Vol. 17 • June 3, 2010 - June 16, 2010 www.therainbowtimesnews.com FREE! The BOSTON RYour LGBTQainbow News in MA, RI, North Central Times CT & Southern VT PRIDE PP p14 ROCHE-STA The T INSIDE PHOTO: SUZETTE RYour LGBTQainbow News in MA, RI, North Central Times CT & Southern VT KATHY GRIFFIN The “In fact, Cher wants me to take it down a notch, that’s how gay I am now.” p3 Your LGBTQ News in MA, RI, North Central CT & Southern VT ainbow imes YNAN POWER R T T PHOTO: PROJECT ONE Launches Campaign With Forum On Bullying And Suicide Prevention pB15 Chatting with PHOTO: KIDDMADONNY.COM DJ KIDD MADONNY CeCe Mans The Decks At Machine’s Peniston Headlines BOSTON PRIDE PARTY Friday, June 11th Boston Pride 2010 p7 PHOTO: COURTESY BOSTON PRIDE • June 3, 010 - June 16, 010 • The Rainbow Times • www.therainbowtimesnews.com Ask, Don’t Tell? You might get what you asked for By: Susan Ryan-Vollmar*/TRT Columnist when Politico’s Ben Smith reported that Ka- The Controversial Couch nybody miss the front-page Wall Street gan was straight. One his sources? Disgraced Lie back and listen. Then get up and do something! Journal photo of U.S. Supreme Court former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who By: Suzan Ambrose*/TRT Columnist pay”. Besides all the marine life, Anominee Elena Kagan playing softball? emailed this to Smith about his college days magine a new item on the menu that is … lifeless and washing up You can see it here {http://politi.co/b0Bahx} with Kagan: “I did not go out with her, but at your local fish and chip-ar- onto the not-so-beautiful beaches. Kagan has excellent form: she’s got her eye other guys did. I don’t think it is my place to rea: “All You Can Eat Fish I know this is an uncomfortable say more.” I on the ball and she’s choking up the bat. She’s (undetermined) with a tangy light truth. We’d almost rather NOT wearing jeans, sneakers, and a loosely but- As Washington Post media critic Howard Gulf Coast oil coating” brought to you from look and see this happening, like a varicose toned denim shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Kurtz put it: “I’m not sure he’s the guy you BP. Beyond Petroleum/British Petroleum, the vein on your leg ... don’t look and perhaps it She’s looks like a lesbian. want out there talking world’s second largest oil company and one of will go away. Not. Which is likely the point. about sex.” the world’s largest corporations, is responsible In fact, we may not have even noticed much As soon as Kagan’s Kind of like the first black Indeed. for this disgusting ooze we are just starting to about this impending disaster, as BP has not name was put in the mix You can read what- see show up on our beaches and marches in the allowed media into the area, or any other in- to replace retiring Justice president. And the first ever you want into the Southern states. vestigative team to collect data and evidence John Paul Stevens, politi- female justice. “is she or isn’t she” re- It’s Day 36 at the time of this writing, and against them, when it all comes time to go to cal insiders were gossip- porting about Kagan’s so far, BP has done precious little to impede court to see how MUCH they will pay. But the ing about Kagan as the sexual orientation: the the flow of the “oh so thick oil from its pipe, 1 sins of the father are washing up on shore for first gay justice. Firsts matter. media is sexist (why mile below the ocean’s surface.” Watching the all to see now. And from there, the ru- can’t a woman be live feed gives one a sense of just how little is How many more environmental disasters of mor took on a life of its Why pretend otherwise?” single and successful being done to stop the daily continued pollu- our own making can we continue to ignore? own. It hit the mainstream without also being a tion there ain’t no one doin’ anything there! Oh Nuclear waste that isn’t properly stored has a when CBS News blogger Ben Domenech mat- lesbian?); the media is just doing its job (it’s a sure, I know they’ve been trying, and there’s a consequence, along with oil drilling and pipe- ter of factly described Kagan as the country’s legitimate question and it needed to be asked); tube siphoning a fifth of what is coming out, line leaks, coal mining and mountaintop re- “first openly gay justice.” the media is homophobic (why is the sexual but it’s precious little ... but with a huge price moval, air pollution and acid rain. The White House fueled the fire when orientation of a potential Supreme Court jus- tag someone will have to pay. As we slowly destroy our clean water, air and spokesman Ben LaBolt described Domenech’s tice relevant?). And those “some ones” will be us. soil, and at the same time, continue to reproduce post as making “false charges” – which an- But I think there’s another interpretation. The We’ll start pay by paying more for fish, more more humans at a staggering rate, it’s a circle gered LGBT politicos, who wanted to know Kagan kafuffle is a sign of the LGBT commu- unemployment benefits to working fisherman, of destruction with a not- so-rosy forecast. why being described as openly gay consti- nity’s influence. Regardless of what you think and tourist-starved vacation beach towns. Then This is one more chapter in the struggle for tuted a charge. Things turned truly bizarre See Kagan on page 13 we’ll pay through higher taxes to clean this up human rights. Human rights, you say? Yes, hu- after BP has walked away, laughing all the way man, animal, and vegetable. Planetary rights to the bank. We’ll pay by seeing our precious that start and end with humans smack in the Time for action to make promises resources and fragile ecosystem destroyed, un- middle of it. Our planet needs us to become usable and stinky for years to come. We’ll be See Couch on page 4 matter and enforce consequences angry and shaking our fists that “someone must By: Jason Lydon/TRT Opinion Writer piece challeng- hen it came time to vote for es Benny, the Letters to the Editor a theme for Boston Pride I assimilating The Rainbow Times was one of those who was landlord; “al- Dear Editor, 351 Pleasant St., #322 W Northampton, MA 01060 excited about the idea of the word “ri- though he once We wanted to take this opportunity to say ots” coming off the tongues of queer had principles, a huge, THANK YOU, to Gricel M. Ocasio, www.therainbowtimesmass.com and transgender people throughout he abandoned Publisher and to The Rainbow Times for the [email protected] Massachusetts. I was excited to be them to live outstanding story about our documentary in [email protected] part of remembering the role riots as a lap dog your May 0 edition. [email protected] have played in our movements, most to a wealthy We are, indeed, grateful because we were Phone: 413.282.8881, famously being Stonewall, but also daughter of the Jason Lydon starting to lose hope that the Gay media was 617.444.9618 or 617.438.4364 the Compton Cafeteria riot that oc- revolution.” not interested in our story. Gricel proved Fax: 206.203.0436 Opinion curred in August of 1966 when trans- In many ways I think that she could be chal- otherwise and because of her gracious and gender patrons fought back against lenging the far majority of the current LGBT informative story, we have others in the Publisher Columnists police repression and exclusion by the Comp- movement. media, both gay and mainstream, who have Gricel M. Ocasio Suzan Ambrose ton Cafeteria. The numbers of transgender women of color focused attention toward our work. Editor-In-Chief Lorelei Erisis However, the way the theme is titled, “From getting brutally murdered around the country Our main reason for filming, A Cross Nicole Lashomb Tetty Gorfine Riots to Rights,” implies that the need for riot- keeps increasing, there was yet another wom- Burning in Willacoochee, was to share our Sales Manager Deja N. Greenlaw Paul P. Jesep ing is over, and I could not disagree more. an murdered in Puerto Rico on May 4th. story about what happened to us and to re- Bill Berggren We do not need to organize to pass more Jason Lydon In the Broadway musical “Rent (which has mind people that these types of hate crimes Distribution Manager its own issues worth discussing in another col- are still happening today. Not only did you J.M. Sorrell See Promises on page 28 SJ Seymour Reporters umn) Maureen’s mooing filled performance feature our story, you also placed a copy Sales Associates of our DVD on the cover of The Rainbow Joe Siegel Chris Gilmore Tynan Power Times. We feel we will receive much more Liz Johnson attention and requests once the readers see Susan Ryan-Vollmar C’mon Out – Just Ask! Advice Column your great paper. We also have passed along Webmaster Lead Designer By: Tetty Gorfine*/TRT Columnist through books and many copies that Gricel sent to us. Jarred Johnson Jim Curran Hi Tetty, what not, but it hasn’t Again, words cannot deeply express our The Rainbow Times is published monthly by I’m a freshman in college and I’m having an seemed to help.