The Year 2011
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The Hollywood Issue Glenn Close and Rodrigo Garcia explore gender identity in Albert Nobbs Plus: Denis O’Hare, TV’s reigning supervillain, and our guide to the big Christmas movies • SCREEN, Page 20 DallasVoice.com Facebook.com/DallasVoice Twitter.com/DallasVoice The Premier Media Source for LGBT Texas Established 1984 | Volume 28 | Issue 32 FREE | Friday, December 23, 2011 In his first year as executive director of EQUALITY TEXAS, Coleman helped get anti-bullying bills passed. Now he’s setting his sights on marriage equality. Person of LGBT the year 2011 Read the full story beginning on Page 15. 2 dallasvoice.com • 12.23.11 toc12.23.11 | Volume 28 | Issue 32 6 headlines • TEXAS NEWS 6 Maxey’s exposé on Rick Perry 6 RCD receives Elton John grant 9 Gay Balch Springs man found dead • BUSINESS 13 LGBT ally brews vodka in Texas • LIFE+STYLE 22 Luna reveals 3 rules of Ouija board 13 24 Our guide to Christmas movies 27 O’Hare is far less creepy in person • COVER ART Photo of Dennis Coleman by Terry Thompson. Design by Kevin Thomas. departments 6 Texas News 20 Life+Style 8 Pet of the Week 38 Starvoice 13 Business 40 Scene 18 Viewpoints 42 Classifieds 27 12.23.11 • dallasvoice 3 instantTEA DallasVoice.com/Category/Instant-Tea SEASONS GREETINGS | Equality Texas encourages LGBT families to include their elected officials on their holiday card lists. Holiday greeting card activism Dallas. The lake was built by the city of Fort Worth to supplement its water supply in 1964 and is the If you’re like me and you still haven’t yet sent out fourth-largest lake in Texas. those holiday greeting cards — or if you just have a The area began attracting LGBT lake house buy- few left over — consider this idea from Equality ers in the 1980s. Many Dallasites bought weekend Texas: houses there but the area has also attracted a num- Holiday cards are inherently personal — they are ber of LGBT retirees and other full-time residents. a meaningful way to share a part of your life with Since Friends opened almost 20 years ago, other people. When you are thinking about who you other LGBT businesses and organizations have want to send cards to this year, consider adding grown around the lake. LGBT-friendly Celebration your State Senator and State Representative to Church on the Lake in nearby Mabank grew with your list. For those who do not have lesbian, gay, bi- help from Celebration Church in Fort Worth. Gar- sexual, or transgender people in their lives, it can be lows, a second LGBT bar in Gun Barrel City, easy to label us as an “other.” As long as LGBT opened several years ago. Gay campground Circle people remain only an idea to our representatives, J Ranch is near the lake in Eustace. they are unlikely to fight for us. When they receive In addition, two cities on the lake have elected your card, your family will become real and personal gay mayors. to them. When they consider legislation affecting The gay bars draw not only from lake residents LGBT people, they will no longer see something in- but also from nearby Corsicana and Athens as well tangible and distant — they will see you and your as a number of other smaller towns in Navarro, family. This simple action can be extremely power- Henderson and Kaufman counties. ful. If we show more people what we are really like, — David Taffet we stand to gain many more allies. Use your holiday card to put a face to LGBT equality. Get gay married. It’s good for — John Wright your health Gun Barrel City bar Friends closing Same-sex marriage may be destroying “tradi- Leo Bartlett, owner of Friends in Gun Barrel City, tional” marriage according to groups like the Na- announced Tuesday, Dec. 20, on his Facebook tional Organization for Marriage, but the American page that the bar is closing. Journal of Public Health found that gay marriage is “Due to uncontrollable events, the clubs doors good for your health. must be closed,” he wrote. A study was conducted in Massachusetts at a The bar has been a center of activity for the clinic that specializes in serving the health needs of LGBT community around Cedar Creek Lake for gay men after same-sex marriage was legalized, about 20 years. Pageants, shows, food drives and CBS reported. It found that over that first 12-month charity events took place regularly at Friends. The period, visits to the clinic dropped 13 percent and most recent charity drive was a collection for Toys healthcare costs decreased by 14 percent. for Tots. The journal said that the LGBT community re- The closing was announced suddenly. Events ceived “compromised health care delivery” com- were posted through January. pared with the general population and suffered from “From the bottom of my heart, I have never “minority stress” leading to “negative mental and thought that this notice would go out,” Bartlett physical health effects.” wrote. He called the closing a “heartbreaking deci- “Reports in the medical and social science literature sion.” suggest that legal and social recognition of same-sex A number of financial factors apparently con- marriage has had positive effects on the health status tributed to the closing of Friends but this summer’s of this at-risk community,” the report says. drought, the worst in Texas’ history, was also likely a So allowing same-sex couples brings down contributing factor. The lake level was down almost healthcare costs for everyone and helps people live 8 feet — far enough that many boat ramps were longer. Those standing in the way of allowing same- closed so weekend residents stayed away. Friends sex couples to marry aren’t just denying gays and is in Gun Barrel City, located centrally on Cedar lesbians equal rights, they’re killing us. Creek Lake, which is about 60 miles southeast of — David Taffet 4 dallasvoice.com • 12.23.11 12.23.11 • dallasvoice 5 • texasnews RCD receives Elton John grant Money targeted at reaching Latino community is believed to be the first grant from the foundation to a Dallas organization DAVID TAFFET | Staff Writer [email protected] The Elton John AIDS Foundation has given Resource Center Dallas a $38,000 grant to be used in targeting HIV prevention efforts within the gay Latino community. Community Health Programs Manager Ruben Ramirez said this week that the money will allow RCD to expand its out- reach and testing program to a population that has seen a dramatic rise in infections. “The grant will be used to expand the ac- tivities we do now and give it more visibil- ity, and then to provide a social support group on a monthly basis,” Ramirez said. When the organization had city funding, the center provided more testing and social support to the Latino community than is currently available, Ramirez said. The in- creased programming begins next month. The Elton John AIDS Foundation gener- ally funds innovative programs that are al- ready successful in reducing the spread of HIV. So rather than create something new, Ramirez said the center will use the money TELLING THE TALE | After a story planned for the Huffington Post on Rick Perry’s alleged same-sex affairs was nixed, gay former Texas Rep. Glen Maxey to enhance the outreach that’s already decided to tell the story himself. (Associated Press) working. In other target groups, RCD has followed up testing with support groups and social networking that has reinforced the safer-sex Activist’s exposé on Perry hits the market and prevention message. Ramirez said that within the Latino com- Former legislator Glen Maxey says ners, a hustler and others. a KLBJ drive-time radio interview that after- munity, he has heard quite a bit of misinfor- Prior to the book’s debut Maxey, who re- noon. mation. he was motivated to write about turned to activism after leaving the Legislature, The “calm before the storm” that Maxey had “We’re still seeing the old myths from governor’s alleged gay affairs by had stocked his Austin apartment with food talked about in the telephone interview appar- way back when about how people get Perry’s hypocrisy; that he has and other supplies, anticipating a period of ently has now erupted into a major distur- HIV,” Ramirez said, adding that he had re- time when he might want to stay out of sight. bance. cently spoken to someone who thought he moved to a ‘safe house’ But after his exposé attracted national media Head Figure Head – The Search for the Hidden could get HIV from sipping from the same following threats attention and outrage from Perry’s conserva- Life of Rick Perry is the product of Maxey’s glass as someone who was positive. tive religious supporters, Maxey decided to go work with a reporter from The Huffington Post “I was astounded,” he said. further underground. and the frustration he felt when publisher Ar- Ramirez said that although information DAVID WEbb | Contributing Writer “Got some death threats of the crank level, ianna Huffington killed what the former legis- is readily available, language and immigra- [email protected] but have moved to a safe house until it calms lator claims was a completed story approved tion barriers stand in the way of some peo- down,” Maxey told Dallas Voice in a message by editors and ready for publication. ple learning about HIV. AUSTIN — Life is changing quickly for gay via Facebook following a telephone interview When it became clear the story would never “And some folks just bypass the sea of in- former Texas Rep.