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Bette Midler

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Bette Midler VOLUME NINE, NO. 7—March 28, 1996—April 10, 1996—Issue 201 • The WisconsinGive the People Light and they will find their ownLight way. Federal Court to Bette Midler, "The Divine Miss M," To Be Review Suit Brought By Wisconsin Youth Honorary Chair of AIDS Walk Wisconsin on Anti-Gay Bashing Milwaukee"It is my good fortune to make a surprise Milwaukee--A civil suit waiting review by announcement tonight." said Doug Nelson. Executive a federal court accuses public school admin- Director of the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin istrators in Ashland of failing to protect a (ARCW). Gay student against taunts and physical abuse Nelson was speaking to a sold-out crowd of nearly 1.000 by classmates. people attending the 10 Annual Make A Promise Dinner If Janie Nabozny, now 20, wins the argu- held in the grand ballroom of Milwaukees Fin de Siecle ment. the ruling will alert school administra- Pfister Hotel. The dinner is held as a fundraiser for the tors nationwide to provide a protective envi- Milwaukee AIDS Project (MAP). ronment for students, attorney David Bucket Nelson said that he was going to announce the 1996 said. Honorary Chair of AIDS Walk Wisconsin. Bucket works for the Lambda Legal De- The AIDS Walk, as it is most commonly known. is the fense and Education Fund of New York City, biggest AIDS fundraiser in the state. Held every which is assisting Nabozny in his suit against September. its honorary chairs have included Vice the Ashland school district. President and Tipper Gore, Milwaukee Mayor John "Violence against Lesbian and Gay teens is Norquist and his wife Susan Mudd, basketball great. a serious problem that school officials cannot Magic Johnson, Linda and Paul Molitor of the Milwaukee ignore." added Patricia M. Logue, Managing Brewers baseball team and Darryl Hamilton, also of the Attorney of Lambdas Regional Office in Brewers. Chicago. "With the federal government re- As the crowd listened, Nelson told them that this years porting that one-third of teen suicides are by chair was from the entertainment industrya firstand Lesbian and Gay youth, schools must show proceeded to read the letter of acceptance. Only when that zero tolerance for anti-Gay attacks." was done, did he reveal the name. The Th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in It would he Bette Midler. Chicago is scheduled to hear the case March The news. held secret from all save a few for so long, 2r. drew a thunderous ovation from the crowd, as Midlers If Buckets argument is upheld. it would picture was shown on a silver screen. he an endlessly expensive burden to place on Since then, the news seems to have gone through the school districts" that could be named in community like a bill against sin in Congress. similar suits. Timothy Yanacheck. the dis- "Id open my veins just to see her," one person extolled. tricts lawyer, said. "I love that woman!" "I own all her movies," said another. The school district didnt do anything to cause these punks, Jamies classmates, to His friend, not about to he up-staged, added quickly, harass him." Yanacheck said. This legal "But I have all her tapes. CDs. records. EVERTHINGI" case focuses on a narrow point, and that is Questions abound. Will she perform? Where will she (whether) the U.S. Constitution creates a re- perform! How can I get tickets to see her? Details on sponsibility on the part of school officials to Septembers AIDS Walk have yet to be announced, but from this vantage point. protect ' the AIDS Walk. already large, is set to become the event of the season. If we prevail in this case, it will send a The Divine Miss M message to schoot principals across the coun- Midler. or "The Divine Miss M." is no stranger to Gay try that they need to abide by the principle audiences, for it is among us that she first began her all Mat students need a safe environment to career that has hit the heights of both screen and music. get their education." Bucket said. According to Midler, she wsas born and raised in What Jamies case does is make it clear Honolulu. Hawaii, and made up her mind to become an that were simply not going to take this any- actress while still in high school in the Aloha State. After more," said Kevin Jennings. executive di- a year of studying drama at the University. of Hawaii, rector of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight she was cast as an extra in George Roy Hills Teachers Network, based in New York City. film Hawaii. It was, Midler says, a small Jennings group gave Nabozny an award PrideFest Committee Unveils Pride '96 Logo taste of what might be, hut "I was hooked. earlier this month for fighting homophobia in She relocated to New York City, where she schools, at First of Two Receptions for Proud Crowd made her stage debut in Tom Eyetts Cinder- Another case involves the Salt Lake City ella Revisited, followed by her portrayal of MilwaukeePrideFests big rainbow flag whole community." school board, which decided recently to Tzeitel in the Broadway musical Fiddler On was draped proudly along one wall. On the As people ate food provided by Pizza Shut- eliminate extracurricular clubs rather than The Roof. other wall, above the bar, was a colorful ban- tle and Joe Brehm, owner of This Is It. there allow a gay-student support group. Jennings In the wake of singing engagements at a ner welcoming the Proud Crowd to This Is It. was a mood of expectancy because it had said. host of popular New York cabarets, Midler The occasion was a reception given by been announced that PrideFest would show, In New Hampshire, parents sued the Mer- opened a record-breaking run at the citys rimack school district over a policy that for- PrideFest to honor and thank members of the for the first time, its new logo. The logo was created by Barb Peterson, the Continental Baths. bids support of homosexuality as a positive Proud Crowd. As those of us know from "the good old The Proud Crowd is PrideFests annual third year in a row that she has done the logo. lifestyle, he said. days." the Continental Baths was one of the grass roots fundraiser that helps to provide The logo portrays PrideFests theme of Nabozny and Bucket said they are willing most popular Gay mens spas in New York money for pre-festival expenses such as in- "Carry The Touch. It shows a touch from to take their case to the II.S. Supreme Court. City. Midler wowed them and she has, as she surance and grounds rental. which bloom flames in the brilliant colors of "The big reason is so that it doesnt happen said, "never forgotten my roots. I owe a lot The crowd that gathered Sunday. March the rainbow. to other people," Nabozny said. to the Gay community and I always will." at This Is It numbered approximately Praise for it was unanimous. People com- He was kicked. spit on and taunted in cor- 24th She created such a sensation with her Gay ISO. It was in a jubilant and expectant mood mented on the brilliance of its colors: on how ridors, restrooms and locker rooms after en- audiences. that it wasnt long before she had because it had been learned that the Cream well it showed PrideFests theme, and how rolling in middle school in 1988 in the Lake signed a contract with Atlantic Records. City Foundation (CCF) had granted PrideFest good it would look on display. Superior community. he said. In 1973, Bette took Grammy Award honors The Torch theme is especially appropriate He dropped out of high school as a junior $5,000. for Best New Artist in recognition of her this year as PrideFest moves to the Henry W. in 1993. His parents said they conferred with "Divine Miss M" debut album (now certified Maier Festival grounds (Summerfest school administrators and counselors after RIAA platinum). That same year. she re- their depressed son considered suicide. grounds). This Proud Crowd reception was the first of ceived a Tony Award for her appearance at Every time we left any of the meetings, Broadways Palace Theatre. Midlers mete- two. The second will be held on at This Is It we felt something was going to he resolved oric career continued to escalate with her on March 31 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. and it never went any farther," Naboznys "Clams On The Half Shell" revue, "The At this second reception, Meunier said, the father. Robert. said in court documents. Fabulous Bette Midler Show" for HBO. the total number of Proud Crowd members will Nabozny moved to Minneapolis where he Emmy Award-winning TV special "01 Red he announced. Pressed to say how many there earned a high school-equivalent degree. He Hair Is Back," and a string of albums. are, he would only respond "The number is filed suit in 1995. In 1979, Midlers portrayal of the tor- record shattering." — The thing that I remember most is that mented, self-destructive rock singer in Mark PrideFest will be held al the Surnmerfest my stomach was always in knots." he said in Rydells The Rose earned her an Academy grounds for the first lime this year. For the an interview. would always tell my par- Award nomination and Golden Globe Awards first time as well, PrideFest will be held for ents that I was sick." TURN TO BETTE MIDLER. PAGE 15 He and Buckel argue the district failed to af- three days: June 7-9.
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