A long-overdue Bent Alaska update — October 2013

A night at the USO, a military affair: A Pride fundraiser this Saturday night

Grab your Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy or your best dame, and join us for a night of fun and laughs in a 1940s USO — a fundraiser for Alaska Pride Fest!

Cohosted by Colleen Crinklaw and Jerad Martens, with performers including Isis Von Croft, Alexis Kellie, Diedra Windsor Walker, Sahandra Crosse, Mariquita, and a few more that are going to work hard to show the guests a good time.

Pay $10 for a grab bag, & you might win prizes ranging in value from $80–$320!!!. We’ll also have a soldier’s toast and light food available while it lasts.

• Date/time: Saturday, June 4, 7:00 to 9:45 PM
• Location: Mad Myrna’s, 530 E. 5th Ave. in downtown Anchorage (see map)
• Cost of admission: $7.00
• Further info: See the Facebook event page

This weekend in LGBTQ Alaska (5/27/11): 3 Pride fundraisers & annual Memorial Day picnic

It’s Memorial Day Weekend, which means it’s time for the Imperial Court’s annual Memorial Day picnic! But with Pride Month almost upon us, it’s also a weekend dominated by several fundraisers for Identity and Alaska Pride Fest 2011. Those events and more, plus a preview of what’s coming up next week.

It’s not acceptable to call me a… [insert slur here]

Jane Lynch and Lauren Potter of Glee finish out this compelling PSA on the unacceptability of calling people by derogatory terms… including fag, including retard.

Lauren will be in Fairbanks and Anchorage in July to help Access Alaska celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Check Access Alaska’s Facebook wall for updates.

Watch. And then join the campaign to spread the word to end the word.

This weekend in LGBTQ Alaska (5/20/11), as we await the End Times

Another packed weekend in LGBTQ Alaska, as with bated breath we await the Rapture.

Alaska students awarded $2,500 in scholarships from Pride Foundation

Two Alaska students, Kara Carlson of Fairbanks and Colleen McNulty of Anchorage, have been awarded $2,500 in scholarships from Pride Foundation, according to a press release from Tiffany McLain, the foundation’s regional development organizer for Alaska.

AMP asks: How do couples keep their relationships strong?

How do gay and lesbian couples keep their relationships strong? Anchorage MPowerment Project (AMP) would like to invite you to be a part of an evening discussion on Thursday, March 19, to find out.

Alaska Presbyterians react to LGBT ordination vote

Last week the Presbyterian Church (USA) ratified a historic change permitting the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy. How have Alaska Presbyterians reacted?

Bohemian Rhapsody “too gay” for Wasilla? — Beyond the snark, bad situation for gay kids in Mat-Su schools

Beyond the headline-catching absurdity of the short-lived Wasilla High School ban on “Bohemian Rhapsody,” there’s a more serious reality for LGBT students in the Mat-Su — one which hasn’t gained so much media attention.

This weekend in LGBT Alaska (5/13/11): Tommy, The Glass Menagerie, & roller derby

Events this weekend in LGBT Alaska include Mad Myrna’s production of “Tommy,” Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” and two films at Out North, three regular Anchorage drag shows, a dehibernation “bear bust” & BBQ, and roller derby. And don’t miss the submission deadline for the summer issue of Alaska Women Speak!

Motion filed in Schmidt v. Alaska

A lawsuit by three same-sex couples against Alaska’s biased property tax rules progressed to the next step on Wednesday.

The national ACLU and the ACLU of Alaska filed a motion for summary judgment in Schmidt v. Alaska, a lawsuit challenging the state’s tax-assessment rules. The tax rules discriminate against same-sex couples by denying them equal access to a property tax exemption for senior citizens and disabled veterans.

Those who qualify and who live with same-sex partners are only permitted, at most, half of the exemption available to opposite-sex married couples because they are treated as roommates rather than as families.

Each of the three couples are denied full access to a $150,000 property tax exemption available to opposite-sex married couples. The couples are asking that the Alaska Superior Court declare this discriminatory law to be unconstitutional.

“Denying gay seniors and disabled veterans the tax protection for their family homes afforded to heterosexuals serves no purpose other than to treat same-sex couples like second-class citizens,” said Tom Stenson, Legal Director of the ACLU of Alaska. “People should not have to pay a higher tax simply for being lesbian or gay.”

The three couples challenging the unfair gay tax are described HERE, in Bent’s first post on the Schmidt v. Alaska lawsuit that was filed last year.