Bent Alaska | Category Archive

Home » Archive by Category

Articles in Anchorage

Valerie Miner and Judith Barrington Read at UAA

Saturday, 12 July 2008 – 12:54 PM | Comments Off

Two lesbian authors, Judith Barrington and Valerie Miner, are among the sixteen distinguished writers of fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry who will be in Anchorage this month giving free public readings and talks.

On Tuesday, July 15, Judith Barrington reads with Anne Caston. Barrington is a memoirist, poet and teacher who was born in the U.K. and lives in Portland, OR. Her memoir, Lifesaving, won the Lambda Book Award, and her writing guide, Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art, is a bestseller. Her most recent poetry book is Horses and the Human Soul. Her work has been published in many literary journals, and she gives memoir workshops in Europe and America.

On Wednesday, July 16, Valerie Miner reads with Zack Rogow. Miner is the author of 13 novels, collections of short fiction and nonfiction. Her new novel, After Eden, presents urban planner Emily, whose annual return to a Northern California women’s land collective for rest and relaxation in her cabin turns to tragedy when her life partner’s flight goes down in flames. Miner’s work has appeared in many literary journals, and her stories have been dramatized on BBC Radio 4. She is a professor and artist in residence at Stanford University.

The UAA Campus News lists the full schedule of authors and readings.

UAA’s first Northern Renaissance Arts and Science Series is part of a new graduate writing program of the UAA Department of Creative Writing and Literary Arts (CWLA).

The Low-Residency MFA program focuses on writing with a sense of place and exploring the landscape of memory, family, and culture.

The public readings run July 13 through July 22. Readings are scheduled for 7:45 to 9:15 each evening in Room 150 of the Fine Arts Building, on the east side of the UAA campus. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m.

Mr/Ms/Miss Gay Anchorage 2008

Monday, 7 July 2008 – 8:05 PM | Comments Off

The new 2008-2009 Gay Anchorage title holders were chosen during Pride Week at the Anchorage Pageant, held at Mad Myrna’s. They posed with the current Gay Alaska title holders, who hold their titles until October.

Pictured from left to right: Miss Gay Anchorage – Delicious, Miss Gay Alaska – Ashley, Mr. Gay Anchorage – Steve, Mr. Gay Alaska – Kevin, Ms. Gay Alaska – Leslie (above), and Ms. Gay Anchorage – Stacey (below)

Photos of all the current title holders, the Pageant and other Court events are posted on The Imperial Court of All Alaska (ICOAA) web site.

Congratulations to the new Anchorage title holders!

Anchorage Pridefest 2008 Slide Show

Saturday, 5 July 2008 – 5:28 AM | Comments Off

Know Your Status: Four A’s Extends Hours for National HIV Testing Week

Wednesday, 25 June 2008 – 2:06 PM | Comments Off

National HIV Testing Week

June 23-28, 2008

Mission Possible: Know Your Status

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to get tested to KNOW YOUR STATUS. Even though it is 100% preventable, 30-40 Alaskans are diagnosed with HIV each year. One of the most important things you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones from HIV is to KNOW YOUR STATUS and get tested.

Extended HIV Testing Hours at Four A’s

June 23-26, 2008

9 a.m. -7 p.m.

1057 W. Fireweed, Suite 102

Free HIV Testing at PrideFest

Saturday, June 28, 2008

1-5 p.m.

9^th and L Street Clinic (Across from the Parkstrip)

All tests will be performed with the OraQuick Rapid Test which produces results in 20 minutes. For more information on National HIV Testing Week, contact Alex Barros, Director of Prevention: abarros@alaskanaids.org

Extended hours are also available for free HIV testing at various locations in Juneau, June 24-28. Contact Lee Wagner, Southeast Outreach Specialist.

Drag Queen Bingo!

Sunday, 15 June 2008 – 9:07 AM | Comments Off

Join Adam & Steve at Snow City Cafe on Thursday, June 26, 7-9 p.m for their annual fundraiser. Admission is $5 unless you come in drag or bring 5 cans of food for the Four A’s food drive. Drag Queen Bingo is an all ages event, with fabulous prizes and entertainment.

Route Change for Anchorage PrideFest 2008

Saturday, 14 June 2008 – 8:30 AM | Comments Off

The Anchorage PrideFest Parade will go down 9th Avenue this year, due to construction along the usual route and the Statehood Celebration on 4th.

The Parade will begin on E Street & 8th Avenue, move south on E for one block, then travel west along 9th from E to L. The Festival will be in the usual place on Delaney Park Strip between K & L.

Parking may be more difficult. Plan to carpool, walk, take the bus or ride your bike.

Juneteenth Celebrates Emancipation on the Park Strip

Wednesday, 11 June 2008 – 9:59 AM | One Comment

The annual Juneteenth Festival, celebrating freedom and diversity, will be held on the Delaney Park Strip, June 13-15 from 1p.m. to 10 p.m.

OutMusic Award Recipient Irina Rivkin plays at 7 p.m. on June 14. Irina’s Alaska Tour, and a review of her cd “upwelling,” are posted here.

(This is not a GLBT event, but Irina is ‘family’ and the event is open to all. Perhaps I need a new category, for other diversity events that the GLBT community can support.)

The 19th of June, known as “Juneteenth,” is the date when slavery ended in America.

Although rumors of freedom were widespread, the announcement of emancipation did not come to the last group of slaves until Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas to read General Order No. 3, on the 19th of June, 1865.

This was more than two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, officially ending slavery.

The Anchorage Juneteenth Celebration started in 1993 as a 1-day celebration at the Fairview Rec Center. The celebration moved to the Park Strip in 1995 and became a 3-day event. The African American Historical Society of Alaska (AAHSA) organizes Juneteenth.

Juneteenth supporters are hopeful that the “19th of June” will finally be established as a national holiday observance in America. Senator Barack Obama has been a key sponsor of Juneteenth legislation, and a keynote speaker at the annual Juneteenth Congressional Reception.

President George W. Bush has not participated in the annual Washington Juneteenth National Holiday Observance since taking office in 2000.

Where to Find GLBT Alaska – Organizations, Groups & Publications

Wednesday, 4 June 2008 – 9:00 AM | 6 Comments

UPDATE: Check out the updated list of LGBTA Businesses in Alaska!

Visitors, new residents and even long-time Alaskans want to know where they can find GLBT Alaska. Previously, I posted our Annual Events and Recurring Events. Here is the resource list for Alaska’s GLBT organizations, groups and publications with their current web links or email contacts.

Organizations (in alphabetical order):

4 A’s – Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association provides supportive services to persons living with HIV/AIDS and their families, and works to eliminate the transmission of HIV infection and its stigma. Includes Power-On Alaska, Get It On, a quarterly newsletter and the Adam & Steve young men’s group.
Alaskans Together – formed in 2007 to fight the anti-gay advisory vote, Alaskans Together is now a permanent statewide organization that advocates for LGBT equality in Alaska.
Equality Works – a coalition working to protect Anchorage residents from discrimination and harassment.
GLSEN & GSA – the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network has an Anchorage chapter, and the Gay Straight Alliance has student clubs in Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks.
IAA – Interior AIDS Association is a nonprofit organization in Fairbanks that provides HIV-related prevention, case management, and other support services.
ICOAA – The Imperial Court of All Alaska raises money for scholarships and community non-profits through participation in fundraising events, benefits, titleholder balls and other functions.
Identity – Identity’s programs include a statewide Helpline, the NorthVIEW quarterly newsletter, Anchorage PrideFest, the Pride Conference, the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Anchorage (GLCCA), the Identity Advocacy Program, and support for local youth programs.
Mat-Su LGBT Community Center – A new Center opened in Palmer, with social groups, a blog and a library.
MCC – Metropolitan Community Church of Anchorage, an Inclusive Church: Proud, Courageous and Loving.
PFLAG – Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays has chapters in Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks, and Homer.
RAW – Radical Arts for Women presents Celebration of Change, a short story contest and scholarships for women in the arts.
SEAGLA – The Southeast Alaska Gay and Lesbian Alliance provides a supportive social network for GLBT people in Southeast Alaska.
TLFMC – a non-profit social club that provides bears, leathermen, cowboys, their respective admirers, and other masculine Alaskan gay and bisexual men with the opportunity to meet socially.

Groups:

AK Community – an informal youth and family group with a discussion forum.
Alaska Women Write – women’s writing workshop, Thursdays 6-8 p.m. Immanual Presbyterian Church
Anchorage FrontRunners – Anchorage GLBT walking/running club affiliated with International Front Runners, meets May-Oct, Monday nights at 6 p.m. for a run/walk on the Coastal Trail.
Anchorage LGBT Meetup Group – meet with other members and supporters of your local LGBT community.
Juneau Pride Chorus – The Women’s Chorus is affiliated with Juneau PFLAG, and rehearses weekly from late summer through their spring concert in May.
Men of Alaska – a social Meetup group for gay men in and around Anchorage.
Trans Alaska Pipeline – the official site for the Transgendered Alaskans’ Social Group and source for information and support for TransPeople everywhere.
Transgender Support Group – Sundays 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the GLCCA.

Publications:

Alaska GLBT News – statewide email newsletter with news, announcements and upcoming events.
Bent Alaska – blog for GLBT News and Events with a Local Alaskan Bent.
Grrlzlist – Anchorage women’s email newsletter with news, announcements, ads and upcoming events.
Naked Ptarmigan – creative writing journal.
NEWS – Sara’s emails of current local, national and international LGBT news briefs.
Quarterly newsletters – 4 A’s and Identity (linked above) print quarterly newsletters.
Yahoo! Groups – AnchoragePride, fairbankspride and matsulgbtcc, and some organizations have members-only groups.
Facebook – several of the organizations have Facebook pages.

Have I missed something?

OutMusic award winner Irina Rivkin tours Alaska with personal and political songs

Thursday, 29 May 2008 – 11:08 AM | Comments Off

by E. Ross

Irina Rivkin is bringing her “poetic vocal worldfolk live-looped harmonies and beats” back to Alaska, with performances in Anchorage on June 4 at Tap Root Cafe and June 14 at the Juneteenth Festival, and in Fairbanks on June 12 at College Coffeehouse. Her twin sister Inna will open for her and harmonize.

Irina is returning to Alaska to visit her family and to tour. Last year, she performed at the Seldovia Summer Solstice Music Festival and an Out North Showcase in Anchorage.

Singer-songwriter Irina Rivkin has performed for 25 years, from her childhood singing Russian folk and American Jazz in a family band, to performing her own songs for the last 12 years. She expresses insightful, gutsy, vocal world-folk originals, journeying into the personal and political, with occasional travels into Russian and Spanish language lyrics. Irina layers her poetic lyrics with rich textured harmonies, swirling with vocal percussive beats, all created live on-the-spot using her loop station instrument.

Her full-length CD “upwelling” was released on Rose Street Records in 2004. The song “See Through Bush,” about George W., was chosen for the Acoustic Rainbow v.20 radio sampler.

“Ya Eyo Lublu”, Irina’s “Russian-émigré-lesbian-coming-out-love-song” about bringing the woman she loves home to meet her mother, received an OutMusic Award for Outsong of the Year and was included on the “Safe Haven” compilation, raising funds for Portland LGBTQ youth services.

Irina’s father was fired and blacklisted by the KGB for “the crime of listening to poetry” and the family came to America seeking freedom. But in 2000, Bush “steals an election” and turns the country into “his own police state.” The song “Taking Our Freedom” compares her family’s experiences with the Russian KGB to the current tactics of the FBI.

Watch a live-looped version of “Taking Our Freedom” on Irina’s MySpace page, or listen to “upwelling” on SonicBids.

Irina also founded the Rose Street House of Music, a house concert & touring musical community featuring women singer-songwriters, with a focus on poetic music of substance & depth.
“She is political, jazzy, and rhythmic…hot, harmony-rich vocals… rhythm & sound would pass as a Russian Sweet Honey in the Rock.” Angela Page, Sing Out! Summer 2004

Irina’s 2008 Alaska Tour:

Anchorage 6/4 (Wed) at Tap Root Café, 8 p.m. (1330 E Huffman), $5-10 sliding scale donation suggested, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Fairbanks 6/12 (Thurs) College Coffeehouse, 8 p.m. (3677 College Road Unit 4), $5-10 sliding scale donation suggested, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Anchorage 6/14 (Sat) at the Juneteenth Festival, 7 p.m. on the Delaney Park Strip, free.

She is also available for a house concert or live-looping workshop in Anchorage or Palmer on June 15, and in the Fairbanks area June 6-8.

OUT is IN – Alaska: Anchorage PrideFest 2008

Tuesday, 27 May 2008 – 11:07 AM | Comments Off

by E. Ross

The roar of the motorcycles, the dance music and cheering crowd, a river of rainbows flowing through downtown Anchorage – yes, it’s almost time for Pride!

“OUT is IN – Alaska” is the theme of Anchorage PrideFest 2008. The Celebrating Diversity Parade will be held on Saturday, June 28 at 11 a.m., followed by the Festival on the Delaney Park Strip at noon.

PrideFest t-shirts are available at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Anchorage (GLCCA) for $20. They will also be sold at the Identity Pride Booth at the Anchorage Market (formerly the Saturday Market) the weekend before the parade.

Performers, sponsors, vendors and parade groups can download applications from the PrideFest site.