In WiGOUT Despite her recent break-up, Melissa Etheridge says life is good. See interview, page 19. The voice Of progress fOr WIscOnsIn’s LGBT cOmmUnity July 29, 2010 | Vol. 1, No. 19 marriage equality foes outnumbered in madison By emily mills ers. In Madison about 500 Contributing writer counter-demonstrators faced Supporters for mar- off against the anti-equality riage equality outnumbered visitors. National Organization for An hour before NOM Marriage protesters by a began its presentation on ratio of 8 - 1 during a July 27 the steps of the Capitol, the duel of rallies on the streets counter-protesters gath- of Madison. ered at a rally orgnized by NOM’s Madison stop was a large coalition of state part of the group’s Summer and local groups, including for Marriage Tour, a 23-city Fair Wisconsin, the LGBT trek to spread the group’s Campus Center of UW - message of traditional, het- Madison, PFLAG and Planned erosexual-only unions. NOM Parenthood of Wisconsin. also hopes to gather two Addressing the crowd million signatures from what before the march began, hus- executive director Brian bands Michael Knaapen and Brown referred to as an John Becker of Milwaukee “army for traditional mar- told the story of their court- riage rights.” ship and marriage. But at most stops, local “Our relationship is the pro-equality supporters, most special thing in the alerted to the tour’s appear- world to us, of course,” ances via Facebook and Becker said. “But it’s prob- Twitter, have overwhelmed ably not so different than NOM’s small cadre of march- what millions of other people have. After we got engaged, though, that’s when things got complicated and became This a little more unique.” Knaapen went on to issue explain how the two had to Photo: Lucky to m a s z e k inside and online at travel to Canada to have a pro-equality demonstrators (above) overwhelmed the national Organization for marriage’s sum- wisconsingazette.com Madison page 11 mer for marriage tour during its madison stop on July 27. News Wisconsin Gaze............4 Editorial ��������������������������8 city worker disciplined for sending hate mail National Gaze ������������ 12 International Gaze ���� 16 By Louis Weisberg without pay in mid-July after tance from several years to hear you married another his objection and his request WiGWAG ������������������� 26 Staff writer a man complained to city ago. He said she contacted man. God made Adam and that Luty stop contacting A Milwaukee city work- officials that she’d sent him him after seeing pictures on Eve not Adam and Steve.” him, she continued to write. Features er is back on the job after e-mails from her office com- Facebook of his nuptials with “I wrote back and said, Milwaukee employee WiGOUT �������������������� 19 agreeing to apologize to a puter filled with Christian another man. “You know you ‘What you’re saying to me relations director Maria Art Gaze ��������������������� 21 gay man she harassed via her right anti-gay rhetoric. are living in sin and will burn is inappropriate, wrong and Monteagudo said she imme- Theater Gaze ������������� 23 government e-mail account. Gordon Jablonski, a former in hell if you don’t change hurtful. I have the right to diately sent Luty home after On the Town �������������� 29 Donna Luty, an administra- Wisconsin resident who now your life around,” Luty wrote choose my own religion,’” learning of the harassment Community Events.... 30 tive assistant with the Port lives in New Jersey, described in an e-mail that Jablonski Jablonski said. and launched an investiga- of Milwaukee, was suspended Luty as a peripheral acquain- shared with WiG. “I’m sorry But Jablonski said despite Hate mail page 5 2 WI s c O n s I n GAZ e TT e . c O m | July 29, 2010 During the month of August, Peabody's is offering 25% off of all Hickory Chair purchases and one hour free design consultations. WE HAVE ARRIVED!VISIT US IN OUR NEW SHOWROOM. EXPERIENCE THE INTRIGUE. 8655 N. Deerwood Drive Brown Deer, WI 53209 414.962.4550 peabodysinteriors.com WI s c O n s I n GAZ e TT e . c O m | July 29, 2010 3 4 WI s c O n s I n GAZ e TT e . c O m | July 29, 2010 Got news? Tell us manag- Gotingeditor@wisconsingazette. news? Tell us wisconsin5 Gaze [email protected]. milwaukee settles ‘naked Boys’ lawsuit By John Quinlan ‘He informed AIDS, said the threat of jail Contributing writer time without access to medi- Five years after a Milwaukee me if I wanted cations was not a risk he vice squad officer shut down could afford to take. So on a traveling production of the to be all high Aug. 18, 2005, what was sup- gay-themed, off-Broadway posed to be the Milwaukee hit “Naked Boys Singing” and mighty premiere of “Naked Boys at the Milwaukee Gay Arts Singing” became a press Center, the city has settled that he could conference to announce a the resulting lawsuit with a take me down lawsuit against the city on $20,000 check delivered to First Amendment grounds of the center July 14. to the police prior restraint. The initial controversy With the help of ACLU broke in August 2005, less station if I of Wisconsin legal direc- than five months after MGAC tor Larry DuPuis, MGAC had opened with a Broadway sold even one filed a notice of injury and revue. Fundamentalist street claim in federal court seek- preacher Drew Heiss, tipped ticket.’ ing $634,420 in damages. off by the extensive public- It stated that the group’s ity campaign that preceded “rights were violated when the performance of “Naked the employees of the city Boys,” filed an open records selectively enforced the ordi- request that revealed MGAC nance in violation of the con- had not applied for a small Playbill that a man who iden- stitutional rights of (MGAC) theater license with the tified himself as Milwaukee and the staff of (“Naked Boys c ourtesy broadwaywor L d. c o m Milwaukee City Council, vice squad Det. Wilcox called Singing”) due to the organiza- The cast of the new york production of “naked Boys singing.” which was then in summer him to warn that performing tion’s focus on gay-related recess and not scheduled to the play that evening was not and AIDS-related causes.” Barrett called for a review of mecca of Provincetown, Amendment was designed meet until September. advised. The play’s themes are the city’s licensing practices Mass., which later amended to prohibit,” Dupuis said. MGAC’s attorneys main- “(Wilcox) was very gruff rooted in the transforma- and the police department’s its local ordinance to prohibit He was supported in the tained that the center was and I perceived his voice as tions that come with gay handling of the shutdown. all nude entertainment. suit by cooperating Madison exempt from the require- threatening,” Hooker said. identity and individual strug- Following a city attorney’s Some Milwaukee officials civil rights attorneys Steven ment because of its non- “He informed me if I wanted gles with AIDS, and support- ruling that the ordinance downplayed the significance Porter and Jeff Scott Olson. profit status, a position that to be all high and mighty and ers pointed out that most of should never have been of the case and the settle- “We are pleased that the city was later affirmed by the act like I was above the law, the play’s critics had never applied to a non-profit orga- ment. “There’s no admission has clarified the process so city attorney’s office. But that he could take me down heard or seen the play. They nization, 16 highly successful of wrongdoing,” assistant city that non-profits will know the city’s official stance was to the police station if I sold argued that the play’s award- performances played MGAC attorney Miriam Horwitz they are not required to get expressed in chilling terms even one ticket and have me winning musical score con- later that fall. said. “The city settled as a a license. However, we con- by two visits to MGAC from booked and printed like any tains “naked truth messages” The Milwaukee show’s practical matter.” tinue to believe that the city members of the Milwaukee drug dealer who was break- inherent to the universal shutdown was the fourth But advocates for MGAC should amend its ordinance Police Department vice ing the law.” struggle of being true to who such occurrence in its now disagreed. to limit the time the city has squad, followed by a tele- Organizers briefly consid- you are. decade-long history, includ- “Requiring any theater to to issue any theater license. phone ultimatum. ered moving ahead with the After a meeting with ing similar incidents in San get a license before putting It’s too easy for the authori- “Naked Boys Singing” pro- performance as an act of about 50 LGBT commu- Juan, Puerto Rico, and Atlanta. on a play comes dangerously ties to just delay giving the ducer Mark Hooker told the civil disobedience. However, nity leaders in September Ironically, the first incident close to the kind of prior permit to performances they Broadway-based publication Hooker, who is living with 2005, Milwaukee Mayor Tom occurred in 2001 in the gay restraint on speech the First don’t like.” G e T T h e W I s c O n s I n G A Z e TT e D e LI v e r e D .