A long-overdue Bent Alaska update — October 2013

Palin, McCain, Gay Marriage and CPAC

Alaska is 1 of 5 states with no gay elected leaders. Really?

Prop 8 trial: pro-gay marriage republican mayor & live-blogging links

Federal Job Site Ends Gender Identity Bias

• There are currently 80 federal job openings based in Anchorage, 57 in Fairbanks, 23 in Juneau, 25 in Homer, etc. and others are listed for regions or the whole state.
• Almost all are full-time and many are permanent.
• They cover 21 fields, mostly science, engineering, office work and medical/health, but also business, finance, education, safety, communications, trades, transportation, and more.
• They represent 16 agencies, primarily Agriculture, Interior, the Air Force and the Army, but also Justice, Homeland Security, Defense, Transportation, and the VA…

Sara’s News Roundup 1/17/10

Straight Alaskans divorce more, despite gay ban to protect marriage

Over the past decade or so, divorce has gradually become more uncommon in the United States. Since 2003, however, the decline in divorce rates has been largely confined to states which have not passed a state constitutional ban on gay marriage. These states saw their divorce rates decrease by an average of 8 percent between 2003 and 2008. States which had passed a same-sex marriage ban as of January 1, 2008, however, saw their divorce rates rise by about 1 percent over the same period.

As is somewhat visually apparent, those states which have tended to take more liberal policies toward gay marriage have tended also to have larger declines in their divorce rates. In Massachusetts, which legalized gay marriage in 2004, the divorce rate has declined by 21 percent and is the lowest in the country by some margin…

On the other hand, the seven states at the bottom of the chart all had constitutional prohibitions on same-sex marriage in place throughout 2008. The state which experienced the highest increase in its divorce rate over the period (Alaska, at 17.2 percent) also happens to be the first one to have altered its constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, in 1998.

The differences are highly statistically significant. Nevertheless, they do not necessarily imply causation. The decision to ban same-sex marriage does not occur randomly throughout the states, but instead is strongly correlated with other factors, such as religiosity and political ideology, which we have made no attempt to account for. Nor do we know in which way the causal arrow might point. It could be that voters who have more marital problems of their own are more inclined to deny the right of marriage to same-sex couples.

No Name-Calling Week, Prof. Smoke on Matthew Shepard, & the Women’s Summit

This Week in LGBT Alaska 1/15/10

Juneau

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

Juneau Pride Chorus rehearses every Friday, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Resurrection Lutheran Church. Marsha

Fairbanks

Continuing LGBT Discussion 1/17, 11:30 p.m. at the UUFF.

Wednesday 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

Scott T. Schofield’s “Debutante Balls” 1/14-1/16 at 7:30 p.m. and 1/17 at 4 p.m. at Out North.

Prayer Vigil for Haiti 1/17, 11 a.m. at the GLCCA

Fur Rondy float planning meeting 1/17, 4 p.m. at Mad Myrna’s

Professor Gale Smoke reviews Judy Shepard’s book “The Meaning of Matthew” 1/21, 7 p.m. at Immanuel Presbyterian Church. Anchorage PFLAG.

Renown poet and author Nikki Giovanni 1/21, 7:30 p.m. A free event for Civil Rights Month at UAA.

Alaska Remembers Dan Cook (Cherresse)

Dan Cook, aka Cherreese, was an active member of the Imperial Court of All Alaska for many years before retiring to Oregon. He passed away from cancer at approximately 10 p.m. Alaska time on January 7, 2010. The funeral is tomorrow in Eugene, Oregon, and on February 20 the Anchorage gay community will host a local Celebration of Life.

Mikey LaChoy, Emperor 25, wrote:

“We are going to have a memorial of sorts for Wawa… the “All About Cherreesse – Wawa Party.” We’ll meet for WaWas [Cherreesse’s favorite drink] at the Raven for an hour from 6-7pm, then parade over to Myrna’s (Crowns and Gowns) and put on a fundraiser show as she would have wanted. Dress code: everyone wear white wigs!”

Princess Felicia in Eugene is creating a memory album (leave your remembrances as comments, and I will send them to her.) LaChoy began by sharing his photos and memories:

Alaska Greives for Mama WaWa

To our brothers and sisters in Eugene,

I would like to take a few minutes to share with you some of Dan Cook’s (Empress Cherresse) accomplishments in Alaska and some of our fond memories of him. Please bear in mind that we in Alaska may not be thinking clearly as we are grieving along with all those in so many places who have been touched by Dan during his great life.

As Cherresse said in a bio written for the Imperial Court of All Alaska’s 25th Anniversary, he felt a part of Alaska and its Court from the very beginning. Cherresse was at Alaska’s first Coronation representing Eugene as their first Empress. It was in that first visit that he fell in love with the state.

We are unsure of exactly what year Dan arrived in Alaska but we are sure he began making an impact right away. As manager of the Jade Room Bar, Cherresse started Alaska’s first weekly drag show and soon knew everyone.

Years later, Cherresse was elected Empress 18 of All Alaska and served with distinction through some very rough times in Alaska. He was always a trooper who showed up for any fundraiser to tread the boards in those distinctive boas… everyone knew Cherresse was in the house from all the feathers left wherever he went!

Dan was part of and helped many other organizations in Alaska raising charity funds for many causes. Of these, Dan’s pet organization was the Mount McKinley Non-Ascent Club which was a gay organization dedicated to enjoying Alaska’s great outdoors camping, fishing, hiking, etc. Eventually, when Dan’s roommates Bob and Gene DeLoach began building the “Triangle Ranch” on a lake north of Anchorage, Dan became the defacto Den Mother for the McKinley Club, Men’s Club, and many others.

Over the years Dan welcomed, fed, looked after, cleaned up after, and nurtured hundreds of young Alaskan gay (and straight) young men and women. Many of us have Dan to thank for being that mentor who showed us all how to get along with each other and love each other even when we want to kill each other.

This, I think, is Dan’s greatest legacy: of all the people I’ve talked to and all the time I knew Dan, the worst he was ever heard him speak of others (even when he was treated very badly) was “that little shit”, shake his head, and change the subject… and he would still smile that sweet smile when he said it. I hope we can all remember that about Dan Cherresse Cook and perhaps his legacy will be a happier community of loving, caring friends.

Ever in Peace, Love, and Unity
Emperor 25 of All Alaska
Mikey Wa LaChoy

Prayer Vigil for Haiti at the Gay/Lesbian Community Center

Relief agencies are working around the clock to help the people of Haiti and are collecting donations to cover the costs of the massive rescue. Rainbow World Fund, an international relief agency based in the GLBTA community, has supported projects in Haiti since 2004 and accepts donations online or by mail.

In Anchorage, Church Life Alaska organized a prayer vigil, and responded to the un-Christian comments of Pat Robertson:

As the people of Haiti and the world struggle to comprehend the magnitude of the earthquake in Haiti, it is important for us to gather together and pray. Church Life Alaska is hosting a prayer vigil on Sunday at 11 a.m. in the Gay and Lesbian Community Center.

You may have heard the rubbish coming from Pat Robertson’s mouth about how he believes this is God’s punishment. We know that this is false, and we will pray for the people with love and understanding in our hearts, not ugly judgment. So please come and join us as we pray for a successful rescue and rebuilding effort.

The vigil will be followed by a community potluck, and donations will be collected for the relief efforts.

Contact Church Life AK for more information.