A long-overdue Bent Alaska update — October 2013

The Community Survey: Who We Are

— by Mel Green, Crossposted from alaskacommunity.org.

In announcing the Alaska LGBT Community Survey — I call it AKQ for short — I frequently used the word “we.” “We’ve decided…,” “we’ll use the survey…,” “we aim….”

So just who are “we” — besides, of course, me?

In 1985-1986, “we” were the volunteers of Identity, Inc. which put together the survey instrument for One in Ten, administered it to LGB respondents throughout the state, tallied up the results, & wrote the report One in Ten: A Profile of Alaska’s Lesbian & Gay Community (1986).

In 1987-1989, “we” were a lot of volunteers & a few people who got some pay (I think), who contacted & interviewed respondents who had experienced violence, harassment, discrimination because they were, or were perceived to be, lesbian or gay (yes, some of our respondents were heterosexual people who were misperceived at being homosexual), who surveyed Anchorage area landlords & employers, & who compiled the information gathered from those efforts & wrote them up in Identity Reports: Sexual Orientation Bias in Alaska (1989).

Right here & now, on September 13, 2010, “we” are three people who met last Thursday & decided to do this. Let me introduce us:

• Melissa S. “Mel” Green. I was part of the “we” in both 1985-86 effort that resulted in One in Ten, of which I was principal writer; and in the 1987-1989 effort which resulted in Identity Reports, of which I was coauthor (along with Jay Brause). I’m also have my personal blog, Henkimaa.com, from whence I did a lot of blogging last year about the Anchorage equal rights ordinance AO-64, which passed the Anchorage Assembly only to be vetoed by Mayor Dan Sullivan. I’m also a 20-year staff member at the UAA Justice Center, where I’ve grown even more familiar with social science research, and developed relationships with some of the research faculty who we hope to have help from throughout our work on the current survey.
• Shelby Carpenter is the LGBT Public Policy Director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska… and I’ll let her tell you more about herself as she has time. [Ed: Read Shelby’s introduction.]
• Barbara Soule is a longtime Alaska resident and LGBT community activist who is jumpstarting our outreach to the trans community. I’ll let you her tell you more about herself as she has time, too.

By now, you might be asking, three people?!!! Just three people are going to conduct a high quality research project covering the LGBT population of the entire state of Alaska?!!!

Well, no. Because our very first step is to bring in more people. So right now the three of us are doing a lot of work behind-the-scenes to contact people to form our Community Survey Task Force. The Task Force’s job will be defined more completely as its formed; but as I see it, it’s functions will chiefly be to:

1. Revise and update the One in Ten survey questionnaire to reflect changes in society that have taken place since 1985, the need for trans-inclusiveness, and new questions/issues that we’d like to address in the survey. (And perhaps additional smaller surveys.)
2. Continue to conduct outreach to the LGBT and allied community in all areas of the state, both for complete coverage of our community in all its diversity, and in particular to solicit respondents who are willing to be interviewed about instances of discrimination, harassment, violence, or other forms of bias that they have experienced because they are, or were perceived to be, trans, bisexual, gay, or lesbian.
3. Coordinate distribution and administration of the survey, data entry, and analysis and writing of the report(s) of our findings.

We hope to have our first meeting of the Community Survey Task Force in late September/early October. By the necessities of geography and the inability of most people to be more than one place at one time, it may be that our first meeting can consist of only those people who can easily travel to Southcentral Alaska for an Anchorage-based meeting. But we will be working on how to make sure we can fully involve both organizations and individuals in all parts of the state.

Another task that we’re working on already is beginning our outreach to the trans community. We are committed to making AKQ — again, that’s what I’ve taken to calling the Alaska LGBT Community Survey for short — fully trans-inclusive, not only in the kinds of questions that appear in the survey — but also in participating on the Task Force in questionnaire design, administration, and analysis. All three of us are involved in some aspect of this, with Barbara and I contacting people we know in the Alaska trans community & Shelby working with national-level trans organizations and activists who have conducted research within the trans community throughout the country.

Barbara is also coordinating focus groups for members of the trans community to get input on questionnaire design. We hope to hold the first of these at the Alaska Pride Conference 2010 sponsored by Identity, Inc. to be held October 9 in Anchorage and a second one probably about a week later, also in Anchorage, for those who cannot attend the Pride Conference. We’ll also work on how we can involve transfolk in other areas of the state in our research effort.

As we continue to organize our effort, I hope soon to be able to introduce other people involved in this effort on this blog; better yet, to let them introduce themselves & add their voices to this blog, & to our overall effort to invigorate & strengthen our community statewide & advance our effort for full social and economic justice for LGBT in Alaska & nationally.

Stay tuned to our progress and news about how to get involved by subscribing to this blog, “liking” our Facebook page, and/or following our Twitter feed @alaskacommunity. You can also write to us at anchoragecommunity@gmail.com. You can also find all our contact info on our About page.

Former Elmendorf NCO escorts Lady GaGa to MTV awards to support DADT repeal

Lady Gaga won 8 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, and former Elmendorf AFB staff sergeant David Hall (far right in photo) escorted her to the show, along with three other service members who lost their military careers because of the ban against open service by gays and lesbians, a policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT).

Lady Gaga spoke in favor of repealing DADT when she accepted her award for Best Female Video for “Bad Romance” and thanked the four “discharged soldiers” who came with her, adding “And thank you to all the gays for remaking this video over and over again.”

Her escorts were former U.S. Air Force Staff Sargent David Hall; former U.S. Air Force Major Mike Almy; top West Point cadet Katie Miller, who resigned in August in protest of DADT; and Former U.S. Army Sargent First Class Stacy Vasquez.

David Hall was a decorated Elmendorf NCO before starting officer training at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, and was a top student in the Air Force ROTC. He was dis-enrolled from the ROTC because a female cadet suspected he was having a relationship with Jack Glover, another UAA airman, and told their superior officer. Both men were kicked out because of the DADT policy.

A federal judged ruled DADT unconstitutional last week, but the government is expected to appeal the decision. The U.S. House already passed a repeal of DADT, and the Senate vote is scheduled for next week.

Call your Senators today at 202-224-3121 and urge them to repeal the policy!

Senotor Begich supports repeal, while Sen. Murkowski is undecided. But she voted for the Hate Crimes Act after hearing from Alaskan voters. She lost the GOP nomination and has not announced a write-in campaign, so she might be persuaded to vote for the Defense Budget and the DADT repeal.

In Feb. 2008, KTVA in Anchorage aired a special report on David Hall and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (one of the first videos ever posted on Bent Alaska).

This week, Hall was interviewed by MTV about escorting Lady GaGa to the Video Music Awards:

“We met her before the show last week and told her our stories, and that’s when she said she wanted to do more,” said David Hall, 36, a former member of the Air Force who was booted out in August 2002 after a female cadet told his commander that he was gay and in a relationship. When confronted, Hall said he told his commanding officer he had no comment, but “he took her word for it over mine,” and Hall, a five-year veteran, was discharged.

“We talked to [Gaga] for a bit and she said, ‘It would be great if I could bring you to the VMAs,’ ” he said. A longtime Gaga fan, Hall was ecstatic about the idea, but said it seemed unlikely that they could pull it off on such short notice. But when you’re Lady Gaga and you have 13 VMA nominations, it seems anything is possible.

“I just kept thinking, ‘How can we get this together? Can we do it that fast?’ ” Hall said. “To my surprise, we were able to pull it off.”

Hall and three of his cohorts — Katie Miller, Stacy Vasquez and Mike Almy — ended up walking the white carpet with Gaga and chatting with MTV’s Sway before they took their seats right behind Gaga in the Nokia Theatre in some of the most primo spots in the house.

Hall has been working with the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN.org) since 2006, helping the advocacy organization push to have “Don’t Ask” repealed. He said even with all the work he’s been doing for the organization, having Gaga spread the word to her 6 million Twitter followers and millions of VMA viewers was a huge boost.

“I’ve done tons of media over the past four years … but I knew she would reach out to her Little Monsters and tell them about the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask’ on the white carpet and [it would have a huge impact],” he said. “You couldn’t ask for a better person to do it. She’s very genuine. It’s not some ploy to get attention. She really wanted to know about the repeal and why we need to get rid of ‘Don’t Ask.’ ”

… Gaga’s decision to use the VMA platform to publicize the attempt to push the repeal of “Don’t Ask” through — a commitment President Obama made during his campaign and which he has repeatedly said is his goal — came at just the right time, according to Hall.

“The Senate is just coming back and we’re hoping that they will pass something this month,” he said, noting that Democratic control of Congress could possibly be weakened if Republican candidates score key victories in the November elections, which could set the repeal process back once again. “We were telling her that it is very important to speak out on this now,” Hall said of SLDN’s message to Gaga, who paid for the service members to fly out to Los Angeles for the VMAs.

In addition to their swank seats and walk down the carpet, Hall said the organization members met with Gaga as she was prepping for the show earlier in the day Sunday to go over talking points. They also were invited to attend the post-VMA party put on by Gaga’s Interscope Records label, where they chatted with Mother Monster and her actual mother, Cynthia Germanotta.

Hall’s highlight? “She gave us a shout-out during the acceptance for her first award,” he said. “And the interview with Sway on the white carpet … But every time Lady Gaga won, it was great. And when she won Video of the Year, I loved her meat outfit.”

Announcing the Alaska LGBT Community Survey

Crossposted from alaskacommunity.org.

Identity Reports (1989) and One in 10 (1986)

In the 1980s, the nonprofit organization Identity, Inc. conducted two major research efforts to profile Alaska’s lesbian/gay/bisexual community and to document sexual orientation bias in Alaska.

One in Ten: A Profile of Alaska’s Lesbian & Gay Community (1986) provided the first statewide portrait of Alaska’s lesbian and gay (and to some extent bisexual) population, describing our experiences of coming out, of discrimination, our physical and emotional health, religious and political affiliations, demographic characteristics, and a general needs assessment. Identity Reports: Sexual Orientation Bias in Alaska(1989) focused on discrimination and bias, documenting 84 actual instances of antigay bias, discrimination, harassment, or violence (including three murders) around the state, as well as the positive willingness of 20% of landlords and 31% of employers in the Anchorage area to discriminate against persons who were — or were perceived to be — gay or lesbian.

A lot has changed in the two-and-a-half decades since. There’s a lot more live-and-let-live, a lot more acceptance of lesbians and gays. Yet the continuing legacy of antigay prejudice and discrimination persists. Arguably, prejudice against transfolk is even more virulent — often even within our own community.

One of the chief arguments used by opponents of last year’s Anchorage Ordinance 64 — which would have added sexual orientation and gender identityto the Municipality of Anchorage’s equal rights code — was that there was no evidence of discrimination against LGBT people. This claim was made in spite of the weight of evidence provided in One in Ten and Identity Reports. But of course, that evidence was two decades old, so ordinance opponents found it easy to ignore; and they found it just as easy to close their ears to the public testimony of Anchorage LGBT residents who stepped forward to testify to very recent experiences of discrimination and bias — even as one opponent openly told the Assembly that he’d once beaten a gay man so badly that he put him in the hospital.

And so — we’ve decided to bring One in Ten up-to-date by conducting a new statewide survey — the Alaska LGBT Community Survey. Like its predecessor, the Alaska LGBT Community Survey aims to create a profile of our community in all its diversity and with all its diverse concerns; and as we did in 1985-86, we’ll use the survey as vehicle to solicit case histories to document our community’s continuing experiences with discrimination, harassment, and violence. Unlike One in Ten, the Alaska LGBT Community Survey will include transfolk as well as gay, lesbian, and bisexual folk, in the design of the survey questionnaire as well as in filling it out.

We’re in a very early stage right now. We just made the firm commitment to do this last week! But we wanted to tell you about it right away.

We aim to have at least initial results of our survey by April 2011. For more and continuing information as we go along:

• subscribe to our blog at alaskacommunity.org;
• “like” our Facebook page;
• follow @alaskacommunity on Twitter; or
• do all three!

We’ll also doing our best to keep you updated through our regular LGBT news channels such as Bent Alaska, TransAlaska Pipeline, Grrlzlist, the Alaska GLBT News maillist, and — well, yeah, my own blog, Henkimaa.

Stay tuned!

— Melissa S. (Mel) Green

Learn more about Identity Reports and One in Ten.

Memorial today for Richard Welch

Community member Richard Welch of Fairbanks passed away last week. He is survived by his partner, their children and their extended family. His friends are invited to a memorial and celebration of his life on Monday, Sept. 13 at 2 p.m. at Chapel of Chimes followed by lunch at Pike’s.

“I had the pleasure of working with Richard for many years at The Palace Saloon and Club G,” wrote Anna Kegley. “We became very close friends & kindred spirits working together for the GLBT community on countless functions to raise funds for charities that serve the community.

“He is/was one of my dearest friends, I love and miss him with all my heart. His partner Misha and he have been together for 18 years. My heart is heavy for him and wish him peace going on without his Richard.”

Richard Daniel Welch (1959-2010)

The family of Richard Daniel Welch invites his friends to celebrate his life Monday, Sept. 13, at Chapel of Chimes on Illinois Street. We will gather at 2 p.m. for an informal memorial before engaging in one of Richard’s favorite pastimes, a nice, leisurely lunch at a local restaurant. Please bring your love, memories and appetites.

Richard passed away Sept. 7, 2010, surrounded by his family and friends. He was born Sept. 20, 1959, in Bradenton, Fla., to Jack Welch and Adriana (Mickie) Nyberg.

Richard spent his early life in and around Tampa Bay. His family came to Alaska during the construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. He attended Main School and graduated from North Pole High School.

He resided in Florida until 1991 when he returned to Fairbanks. He made many friends while working as a bartender for the Palace Saloon and Club G and volunteering for the Interior AIDS Association. Richard later returned to college and received a degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Richard was preceded in death by his father, Jack Welch.

He is survived by his mother, Mickie Nyberg of Steinhatchee, Fla.; his sisters, Jackie Welch and Theresa Morin of Fairbanks; his brother, John of Tampa, Fla.; his partner, Michael Streiffert and their children, Nick Streiffert and Adriana Welch of Fairbanks.

Richard brought joy to us all and will be sorely missed.

The family would like to thank the kind people at Denali Center who took such good care of him this last year and to the staff and volunteers of the Hospice of the Tanana Valley who helped all of us through this difficult time.

Arrangements were entrusted to Chapel of Chimes Funeral Home.

Sign Richard’s Guest Book

Condolences to his family and friends.

Sara’s News Roundup 9/12/10

Imperial Court crowns Emperor & Empress, gives awards & scholarships at Coronation

Congratulations to the new Emperor and Empress of the Imperial Court of All Alaska: Cory and Paige!

The top title holders were announced at Coronation, along with the Court’s community awards and student scholarships.

The ICOAA gave out 26 scholarships totaling $25,000, and these awards:

Peter Dispirito Community service Award – Vicki Evans

Wayne Hussey Community Service Award – Gail Palmer

Raymond Jorgenson Organization award – Anchorage Ducal Court (Mikel Wiles and Colleen Crinklaw)

Rochelle DeLite Fairbanks Community Award – PFLAG of Fairbanks

President’s Service to the Board Award – Mary Bess Bohall

The following are new awards decreed by Emperor and Empress Kevin and MeMe:

Lynn “Honey” Howard Court Member of the Year – Dan Thunder aka Bella and Aaron Finch

Michael Meeks Denali Award – Denali Emperor 25 Mikey LaChoy and Denali Emperor 31 Scott Turner

Misty Dawn Aurora Award – Aurora Empress 28 Eve, Aurora Empress 29 Joani LaChoy and Aurora Empress 31 Vicki Evans aka Sister Mary Sunshine

Congratulations to all of the award and scholarship recipients!

The Imperial Court is the oldest and largest not-for-profit GLBTA organization in the state of Alaska. They give scholarships to Alaskan students each year, and raise money for other charitable organizations in the state.

Channel 11 aired a short interview with the previous Emperor & Empress, Kevin & MeMe, at Coronation. (The story incorrectly states that the Emperor & Empress were elected at Coronation, but the voting took place on August 21, and that the Duke & Duchess were also announced at Coronation, but the ducal balls were held earlier in the summer. Still, we appreciate the coverage of our events.)

Watch the story:

Federal judge rules DADT unconstitutional

U.S. District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips said the policy banning gays did not preserve military readiness, contrary to what many supporters have argued, saying evidence shows that the policy in fact had a ‘direct and deleterious effect’ on the military.

Phillips said she would issue an injunction barring the government from enforcing the policy. However, the U.S. Department of Justice, which defended ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ during a two-week trial in Riverside, will have an opportunity to appeal that decision.

Suicide Prevention Week

Sara’s News Roundup 9/5/10

GLAAD media training in Anchorage

Adam Bass, a Senior Media Strategist at GLAAD in Los Angeles, is coming to Anchorage to offer a media workshop for the LGBT community and allies. Community members, religious and organization leaders, and allies are invited to come to the workshop.

The event will be from 10am to 1pm on Saturday, September 11, at the conference room in the lower level of 1057 West Fireweed Lane.

The workshop will focus on how to tell our stories and build support through media advocacy. By ensuring that the stories of LGBT people are heard through the media, we will promote understanding, increase acceptance, and advance equality.

Participants will learn the ins and outs of communications strategy, talking points, media interviews, and the power of telling their story.

Communications work, like lobbying or door knocking, involves strategy that can move public opinion about issues to accomplish a goal. This advocacy workshop will give you the resources you need to speak up about equality, to move public opinion, and to help make equality in Anchorage a reality!

The workshop will be free of charge. For more information, please contact Adam Bass, Senior Media Strategist at GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.