Gay AK – reports from LGBTQ Alaska
Anchorage Vigil Against Hate Crimes
Anchorage, along with many other American cities, held a candlelight vigil last Sunday afternoon on the Park Strip to honor two young men who lost their lives recently because of anti-gay and anti-trans hate: Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, age 19, was beheaded and dismembered, and James Mattison, age 15, was raped and stabbed to death. Thanks to Christopher Narvaez for organizing the vigil, and to Heather Aronno for the
story and photos posted on Alaska Commons.
“The Morality of Same-Sex Marriage”
Listen online to the lecture that Dr. Joseph Thompson of UAF’s Philosophy department gave Nov 20 on “
The Morality of Same-Sex Marriage.” The event was sponsored by the UAF Socratic Society and hosted by the UAF Gay-Straight Alliance.
Gospel Show benefits MCC
Miss MeMe’s Gospel Show raised $500 for the
MCC Church. Thank you to those of you who supported the show and
ICOAA: the Friday Divas who performed, the titleholders who participated, and all of our court and supporters.
A Seat at the Table
Christopher Constant is throwing a fundraising event on Monday at Mad Myrna’s to get ready to
run openly-LGBT political candidates in Alaska. It is well past time we had a seat at the table. Chris will bring his limited edition art prints for sale, as well as two first edition “Dyke Life” board games designed by local Radical Arts for Women member Kenna Bates. Please join him and help this important effort.
Thursday, 26 November 2009 – 12:36 PM
| Comments Off on This Week in LGBT Alaska 11/26/09
Enjoy the Thanksgiving weekend! Then join Four A’s in Anchorage and Juneau, and Interior AIDS Association in Fairbanks, for World AIDS Day events on and around December 1. Paint the Town Red by wearing a red ribbon on World AIDS Day to support those affected by HIV/AIDS. Visit Four A’s for the list of locations in Anchorage and Juneau that have free red ribbons.
Juneau
Gay Cosmic Bowling 11/28, meet at 7:40 p.m. in the Juneau Bowling Center on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
World AIDS Day Candlelight Vigil with Four A’s on Tuesday 12/1, 6:30 p.m. at the Baranof Hotel.
“Life Support” 12/2, 8 p.m. A free showing at the Gold Town Nickolodean Theater, sponsored by Four A’s.
SEAGLA Social Fridays (6-8 p.m.) for GLBT people and our friends over 21, at The Imperial Bar, downtown.
Fairbanks
World AIDS Day Candlelight Walk & Vigil 12/1, 5:30 p.m. Meet at Interior Aids Association for the Candlelight Walk to First United Methodist, a World AIDS Day service at 6 p.m. and a potluck.
UAF Gay-Straight Alliance meets Mondays at 5 p.m. in the Women’s Center (Eilson 112). Jessi.
Wednesday LGBTA Social around 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
Eve’s Family & Friends Thanksgiving Dinner 11/25 at 5 p.m & 11/26 at 3 p.m. at The Raven.
Post-Thanksgiving Gathering and Leftovers Potluck 11/27, 12 p.m.
Movie and a Bite Night with a holiday theme 11/27, 6 p.m. at the GLCCA.
Sunday worship with MCC Anchorage at 2 p.m.
Fundraising to Elect Alaska’s First LGBT Candidate 11/30, 6-8 p.m. at Mad Myrna’s.
“Sex Positive” at the Bear Tooth 11/30, 8 p.m. co-presented by Four A’s as a World AIDS Day event.
The annual World AIDS Day Candlelight Vigil 12/1, 6 p.m. at UAA in The Wolf’s Den with Four A’s.
Monday, 23 November 2009 – 4:41 PM
| Comments Off on Paint Anchorage Red on Dec. 1 for World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day – Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Join Four A’s for the following World AIDS Day Events in Anchorage, AK:
Sex Positive
Monday, November 30 at 8 p.m.
Bear Tooth Theater
“A fascinating and crucial slice of traumatic sexual history that’s all but invisible to younger generations.”
$3.00 per person/Rated R
View the trailer here.
World AIDS Day Candlelight Vigil
Tuesday, December 1, 2009-6 p.m.
UAA Wolf’s Den
The annual World AIDS Day Candlelight Vigil to remember those we have lost to HIV/AIDS and to honor those still living with the disease.
Don’t forget to wear your red ribbon on December 1st to honor all affected by HIV/AIDS. Many locations around Anchorage will have free red ribbons available to Paint the Town Red. Check out www.alaskanaids.orgfor a complete list after Tuesday, November 24th.
For more information about World AIDS Day, contact Chrissy Bell, Director of Development, Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association (Four A’s) at (907) 263-2046 or cbell@alaskanaids.org
– a guest post from the organizers of this Sunday’s Candlelight Vigil in memory of Jason Mattison Jr. and Jorge Steven Mercado, 3-4 p.m. on the Anchorage Park Strip.
* * *
Many in our community struggle to survive. We struggle to be ourselves, out of the closet, and love life for all its goodness. In many places, even after the Hate Crimes Act recently passed, people are hurt, threatened, harassed and even killed for who they are.
We believe it is not our human nature to spread hate but instead to create a world of love. This is what the LGBT community of Alaska teaches: love, respect and the willingness to be free. Others may not have this choice and yet are still part of our community at large.
Please let us take a moment to remember two so very young gentlemen whose lives were taken from them by recent hate crimes:
JASON MATTIS JR, only fifteen years old, was forced into inappropriate sexual relations with a convicted murderer. He was very popular amongst his peers in high school.
JORGE STEVEN LÓPEZ MERCADO, only nineteen, and was beaten, dismembered and decapitated. The police investigator (who has been reprimanded) said he deserved it because he was gay.
The cruelty exists and we should remember these two who died. Let us ALL in every community show our love and respect for one another in a vigil to honor all hate crime victims. This will be an hour of peace to remember the people who have died just being themselves and for our rights.
Join us for a Candlelight Vigil for Hate Crime Victims. November 22, 2009 3-4pm @ the Park Strip, 9th and L Street in front of the American Flag. Please bring a candle and some love.
Friday, 20 November 2009 – 5:37 PM
| Comments Off on This Week in LGBT Alaska 11/20/09
Juneau
SEAGLA Social Fridays (6-8 p.m.) for GLBT people and our friends over 21, at The Imperial Bar, downtown.
Fairbanks
“The Morality of Same-Sex Marriage” with Dr. Joseph Thompson 11/20, 6 p.m. in Schaible Auditorium at UAF.
UAF Gay-Straight Alliance meets Mondays at 5 p.m. in the Women’s Center (Eilson 112). Jessi.
Wednesday LGBTA Social at 9 p.m. Email Joshua for the current location.
Mat-Su Valley
Transgender Day of Remembrance service 11/22, 11 a.m. at the Church of the Covenant in Palmer.
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
Integrity, the Episcopal GLBT group, meets 11/20, 6:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church the third Friday of the month. Potluck, fellowship and worship. All are welcome.
The Rocky Horror Show, 11/20-11/21, Fri & Sat 7 p.m., and Sat also at 10 p.m. $20 at Mad Myrna’s.
Transgender Day of Remembrance memorial service during the MCC Anchorage Sunday service 11/22, 2 p.m.
Candlelight Vigil Against Hate Crimes, in memory of Jason Mattison Jr and Jorge Steven Mercado 11/22, 3-4 p.m. along the Park Strip at 9th and L St, in front of the American Flag. Bring a candle.
Miss MeMe’s Gospel Show 11/22, 4 p.m. at Mad Myrna’s, a fundraiser for MCC and ICOAA.
Eve’s Family & Friends Thanksgiving Dinner, 11/25 at 5 p.m. and 11/26 at 3 p.m. at The Raven Bar, 4th and Gambell St.
Thursday, 19 November 2009 – 9:58 AM
| Comments Off on Transgender Day of Remembrance, Nov 20
Friday is the 11th International
Transgender Day of Remembrance and memorial events are held all over the world to recognize those who were killed during the previous year because of anti-transgender hate and violence.
Since last year’s event, 18 people are known to have been murdered because of their gender identity or gender expression. Many other transgender murders go unreported, and journalists often use the gender listed on police reports, based on biology instead of dress, personal letters or testimony from friends and family, which might tell a more complete story.
Although Transgender Day of Remembrance focuses on people who were murdered for having a non-traditional gender identity, it also brings to light a related tragedy: the high rate of suicide among transgender people.
Alaska has a large number of transgender men and women, and unfortunately we have known several community members who took their own lives, including two in Anchorage this summer.
Everyone is invited to join the
Metropolitan Community Church Anchorage at the Sunday worship service on Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. to commemorate the lives of our transgender brothers and sisters who have been tragically lost at the hands of intolerance and hatred.
Saturday, 14 November 2009 – 7:59 AM
| Comments Off on TDOR, Thanksgiving, World AIDS Day, FBX Bear Club, ICOAA Cares, & the Trevor Project
Gay AK – news briefs for and about LGBT Alaska
Transgender Day of Remembrance, Nov. 20
The 11th
International Transgender Day of Remembrance is on November 20, recognizing those who were killed during the previous year because of anti-transgender hate and violence. All are invited to join
MCC Anchorage at the Sunday Service on Nov. 22 to commemorate the lives of our trans brothers and sisters who were tragically taken.
Eve’s Family & Friends Thanksgiving Dinner
Eve is cooking up Thanksgiving Goodies, and all this baby needs is a kitchen and a slave for a day. We’re doing 2 dinners, and this year it’s at the Raven Bar, on Nov. 25 at 5 p.m. and Nov. 26 at 3 p.m. The Raven Bar is located at 4th and Gambell, in downtown Anchorage. RSVP on the
Thanksgiving Dinner Facebook event page.
World AIDS Day on December 1
Join
Four A’s for their annual World AIDS Day Candlelight Vigil to remember those we’ve lost to HIV/AIDS and honor those who are still living with the disease. Vigil begins at 6 p.m. on Tuesday Dec. 1, in The Wolf’s Den at UAA. On Monday, Nov. 30, Four A’s is co-presenting the documentary film
Sex Positive with
Bear Tooth Theater as a World AIDS Day event. The film begins at 8 p.m. and tickets are $3.
Sex Positive is rated R for brief nudity, sexual scenes and graphic language.
Dan Savage and Scott Turner Schofield return
We already have great LGBT events on the calendar for 2010: sex-columnist and political activist
Dan Savage is returning to UAA on February 12, transgender performer Scott Turner Schofield is returning to
Out North on January 14-17, and the dates are already set for Celebration of Change (3/27) and the spring Womyn’s Dance (4/17).
Imperial Court collects food, clothes and toys for the holidays
I.C.O.A.A. Cares will be accepting donations in the way of non-perishable food items, new clothes and toys for the holidays. We will get these items to local organizations for disbursement. You may drop new unwrapped items at Mad Myrna’s until December 20. The Empress and Emperor will also try and get donation barrels for The Raven and The GLBT Center. Thanks in advance for your generosity.
Bear Men’s Club in Fairbanks
Let’s revive the Bear Men’s Monthly Potluck in Fairbanks. If you are interested in a once a month or even bi-monthly gathering, please respond. It will be open to all men, bears and their admirers, and men interested in a gay men’s function in Fairbanks. Contact
Michael for more info.
The Trevor Project wants you to Be Proud and Speak Out
Do you have a story for the
Trevor Project? They want to hear all about it. Record a video, upload it by November 29 and you could win a prize. Create a short video telling the world about your experiences as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning youth within your family, school and/or communities. Please
read the rules and regulations. The deadline is 11:59 PM on Sunday, November 29, 2009.
Friday, 13 November 2009 – 5:09 PM
| Comments Off on This Week in LGBT Alaska 11/13/09
Juneau
SEAGLA Social Fridays (6-8 p.m.) for GLBT people and our friends over 21, at The Imperial Bar, downtown.
Fairbanks
UAF Gay-Straight Alliance meets Mondays at 5 p.m. in the Women’s Center (Eilson 112). Jessi.
Wednesday LGBTA Social at 9 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
Lesbian Film Group Night 11/13, 6 p.m. potluck and 7 p.m. movie, location info on the LGBT Meetup group.
The Rocky Horror Show, 11/13-11/21, Fri & Sat 7 p.m., and Sat at 10 p.m. $20 at Mad Myrna’s.
The Out Club’s Broadway Drag Show, with performers from Mad Myrna’s and UAA 11/14, 7 p.m. in the UAA Commons, Room 107, only $5.
How To use Facebook 11/19, 7 p.m. at the GLCCA.
Sunday worship with MCC Anchorage at 2 p.m.
Transgendered Veterans Support Group, Thursdays 4-5 p.m. at the VA Mental Health Clinic.
“Hi, I’m Mayor Dan Sullivan. I’ve declared November as Say ‘No’ to Bullies Month. Bullying occurs far too often, and we need to stand up and say ‘no’ to this hurtful behavior.”
The Jazz Greats concert at the PAC on Friday is a benefit for a good cause: Bye Bye Bullies, an international anti-bullying organization based in Anchorage. Earlier this week, Bent heard that Mayor Sullivan supports the program and declared November Bullying Awareness Month to draw attention to the issue.
It was November 10, but there was no declaration of Bullying Awareness Month on the Mayor’s website and no mention of it in the ADN’s piece on the concert. Sure the Mayor has been busy vetoing Assembly bills, denying thousands of Anchorage voters protection against hate-based discrimination, and slashing the city’s arts and library budgets. But if he wants to draw attention to an important problem like bullying by declaring a month to raise awareness about it, you’d think that his office would send out a press release.
So I wrote to a contact person listed on the Mayor’s website, praising Bullying Awareness Month and asking for a copy of the declaration.
Then I heard the radio ad for the Jazz Greats concert with Mayor Sullivan’s part quoted above, declaring November as Say ‘No’ to Bullies Month.
Well, ok, the promoter must have written the name incorrectly, Bullying Awareness Month instead of Say ‘No’ to Bullies Month. But there wasn’t anything posted on a local Say ‘No’ to Bullies Month either, so I waited for the declaration from the Mayor’s office… and was surprised to get a declaration for Bullying Awareness Month. (Did they write it on Nov. 10 in response to my request? Or did they change the name in the radio ad after the declaration was written?)
Bullying Awareness Month
WHEREAS, we must safeguard schools for our children, and, through our recognition of the serious issues that face them each day, offer our children an environment that holds promise and security; and
WHEREAS, many organizations, school districts, educators and parents have publicly expressed concern about the bullying of children; and
WHEREAS, it is important that we acknowledge and heighten awareness about the serious issues and the negative effects of bullying, including the long-term damage it can cause in our youth, which may include the risks of teenage suicide; and
WHEREAS, providing a safe physical and emotional environment is a significant goal and a personal responsibility of each individual; and
WHEREAS, it is appropriate to speak out AGAINST bullying and FOR our children; and
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Mayor Dan Sullivan, on behalf of the citizens of Anchorage do hereby proclaim the month of November 2009 as
BULLYING AWARENESS MONTH
in the city of Anchorage and encourage the community to acknowledge and address the important issue of bullying and work to prevent it from affecting our children.
It’s a good statement and a great cause, although I hope the Mayor will do more than just speak about it. For example, he could recommend that the Bye Bye Bullies program be taught in the Anchorage School District.
“It’s a benefit for Bye-Bye Bullies, a program to address school violence that originated in Anchorage and is now being effectively used in school districts around the country (though not here; go figure),”
wrote the ADN.
Maybe he could do more to provide a ‘safe physical and emotional environment’ free from bullying for both the children and the adults who live here. Just saying…
Bye-Bye Bullies, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to protecting the integrity of individuals and preventing violence in schools and beyond. Founded by attorney Dennis Maloney, Bye-Bye Bullies organized the Violence Prevention Under the Midnight Sun conference in Anchorage, Alaska, the first national conference on bullying.
The Jazz Greats concert features Jeff Golub & Rick Braun, two excellent musicians. Go and enjoy the music for a good cause. And if anyone tries to bully your children this month, stand up and say “no.” Mayor Sullivan says so.
Tuesday, 3 November 2009 – 2:42 PM
| Comments Off on FBI ready to protect queer Alaskans
GLBT Alaskans have a new ally in the fight against anti-gay and anti-trans violence. If the authorities in Alaska will not protect us against hate crimes, the federal government will.
On October 28, President Obama signed the Hate Crimes Protection Act, an expansion of the civil rights law protecting communities that are targeted for hate violence. Now, if an Alaskan is killed or caused serious bodily injury for being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, or being perceived as queer, the federal government will investigate it as a hate crime.
The local FBI agent already called the Gay & Lesbian Community Center in Anchorage to offer assistance.
“By the time the ink had dried on President Obama’s signature, the Agent-in-Charge of the Alaska FBI was on the phone to me,” wrote Phyllis Rhodes of Identity, Inc. and the Community Center. “Until advised otherwise by the Justice Department, the local office will fully investigate any violence against GLBT individuals.”
The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act gives the federal government jurisdiction over violent hate crimes that target the victim because of sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, when the local authorities are unwilling or unable to investigate, like in Alaska. The new law also allows funding for local, state and tribal authorities to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles, train law enforcement officers on the characteristics of hate crimes, and keep better records on the hate crimes committed.
“We have very weak anti-hate crime legislation in Alaska,”
Rep. Max Gruenberg, D-Anchorage told KTVA. “Probably one of the reasons that the federal government felt it was so necessary to do this [is] because a number of states, including Alaska, just do not protect their citizens.”
According to the FBI, over 12,000 reported hate crimes were committed in the US based on sexual orientation during the last decade.
All three of Alaska’s members of Congress voted for the final version of the Hate Crimes Act. Senator Begich became a co-sponsor of the original bill, and Senator Murkowski voted for it after many Alaskans called in support. Representative Young voted for the final House version as part of the Defense Authorization bill.
