November 2013
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The Empty Closet F ollow us on Facebook at Empty Closet News Follow us at www.twitter.com/EmptyClosetNews LOCAL, STATE AND NATIONAL NEWS, NEWSMAKER INTERVIEWS, OPINION, ENTERTAINMENT, COLUMNISTS, EVENT CALENDARS, COMICS, AND HEALTH RESOURCES NUMBER 473 A PUBLICATION OF THE GAY ALLIANCE OF THE GENESEE VALLEY NOVEMBER 2013 G ay Alliance to host annual meeting Nov. 20 Candidates to Watch The Gay Alliance of the Gen- esee Valley will hold its annual meeting on Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. at ROCHESTER MAYORAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER 5, 2013 MVP Health Care, 220 Alex- ander St. For more information call 244-8640. ■ I t’s a wrap Page 27 A lex White L ovely Warren Contents Candidate for Mayor of Rochester Candidate for Mayor of Rochester Editorials ...................................... 2 Local/State News ....................... 3 By Susan Jordan By Susan Jordan National/International News..... 4 Alex White is running for Mayor of Rochester on the Green Party Lovely Warren is president of Rochester City Council and is the Interview: Legal aid: Deaf issues ... 7 ticket. He is a strong supporter of LGBT rights. He told The Empty Democratic nominee for mayor. At the Rainbow Flag Raising last July Opinion .......................................15 Shoulders To Stand On ...........21 Closet, “I’ve been to rallies, have marched in the Pride Parade and she told the crowd that she has moved beyond her former disapproval Columnists ...............................22 wrote an article in support of the marriage act and how business own- of LGBT people. Community ...............................25 ers should support it. The Green Party feels we should have equal She told The Empty Closet in October, “Watching ‘Shoulders To Entertainment: ImageOut .........27 rights for all.” Stand On’ I thought that I grew up in a world where I did not have Gay Alliance: Volunteer White himself owns a small business and he believes that backing the privilege of interacting with gay and lesbian people before I went appreciation .................................30 LGBT rights is good for businesses like his and for the local economy. to college. I don’t believe the government or anyone should tell people Calendar ....................................34 If elected, White says he would not appoint an LGBT community who to love. With gay marriage I believe I had to grow into my think- Classifieds .................................34 Comics ............................... 34, 35 liaison – he would ask the LGBT community to appoint someone and ing and expand. he would accept whoever that person was. “I mentored a young woman in high school; her relationships Proud Publisher of New York State’s Oldest LGBT Newspaper “That’s the with men were big difference “I’ve been to rallies, have marched in the “I had to examine my own beliefs and ask really rocky. She here,” he said. “I Pride Parade and wrote an article in support myself if I was being discriminatory in started to date know there are a woman and people in the of the marriage act and how business owners my own thinking…. I was being a barrier before my eyes G AY ALLIANCE LGBT commu- should support it. The Green Party feels we to progress. I don’t want that to happen. I she started to nity who know grow and blos- PARTNERSHIPS their issues and should have equal rights for all.” believe everybody should be treated equally.” som. She went I want them to on to college T he Gay Alliance educate me.” He feels that his opponent, Democratic Party primary because her partner encouraged her and believed in her. I had to appreciates the continuing winner Lovely Warren, has a history of being against marriage equal- examine my own beliefs and ask myself if I was being discriminatory partnership of businesses ity and gay rights in general. “At the first Democratic Committee in my own thinking. within our community who support meeting,” he said, “she was asked about DOMA and she came out “I had a heart-to-heart with a young man also and they opened our mission and vision. pretty much against repealing it.” my eyes and showed me how I was being a barrier to progress. I don’t How can a third party candidate win in our two-party political want that to happen. I believe everybody should be treated equally. I P latinum Level system? White responds that the race for mayor of Rochester is not believe in being a voice of reasons for all causes. Watching ‘Shoulders a three-party race, since no Republican candidate is involved. “We’re To Stand On’ and seeing what people I know had to go through – it not a third party,” he said. “We’re the second party in this race! Our was really powerful for me.” strategy is to let all the community groups who oppose Lovely War- Warren added that she has spoken with a trans woman who ren and David Gantt know that we will support them. That would changed her understanding of gender issues as well. “I met a trans E xcellus include labor, the LGBT community and a lot of the neighborhood woman through my legislative office,” she said. “We talked for many development groups.” hours and she said she had started the process of transition, but the White feels that the current administration has disappointed many government would not allow her to take the extra step. I wondered, neighborhood groups. He said, “When Bill Johnson left office, he left ‘How could you stand in the way emotionally and cause pain to some- with the Neighbors Helping Neighbors program intact. Duffy turned one?’ I clearly understood the toll it takes on a person to be in a body Trillium Health it into Neighbors Helping the City. Membership has declined. The where they don’t feel whole.” city now charges political groups and others $75 to hold a block party. At the Pride flag-raising in July, Mayor Tom Richards and City If we in my neighborhood wanted to have an Averill/Clinton block Council member Matt Haag announced the appointment of a City party, we’d have to pay $75. I feel all of these groups would benefit Hall LGBT liaison, Molly Clifford. When asked if she would keep from a Green Party/Alex White administration. Lovely Warren voted Molly Clifford on in the post, or possibly appoint a different liai- $20 million for the marina project and I don’t know how that helps son, Lovely Warren replied, “I’ll definitely make sure we have an Logical Operations inner city neighborhoods. The marina would cost us; that $20 mil- LGBT liaison. It’s important to have someone representing every lion could have gone for housing rehabilitation. Which is more impor- portion of the community. It was a great initiative that Mayor tant – marinas or taking care of dilapidated neighborhoods? She voted Richards and Councilmember Haag announced and I look forward tax exemptions and loans to building companies last month. If you to carrying it on.” (White continues page 3) (Warren continues page 3) 2 the empty closet • the gay alliance of the genesee valley • number 473 • november 2013 G AY ALLIANCE OF THE GENESEE VALLEY Gay Alliance Board of Trustees W. Bruce Gorman, Co-President and Secretary Emily Jones, Co-President, David Zona, Treasurer, Perspectives John Altieri, Chris Hilderbrant, Jeff Markarian, Peter Mohr, Jessica Muratore, Steve Santacroce, William Schaefer T he Empty Closet Editor G ay Alliance Executive Director G AY ALLIANCE PARTNERSHIPS SUSAN JORDAN S COTT FEARING anti-Obama fundraiser, is not T he Gay Alliance Planned Parenthood, NYCLU, appreciates the continuing funny. Then there are the moth- or any of the dozens of other partnership of businesses ers of newborns who depend on partners that we regularly work within our community WIC for infant formula. Let in alliance with. who support our mission them eat cake? “Shoulders to Stand On” was and vision. The 26 states with the highest also an important reminder that concentrations of poverty have we have come a long way since G old Level rejected the healthcare expan- the days when being “a homo- sion funding: they are home to sexual” meant that you were 68 percent of poor, uninsured sick. No longer are we relegated blacks and single mothers and to the doctor’s office, therapist’s 60 percent of the working poor. couch or the asylum for being Coincidence? who we are. Being LGBT does Forget Head Start, kids. not require medical experts, but Also, at the National Institutes instead requires us to be com- of Health, nearly three-quarters munity experts. City of Rochester of the staff was furloughed. One The community building result: director Francis Collins lessons that come from watch- Absolut/Malibu H ard times for said about 200 patients who oth- B uilding ing “Shoulders to Stand On” are satirists erwise would be admitted to the Community many and are a reminder to us, NIH Clinical Center into clini- as an organization and as indi- S ilver Level “Saying that they needed cal trials each week were turned In the documentary film to be in peak physical condi- “Shoulders to Stand On,” Whit- viduals, of the importance of 3 Olives away. This includes about 30 being fully engaged. tion for their looming effort to children, most of them cancer ey LeBlanc, one of the founders Baccardi defund Obamacare, over a hun- patients, he said. of the Gay Alliance, explains Get Kinky dred House Republicans lined But brave Teapublicans that our name was carefully and As you may have already up for their free annual physicals rose up against the evil social- purposefully chosen as a state- heard, the Gay Alliance is work- today….