A long-overdue Bent Alaska update — October 2013

Westboro to Picket Fairbanks Funeral

Four A’s Gifts For Change

RAW 2009 Short Story Contest

• Each entry must contain a cover sheet with author’s name, address, phone number and email and with the story’s title and word count.
• The short story must be between 250 and 5,000 words and contain some lesbian content. Stories should be on 8.5-by-11 paper, double spaced, 1-inch margins, no less than size 10 font. Do not put author’s name on the story. The fiction and lesbian stipulations may be interpreted by the author, but we are not seeking poetry or non-fiction. Erotica is acceptable. Electronic submissions are not accepted. Unpublished submissions only.
• Feel free to use a pseudonym, but let us know your real name in case you win a prize.
• Author must be a woman living in Alaska as of January 2009.
• Jan. 15 is the postmark deadline for entries.
• There is no entry fee.
• Winner receives $500 and the invitation to read her work at RAW’s annual performing arts production Celebration of Change in the spring of 2009 in Anchorage. The winning short story will be published on RAW and in the Alaska LGBT literary journal Naked Ptarmigan.
• Honorable mentions will be given at the judges’ discretion.
• Winners will be announced Feb. 15. For a complete list of winners, include an SASE with entry.
• Mail entries by Jan. 15 to Radical Arts for Women Short Story Contest, PO Box 244436, Anchorage AK 99524-4436.

Palin Supports Federal Gay Marriage Ban

Support Identity with Work Place Giving

1.  UNITED WAY – WORK PLACE GIVING: In Health & Human Services, write in “Identity, Inc.”

2.  ALASKA COMMUNITY SHARE – WORK PLACE GIVING: Simply select Identity, Inc.

3.  COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN – WORK PLACE GIVING: Federal Workers select Identity Inc.

4.  ALASKA PERMANENT FUND:  Identity, Inc. is an approved charity for selection when you apply on line for 2009.

Young Gay Alaskan says "Vote! Don’t Let Your Voice Be Silenced"

This Week in GLBT Alaska – 10/17/08

Friends Steve & Carol are both turning 50! Birthday Party 10/18, 8 p.m. at Jeff’s house.

Casting call for Drag Through The Ages, a benefit show for Interior AIDS Association (IAA), 10/18, 4 p.m. at Dance Theater Fairbanks. First rehearsal is Sunday evening.

HIV Rapid Testing by Four A’s at the Hispanic Community Center 10/17, 4-6 p.m. for National Latino AIDS Awareness Day.

MCC Sunday Worship service with speaker Sara Gavit 10/19, 2 p.m.

ICOAA Chili Cook*Off 10/19, 4-7 p.m. at Mad Myrna’s. Prizes! $3.00 at the door includes chilli & cornbread.

ICOAA Annual Meeting 10/20, 6:30 p.m. in Mad Myrna’s showroom.

Hump Day Happy Hour 10/22, 5-7 p.m. with The Last Frontier Men’s Club at The Raven Bar.

Growing Up Gay in Alaska

Vicki Mason, current president of The Family, an unofficial UAA club, said that while discrimination is not a huge problem in Anchorage, the group has had to deal with people ripping down posters and signs that advertise the group’s presence.

The Family has had a presence on campus for years. Its goal is to act as a family for straight and LGBT students who may have nowhere else to turn.

Many members of The Family spoke about outreach they had growing up. Many who lived in Anchorage were part of their high school’s Gay-Straight Alliance. Others, especially those who had grown up on the Kenai Peninsula, had absolutely nothing.

One student, who grew up in Soldotna, grew up dealing with harassment, fear and name-calling. Several students who attended Homer High School said that one student had been beat up for being gay; the assailants only received a three-day suspension as punishment.

Another member of The Family who grew up in the lower Kuskokwim River Area, said that in most villages there was a general feeling of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

Wasilla Library Rejects “Heather Has Two Mommies” and “Daddy’s Roommate”

KJ Martin-Albright, Director of the Wasilla Library, announced that the library will sell the donated copies of Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy’s Roommate through its Friends group. Gay and lesbian citizens donated the children’s books to the library after hearing that in 1996 then-mayor Sarah Palin repeatedly asked then-library director Mary Jane Emmons (now Baker) about banning books.

During that time, members of Palin’s church pressured stores to remove certain books, including Palmer author Howard Bess’ Pastor, I Am Gay, which disappeared from the Wasilla Library shelves and was not replaced.

Library Journal interviewed Wasilla Library Director KJ Martin-Albright recently. Her comments on the donated kids books and the Bess book are instructive for others who donate LGBT books to public libraries:

You had already stated that one reason that Heather Has Two Mommies isn’t in the library is that a book has to earn its real estate.

The library strives to achieve a balanced collection of materials in the major information categories, as well as a fiction collection calculated to satisfy the widest possible variety of tastes. All viewpoints and opinions on controversial subjects are represented whenever possible. Wasilla Public Library’s collection development states that materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation and that the library should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

In the past, Wasilla Public Library held both Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy’s Roommate, although the books are no longer on the library’s shelves. Wasilla outgrew the size of its library about 20 years ago. Library collections are dynamic, and anything on the book shelves has to earn its real estate. If it is not circulating, it does not stay. This is not the ideal, but it is the reality. The books were removed as part of on-going collection development and not due to the subject matter presented in the books. Wasilla Public Library holds many titles that deal with the same subject matter, including the popular And Tango Makes Three.

All one has to do is look at the books in question next to Tango, or any other well-made picture book, to see that Heather and Daddy’s Roommate are poorly constructed, lack engaging illustrations, and have too many words on the page to be useful to young readers. The books are poorly manufactured; they are insubstantial paperbacks that would not withstand repeated use. Moreover, the books are dated in illustrational style and content. Since they were published, several better-made books which are more appealing to children that deal with the same subject matter have been released. Wasilla Public Library houses quite a few of these titles on its shelves.

While the library agrees that Heather and Daddy’s Roommate are important books because they were ground-breaking and because of the controversy and discussions that have occurred in the 15-plus years since they were published, there are better choices for a dynamic, current, and appealing children’s collection. The donated materials, in accordance with our Donations Policy, will be given to the Friends of Wasilla Library for its annual book sale. You are the first reporter who has asked since the decision was made, so I guess this will be our first public announcement.

I understand that copies of Pastor, I Am Gay were in the library once but disappeared. Do you know when the library last had copies?

In regard to Pastor, I am Gay, by Howard Bess, the Wasilla Public Library does not have a copy; however, there are three libraries in the Mat-Su Library Network that do. Since the network provides intralibrary courier service, these copies are available to any library patron. I don’t know when the library last had copies—even if our library automation kept information on deleted materials, which it doesn’t, we migrated from Dynix to Sirsi in August 2004, so there’s no way to mine that data.

An Anchor in Alaska: Being an Ally