A long-overdue Bent Alaska update — October 2013

Sugarbuzz, a friend & fundraiser for Identity — Saturday in Anchorage

Following the kd lang and Wanda Sykes concerts in Anchorage Saturday, meet and greet your friends at ORSO for Sugarbuzz, a friend and fundraiser for Identity. And who knows, you might even meet kd and Wanda, who will be getting personal invitations to join us along with their crew.

University students take the lead

University students around the state are kicking into gear — with classes, but also with activities, organizing, and leadership development.

UAA celebrates DADT repeal on September 20

It’s not a post-DADT world yet, but it will be after September 20 — and University of Alaska Anchorage will be celebrating!  Wear camo and join the UAA students and veterans as we celebrate the end of this discriminatory legislation. We’ll be at the Student Union with pizza and other resources.

Why September 20?  It marks 60 days after the formal certification of DADT repeal by President Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — and as passed by Congress, the repeal bill required that wait before DADT could finally end.

Other celebrations will be going on around the country: check Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) for details.  If you’re in the service, see SLDN’s new guide to the post-DADT military, Freedom to Serve: The Definitive Guide to LGBT Military Service.

• Date/time: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 12:00 noon to 1:00 PM 8am-11am
• Location: UAA Student Union, 3211 Providence Drive, Anchorage, AK (see map)
• Further info: See SLDN event page

One Anchorage Community Forum to be held this Wednesday

On September 1, 2011, Equality Works  launched the One Anchorage Campaign, a ballot initiative campaign to 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.

The One Anchorage Campaign will hold a community form on the ballot initiative Wednesday, September 14 to speak directly with members of the LGBTQ community, answer questions, and hear suggestions.

To RSVP or if you have any questions about the Community Forum please contact Johnathan Jones at 263-2006 or jjones@oneanchorage.com.

• Date/time: Wednesday, September 14. Doors open 6:00 PM, program begins 6:30 PM
• Location: Waldron Hall, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 2222 East Tudor Rd (near the corner of Lake Otis and Tudor) (see map)
• Further info: see Equality Works website or Bent Alaska’s blog post

It got better: A gay youth’s gratitude

Earlier today, Box Turtle Bulletin posted a video today from a gay teenager named Dylan thanking a gay couple for their “It Gets Better” YouTube video.

Zack Ford at Think Progress tells us more:

Dylan found an “It Gets Better” video from YouTube user “depfox,” gay couple Jay and Bryan Leffew with their kids Daniel and Selena. Through the Leffew family, Dylan saw that he didn’t have to pray away the gay or repress his identity. He could, in fact, grow up to have the loving family that he has dreamed of.

Watch (and be sure to read the comments on Dylan’s YouTube page):

Zack Ford continues,

Since posting his thank-you to the Leffews last month, he has since made a follow-up video telling his own coming out story in which he also talks about how important Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns’ video was for him as he was figuring out his identity.  Dylan’s journey is far from over, because though he came out to the world at large on YouTube, he still hasn’t talked to his family about his identity. Still, by coming out, he is already on a better path.

Is it fair to suggest that IGB saved Dylan’s life? Yes. Nobody will ever know what his story might have been, but if some Internet videos helped him avoid a life of denial, depression, and psychologically harmful ex-gay therapy, that is surely a victory. It’s pretty hard to call something “useless” that has saved a life, and it would be foolish to assume Dylan is alone. “It Gets Better” is making it better one video at a time just by being there for young eyes to see. Keep them coming.

Dan Savage has described “It Gets Better” as a “message in a bottle” to LGBT and questioning youth.   Sometimes that message makes all the difference.

Tina Beltz (1979–2011)

We were saddened to learn of the death of Tina Beltz in a traffic accident in Manhattan, Montana on August 31. A celebration of her life will be held this Saturday, September 10 at 2 PM at the Covenant Church in Wasilla. We offer our condolences to her fiancée, family, friends, and all who knew her.

Choosing Alaska: Soldotna “sisters” light the closed minds of others

“My partner and I have lived in Soldotna for 11 years now,” writes Klondyke.”We are openly gay women yet still some people like to think we are just ‘sisters.'” From our series Choosing Alaska on living and working in Alaska as LGBT.

Out North hosts Season Revealing Party Thursday

Artists at work. Visual art for sale. Performances to see. Tickets, wine, goodies and services to bid on.

Support Out North’s programming, outreach and education programs by joining us for our Season Revealing Party and Auction.

There will be comedy (in the theater). There will be sorrow (when you low-bid that set of kd lang tickets or Talkeetna Air Taxi seats). And there will be beer.

You can also donate online by going to www.outnorth.org, and clicking the “donate” button on the calendar page. Just enter $35 or more in the amount field and write “Revealing Party” in the text field provided.

(PS: If you want to donate objects, services, tickets, vacation opportunities, etc., to the auction, contact development@outnorth.org.)

Out North, a nonprofit multidisciplinary art house that produces and presents art that challenges and inspires; that nurtures creative space where people of all cultures, generations, circumstances and abilities can gather and learn; that champions artists whose work pushes traditional boundaries of aesthetics and content.

• Date/time: Thursday, September 8, from 5:30 to 8:30 PM
• Location: Out North Contemporary Art House, 3800 Debarr Road, Anchorage (see map)
• Cost of admission: The admission price of $35 includes food and beverages, entertainment and art explorations, bidding on good stuff, and seeing art forms of all kinds in the making and on exhibit. Tickets at the door or in advance by stopping by or calling Out North at 279-8099.
• Further info: See the Facebook event page.

Sara’s News Roundup 9/5/11

Recent LGBT news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.

1) Pro-gay judge sworn in to Calif. Supreme Court
Sacramento, Calif., 365Gay.com, September 2, 2011

2) Producers: Don’t boycott ‘Dancing’ over gay, transgender casting
Los Angeles, Advocate, September 2, 2011

3) Controversial Nominee Approved to Court in Time for Prop. 8
California, Advocate, September 1, 2011

4) Canada amends ruling on Dire Straits’ song
From correspondents in Toronto, September 1, 2011

5) Chaz Bono to appear on Dancing With the Stars
PinkNews.com, August 31, 2011

6) K-Y Aims for Lesbian Lovers
Advocate, September 1, 2011

7) Apple CEO urged to come out as gay
Washington Blade, September 1, 2011

Note: Sara writes that she’ll be taking off about a month off from her regular weekly news sends.

Equality Works launches One Anchorage Campaign ballot initiative

Equality Works has launched the One Anchorage Campaign, a ballot initiative campaign to 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.