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.
SEAGLA Social Fridays (6-8 p.m.) for GLBT people and our friends over 21, at The Imperial Bar.
Fairbanks
SOAP presents “Alice in the Underground” at the Empress Theater thru 5/15, at 7:30. Tickets $20 general/ $15 students, seniors, and military. Free for youth under 18.
Wednesday Social Group, contact Joshua for the 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
“Helping Transpeople Find Their Voice” on 5/15 at 9 p.m. A great show at Mad Myrna’s to benefit TransAKtion, the Transgendered Alaskan Social Group, and the TransAlaska Pipeline website.
Thursday, 13 May 2010 – 11:16 AM
| Comments Off on Hater Alert: Sound Aviation
A Bent Alaska reader asked the owner of Sound Aviation – a flight-seeing company based in Anchorage – a few questions about his scenic tours and got a long homophobic rant in reply. Why? The reader’s email had a signature line supporting Alaskans Together for Equality, the statewide LGBT advocacy group, and Sound Aviation’s owner Bill Marsan felt compelled to tell a potential customer that gays can be cured – and pilot Bill can show us how:
God has created man to have fellowship with Him and gave man and women the desire to be fruitful and multiply—have children so that they too could enter into fellowship with God… He made sure that man knew why He had made him and gave him a book to instruct him. The Bible. This same Bible tells us that it is wrong and unnatural for men to burn with lust for other men and women to burn for other women. It is a crime against nature and the whole purpose and reason He made us. It is not loving but rather sinful. God has made a way for sinful man to be forgiven instead of being judged in the end. Since everything He asks man to submit to is right, just and loving —to do other than that is unloving and causes hurt, pain and misery to a society. The way to be forgiven is to stop sinning and submit to God’s rule of love which will bless all people you come in contact with. We are cleansed as we believe in the Lord Jesus and what He did on the cross—He came to allow a way for the law of God to be upheld and yet allow Him to forgive sinful man based on their faith in His substitutionary death on the cross–By faith in Him our pending doom can be canceled and we may begin a relationship with Him—It is really amazing to see how God deals with man–such patience with the wicked—waiting for them to turn to Him and His design for the universe. You to may enter into this amazing relationship TODAY—if you wish more information I would be happy to provide you with more. Homosexuality is NOT a civil rights issue —It is a SIN issue.
All that (and much more – this quote is only the second half of his reply) in response to a few questions about scenic tours.
We don’t have to support business owners who force their anti-gay religious bigotry on us! Spend your ‘gay dollars’ on gay-positive businesses, like those in the LGBT-Friendly Business Lists linked in the right-hand column of the blog. ➨
Please spread the word about Marsan, so that no gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender visitor to our beautiful state becomes a captive audience to this hater and has to sit through a whole flight of his ugliness.
Wednesday, 12 May 2010 – 6:10 PM
| Comments Off on LGBT Art Show comes to Anchorage
– a guest post by Zirrus VanDevere, owner of Art Works Gallery on the Kenai Peninsula, and author of the “Art Seen” column in the Redoubt Reporter.
—-
I own Art Works Gallery in Soldotna, Alaska, and recently held an invitational exhibit called “Celebrate”. The show was inspired by a speech President Obama gave to the Human Rights Campaign, and in it, he backed the LGBT community with no compromise, and I was incredibly moved.
I wanted this exhibit to be a celebration of the steps forward, rather than a rant, and feel that the artists rose to the challenge.
The Peninsula Clarion ran an article about it, and the response was entirely positive. I expected some sort of adverse reaction, but got absolutely NONE. It may actually be safe to come out on the Kenai Peninsula!
The show will now travel to Anchorage where the Out North Theater will display it in the large gallery space with new entries added to it. The show opens May 21st and runs through June 26th. Contact art@outnorth.org if you’d like to add your “voice”.
Seattle’s LGBT chamber of commerce launched the website Travel Gay Seattle last week to reach and attract LGBT travelers to Seattle, and the press release included this quote from corporate partner Alaska Airlines:
“We work hard to provide all our customers with genuine and caring service, and invite travelers to experience what we call ‘Alaska Spirit’,” said Glenn Johnson, Alaska Airlines’ chief financial officer and executive vice president. “We are proud to partner with the GSBA [Seattle’s gay business group] and others to showcase the hospitality and diversity you’ll find in our hometown.”
Well, heck. Wouldn’t it be great to see Alaska Airlines bring some of that LGBT-friendly ‘Alaska Spirit’ home to Alaska… you know, the hometown they’re named after. Wouldn’t it be great if they sponsored an Alaska GLBT travel site… or were a sponsor of Alaska PrideFest, like they sponsor Seattle Pride? Seems they should support something gay in Alaska, if they’re going to brag about the ‘Alaska Spirit’ of diversity.
Because, really, what’s the point if Alaska Airlines only supports the ‘Alaska Spirit’ of diversity outside of the state of Alaska?
Tuesday, 11 May 2010 – 10:32 AM
| Comments Off on TODAY: Veterans Lobby Day on DADT
All hands on deck! Today is Veterans Lobby Day for ending Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell, the military’s gay ban. Hundreds of veterans are gathered in DC to ask Congress and the President to repeal DADT this year, and supporters around the country are doing a national call-in.
Nearly 14,000 Americans have been abruptly fired from the U.S. military because of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell – including more than 800 mission critical specialists, and Jene Newsome, an Alaskan stationed in South Dakota.
Please give your voice to those who must be silent. Get the repeal of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell over the finish line in 2010.
1. Call the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121, tell them where you live, and ask them to connect you to your Representative’s office. Tell the staffer who picks up: your name, where you’re calling from, and that you’re “calling to support the Veteran’s Lobby Day and urging Congress to repeal ‘Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell’ this year.”
2. Call the Congressional switchboard 2 more times asking for your Senators, and leave the same message.
3. Then call the White House switchboard at (202) 456-1111 and urge the President to lead the way this year by adding the “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell” repeal to his current defense budget, which is being written this month.
This lobby day is one of our last chances to speak out before Congress takes action on the National Defense Authorization Act, the bill that should contain the “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell” repeal language.
That means it’s crunch time. Whether you’re a veteran, a friend or relative of a service member, or simply someone who believes in equality, make that call and add your voice to our fight to end “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell.”
If you are a veteran in Alaska who supports the repeal and are willing to speak out, please contact Alaskans Together, a co-sponsor of Veterans Lobby Day.
Monday, 10 May 2010 – 5:33 PM
| Comments Off on Country music’s Chely Wright: lesbian white female
So far this year, Latin pop star Ricky Martin came out, then Christian singer Jennifer Knapp came out, then country western singer Chely Wright (known for her hit song “Single White Female”) came out – 2010 may be the year for singers with conservative audiences to come out of the closet and tell their fans that they already know and admire someone gay or lesbian and it’s no big deal.
Wasn’t k.d. lang was the first openly lesbian country music artist? Well, Chely’s great and we should invite her to Anchorage for a book signing and concert. Alaskans love country music!
Check out Chely’s website with her new cd Lifted Off the Ground and her book Like Me.
George Rekers is the co-founder of the Family Research Council and is paid to convince school districts and state courts that gays can be cured. He is also secretly gay, as we learned in this week’s “Rentboy” scandal. Rachel Maddow explains:
Hmm. “When people have built their careers, their professions, on professions of their own sexual moral rectitude – David Vitter, John Ensign – when people have built their careers on trying to make life miserable and dangerous for gay people while they themselves are secretly gay – Larry Craig, George Rekers – then congratulations, you’ve made the news!”
Makes me wonder which Alaskans who have built their careers on making life miserable for gay people might be secretly gay…
Saturday, 8 May 2010 – 9:50 AM
| Comments Off on Alice and LuLu in Fairbanks, Frontrunners in Anchorage
Gay AK – News and notes for LGBT Alaska
Happy Mothers Day to all moms – lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and straight!
“Alice in the Underground” in Fairbanks
The Street Outreach and Advocacy Program (SOAP) of Fairbanks Counseling and Adoption (FCA) is proud to present Alice in the Underground, a fundraiser play about the realities of life for at-risk and homeless teens in Fairbanks. Teens at the downtown drop-in center worked with local theater professionals to create the play, resulting in a unique retelling of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale.
The show runs May 7th, 8th, 14th, and 15th at the Empress Theater downtown in the Co-op Building on Second Avenue. All performances are at 7:30 and tickets are $20 for general admission; $15 for students, seniors, and military; and Free for youth under 18.
Please come and help FCA continue its outreach and advocacy for the youth of Fairbanks, including LGBT youth. Email Alice in the Undergroundand check out their Facebook page.
Kentucky Derby party brings new members to Alaskans Together
On Saturday May 1, ATE held a Kentucky Derby Fundraiser in Fairbanks. We had about 30 people, raised $607 and signed up several new members. Everyone had a lot of fun. More fundraisers for Alaskans Together are being planned for Anchorage and Juneau this year, and we’ll let you know about them as soon as we have the details.
LuLu Small and the Small Band 5/14 & 5/15 in the Interior
Dance to Alaska’s premiere all-woman all-rock-&-roll band in Fairbanks and North Pole. The Lulu Small Band (Lulu, Marilyn, Merley) with special guest Trish Ham perform in the Interior: Friday, May 14 at The Marlin (non-smoking) in Fairbanks, and Saturday May 15 at The Badger Den in North Pole.
Run/Walk with Anchorage Frontrunners every Tuesday, 6:00 p.m.
Anchorage Frontrunners are starting to meet again officially this week. Some of us started a few weeks ago, but we usually run May through October. Tuesdays 6:00p.m. meet at Westchester Lagoon. A nice group of happy runners. Email Peter or check the Anchorage Frontrunners site.
Prom for Queer Teens, Guideline of Rights for LGBT Youth
The ACLU receives calls every year from students all over the country who have been told they cannot attend prom with their partners of choice or cannot dress in non-traditional gender clothing. In response, they posted a letter to principals and superintendents that students can use if their school tries to stop them from bringing a same-sex date to the Prom, and a letter for girl students who are being prevented from wearing a tuxedo to school dances. The letters and other resources are available at the ACLU’s Prom Resources for LGBT Students.
Friday, 7 May 2010 – 12:36 PM
| Comments Off on Truman’s grandson on Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell & desegregation
President Harry Truman desegregated the U.S. military in 1948. The anniversary of his birthday is tomorrow. In today’s “Frontlines” letter, Truman’s grandson Clifton Truman Daniel remembers his grandfather’s decision and asks President Obama to follow that example to end Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell, the military’s ban on open gay and lesbian service members.
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.
