Articles by E. Ross
E. Ross is the founder of Bent Alaska.
Alaska Remembers Dan Cook (Cherresse)
Dan Cook, aka Cherreese, was an active member of the Imperial Court of All Alaska for many years before retiring to Oregon. He passed away from cancer at approximately 10 p.m. Alaska time on January 7, 2010. The funeral is tomorrow in Eugene, Oregon, and on February 20 the Anchorage gay community will host a local Celebration of Life.
Mikey LaChoy, Emperor 25, wrote:
“We are going to have a memorial of sorts for Wawa… the “All About Cherreesse – Wawa Party.” We’ll meet for WaWas [Cherreesse’s favorite drink] at the Raven for an hour from 6-7pm, then parade over to Myrna’s (Crowns and Gowns) and put on a fundraiser show as she would have wanted. Dress code: everyone wear white wigs!”
Princess Felicia in Eugene is creating a memory album (leave your remembrances as comments, and I will send them to her.) LaChoy began by sharing his photos and memories:
Alaska Greives for Mama WaWa
To our brothers and sisters in Eugene,
I would like to take a few minutes to share with you some of Dan Cook’s (Empress Cherresse) accomplishments in Alaska and some of our fond memories of him. Please bear in mind that we in Alaska may not be thinking clearly as we are grieving along with all those in so many places who have been touched by Dan during his great life.
As Cherresse said in a bio written for the Imperial Court of All Alaska’s 25th Anniversary, he felt a part of Alaska and its Court from the very beginning. Cherresse was at Alaska’s first Coronation representing Eugene as their first Empress. It was in that first visit that he fell in love with the state.
We are unsure of exactly what year Dan arrived in Alaska but we are sure he began making an impact right away. As manager of the Jade Room Bar, Cherresse started Alaska’s first weekly drag show and soon knew everyone.
Years later, Cherresse was elected Empress 18 of All Alaska and served with distinction through some very rough times in Alaska. He was always a trooper who showed up for any fundraiser to tread the boards in those distinctive boas… everyone knew Cherresse was in the house from all the feathers left wherever he went!
Dan was part of and helped many other organizations in Alaska raising charity funds for many causes. Of these, Dan’s pet organization was the Mount McKinley Non-Ascent Club which was a gay organization dedicated to enjoying Alaska’s great outdoors camping, fishing, hiking, etc. Eventually, when Dan’s roommates Bob and Gene DeLoach began building the “Triangle Ranch” on a lake north of Anchorage, Dan became the defacto Den Mother for the McKinley Club, Men’s Club, and many others.
Over the years Dan welcomed, fed, looked after, cleaned up after, and nurtured hundreds of young Alaskan gay (and straight) young men and women. Many of us have Dan to thank for being that mentor who showed us all how to get along with each other and love each other even when we want to kill each other.
This, I think, is Dan’s greatest legacy: of all the people I’ve talked to and all the time I knew Dan, the worst he was ever heard him speak of others (even when he was treated very badly) was “that little shit”, shake his head, and change the subject… and he would still smile that sweet smile when he said it. I hope we can all remember that about Dan Cherresse Cook and perhaps his legacy will be a happier community of loving, caring friends.
Ever in Peace, Love, and Unity
Emperor 25 of All Alaska
Mikey Wa LaChoy
Prayer Vigil for Haiti at the Gay/Lesbian Community Center
Relief agencies are working around the clock to help the people of Haiti and are collecting donations to cover the costs of the massive rescue. Rainbow World Fund, an international relief agency based in the GLBTA community, has supported projects in Haiti since 2004 and accepts donations online or by mail.
In Anchorage, Church Life Alaska organized a prayer vigil, and responded to the un-Christian comments of Pat Robertson:
As the people of Haiti and the world struggle to comprehend the magnitude of the earthquake in Haiti, it is important for us to gather together and pray. Church Life Alaska is hosting a prayer vigil on Sunday at 11 a.m. in the Gay and Lesbian Community Center.
You may have heard the rubbish coming from Pat Robertson’s mouth about how he believes this is God’s punishment. We know that this is false, and we will pray for the people with love and understanding in our hearts, not ugly judgment. So please come and join us as we pray for a successful rescue and rebuilding effort.
The vigil will be followed by a community potluck, and donations will be collected for the relief efforts.
Contact Church Life AK for more information.
Prop 8 Trial: homophobia and the fear of transparency (days 2 & 3)
The proponents of Prop. 8 seek to hide and obfuscate. They did not want their own ad played in court. They did not want documents from their own strategists to become public because the documents show clearly that their entire campaign was built on the decades of prejudice and fear that we heard about in detail yesterday from Prof. Chauncey. As Ted Olson keeps saying, their arguments do not hold up in public or in court. They only win when they can manipulate the media and the public, using scare tactics.
Prop 8 opening arguments and testimony (Day 1)
Proposition 8 ended the dream of marriage, the most important relation in life, for the plaintiffs and hundreds of thousands of Californians.
Prop. 8 Trial begins in SF today *video blocked*
Anchorage paper hosts legacy book for Mary Daly, Boston lesbian author
Mary Daly, radical lesbian feminist author of Gyn/Ecology and Beyond God the Father, passed away on Jan. 3, and the Anchorage Daily News opened a legacy book for the Boston professor who didn’t live in Alaska and probably never visited.
The ADN reprinted her obituary from the Associated Press, and the guest book currently has 105 entries, mostly from New England. Only 2 entries are from Alaska, although a few entries do not give locations.
Daly was a major voice in the women’s movement and a central figure in eco-feminism. Several of her books are among the classics of women’s studies courses. Her first book, The Church and the Second Sex published in 1968, argued that the Church systematically oppressed women for centuries. In later years, she considered herself “post-Christian.”
“Ever since childhood, I have been honing my skills for living the life of a Radical Feminist Pirate and cultivating the Courage to Sin,” she wrote in the opening of “Sin Big,” a 1996 autobiographical article for the New Yorker magazine. “The word ‘sin’ is derived from the Indo-European root ‘es-,’ meaning ‘to be.’ When I discovered this etymology, I intuitively understood that for a woman trapped in patriarchy, which is the religion of the entire planet, ‘to be’ in the fullest sense is ‘to sin.’ ”
Daly made headlines when she retired from Boston College (a Jesuit university where she taught for 30 years) rather than admit men to some of her advanced women’s studies classes, saying that the presence of men made the women less likely to speak. She did let men enroll in her introductory feminism courses and tutored them in the advanced subjects. Her anti-trans opinions were as controversial in the LGBT community as her anti-patriarchy stance was at Boston College.
Two Great LGBT Scholarships
“Debutante Balls”: A transgender one-man-show at Out North
Scott T. Schofield, an award-winning trans performer, returns to Anchorage this week with Debutante Balls, about his years as a debutante in the deep south.
Out North describes Debutante Balls as a “theatrical stand-up comedy dance through the fascinating culture of the Southern Debutante Ball. Schofield’s wicked sense of self-aware humor and poetic sensibility guide us gently (or is that genteel-ly?) through the many ways he “came out” into Southern Society: as a lesbian, radical feminist, and finally, as a transgender man.”
Schofield is an award-winning writer, performer, and educator creating theater about gender and sexuality. He tours internationally with his solo shows, and acts and writes for theater and film.
He was previously at Out North in March 2008 to perform Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps.
See Debutante Balls at Out North: Jan. 14-16 at 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 17 at 4 p.m. Tickets are $20, available online or at the door.
Here’s a video clip of Debutante Balls from Schofield’s YouTube channel, undergroundtrans:
This Week in LGBT Alaska 1/8/10
Juneau
SEAGLA Social Fridays (6-8 p.m.) for GLBT people and our friends over 21, at The Imperial Bar.
Juneau Pride Chorus rehearses every Friday, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Resurrection Lutheran Church. Marsha
Fairbanks
Greek Gods and Goddess: Toga Party 1/9, 7 p.m. An Imperial Court all-ages event with food, fun, fashion show, dancing and live entertainment. $12 in costume, $15 in street clothes, at the Carlson Center.
LGBT Call for Action with guest speaker Harriet Drummond on 1/10, service at 10:30 a.m., conversation at 12:30 p.m. at the UUFF.
PFLAG Meeting 1/10, 4 p.m.
Wednesday LGBTA Social at 9:30 p.m. Email Joshua for the current location.
Mat-Su Valley
Mat-Su LGBT Community Center in Palmer is open M-F 5-8 p.m. (except 6-8 on Wed.) The social group meets Wednesdays, 5-6 p.m. at Vagabond Blues.
Anchorage
Friday Divas Variety Show, 9 p.m. at Mad Myrna’s.
Sunday worship with MCC Anchorage, 2 p.m.
Gay, Joyous and Free AA Meeting on Mondays, 6 p.m. at the GLCCA.
Pride Festival 2010 Planning Meeting 1/13, 5:30 p.m. at the GLCCA.
Scott T. Schofield’s “Debutante Balls” 1/14-1/16 at 7:30 p.m. and 1/17 at 4 p.m. at Out North.
Anchorage Assembly’s Drummond brings LGBT Call for Action to Fairbanks
