Articles in Juneau
Femme Fatale fundraiser returns to Juneau
This Week in LGBT Alaska 2/19/10
Juneau
Pride Chorus “Eyes on Chicago” Concert 2/20, silent auction at 6:30, music at 7:30 p.m. at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center.
SEAGLA Social Fridays (6-8 p.m.) for GLBT people and our friends over 21, at The Imperial Bar.
Fairbanks
UAF Gay-Straight Alliance Meeting 4 p.m on 2/19 in the Alumni Lounge, and GSA Bowling in the Wood Center 3:30 p.m. on 2/20.
Jeff’s Jungle Party with DJ Nicole, for over 21 LGBT’s and allies 2/20, begins at 9 p.m. off Sheep Creek Road.
Wednesday Social at 9 p.m. Contact 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
Wa-Wa Party: Memorial for Dan Cook (aka Cherresse) 2/20, 6-7 p.m. cocktails at the Raven, 8 p.m. show at Mad Myrna’s.
MCCA Open House 2/21, 3-4:30p.m. meet and greet the new board and other community leaders after the 2 p.m. Sunday service.
The ICOAA Monthly Business Meeting 2/21, 4-5p.m. at Mad Myrna’s.
Miss MeMe’s Gospel Show: “No Surprises” 2/21, 5 p.m. fundraiser at Mad Myrna’s.
2nd PrideFest planning meeting for Alaska PrideFest 2010: “A Pride Odyssey” 2/24, 6:30 p.m. at the GLCCA.
This Week in LGBT Alaska 2/12/10
Juneau
SEAGLA Valentine’s Dance 2/14, 8 p.m. at the Silverbow, all ages, everyone welcome. $10 suggested donation.
Social Fridays (6-8 p.m.) for GLBT people and our friends over 21, at The Imperial Bar.
Fairbanks
Wednesday Social at 9 p.m. Contact 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
Hypnotic Journey: Jay Her’s Comedy Hypnosis Show 2/12, 7:30 p.m. Colleen Crinklaw opens with stand up comedy. UAA’s Wendy Williamson Auditorium. Tickets $20 at the door, cash only.
PrideProm 2010 planning meeting 2/13, 11:30 a.m. at the GLCCA.
“Sweetheart’s Dinner” 2/13, Cocktails at 6pm and Dinner at 7pm, at Mad Myrna’s. $20, annual fundraiser for ICOAA.
MCCA Retreat: “Newness” 2/13, 12-2 p.m. open to all.
Love Your Gay Neighbor Valentine’s Day Party 2/14, 3-4:30 p.m. At MCC Anchorage, after the 2 p.m. Sunday service.
New LGBT Book Lovers Club meets at the GLCCA 2/17, 6:15 p.m. showing the movie Jane Austin’s Book Club and choosing books to read and discuss.
Singing Valentines and Pride Chorus Concert
This Week in LGBT Alaska 1/15/10
Juneau
SEAGLA Social Fridays (6-8 p.m.) for GLBT people and our friends over 21, at The Imperial Bar.
Juneau Pride Chorus rehearses every Friday, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Resurrection Lutheran Church. Marsha
Fairbanks
Continuing LGBT Discussion 1/17, 11:30 p.m. at the UUFF.
Wednesday 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
Scott T. Schofield’s “Debutante Balls” 1/14-1/16 at 7:30 p.m. and 1/17 at 4 p.m. at Out North.
Prayer Vigil for Haiti 1/17, 11 a.m. at the GLCCA
Fur Rondy float planning meeting 1/17, 4 p.m. at Mad Myrna’s
Professor Gale Smoke reviews Judy Shepard’s book “The Meaning of Matthew” 1/21, 7 p.m. at Immanuel Presbyterian Church. Anchorage PFLAG.
Renown poet and author Nikki Giovanni 1/21, 7:30 p.m. A free event for Civil Rights Month at UAA.
This Week in LGBT Alaska 1/8/10
Juneau
SEAGLA Social Fridays (6-8 p.m.) for GLBT people and our friends over 21, at The Imperial Bar.
Juneau Pride Chorus rehearses every Friday, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Resurrection Lutheran Church. Marsha
Fairbanks
Greek Gods and Goddess: Toga Party 1/9, 7 p.m. An Imperial Court all-ages event with food, fun, fashion show, dancing and live entertainment. $12 in costume, $15 in street clothes, at the Carlson Center.
LGBT Call for Action with guest speaker Harriet Drummond on 1/10, service at 10:30 a.m., conversation at 12:30 p.m. at the UUFF.
PFLAG Meeting 1/10, 4 p.m.
Wednesday LGBTA Social at 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
Friday Divas Variety Show, 9 p.m. at Mad Myrna’s.
Sunday worship with MCC Anchorage, 2 p.m.
Gay, Joyous and Free AA Meeting on Mondays, 6 p.m. at the GLCCA.
Pride Festival 2010 Planning Meeting 1/13, 5:30 p.m. at the GLCCA.
Scott T. Schofield’s “Debutante Balls” 1/14-1/16 at 7:30 p.m. and 1/17 at 4 p.m. at Out North.
Queer Alaska’s Annual Events
Happy New Year! As we begin another year, we start a new round of annual events for LGBT Alaska:
Lesbian Short Story Contest (Feb. deadline) – Radical Arts for Women rewards women authors in Alaska for fiction with lesbian content.
Arctic Heat (February) – The Last Frontier Men’s Club chooses the next Bear and Leather titleholders.
Celebration of Change (March this year) – RAW’s break-up performance and art show celebrates women, music and the coming of spring.
Femme Fatale (April) – The Imperial Court closes the legislative session in Juneau with a benefit show for Four A’s.
Day of Silence (April 25) & Pride Prom – Alaska’s Gay/Straight Student Alliances wrap up the school year with National Day of Silence and Pride Prom.
Juneau Pride Chorus spring concert (May) – The Juneau Women’s Chorus welcomes spring with an evening of music and food.
Memorial Day Picnic (end of May) – The community Picnic and BBQ celebrate unity and the beginning of summer.
PrideFest & Pride Week (June) – The summer solstice diversity parade and festival displays our Pride in Anchorage, and Juneau holds a Pride Picnic.
Golden Days Parade & Tanana Valley Fair (July) – PFLAG Fairbanks brightens the local parade with a 45 foot rainbow flag and hosts a picnic afterwards, then creates a booth for the Fair.
Coronation (Labor Day weekend) – ICOAA’s late summer extravaganza invests the new Imperial Court of All Alaska and presents scholarships and awards.
Pride Conference (October) – Identity’s back-to-school conference is inspired by National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11.
Alaskans Together annual conference (October) – ATE hosts a statewide annual strategy conference.
World AIDS Day (Dec. 1) – Four 4’s and IAA recognize the battle against AIDS with memorials, celebrations of life, and red ribbons.
The Best and Worst of 2009
AK student to Uganda President: anti-gay bill a grave injustice
by Lauren in Juneau
Dear President Museveni,
As you know, the current proposed legislation titled “The Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2009” has caused outrage in countries outside of your own, especially among the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender (LGBT) community world-wide. As a proud supporter and member of said community, I believe that this legislation will be detrimental to the people of Uganda and inevitably do more harm than good when applied.
I admit to being a student from the United States of America, where we have a wide base of freedoms, and that our cultures, norms, and practices are, in some respects, vastly different, and that my input here may seem arrogant and presumptive, but I would like to voice my opinion on your country’s upcoming decision on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009. I believe in basic human rights that include things like the rights to food, water, shelter–things that would ensure survival of a person and enable them to thrive. With these I also believe that the right to love is one of God’s greatest gifts to man, and that there should not be a regulation over what that relationship should look like between consenting adults. Whether you are homosexual or heterosexual should make no difference; it is as God designed you to be.
I believe in building community within our peoples, nations and world, and consider my true community to consist of all countries. I don’t limit myself to only the United States of America, because of the arrogance that implies. I tell you this because I feel deeply for my neighbors, and though your country is across an ocean and thousands of miles away, I would like to personally foster this feeling between your people and me. It is in the spirit of community that I write to you. I believe that this bill would destroy what you have striven so hard to build, a progressive country that happens to lie in the heart of Africa. I know that you believe in fighting against social injustice, and this bill would be just that: a grave injustice against the LGBT people. To me and my conscience, I could not allow this to go on without protest.
Mr. President, you have built up a very beautiful country, one I would love to visit and experience. Unfortunately, I would not be able to be as safe as possible if the bill passed because of my sexuality, and neither would the people who already live in Uganda. This bill would destroy the harmony you have fought to bring through your administration. I realize that this bill has its justifications, one of them being a call for HIV/AIDS control, but I do not believe that this legislation is the best way to bring it under control. Killing off the homosexual people would not solve the problem presented by the virus. Indeed, it may only stress the situation to a breaking point. As an AIDS-awareness activist, I fear that it would only negate all the progress you have made in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
I applaud you, Mr President, in the transformations you have enacted on your people and your country. I sincerely applaud the efforts you have taken, the great lengths you have gone to in order to better yourself and the people around you, but I believe that the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 would only undermine all your great work and turn back the clock on your administration.
Very truly yours,
Lauren
Juneau, Alaska, USA
Alaska observes World AIDS Day
