor- real deal? If we all pitch in, it can be! t 8 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com Se x & the Economic Crisis movement, which has won an end to Jim ‘monosexuality’ – is universalized: people advance economically? – continued from front page Crow only to recreate its bastard child via now mate within their social class. X: Oh, there’s no question but that Baden- the prison-industrial complex. The chanc- X: I think it was W.H. Auden or Christo- Powell did not see himself as any kind of sub- gressive movement and the New Deal, along es of a black male going to prison – and so pher Isherwood who said essentially that they versive; to the contrary, he thought he was with social-democratic movements in Europe. doomed to a lifetime of marginal employ- couldn’t get it on with someone of their own assisting the British imperialist project. The But the difference this time is that there’s is no ment – is about 1 in 3. class. They needed that sense of difference, kind of sublimated pederasty that underlay organized left that’s capable of pushing back X: The civil-rights movement in many the Boy Scouts (and such similar movements against the power of capital. ways actually worsened the conditions of The destruction of as the YMCA and the popularity of Horatio Al- Identity politics, particularly the closely those members of the black community who ger novels) was helpful to power structures of related gay and feminist movements, are f a i l e d to make it into the clerisy. The traditional masculinity the time and thus allowed to flourish, provided directly complicit in the weakening or clerisy cherry-picked the it was not too explicit. That’s one reason the destruction of any kind of organized most socially adept, most has been taken in stride trial of Oscar Wilde was such a disaster, be- resistance to capital. The essential intelligent, and most ed- by the upper-middle cause it forced out into the open what power objectives of both the femi- ucated black people – holders “knew” was going on but tolerated nist and post-AIDS-crisis gay just those who histori- class, but has been provided it wasn’t rubbed into the faces of movements have been to cally were radicals, the working class. grab a share of the ben- were the natural enormously destructive The point, I think, is that the co-opting efits going to the upper leaders of the black in the working of the male group via officially favored ped- stratum of society, which community. This erastic institutions formed the power-hold- were formerly restricted once-vibrant ele- classes. The genius of ers’ reaction to the emergence of an urban to upper-middle-class and ment is now largely working class with the Industrial Revolution. upper-class white men. co-opted into the the Murdoch empire Today, the reaction to the Information Revo- The idea has been to fight for system. has been to take this lution is the suppression of the male group, extension of these benefits RG: Historical- except in the highest circles of power – Wall to upper-middle-class and ly, so much of left- simmering rage and turn Street, the executive suites of major compa- upper-class gay men as well ist opposition has it into political power. nies, the Pentagon. as straight men, certain men depended on or- RG: Economics and sex are bound up and women of color – the ganic ties – of work- in interesting ways. Going back to the be- ones who are tapped by the ers in a factory or and they found it either in the working class, ginning, social life depends on a division of meritocracy – and of course neighbors in a com- or else they went abroad. Today you look at labor that in the first place is sexual. Or to upper-middle-class and up- munity. Are identity gay couples and they could be brothers or take a recent example, income in the West per-class women. The push movements – along sisters. They come from the same kind of so- has been stagnant since the early 1970s for gay marriage and access with TV and subur- cial background. It’s a partnership within the but that was papered over by the flooding to healthcare through partner- banization – aspects social class rather than marrying outside, and into workforce of women, which kept the ships have actually created an increasing of the erosion of that basis of it becomes very solipsistic. US family afloat. And when that ran out of divide between upper-middle-class parti- labor’s power to organize against capital? RG: But wait, wasn’t Boy Scouts steam, the consumer-credit booms were sans of identity politics and the rest of soci- X: Oh I think very much so. I’m thinking more about grooming cannon fodder for one response engineered by Washington ety – which as far as they’re concerned, can anecdotally, I mean 100 years ago, someone the British Empire than helping youth —continued on page 20 basically go to hell. like Lord Baden-Powell, who was a member I mean, gay marriage principally is some- of the upper class, discovers he has unac- thing that benefits upper-middle-class lesbi- ceptable sexual feelings and what he does The World Economy’s Gay Architect ans and to a lesser extent upper-middle-class is that he channels those into a movement gay men. What was formerly a core aspect – Scouting – that actually helps large num- The British homosexual of the welfare state of gay male identity– gay males providing a bers of working-class boys. That option to- John Maynard Keynes after the elections of vehicle for working-class boys to escape from day would land him in prison. So what does (1883-1946), member of Ronald Reagan and their class background – has been entirely he do instead – or perhaps I should ask, the Bloomsbury Group Margaret Thatcher. shut down. what does his contemporary counterpart do and thus close to such Keynes was also I think the work of ex-New York Times re- instead? He controls his sexuality in ways that people as Virgina Woolf the most impor- porter Chris Hedges is very important in un- dominant upper-class strictures require. He and Lytton Strachey, was tant architect of the derstanding this phenomenon, particularly his settles in with a partner who looks and acts the most important econ- dollar-based inter- book, The Death of the Liberal Class. In his just like he does, takes work at a law firm or omist of the 20th century national financial or- title Hedges is referring to a class of people an advertising agency and becomes a mem- and the father of mac- der institutionalized that are required by the power elite to func- ber of the clerisy. Whereas someone with his roeconomics. His most after the Second tion. You could use the term ‘clerisy’. You sexual feelings 100 years ago could and often influential work lay in his World War that still see these in all societies: The most power- did use those feelings in ways that benefited analysis of the business survives in bastard- ful require a clerisy of clerks, of technologi- the economic situation of lower- and working- cycle and his realization ized form to this day. cally adept people, literati, to keep the power class youths. That option is now closed. that governments could Keynesian analysis structure going. Members of the clerisy are This shift benefits the power structure use deficit spending to continues to inform co-opted through various means, and what’s in two ways. The contemporary equivalent pull economies out of Keynes (r) with painter Duncan the thinking of Pres- happened is that, objectively speaking, the of Baden-Powell is no longer a threat to the recession. His thinking Grant, one of Keynes’s lovers ident Obama’s chief gay and feminist movements have essentially power structure; he’s incorporated within became conventional wis- economic advisers, demanded admission for the brightest and it. And a traditional route out of the working dom for economic policy-making in the im- but is under sustained attack from the most socially adept members of these groups class is now closed. mediate postwar decades – decades that right. Keynes’s most famous living dis- to be incorporated into the clerisy, but at the RG: There’s a heterosexual paral- corresponded to the highest economic ciple is probably Paul Krugman, winner of expense of the broader working class. lel in the way that doctors used to marry growth rates in human history – but came the Nobel Prize and columnist for the New RG: Parallels come to mind in what one their secretaries. Today there’s a sense in under attack from conservative opponents York Times. t could say is the failure of the civil rights which homosexuality – or should we say BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com q 9 THINKING OUT LOUD

Together” while we chanted and listened to civil rights marches, speeches at the rally I attended. This was demonstrations, sit- something I never thought I’d do, but the ins and rallies. There realization that the Vietnam War needed was a clear objec- to stop motivated me. Having tasted the tive: end discrimi- OUT experience of a protest demonstration as nation, segregation Spoken a young man, I participated in several gay and disenfranchise- rights marches in Washington, D.C. in the ment based on race. Steve Charing 1980s and 1990s. Through the land- Those memories were summoned back mark Civil Rights Act to me in a flash when I noticed how the of 1964, the goals Street Occupy Wall Street demonstration, which were largely met. began somewhat quietly on September 17 We had seen in lower Manhattan, spread like wildfire demonstrations and Smarts across the country, from Boston to Anchor- sit-ins on college age, including Baltimore, to eventually be- campuses particu- It may have been game 4 of the World come a worldwide phenomenon. larly in the mid 1960s While I believe the Tea Party’s vast Series between the Orioles and Mets at Indeed, on October 15 – the 42nd an- to early 1970s. Most of them were tied to success will be short-lived, mainly because Shea Stadium, but on Wednesday, Octo- niversary of the Moratorium to End the War the Vietnam War protests and the individ- its ideology runs counter to mainstream ber 15, 1969, in New York City there was in Vietnam – this newest entry in the pro- ual college’s policy of allowing the ROTC thinking as well as its deliberate strangula- a much more significant occurrence going test movement officially went global with to recruit students on campus. These as tion of government, the movement already on. It was Moratorium Day whereby anti- over 950 cities spanning 82 countries and well as the general anti-draft, anti-Vietnam had an oversized impact. They sought and Vietnam War protesters took to the streets hundreds of thousands of people involved. War protests ended when the war ended. backed like-minded candidates using the of New York and around the country in an The intention was to be non-violent but, Again, there was a specific goal that had a economic downturn, health care reform, an effort to persuade our government to end alas, there were reports that violence and clear remedy. anti-Obama, anti-big government and anti- the war. These historic events took place destruction erupted in some locales. Gay rights marches also sought spe- debt mindset as catalysts and succeeded on 300 college campuses with marches, This country has seen a plethora of cific objectives that ranged from equality spectacularly in taking over the House of rallies and prayer vigils nationwide. In all, marches and demonstrations for social, in the workplace to ending discrimination Representatives in the 2010 elections. 2 million participated. economic and political justice during the in the military. With the stroke of pens at Though the Occupy movement consists It was my first such demonstration, and course of its history. In the modern era the local, state and federal levels, while of a loose array of political allegiances and I recall us singing the Youngbloods’ “Get we had numerous (and at times bloody) still incomplete, many goals have been goals, the preponderance of the ideas are achieved. left-leaning and are opposed to the inequi- The Occupy movement is quite dis- ties promulgated by Republicans. The Oc- similar from these other examples. Not cupy movement needs to harness its own only are the participants railing against good energy and do more than protest. government dysfunction and the inequities I realize many, if not most, of the Occu- it spews, they are also fired up against cor- piers are turned off by both major parties. porate America and its associated behav- But these folks would be wise to develop ior and influence. As such, there is a broad a political strategy with support from other mix of grievances stemming from individu- October 29th progressives and bring in national and lo- als representing myriad backgrounds and Halloween Party cal Democrat organizations that can help viewpoints. Best Costume 1st place with logistical support, fundraising and tar- While most of these gripes are eco- $50 Bar Tab 2nd $25 geting opponents. nomic-related, they have been boiled down Bar Tab 3rd $15. Bar To be fair, Democrats have had a role by many Occupy participants and the me- Tab in creating some of the conditions that the dia to these: corporate greed and income Occupy participants are protesting. But disparities (one percent of the population Join COMMAND for overwhelmingly the fault lies with the Re- controlling most of the wealth). November 5th publicans for advancing tax breaks for the Here’s where it gets complicated. Un- Mr. Maryland Leather’s wealthy, opposing regulation of Wall Street like those other aforementioned protests, Contestant Meet & and big banks, and allowing corporations there is no single outcome that will allevi- Greet Party to escape paying their fair share of taxes. ate their concerns. Greed is a human trait, The Tea Party-controlled GOP is also re- similar to hate, that cannot be legislated November 6th sponsible, strictly for political purposes, for away. Income or wealth re-distribution like- Mr. Maryland Leather’s preventing President Obama from imple- wise cannot be corrected simply; the rich 2012 Victory Party menting a jobs bill to help get some of the will certainly not part with their money vol- unemployed back to work. untarily. Protesting is fine but there must be a What needs to be done, what would mechanism to realize goals. Politiciza- be smart, is for the Occupy movement in tion would be the key strategy to give the the U.S. to follow the model of the right movement its best chance at righting the wing’s protest counterpart, the Tea Party, wrongs. As John F. Kennedy said, “Efforts and delve into electoral politics whereby and courage are not enough without pur- these complaints could be effectively ad- pose and direction.” t dressed by a government that’s sympa- Steve Charing’s OUTspoken blog is at thetic to its causes. www.SteveCharing.blogspot.com. 10 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com joined the Occupy Chicago movement in it right back to the haters, quoting scrip- The Lie of Trickle Down solidarity with about 3000 others protest- ture. But she, like many other LGBT par- Our front page inter- The “trickle ing the Futures and Options expo. Chicago ticipants, does not wear Identity Politics view by Roger Green down” approach had hosted the annual conference of the on her shoulder. She says this is about all with Mr. X points out was a lie mixed Mortgage Bankers Association. Protestors of us. It is. She has also made it a point that the “The push with truth. The chanting the now national slogan of “banks to thank the Baltimore City Police, on their for gay marriage and term was coined get bailed out, we get sold out,” reflected Facebook page, for their professionalism. access to healthcare by Will Rogers the growing dissatisfaction with the mort- Local community organizer and LGBT through partnerships during the Great gage industry, whose failed practices be- ally, Odette Ramos, attended Occupy Bal- have actually cre- Depression when gan the current financial crisis. timore and said, “As a facilitator by trade, ated an increasing he said “money The Windy City Times reported that I was totally impressed with their process divide between up- was all appropriat- the group GenderJUST kayaked to the for decision making. It takes a while, but per-middle-class partisans of identity poli- ed for the top in hopes that it would trickle demonstration along the Chicago River it really works. The night I was there, they tics and the rest of society – which as far down to the needy.” Then as now it failed. dressed in Robin Hood costumes. While were discussing the need for a permit, and as they’re concerned, can basically go to Similar approaches of the top-down men- they did not rob from the rich, they clearly commented that the Police had been ex- hell.” Mr. X faults identity politics with the tality by our local and national orgs have shook them up. According to a Reuters cellent to them. They should be! The pro- weakening of resistance to capital. failed as well. Such was the case in 2007 report one Mortgage banker said, “I think testors will help the police as well. It was The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), when HRC promoted an Employment Non- anyone who thinks we aren’t under siege really awesome.” for instance, lists among its corporate Discrimination Act that left transgender is kidding themselves.” On October 7, the Massachusetts partners, Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Americans out of the rainbow. They are under seize, and anyone who Transgender Political Coalition Endorsed Stanley, Bank of America, and Citigroup. We saw this mentality at work during thinks they deserve less need only look at Occupy Boston. Gunner Scott, their Ex- These five corporations took ninety billion our last legislative session when Marriage the mess we are in as a result of their cor- ecutive Director said, “For organizations dollars in the 2008 and 2009 bailouts. It is Equality was tabled against the wishes of porate, and personal, failure. But as local like MTPC, advocating for a marginalized fine to recognize them for their achieve- the people, and a flawed Gender Identity LGBT activist Donna Plamondon said in a group, such as transgender youth and ments in corporate diversity. But too close bill was crafted without input from the com- recent conversation with WJZ, “It’s gone adults, we virtually have no voice or rep- an alliance with these firms is bad busi- munity. Both bills failed as direct result of beyond just a Walt Street thing. I mean, resentation in state, local or federal gov- ness for an organization that purports to a failure to listen to those whose lives and there’s hope for the world,” as she made ernment.” champion “human rights.” futures were most at stake. her daily contribution to the Occupy Balti- Let us embrace the common cause of If, as the occupy movement suggests, The LGBT orgs that have traditionally more movement. millions of Americans, the 99%, and work capital is the demon, then an exorcism of followed the top down approach would do Donna is a new breed of activist; she for economic and social justice that will the influence of capital from our national well to learn from the Occupy Movement. stood alone in this past legislative session only prevail when we work together, as a and local orgs may be in order. On October 11 and 12, LGBT activists at a House of Delegates hearing and gave tribe, a people, and a community. t

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com q 11 THIN KIng OUT LOUD

9.1 percent in September, a stubborn num- $253 in the same period, a drop of 0.9%. What of NCLR? This year, NCLR lauded ber that’s remained the same since April. “Devastating for men,” said Kristen the enactment of the California DREAM Act The media has covered the story from a Lewis, co-director of the Project, which is and condemned the execution of Troy Davis, Ladybug’s number of angles, including numerous pieces part of the New York-based Social Science but the organization has not – apparently – Political on how this recession has emasculated the Research Council, of the recession. said anything about the economy. Although I American Male. No doubt, The Economy has And for Females? The Project fails to personally support both the DREAM Act and Showdown harmed Male Earning Power. But what I’ve highlight – although you can see it in a condemnation of the death penalty, it strikes Cathy Brennan found surprising is the lack of analysis on how chart on its webpage – that Female Earn- me odd that the major organization claiming this recession – which ended in June of 2009 ing Power continues to lag behind Male to represent lesbians (who are, of course, – has devastated the already weak economic Earning Power, regardless of the reces- Female) would have nothing to say about position of the American Female. sion. Females make less than Males – and The Economy and its impact on Females. The Economy is Why is this? Why is it that the story of have seemingly forever. Why would this Even the Economic Policy Institute – not an the reduced Earning Power of the Ameri- be news when the much more compelling organization that represents Females exclu- can Male constitutes national news, while story – at least from a media perspective – sively – has highlighted the lack of economic a Feminist Issue the story of the continued disadvantaged is the loss of Male Earning Power? opportunity for Females, noting in a 2010 Unless you’ve been living under a rock for economic position of the American Female It is true that some of the recession’s report that economists observed the largest the last few years, you know that no other gets barely a mention? steepest declines occurred in industries gap between Male and Female unemploy- issue has dominated nightly news dis- As Sabrina Tavernise noted in the re- typically dominated by Males. According ment in 2010 since data collection began in cussions like The Economy. We’ve heard cent New York Times article “Gains Made to the Project’s analysis, earnings in con- 1948. EPI projected that the unemployment endless iterations of the reasons why The in Equality of Incomes in Downturn,” the struction, for example, fell by 5%, while rate for Males would climb to 11.7% by the Economy tanked and what needs to hap- recession had the effect of equalizing Fe- median earnings in health care and techni- third quarter of 2010, while for Females it pen to fix it. Currently, the Tea Party Oc- male income with Male income, not be- cal occupations, popular among Females, would reach 9.7%. “Because there has nev- cupy Wall Street Movement both seem to cause Females became higher earners, increased 3%. Further, the service sector, er been a gender disparity of this size, there inhabit the same space of blame assess- but because the recession pushed Male which includes some of the lowest-paying is no way to predict how it will affect family ment for why The Economy – and the jobs wages downwards. jobs that Females tend to have, like wait- structures or the labor force,” EPI noted. picture – appear dismal. An analysis of new Census Bureau ress and housekeeper, added jobs for both This is huge news! Where are the na- Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor data by the American Human Development Males and Females. Earnings in this sector tional stories covering this major event? reported that U.S.-based employers added Projects suggested that median earn- declined by 6% for males, as they took low- Well, they don’t seem to exist. some 103,000 net new jobs in September. ings for Males, adjusted for inflation, fell er-paying jobs, but stayed flat for females. Because he is smart, President Obama This rate of “job creation” doesn’t seem to be by $2,433 – or 6% – from 2007 to 2010. Earnings flat for Females! Males now get- knows The Economy as a Feminist Issue, enough to reduce the unemployment rate, Female earnings, meanwhile, fell by just ting jobs typically deemed “women’s work!” a fact that the mainstream media has yet to If this doesn’t tell you that The Economy pick up, preferring instead to laud the testos- is a Feminist Issue, I am not sure what will. terone-inducted spectacle of the Tea Party Females – already heavily represented Occupy Wall Street Movement. Obama has at the bottom of the earnings ladder – have highlighted that this year of budget cuts does lower salaries than Males across all occu- not bode well for Females, who are heavily pations. A typical Female in the service represented in local government jobs, like sector earned $14,792 last year, compared teaching. As of September, government job with $21,104 for a typical Male. losses continue to mount, with local govern- Females are disadvantaged. This is not ment shedding 35,000 jobs, 24,400 of them news. Thus, this is not reported. in public education. And you know who tends So, where is the Feminist Outrage? to be a teacher? Yes, it’s Females. Accord- Where do national Feminist organizations ing to the White House, 78% of pre-K to 12 like the National Organization for Women, teachers are Females. or LGBT groups that claim to represent This all bodes poorly for Females. lesbians – like the National Center for Les- The reasons why Females historically bian Rights – stand on this? and continually have less Earning Power In September, NOW issued a press than Males are legion and beyond the scope release calling on Congress to pass Presi- of a column in a LGBT Community newspa- dent Obama’s jobs bill. “Of special concern per. But in the throng of stories about how to NOW is the fact that women are being the recession has emasculated Males, Fe- left behind in the current so-called recovery, males have been left holding the Same Stuff, having lost nearly 300,000 jobs since the Different Day bag. It’s simply assumed that recovery began in 2009. In fact, many jobs economic inequality is Females’ lot in life. previously held by women are now being And this, of course, makes many of us sim- taken by men,” NOW said in the release. ply wish we did live under a rock, because Thank you NOW. NOW has also lobbied Ignorance does afford a certain kind of bliss, Congress to combat female economic vul- and the problem of Female inequality is a nerability, taking up the need for reauthoriza- multi-faceted, difficult problem to solve. Of tion of the Temporary Assistance for Needy course, for those of us literally living under Family program, which provides invaluable rocks and other inadequate places due to economic assistance to the most vulnerable the devastation of this recession would prob- among us – who tend, in case you haven’t ably appreciate it if we stopped ignoring the already figured this out, to be Female (and problem and started naming it – Sexism in Children, who Females tend to care for). The Economy is a Feminist Issue. t

12 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com THIN KIng OUT LOUD

straits of foreclosure, unemployment, and Countdown to Marriage Equality health care debt. The people who thought it couldn’t happen to them are seeing “it” Byl Su tan Shakir couples the opportunity to get a government-is- happen to them. They aren’t liking it one Maryland has an important shot at winning sued marriage license. Gov. O’Malley recently Crossroads bit. marriage equality early next year. But the work said, “As a free and diverse people of many dif- Chronicles Our lessons here include greed never has to begin now. Marriage equality victories ferent faiths, we choose to be governed under Rev. Mother Meredith Moise works. Our nation’s desire to consume led in six states and DC were won in large part the law by certain fundamental principles. The us here. The 1 per cent are a tangible sym- because pro-equality supporters rolled up their legislation we plan to introduce in the 2012 leg- bol of our priorities. The people who bring sleeves and got down to work. They organized islative session will protect religious freedom us Bachmann, Cain and Perry are the and mobilized. They and equality of marital rights Occupying same plutocrats and robber barons that made tens of thou- under the law.” Occupy Wall Street rallies against. Now sands of phone calls. Marylanders for Mar- Our Attention we are waking up to the karma. The greed They met with and riage Equality is the coali- at the top can no longer run rampant to sent emails to Repub- tion working to pass mar- We are finally waking up consume countless lives. The roots of ho- lican and Democratic riage equality legislation mophobia, sexism and racism find a home lawmakers to tell their personal stories. It is and includes 1199 SEIU, the Baltimore Chap- The “Occupy Wall Street” movement has of the corruption of Wall Street. The ideas these personal stories that make all the differ- ter of the NAACP, Progressive Maryland, become a global manifestation of the frus- of exploitation and division have fueled our ence in the world – which is why it’s so impor- ACLU-Maryland, Equality Maryland, the Hu- trations of millions of people across the financial crisis along with our crises in gov- tant for gay and lesbian couples in Maryland man Rights Campaign, the National Gay and globe. From New York to Madrid, South ernment gridlock. People are now waking to talk to their state legislators about why they Lesbian Task Force, Sen. Rich Madaleno and Africa to Taiwan, people are gathering to up to this reality. want to get married – and what it would mean Del. Luke Clippinger. say they are mad as hell! Many say that These times demand awakened indi- for their family. It’s important that parents The powerful anti-gay forces in the they are taking their stand against cor- viduals who can lead us collectively into speak out on behalf of their son and grandpar- state are beginning to mobilize. The anti- porate greed now so that their children an era of cooperation and conscious living. ents on behalf of their lesbian granddaughter. gay animus is only going to get more pierc- can have a better life in a nation in which Many of our fellow citizens were asleep Go to mdelect.net, look up your state Delegate ing. It’s time to make your voice heard. If opportunity should abound. They see a as the plutocrats raided the treasury with and call them. Tell them that you support mar- you’re a Marylander for Marriage Equality, nation, which is sliding into the abyss of the help of political allies. Now awakened, riage equality for gay and lesbian couples. join us. The remainder of this year – all 10 unbridled greed and empire. Slowly, the we are demanding accountability from our The legislation spearheaded by Maryland weeks of it – is critical. t future of our nation is placed in the hands government and ourselves. Governor Martin O’Malley and many state leg- Sultan Shakir is campaign manager for of a plutocracy. As LGBTQ and allies, we bring various islators gives committed, loving gay and lesbian Marylanders for Marriage Equality. Mainstream media would like to make gifts to the present moment. We have felt this movement about longhaired college the sting of discrimination, homelessness, kids and unemployed college grads with unemployment and exclusion. Many of us C.O.M.M.A.N.D. M.C. invites you to attend the 23rd Anniversary Run mountains of student debt or even disaf- are dealing with microsized versions of fected 21st century hippies leaning to the what the entire working class is suffering “FETISH FUSION” left. However upon further examination, right now. Among the gifts we bring are re- and a lot of these folks are ordinary people, silience and tenacity. LGBTQ included, who played by the rules Despite historic patterns of being so- MR. MARYLAND LEATHER 2012 CONTEST only to be “screwed” by the system. From cially ostracized and outcasted, our com- foreclosure to job loss, disabled vets from munities have made great strides since NOVEMBER 4 - 6 • HOTEL BREXTON the war on terror to rising health care the first public protests by Frank Kameny Contestant Meet & Greet Party, 2012 Victory Party, Cocktail Parties, costs, people are driven to the streets and allies and the Stonewall riots. We are Educational Seminar, People Games, & Much More demanding true and deep-rooted change. a creative and determined force of people The American public is incensed. And of all stripes and hues. There is still a lot we have a right to be! The forces that al- of progress to be made but we have come most led to the collapse of the US financial along away. MR. MARYLAND LEATHER 2012 system were systematically given bailouts The “Occupy Wall Street” movement SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5 • 1 PM • CLUB HIPPO and bonuses. Rewarded for bad behav- has learned from our history. Tenacity and ior and complete mismanagement, greed resilience mark it. We march down streets With a Benefit Silent Auction, goes unchecked. This monster is under- across the nation declaring our existence $ 500 Visa Gift Card Raffle, mining the basic institutions of our society. and our resistance to hate. The “occupiers” Human life being viewed through the lens are ridiculed and so are we. We have a lot Entertainment & More! of profit is never good. The idea of corpo- in common. rations as people lends itself to a plethora Finally, this is a people centered move- of human and civil rights violations. Life is ment, which is what our movement tra- becoming a commodity to be bought and ditionally has been. We should support sold. groups that want to further equality and Unfortunately, this situation has been equal justice for all. I believe that “Occupy brewing for many years. The growing Wall Street” is the visible beginning of a gap between rich and poor is not new. broad awakening of people who want com- America continues to drift apart economi- passionate, effective government for the cally. At one point, race was a dominant people and by the people. The question For more information and to register for the weekend visit www.commandmc.org factor in this growing divide. Now people remains: how will we respond, as individu- t 443-296-2198 across races find themselves in the dire als and as communities? M.C. C.O.M.M.A.N.D.

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com q 13 Baltimore Black Pride inc reader feedback Thank You to Our Sponsors & Our Community Stakeholder Silver SPonSorShiP media Finding Solidarity Through Slutwalk Baltimore OUTloud dorsing” SWB) Brennan continued attack- Gaylife by Shawna Potter As one of the SlutWalk Baltimore (SWB) ing us in her article by trying to present us organizers – one chapter of the worldwide as untruthful. Silver corPorate SPonSorShiP movement to end victim-blaming of sex- Brennan also accused SWB of mock- The Club Hippo ual assault survivors – I must respond to ing our sisters in Baltimore’s sex workers The Baltimore City Health Department Cathy Brennan’s piece in Baltimore OUT- community, which is deeply offensive and Infectious Disease Health & Environmental Administration (IDEHA) Loud’s October 7th issue. Brennan’s rape factually untrue. We set out to prove that GlCCB/ Gay lesbian Community Center of Baltimore comparison, suggestion that empowering no matter how someone dresses, or where women has no place in the anti-violence they work, no one deserves to be assault- rainBow SPonSorShiP movement, and insensitivity to the original ed. If Brennan had attended our walk, she SlutWalkToronto organizers’ survivor sta- would have seen many sex workers come Unity Fellowship Church of Baltimore tus (suggesting they organized SlutWalk to out of local strip clubs and smiling, waving, Taylor-Wilks Group sell merchandise) seems straight out of a and chanting with us in solidarity. International Federation of Black Prides men’s magazine, not a safe space like Bal- Despite her inaccuracies, Brennan The National Gay & lesbian Task Force Creating Change 2012 timore OUTLoud. did get one thing right: we believe “Slut- In my response, I want to dispel some Walk counts as the first event in years to community StakeholderS myths and ask for cooperation among energize the women’s rights movement.” Sisters of Alpha Eta Omega Sorority, Inc. Gary Wolnitzek those in Baltimore’s feminist community. Participants can attest to the contagious Sisters Together & Reaching (STAR) Karen Sebold For us, this isn’t about one day, one march, energy at SWB. Like it or not, it was big- Women Accepting Responsibility Kevin Clash or an admittedly controversial name. It’s ger than most Take Back the Night events, and for good reason: it is defiant and cel- Anthony W. McCarthy Tiffany Jackson about two common desires: to change the way sexual assault victims are viewed, and ebratory, and there are no feminist theory Kevin Brown Brandyn Taylor to make Baltimore even better. prerequisites to get involved. We do recog- Cynde Kimbrough Kevin T. Clemons To organize SWB, I collaborated with nize that this movement would never have Visions For Tomorrow, Inc. Carlton R. Smith Alana Smith of the International Social- been possible without the groundwork laid Churches United Against AIDS leroy Burgess ist Organization (Baltimore chapter), and by our many fore-feminists, but any move- Black Educational AIDS Project/CUAA Paradox Brennan Lester – an enthusiastic, albeit ment that inspires people to work together Metropolitan Community Church of Baltimore Workprinting Graphic young, activist. Following our successful to end sexual assault should be taken seri- Unity Fellowship Church Movement Carrietta D. Hiers SlutWalk event in Baltimore on September ously and is worth improving. Interfaith Fairness Coalition of Maryland Mary Taylor 17, Ms. Brennan posted on SWB’s Face- This brings us to the well-deserved Donna Payne Maggie Beetz book page, confronting Lester about an ar- critiques that the movement is not inclu- Sultan Shakir louis Hughes guably sexist joke he made online at age sive of women of color. As organizers, we Dr. Vali Meeks Kenneth Morrison 16. Alana and I believe his prompt apol- knew our message was authentic: Blame Jean-Michel Brevelle Anthony leverette ogy was sincere and his commitment to the rapist, not the victim. But regardless of the positive intentions behind Slut- lorice T. Rodgers Baltimore Heritage advancing the cause of women’s rights is genuine, obvious to anyone who has met Walk, whether in Baltimore, New Delhi, or Rev. Sam Offer Anthony T. Pressley him. However, one small comment was ap- Lima, if diversity is lacking, the power of Rev. Dr. Jamie Washington Archbishop Carl Bean parently enough for Brennan to label Les- the movement will be limited. It is our vi- Renee Martin Del. Mary l. Washington ter as a closet chauvinist and that SWB sion that anti-racism will become a natural Elder Harris Thomas Washington Blade was not an authentic feminist event (refer- component of feminism, and we know that Debbie Rock Swerv Magazine ring to it as “astroturf”). Conversely, we be- it will take listening, learning, and a lot of Bernice Tucker Andi lieve people can change, otherwise what’s work to get there. After SWB, we now have Duane Taylor, Esq. Michael Quander all this consciousness-raising for? a much greater understanding that creat- Angela A. Alexander, Esq. Creative Alliance Following her post, Ms. Brennan ing an inclusive environment is a life-long DJ lord Byron Shawanna Alexander emailed SWB organizers with one ques- practice – but also that we can‘t do it alone. Phillip J. lovett Jamal Hailey tion for her upcoming article: Which orga- We’re not asking to set aside our disagree- Baltimore Heritage Sterling Washington nizations endorsed SWB? While we were ments, but to discuss them while uniting to work together in solidarity – think of the William J. Palmer Molly Fox hesitant to respond in light of her recent confrontational comments, we cooperated power! We hope that new feminists who Gregory Merle Satorie-Robinson Allstate Insurance by providing a list of organizations that were excited to be part of SlutWalk will not Ms. Baltimore Black Gay Pride Celebration of Community we contacted during event planning. We be turned away from making connections Rev. Mother Meredith Moise F.t. Burden told her truthfully that most either declined with experienced local activists, including Troy Burton Kevin Cleary participation (because of the controversial women of color, just because we don’t al- Kim Walker & Her Band Rapture Chuck Bowers name) or just never responded. National ways get things right. Surely Ms. Brennan Visit Baltimore lGBT Tourism Committee Dana Owens Sexual Violence Resource Center (NS- will agree that attacks and defenses are The Greibo Company VRC) was on our list, and although their not a productive way forward. Let’s treat Earl D. Fowkles, Jr official stance toward SlutWalk is “neutral,” each other with the respect, thoughtful- Michael Warren they did allow us to insert flyers in “swag- ness, and sensitivity that we demand from bags” at the National Sexual Assault Con- others. Let’s remember that we are on the Charles Ham Iii t Elizabeth “Artby liz” Wilson ference, held in Baltimore the day before same side. SWB. For an issue of semantics (I referred The author is director of Hollaback to organizations that “helped out” as “en- Bmore 14 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com HEALTH AND WELLNESS

ing scale fees, meaning the price of the visit is adjusted according to your income. The lowest price visit is usually between $25 and $40 for a person with no income. Open Wide Some of the FQHC’s in Baltimore are Peo- ask Dr Eva ple’s Community Health Center., Baltimore Dr Eva Hersh Medical Systems, Total Health Care, and my own center, Chase Brexton Health Ser- vices. Because medical staff at these cen- ters are used to working with low-income Low Income? people, they are sensitive to the cost of medications and may well be able to come MD programs can help up with a suggestion for a lower-cost alter- native to the $45 prescription you received Dear Dr. Eva, in the emergency room. Also, some com- I just moved to Maryland and finally got munity health centers have their own phar- a job after being out of work for two years. macies, which offer medications for little I work for a big box retail store and only more than the wholesale price. work from 20 to thirty hours a week. The • Other options for lower-cost medica- company has a health plan that I can’t af- tions: ford and the last time I got sick I ended Target and Wal-Mart pharmacies have up going to the emergency room for treat- $4 prescription plan programs that include ment. They told me to follow up with my a large number of common medications. doctor. Well, I don’t have a doctor, and I The cost is $4 per month per medication. don’t have medical insurance. If you need a prescription that cannot Worse than that, the prescription they gave be had inexpensively, there are programs me cost $45, and I don’t have it. Does Mary- to get free or low cost medications from the land have any programs that can help me? manufacturers of the medications. There Sick and Broke is information about this at http://www. pparx.org/ or http://www.rxassist.org/ Dear Sick, • MHIP: Maryland Health Insurance After consulting with Warren Conner, Program Assistant Director of Case Management at MHIP is a health insurance program Chase Brexton, I can tell you about a few that provides comprehensive care (inpa- programs that might be able to help you. tient, outpatient, and specialty) through a • PAC : Maryland Primary Adult Care variety of insurance plans. This program is Best, there is Maryland Primary Adult aimed at people who have been priced out Care, known as PAC. This program provides of the insurance market because of their free primary care office visits and compre- chronic illness. To qualify for this program, hensive prescription coverage. Although it you must have a chronic medical illness, does not cover any specialty care or hospital which could be anything from asthma or care, PAC does cover mental health services. high blood pressure to kidney failure or To qualify for PAC you must be a Maryland cancer. There is a monthly premium, av- resident with an income of less than $1046 eraging $400. That may sound like a lot, a month and total assets of less than $4000. but it is much less than the monthly cost You have to provide your Social Security card, of care and even less than the monthly picture ID, proof of your current income (or a cost of medications for many people with statement of no income explaining who sup- chronic illnesses. Information and applica- ports you if you are completely unemployed), tions are available online at http://www. and proof of citizenship or legal residency. marylandhealthinsuranceplan.state.md.us/ You can apply for PAC by calling 1-800-226- There is also a special program (CHIP, 2142 or going to http://www.dhmh.md.gov/ Children’s Health Insurance Program) for mma/pac/pdf/RevisedPACApplication2007. families with children under age 19. There pdf for an application. You mail the applica- are a number of other programs, some dis- tion directly to the PAC office. ease specific, available to Maryland resi- • FQHC’s: Federally Qualified Health dents. You can find out more about them Centers by contacting the Department of Social Even if you don’t qualify for PAC, you Services or at Dhmh.state.md.us/mma/ can get good health care for a reasonable mmahome.html. t price at any Federally Qualified Health Dr. Eva Hersh is Chief Medical Officer at Center (FQHC). These community health Chase Brexton Health Services. Send ques- centers offer care just as good as and of- tions to [email protected], or to Eva ten better than what you would get at a Hersh MD, Chase Brexton Health Services, private medical office and all have slid- 1001 Cathedral St., Baltimore, MD 21201 BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com q 15 Live ly Arts // out on STAGE

Spotlighters Serves Up Tea and Sympathy Todd Krickler heading the list. The other cast members performed quite admirably By Steve Charing boarding school, the play’s theme, applica- Hearing the rumors, too, and discovering as well. Baltimore’s Audrey Herman Spotlighters ble today, is school bullying, especially if a the gown Tom was to wear in the play, the As with other productions of Tea and Theatre kicked off its 50th season with a student is perceived to be gay with the key elder Lee orders Tom to abandon his plans Sympathy, a split set designed by Roark well-staged mounting of the Robert An- word being “perceived.” Hardly any gay to perform. for this production is used: one depicting derson classic Tea and Sympathy. Ms. student would dare to come out in such an Tom is constantly being taunted and the Reynolds’ living room where students Herman, the person for whom the theater environment, particularly during a point in bullied by three fellow housemates. Shawn can come downstairs and cavort with the is named, appeared as one of the play’s time when homophobia was prevalent. Naar, Kevin D. Baker and Dennis Binseel housemasters and the other set in the principal characters, Laura Reynolds, at In Tea and Sympathy, the student is who plays Tom’s roommate Al, inject con- stage’s corner representing Tom’s bedroom the Spotlighters back in 1968. Tom Lee, played earnestly and passion- siderable energy into the play. Al, however, symbolizing his isolation. The action alter- Tea and Sympathy opened on Broad- ately by Justin Johnson. Rumors about is conflicted between going along with his nates between the two. way at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Tom’s sexuality are rampant because he is peers and his slightly more tolerant nature Period furnishings in both Reynolds’ September 30, 1953, and ran successfully a sensitive person and eschews the ma- coupled with his for 712 performances under the direction cho-jock ethos that dominates the students loyalty to Tom. of Elia Kazan. In 1956 it was made into a and the male faculty members. Binseel deftly movie that was directed by Vincent Minelli. Instead, Tom wears his hair long, en- conveys this wel- Over a half century later, Director Fuzz joys music and drama and was readying to come sensitivity Roark does a splendid job of capturing An- play a female role in an upcoming school and helps Tom derson’s pioneering message through the play. His detractors have judged him to be develop a “man- performances of the excellent cast in the a “fairy” based on this stereotype as well lier” walk as a Spotlighters’ production. as by his mannerisms and walk. way to mitigate Set in a 1953 New England boys’ Fueling and perhaps validating the the taunting. suspicion, Tom was spotted swimming Being sexual- naked at the dunes with another teacher, ly innocent, Tom David Harris (Jose Teneza). Tom cred- withdraws and A Passion for Broadway ibly and strongly denied any wrongdoing. becomes con- “Nothing happened!” he implores. The gos- fused as to what sip spreads wildly throughout the school, his sexual orien- affecting Tom. The audience was left won- tation really is. dering why he was with Mr. Harris under This leads to an those circumstances in the first place. escapade with Isolated from his peers and faculty mem- a local girl that bers, Tom’s only source of comfort is the doesn’t go well, wife of a teacher, Laura Reynolds, played resulting in a po- expertly by Karia Ferry. Bucking the advice tential expulsion repeated by the fun-loving headmaster’s from the school. wife (Lisa Libowitz) that “you have to be an At no time dur- interested bystander...all you’re supposed ing the course of to do is every once in a while give the boys the play did Tom a little tea and sympathy,” Laura immerses ever admit to be- herself in Tom’s plight, which becomes the ing gay. emotional center of the play. Laura contin- Skeptical about the rumors, she re- ued to pull away bukes her domineering and hyper-mas- from Bill and had culine husband Bill (Todd Krickler) who is decided to leave firmly a passenger on the Tom-is-a-fairy him. At the same T om (Justin Johnson), Al (Dennis Binseel), bandwagon. time she takes and Ralph (Shawn Naar) photo: Ken Stanek Laura had once married an 18 year-old even more of who was killed in World War II in an at- an interest in Tom. In an attempt to make study and Tom’s dorm room were authentic, tempt to demonstrate his courage and bur- Tom feel like a man, Laura discreetly of- as was the mood music from 1950’s records nish his manliness. Accordingly, she feels fers herself at play’s end. As she prepares featuring such artists as, Debbie Reynolds, photo: JilliAnne Grabau the connection to the embattled Tom, who, herself for the ultimate good deed she Patti Page, Frankie Lyman and Peggy Lee. himself, is just shy of turning 18. tells Tom, “Years from now – when you All in all, this play is highly recommend- A Passion for Broadway – Anwar At the same time, her current marriage talk about this – and you will – be kind.” ed for its skilled production and prevailing Thomas (pictured) was among 18 artists to Bill is deteriorating, and she questions Tea and Sympathy was one of the first message, which has transcended over a who performed at the Howard Community Bill’s own masculinity because of his over- American plays to address homosexuality half century. t College’s Arts Collective one-night only the-top machismo that leads to his assum- and its resulting prejudice. The core mes- Tea and Sympathy is being performed cabaret “A Passion for Broadway” on Octo- ing the worst in Tom. Laura asks, “Did it sage is the prejudice, not Tom’s actual sex- at the Spotlighters Theatre, 817 St. Paul ber 7. Anwar sang “Gethsemane” from Je- ual orientation, which remains unknown. St., Baltimore and runs through Novem- sus Christ Superstar. For more information ever occur to you that you persecute in on the Arts Collective, visit Howardcc.edu/ Tom, the thing you fear in yourself?” This production benefitted from wonder- ber 6. Tickets are $20 for Adults, $18 for artscollective. Tom does not receive comfort from his ful acting performances with Karina Ferry, Seniors and $16 for Students. They can gruff father, Herbert Lee (Bob Ahrens). Justin Johnson and Dennis Binseel and be purchased online at Spotlighters.org.

16 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com Live ly Arts // Out On Screen Too Big To Fail Shows Us How it All Happened b cky Chu Duncan form of a movie by the same title, Too Big To Fail. whom they knew in most cases could not really afford the We all know the economy sucks. That is certainly no se- Too Big To Fail transports us back to 2008, just after houses they were buying. The government reacted to the cret. And in our politically divisive society, nothing is being the government saved Bear Stearns from collapse and just revelation when it was too late because whoever was sup- done about it because the two political parties in power as Lehman Brothers is on the brink of falling off its own posed to be on watch had no idea of what the banks were are too busy pointing fingers at one another assigning financial cliff. In Lehman’s case, doing. But during all of this blame, and one party in particular seems to want to make the government can’t, and won’t, economic collapse, there everyone think that what we’re experiencing now is totally step in. Instead, Secretary of the is one person who is never on the back of our current president. Treasury Henry Paulson (William mentioned – Barack Obama. Except, if the people who protest the president with Hurt) and his team, including Throughout the movie, their badly spelled signs could actually read, they could Timothy Geithner (Billy Crudup), we see clips from actual pick up the book that tells the story of the economic melt- Jim Wilkinson (Topher Grace) news programs and clips of down that occurred in 2008… under President Bush’s and Michele Davis (Cynthia Nix- Bush directly addressing the watch. However, since reading is apparently not a strong on) – with some input from Ben crisis, so I think this is more point for those people, we have the next best thing in the Bernanke (Paul Giamatti) – try than concrete proof that to work out a deal with Bank of Obama inherited this mess. America to take over Lehman’s Unfortunately, with this be- debt and assets. ing an HBO movie and only Except, in an act of self-pres- available through viewing on Spotlighters offers ervation, Merrill-Lynch approach- HBO, HBO On Demand or es BoA to secure their survival HBO GO at the moment, the audio description and and no one else is willing to take over Lehman (and that masses who need to revisit history instead of listening to seems mainly due to its CEO, Richard Fuld, who basically those who got us into this mess revise it will continue to ASL interpretation blew a deal to save the company by simply not staying in blame the current administration in an effort to retake the his office when asked to do so). The initial moments follow- White House in 2012. And if that happens, does anyone Spotlighters offers audio description and ASL in- ing Lehman’s collapse did not cause the panic everyone with more than half a brain actually think things will get terpretation for Tea & Sympathy. Spotlighters feared, but as the economic world was lulled into a false better for the 99%? Theatre is offering audio description for the visu- sense of security, the stock market caught up with the situ- Too Big To Fail features an amazing cast that also ally impaired and ASL (American Sign Language) ation, and the failure of Lehman Brothers had a snowball includes Kathy Baker, Edward Asner, Michael O’Keefe, interpretation for the the deaf for Tea & Sympathy, effect on the worldwide economy, bringing us to the point Bill Pullman, Evan Handler, Tony Shalhoub, and Matthew Saturday – October 22, 2011 8 p.m. performance we’re at today. Modine playing a host of real-life people but managing to audio description for Even though, as a member of the general public, we not make them caricatures. Director Curtis Hanson also the visually impaired know on the surface that what happened was bad, it’s refrains from using a director’s bag of tricks and stylis- provided by Maryland interesting to see from the inside what the government tic flourishes, instead keeping the film grounded in reality Arts Acess Sunday and the various banking giants did immediately follow- and letting the story take center stage. – October 23, 2011, ing Lehman’s collapse. If there is a “hero” in the movie, With the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests, and 2 p.m. performance. it’s Paulson who is portrayed as doing the best he could similar protests now popping up around the world, it may ASL interpretation under the circumstances. Hurt gives a solid performance be worth having a look at Too Big To Fail now to see how for the deaf provid- and makes Paulson a truly sympathetic figure. If you want we’ve gotten to this point before people lose sight of how ed by the Hearing villains, then look no further than the bankers who were an entire industry set in motion a chain of events that very and Speech Agency. asked to pool their resources to save Lehman, their com- nearly did (and still could) lead us into a depression worse Please inform the box office in advance of your petitor. They finally agreed, but it was apparently the Brit- than the one in 1929. The question is; is it too late to get needs, so that reserved seating may be secured. ish banking industry that refused to swoop in and seal a the economy back in order and will our political leaders Tea & Sympathy (by Robert Anderson), directed deal that had been in the works, instead, dragging their put aside their pettiness and start working to get us back by Fuzz Roark is a powerful look at bullying and the feet and insisting on allowing the regulators their standard on track? t costs that everyone pays. thirty days to make a deci- Set in a 1953 boarding school in New England, sion. Tom faces challenges because he doesn’t fit in with The banking industry New SaleS the rest of the jocks – and the result changes lives itself is the biggest villain DvDS StartiNg forever. of the piece, seemingly $5 Off $25 at $1.95 Now through November 6, 2011 Tickets avail- acting on the notion that Or MOre able at Spotlighters.org. Adults: $20, seniors (60- real estate would never de- t plus): $18 students: $16. crease in value and taking advantage of its customers GREENMOUNT BOOKS HUge SeleCtiON Private BOOtHS 2 LOCATIONS: 3222 Greenmount Ave. Baltimore MD • 410.467.0403 Rte. 1 News • 106 Washington Blvd. South • Laurel MD • 410.880.4253

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com q 17 Lively Arts // music between the covers

ing of Blue,” the country swing and stinging mes- iMusic: Queer folk(s) sage of “The Last Time I Saw Sharon,” the cover Sweet Like Sugar of Luka Bloom’s “I Am Not At War” and the (unex- by Gregg Shapiro pected) Super Gay Anthem Mix of “Nothing Taboo.” By Dana LaRocca Catie Curtis is not the first lesbian folksinger/songwriter. Actress/comedian and singer/songwriter Fay Wolf’s Wayne Hoffman’s new book, Sweet Like Sugar (Kens- But she’s still one of the best. Some 20 years since her Spiders (Hermonica Music) weaves a web in which ington Books, 2011, $15) begins with a gay man, Benja- major-label debut, New England native Curtis remains a you won’t mind getting tangled. Already a staple on the min Steiner (Benji) living in Wheaton, Maryland, with his force in folk, as well as country and pop. Stretch Limou- soundtracks to various TV series, Wolf narrows the focus roommate Michelle. Benji works in the DuPont Circle area sine On Fire (Compass) has all of the ele- to herself and her considerable song- of Washington, DC, as a ments that made Curtis who she is today as writing and singing over the course of web designer, where his a performing songwriter. Songs such as the the disc’s 11 tracks. Stunning songs current project is trying hot title cut, “Highway del Sol,” the exquisite such as “The Passing,” “Mine,” “Was,” to land a gig with a local piano and vocal number “River Wide,” the “In The Way,” “Easy” and “Backstage nightclub, Paradise. rhythmic “Another Day On Earth” and the Girl,” put her in the company of Regi- His office is located back-to-back “I Do” and “Wedding Band,” na Spektor and Tori Amos without ever next to a Jewish book- rank among her best. Not surprisingly, Curtis compromising her own distinctive musi- store, the proprietor of has talented musician pals, including Mary cal identity and perspective. which is an elderly rabbi. Chapin Carpenter, Lisa Loeb, Julie Wolf Queer singer/songwriter Anomie Circumstances lead to and Duke Levine, among others, who appear on tracks Belle’s The Crush (anomiebelle.com) is a far more bizarre the rabbi taking his af- throughout the disc. affair than any of the previously mentioned discs. Her ternoon nap on Benji’s The late Steven Grossman, an out gay musician who unique phrasing and vocal style, combined with the pro- sofa. This is a little un- released an album on a major label (Mercury) in 1974 duction recalls Björk crossed with Macy Gray. An exciting nerving for Benji, espe- with openly queer lyrics, is another AIDS casualty that we experimental effort that pays off more often than not, es- cially since he has gay lost far too soon. Recorded in 1991, the same year as pecially on “Inky Drips,” Machine (featuring Mr. Lif), “Bod- porn on his monitor. his passing, and finally getting an Nevertheless, he feels official release, Something in the for the silent old man, Moonlight (Significant Other) is whose shop is poorly air conditioned, and lets him take an essential part of the gay male rest in his office for several days. singer/songwriter canon. A stun- The Paradise is a white gay male club. The observer ning tribute, Something In The sees only conformity, conformity of dress, of lifestyle, and Moonlight also qualifies as a his- of viewpoints. Benji sees diversity among the sameness. tory lesson in LGBT music. Fea- The political leanings of the patrons are liberal, if in name turing an exceptional array of out only, as indicated by tee shirts and bumper stickers. Benji musicians, including Mimi Fox, has more interest in the politics of Israel, which leads to Richard Dworkin, Toshi Reagon, one failed date with a guy he should never have hooked among others, the album con- up with. tains memorable numbers such That guy, Pete, was just what Benji liked in a man, as “California Now,” “Last Pio- he was blond and hot. However, when Pete rambled on neers,” “A Greasy Griddle (and a claiming that Jews were responsible for the war in Iraq Short Order Cook),” “Out to Play,” and had been warned to stay out of the World Trade cen- “Step” and the title tune. ter on September 11, Benji’s date was ruined. He had Like the aforementioned Cur- dated a man with serious problems. tis, Melissa Ferrick hails from the Sweet Like Sugar uses memories and dreams to flesh fertile New England music scene. out the real Benjamin Steiner, when his first person narra- On Still Right Here (MPress), tive plays to the surface. Like the time when he insisted, her 11th studio disc in almost 20 in first grade, to dress as Queen Esther for Purim, or a years, Ferrick, a crack, string- memory of a kiss from his grandfather. These out takes busting guitarist in her own right, provide a clue to the inner world of the man who really is joined by lesbian guitar god- doesn’t say much about himself. dess Kaki King on “Headphones Benji’s relationship with his mom is familiar to every On” and queer icon Ani DiFranco young man who has been in the closet, except that Benji on “You Let Me Be.” Other high- is not in the closet. Still, his mom tells Benji, “I think you’ve lights include “Seconds Like been spending too much time with him. You’re getting too These,” “One of a Kind,” “Singing close to this man Benjamin. I don’t trust him.” with the Wind,” “I Will Back You Up” and “This Time of ies Offering,” “On TV” and “Lavender Days.” She expresses genuine fear, “He’s going to try to turn Year.” Indie lesbian musicians outnumber the gay men, at you into one of them. That’s what they do.” Mrs. Steiner’s When David Brown calls This is My House (Chihua- least in this column. So while you’re at it, please keep fear is not based on sexual orientation; her fear is that the hua) his “forever and a day project,” he isn’t kidding. His Pennsylvania by Anne Stott (annestott.com) and Ride the rabbi will turn Benji into an Orthodox Jew! This theme fol- first studio album since 2001’s “Storm in a Teacup,” “This Wave of Love by Dar Stellabotta (darstellabotta.com) in lows throughout a compelling story of love and intergen- Is My House” was worth the wait. Beginning with the gen- mind, as well. Bobby Jo Valentine’s A Place To Belong erational friendship. der politics of “It’s All Drag,” through the vintage vibe of (bobbyjovalentine.com) proves that gay Christians have Wayne Hoffman will be reading from Sweet Like Sugar “Honeypoo” (complete with crackling vinyl effects), the something to say and he says it better than many of his on October 30, at 7 p.m. at the Baltimore Hostel, 17 West bouncy “You’ll Always Be Mine,” the subtly brassy “Grey- straight counterparts. t Mulberry Street in the Inner Harbor / Mt. Vernon area. t

18 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com front of legislators during lobbying days, finding and supporting new candidates to DK: Most times, it’s knowing what to challenge anti-marriage-equality candi- say yourself. If you are working with some- dates, and supporting the re-election of one who doesn’t naturally emote, then you Getting everyone who voted with us. have figure out how to figure out how to If all of this sounds boring, it had its Sam fill dead air. With all the militia tasking to Unstuck moments. Such as my husband and I Unfiltered keep the show going, it’s a lot harder than Gerry Fisher walking past the anti-marriage-equality Sam Kunz it looks. incumbent who was illegally blocking the SK: Many have said that radio is a door of the polling station, him claiming dying art form. Do you believe this? Enough! that he “was for civil unions all along,” us Dave Kolesar DK: I believe if they are dying, the calling him a liar, and us walking in the wounds are self-inflicted; radio tightening I clearly remember the odd combination of door to vote for the gay challenger who Host of WGAY.FM its play lists to 300 songs. Most people boredom and frustration I felt from January ended up winning. Sweet! have heard them; they can download them through December of 2000, while living in However, I wouldn’t have had my diva “You’re on the air!” to their ipod and forget radio. I am trying Massachusetts and considering the presi- moment without the year and half’s effort You hear him weekly on WGAY.FM to counteract that by having several thou- dential election. beforehand. It wouldn’t have happened bringing you important topics of the day. sand songs in my play list. Why didn’t Bradley get more attention? if I didn’t get curious about how this all Not just for the gay community, but for all. SK: What do you cover on your ra- Why is this pre-“Inconvenient Truth” Gore worked and what I could do – what we I got the chance to sit down with this very dio show? Would you say it’s more po- so dull and uninspiring? W. Bush seems could do – to make it work better. talented young man and this is what he litical or just come what may? kinder and gentler, but look at the V.P. pick. As I know from my life coaching prac- had to say. DK: Well I must say if we cover an is- And what if we gave “a tice, my role is to Sam Kunz: First, I want to thank you sue, its irreverent. We usually cover the protest vote” to Nader help my clients for taking the time out of your busy news of that week. It depends on who and no one heard it? Is maintain a con- schedule to talk to us here at Baltimore shows up and what they want to talk this as good as it gets? sistent, long-term OUTLoud. I know you have a show to- about. We can run the range of gay rights Little did I know that focus on what will night. For those who may not know, to baseball scores. I was about to make a personal-political effectively help them build their happiest where can people tune in SK: Describe transformation. Waiting to get involved un- lives. A caring reminder to: “Wake up, pay to listen? for us, or walk us til the Presidential election clearly wasn’t attention, get to work, do what works!” Dave Kolesar: You can through a broadcast working. So... what would work better? Which brings me to the Occupy move- go to the website www. if you will, what kind I began by asking myself, “What’s the ments which are now going worldwide. wgay.fm. Click on the play of format would you most effective way to get better candi- First, I say, thank you to the youth of Ameri- button or on the logo. You say you are? dates, since we always seem to hate the ca for energizing us older farts. Sometimes can listen on your phone, if DK: Some of us ones that end up on the ballot?” Eventu- we are too patient and willing to work in- you have an android. You meet up for dinner that ally, it occurred to me: “Nominate better crementally. This movement is about wak- can find the live365 app. is our warm up. As far candidates.” Next question: “How do we ing up to systematic injustice that’s been Search for WGAY FM. as prep goes, it goes nominate better candidates?” I eventu- intensifying for 30 years. “Enough!” SK: How long has ad hoc. I don’t know ally found that I had to get involved two Now, for the next step. In order for this WGAY.FM been on the air? what the first song is going to be until I years before the Presidential election (a movement to create lasting change, we need DK: Well, we started broadcasting un- look at the LPS. Then we go into music, year and a half before local elections), to take that energy and focus it on sustained, der the WGAY banner in 2006. We had then we go into talk and we will do that un- and I had to learn how party nominations focused, effective action. Put aside the evil been broadcasting since 1998. Before til we get bored. All sorts of unpredictable work. And it involved consistent, small cynicism and the “I’m too cool for that” atti- that, it was a very low power broadcast- things happen. You’re just going to have efforts such as reading about potential tude and the “I don’t do politics” stance that ing range, just a few blocks, literally for 20 to listen to find out. Patrick (His Husband) candidates, donating money, attending a kill progress before it’s taken its first baby years, since I was 13. will take turns on the board. I am more ab- few nominating caucuses, encouraging step. SK: What do you hope to accom- surdist than Patrick is. I try to keep people my friends to consider a dark horse can- If you want regulation that will create a plish through your show? running their mouths as long as I Can. didate, holding signs on street corners, or fair financial situation in the country, you can DK: It’s just for fun. We are here to en- SK: I listen in quite frequently, so I displaying a bumper sticker or lawn sign. have it. If you want to knock candidates out tertain ourselves. The format of the show is have to ask, would you say your audi- No heavy lifting! of office who don’t do your bidding, you can like a house party that is broadcast. Over ence is more gay or more straight or do Long story short, I saw the system have it – we did it in Massachusetts. If you the years, we have had many guests. We you wave an even mix. work! I saw how a few dozen “activists” in want universal health-care, you can have it. If are kind of a social group. We are a bunch DK: I think it’s an even mix. The live the state could get the Democratic Party you want marriage equality, you can have it. of friends who put out what we think radio show is more gay. At the same time I system to nominate the guy who support- But, you have to figure out how stuff should be. We have live acts come in, such would lying if I said we were taking the ed marriage equality instead of the boring works, focus, and adjust your efforts un- as Tom Goss, who is a phenomenal talent. world by storm. We have a good mix. machine candidate; as a result, we were til they’re working effectively. It’s up to you. SK: What are your goals for the fu- SK: Do you have any amusing anec- eventually able to elect Massachusetts’ Don’t give up just because change didn’t ture? Do you see taking this national? dotes about something that happened first African American governor. I saw the come quickly or easily. Opting out won’t work, DK: I think you can do both. It is some- during a broadcast? formation of an incredibly effective, single- and looking for a Magical Leader won’t save thing that is absolutely fun. I am having the DK: We had a DJ from Taiwan called in issue organization – MassEquality – to you. The only savior is “we the people.” t time of life putting this show on. I have a and hit on my sister. There was this news- “work the system” to save marriage equal- Visit Gerry on line at http://gerryfisher. few things in the works and hopefully we paper columnist from Baltimore, during ity. This effort included years of bringing livejournal.com and http://www.Baltimore- will hit the big time. It’s fun doing it just the great blizzard a year or two ago. He same-gender couples and their children in LifeCoachGerry.com as it is. was hilarious and I think I am talking to SK: Being a radio host, what would him now. [Sam’s note: Yes he was] you say is the hardest thing when it Check out WGAY.FM. It’s our station, comes to getting people to open up for us, by us, and going out to the world to when they call in? hear our voice. t

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com q 19 SEXe & Th economic crisis FAITH

Sex & the Economic Crisis traders took over from investment bankers – continued from page 9 Spiritual Development Courses and the codes of honor – the sense of what and Wall Street to cover up that decline in simply wasn’t done, the codes that defined Return to Unity Fellowship Baltimore income. The mortgage-debt fueled hous- investment banking – were thrown out the ing bubble was the next chapter, leading window. I mean, investment banking was tra- By Mikal Morales directly to the 2008 crash. Are there other ditionally a profession, in that the interest of Unity Fellowship Church of Baltimore is ment classes bring people together from aspects to this crisis that suggest under- the clients came before personal interest or a non-denominational church centered in different backgrounds to explore topics lying sexual dynamics? even that of the firm. This attracted a certain the Christian African American worship dealing with daily life. “It makes me feel X: If you look at the traditional compo- type of individual – a well-heeled, white-shoe experience. The affirming church now of- wonderful that with all the different back- sition of what I’m calling the clerisy, which type of person. And it was a milieu in which fers spiritual development grounds we can all come you can expand to include warrior classes, gays and women, it turned out, fit in very well. classes to members and to a space and be one”, they were cemented in many cases by ho- If you go on to a trading floor, however, non-members as a part say Kisha Coleman, a moerotic bonds. Priests and warriors in the what you see is testosterone-fueled behavior. of its Christian Education congregant from Parkville. traditional sense have been replaced almost What happened beginning late in the 1980s is program. This year’s theme is entirely by modern clerical workers. Cutting- that the traders took over investment banking. From the fall of 2010 covenant relationships. edge warfighting in the US means sitting You can follow the transformation in Michael to the spring of 2011, the Students are beginning alone at a desk in Tampa and operating a Lewis’s writing, beginning with his account in course covered navigating to explore the nature of drone with what looks like a video game. The Liar’s Poker – his first book – of what it was through emotions based relationship and discover traditional masculine virtues are not only not like to be a young new hire on the trading floor on author Anthony Robin’s ways to augment and en- needed but positively antithetical. The femi- of Solomon Brothers in the 1980s. Contrast book, Getting the Edge. hance nourishing relation- nization of the clerisy, the incorporation of with his predecessors someone like Lloyd Students praised the ships. Wednesdays prom- upper-middle class women and socialized Blankfein, head of Goldman Sachs, who course as eye opening, ise to be very revealing gays, is an obvious response to changes grew out of a working-class environment and therapeutic and enlight- and inspirational. in the economy, changes in the work that who fuels himself and the people around him ening. “On a daily basis, The church’s leading prelate, Arch- needs to be done, the technology by which on testosterone. So this is one area where I see things in a different light,” says L.T. bishop Carl Bean, is a 2011 Baltimore it’s accomplished. traditional masculine virtues still apply. But Rodgers, a local member of the congrega- Black Pride Icon. Honored alongside Del. But there’s a crucial exception to this at because they were unregulated and allowed tion. She declared, “The classes taught me Mary Washington (D-43), the archbishop the heart of the West’s economic system. to run amok, traders directly precipitated the how to exercise the God in me.” was praised for his leadership in libera- Wall Street is one of the few places left where financial crisis. As an affirming church, Unity serves tion theology and the fight against HIV. testosterone-fueled behavior is actually a RG: As the male group fades away in an array of people in the Baltimore area. Located in the Pen Lucy are of Baltimore, plus. the West, what’s interesting is that feral Church membership has a range of Chris- Unity Fellowship Church of Baltimore has What happened on Wall Street was that forms – Mexican drug gangs to Al Qaeda tian experiences. Members come from sister locations in Columbia and Wash- – crop up and nip like wolves many denominations across the Protestant ington, D.C. For more information, visit at the borders of the American and Catholic spectrum. Spiritual develop- Ufcb.org. t empire. But here you’re say- ing it was a feral, ruthless male group at the core of the financial system that brought on the eco- Rev. Mother Meredith Moise, ordained Old Catholic priest, nomic crisis? X: A sort of ‘civilized’ mas- specializing in weddings, baptisms, funerals, home culinity that was a product of the old Ivy League and prep schools has almost disappeared on Wall blessings, spiritual direction. For more information, Street, so you have either the club-wielding masculinity that you 410-900-2021 or [email protected] see on the trading floors or a femi- nized, updated version of the old civilized masculinity in those areas of banking that have lost power on Wall Street – the areas that were client-focussed. The underlying fact is the in- If You are OUT, then You are IN with Us! creasing dependence of capitalist “ALL ARE WELCOME!” governments to sustain demand on deliberate creation of asset bubbles – the late ’90s tech stock at St. Michael The Archangel bubble, the early 2000s real estate Catholic Church bubble – in order to maintain de- 401 Pontiac Avenue, Brooklyn, MD 21225 mand. And trading is an essential 410.644.0566 part of fostering bubbles. So what Sunday Mass at 12:00 Noon you see is the economic, cultural, and political trends moving in the A Parish of the New Catholic Church of North America same direction. —continued on page 24

20 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com Visit us at EmmanuelDowntown.org EmmanuEl God with us all of us without ExcEption sunday sErvicEs 8:30 AM & 10:30 AM

Mt. Vernon’s Church of the Arts

811 Cathedral Street at read Street Mount Vernon’S ChurCh of the artS

The Byzantine Rite Old Catholic Church is pleased to announce EMM2011_Outloud_Feb.indd 1 1/28/11 11:25 AM the opening of our Cathedral of Saint Antony www.bmorethical.org We are no longer at First Unitarian. Divine Liturgy is now Saturdays 2 PM at Long Green Center, 115 E. Melrose, Avenue in Baltimore, MD. For more information, contact [email protected] or 443-691-4926. THE BALTIMORE ETHICALSOCIETY http://church.revdanielromanos.com SUNDAYS AT 10:30 A.M.

OCT. 23 — “The Journey Through Atheism All Are Welcome to Humanism, Ethical Culture, and Beyond” All Are Welcome Peter Bishop, PhD, Washington Ethical Society OCT. 30 — “Deluxe Jim Crow: St. Bernadette Civil Rights and American Health Policy” Roman Catholic Karen Kruse Thomas, PhD, The Johns Hopkins Univ. Church 306 W. FRANKLIN ST., STE. 102 Our Weekend Mass Schedule: SATURDAY 5:30 p.m. SUNDAY 9:00 a.m.,10:45 a.m., 12:15 p.m. Contact Ann McDonald, Pastoral Life Director 410-969-2785 PRESBYTERIAN 801 Stevenson Road - Severn, MD 21144-2299 CHURCH 410-969-2783 www.stbernadette.org AN INCLUSIVE AND PROGRESSIVE CHURCH COMMUNITY. www.govanspres.org

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com q 21 Jeffrey Tessmer • J�m mm���������� 701 s. Broadway • Baltimore, mD 21231 jeffrey.tessmer@�Nf.COm • jim.mikula@�Nf.COm

For Sale! 4007 Hamilton Avenue Offered for $339,900 912 S. Ellwood Avenue … $479,900 Unique is an understatement! Spacious Canton - Not your cookie cutter brick Colonial on a hilltop with outra- Canton house! geous lot size for Baltimore City. A true Over 2700 sq. ft. with loads of original showstopper featuring 3 finished levels character. 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, Gourmet w/the perfect mix of authentic character & creature comforts. Beautifully refin. kitchen, beautiful mantels, spectacular hardwoods, pocket doors, detailed mill- water and city views. work. Entertainer’s delight w/4 bdrms, 2 ½ baths, 2 car garage, big fenced yard. Tina Castronovo, Realtor Prudential Carruthers REALTORS O - 410-675-5500 Jim C - 410-960-2836 Jeffrey C - 410-218-5235 O: 410.464.5500 C: 410.812.9070 www.TinaSellsBaltimore.com

ANNOUNCING THE Mount Vernon: 931 Calvert St. Live and Magruder & Khan Group play right here in the neighborhood. Historic 4 bedroom, 3 baths with lots of period details along with current updates, wood floors, high ceilings, central air, parking for 2. $286,000.

Call John at 443-310-8384 for a personal tour. Your choice when you sell or buy with John.

Bill mAgruder AzAm KhAn FREE Home Warranty or FREE Home Inspection. Up to $450 Value. Now Affiliated with Long & Foster Lake Roland Office Call John at 443-310-8384 for details. Bill 410.377.2270 Azam Limited time. Magruder Khan 410.456.2490 410.375.7748 John L. Neubauer, Realtor® [email protected] [email protected] Office: 410-377-2270 Cell: 443-310-8384 [email protected]

22 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com Prime Multi-Tenant Investment Building Every Gray Hair equals ONE House sold ... 30 years of experience! Near Hopkins Campus/Art Museum 8916 sf space w/3 store fronts and warehouse, zoned B-23, available for immediate purchase. One store leased 2 years left of 5 year lease. 4 rentable spaces incl. warehouse. Super space for restaurant, Brian Hannon walk-in clinic, retail or office space. 312 Wyndhurst Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21210 Office: 410 464 5500 • Cell: 410 925 9330 SHH!! Fabulous Building & Store For Sale! [email protected] ~ Coming Soon! ~ Fabulous location in trendy, popular neighborhood. Wonderful renovated 2100 sq. ft. building and profitable small business. Fabulous retail space for owner/user. Live upstairs, have shop below. No snow days off!! Business’ i.e. Building and business sold separately. Zoned B-22. Confidentiality Agreement required.

Residential Brokerage Carole S. LeVine, CRB, CRS COMMERCIAL DIVISION Associate Broker, licensed in MD & VA • Coldwell Banker Commercial • Ellicott City and Leesburg, VA [email protected] • 410.461.7600 Main • 410.480.3593 Direct • 410.530.7584 Cell • 800.989.7101 x3593 Toll Free www.cbmove.com.carole.levine • www.loopnet.com/profile/17934093661/Carole-LeVine-CRB/

Embrace Diversity

Maybe you and your partner are ready to purchase that first home? Maybe you’d like to leverage your equity to consolidate debt at a lower interest rate - maybe take a little extra cash for a much-needed vacation?

In a tough economic climate, when other lenders look for reasons to say Ron Zimmerman & Steve Jackson no – we see no reason but to say yes. Richard B. Pazornik Professional & Domestic Partners 30 Plus Years Senior Loan Officer At Embrace Home Loans, we NMLS# 225367 appreciate your commitment; we 443.600.1282 respect your point of view. Let us [email protected] help you reach your financial goals. 888 Bestgate Rd, Ste 417 Annapolis, MD 21401 Call today! 443.600.1282

www.embracehomeloans.com Licensed as Embrace Home Loans, Inc. NMLS# 2184 1234 Light St. ~ Baltimore, MD 21230 ~ 410-752-1050 ~ email [email protected]

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com q 23 SEXe & Th economic crisis Saturday, OctOber 29th Sex & the Economic Crisis of economic security, the loss of the bread- – continued from page 20- winner role – and to turn that into a political movement, into political power. Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke has It’s not the first time it’s been done – been literally trying to spark new asset bub- Hitler’s propaganda chief Goebbels did the bles in the wake of 2008. The Japanese have same thing. But in many ways the Murdoch been trying to spark asset bubbles since the empire is better run and more sophisticated Halloween early ’90s, as successor to the largest asset than anything Goebbels put together. bubble in history: the Japanese bubble of the RG: And the success of that backlash late ’80s. And they’ve all failed. is just enormous. In supposedly in an era The possibility of an old-style Keynesian of sexual liberalization we have incred- Costume stimulus – government spending to boost de- ibly harsh sex laws, probably a higher per- mand – has been politically blocked in the US centage of people in prison for sex-related by the Republicans and in Europe by Germa- charges than ever, and some 700,000 peo- ny. And if the Republicans succeed in captur- ple on sex-offender registries, living in inter- nal exile under what is this era’s Jim Crow. Contest ing control of all major organs of government, which looks entirely probable, the solutions X: We’re living in the era of the most draco- that they talk about – cutting spending and nian official repression of certain kinds of sex- taxes – are so laughable so as to be not even ual behavior that the world has ever seen. You Judging @ Midnight worth considering in serious economic terms. could argue that certain Islamic societies show But the Republicans will be confronted something similar – with the stoning of adulter- with the same kind of ers and the oppression of fOr beSt choice that Germany women. But it’s parallel to confronted in the early that that’s going on in the Over all cOStuMe 1930s: How do you re- US today. vive the economy? And RG: But isn’t the so- the answer of course – cial status of the kind of caSh prizeS in order to prevent po- solid, middle-class pro- litical meltdown – is a fessionals who donate to turn toward militarism. HRC pretty secure in any fOr 1St You have large num- foreseeable economic bers of enraged angry, configuration to come? 2nd & 3rd place economically and politi- X: Well, as long as cally and culturally inse- you can manage to keep cure males, and you put the current system going, them to “work” in a mili- yes, it is secure. But as I tarized environment. say, is this capitalism’s fi- I see a Republican nal crisis? If so, and none government turning to of the standard Keynes- that because it’s the ian remedies can be ap- Baltimore’s Favorite! only solution to eco- War as economic panacea? plied for either political or 4-8pm nomic meltdown that is economic reasons, then Happy Hour Daily consistent with their political goal of destroy- I think you’ll see a turn toward some kind of ing the legacies of the New Deal and the militarist Keynesianism. Great Society. And in such circumstances gays and RG: Thomas Frank in What’s the Mat- women will find themselves expendable, or at ter with Kansas argues of the coalition least used deliberately as targets for rage in between the Republican billionaires and the same way that Goldstein is a target for the working class is cemented by exploi- rage in Orwell’s 1984. Remember that Gold- tation of sexually charged issues – abor- stein was a stand-in for brainy Jews; people tion, gay marriage. You can argue that in who were once essential both to the tradi- this regard Fox TV’s Rupert Murdoch is tional power structures – who else were you the defining figure of our age. going to go to to finance your wars? – and to X: He’s an utterly evil genius, though he both the intellectual and institutional founda- took advantage of a situation that had already tions of the 1917 revolution. been created. But both the fascists and the Stalinists The destruction of traditional masculin- turned on the Jews once they seized power; 3607 FLEET STREET ity has been taken in stride by upper-middle they didn’t need them any more – or perhaps class and upper-class boys and men, but it I should say they found a new use for them BALTIMORE, MD 410-563-2617 has been enormously destructive in the work- as targets to deflect rage away from power- AMPLE PARKING • ATM AVAILABLE ing- and lower-middle classes in all kinds of holders. The same thing could happen to the respects – political, cultural, and social. And gays, and they have never been as important the genius of the Murdoch empire has been to power-holders as the Jews traditionally Check us out to take this simmering rage – the loss of tradi- had been. And they’ll have only themselves on Facebook tional masculine privilege, the loss of any kind to blame. t 24 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com DINING

tomato, onion and a traditional yogurt sauce wrapped on a warm pita from the tandoor for $6.99. I usually can make two meals from this gyro. Adventures If you in the mood for kabobs you can in Baltimore pick from beef, chicken, shisk and lamb – Restaurants or even go for a combo of meats (ranging Jessica Lemmo from $12.99 – $14.99). All of the entrees are served with our Persian Soltani rice, cooked using onion juice to aid in diges- T andoor House of Kabob tion. A great side dish to try is the shirazi 1748 Taylor Ave. made from chopped cucumber, tomato, Parkville, MD 21234 fresh herbs and onion, served with house dressing for $2.99. 410-556-9966 They also offer traditional baklava and Tandoorkabob.com other Middle Eastern deserts to round out your meal. Tandoor House of Kabob in Parkville deli- Every time I have been the service is cious and authentic flavors of Middle East- friendly and on point. You can dine in or ern cuisine with organic and halal meats carry out – dining in offers BYOB with no and made to order naan in the corkage fees. tandoor. The dishes are flavored Since this is so close with spices from Iran, such as to our house it has be- sumac, saffron and barberry. come a favorite carry out The menu maybe small but for us! it is packed with flavor. The gyro They are expanding is the biggest I have seen and and opening a second is freshly sliced lamb from the location in the Federal skewer. It’s served with lettuce, Hill area. t

WOWWHAT A DEAL!

TOMMIE MATTOX Dog Walker & Pet Services » Insured and Bonded » Daily dog walks/cat and small pet care » Overnight pet sitting in your pet’s home

PLEASE CONTACT US AT 443.422.DOGS [email protected] $ TommiesTailWaggers.com 50 A MONTH for the first 6 months when you join!* *Offer expires Sept. 30, 2011. Certain restrictions apply.

www.meadowmill.com • 410.235.7000

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com q 25 OctOber 10, 2011 • PhOtOs by carltOn smith

26 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com MORTVILLE, THE QUEER ENCAMPMENT AT OCCUPY BALTIMORE – OCTOBER 14, 2011 PHOTOS BY CLAYTON CONN, CLAYTONCONNMEDIA.COM

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com q 27 fact, in 2001 it was a Howard Johnson and Leather 2010 Justin B Ter- the Drummer contestants all stayed there. ry-Smith and Mr. Old Do- In fact, with a little updating it could be a minion Leather 2006 Rudy Howard Johnson again. Benavides produced this Yes, the rooms are a little tired, but it second annual contest. is clear that lots of money was spent on Marc plans to take his title the rest of the resort. Given the choice of to Washington, D.C. in being a hotel with a restaurant and bars January and compete for or a restaurant with multiple bars that also Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather has rooms; the money went into the res- 2012. The producers are taurant and bars. You know the economy already looking forward is bad when the bartender in the Code to the Mr. PW’s Leather Tying Up a Bar is also the go-go boy. He knew in or- 2013 contest, which will der to make money he had to give a small be held Oct 5-7, 2012. Few Loose Thursday night crowd a show during un- Next year they plan to add derwear night. Picture a Justin Timberlake a Ms. PW’s Leather title- look alike jumping up on the bar between holder who will advance Ends drink orders. In fact he almost fell into the to the Mid-Atlantic Leather Woman Con- of chains- oh wait that’s not Halloween, beer cooler getting me a cold one. Hey, he test held in Baltimore during Chesapeake that’s pretty much any weekend at our The last few months have been very busy can walk away with $150 in tips on a slow Leather Awareness Weekend. house! Oh well, I am really looking for- and stressful for me. It was great to get night. The Code Bar did bring out some lo- During American Brotherhood Week- away for a little vacation. On September cals in leather. I even ran into Mr. Ybor City end (ABW) that was held over the Co- “You know the economy 29, I left rainy Baltimore for sunny Florida. Eagle 2010 “Woofie,” who I had met in Chi- lumbus Day Weekend in Chicago, three Sir Steve selected a perfect hide- more titleholders were named. Tom Sav- is bad when the bar- away for us. He booked us for a age an aviation consultant from Neptune, tender in the Code Bar five-night stay at Florida’s largest NJ, was selected American Leatherman GLBT resort, The Flamingo Resort 2011. Joining him on stage at the Leather is also the go-go boy.” in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Fla- Archives and Museum were “Trinity” a le- mingo Resort has 130 guest rooms, gal secretary from Castro Valley, California a large pool, retail shops, two out- who took home the American Leatherwom- ward to October 29 at the Baltimore Ea- side bars, a sports bar, a dance an 2011 sash and boy Tyler a Radiologic gle. I only wish I knew what to wear. What club, a full service restaurant, and Technologist from Concord, California looks best with sunburn? t a leather bar called “Code.” who was selected It had been quite a few years American Leather- since I last visited St. Petersburg. boy 2011. I was there in 2001 for the Interna- There was also tional Mr. Drummer / Drummerboy a celebration in 2001 contest at the Suncoast Re- Reading, Pennsyl- sort. I returned to the Suncoast Re- vania over the Co- sort in 2002 and 2003 for the Inter- lumbus Day Week- national LeatherSIR/ Leatherboy end as the Reading Contest. The Suncoast Resort is now just cago during the International Mr. Leather Railmen leather a weedy vacant lot surrounded by a chain- Contest. He informed me that the Ybor City club celebrated link fence. It made me a little sad to see Eagle Bar in Tampa had closed. I am, how- their thirty-third an- that. We had lots of fun there! It now exists ever, happy to report that I saw leather folk niversary. only in my memories. The Flamingo Resort at the Flamingo throughout the week, even Back in Bal- is just a little further down the street from at the large Sunday poolside tea dance. It timore, the Ship- where the Suncoast Resort was located. In is a fun place and I would recommend it Mates Club has for a relaxing getaway. moved their Hallow- It was great to just kick een Bar Night from back without a sched- the D.C. Eagle to ule of events. It was the their home bar the first time that I was in St. Baltimore, Eagle. Pete and not attending a Charity does begin leather contest. at home. You will While I was away want to be at the getting some sun, Marc Baltimore Eagle Sherkness-Carcione of on Saturday, Octo- Laurel, Maryland was ber 29 starting at getting a sash. Marc, a 9:00 pm for a beer member of the D.C. boys bust, those scary of Leather, was selected Jell-O shots, and Mr. PW’s Leather 2012 a costume contest. on Saturday, October I love Halloween: 1 at PW’s Sports Bar the moans, the in Laurel. Mr. Maryland groans, the rattling

28 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com community bulletin board October 20 – November 2

2011runs concurrent to has moved their Oct 20 – the PFLAG Howard Halloween Bar Night Nov 6 County Rainbow Youth from the D.C. Eagle T he Rocky Horror and Allies meeting in to their home bar the Show the same center, but Baltimore, Eagle. From Factory Edge in a different room. Charity does begin at Theatre Works, Richard Meetings are held on home. You will want O’Brien’s musical cult the fourth Tuesday of to be at the Baltimore classic comes vividly every month. 7:30 – Eagle on Saturday, to life with an array of 9:30 p.m. Owen Brown October 29 starting at characters from Dr Interfaith Center, 7246 9 pm for a beer bust, Frank-N-Furter, the not- Cradlerock Way, Co- those scary Jell-O so-sweet transvestite lumbia Maryland. shots, and a costume from Transylvania, to contest. 2022 North Brad and Janet, and a October 27 Charles Street, Balti- host of others. Balti- more, MD. Baltimore Mon- more Theatre Project, ster Mash-Up! 45 West Preston Street, The Strand The- October 30 Baltimore, MD. Tickets ater and the Maryland Sweet Like Sugar: $18-25. Humanities Coun- Readings by the cil hosts Free Fall author October 23 Monster Mash-up! Wayne Hoffman Women’s Self The Monster Mash- will be reading from Defense Up includes costume Sweet Like Sugar at A free women’s making, monster mash the Baltimore Hostel, self-defense class for dancing, and free 17 West Mulberry all womyn: age, race, refreshments! Par- Street in the Inner ability, gender-identity, ticipants will learn the Harbor / Mt. Vernon orientation, fitness-lev- origins of their favorite area, on October 30, at el. October is national monsters from Erik 7 p.m. stalking awareness Kjeldgaard, Associate month. No prior experi- Professor of Anthro- November 2 ence necessary. Free. pology at the Uni- T ransgender Is- Masada Tactical, 1414 versity of Maryland, sues Working Group Reisterstown Road, 2nd Baltimore County. The input and floor, Baltimore, MD Audiences will then perspective of our 21208; 410-415-6015. break up into smaller groups, based on their transgender support- favorite monsters, and ers is vital for the October 25 create their own scary advancement of trans- H oward County stories. The Strand gender issues, legisla- PFLAG Trans Parents Theater, 1823 N. tion and education in Forum Charles Street, Balti- our community. The The parents of trans more, MD 6 p.m. Free working group meets children have asked registration required at every other Wednes- PFLAG for a place http://strand-theater. day at the Equal- where they can meet org. ity Maryland offices and share concerns and 1201 S. Sharp Street, challenges of parent- Baltimore, MD 21230). ing trans children. October 29 7 p.m. Free, registra- The group represents H alloween Bar tion required. For info children from age 3 Night at the Eagle contact owen@equali- to age 30. The group ShipMates Club tymaryland.org.

email event submissions to [email protected]

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com q 29 Professional Services

counseling consulting HANDYMAN / LAWN

Get Unstuck STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ...at work, in love, for life! CONSULTING Strategic Planning Implementation, and Problem Solving = Strategic Results 410-949-7888 Lawn Master Baltimore office Strategic Management Meadow Mill, Hampden Consulting, LLC, a certified You grow it We mow it MBE, ensures non-profits, small businesses, and other • All Yard Work Gerry Fisher groups run more efficiently • Trees and Shrubs Pruned in order to accomplish their Life Coach goals effectively. • Leaf and Debris Removal Odette Ramos • Winter Residential Snow Removal Founder, President and CEO [email protected] www.strategicmgmt.net Call Jamie 443-913-6575 www.BaltimoreLifeCoachGerry.com 443.801.8137

dental massage C&J Handyman Services Ob tO Small Get your new smile! The ease and comfort is surprisingly advanced! NO J • Roofing Specializing in Cosmetic Dentistry • Painting XWhitening, Veneers, and Crowns • Gutters & Downspouts Cleaned • Trash Removal XFinancing Available to • All Around the House Jobs Transform Your Oral Health XMost insurances accepted Zoom!® Bleaching process Call Jamie 443-913-6575 We also Specialize in Root Canal and Periodontal Work Stephen B. Mastella, D.M.D office 410 685 2850 1030 N. Charles St. ~ Suite 302 Baltimore MD 21201

cleaning Support GROUP books & gifts

WHEN U WONT SETTLE FOR LESS... spring cleaning special Call Michael for Free Phone Quotes 410.426.1628

Call 410-244-6780 to list your business in the Professional Services directory.

30 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com Professional Services tax services travel attorney

afinanci l ELECTriCIAN

Ca ll 410-244-6780 to advertise. uppet s p lies EWH LP ANTED OFRee T GOOD HOME

1 male and 1 female 5 months old English Bulldogs for free to a good home due to relocation,they are current IndependentAVON SaleS RepReSentatIveS WantWant choose to choose your yourhours, hours, your your income on all shots. Potty trained,vet checked, AKC registered income,and yourand your rewards? rewards? WE W DO!!E DO!!! and %100 health guarantee. We are looking for the perfect home for them where they will be shown all love $$$$$$ and care,please contact: [email protected] Contact John Redmond/Bill Palmer AISR if you are capable of providing these puppies all love (443) 421-9091 / (443) 421-9090 and affection. [email protected]

Call 410-244-6780 to list your business in the Professional Services directory.

BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com q 31 Bob this will be an ad for the back page. I am forwarding logos along with an very poorly done ad. Could you work your magic and kick this up for the word Allegro could you please use the logo also for Grand Central use theirs also ( you may have to go to their web to get theirs (logo) around the Halloween stuff lets put some thing to fit the season better (not those flowers) web site after the phone number the face book info should be much smaller than the bars info these are the things I see you can do your with the other Mary

25th Anniversary Reunion Party & Grand Central’s 20th Anniversary Party Sunday, Nov. 6th • 4-8pm Country & Western • 8pm-Close Retro

Halloween Night . Monday, Oct. 31 $7 cover charge for the Disco • No cover for the Pub or Lounge DJ Jesse Mad Science Jackson • Cash Prizes for Costumes

Grand Central Nightclub 1001-1003 North Charles St. Baltimore, MD 410.752.7133 www.centralstationpub.com Visit us on Facebook

2-4-1 SundayS Every Sunday, receive a drink token that can be used all day Sunday or any Happy Hour during the week!

32 q BALTIMORE OUTLOUD OCTOBER 21, 2011 • baltimoreoutloud.com