Articles in Anchorage
A Stupid Drop-Down Menu
– a guest post by Katie, who works in Anchorage
Yesterday, my co-worker was helping a bunch of new-hires set up their HR information in our electronic system. On the first page with social security number and name is the married or single box. I hate that box. I hate it. She had her information up on the screen for demonstration purposes, and casually said, “Oh, I guess I’m not married any more.” It’s amazing how much this little phrase and that little box have been bugging me ever since then.
My stupid little box says “single.” It doesn’t matter that I have a document hanging on my wall, the first thing you see when you walk in the house, that says I am committed to one person for the rest of my life. It doesn’t matter that my employer would let me offer benefits to her if I wanted to pay taxes on them. My same employer that would let me take out benefits on her still forces me to choose “single” or “married.” I am not married under federal law. I am not single under Vermont law.
On top of the law, there are my personal thoughts of my relationship. In my mind, I have not been single for 12 years. Even if a person starts counting the years from the day we swore our vows to each other in front of our friends and family, then in front of a state judge, I have not been single for 9 years.
The “gay marriage debate” makes a lot of people feel very passionately. The polls and the politicians say that most people feel that me having the status of “married” infringes on THEIR rights. I just don’t understand. Matrimony is a religious word. Marriage is not. “Married” is a status that I stare at, yet feel like I cannot chose from a stupid drop-down menu. So I sit in no-where-land. I sit here, trying not to infringe on someone else’s rights, meanwhile ignoring my own. Do I not have the right to pick something from this stupid drop-down menu that doesn’t make me feel like 12 years don’t matter? Do I not have the right to be married to someone instead of no one?
I know there are hundreds of other financial, political, social, and moral reasons for me to be in on this debate. There are hundreds of reasons I should be out marching for everyone else in my situation. There are hundreds of reasons I should be sitting here fuming, and writing my thoughts down. However, I think it must be a sign, that something so trivial as a stupid drop-down menu makes me feel like I don’t have the same rights as a straight person who “forgot” to change her status from “married” to “single.” The straight person who was only “married” for 3 years, and ended the relationship on a matter of not caring, and her status was changed back to “single” with nothing more than a signature on a line. I had to drive to Vermont to take my vows in front of someone I barely knew, to change my status in the eyes of ONE state’s law. If I want to change my status back, I would have to move to Vermont for a year, before I would be allowed to sign that line. I have no desire to sign that line. I do, however, have the desire to pick something other than “single” from that stupid drop-down menu.
Some friends of ours have marriage licenses and civil unions from every state that has a law on the books. Every time a new state passes a new law, they go there, and swear their vows again. Why? Because the federal government still says that they must choose the “single” category. They have 7 marriage licenses, and 8 Civil Union licenses. 15 licenses, but yet if they lived where we do, the 15 licenses are constitutionally illegal.
I keep telling myself that eventually times will change. Only 30 years ago, the thought of being able to get health insurance through my employer for my partner was considered pretty obscure. In 30 years, we’ve made progress. Not long ago, people of different ethnicities could not get married. The arguments said, “If we allow white people and black people to marry, gay people will want to get married too.” What does that mean? Does that mean that we should back-track? Stop Catholics from marrying Protestants? Stop Japanese people from marrying Irish people? Why is progress toward an equal society bad?
Why do I feel so strongly about a stupid drop-down box?
Think about it. What would you do, if you didn’t feel like you fit into the categories given? The US government forces me to chose a category that I don’t think I belong to. How would you feel?
Until I figure this out, I will continue to hate this stupid drop-down box.
Lay of the Land puts Local Struggle in a National Context
Tim Miller returns to Out North on September 18 & 19 to place “the emotional and political wreckage” of gay rights battles like Ordinance 64 in perspective with his tales of life as a traveling gay activist.
Lay of the Land is Tim Miller’s saucy, sharp-knifed look at the State of the Queer Union during a time of trial. Careening from his sexy misadventures performing in 45 States, to marriage equality street protests, to the electoral assaults on gay folks all over the country, to his life as a grade-school flag monitor, to choking on cheap meat caught in his 10 year old gay boy’s throat, Lay of the Land friskily gets at that feeling of gay folks being perpetually on trial, on the ballot, and on the menu!
And will Tim have something to say about Dan Sullivan’s recent veto of the gay rights ordinance? You betcha!
Bent Alaska asked Tim about bringing Lay of the Land to Anchorage:
Q. How does our local struggle for an anti-discrimination ordinance fit into Lay of the Land?
A. Sullivan’s veto of Ordinance 64 really sucks, especially with “Diversity” month in Anchorage! For us California folks, it really brings up all that toxic Prop 8 stuff. (Hmmm, 8 is the square root of 64!)
I think from 64 to Florida Ammendment 2 to Calif Prop 8 to today’s Referendum 71 in Washington State that would stop WA domestic partnerships before they even start, it is the same basic principle of disrepecting the humanity for gay folks. It has nothing to do with Marriage Equality, as AO 64 and WA R-71 show. They don’t want us to feel welcome in our own homes, our own country!
LAY OF THE LAND is all about the emotional and political wreckage of these post Prop 8/64 moments. When I performed the piece in Florida two months ago, the Prop 8 situation was immediately relatable to what they went through on election day with Amendment 2.
Q. Will you add Alaska to the outline map of America that you use in your show?
A. Sadly, the national lighting company ROSCO doesn’t make a gobo effect with all 50 states. But I have added a great Alaska video section! I do refer to the lighting gobo in the performance and how it is messed up because it is missing Alaska and Hawaii.
Q. Have you visited or performed in Alaska before?
A. I have perfomed in Anchorage once before, at Out North in 2004.
Q. What’s next for you? Are you going to the National Equality March?
A. YES! I will be at the National Equality March. I will get up at 4 a.m. to get there from Carbondale Illinois, where I am performing at Southern Illinois University. I am very excited about all my touring, performances and residencies for the coming year with LAY OF THE LAND. It just premiered in LA in May and I’ve started a national tour. First stops this summer: L.A., Tallahassee, Cleveland Ingenuity Festival and Alaska! “Lay of the Land” indeed!
Miller is a solo performer, performance teacher, co-founder of two performance spaces, and author of the books Shirts & Skin, Body Blows, and 1001 Beds, an anthology of his performances and essays which won a 2007 Lambda Literary Award.
Tim Miller performs Lay of the Land at Out North on Sept 18 & 19, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20, and are available online.
This Week in LGBT Alaska 9/4/09
Ask Senator Murkowski to support ENDA! Call 202-224-6665 or use her online email form.
This week’s events from the statewide newsletter. Subscribe to Alaska GLBT News.
Juneau
SEAGLA Social Fridays (6-8 p.m.) for GLBT people and our friends over 21, at The Imperial Bar, downtown.
Kenai Peninsula
“Hedwig and the Angry Inch” starring Atz Lee Kilcher, 9/4-9/7, 8 p.m. at Pier One Theater. Tickets $15 at the Homer Bookstore and Pier One.
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
CORONATION SEPT 4-7
Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead 9/3-9/14, 7:30pm Fri/Sat; 4pm Sunday Out North
Side Street Saturdays, an informal meetup for LGBT writers, at noon in Side Street Cafe.
Sunday worship with MCC Anchorage, 2 p.m.
Transgender Support Group, Sundays 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the GLCCA.
Override Deadline & Support for ENDA
from Equality Works:
Thanks to all of you who called and e-mailed Debbie Ossiander encouraging her to help override the Mayor’s veto of AO 64. Many of you have forwarded your letters to us and we have been impressed by your passion and commitment to this cause. We believe that Assemblywoman Ossiander’s concerns with AO 64 are matters that could easily be addressed by overriding the veto and offering up amendments to Title V. Unfortunately, she has not responded to attempts to work with her productively to craft the best and most inclusive nondiscrimination law possible.
The deadline for overriding a veto runs out this coming Monday, September 7th, and while we are still willing to work with Assembly members to achieve an override, we have also begun to look ahead at other ways in which we can work with members of the LGBT community and our allies to ensure that Anchorage becomes a city that protects all of its citizens from discrimination, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.
In the short run, one way that you can help us achieve our goal is to contact Senators Begich and Murkowski and encourage them to become co-sponsors of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). If passed, ENDA would make employment discrimination a violation of federal law. While it is not as expansive as our local laws—it would not protect people from discrimination in housing and public accommodations, for example—it would nonetheless be a huge step forward in our goal of achieving equality for all in Anchorage. While we would have preferred for such a law to be passed on a local level, we are willing to use every tool available to us. As we said months ago, our opponents may have prepared for a sprint, but we are prepared to go the distance and hope that you are too.
Contact Senator Mark Begich and Senator Lisa Murkowski through the online contact forms linked to their names.
Anchorage Mayor’s No-Gays-Need-Apply Diversity Month
September is Mayor Sullivan’s Hypocrisy… er, Diversity Month, celebrating the diverse cultures of Anchorage just two weeks after he vetoed the equal rights ordinance.
“Mayor’s Diversity Month is an opportunity for the city to partner with the community to showcase diversity efforts,” said the mayor.
On August 17, Sullivan showcased his diversity efforts by vetoing Ordinance 64, a measure passed by the Assembly to add sexual orientation to the city’s anti-discrimination policies. The mayor’s veto statement – listed on the same City of Anchorage web page as the Diversity Month announcement – cites “the absence of compelling data” and “the will of the community” as the reasons for his veto, despite the weeks of sometimes emotional testimony on the need for protections.
The Mayor’s Diversity Month is made up of events and programs that “encourage dialogue, partnerships and respect for Anchorage’s diverse population.” The community is invited to participate in the events, which this year recognize seniors, youth, Latinos, Blacks, military women, Hawaiians, and the disabled. There are no LGBT events.
Official Definition of Diversity: “Diversity in this Administration’s book means, in addition to differences based on ethnicity, gender, age, religion, disability, national origin and sexual orientation, an infinite range of individuals’ unique characteristics and experiences, such as communication styles, career, work, life experience, educational backgrounds and other variables… The goal of diversity awareness is to create an inclusive, respectful and equitable work environment and community.”
Ordinance 64 (S-2) was a compromise measure that protected lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from discrimination in employment, housing, education, public accommodations, financing, and Municipal practices, but included exemptions for religious organizations, public restrooms, business costs, dress codes and gender presentation in the workplace. The anti-gay lobby, lead by the Baptist churches, continued to call gays “perverted, diseased and depraved” and opposed the ordinance despite the compromises.
The Mayor’s Unity Dinner will be held on Friday, September 25, at the Hilton Anchorage Hotel. The event was called the Diversity Dinner in previous years, but Sullivan changed the name to Unity and invited Lynn Swann, ex-NFL player now an anti-gay Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, as the keynote speaker. Community awards will be presented during the dinner.
“Our community is made up of many unique groups, but we all share some common values: the importance of family, quality education for our children, and safe, vibrant neighborhoods. This year’s event is meant to celebrate these values while respecting the diversity that makes Anchorage such a great place to live,” said Mayor Dan Sullivan.
The gay community of Anchorage has been trying to pass an equal rights ordinance for over 35 years. This summer was the third attempt. The Assembly passed it 7-4, one vote short of a veto-proof majority, and the mayor vetoed it a week later. The Assembly has 21 days to override the veto, but would need 8 votes in favor.
The Mayor’s CommUNITY Award Program recognizes those businesses, organizations and individuals in Anchorage that have advanced the causes of diversity and unity.
There are three awards in the Mayor’s CommUNITY Award Program:
- The Business CommUNITY Award recognizes an Anchorage business which best represents a corporate spirit of diversity and community through hiring practices, programs, and outreach.
- The Community and Nonprofit Organization Award is presented to the Anchorage group which best demonstrates its sustained committment to inclusive programs that enhance diversity and the community at large.
- The Individual Award recognizes a person who actively promotes inter-group relations among diverse populations in the City.
Examples of criteria to be used while selecting award winners include:
- The nominee’s long-term commitment to the value of building unity and diversity, including specific examples with documentation.
- The creation, development, promotion, organization or significant participation in events and programs that focus on diversity and community enhancement.
- Educational efforts in matters of diversity and community development including innovative programs/opportunities.
- Efforts in Collaboration with other community groups to recruit people from diverse backgrounds to increase participation by members of groups from all backgrounds.
Mail Forms (no later than September 12th) to: Municipality of Anchorage, Mayor’s CommUNITY Award Program, 632 W. 6th Avenue, Suite 620, Anchorage, AK 99501.
A diverse collection of small, mid-sized and large Anchorage businesses, including CIRI, an Alaska Native Corporation, signed a public statement in support of Ordinance 64. Many Fortune 500 companies do business in Anchorage and have nondiscrimination policies that include sexual orientation and gender identity.
We should nominate CIRI for the Business CommUNITY Award, and Identity for the non-profit award.
Municipality of Anchorage Diversity Council Mission and Purpose, as stated in the Diversity Council Brochure linked on the Mayor’s Diversity Month page:
“The mission of the Diversity Council is to attract and embrace diversity within the workforce and greater community. Purpose: To promote our strength, which is grounded in our diversity.”
“Scope of Activities:Identify and recommend changes to procedures/programs to promote diversity;Promote and publicize diversity;Monitor the Council’s effectiveness;Accept employee or non-member suggestions/complaints and respond as appropriate; and,Encourage recognition of employee involvement or support of diversity.”“The Municipality of Anchorage Celebrates Diversity!Diversity is Not an Option — It’s Our Obligation!Diversity: Embrace the Heart of It!“
“I hereby veto AO2009-64(S-2) as amended.”
September 1 is the first day of Mayor Sullivan’s so-called Diversity Month, just two weeks after he vetoed the Assembly’s anti-discrimination ordinance. For a national comparison, September 1 is also the first day that same-sex couples can get legally married in the state of Vermont. Six states, including Iowa, allow gay couples to get married.
To nominate an individual, business or company for a diversity award or host an event, visit the municipal website at www.muni.org/diversity. Individuals or organizations/companies interested in hosting a diversity event should complete the events form and fax it to 343-4875. Events can be scheduled for September and October.
Can we register the Pride Conference as an official city Diversity event?
To get information, ask questions or make suggestions about the Mayor’s Diversity Month, call (907) 343-4890.
Charlie Brown comes out in "Dog Sees God"
What would happen to Charlie Brown and his friends if they grew up?
When CB’s dog dies from rabies, CB begins to question the existence of an afterlife. His best friend is too burnt out to provide any coherent speculation; his sister has gone goth; his ex-girlfriend has recently been institutionalized; and his other friends are too inebriated to give him any sort of solace. But a chance meeting with an artistic kid, the target of this group’s bullying, offers CB peace of mind and sets in motion a friendship that will push teen angst to the very limits. Drug use, suicide, eating disorders, teen violence, rebellion and sexual identity collide and careen toward an ending that’s both haunting and hopeful.
Christina Ashby directs a local cast in the play New York Magazine called “funny and endearing” when it premiered at The New York International Fringe Festival in 2004.
Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, a play by Bert V. Royal, will be performed at Out North Theatre on 3800 Debarr Road, September 4-14 at 7:30 p.m. on Fri/Sat; 4 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $14.50 online; $15 at the door. There is also a Pay-What-You-Can preview on Sept. 3 at 7:30 p.m.
This Week in LGBT Alaska 8/28/09
The Assembly has until Sept. 8 to override Mayor Sullivan’s veto, and they need 8 votes in favor. Please urge Debbie Ossander (ossiander@gci.net) and all the Assembly members (WWMAS@ci.anchorage.ak.us) to Do the Right Thing and support an override.
This week’s events from the statewide newsletter. Subscribe to Alaska GLBT News.
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 tabling at New Student Orientation 8/31 from 12-2pm in the Wood Center.
Kenai Peninsula
“Hedwig and the Angry Inch” starring Atz Lee Kilcher, 8/28-8/30, 8 p.m. at Pier One Theater. Tickets $15 at the Homer Bookstore and Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic.
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
Side Street Saturdays, an informal meetup for LGBT writers, at noon in Side Street Cafe.
Northern Exposure Bowling League, 1st league meeting of the 2009/2010 season, 8/29, 4 p.m. at Park Lanes.
Mad Mike @ Mad Myrna’s 8/29, 10 p.m. – 2:30 a.m.
Sunday worship with MCC Anchorage, 2 p.m.
Transgender Support Group, Sundays 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the GLCCA.
Ever Ready at the Alaska State Fair 8/31, 5-6 p.m.
Joy Harjo reading her poetry at Cyrano’s 8/31, 7 p.m. Tickets $10.00 at the door.
Anchorage Frontrunners, Tuesdays, 6 p.m.
QueerWorld: 16th Alaska Pride Conference, Oct 10
Identity, Inc. is sponsoring QueerWorld, the 16th annual Alaska Pride Conference, at the APU Atwood Center on October 10, 2009 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. People of all ages, cultures, sexualities and professions attend the conference each year to strengthen ties with one another and build community. There will be 8 workshop sessions.
We are seeking inspiring presenters to share their knowledge, experiences and successes on diverse topics using innovative presentations. We welcome presentations that include a focus on connection, connecting with ourselves, one another and our communities. We hope to promote unity and community growth through QueerWorld.
E-mail Johnathan Jones, co-chair of QueerWorld, for the workshop proposal. The deadline for submitting proposals is September 25.
Coronation 2009!
The Imperial Court of All Alaska requests the Honor of Your Presence at CORONATION XXXVII – “GOLD, FUR, AND FEATHERS” CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF STATEHOOD, Sept. 3-7, 2009 in Anchorage, Alaska.
Enjoy Labor Day weekend with the Imperial Court: the meet and greet, a show with performers from Alaska and a second show with visiting performers from out of state followed by a Las Vegas party, a bus run, a glacier tour, a victory brunch, plus the big night of Coronation itself, Sept. 6 in the Sheraton Ballroom!
The full Coronation schedule is posted below, and tickets can be purchased online at the Imperial Court’s Coronation web site.
SEPTEMBER 3RD – 7TH
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA
SEPTEMBER 3RD
“SUNSHINE OVER SIBERIA”
7PM MEET AND GREET
SUB ZERO LOUNGE
SEPTEMBER 4TH
11:30 AM GLACIER/WILDLIFE TOUR
PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND
6 hour tour, meal included – Great Trip
IN STATE SHOW – MAD MYRNA’S SHOWROOM
SHOW @ 8PM $10
SEPTEMBER 5TH
BROWN BEAR BUS RUN
MEET IN PARKING LOT OF “THE RAVEN”
10AM $15
EMPEROR AND EMPRESS OF BEAR
CONTEST, BBQ AND FUN
OUT OF STATE SHOW- MAD MYRNA’S SHOWROOM
SHOW @8PM $10
LAS VEGAS PARTY FOLLOWING SHOW
SEPTEMBER 6TH
CORONATION XXXVII
“GOLD, FUR, & FEATHERS”
SHERATON HOTEL BALLROOM
6PM $35
FOOD FOR PURCHASE
SEPTEMBER 7TH
VICTORY BRUNCH
MAD MYRNA’S SHOWROOM
11AM $30
HOST HOTEL
ANCHORAGE SHERATON HOTEL
401 E 6TH AVENUE
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501
(907) 276-8700 (907) 276-8700
WWW.SHERATON. COM/ANCHORAGE
$142 PER ROOM NIGHT
MENTION “IMPERIAL COURT OF ALASKA”
ROOM BLOCK RATE ENDS AUG 31ST
Jerry, in his own words: A creative response to prejudice
In addition to the thoughtful supportive testimony at the Assembly hearings and the well-argued letters to the editor, there have been some very creative responses to the struggle for Ordinance 64, and to the hateful statements of the anti-gay lobby.
Bent Alaska posted one of Glenn Harvey’s “Jerry: In His Own Words” posters on Monday’s No Dead Queers post. Below are several more ordinance-related posters by Glenn.
Like the “perverted, diseased and depraved” poster linked above, this poster quotes Prevo’s anti-ordinance sermon from June 28 (sermon video HERE).
Remember the mass-produced “Truth Is Not Hate” signs carried by the red-shirted children and anti-gay church members bussed in from Wasilla? We’ve heard that the signs were provided by Bailey’s Furniture.
Like Sarah Palin and her gay friend (who doesn’t deserve to be equal), opponents of the ordinance have a twisted understanding of friendship. Glenn mirrors their prejudice back at them.
Thanks to Glenn for creating the posters and allowing Bent to post them.
