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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.

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Sara’s News Round-up 4/11/20

Sunday, 11 April 2010 – 5:43 PM | Comments Off on Sara’s News Round-up 4/11/20
Sara’s News Round-up 4/11/20

This week’s LGBT news roundup from Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.
Portugal, EuroNews, April 9, 2010

Washington, Associated Press, April 9, 2010

California, Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2010

Advocate, April 5, 2010

Manila, Philippines, Google News, April 8, 2010

Dillon, Colorado, Advocate, April 7, 2010

Radar Online, March 12, 2010

San Francisco, SF Gate, April 6, 2010

Advocate, April 7, 2010

Iowa, Advocate, April 9, 2010

Smolesnsk, Russia, TowerRoad, April 10, 2010

Russia, Gay Today, April 10, 2010

Ontario, Canada, Univ. of Guelph, March 29, 2010

Bronx, NY, Gay City News, April 8, 2010

Soldotna art show celebrates LGBT progress on the Peninsula

Saturday, 10 April 2010 – 3:23 PM | Comments Off on Soldotna art show celebrates LGBT progress on the Peninsula
Soldotna art show celebrates LGBT progress on the Peninsula
Art Works gallery in Soldotna is hosting “Celebrate” this month, an Alaska art show honoring the progress made by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. “It’s social commentary. It’s making people think,” said gallery owner Zirrus VanDevere, adding that it’s time for the Peninsula to start talking about these issues.
VanDevere told the Peninsula Clarion that the strong tension in Alaska between the live-and-let-live attitude and those who oppose ‘alternative lifestyles’ prevents many people from coming out:

“It’s something we should be talking about on the Kenai Peninsula,” she said. “We are isolated, in a way, but we are part of the whole world. If we don’t address this issue we are going to be left behind.”
She said the show “could easily be a rant” but she wanted it to “be positive about the changes that are occurring.”
VanDevere, who identifies herself as bisexual, will be displaying one of her own abstract paintings with a caption about being how and who you are.
Other local artists who will be displayed include Donna Steele, Theresa Napolitano and Joe Kashi, along with Anchorage artists like Shelia Wyne.
Kiana Johnson, a senior at Skyview High School, said she wanted to be a part of the show to demonstrate support for gay and transgender people on the Peninsula.
“I have a lot of friends who are gay,” she said. “I thought it was a cool opportunity to show my art and a cool opportunity for people to gain acceptance throughout the community.”
Her painting is an abstract representation of figures and a tree. She said she was trying to depict a separation between the bland figures and their surroundings that she says signifies our misconceptions of people, based on what we think they should be.
“Having a show like this really shows how far we’ve come as a community,” said Sierra McKenzie Ball, a 2008 graduate of Soldotna High School who currently lives in Seattle.
Her two acrylic paintings, “Bound,” and “What are we made of,” are of people’s faces, she said, and a reflection on herself and her own bisexuality.
Having younger artists like Johnson and Ball display their work in “Celebrate” is something VanDevere is especially passionate about.
“The youth becoming adults now are way more open-minded.”
“Celebrate” runs through the end of April at Art Works in Soldotna. An expanded version will open later at Out North’s gallery in Anchorage.

This Week in LGBT Alaska 4/9/10

Friday, 9 April 2010 – 2:08 PM | Comments Off on This Week in LGBT Alaska 4/9/10
This Week in LGBT Alaska 4/9/10
The LGBT Alaska events for this week

Juneau

SEAGLA Social Fridays (6-8 p.m.) for GLBT people and our friends over 21, at The Imperial Bar.

Fairbanks

Join the UAF Gay-Straight Alliance for Day of Silence on 4/16 and break the silence at 5 p.m. in the quad area in front of the Wood Center.

UAF GSA’s Breaking The Silence Drag Show 4/17 at 6:30 p.m. in the Hes Rec in the MBS complex, $5.

Wednesday Social Group, contact Joshua for the location.

Kenai Peninsula

Celebration, an LGBT art show in Soldotna, through the end of April at Art Works gallery.

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

Ever Ready with Char & Teddy (guitars and vocals) live at Organic Oasis 4/10 at 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Equality Works Mixer 4/10, 7 p.m. with entertainment, education, and community-building

ICP Ball XVII: Magical Kingdom Masquerade 4/10 at Mad Myrna’s, doors at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m. tickets $10, proceeds benefit the Imperial Court.

PFLAG Potluck & Silent Auction 4/15. 6 p.m. at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, to benefit Identity.

Youth Pride Prom at Kincaid Chalet 4/16, 6 p.m. no drugs, no alcohol, for ages 14-19 only (no college students.)

Anchorage waits for outcome of Midtown race

Thursday, 8 April 2010 – 3:51 PM | Comments Off on Anchorage waits for outcome of Midtown race
Anchorage waits for outcome of Midtown race
As often happens in Alaska, the final results of Tuesday’s election are not yet known. In a nail-biter assembly race for the midtown seat, Dick Traini has a 3% lead over Andy Clary, who compared gays to drunks and cheaters. A ballot mix-up that was resolved on Wednesday narrowed Traini’s lead to 147 votes, and the remaining absentee and questioned ballots won’t be counted until next Friday.
For the east Anchorage seat, Paul Honeman has a 6% lead over conservative Adam Trombley. Matt Claman lost the west side to Ernie Hall by more than the number of questioned ballots. Honeman and Hall are moderates compared to the previous assembly members, but both support our community.

Debbie Ossiander and Jennifer Johnston were re-elected to the assembly as expected. Keli Booher earned a respectable 34% of the south side vote against Johnston.
If Honeman and Traini hold their leads, the new Assembly will be Honeman, Traini, Hall, Ossiander, Johnston, Drummond, Gray-Jackson, Flynn, Guttierez, Birch and Starr. That appears to be four conservatives, four progressives and three moderates.

In the school board races, incumbent Jeannie Mackie won Seat B, but James LaBelle and Tommy O’Malley split the progressive vote for Seat A, allowing ultra-conservative Don Smith to win. LaBelle received over 23% of the vote and O’Malley had over 26%, for a total of almost 50% of the vote going to the progressive candidates. Smith got only 41%. He is a far right conservative serving where the majority wanted a progressive. That could make his position harder to defend next time.

Smith is the only fringe member on the school board. The religious conservatives have tried repeatedly to push a far right church-based agenda into the public schools. When O’Malley entered the race after LaBelle, he opened the door for a split vote and Smith’s win.
The land swap and the bonds passed, except for public transportation.
A big THANK YOU to those who voted! Every vote counts.

RAW 2010 Short Story Winners

Wednesday, 7 April 2010 – 4:57 AM | Comments Off on RAW 2010 Short Story Winners
RAW 2010 Short Story Winners

Radical Arts for Women is pleased to announce the winners of the 4th annual RAW short story contest.

“We received entries from Anchorage, Fairbanks, Soldotna and Ketchikan. We had science fiction and down-to-earth tales, stories about jail and about rural Alaska.”

“Next year we will change the name of the contest to the Nicole Blizzard Short Story Contest. Nicole Blizzard was a local lesbian writer and editor who passed away in December. She created, published and edited the local LGBT literary journal Naked Ptarmigan (which also publishes the winner of the RAW short story contest), and last year Nicole published her first collection of short stories. We are pleased to rename the contest in honor of her.”

The Winners for 2010
Grand prize and winner of $500 – “Mail Plane” by Emily Sousa
2nd place and winner of $300 – “Itch” by Mel Green
3rd place and winner of $100 – “The Remaking of Audrey Lang” by CN McLaughlin
Honorable mention – “219s” by Amy Whinston
Honorable mention – “Gone, Fishing” by Audrey Fearnside

The winners were announced during the annual women’s performance Celebration of Change. A scene from the grand prize story “Mail Plane” was read during Celebration, and the full story is now posted on RAW’s web site. Mel posted her 2nd place winning lesbian love story “Itch” on her blog Henkimaa.

Clary: Gays = Drunks and Cheaters

Monday, 5 April 2010 – 11:58 PM | 7 Comments
Clary: Gays = Drunks and Cheaters

Andy Clary is the son of Anchorage Baptist Temple’s Glenn Clary. But he doesn’t want us to judge him as an assembly candidate based on his ties to Jerry Prevo or his enthusiasm for Mayor Sullivan. He wants to be judged by his own words, and by his current church. So what is ChangePoint’s stand on gays? Pastor Dan Jarrell wrote on Feb 22:

“God doesn’t hate people who are homosexual; he hates what homosexuality does to people.”

WTF? That’s twisted. Jarrell also calls us “pernicious,” which means destructive in a sneaky way:

“Perhaps the most pernicious behavior of gay and lesbian activists is their effort to indoctrinate children and encourage the promulgation of their alternative lifestyle…”

And what about Clary? During last summer’s battle for the jobs and housing ordinance, he was a staff writer for the anti-ordinance Alaska Standard and he wrote:

“Now, before I go any further, let me say that I am opposed to the ordinance myself, but for very different reasons. You see, I am a committed follower of Christ, and although I believe homosexuality is not a lifestyle that Christ approves of, I see it no differently than other sins such as alcoholism or adultery. Why do we Christians lash out against one sin so differently than we do any other? We need to be reaching these people not tearing them down.”

“These people”? He might have more success in reaching out to “these people” if he didn’t compare our loving families to chronic drunks and cheaters.

“What if some simply have not found answers to the tough questions they have? For instance, why is it that some people struggle with homosexual tendencies their whole life and others do not? It is the same as alcoholism. Some people are predisposed to certain types of behavior…”

Many gays and lesbians are comfortable with our natural and God-given sexuality. What we struggle against is the stigma of being different and the anti-gay prejudice of people like Clary.

“Finally, to answer the question, “Should you legislate morality?”, clearly the answer is again, no. It cannot be done, nor should it be done.”

The religious right often tries to legislate morality, as long as it’s their own moral interpretations that get promoted. Does he really mean that we shouldn’t have laws against murder and rape?

Clary told the Anchorage Press that he grew up in Prevo’s church where his father is assistant pastor:

“I have my own beliefs and I don’t agree with my father on everything. Yes, I grew up at that church; I do not attend there now. People will just have to judge me on myself.”

So he agrees with his father on most things, including his opposition to gay rights, but not on everything. What are the disagreements? He doesn’t say. But he belongs to ChangePoint now. Here are more quotes from the anti-gay ChangePoint article by Clary’s pastor:

“There are no reasonable grounds for considering same-sex unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage…”

“Support ministries that offer help, hope, and healing to those affected by homosexuality. Exodus International is one example of an effective effort to provide a way out for homosexuals who want help.”

Being gay is not a sickness that needs healing. Prejudice is the sickness. The pray-away-the-gay methods used by Exodus have been discredited over and over, but churches like ChangePoint and ABT continue to push the “ex-gay” lies.

Jarrell also tells his church members to become politically active against gays:

Get involved in the political process supporting any effort to preserve a biblical definition of marriage as a life-long, intimate partnership between one man and one woman.

And they have their own anti-gay “pernicious indoctrination” class for children:

There are many excellent tools available for any parent wanting to instruct their adolescent child about marriage, sex, and family issues… ChangePoint’s Due North program for 6th grade girls and boys is exceptional as well, get your kids involved.

How sad for those kids, especially the LGBT ones and their parents.

So, in his own words, Andy Clary thinks that gays (“these people”) are struggling with a lifestyle like alcoholism and adultery. His current pastor calls us “pernicious,” pushes harmful pray-away-the-gay methods, and encourages church members to get involved in politics against gay rights. Sounds close enough to Prevo.

This is NOT who we want to represent us on the Anchorage Assembly.

Allies and Opponents in Tuesday’s election

Monday, 5 April 2010 – 5:07 PM | 3 Comments
Allies and Opponents in Tuesday’s election
Local elections are important. That point was driven home during the ordinance battle between the assembly and the mayor last year. In Tuesday’s municipal election, we have several allies – and opponents – running for the assembly and school board, and it’s important to know who they are.
One opponent is Andy Clary, son of Anchorage Baptist Temple pastor Glenn Clary and current member of evangelical ChangePoint. Both churches promote pray-away-the-gay “therapy” and oppose gay civil rights. Clary supports Mayor Sullivan’s agenda, and will be Jerry Prevo’s voice on the assembly.
Dick Traini is running against Clary for the midtown assembly seat. Traini is an independent former assembly member who works on both sides of the political isle. Between the two, Traini is the better choice. Read Bent’s post on Clary and Mel’s post “Why I picked Dick Traini over Andy Clary, & you should too” on Henkimaa.
In other races, LGBT ally Sheila Selkregg is retiring and endorsed Paul Honeman for her East Anchorage seat. Honeman is a moderate and a supporter of our community. He’s running against ultra-conservative Adam Trombley, who opposed ordinance 64, has no ideas, and is a friend of our veto-happy mayor.
In West Anchorage, both progressive Matt Claman and moderate Ernie Hall are supportive of the LGBT community. Claman introduced the equal rights ordinance last year and is endorsed by progressives. Hall thinks the ordinance should have been handled differently. The nonpartisan Hall is endorsed in this race by conservatives, but once ran as a Democrat for lieutenant governor.
In South Anchorage, conservative Jennifer Johnston is being challenged by progressive Keli Booher. Johnston voted for the ordinance, but generally votes conservative. Booher is young, motivated and gay-friendly.
Remember former assembly chair Debbie Ossiander, who allowed Wasilla homophobes to testify against the Anchorage ordinance? How could we forget that. Independent Joelle Brown is challenging her for the Eagle River seat.
The Anchorage Press has a good overview of the assembly candidates, and the ADN has candidate profiles and race reviews for both assembly and school board.
Yes, we are also voting on school board seats, and there are two ultra-conservative candidates who promote ‘traditional’ education and no diversity. Creationist Don Smith made nasty racial comments about President Obama, according to Alaska Commons, and is the darling of the far right along with Bob Griffin. Both are running against people who are more supportive of diversity. Jeannie Mackie currently holds Seat B and is doing a good job. James LaBelle has the best chance of defeating the anti-gay Smith for Seat A. But there are two progressive candidates for Seat A, which might split the vote and allow Smith to win. So we need every vote we can get against him.
Your vote counts! Please learn about the assembly and school board candidates, and vote for the ones who support our community and the LGBT youth of Anchorage.
Vote on Tuesday, April 6 at your regular polling place, or vote at these general voting locations.

Sara’s News Round-up 4/4/10

Sunday, 4 April 2010 – 1:47 PM | Comments Off on Sara’s News Round-up 4/4/10
Sara’s News Round-up 4/4/10
This week’s LGBT news roundup from Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.
Patterson Irrigator, March 24, 2010

Washington, DC Agenda, April 1, 2010

Washington, National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce, March 30, 2010

Iowa, Iowa Independent, April 1, 2010

Mexico City, Mexico, LA Times, March 19, 2010

Madison, Wis., 365Gay.com, April 2, 2010

Utah, Daily Herald, April 2, 2010
Huffington Post, April 1, 2010
San Francisco Chronicle, April 4, 2010
PFLAG’s eTransParent: March /April 2010

Ugly Betty, Equality Mixer, ATE update

Saturday, 3 April 2010 – 5:00 PM | Comments Off on Ugly Betty, Equality Mixer, ATE update
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 Week in LGBT Alaska 4/2/10

Friday, 2 April 2010 – 12:48 PM | Comments Off on This Week in LGBT Alaska 4/2/10
This Week in LGBT Alaska 4/2/10
Happy Easter and Passover. Tonight is the First Friday Art Walk in Anchorage. Tuesday is the Municipal election for assembly, school board and bond measures. The Walk A Mile in Her Shoes benefit for STAR is also on Tuesday. Here are this week’s LGBT events from the statewide newsletter Alaska GLBT News.

Juneau

SEAGLA Social Fridays (6-8 p.m.) for GLBT people and our friends over 21, at The Imperial Bar, downtown.

Fairbanks

UAF Gay-Straight Alliance meets Fridays at 4 p.m. in the Alumni Lounge. Jessi.

Wednesday LGBTA 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 and Girdwood

Lez Zeppelin all-female tribute band plays in Girdwood 4/2 and 4/3, 10:00 p.m. at The Sitzmark Bar (base of Alyeska Resort) 21 and over only, $20.

QrSA Youth Initiative Drop-In 4/3, 12-3 p.m. social for youth ages 13-19, first and third Saturday’s at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center (GLCCA)

Kristara – Live and in the Raw 4/3, doors at 8 p.m. show at 9 p.m. $5, at Mad Myrna’s, to benefit the GLCCA.

Church Life AK Easter Celebration, Communion and Potluck 4/4, 11 a.m. at the GLCCA.

Resurrection Sunday Service at MCC Anchorage 4/4, 2 p.m.

LGBT Book Club 4/7, 6:30 p.m. at the GLCCA.