Articles in Events
Dine Out for Equality with One Anchorage at Schlotzsky’s Deli
Join One Anchorage at Schlotzsky’s Deli (on Dimond Blvd next to the Red Robin) on Tuesday, November 8. 20% of all sales (walk-in or drive thru) will benefit One Anchorage!
The One Anchorage Campaign will place an initiative on the April 2012 municipal ballot in Anchorage to add sexual orientation and transgender identity to Anchorage’s equal rights code. This follows on an equal rights ordinance which passed the Anchorage Assembly in 2009 by a vote of 7–4, only to be vetoed by Mayor Dan Sullivan.
Help us show the buying power of One Anchorage. Spread the word — lets fill this place up!
- Date/time: Tuesday, November 8, 3:00-8:00 PM
- Location: Schlotzsky’s Deli, 321 E. Dimond Blvd, Anchorage, AK (see map)
- Further info: see Facebook events page
Healing Racism in Anchorage brings Brent Scarpo for anti-bullying film & workshop
Join Healing Racism in Anchorage (HRA) in welcoming renowned anti-bullying/anti-violence speaker and youth violent expert Brent Scarpo for his award-winning film Journey to a Hate-Free Millenium, a one-day workshop, and other events aimed at addressing bullying, violence,and racism. HRA is also offering a five-week course on building alliances to end racism in Anchorage.
Healing Racism in Anchorage steering committee member Steve Aufrecht wrote about Brent Scarpo recently on his blog What Do I Know? —
Brent was the casting director of The Shawshank Redemption
(and other movies like That Thing You Do
, Air Force One
, and Matilda
). Then he decided he wanted to make his own films and work on eradicating hate….
Brent has taken this so seriously, he dropped out of his successful Hollywood career so that he could concentrate on doing his part to help free people from hate and fear.
See Steve’s second post about Scarpo too: it includes a video of a Skype conversation the two held, in which Scarpo described a chance phone call from a college student that changed the direction of his life.
Scarpo’s focus now is on transforming people so they can deal with and de-fuse hate — particularly in the form of bullying, whether motivated by racism, sexism, homophobia, or other reasons.
Scarpo’s presentation of the film kicks off a series of events sponsored by Healing Racism in Anchorage during Scarpo’s visit and continuing through December. On Tuesday, November 8, Scarpo will conduct a “Train the Trainers” workshop on addressing racism and hate, and he’ll also be speaking at a number of local community organizations, schools and businesses, discussing the origins of interpersonal hatred and how individuals can affect change in our community.
Healing Racism in Anchorage is also offering a five-week course, Building Alliances to End Racism, which is available for credit. The course begins Thursday, November 10 at and runs every Thursday through December 15 (except for Thanksgiving).
Journey to a Hate Free Millennium (film)
This documentary looks at the subject of hate and bullying as seen through the stories of the Columbine High School student shootings, the dragging death of African-American James Byrd Jr of Jasper, Texas and gay college student, Matthew Shepard of Laramie, Wyoming. The film has won over 25 film festival awards.
- Date/time: Monday, November 7, 7:00-9:00 PM
- Location: East Anchorage High School Auditorium, 4025 East Northern Lights Blvd, Anchorage, AK (see map)
- Cost of admission: Free
- Further info: see Facebook events page
“Train the Trainers” workshop
In this single-evening workshop, participants will:
- Gain at least one important insight into how racism works in the US;
- Understand the overlap between racism and bullying;
- Gain at least one practical tool that will help them deal with racist/bullying
incidents at work or in private life; - Leave with a plan for increasing their knowledge about racism/ bullying and for having an impact on decreasing racism/bullying in the next year; and
- Understand workplace violence and how to spot the signs of a possible incident.
Brent will engage participants interactively to help them meet their most pressing concerns. There is a limit of 30 participants.
Please contact Healing Racism in Anchorage at healingracism@gmail.com or (907) 561-3238 for information on the workshop and registration.
- Date/time: Tuesday, November 8, 5:30 to 9:00 PM
- Location: Credit Union One in Mountain View, 115 N. Bragaw St., Anchorage, AK (see map)
- Cost of admission:$50 in advance. Contact us at
healingracism@gmail.com for information and registration. - Further info: see Facebook events page
Building Alliances to End Racism (5-week course)
As part of Healing Racism in Anchorage‘s Fall 2011 event, join us for our credit course, Building Alliances to End Racism. This 5-week workshop will deepen your awareness of how racism affects you and what you can do to improve our society. You’ll learn how to be more sensitive to the experiences of others, how to unlearn racist patterns and how to move from awareness into action. This course will look closely at the topics of bullying and hate crimes and how they can be eliminated. This is a chance to build supportive relationships with other people who also care about racial justice.
Classes meet at the Anchorage School District building every Thursday between November 10 to December 15 (except for Thanksgiving!) Academic credit available.
- Date/time: Every Thursday between November 10 to December 15 (except for Thanksgiving!), 5:30 to 8:00 PM
- Location: Anchorage School District, 5530 E Northern Lights Blvd, Anchorage (see map)
- Further info: see Facebook events page
First Fridays at the Lower LA kicks off Nov. 4 with (some of) the best in Fairbanks drag & burlesque talent
The numerous talented drag and illusionist performers of Fairbanks invited you to join them every month on First Fridays at The Lower L.A. for a night of fun & mischief with cabaret, drag, & burlesque!
First Fridays will kick off on November 4 at 10 PM with a Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) show featuring (some of) the hottest in Fairbank’s GLBT&A talent, the scandalously hot ladies of Cabaret Noir-Burlesque, and Fairbanks’s most popular live rockabilly band “The Avery Wolves”! DJ’d dancing &/or band after.
And of the best & hottest who aren’t at this first First Friday? We’ll see them at our other First Fridays! First Fridays will feature every month:
- Cabaret Noir — Burlesque! Fairbank’s hottest burlesque troupe of gorgeous ladies will be strutting their stuff!!
- Haus oF Fusion — Beyonca Fusion and her clan of femme fatales!
- Drag Kings – featuring the return of “Tommie Blue”
- A hot local & live band or DJ
- many more talented charmers & guest performers changing every month!!
Full bar service in The Lower L.A. — the lounge downstairs from Los Amigos Tex-Mex. Full menu food service upstairs in Los Amigos before doors open downstairs.
- Date/time: Every First Friday of the month. Doors open at 9 PM, show 10 PM to 1 AM
- Location: Lower LA ( lounge downstairs from Los Amigos Tex-Mex), 636 28th Ave, Fairbanks, AK (see map)
- Cost of admission: $10 general seating, $15 VIP table seat. Limited VIP table seating & general seating tix available at (907) 322-5242.
- Age restrictions: 21+ in bar area, limited 18+ in restaurant area.
- Further info: see Facebook events page
“Out in the Silence”, award-winning docco on bullying & discrimination in smalltown America: Sunday at Out North
The United Gay-Straight Alliances of Anchorage are sponsoring a free showing on Sunday evening, November 6 of Out in the Silence, a 50-minute documentary which addresses bullying and discrimination against LGBT youth in rural and smalltown America. This is a free, all-ages event at Out North, though a donation of $3 at the door is suggested to help Anchorage GSAs develop anti-bullying initiatives in their schools.
Special thanks to The Family at UAA, Spectrum at APU, as well as Out North Contemporary Art House for their support as well as the many youth working to make this showing a success!
The aim of Out in the Silence is to expand public awareness about the difficulties that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people face in rural and small town America and to promote dialogue and action that will help people on all sides of the issues find common ground.
This is a community event and all ages, orientations, etc. are welcome to attend! There is a suggested $3 donation at the door, with all proceeds going to support Gay-Straight Alliances across Anchorage to develop anti-bullying initiatives within their schools.
- Date/time: Sunday, Nov 6, 7:00 to 9:00 PM
- Location: Out North Contemporary Art House, 3800 DeBarr Road Anchorage, AK (see map)
- Cost of admission: Free; suggested $3 donation at the door to benefit Anchorage-area Gay/Straight Alliances (GSAs).
- Further info: see Facebook events page, the Out in the Silence website, or the Out in the Silence Facebook page
B!D!F!W! Penny Arcade’s Sex and Censorship Show at Out North starting this weekend
B!D!F!W! is a powerful critique of the Christian right as well as of the politically correct Left. A blend of outrageous humor, political humanism, freedom of expression and erotic dancing, the show shocked NY’s supposedly unshakeable downtown art scene with its brazen use of strippers and erotic dancers and its huge audience dance break. 1500 international performances later, this show (like all true masterpieces) has never left the cutting edge; it comes to Anchorage, finally, to up the ante on the hot topic of “choosing respect.”
“The show was everything you ever wanted to know about censorship, feminism, counterculture and joy.” – Rolling Stone
“Arcade’s strength is that she takes issues which divide and frighten people and exposes the absurdity behind them. A wonder to behold…Beg, steal a ticket.” – Newsweek
About Penny Arcade: Born Susana Carmen Ventura to an immigrant Italian family in the small factory town of New Britain, Connecticut, she became Penny Arcade at age 17 in an effort to amuse her mentor and patron, openly gay photographer/artist Jaimie Andrews. It was Andrews, a member of The Playhouse of the Ridiculous, who introduced the young Arcade to legendary director John Vaccaro. Vaccaro, then directing Kenneth Bernard’s potent play The Moke Eater, subsequently gave Penny her theatrical debut in the groundbreaking production. Soon after, Arcade became a teenage superstar for Andy Warhol’s Factory with a featured role in the Morrissey/Warhol film Women In Revolt, but quickly found the life of an upcoming pop tart too one dimensional and fled to Amsterdam.
She has been a legendary, provocative, ground breaking performance artist ever since. Plus, she’s super cool and super kind.
Find out more about her at www.pennyarcade.tv.
What Out North does: Produces and presents art that challenges and inspires; nurtures creative space where people of all cultures, generations, circumstances and abilities can gather and learn; champions artists whose work pushes traditional boundaries of aesthetics and content.
18 and older unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.
- Date/time: Fridays and Saturdays November 4 to 19, 8 PM
- Location: Out North Contemporary Art House, 3800 DeBarr Road Anchorage, AK (see map)
- Cost of admission: Tickets $25 general, $20 students/60+/military in advance at Centertix. Or $30/$25 at the door.
- Further info: see Facebook events page
One Anchorage Boot Camp to be held Nov. 4–6
The One Anchorage Campaign to add LGBT equality to Anchorage’s equal rights code through an April 2012 ballot measure will hold a three-day Boot Camp on November 4–6 for committed One Anchorage volunteers.
The focus of the training will be on how to run a successful campaign, and will be led by the nationally respected L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center’s Leadership LAB. The training will be held from November 4–6 (Friday evening and during the day Saturday and Sunday), and is intended for anyone totally committed to One Anchorage and the success of this important equal rights campaign. One Anchorage needs you to attend all sessions, and become a super volunteer for the Campaign. The registration form is available on the Equality Works website.
There is no cost. One Anchorage will provide food and beverages. Please join in and help make One Anchorage a successful campaign!
- Date/time: Friday, November 4, 5:30 to 9:30 PM; Saturday, November 5, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM; Sunday, November 6, 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
- Location: 1057 W. Fireweed Lane, Anchorage, AK (see map)
- Register: fill out the registration form and email or fax to Johnathan Jones at jjones@oneanchorage.com or 907.258.0288
- Further info: Equality Works website, One Anchorage website, or One Anchorage’s page on Facebook
Providence Hospital offers LGBT-inclusive course on cross-cultural communication
Providence Alaska Learning Institute is presenting a course this coming Monday on Courage, Compassion and Cross Cultural Communication, particularly in the medical setting. This course specifically includes the LGBT community.
Need more info? Contact Chaplain Susan M. Halvor, Senior Chaplain at Providence Alaska Medical Center and a member of the LGBT clergy of our community. She can be reached at 212-2993 or by email at susan.halvor@providence.org.
The course is aimed at nurses, physical therapists, physical therapy assistants, occupational therapists and therapy assistants, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, radiology technicians, physicians, patient care technicians, certified nurse assistants, spiritual care, psychologists, social services — in short, anyone who works or interacts with people.
Three panel discussions, with opportunities to visit table displays from different community members, will include representation from Hmong, Japanese, Polynesian, Islamic, Russian Orthodox, Hispanic, Alaska Native (Inupiat), Navajo, military, and gay/lesbian communities.
Keynote speakers include:
- Fr. Michael Oleksa, talking about the basics of Cross Cultural Communication
- Barb Jacobs, Alaska Immigration Justice Project, talking about Interpreting Skills
- Karen Ferguson, Refugee Assistance and Immigration Services at Catholic Social Services, presenting “Refugees 101”
The course is approved for continuing education credit in nursing. To obtain full contact hour credit for this activity you must sign the roster; attend 100% of the presentation; complete the Assessment of Learning and the course evaluation form.
- Date/time: Monday, October 24, 2011, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
- Location: East Auditorium, Providence Alaska Medical Center, 3200
- Providence Drive, Anchorage, AK (see map)
- Cost of admission: registration $50.00
- Further info: see the Course registration form, or contact Rev. Susan Halvor at 212-2993 or by email at susan.halvor@providence.org
Alaska Pride Conference 2011: A photo essay
Mel Green spent most of yesterday at Alaska Pride Conference 2011, held on the Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage. The Alaska Pride Conference is an annual day-long event held in Anchorage filled with workshops, speakers, vendors, and great food.
Off the Page: Momentum Dance Collective at Out North this weekend & next
Momentum Dance Collective is a nonprofit contemporary dance company in Anchorage. Working with local Alaskan poets, Momentum choreographers will bring their ideas to the stage to take on a life in a three dimensional reality. This production will showcase the work of six choreographers, 13 poets and 18 dancers.
Through 13 short pieces, these poems will be expressed in a variety of ways; a theme for the movement, a mood for the soundtrack, or a visual image that defines the direction of the piece itself. A variety of poetry and dance forms will take the stage that touch on themes of recovery, circumstance, relationships, humanity, and love.
- Date/time: October 13-15 and October 20-22 at 8 PM
- Location: Out North Contemporary Art House, 3800 DeBarr Road, Anchorage, AK (see map)
- Cost of admission: $20 general $15 students/60+/military in advance via www.centertix.net. Or $25/$20 at the door.
- Further info: see Facebook events page or Momentum Dance’s website or Facebook page
Momentum Dance Collective created this reel of some of their moves — watch:
Juneau Pride Chorus presents gay & lesbian film festival for National Coming Out Day
Juneau Pride Chorus — “a chorus of mothers, daughters, sisters, lovers and grandmothers bonded by love of singing and desire to celebrate diversity” — will celebrate National Coming Out Day this coming Tuesday, October 11, with a festival of gay and lesbian short films from some of the country’s top film festivals. The Pride Chorus will sing at intermission.
Admission is free, but donations are not only welcomed but encouraged: Pride Chorus is raising funds in hopes of going, for its first time ever, to the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA) International Chorus Festival, which will be held in Denver in July 2012. GALA’s festival happens only once every four years.
National Coming Out Day (NCOD) is an internationally observed civil awareness day observed by members of the LGBTQA communities on October 11 every year (or October 12 in the United Kingdom). Its date was chosen in commemoration of the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, held on October 11, 1987. National Coming Out Day is also an important for another reason, the Juneau Empire reports: the Juneau Pride Chorus held its very first rehearsal on National Coming Out Day in 1997.
The Juneau Empire continues,
Pride Chorus lays claim to the title of Juneau’s only year-round chorus, not counting church choirs. It rehearses every Tuesday from 5:30–7 p.m. at Resurrection Lutheran Church, open to the (female) public—to listen or to sing.
In fact, Pride Chorus prides itself, no pun intended, on its unrestrictive admission policy, which does not limit membership by audition, voice part or even sexual orientation.
“You don’t have to be LGBT to be a member of Pride Chorus, just supportive of our causes,” [Pride Chorus director Leslie] Wood said, who estimates that a third of the women in the chorus are lesbian, a third bisexual and a third, allies.
“You don’t have to be able to sing, either, but it helps.”
Juneau Pride Chorus holds an annual concert in April and also performs annually at Alaska Folk Festival and sometimes for World AIDS Day.
If you’re in Juneau, make time next Tuesday evening for some terrific films and terrific music. As one of Bent Alaska’s friends — a Pride Chorus member — wrote on our Facebook wall yesterday, “Come hear us sing — it will be a blast!” And don’t forget to chip in to help the Pride Chorus on its way to GALA 2012!
- Date/time: Tuesday, October 11, 6:30 to 9:30 PM
- Location: Gold Town Nickelodeon Theater, 171 Shattuck Way, Juneau, AK (see map)
- Cost of admission: Admission is free; donations accepted and encouraged: this is a fundraiser for Juneau Pride Chorus.
- Further info: see Facebook events page
