Articles in Fairbanks
University students take the lead
University students around the state are kicking into gear — with classes, but also with activities, organizing, and leadership development.
LGBTQA students ready for a new academic year at University of Alaska campuses
New and returning University students around the state are getting ready for a new academic year, and LGBTQA students are no exception. Students at University of Alaska campuses will be enjoying something they didn’t have this time last year: protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. University of Alaska Regents passed an amendment to UA’s nondiscrimination policy last February 18 after two periods of testimony at University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA).
Pink Party Dance and Drag Show: Saturday night in Fairbanks
Drag queens, door prizes, and a silent auction will be featured at the Pink Party Dance and Drag Show this Saturday evening in Fairbanks. All proceeds will benefit Dance Theatre Fairbanks (DTF) a local non-profit studio.
As written up by Amy Nordrum for Downtown Association Fairbanks,
Drag queens working for charity on Saturday, August 20th will happily accept your donations and photo requests at a pink carpet fundraiser in the former firehouse studios of Dance Theatre Fairbanks (DTF).
“You’re going to see over-the-top dresses and lots of heavy makeup,: says Jay Howe, Ensemble Co-Director and charitable queen. He adds, with emphasis, “It IS appropriate to tip a drag queen.”
Why pink? DTF staff often jokes about how students love dressing in “pretty pink recital costumes” for performances, Jay explains, and this show needed a theme to make it fun and engaging. Wearing the color will get you in the doors for $5 less, and helps demonstrate your support.
Thus- The Pink Party.
“When you come in, everyone’s wearing pink,” Jay describes. “It’s an opportunity to support it visually.”
(Read the rest of the story at the Downtown Association Fairbanks website.)
As a bonus, The Safety Dancers — a dance group made up of instructors and students affiliated with DTF — will buy your first drink at the beer and wine bar! The Safety Dancers will also be among performers, as will the Dance Revolution Crew, described as “a few brave parents of DTF students…busting out hiphop moves” and a burlesque troupe called Crazy Shakes.
This event is only for 21 and up, ID is required! DJ and Dancing after. Come support a great cause and have a great time!
- Time/date: Saturday, August 20; doors open at 8:30 PM, performance starts at 10:00 PM going to midnight
- Cost of admission: $15 at the door, $10 if you come in pink! $25 VIP seating (first come first serve)
- Location: Edna Wise Theater (DTF Studios) , 656 Seventh Ave, Fairbanks (see map)
- Further info: See the Facebook event page
Vote Saturday for Coronation!
Coronation is coming up! — and Bent will soon have the full Coronation schedule of events up on its calendar. But before you can have coronation, you’ve got to have new heads of state to crown! Here are the details on where and when to vote.
Choosing Alaska: Outdoors and friends make 90% of a good life
We recently posted a letter from a grad student and a letter from a gay couple asking for similar advice: What is it like to live and work in Alaska as an openly-LGBT person?
Our readers responded, sharing their reasons for living in Alaska and their experiences as LGBT. We’re posting their stories in a series called Choosing Alaska.
This reply is from Mike.
# # #
I grew up in rural northern Arizona. Growing up I always knew that I was gay but never knew it was an option. I lived life the way everyone else did and expected me to. It wasn’t until I went to college that I realized it might be possible to be gay. It was through support groups, friends and a process that lasted several years that I finally was confident enough to come out.
After graduation from college, I came to Alaska and worked in the tourism industry. This helped with my internal struggle as the industry has many gay and lesbians who work in the industry. I was in Alaska for five years and loved it. I never ran into any issues with who I was. I also wasn’t broadcasting the fact that I was gay either. But if someone asked I told them.
I moved to Seattle and what an experience that was! I explored the gay life and got to see what the city had to offer. It was fun to experience but it really wasn’t me. I was in a relationship for eight years and when it ended, I realized just how unhappy I was living in the city. Despite it being full of openly gay men, I was getting no interest from anyone. I was miserable in my job and painting myself into a corner where I was soon to be stuck. All my friends were up here in Alaska.
I came for a long weekend to visit. I surprised my friends and just showed up one day. The second thing out of my mouth was “I’m moving back up here!” I hadn’t even given it a thought yet it came out so easily. After the visit I went back to Seattle and within three months I was living in Alaska. I went from a condo on Queen Anne with a view of the city skyline and the Space Needle to living in a dry cabin out in Goldstream and I had never been happier!
I became very comfortable with being a gay man in Seattle. I had photos of my partner on my desk at work. I talked openly about what me and my partner had planned for the weekend or trips we had planned, just like everyone else. Living here in Alaska, that is very different. I have “reeled it in” so to speak at work. I’m not as open about being gay. But again, if asked, I’ll tell.
That said the people I have surrounded myself with are open and accepting people. I am 100% out with them. I have no doubt my boss knows I’m gay and doesn’t care. She’s pretty freaking cool. We just haven’t ever talked about it.
I think one can easily live the gay life up here in the Last Frontier. But I think it’s what you want out of life that determines if you do or not. If have found that people up here don’t really care what you do behind your bedroom door, they just don’t want to know about it or hear about it. But people here seem to be like that about anything. “Believe whatever you want, just don’t push your beliefs on me.”
I was living the typical gay life in Seattle and I was miserable. I’d say I was 90% miserable and 10% happy. Since I moved back almost four years ago, I’m 90% happy, 10% a little unhappy. That could be resolved by meeting the one and living happily ever after. But if that doesn’t happen, I’m good with 90%. Much better than the 10% in Seattle.
For me, I decided what was most important to me. Living with my friends, living in a place where I could camp, hike, kayak, explore….that was all very important to me. I love living in a place where just existing was a challenge. Easy access to gay bars and gay men…not so important. If it were, I would have stayed in Seattle. Every once in a while I get the urge and I just head to Anchorage for a long weekend and have a night out there and that satisfies me.
Ultimately, it comes down to what you want and what you want to experience. If you want the open and out there life, if that’s what’s going to get you to the 90%, maybe think of somewhere Outside. If living in a place that offers you’re the activities you want, the friends that you have, oh and by the way you happen to be gay, then a happy life up here is possible.
I am by no means speaking for anyone other than myself. This is just my approach to life and how I came to the decision to be living here.
# # #
Thanks, Mike!
What is your experience of being LGBT in Alaska? Leave a comment below, or email us directly at Bent Alaska @ gmail .com (without the spaces), and we will include your response in a follow up post. And if you have another topic you’d like to see on Bent Alaska, please tell us about it!
Should a married gay couple move to Alaska?
Soon after posting the letter from the graduate student, Bent Alaska received the following letter from Matt and Al asking if their dream of living in Alaska is realistic for them as a married gay couple.
Although Matt lived outside of Fairbanks for 2 years as a kid, he wouldn’t be returning to a familiar place and family members like the grad student. But their main question is the same – what is it like to live and work in Alaska as an openly-LGBT adult? So we’re adding this letter to our Choosing Alaska series and encouraging you to reply.
# # #
My husband, Al, and I are deciding where we would like to settle and Alaska is at the top of our list. I am from Texas and moved to the UK 4 years ago where I met Al. We are interested in Alaska because of what it offers in day to day life: the cool/cold climate, expansive outdoors, fascinated by the long winter nights and relish the long summer days, and the accessibility to buying enough land to keep chickens and other livestock as well as build a decent sized greenhouse to grow as much of our own herbs and vegetables as possible. We also like the low population density yielding plenty of privacy when at home, of which we want to do a self-build from kit–we want to physically contribute to building our home. Work wise, we both come from information technology corporate or retail management backgrounds, though we have considered drawing on Al’s experience growing up in a pub with rooms to start/buy a bed and breakfast.
Living in the UK has afforded us a degree of acceptance that I as an American did not think possible. I am seen simply by my name, not labeled as being gay; I am judged as a person, nothing more or less. Living across the US from CA, TX, and VA, I know that acceptance is not as enjoyable as my experience in Europe. My biggest concern with moving to Alaska is that because it is one of the last frontiers, it may be a large backward in the experience of acceptance than what I am used to. I appreciate that my husband and I may not be able to walk down the street holding hands without at least some hard glares. I would actually expect worse, such as reactive hate crimes, but don’t truly know. That’s what I am trying to gauge and understand.
Al and I will be visiting Alaska for a few weeks next year and will be making it a point to experience as much of the local vibe as possible. In the meantime, I would appreciate any considerations or experiences you have to share to help set my own realistic expectations.
# # #
Readers, what do you think? Leave a comment below, or email us directly at Bent Alaska @ gmail .com (without the spaces), and we will post your response (anonymous posts are ok.) Help this gay couple and others decide whether or not they will settle in Alaska.
And if you have a topic you’d like to see on Bent Alaska, please tell us about it!
Paula Poundstone: America is maturing on gay marriage
NPR is taping “Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me” live in Fairbanks on August 11 with panelists Paula Poundstone, Tom Bodett, and Adam Felber (sorry, it’s sold out.) Poundstone is also touring her own standup comedy show, although she’s not performing it in Alaska (darn!) OUTTAKE VOICES interviewed her after a recent show and asked about her tour, the NPR series and LGBT issues.
When asked what her personal commitment is to LGBT civil rights, Poundstone stated, “I think that I am an advocate of civil rights for all, I don’t know if it’s limited to one particular group. I am thrilled to death to see America maturing in the gay marriage arena. Although frankly, I’m not clear why anyone wants to be married, but OK.
I always thought that people’s argument against gay marriage has always been that it would somehow destroy the sanctity of marriage and I’m kind of a mind that whoever was in charge of the sanctity to begin with had kind of fallen asleep at the helm.
I think it is exciting to live in a time when things are changing. I’m really excited when my daughter who’s in high school tells me ‘you know so and so is gay.’ I just marvel. Not because her friend is gay but that it’s casual information.
It’s just when I was growing up, in high school, I was the class of ’77, of course there were many gays among my class, no one would ever have said so. Ever. So I think it’s thrilling and I try to emphasize that to my kids how lucky they are to be alive in a time when people can more or less be who they are.”
Paula is headed to Alaska to record the NPR hit weekly news quiz show, “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me”. Poundstone states “To have access to the NPR audience is pretty darn fun. They’re smart. They’re well informed. Not that I fall into either of those categories, by the way; less and less so as I grow older, in fact.” She adds that her appearances on NPR actually improve her stand-up act and vice versa.
Listen to the full interview on OUTTAKE VOICES. (There’s much more to it, the gay questions are at the end.)
To the lucky Fairbanks people who got tickets to the live taping – enjoy the show!
This weekend in LGBTQ Alaska (7/29/11): Fairbanks Ducal Ball & Hedwig’s last weekend
This weekend’s big events in Fairbanks are a late morning bar-hopping float down the Chena River and the Fairbanks Ducal Ball at the Blue Loon. In Anchorage, it’s the very last weekend to see Out North’s production of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” Those events and more, plus a preview of what’s coming up next week.
Things I have learned this year as Grand Duke XVIII
What is it really like to hold your first title in the Imperial Court of All Alaska? A few weeks before the step-down Ducal Ball, Fairbanks Grand Duke Lynnette wrote a list of lessons she learned during the year as Duke of Fairbanks. Although it’s specific to her reign, many of the lessons are true for titleholders in general.
Dukes, duchesses, queens, & divas in Fairbanks this weekend
The Fairbanks Ducal Ball XIX is on Saturday, and they’re starting the day with a big splash — rafting the Chena River with Queens and Divas! Have fun on the river, enjoy the last great show by Duke Lynnette and Duchess Kara after a fantastic year, and welcome the new Duke and Duchess of Fairbanks.
