Sunday, 6 October 2013 – 5:19 PM
| Comments Off on A long-overdue Bent Alaska update — October 2013
Bent Alaska’s blog will continue in hiatus indefinitely; but the Bent Alaska Facebook Group on Facebook is thriving — join us! A long-overdue update from Bent Alaska’s editor.
Saturday, 3 April 2010 – 5:00 PM
| Comments Off on Ugly Betty, Equality Mixer, ATE update
Gay AK – notes for and from LGBTQ Alaska
Justin’s Episode on “Ugly Betty”
GLESN and the creative team of “Ugly Betty” have announced that the character Justin will come to terms with his sexual identity in an April 7 episode. “Your support for GLSEN is making real storylines, just like Justin’s, possible in schools all over our country. We applaud the work you do, and hope you’ll be watching with all of us at Ugly Betty as we help our much-loved Justin take the next step in his personal coming out journey.”
Equality Works Mixer
Join Equality Works for a night of entertainment, education, and community-building, on April 10 at 7 p.m. Meet other people interested in making Anchorage safe for gay and transgender Alaskans. Test your knowledge of LGBT issues and politics in the U.S. Find out how you can help Equality Works move Alaska forward. Be there for the start of something beautiful. E-mail Tiffany McClain for address and directions or call (907) 258-0044 ext. 2006.
DADT, ENDA and AK Hate Crimes updates
Alaskans Together for Equality, Inc. (ATE) continues to monitor legislation at the federal and state level. The Military Readiness Enhancement Act (H.R. 1283/S. 3065) is moving forward to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law. In addition, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 3017/S. 1584) is making its way through Congress. In order for these two pieces of legislation to continue to move forward we need your help. If you haven’t already, please contact our Congressional delegation and voice your support for these two important pieces of legislation.
In Alaska, we have been monitoring Senate Bill 202 (Alaska Hate Crimes Legislation) that is making its way through the State Senate. If passed as amended it will cover crimes motivated by prejudice, bias, or hatred based on the victim’s sexual orientation as well as on other inherent characteristics. For more news, to become an ATE member or to volunteer for ATE visit Alaskans Together for Equality.
Celebration wrap-up from RAW
“Thanks for another awesome Celebration! Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers, performers, crew and committees that helped make this year’s Celebration of Change a success. Special thanks to Metro and GLCCA for selling tickets and Kodiak for hosting the after party. And thanks to all that came out and watched the show. See you next year!” Radical Arts for Women.
This is no April Fool’s joke: assembly candidate Andy Clary is the son of Anchorage Baptist Temple pastor Glenn Clary, who called Mayor Sullivan’s veto of the equal rights ordinance one of Jerry Prevo’s greatest victories. The junior Clary also has close ties to Sullivan and served on his transition team. He’s running for the Midtown assembly seat against former assembly member Dick Traini.
“Clary’s father… is an assistant pastor at Anchorage Baptist Temple and has been a Republican Party activist. Andy Clary belongs to the same political party but a different church, ChangePoint. When asked at a candidate luncheon how he has served the community, he cited church work. He taught Sunday school, led men’s studies and cooked food for different events,” according to yesterday’s ADN article.
Did he switch from controversial ABT to the less politically tainted ChangePoint last summer, when Prevo threatened to take down the pro-ordinance assembly members? Is Prevo positioning Clary to be the city’s future evangelical mayor?
The article also describes Clary’s ties to the current mayor, giving us another reason to oppose him:
On an Assembly that’s been fractious over Sullivan’s leadership, Clary makes it clear he is allied with Sullivan, who became mayor last July. He served on Sullivan’s transition team, held a fundraiser at McGinley’s, the pub Sullivan co-owns, and says of Sullivan, “Generally, I like what I’ve seen.”
We don’t need another assembly member who rubber-stamps Sullivan’s personal agenda against the best interests of the city.
Dick Traini is a conservative with an independent streak. He has also said that he could support a non-discrimination ordinance similar to the one passed in Salt Lake City with the approval of the Mormon Church. The two SLC ordinances added sexual orientation and gender identity, but involved only housing and job protections.
But Clary will oppose everything that benefits the LGBT community of Anchorage. And as Prevo’s man on the assembly, he will actively work against us.
Midtown residents, please vote for Dick Traini on April 6th.
– photo of Rev. Clary asking ABT’s television audience to give money to Rev. Prevo in celebration of his no-compromise victory over the homosexuals, after Mayor Sullivan’s veto of the equal rights ordinance.
A recent e-newsletter from AFC President Jim Minnery said that the Girl Scouts is “the last place you want your daughter to be.”
In case you didn’t know, it’s not your mother’s Girl Scouts any more. While the Boy Scouts of America has remained true to its traditional ideals, the Girl Scouts have gone full tilt into feminism/sexual revolution/GLBT politics. And doing their best to export it internationally.
It is enormously disappointing that an Alaskan coalition would forward such inflammatory statements without having made any contact with Girl Scouts of Alaska. Girl Scouts is a non-religious values based organization that strongly respects families and makes no statements or stands on girls’ sexuality.
Girl Scouts of Alaska builds girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place. The values that Girl Scouts stand for are what’s stated in the Girl Scout Promise and Law, essentially unchanged since 1912.
Monday, 29 March 2010 – 8:00 PM
| Comments Off on Tell UA Regents that fairness matters
The UA system’s lack of protection for gays and lesbians is the topic of a front page article in this month’s UAA student newspaper The Northern Light. The article quotes Regent Kirk Wikersham as saying that he hasn’t heard much about adding sexual orientation to the non-discrimination policy:
“I haven’t heard anything antidotal regarding the issue when I travel to different campuses,” Regent Kirk Wikersham said. “I don’t know if (a policy) would pass right now. The board has not really spoke privately on the subject, but we decided at our retreat in January we would deal with it this year.”
Students have raised the issue before the board at every public regents’ meeting for over a year, sharing their concerns about the lack of protection for LGBT students, staff and faculty in the UA system. Apparently, Regent Wikersham needs to hear more.
If you study or work on a UA campus and have ever seen, heard or experienced unfair treatment of LGBT people, be sure to tell the regents about that (without outing the people involved.) LGBT people who are currently being harassed are less likely to speak up for themselves, for fear of being outed or fired, so it’s important that we speak for them.
If you have friends at other campuses, especially the smaller ones, please ask them to contact the regents as well. There are LGBT people at every UA campus, and the regents need to hear from them and their friends.
“Seeing as this has been an ongoing issue for about 25 years, I don’t see it going away,” [Jessica Angelette, the GSA president at UAF] said. “There is too much press and public interest, and not just in Alaska but the entire nation.”
Saturday, 27 March 2010 – 7:01 AM
| Comments Off on UA’s Gamble, Mayor’s Marathon, Walk A Mile & Felix goes to DC
Gay AK: Notes from and for LGBT Alaska
UA Gambles on another general
The University of Alaska has a new President: Patrick Gamble was CEO of the Alaska Railroad, a former general from Texas, and has no work experience in the field of education. Does he support adding LGBTs to the non-discrimination policy? I guess we’ll find out. Articles on the new leader in UAA’s Northern Light and UAF’s Sun Star.
Help Felix go to Washington
Felix Rivera is a student at Alaska Pacific University and the president of the LGBTQ student group Spectrum. He plans to go to DC for a two month internship at the Institute on Political Journalism this summer, and is looking for donations and fundraising ideas. Why help Felix? “As a journalist, I have a passion for social justice issues and would gain crucial knowledge in DC and bring it back to Anchorage.” If you can help, please send Felix an email.
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes & Take Back the Night
April is designated as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a nationally recognized time dedicated to raising awareness and preventing sexual violence. Check out the activities planned statewide, including the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” fundraiser for STAR where males of all ages strap on women’s shoes for a one-mile walk in Anchorage, and a rally and Take Back the Night march in Fairbanks. (Remember Take Back the Night marches?)
A Merry (and gay) Mayor’s Marathon
An Anchorage LGBT group is planning to run in the Mayor’s Marathon this summer: “I’m sure we have enough of a following to be a strong presence as part of this year’s Mayor’s Marathon. Let it be a Fun, Merry, Joyous, and Exhilarating experience for ALL of us who reside in this community!” Join the Facebook page I’m Proudly Representing My LGBTQ Community in the Mayor’s Marathon.
Thursday, 25 March 2010 – 9:46 PM
| Comments Off on Changes to Don’t Ask: ‘fair’ enforcement of an unfair policy (video)
Defense Secretary Gates announced changes in the military’s anti-gay policy Don’t Ask Don’t Tell that limit third-party outings. The Pentagon still wants to make a one year study on the possible effects of a repeal, and Gates said the changes provide a “fair” way to enforce the gay ban while it’s in effect.
But the ban itself is unfair, and the repeal effort is heating up. Lt. Dan Choi and Capt. Jim Pietrangelo handcuffed themselves to the White House to protest Obama’s failure to act on the repeal. Support for the repeal is also growing in Congress, and Alaska’s Senator Begich recently said it’s time to move on.
Lt. Dan Choi, who faces discharge from the military for being gay, talks with Rachel Maddow about the latest adjustments in the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy:
Tuesday, 23 March 2010 – 8:49 PM
| Comments Off on Court upholds right to attend Prom with a same sex date
Students have a First Amendment right to bring a same-sex date and wear gender non-conforming clothes to the prom, a federal court ruled today. School officials violated Constance McMillen’s rights when they canceled the prom rather than let her attend with her girlfriend and wear a tux.
“All I ever wanted was for my school to treat me and my girlfriend like any other couple that wants to go to prom,” said McMillen, an 18-year-old senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi. “Now we can all get back to things like picking out our prom night outfits and thinking about corsages.”
School officials told McMillen that she could not arrive at the prom with her girlfriend, who is also a student at the school, and that they might be thrown out if any other students complained about their presence. The school board canceled the prom when the ACLU and the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition demanded that the district reverse its decision.
In the 12-page ruling, the court wrote, “The record shows Constance has been openly gay since eighth grade and she intended to communicate a message by wearing a tuxedo and to express her identity through attending prom with a same-sex date. The Court finds this expression and communication of her viewpoint is the type of speech that falls squarely within the purview of the First Amendment. The Court is also of the opinion that the motive behind the School Board’s cancellation of the prom, or withdrawal of their sponsorship, was Constance’s requests and the ACLU’s demand letter sent on her behalf.” Further, the court says that since the school represented the private prom being organized by parents at a furniture store as open to all students, then the court expects that event will indeed invite McMillen and her girlfriend.
McMillen said that she plans to attend the “private” prom, but has also long planned to attend the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition’s Second Chance Prom, to be held Saturday, May 8 in Tupelo. That event, sponsored by Green Day, Tonic.com, Iron Chef Cat Cora, and Lance Bass, among others, will be open to all LGBT students in the state, as well as straight students who are LGBT-supportive. The MSSC and the ACLU deal every year with complaints from LGBT students all over Mississippi who face resistance from their schools about bringing same-sex dates to proms or who don’t feel safe going to their own school proms.
“Today’s ruling isn’t just a win for Constance and her girlfriend – it’s a win for all the students at her school, and for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students who just want to be able to be themselves at school without being treated unfairly,” said Kristy Bennett, Legal Director of the ACLU of Mississippi. “Public schools can’t just stomp on students’ free expression rights just because they don’t want to deal with these students, and if schools do try to do that they’ll be dealing with us.”
In Alaska, some LGBT students bring same sex dates to their school prom, if they feel comfortable doing that. Many don’t attend prom or bring an opposite sex friend to fit in. But they have the right to bring a same sex date, if they want to.
Alaska also has an alternate prom for LGBT students and their high school allies. The annual Pride Prom is the closing event for Day of Silence/Night of Noise, organized in Anchorage by the Gay-Straight Alliance student clubs.
Monday, 22 March 2010 – 3:34 PM
| Comments Off on Senator Begich on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal: "It’s Time"
Asked if he would support a repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, Sen. Begich replied “It’s done its time, it’s time to move on and change the policy.”
“When you look at the militaries of Canada, Great Britain and Australia, they don’t have any policy like this, and we’re serving arm in arm with them right on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it has not caused any disruption of how we perform our duties. It’s done its time, it’s time to move on.”
The very real consequences of DADT repeal; seeking survivor benefits for same-sex partner of Alaska shooting victim; waiting on SCOTUS decision about whether it will hear Prop 8 case; and other recent LGBTQ news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.
In this month’s “Ask Lambda Legal” column, Lambda Legal answers a question about the federal government’s longstanding ban against donations of blood from men who have sex with men (MSM).
Alaska Pride Conference 2012 kicks off on October 5 with a First Friday showing at Tref.Punkt Studio of Love is Love, a photographic exhibit of LGBT couples from across the state.
United for marriage: Light the way to justice. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this Tuesday and Wednesday, March 26–27, in two cases about freedom to marry. Please join us on Tuesday, March 26, at the federal courthouse in Anchorage (7th & C) in a circle united for equality.
Pariah, a critically acclaimed film about a 17-year-old African-American woman embracing her lesbian identity, will screen at UAA on Friday, November 2, and will be followed by a discussion on acceptance in honor of Mya Dale. The event is free and open to the public.
Students have a First Amendment right to bring a same-sex date and wear gender non-conforming clothes to the prom, a federal court ruled today. School officials violated Constance McMillen’s rights when they canceled the prom rather than let her attend with her girlfriend and wear a tux.
