Articles in News
Don Young on DADT: Don’t trust the Generals
Asked whether he would support the repeal of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell. Young replied:Probably not. I think the system has worked. I think we have to recognize that. I am not at ease saying that this would be a plus for the armed services. And I think we ought to stop going to the heads of the so-called military, and the politicians and ask the troops and see how it comes out. That would tell you a lot more. We have a tendency to think that we know more than the common folk. And Obama and Nancy Pelosi is an exaple of that in the health bill.[Felling] So you think that the Secretary of Defense, and the Generals don’t have the best sense…I actually don’t think that they… They’re like the President. They don’t have any contact with their troops. The troops in the field, the guy that’s got mud on his boots, and pulling that M-16 trigger, he’s got armor on his chest at 110 degrees, you ought to ask him.
which included not only Marines, but members of the Army and the Air Force, both male and female service members explained their indifference to the issue: They’d already served with gays and lesbians, they accepted that some kind of change was imminent, and, they said, the nation was too engulfed in two wars for a prolonged debate about it.
- 73 percent of military personnel are comfortable with lesbians and gays (Zogby International, 2006).
- The younger generations, those who fight America’s 21st century wars, largely don’t care about whether someone is gay or not, and they do not link job performance with sexual orientation.
- One in four U.S. troops who served in Afghanistan or Iraq knows a member of their unit who is gay (Zogby, 2006).
In addition, the public overwhelmingly supports lifting the ban:
- Majorities of weekly churchgoers (60 percent), conservatives (58 percent), and Republicans (58 percent) now favor repeal (Gallup, 2009).
- Seventy-five percent of Americans support gays serving openly, up from 44 percent in 1993 (ABC News/Washington Post, 2008).
Representative Don Young: 202-225-5765
Gay and raised in Alaska? Bring it Home
“Last November, the city council of Salt Lake City passed an ordinance protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals from discrimination in the workplace and in housing. Other cities in Utah are currently working on getting similar ordinances passed, in hopes of supporting an eventual statewide ordinance that would protect all queer Utahns.Where is Anchorage’s anti-discrimination ordinance or protections from hate crimes? Mayor Dan Sullivan vetoed it…Before I moved to Utah last August, I was nervous to be a gay in Mormon country. Luckily for me, I found myself in a strong Utah LGBT community shortly after my arrival. These Utahns have been an inspiration to me, and I hope that Alaskans rise to the challenge of Utah’s example. If Utah can do it, so can Alaska.And none of the changes that occurred in Utah on queer issues would exist if not for the activism that lives within Utah.Queers in Alaska should embrace their queerness. The queers in Alaska need to come out of their log cabins (the Republicans don’t like you anyway). They need to come out of the bars. They need to come out at work. They need to come out to their neighbors. The gays must go out and greet the moveable middle within their communities. Be creative in your activism. Do something, not nothing: Stage a kiss-in, create a spectacle, anything, just go all for it in your community.”
“I am proud to say that I am a born-and-raised Alaskan. I love my home state; it’s beautiful and gave me many opportunities. But Alaska needs to become a more inclusive state to all of its citizens. Utah got at least one thing right when Salt Lake City decided to protect its LGBT residents. Now it’s time for Alaska to meet the challenge.”
Sara’s News Round-up 4/25/10
Memorial service for Dan Carter-Incontro at MCCA
Dan Carter-Incontro, long time Alaska GLBT activist and supporter of equal rights for all, died last Sunday at the age of 62. The funeral is on Saturday at 3:30 pm at the Nazarene Church in Lake City, Florida, and a local memorial service will be held on Sunday at MCC Anchorage.
Al Carter-Incontro, Dan’s husband, is planning a trip to Alaska in May, and a community Celebration of Life will be held during his visit.
Dan was a big supporter of the Anchorage Gay and Lesbian Community Center. If you wish to make a donation to the Center in memory of Dan, Identity will send an acknowledgement to Al and to Dan’s sister Sarah. If you would like to send flowers to the Florida funeral, call 386-755-0833 for a local florist.
The MCC Anchorage memorial is during the Sunday service on April 25 at 2 p.m.
It is not often in this life when you are blessed to have crossed paths with an individual such as Dan Carter-Incontro. Dan was a friend to many within the Church and our community.
Dan and Al Carter-Incontro were the second Alaskan couple to marry in British Columbia when it became legal there in 2003. They went to British Columbia just days after it became legal to get married there having spent more than 30 years as a couple.
Dan had many friends at Identity and almost all of its member organizations as well as the Municipality where he worked and retired from the People Mover department, the Alaska Democratic Party where he had the honor of serving as a National Delegate at least once, and of course his involvement with MCC Anchorage. His past involvement with MCC Anchorage ensured that the Life of the Church would continue serving the community of Anchorage.
Dan’s moving to Florida left a large hole in the community and now with his passing an even larger hole resides in our minds and hearts. It is, as some have said, the end of an era.
We will be celebrating the life of Dan Carter-Incontro this Sunday at 2:00pm. All from the community and the Church are welcome to attend.
Fetish Ball raised money and questions
Fetish Ball was a wild success Saturday night, with impressive costumes, sexy games, a packed house, and about $8000 raised for the Four A’s food bank to provide meals for people with AIDS. It also attracted a negative comment on the blog and a snarky poetic response. Sarha, Ms. Alaska Leather, wrote,
Fetish Ball 2010 will go down in history as the biggest fetish fund raiser ever! Thank you to those that attended the planning meetings, participated in setup and tear down, ran game booths, walked the runway and worked so hard to make this happen.
Fetish Ball is an annual theme party hosted by the Anchorage fetish, leather and s/m community. It’s not a specifically gay event, and many heterosexual people attend. Ms. Alaska Leather, one of the event organizers, is married to a man. But gay people have always been involved, it’s a benefit for Four A’s held at Myrna’s, and the event and poster were listed with other GLBTA weekend events last Friday on the blog.
Soon after the post went live, an anonymous comment appeared:
Fetish Ball 2010??? with a medical theme??? And those in the LGBT community wonder why they aren’t openly accepted… lol!
During the ordinance hearings last summer, Bent gained several anonymous trolls. They are attracted like moths to certain topics, such as the UA policy change and transgender issues. Posts that describe discrimination against LGBT people will often get a comment saying that we deserve whatever bad treatment we get. Some of the comments are openly hateful, like this one, for example, and these below the post.
The Fetish Ball comment isn’t as hateful as those, but the string of false assumptions between gays and fetishes and the lack of acceptance or rights was more than I had time to deal with on the weekend. So I posted the comment on Bent’s Facebook wall under the Fetish Ball link and waited to see how the friends would respond.
The first person easily summed up the situation:
Everyone has fetishes. The LGBT community and allies are just more willing to embrace it instead of acting like hypocrites.
Well said. The next person responded with a poem! She’s a transwoman who attended the ordinance hearings and noticed that some of the haters have a trans fetish:
The fundies sneering at me in halls,
for going to the fetish balls,
Are the ones behind restroom doors,
who hit on me to drop my drawers.Only Baptists have asked me to,
do the things that Baptists rue,
to spread my legs for them to see,
When all I want to do is pee.Spitting on me when I pass,
Then stand behind to watch my ass,
Brimstone public testimony,
Then privately ask to see my pony.Sunday mornings go a-churching,
Friday nights ask me for birching,
For churchman insults heaped a-plenty,
Hun, you’re never going to get any.
She added, “I am not particularly appreciative of the behavior expressed towards me by certain orthodox individuals. Perhaps they believe that God doesn’t exist if no one is looking.”
SNAP! I’m glad I’m on her side.
Thanks to the FB friends for answering an ignorant blog comment with insight and creativity. And thanks to all for a great event that raised funds for a good cause.
Pride Prom rocks for Anchorage and Mat-Su students
“The bass vibrated the walls and strobe lights flashed on the dance floor. This was the scene that greeted LGBT youth and their allies on April 16th as they arrived at the Kincaid Chalet for Pride Prom 2010.The youth planned and set up the event with help from supportive adults and their effort paid off. The dance was a huge success and everyone had a great time dancing to popular music hits, many by request to the live DJ.The theme that was chosen was ‘gender bender’ and quite a few of the youth dressed up in clothes usually worn by the opposite gender. At one point in the night there was voting for a royal pride court based on how loud of a cheer the people nominated received. Two young men in drag were voted as the pride queens and they both received gift certificates.The dance went off as planned and many youth are already interested in helping out in planning next year’s prom.”
“So… Day of Silence.Per. 1: Mr. — took off points for me not speaking even though he didn’t even call on me. He gave Erica some BS about politics not belonging in the classroom. I should’ve ductaped my rainbow flag to my desk.Per. 2: No problems.Per. 3: Random guys asked me if I was a lesbian. Now that they know, hopefully they’ll stop hitting on me. They were really starting to get on my nerves.Per. 4: I had a whiteboard conversation with a friend about what happened in 1st period.Lunch: I sat next to my girlfriend and ate lunch quietly like I usually do. All of the DoS kids ate lunch in our adviser’s room.Per. 5: The sub caught me saying sorry and said that I should just give up and take off my DoS tee (which was over my other shirt). I flipped him off in french when he wasn’t looking. I ate a cutie pie (turnover) that my girlfriend gave me and then had a spaz attack because of all the sugar.Per. 6: No problems.Now, on to Pride Prom…My parents rented an impala and my mom put flowers in my hair and made a matching boutonniere for my girlfriend. I made french onion soup for dinner.Pride Prom itself was spectacular. There was a strobe light, glow sticks, black lights, balloons, free pictures, great music, and more rainbows than I thought existed. In the car ride home I fell asleep on my girlfriend’s shoulder. Bliss. Some moments I wish could last forever…”
Trans Alaskans get back into Action
“It has long been a dream of mine to see an organization formed by us, run by us, that exists to help us.Transgendered people suffer discrimination at every turn. Many of us face violence, simply for being ourselves. Transition can also be cost-prohibitive for many of us, especially the guys. Many of us are forced into the sex industry due to lack of opportunties and societal marginalization of TGs.There is so much work to do. This website is the first step towards fulfilling my dream of uniting us into a real community.”
Dan Carter-Incontro 1947-2010
Bent Alaska received this sad news Sunday evening:
“Dan Carter-Incontro, long time Alaskan GLBT activist and supporter of equal rights for all, died this afternoon in Clermont, Florida, at the age of 62. Dan had been fighting complications from diabetes for many years but finally was overcome by the disease. He is survived by his husband, Al Carter-Incontro, and many Alaskan friends. A Celebration of Life will be held in Anchorage at a date yet to be determined. More details will be forthcoming as they are known.”
Dan was known and admired by many, and will be greatly missed. Our condolences to Al, and to all whose lives were touched by Dan. Rest in peace.
Sara’s News Round-up 4/18/10
Gay AK: locals win grants & awards, unblock web sites, thank Kristara
