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Gay Murder Rates Soar
in Brazil, Honduras
BY DOUG IRELAND
C
ultural and political homophobia
in Latin America remains stark-
ly lethal, as evidence from two
divergent societies there demonstrates.
In Honduras, there have been three
new murders of LGBT people in recent
weeks, bringing the death toll in the offi-
cially approved assassination campaign
of queers to 31.
Meanwhile, in Brazil a new study by
a gay group tracking homophobic and
transphobic violence shows that an
LGBT person is murdered every day and
a half, a significant increase from three
years ago, when it was one murder every
three days.
According to a coalition of opposi-
tion groups, in Honduras, transvestites,
hard-hit by the assassination campaign,
were the targets of the three most recent
brutal murders. On December 22, in
Comayagüela, a 23-year-old travesti
named Lorenza — whose legal name is
Luis Alexis Alvarado Hernández— was
found dead, her body visibly beaten and
burned. Bloody stones near her corpse
indicate that the bruises covering her
body were caused by stoning, and her
body had been set on fire. Used condoms
found nearby have fueled the suspicion
© GAY CITY NEWS 2010 • COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
TM
NEWS YOUR FREE
LGBTQ
NEWSPAPER
JANUARY 19-FEBRUARY 1, 2011
VOLUME TEN, ISSUE 1
■ CIVIL LIBERTIES
Getting the
Gay Out
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE
I
t is standard practice among cops
who conduct public sex stings to
assert they are merely respond-
ing to complaints and not targeting
gay and bisexual men. Some officers
in the Essex County Sheriff’s Office in
New Jersey appear to have missed the
memo.
“The area in question is known
by the above Officer’s [sic] to be fre-
quented by individuals who engage in
homosexual activity,” an unidentified
officer wrote in a May 31, 2010 report
on an arrest in Newark’s Branch
Brook Park.
After an unarmed DeFarra Gaymon
was shot and killed in that park last
July by Edward Esposito, a detective
in the Sheriff’s Office, Garden State
Equality, New Jersey’s statewide gay
lobbying group, made an open records
request to that office seeking docu-
TED PASZEK
ments related to alleged “sexual con-
duct” in Essex County parks from
2005 to mid-2010.
Esposito said that Gaymon was
masturbating and approached him
in the park. When the police officer
ESSEX P. 5
In this issue:
■ ARE GUNS A GAY ISSUE?
that she was also raped. After her death,
the assailants threw her body into a
Self-defense claims meet
toll in violence, suicide
ditch. News reports indicate that severe
injuries to her face rendered her corpse
■7
virtually unrecognizable. —————————————————
The same day, another travesti, Lady ■ CIVILITY AND CENTRISM
Oscar — whose legal name was Oscar
Cooling the rhetoric different
Martinez Salgado — age 45, was found
burned to death in her home in Tegu- than trimming our wings
cigalpa’s Barrio El Rincón. Her body ■ 10
showed multiple stab wounds. Neigh- —————————————————
bors reported witnessing two suspicious
individuals running from her house as
■ APOCALYPSE THEN
the fire ignited. Gregg Araki celebrates
Less than two weeks later, on January youth’s freedom & anarchy
MURDER RATES P. 4 ■ 18
2 19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011 WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011 3

NEWS BRIEFS By PAUL SCHINDLER

Pride Agenda,
Vocal New York
Hail Cuomo
Debut
In his January 5 inaugural State
of the State speech at the Capi-
tol in Albany, Governor Andrew
Cuomo renewed his commitment
to push for equal marriage rights,
saying, “We believe in justice for
all, then let’s pass marriage equal-
ity this year once and for all.”
The new governor’s mention of
marriage equality brought praise
from the Empire State Pride Agen-
da, the statewide gay lobby group.
“The Pride Agenda is very pleased
that Governor Cuomo in his State
of the State address specifically
included LGBT New Yorkers in his
vision of a great Empire State,”
said Ross Levi, ESPA’s executive
director. “He has strongly and
repeatedly shown his support for
LGBT fairness and equality, and
the affirmation today of his com-
mitment to see marriage for loving
same-sex couples become law in
New York State is another indica-
tion of that support.”
At ESPA’s annual Manhattan
fall dinner this past October 14,
candidate Cuomo said, “I want
to be the governor who signs the
law that makes marriage equality
a reality in the State of New York,
and we are going to get that done
together.”
Marriage equality has been
approved by the heavily Demo-
cratic Assembly three times since
2007, but was rejected by the Sen-
ate in a 38-24 vote in December
2009. Since then, the number of
public supporters of equal marriage
rights in the Senate has increased
to 26, but Republicans, who voted
“no” 30-0 in 2009, have recaptured
the Senate.
In an October 12 appearance
before the Log Cabin Republicans
in Manhattan, however, Long
Island Republican Dean Skelos,
the new majority leader, voiced
a willingness to have the Senate
consider the marriage equality
bill again. “I think our conference
would say, ‘Put it up, let it up,’” he
told the group. As Cuomo struggles
to get control of a state budget cur-
rently facing large deficits, he is
widely expected to work closely
with the Senate Republican major-
ity to challenge the more liberal
Democratic Assembly.
ESPA also praised Cuomo for
renewing the executive order
issued by former Governor David
Paterson last year prohibiting dis-
crimination in state employment
on the basis of gender identity and
expression. Like marriage equality,
a transgender civil rights bill has
been stalled in the Senate because
of strong Republican opposition.
The Pride Agenda noted the
governor’s appointment of Alphon-
so David to the post of deputy sec-
retary for civil rights. A former staff
attorney at Lambda Legal, David
also served Cuomo during his ten-
ure as attorney general in a civil
rights post.
On January 17, the Cuomo
administration announced the
appointment of Erik Bottcher as a
special assistant for community
affairs. Bottcher previously worked
as City Council Speaker Christine
Quinn’s LGBT and HIV/ AIDS liai-
son. The release announcing the
appointment quotes Cuomo saying
that, as a Council staffer, Bottcher,
who worked on LGBT issues in the
governor’s fall campaign, “was
instrumental in advancing New
York City’s progressive agenda. His
experience in public service will be
essential to my administration as
we move forward.”
Noting the contribution Bot-
tcher made to the City Council’s
advocacy of a state legislative
proposal to cap the rents paid by
more than 10,000 New Yorkers
living with AIDS and on public
assistance at 30 percent of their
income, the AIDS housing group
Vocal New York praised him for his
“knowledge and commitment” on
the issue of homelessness in that
population. Paterson vetoed the
30 percent cap measure, but advo-
cates are hopeful of advancing it
under Cuomo.
Reversals in
Congress by the
Numbers
According to a study released
January 5 by the Human Rights
Campaign, the leading LGBT lobby
in Washington, the number of anti-
LGBT members of Congress has
increased by 58, going from 172
to 225 in the House and 35 to 40 in
the Senate. Meanwhile, the tally
of pro-gay members has declined
by 32 — from 196 to 167 in the
House and 42 to 40 in the Senate.
HRC noted a decline of 25 total in
the number of House and Senate
members with a mixed record on
LGBT issues.
A Huffington Post story pub-
lished the same day quotes Allison
Herwitt, HRC’s legislative director,
saying the group will be looking
to make incremental progress
on LGBT issues by incorporating
advances like federal anti-bullying
protections and same-sex couple
tax equity into broader pieces of
legislation.
“I think that going into the Studios to three-bedroom homes from $625k
112th Congress, generally, we’ll be
looking at — what are the bigger
Priced from $879 per square foot
bills that will be moving that we
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said the logical fit would be the
Elementary and Secondary Educa-
tion Act reauthorization.
The clear conclusion from the
HRC report is that efforts to pass
䉴 BRIEFS, continued on p.4

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4/ Human Rights
䉴 MURDER RATES, from p.1
2, a young travesti known
only as Cheo was found
murdered on the main
street of Colonia Alameda
in Tegucigalpa. There was
no identification on her
when her body was found.
She appears to have died
from a severe stab wound
to her chest.
Honduras’ best-known
LGBT leader, 27-year -
old Walter Trochez, was
assassinated by state
security forces in Decem-
ber 2009 for having
launched a public cam-
paign calling attention to
the wave of anti-gay mur-
ders, which began follow-
ing the June 2009 coup
d’etat that overthrew the
constitutionally-elected
left-wing Honduran presi-
dent, Manuel Zelaya.
Trochez was first kid-
napped and tortured by
state security forces, and
shortly afterward mur -
dered. Officials pressured
him to stop asserting that
the same forces behind
what he called the “mili-
tary-business-religious”
coup were responsible
for the organized killings
of LGBT people. The gay
activist refused to buckle
in the face of dire warn-
ings and continued his
campaign, which cost him
his life when he became
the 17th victim of the
murder campaign. He was
killed in a drive-by shoot-
ing that riddled him with
bullets (see this reporter’s
December 23, 2009 arti-
cle, “Honduras Regime
Martyrs LGBT Leader,”
/ƚ͛ƐƚĂdžƚŝŵĞ͕'ƵŶǁĞůŝƐŚĞƌĞƚŽŚĞůƉ͊
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( 6W‡
LGBT groups and National Resistance Front recently sponsored a demonstra-
tion at the Honduran Ministry of Justice in Tegucigalpa to protest the official
campaign of anti-gay murders there.
which is linked on the
online version of this story
at gaycitynews.com).
Trochez was not only
a well-known queer and
AIDS activist, but also a
prominent member of the
National Resistance Front,
the loose coalition of civil
society organizations
and grassroots activists
opposed to the US-backed
coup regime now headed
by President Porfirio Lobo
Sosa.
According to the pro-
gay National Resistance
Front’s website, which
reported the latest killings,
there has been little or no
official police inquiry into
the 31 LGBT murders.
Last week, a demon-
stration co-sponsored
by LGBT groups and the
Resistance Front was held
at the Honduran Ministry
of Justice in Tegucigalpa,
the nation’s capital, to pro-
test the anti-gay murder
campaign.
 tion Act or to repeal the federal
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 that Ohio Republican Jim Jor-
I
n Brazil, a draft
annual report from
the country’s oldest
LGBT group, Grupo Gay
de Bahia (GGB), founded
in 1980, concluded that,
based on media reports,
there were at least 250
murders of queers in 2010,
a dramatic increase of 52
from the number docu-
mented by the group for
2009. The final report will
be issued in March.
Brazil is riddled with
contradictory attitudes
regarding sexual orienta-
tion. São Paulo annually
hosts the largest Gay Pride
parade in the world, last
year drawing some 3.3
million participants; there
are similar celebrations
in other Brazilian cities.
Brazil also has the largest
LGBT organization in Latin
America.
At the same time,
according to GGB, which
is funded by UNESCO and
the World Bank, between
䉴 BRIEFS, from p.3
the Employment Non-Discrimina-
Defense of Marriage Act current-
ly have no prospects for success.
Huffington Post quoted R.
Clarke Cooper, the executive
director of the Log Cabin Repub-
licans, predicting that the new
GOP House majority would not
focus on anti-LGBT efforts like
the federal marriage amend-
ment brought up twice during
President George W. Bush’s
administration. Clarke said
1980 and 2009 at least
3,100 homosexuals were
killed by hate crimes
across Brazil, a figure
that does not include the
250 murders GGB is now
reporting for 2010.
Murders of gays in Bra-
zil had already jumped 64
percent between 2007 and
2009, according to GGB —
from 121 in 2007, to 187
in 2008, to 198 in 2009.
But these numbers are
only the tip of the iceberg,
according to Sérgio Carra-
ra, a professor at the Insti-
tute of Social Medicine at
UERJ, the State University
of Rio de Janeiro.
“These numbers do not
reflect reality,” he said.
“The absence of a law
against hate crimes means
most of these crimes are
treated with silence.” No
official statistics are kept to
document such crimes.
In a recent interview
with the online Brazilian
gay magazine Terra (ter-
ramagazine.terra.com.
br/), GGB’s founder and
former president, Luiz
Mott, a prominent gay
activist since the 1970s,
said, “Brazil is the world
leader in deaths of its
LGBT population.” Mott
blamed the homopho-
bic violence in part on the
intensely anti-gay propa-
ganda of evangelical and
Catholic leaders.
There is “a whole cultural
and institutional homopho-
bia that still exists and has,
in evangelical churches
and Catholic churches,
the great manufacturing
centers for such ideological
weapons,” he said.
dan, who heads up the socially
conservative Republican Study
Committee, “shared” with LCR
that its efforts would be focused
on “fiscal-related” issues.
The swearing in of the new
Congress on January 5 included
one big LGBT achievement —
the seating of the fourth out gay
or lesbian House member, Dem-
ocrat David Cicilline, the former
mayor of Providence, Rhode
Island. He joins three other
Democrats — Barney Frank of
Massachusetts, Tammy Baldwin
of Wisconsin, and Jared Polis of
Colorado.
Mott was also highly
critical of Brazil’s immedi-
ate past president, Luiz
Inácio Lula da Silva, uni-
versally known as Lula,
who held office from 2003
until this month. The for-
mer president, he charged,
put on a very pro-gay face,
but fell well short on follow
up that required leader-
ship.
Lula launched a 2006
public campaign called
“Brazil Against Homopho-
bia,” including television
ads and billboards, active-
ly supported the United
Nations declaration signed
onto by 66 countries in
favor of the universal
decriminalization of homo-
sexuality, and last year
initiated a National Plan of
Promotion of the Citizen-
ship and Human Rights of
LGBT People. However, he
failed, according to Mott, to
expend any political capi-
tal with the Congress to
enact the 11 pro-gay rights
recommendations from his
National Human Rights
Plan.
“Lula had a lack of
political will to pass nearly
a dozen laws in Congress
aimed at full homosexual
citizenship,” said Mott. “To
enact such laws, political
will and pressure by the
executive on the legisla-
ture were necessary. Lula,
unfortunately, lacked the
courage and boldness
to press his power base”
and oppose the powerful
Catholic and evangelical
churches, so these laws
were not adopted.
The veteran gay activ-
ist added, “In our view,
Right-Wing
Fissure over
Log Cabin
Republicans
The upcoming Conservative
Political Action Conference, sched-
uled for February 10-12 in Wash-
ington, is facing a boycott from
some leading social conservatives
because of its decision to allow
GOProud, a group of gay conser-
vatives with views to the right
of the Log Cabin Republicans, to
host an information booth. Those
groups that will not attend include
the Family Research Council, the
American Family Association, and
19 JAN - 1 FEB 2011
there was malfeasance on
the part of the presidency
for not having effected the
11 measures… The gov-
ernment, despite the best
intentions, did not face the
main need, which is the
guarantee of life for homo-
sexuals. There were pro-
posals to tackle homopho-
bia and lethal crimes that,
if passed, would have given
us a more precise idea of
the number of these mur-
ders.”
The new pr esident,
Dilma Rousseff, a protégé
of Lula’s, and her Work-
er’s Party won a major -
ity in both houses of the
Congress. But the Work-
er’s Party, now a demo-
cratic socialist party with
Trotskyite roots, has many
members who retain Old
Left homophobic attitudes
and many others, especial-
ly from the working class,
who maintain a religious
allegiance that is either
evangelical or Catholic
and share those religions’
homophobia.
Rousseff has already
been accused of tem-
porizing on the issue of
abortion, which these
churches also oppose.
Will she do the same on
pro-gay domestic legisla-
tion? Only time will tell.
The web site of Grupo
Gay da Bahia is at http://
www.ggb.org.br/. The web-
site of the National Resis-
tance Front of Honduras
is tinyurl.com/48qohe3.
Doug Ireland can be
reached through his blog,
DIRELAND, at direland.
typepad.com/.
the Heritage Foundation.
The boycott is not keeping pro-
spective GOP presidential candi-
dates from the high profile conser-
vative event, the National Journal
noted. Among those speaking are
former Massachusetts Governor
Mitt Romney, former Minnesota
Governor Tim Pawlenty, Mississip-
pi Governor Haley Barbour, North
Dakota Senator John Thune, Texas
Representative Ron Paul, former
Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santo-
rum, and former House Speaker
Newt Gingrich.
䉴 BRIEFS, continued on p.6
19 JAN - 1 FEB 2011

Civil Liberties /5
䉴 ESSEX, from p.1 sex with other men. tion, officers wrote they were tion and gay men specifically,” that of ficers in the Essex
In the majority of the 130 responding to complaints of said Steven Goldstein, chair of County Sheriff’s Office, which
attempted an arrest, Gaymon reports, officers write that they “lewd acts” by “male” park Garden State Equality. “If that did not respond to an email
fled. Esposito gave chase, and are on “plain clothes detail,” users. The 18 reports were were true, we would have no seeking comment, grew more
when that pursuit ended, he patrolling “in response to qual- dated 2007 or earlier. That
said, Gaymon threatened him ity of life complaints,” or con- same language was used in 17
and then lunged at him, at ducting “surveillance of the of the 34 arrest reports from
which point the officer fired in lewd acts or sexual offenses” in Branch Brook Park, and those “The information in these
self-defense. the parks. 17 were also dated 2007 or
Esposito was involved in In some reports, however, it earlier. documents very much calls into
three 2009 public sex arrests was clear police were looking The arrest reports show question the idea that these
that turned violent. for a specific population. that the Sheriff’s Office ran
Garden State Equal- “The purpose of the detail organized public sex stings in operations were, in fact, neutral on
ity obtained records on 167 was to act as a park user while the parks. The fact that they the basis of sexual orientation.”
arrests or investigations, with conducting an investigation arrested only a single hetero-
148 of those occurring in and surveillance in regards sexual couple in South Moun-
tain Reservation in 2008 and
a second heterosexual couple problem with such operations. aggressive in their policing
in Branch Brook Park in 2009 However, the information in over time.
Essex County Sheriff’s Office suggests that straight couples these documents very much In 2005, of ficers largely
having public sex were never of calls into question the idea charged men with lewdness,
targeted only men in park sex stings. interest. that these operations were, a misdemeanor that is heard
Such selective targeting of in fact, neutral on the basis by New Jersey’s Municipal
gay men, assuming that can be of sexual orientation. I’m not Courts, the lowest level courts
concluded from the records, is sure there could be a more where traf fic of fenses and
Branch Brook Park or South to the sexual offenses, lewd frequently a sore point for gay crystal clear statement than minor crimes are tried.
Mountain Reservation, which acts and prostitution that groups. these two reports to indicate By 2009 and 2010, officers
is located in West Orange, occurs between males inside “When we met with the Sher- that gay men have been exclu- were charging criminal sexual
Maplewood, and Millbur n. of Branch Brook Park,” an iff’s Office last year, the sheriff sively targeted.” Goldstein was contact far more often than
Of the 148, 130 were arrests unidentified officer wrote in a assured us that its operations referring to the May 31 and lewdness. That felony charge
of men who may have been July 16, 2010 arrest report. in Essex County parks were July 16 arrest reputs from last is presented to a grand jury
cruising for sex or, in some In 18 of the 96 arrest reports not discriminatory and did year quoted above. and tried in New Jersey’s Supe-
cases, were observed having from South Mountain Reserva- not target the LGBT popula- The records also suggest rior Courts.

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6/ Culture
MoMA GETS SOME
INTESTINAL FORTITUDE
The Museum of Modern Art has
acquired the late David Wojnarowicz’s
short film “Fire in My Belly” (1986-87),
a work removed from the gay-themed
“Hide/ Seek” exhibit at the Smith-
sonian’s National Portrait Gallery in
Washington, DC, after objections from
the right-wing Catholic League and top
congressional Republicans about a few
seconds of the film showing ants crawl-
ing over a crucifix.
The film was Wojnarowicz’s mournful
commemoration of the death from AIDS
of his close friend artist Peter Hujar.
MoMA has the original 13-minute
version of the video, but also a seven-
minute excerpt created by Wojnarow-
icz, which is on display in the museum’s
“Contemporary Art from the Collection”
exhibition on a video monitor. The moni-
tor sits on the floor alongside the late
Marlon Riggs’ 1991 video “Anthem”
about the black gay experience. The late
poet Essex Hemphill can be seen on the
monitor.
Like Hujar, Wojnarowicz, Riggs, and
Hemphill all died of AIDS.
The “Contemporary Art from the Col-
lection” exhibition, with approximately
130 works drawn from across the muse-
um’s collections, “highlights the debates
around economics, politics, gender, and
ethnicity that have permeated artistic
practices since the late 1960s,” accord-
ing the MoMA website. It runs through
May 9 (11 W. 53rd St.; moma.org).
If the Catholic League wants some-
thing else to get upset about, also on
exhibition is an untitled 1987 Albert
Oehlen work of a man in a diaper on
a cross.
An untitled 1991 work by Wojnaro-
wicz pictures himself as a child and
warns of the hell a kid who “discovers
he desires to place his naked body on
the naked body of another boy” will
go through in life. That theme can be
interpreted today in many ways, but
let’s hope there has been some prog-
ress from the perspective of “it gets
worse” toward the faith that “it gets
better.” — Andy Humm
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
READING
THU.JAN.20
Spying KGB
Kathleen Warnock hosts another
evening of “Drunken! Careening! Writ-
ers!,” tonight with the theme “Mys-
teries, Histories, and Lunch.” Those
appearing include Andrea Caban, a
New York-based actor, writer, produc-
er, and teacher, who received the 2008
New York Innovative Theater Award
for Outstanding Solo Performance for
her documentary-based play “You Got
Questions? I Got Answers,” and who
debuted her second full-length solo
show “Questions My Mother Can’t
Answer” at FringeNYC last August
to sold out houses and rave reviews;
Carla Cantrelle, a writer and performer,
whose fiction has garnered her spots
at Francis Ford Coppola’s All-Story
Writers Conference and the Breadloaf
Writers Conference and a residency at
Millay Colony; and Charles Salzberg,
whose work has appeared in New York,
Esquire, GQ, and the New York Times
and who is the author of more than
20 non-fiction books, including “Soupy
Sez: My Life and Zany Times,” with
Soupy Sales. KGB Bar, 85 E. Fourth
St., btwn. Bowery & Second Ave.
Jan. 20, 7 p.m. Free.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

䉴 BRIEFS, from p.4
The organizers of the boy-
cott are also criticizing CPAC for
inviting Indiana Governor Mitch
Daniels to appear. His sin, the
National Journal reported, is
his call for Republicans to cool
the focus on conservative social
issues in favor of efforts to spur
economic growth.
Gruesome
Times Square
Murder of
Portuguese Gay
Journalist
Carlos Castro’s 20-year-old
boyfriend has confessed to the
brutal murder of the 65-year-old
gay activist and gossip columnist
in his room at the Intercontinen-
tal Hotel on West 44th Street in
Times Square, the New York Post
reports. Castro, who wrote for the
Correio de Manhã newspaper in
Portugal, was found dead shortly
after 7 p.m. on January 7.
Police apprehended 20-year-
old Renato Seabra later that eve-
ning, and have since charged him
with second-degree murder.
About midnight on the night
of the murder, Seabra entered
the Roosevelt Hotel near Grand
Central Terminal with both of
his wrists slashed. When police
arrived, they took him to Bellevue
Hospital, where he continues to
be evaluated and where he made
his confession to police.
The Post reports that Seabra
told Castro on the evening of the
killing, “I’m not gay anymore.” A
source told the newspaper that
the suspect told police he killed
Castro “to get rid of demons, to
get rid of the virus,” though that
was not a reference to HIV.
Multiple media outlets report
that Castro’s body was found
with his head bashed in and his
testicles slashed from his body.
The Post reports that a laptop
computer might have been the
weapon used on Castro’s head
and that a broken wine glass may
have been wielded in the sexual
mutilation.
The Post reported that Wanda
Pires, a friend of Castro’s whose
husband is also a Portuguese
journalist, and her daughter,
Monica, arrived at the hotel to
visit Castro shortly before 7 p.m.
After being unable to reach him,
they ran into Seabra in the lobby,
and he told them, “He’s not com-
ing out.” The Post reported that
the women described him as
being in shock. He left the hotel
immediately after speaking with
them.
With the help of hotel staff,
the women discovered Castro’s
body.
The Post reported that Pires
told police she had dinner with
the two men on the evening of
January 6 and that it was clear
they had just argued. The follow-
ing day, Castro told Pires during a
telephone call that he and Seabra
“had a falling out,” according to
the Post.
Seabra was recently a final-
ist on a Portuguese model search
reality TV program, but did not
win.
Supreme Court
Takes a Pass on
DC Marriage
The United States Supreme
Court on January 18 announced
that it would not hear a challenge
to the decision by the Washing-
ton Board of Elections to reject
a proposed referendum on the
District of Columbia’s marriage
equality law. The Board of Elec-
tions ruled that DC law forbids
ballot initiatives that would
create discrimination contrary
to local law. Bishop Harry Jack-
son, pastor of the Hope Chris-
tian Church in Washington, had
joined with the anti-gay National
Organization for Marriage and
the Alliance Defense Fund to
bring a voter referendum in the
wake of Washington’s enact-
ment of equal marriage rights in
late 2009. The Board of Election’s
ruling was upheld by the Supe-
rior Court and the DC Court of
Appeals. The Supreme Court did
not comment on its decision not
to hear an appeal, but its action
foreclosed the anti-gay forces’
legal options. Congress, which
has the right to review DC ordi-
nances in the immediate wake of
䉴 BRIEFS, continued on p.7
SEX
FRI.JAN.21
Not Your Dad’s (or
Mom’s) Mafia
Does dirty talk turn you on? Want
to be punished? Want to force some-
one to do naughty things? Really want
to make those wicked thoughts a real-
ity? The Lesbian Sex Mafia hosts a
workshop that covers some common
desires, like restraints, impact play,
and dirty talk, as well as how to com-
municate your desires, confront per-
sonal shame and discomfort around
fantasies, and maneuver such desires
into your sex and play. The workshop
is led by Megan Andelloux, a nation-
ally certified sexuality educator and
through sexologist who directs of the
Rhode Island-based non-profit Center
for Sexual Pleasure and Health. LGBT
Community Center, 208 W. 13th St.,
8-10 p.m. Admission is $10, $5 for
LSM members.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
䉴 JAN 21, continued on p.8
19 JAN - 1 FEB 2011

Crime /7
Are Guns a Gay Issue?
While some argue the benefits of defending yourselves, the toll from violence is meaningful
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE Jimmy LaSalvia, executive and three countries, did not dation, took his life with a gun. completed with guns, according
director of GOProud. “It’s about respond to a call and emails. In records obtained from to the National Vital Statistics

W
ith the January 8
shooting in Tucson
that killed six and
wounded 13, including Con-
gresswoman Gabrielle Giffords,
a Democrat, many gay blogs,
like much of the blogosphere
that leans left, were initially
enthralled with the notion that
extreme rhetoric and images
promulgated by the right drove
22-year-old Jared Loughner to
make the attack.
When it was disclosed that
Daniel Hernandez, an intern in
Giffords’ office who aided her
after she was shot, was gay, the
gay blogosphere seized on that
meme.
While the mainstream press
has run some stories on how the
attack may advance gun control
initiatives or issues related to
how Loughner’s apparent men-
tal illness was handled at the
community college he attended,
there has been virtually no talk
of these matters in the LGBT
community.
That lack of a conversation
is surprising because members
of the community have cer -
tainly been the victims of gun
violence. The 2009 suicide of a
longtime gay community leader
also raises questions about the
easy access to guns in many
American states.
“This issue here isn’t about
Sarah Palin or guns,” said
mental health and how we treat
it in this country... That’s an
issue that needs to be talked
about in the gay community
and in the country at large. I
can honestly say as an aver-
age person I don’t know enough
about it.”
In its study on 2009 hate crimes, the
National Coalition of Anti-Violence
Programs reported that firearms
accounted for 19 percent of all
weapons used in bias attacks.
The conservative gay group
was among the few organiza-
tions to respond to Gay City
News’ queries on the topic. The
broader community has dis-
cussed guns in the past, but is
has generally been gun rights
advocates who have had such
conversations.
The Pink Pistols, a gay gun
owners group, was founded in
2000 after gay author Jona-
than Rauch wrote on Salon.
com that more gay men and
lesbians should learn to use
firearms to protect themselves.
The Pink Pistols website carries
the slogan “Armed Gays Don’t
Get Bashed.” The group, which
claims 60 chapters in 33 states
In 2008, Dale Carpenter, a
University of Minnesota law
professor, argued in the Wash-
ington Blade, “Gun ownership
might, at the very least, give
[gay people] peace of mind. And
widespread knowledge that
many gays are packing might
give their would-be attackers
second thoughts. Gun rights
are gay rights.”
Whether carrying guns would
make LGBT Americans safer
can be debated, but there is no
doubt that they have been vic-
timized by gun violence. In its
study on 2009 hate crimes, the
National Coalition of Anti-Vio-
lence Programs reported that
firearms accounted for 19 per-
cent of all weapons used in bias
attacks.
Also in 2009, Rodger McFar-
lane, who at various times
headed the Gay Men’s Health
Crisis (GMHC), the theater
group Broadway Cares/ Equity
Fights AIDS, and the Gill Foun-
the New Mexico State Police, it
is clear that McFarlane set his
suicide in motion at least a year
earlier when he legally pur -
chased a gun and particularly
lethal ammunition.
McFarlane wrote in a let-
ter to a friend that he was not
struggling with mental illness,
but had opted to take his life to
avoid what he thought was an
inevitable physical deteriora-
tion.
“I’ve always planned to off
myself before I became seri-
ously ill,” he wrote in the let-
ter that police recovered. “You
know that. I always imagined
that would come with a sud-
den diagnosis, a clearly marked
crossroads like a stroke or lung
cancer. But I’ve re-thought
that, especially over the last
four years.”
Friends who survived McFar-
lane, notably playwright Larry
Kramer, insisted he made a
rational choice. That would
be unusual. The link between
suicide and major depression,
bipolar disorder, schizophre-
nia, and other types of mental
illness is overwhelming. Those
who work in suicide prevention
have generally argued for strict-
er controls on guns because
they are so deadly.
There were 35,933 suicides
in the US in 2008, with 18,251,
or 50 percent, of those deaths
Report from the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Preven-
tion. All other causes accounted
for 17,681 suicides in 2008.
Homicides with firear ms
accounted for 12,209 deaths
in 2008, while other means
caused 5,628 homicides that
year.
For gay groups, wading into
the thorny issue of gun control
is best avoided. Some issued
statements decrying Lough-
ner’s attack, but that was all.
The national groups are also
aware of competing views in the
community.
“With respect to gun rights,
there are many LGBT people
that feel strongly about their
own personal gun ownership
rights,” Fred Sainz, a spokes-
man for the Human Rights
Campaign, the leading gay
lobby, wrote in an email. “It’s an
issue that people of good judg-
ment can and will disagree on.
Like gun ownership and vio-
lence, there are a whole slew of
issues that affect our commu-
nity. That said, we try and swim
in our own lane though and not
take positions on issues that
could dilute our core message
of equality for all Americans.”
Inga Sorenson, spokeswoman
for the National Gay and Les-
bian Task Force, wrote that the
group “does not have an official
position on gun control.”

䉴 BRIEFS, from p.6
their passage, let that time expire
without taking any action to block
the equal marriage law.
What’s the
GOP’s Plan on
New Hampshire
Marriage?
Despite a statement from the
new Republican leader of the New
Hampshire House of Representa-
tives that repeal of the state’s mar-
riage equality law would not be on
this year’s agenda, the state’s pro-
equality forces are not letting down
their guard.
“We are pleased again to hear
the House majority leader say that
gay marriage is not a priority this leg-
islative session,” Mo Baxley, execu-
tive director of New Hampshire
Freedom to Marry, said in a Janu-
ary 13 release. “Voters want their
legislators to focus on the economy;
they did not send people to Concord
to rehash marriage equality. But we
heard some wiggle room in today’s
remarks, leaving the door open to
bring up a repeal of marriage equal-
ity in the coming weeks. We are
continuing our efforts to educate
and engage all Granite Staters to
show that it’s not the role of govern-
ment to take away rights from New
Hampshire citizens and families.”
Baxley’s vigilance is not mis-
placed. In last November’s election,
Republicans not only overturned
Democratic control of the Legis-
lature, but won huge majorities
— now holding a 19-5 edge in the
Senate and a 297-102 advantage in
the House.
The Associated Press quoted
Kevin Smith, of the conservative
Cornerstone Action, saying that if
a vote is put off in 2011, it will take
place next year. Republican Repre-
sentative David Bates, a sponsor
of one repeal measure, told the AP,
“The gay marriage issue will come
up at the appropriate time.”
Democratic Governor John
Lynch, who signed marriage equal-
ity into law in 2009, has vowed to
veto any repeal effort, though anti-
gay forces are hopeful that the huge
GOP majorities provide the margin
necessarily to override such a veto.
Lynch won reelection in November
against Republican John Stephen,
who made the governor’s enactment
of gay marriage an issue. National
anti-equality groups poured signifi-
cant money into the effort to defeat
Lynch.
The Human Rights Campaign
warned that the drive to repeal
the New Hampshire marriage law
could be the next Prop 8. A marriage
equality law enacted in Maine in
early 2009 was overturned in a voter
referendum in November of that
year.
The Globes Are
Alright
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation reacted with
high praise for the Golden Globe
Awards held January 16, in the
wake of wins by “Glee,” two of its
out gay and lesbian stars, the film
“The Kids Are Alright,” and one of
its leading ladies.
“Gay and lesbian actors, char-
acters, and storylines are not
only helping build support for full
equality, but are also generating
unprecedented box office success
and critical acclaim,” said GLAAD
president Jarrett Barrios. “Last
night’s Golden Globe winners and
nominees are a testament to the
increased support for our commu-
nity among everyday Americans
and exemplify a new entertain-
ment industry standard that is
more inclusive than ever before.
GLAAD congratulates yesterday’s
LGBT nominees and winners.”
“Glee,” the queer TV fave,
won in the best comedy or musi-
cal television category, and out
gay Chris Coffer (Kurt Hummel)
and out lesbian Jane Lynch (Sue
Sylvester) grabbed best supporting
performance awards. In his thanks
during his acceptance speech, Cof-
fer said, “Most importantly, to all
the amazing kids that watch our
show and the kids that our show
celebrates, who are constantly
told ‘no’ by the people in their envi-
ronments, by bullies at school that
they can’t be who they are or have
what they want because of who
they are. Well, screw that, kids.”
GLAAD also acknowledged
the awards that went to out les-
bian Lisa Cholodenko’s “The Kids
Are Alright,” a comedy about a
䉴 BRIEFS, continued on p.8

8/ Legal
US Court OKs Retaliation Suit
9th circuit panel says gay man can plead claim employer unlawfully fired him
BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD
A
three-judge panel of the
San Francisco-based
US 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled on January 10
that a gay employee discharged
two days after filing a sexual
orientation discrimination com-
plaint may sue for violation of
the anti-retaliation provision
of the federal Civil Rights Act
of 1964. That statute does not
prohibit employment discrimi-
nation based on sexual orienta-
tion.
Reversing a ruling by US
District Judge Ann Aiken of
Oregon, in a suit by Shane
Dawson against Entek Inter-
national, the court ruled that
Aiken erred by depriving Daw-
son of a trial on his retaliation
claim, as well as a sexual ori-
entation discrimination claim
under Oregon state law.
It is unclear from Judge
David C. Bury’s opinion wheth-
er the court was aware it might
be staking out new ground in
applying the anti-retaliation
provision of federal law. That
provision makes it an “unlaw-
ful employment practice” for
an employer to discriminate
against any employee “because
he has opposed any practice
made an unlawful employ-
ment practice by this title, or
because he has made a charge,
testified, assisted, or partici-
pated in any manner in an
investigation, proceeding, or
hearing under this title.”
Federal courts have gener-
ally interpreted this to protect
employees from retaliation
when they formally complain
about discrimination based
on race or color, religion, sex,
or national origin, the prohib-
䉴 BRIEFS, from p.7
married lesbian couple raising
two children; one of its stars,
Annette Bening; the HBO series
“Boardwalk Empire,” which
included a several-episode les-
bian storyline; and the song “You
Haven’t Seen The Last of Me,”
from the film “Burlesque,” writ-
ten by Diane Warren and sung
by Cher.
19 JAN - 1 FEB 2011
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
ited grounds of discrimination plaint charged Entek with hos- his employer, Entek, retaliat- 䉴 JAN 21, from p.6
under the 1964 Act’s Title VII. tile environment sexual harass- ed against him in response to
PERFORMANCE
Courts, however, have gen- ment and unlawful retaliation that activity.” Dawson’s “pro-
erally found it does not pro- under federal law, as well as tected activity” was making “a A Bohemian Theme
tect employees who complain sexual orientation discrimina- complaint to human resources Park
about discrimination covered tion, retaliation, and inten- staff based directly on sexual In an evening of bongos, beads, poet-
by other laws such as the Age tional infliction of emotional orientation discrimination.” ry, and the incense of unwashed narcotic
Discrimination in Employment distress under Oregon law. Since federal law does not for- genius, Trav S.D. hosts a funhouse of
Act or the Americans With Entek moved to have the case bid sexual orientation discrim- ironical anti-hipsters, with featured per-
Disabilities Act, which have dismissed, arguing that all of ination, the panel’s conclusion formers sticking it to Big Daddy with a bit
their own anti-retaliation pro- Dawson’s claims were invalid. that Dawson’s complaint could of beatnik comedy show biz. Jonny Cigar,
visions. The provision would Federal law, the company said, trigger federal anti-retaliation Ethel Goldblatt (Esther Crow), Carol and
not logically bar retaliation for does not prohibit sexual ori- protection appears to be an Carol (Hope Cartelli and Iracel Rivero),
complaining about discrimina- entation discrimination, and extension of existing law. and a film by Trav, Art Wallace, Deenie
tion that violates state but not the retaliation claim could not Or, it could be that the court Nast, and Lynn Berg are the highlights of
federal law. stand in the face of Dawson’s meant, without expressly say- the show. Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie
However, according to some failure to comply with the call- ing so, that Dawson was pro- St., btwn. Rivington & Delancey Sts.
courts, the retaliation provi- in absence policy. Entek also tected based on his good faith Jan. 21, 9:30 p.m. Admission is $10 at
sion might protect an employee argued that Oregon’s gay rights belief he was complaining dixonplace.org.
who believed in good faith that law was not enacted until after about discrimination unlawful ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
the conduct about which he Dawson’s firing. under federal law.
was complaining violated Title Judge Aiken agreed with Unfortunately, Bury’s opin- OPERA
VII, even if that belief proved to Entek that Dawson had no ion does not clearly spell out Girls Will Be Boys
be incorrect. There is a wide- valid federal claim, and grant- which of these intentions the Women portraying men or their
spread — but woefully mis- ed summary judgment for the panel had in coming to its rul- characters disguised as men have
taken — belief by the general company, also dismissing the ing. It is also uncertain wheth- always found a home on the opera
public that federal civil rights state law claims; federal courts er the panel’s ruling would stage. Romeo, Oscar, Count Octavian,
law forbids sexual orientation typically discharge state law hold up if Entek won review and young Hänsel are standard fare for
discrimination. claims if there is no longer a from a larger panel of the 9th sopranos and mezzo-sopranos, and will
Shane Dawson, who started federal law challenge. Circuit. find their way to a benefit concert for
at Entek in 2007, was known The court of appeals panel When it revived Dawson’s Chelsea Opera. “Girls Will Be Boys” fea-
to be gay by some co-workers, agreed with Entek that Daw- federal anti-retaliation claim, tures singers from the company’s princi-
and anti-gay verbal harass- son’s hostile environment sex the court of appeals also pal roster, with Kelly Horsted accompa-
ment by his trainer and others discrimination claim was not allowed his state law anti-dis- nying selected arias and duets drawn
quickly ensued. In response to valid. Some 9th Circuit courts crimination claim to remain from “Der Rosenkavalier” (Strauß),
mounting harassment, he took have afforded protection to gay live, noting that a 1998 Oregon “Lucretia Borgia” (Donizetti), “Idome-
a day off, calling the company employees charging bias on court of appeals ruling had neo” (Mozart), “Fidelio” (Beethoven),
in advance of his shift and ask- the theory that they faced dis- applied sex discrimination pro- “Tancredi” (Rossini), and “Faust”
ing that his supervisor be told crimination because of “gender visions to extend to sexual ori- (Gounod). Christ & St. Stephen’s
of his planned absence — an nonconformity.” The appeals entation, years before the state Church, 120 W. 69th St. Jan. 21, 8
action that did not comply with panel found no evidence in the enacted a gay rights law. p.m. Tickets are $20; $12 for seniors &
the specific rule that he direct- record that Dawson did not The panel agreed with Aiken students at chelseaopera.org, or $25 &
ly speak to the supervisor. conform to masculine gender and the company that its con- $15 at the door.
When he returned to work, he stereotypes. duct in firing Dawson was not ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
visited the Human Resources The appeals panel, how- sufficiently nasty to trigger an
Department to make a formal ever, did find that Dawson emotional distress claim.
complaint about the harass-
ment he faced. Two days later
he was fired, ostensibly for vio-
had alleged a potentially valid
anti-retaliation claim. Accord-
ing to Judge Bury, the plaintiff
The case now goes back
to a US district court for trial
on the federal anti-retaliation COMMUNITY
SAT.JAN.22
lating the call-in rule. must show that “he engaged claim and the state sexual ori- Dinner Dance for
Dawson’s federal court com- in protected activity and that entation harassment claim. Pride
The Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride
Committee, which produces the bor-
Gates, Mullen weeks.” ment of physics associated with tary morale, preparedness, effec- ough’s annual June Pride parade and fes-
Renew Pledge That, in turn, would lead to the number of people involved in tiveness, and retention. Once tival, hold its annual benefit Winter Pride
to Move what he said “is the real chal- this process.” that certification is made and Dinner Dance. The evening will honor
“Quickly” on lenge, which is providing training Under the repeal legislation Congress has 60 days to review it Pedro Julio Serrano, a longtime LGBT
DADT’s End to 2.2 million people.” signed into law on December —though not overrule it — Don’t activist in Puerto Rico who is communi-
Secretary Robert Gates sug- “We will do that as expe- 22 by President Barack Obama, Ask, Don’t Tell will be history. cations manager of the National Gay and
gested in a Pentagon briefing ditiously as we can,” he told the policy will not end until he, The training will begin, Gates Lesbian Task Force, and Fran Rolan, a
on January 6, that the military reporters, according to a tran- Gates, and Admiral Michael Mul- said, once the first two phases lesbian mother of two who is the human
leadership could begin train- script provided by the White len, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of a three-part process are com- resources director at Heritage of Pride,
ing personnel on the shift to the House. “But as the — to use the of Staff, certify that okaying ser- pleted — finalizing regulations, which is responsible for the LGBT Pride
post-Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell world term the [Joint Chiefs] chairman vice by openly gay and lesbian
“within a matter of a very few used, there’s just a certain ele- soldiers will not undermine mili- 䉴 BRIEFS, continued on p.10 䉴 JAN 22, continued on p.9
19 JAN - 1 FEB 2011
14 DAYS Change Is Good
14 NIGHTS Tips for making your New Year’s resolutions stick
䉴 JAN 22, from p.8
events, including the march, rally, and
street festival, in Manhattan each year.
Astoria World Manor, 25-22 Astoria
Blvd., near Crescent St./ 25th St. Jan.
22, 7 p.m.-midnight. Tickets are $95 at
queenspride.com or $100 at the door.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ tions to quit smoking, make
PERFORMANCE
SUN.JAN.23
You Be the Judge
The Williamsburg Arts neXus’ WAX-
works series is a non-curated, perfor-
mance showcase designed to help art-
ists to advance their creative process
by viewing their work through written
criticism from the objective eyes of a live
audience. Tonight, Body Collider Dance,
Rainwater Dances, CollexityTheatre,
Jeremy Finch & Stephanie Fungsang,
Expressions Dance Company, Ryojo
Sasamoto/ method876, and MIG Dances
appear. Triskelion Arts Theater, 118
N. 11th St. third floor, btwn. Berry &
Wythe Sts., Billyburg. Jan. 23, 7 p.m.
A $10 donation is requested. Reserva-
tions at 718-599-7997.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ week program works to identify
NIGHTLIFE
Fashion Bears, Art
Fags, Downtown
Denizens Unite!
DJ Rich King and Gustavo’s long-run-
ning West Side fur-fest, SNAXX, takes up
residence at the Monster, with its month-
ly Tea is the Time! event, from which ten
percent of proceeds benefit the LGBT
Community Center. The Monster, 80
Grove St., btwn. Seventh Ave. S. &
W. Fourth St. Jan. 23, 5 p.m.-midnight.
Admission is $5 until 7; $10 after that.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ cost enrollment at David Barton
Return to the
Dugout
The spirit of Sundays at the old Dugout
lives on at Joe Fiore’s Rockbear Sunday
beer blast at Rockbar at the end of Chris-
topher St. Cheap beer, free pizza, an all-
request DJ/ VJ, and even football on the
screen. Rockbar, 185 Christopher St. at
Weehawken St. Jan. 23, 4-10 p.m.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ 2020 city branches of the YMCA
Ladies of Laughter
Brad Loekle, host of the weekly “Elec-
tro Shock Therapy Comedy Hour” wel-
comes headliner Helen Hong (Logo’s new
䉴 JAN 23, continued on p.13
BY WINNIE MCCROY
T
he start of a New Year
brings out our idealis-
tic side, the yearning to
be our very best self –– happy,
healthy, wealthy, and wise.
But, without a plan, resolu-
new friends, and finally get in
shape fall by the wayside all too
soon.
For those of us outside of the
mainstream, success comes
easier when our escape routes
from old behaviors are tailored
to fit our lives. Here are some
tips to making your New Year’s
resolutions become reality.
Quit Smoking –– According
to the American Lung Associa-
tion, lesbians and gay men are
1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to
smoke than straight folks.
Whether your smoking
sprang out of socializing in gay
bars, the need to fit in, rejection,
or dealing with name-calling,
the Center’s SmokeFree Project
can help you quit. This free, six-
your reasons for starting, elimi-
nate roadblocks to quitting, and
arm you with some tips to han-
dle relapse pressure.
Visit gaycenter.org or call
Adam Steiner at 646-556-9300,
ext. 485.
Lose Weight/ Work Out —
Do you long to be one of the
buffed, shirtless masses or to
just trim away the extra ten lbs.
you gained over the holidays?
Take advantage of January’s no-
Gym (davidbartongym.com), with
three locations in Manhattan ––
Chelsea, Cooper Square, and the
Upper East Side.
Or, get 30 days for $30 at New
York Sports Clubs (nysc.com),
with 53 locations in the five bor-
oughs.
Those on a tighter budget can
check out free open houses at
(ymcanyc.org/index.php) on
January 30 from noon–4 p.m.,
and see if the 12-week Y Personal
Fitness Program is for you. The
92nd Street Y at Lexington Ave.
(92.org) offers a free trial workout.
Lesbians can head to Park
A member of Gotham Knights Rugby Football Club as he breaks out of the scrum.
Slope to get fit and empowered
while learning karate and tai chi
with your sisters, at the Center for
Anti-Violence Education (caeny.
org), on Fifth Ave. at Seventh St.
Join a Team — Were you
a jock in high school, just
a benchwar mer with hoop
dreams, or someone who now
wants to claim your place on
the field? Flex your muscles and
find solidarity by joining a gay
sports league.
Smack a puck with fellow
gays at nycgayhockey.org.
Or get in the scrum with the
Gotham Knights Rugby Football
Club (gothamrfc.org/drupal).
Cycle around town or out in
the country with Fast & Fabu-
lous (fastnfab.org), or hit the
pavement and prepare for that
marathon with the Frontrun-
ners (frny.org). Frontrunners
offers a beginners clinic starting
in March to help new members
prepare for the five-mile Pride
Run in June. Look for notice of
the information sessions in late
February at the LGBT Commu-
nity Center, at 208 W. 13th St.,
and at the AIDS Service Center,
at 41 E. 11th St.
Take it slower with like-
minded hipsters playing dodge
ball or bowling at bigapple-
Community /9
six classes a month on topics
including food and water safety
and eating healthy on a budget,
with nutritionist Chef Carlin
Greenstein appearing monthly
to demonstrate the preparation
of healthy recipes. For informa-
tion, visit gmhc.org, call 212-
367-1259, or email nutrition@
gmhc.org.
For folks on the run, the fast-
food chain Energy Kitchen offers
ten locations in Manhattan and
Hoboken to pick up high-fiber,
high-protein meals. Visit ener-
gykitchen.com.
You can join a community of
folks interested in nutrition at
the right price –– particularly
if you live in Brooklyn –– at the
legendary Park Slope Food Coop
(foodcoop.com), on Union St.
just off Seventh Ave. It’s one of
JESS BUNSHAFT
the oldest such enterprises and
is the largest member-owned
and operated –– which means
you’ll contribute about three
hours a month of work there.
dodgeball.com. What that buys you, though,
From flag football to swim- is a huge selection of foods,
ming to crew and sailing, check including an enormous array of
out the wide variety of LGBT organic produce, at prices you
sports teams at Out of Bounds won’t beat anywhere –– and a
(oobnyc.org). very good vibe from other mem-
bers.
Eat Healthier — Most people Not sure if you should be
don’t eat enough fruits and veg- counting calories or carbs? Gay
etables, whole grains, and lean Men’s Boot Camp can help you
proteins. For people living with navigate the world of healthy
HIV, this can be life-threaten- eating with Nutrition 101, a
ing. GMHC’s Nutrition Educa-
tion & Wellness Program offers 䉴 NEW YEAR’S, continued on p.30
VADIM SHEPEL
Participants in the Gay Men’s Boot Camp, including Gay City News’ Dean Wrzeszcz, work out on
the Christopher Street Pier.
 19 JAN - 1 FEB 2011

10/ Editorial
■ LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
PUBLISHER & CO-FOUNDER
JOHN W. SUTTER
JWSutter@communitymediallc.com
Civility and Centrism
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER & CO-FOUNDER BY PAUL SCHINDLER
TROY MASTERS

P
troy@gaycitynews.com
resident Barack Obama, released early the same day political correctness — on But, nobody thinks it’s espe-
in his address at the Obama spoke have drawn issues like marriage equality cially noteworthy when a panel
EDITOR IN-CHIEF & CO-FOUNDER
PAUL SCHINDLER
memorial service for the widespread criticism and ridi- and a woman’s right to choose of journalists or pundits that
editor@gaycitynews.com victims of the Tucson shoot- cule. Observers on the left as — has poisoned the well includes no openly gay or les-
ASSOCIATE EDITOR ing spree, got it just about well as some on the right noted among New York Democrats. bian member goes on and on
Duncan Osborne exactly right when he said, that she tripped badly in com- B u t w e d r a w t h e w r o ng about our right to marry. Only
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS “Let’s remember that it is not ing forward on a day meant to lesson if we conclude that undocumented immigrants are
Christopher Byrne (Theater), Susie Day, because a simple lack of civil- honor the dead and wounded embracing civility either discussed at such remove in
Doug Ireland (International), Brian McCormick ity caused this tragedy — it did to make her case that she is means pretending that we, as a our culture. Perhaps the most
(Dance), Dean P. Wrzeszcz
not — but rather because only somehow the victim. Many also nation, have no important dif- distressing political develop-
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Betsy Andrews, Seth J. Bookey,
a more civil and honest public voiced anger at what they saw ferences to resolve or involves ment in the Obama years is
Anthony M.Brown, Kelly Jean Cogswell, discourse can help us face up that some Americans who
Dean Daderko, Tate Dougherty, Andres Duque, to our challenges as a nation, apparently feel constrained by
Michael Ehrhardt, Steve Erickson, Nick Feitel,
Jim Fouratt, Joe Fyfe, Deborah Garwood, in a way that would make them social mores in openly express-
Erasmo Guerra, Emily Harney, Andrey Henkin, proud.” The LGBT community is one ing antipathy toward African
Frank Holiday, Andy Humm, James Jorden, Brendan
Keane, David Kennerley, Gary M. Kramer, Arthur S.
In the days following Demo-
cratic Congresswoman Gabby
of the few groups in America Americans have found a new
outlet — defining the presi-
Leonard, Rachael Liberman,
Michael T. Luongo, Lawrence D. Mass,
Winnie McCroy, Eileen McDermott,
Giffords’ attempted assassi- whose lives people feel free to talk dent, like us, as the Other,
nation, many commentators with the ludicrous charge he
Gregory Montreuil, Ioannis Mookas, Carrie Moyer,
Stephen Mueller, Christopher Murray, have diligently documented
about with impunity. was born outside the US.
David Noh, Wayne Northcross, Lori Ortiz, the myriad instances of out- Obama, however, faces a
Pauline Park, Sheila Pepe, John Reed,
Nathan Riley, Andrew Robinson, Gerard Robinson, rageous language, often filled different political challenge
Chris Schmidt, Sarah D. Schulman, with violent imagery, used by as her inappropriate expro- disenfranchising communi- than the LGBT community.
Jason Victor Serinus, Linda Shapiro, those on the right in recent priation of the phrase “blood ties whose views don’t fall into To succeed, he cannot be the
David Shengold, Gus Solomons Jr., David Spiher,
Drew B. Straub, Stefen Styrsky, Jerry Tallmer, years. Conservative Joe Scar- libel.” some imagined political center. arguer-in-chief; as president,
Stefanos Tsigrimanis, Kathleen Warnock, borough, host of MSNBC’s The real takeaway from her The LGBT community is one he must somehow embody
Benjamin Weinthal, Lee Ann Westover,
James Withers, Kai Wright, Susan Yung
“Morning Joe,” is one who will video, however, is that she is of the few groups in America the entire nation’s hopes and
always make the point there on the defensive. And that’s whose lives people feel free aspirations, and therefore
ART DIRECTOR
Mark Hasselberger
are extremists on both the a good thing. Palin cannot be to talk about with impuni- must simply steer clear of cer-
right and the left and men- blamed for the deaths in Tuc- ty. Discussions about the tain debates.
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Jamie Paakkonen tion inflammatory statements son, but her Know Nothing responsibility of wealthy For better or worse, we are
aimed at George W. Bush dur- brand of politics is exactly the people to pay a higher share differently situated. Many of
SENIOR VP OF ADVERTISING/MARKETING
FRANCESCO REGINI ing his presidency. sort of distraction that keeps of taxes always run the risk our leaders tell us that, like
francesco@gaycitynews.com We should not fall victim, this country mired in the same of being labeled class war - Obama, we need to prove we
however, to false equivalen- tired rhetorical volleys year in fare. It would be considered are just like any other Ameri-
ADVERTISING MANAGERS
cies; any fair reading of the and year out. inappropriate for a panel of can. But we are kidding our-
COLIN GREGORY
colin@gaycitynews.com past two decades, encom- Scarborough’s show is the white Americans to discuss selves if we think that argu-
passing the administrations type of venue where pundits the implications of out-of- ing passionately in defense of
ALLISON GREAKER
allison@gaycitynews.com of Obama, Bush II, and Bill positioned slightly to the left wedlock births and single- our basic rights as citizens is
JASON SHERWOOD
Clinton, makes clear that the of center join those slightly parent households in the not also a big part of the task
jsherwood@gaycitynews.com intemperate vitriol — including to the right of center to pat black community without ahead.
MICHAEL SLAGLE crosshairs identifying political themselves on the back for the participation of African Civility and comity with our
michael@gaycitynews.com enemies, charges that the first their commitment to centrism. Americans conversant on fellow Americans are wonder-
JULIO TUMBACO lady killed Vince Foster, and When Harold Ford, startled those issues. Any New York- ful aspirations. But we don’t
julio@gaycitynews.com guns carried to venues where by the scrutiny he would face er who talks about gun con- have the luxury of walking
the president is speaking — from progressives in a run for trol is quickly told they just away from major fights that
Please call (212) 229-1890 for
advertising rates and availability. has disproportionately come the US Senate from New York, don’t get it when it comes to our opponents engage every
from the right. dropped out, he sought out how the average American single day. Courage must be
BUSINESS MANAGER / CONTROLLER
VERA MUSA Sarah Palin’s video remarks “Morning Joe” to argue that lives. our companion.
vera@gaycitynews.com
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䉴 BRIEFS, from p.8 be done within weeks. tion, “so now is not — from my Senate Armed Services Com- 6, according to a report in the-
Web master “I was very struck,” Gates perspective — you know, now mittee who made something hill.com. “It is a law and I have
Arturo Jimenez
Arturo@gaycitynews.com policies, and benefits issues and said, “by one of the chief’s is not the time to ‘come out,’ if of a fetish last year of trying to do whatever I can to help
Gay City News, The Newspaper Serving Gay and Lesbian NYC, is
preparing training manuals in comments that it’s better to you will.” to block repeal of the military’s the men and women who are
publishedby Community Media, LLC. Send all inquiries to: Gay City News, consultation with a group he — better to do this sooner The admiral added, “We’ll Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) serving, particularly in combat,
145 Sixth Ave., First Fl., NYC 10013 Phone: 646.452.2500 Written
permission of the publisher must be obtained before any of the contents called “the experts” — “the rather than later. So we’re kind get through this. We’ll do it policy, is sounding a bit more cope with this new situation.
of this paper, in part or whole, can be reproduced or redistributed. All
contents (c) 2010 Gay City News. personnel people, the chap- of approaching it with that — deliberately. We certainly are conciliatory in the New Year. I will do everything I can to
lains, the judge advocate gen- with that philosophy in mind.” focused on this. And we won’t “I think I have to do every- make it work.”
Gay City News is a registered trademark erals; and second, the leaders, “Our goal here is to — is to — we won’t dawdle.” thing I can to make sure that McCain had once said he
of Community Media, LLC.
John W. Sutter, President commanders; and then third, move as quickly but as respon- the impact on the morale, would support repeal of DADT
Fax: 646.452.2501;
E-mail: JWSutter@communitymediallc.com the troops.” sibly as possible,” the defense Has McCain retention, recruitment, and should the military leader-
Subscriptions: Finalizing policy and con- secretary emphasized. Made Peace battle effectiveness of the mili- ship endorse that. However,
26 issues, $90.00 sulting with leadership to com- Mullen, who was with With Repeal? tary is minimized as much as when a special Pentagon study
(c)2010 Gay City News. plete training materials are Gates at the briefing, noted Arizona’s John McCain, possible,” he told the Fox Busi-
All rights reserved.
what he said he hoped would that the policy is still in opera- the ranking Republican on the ness cable network on January 䉴 BRIEFS, continued on p.14
19 JAN - 1 FEB 2011
■ ISLAMIST REPRESSION
Sanctions Must Respond to Iran’s Anti-Gay Genocide
I
ranian Pr esident Mah-
moud Ahmadinejad’s lethal
homophobia requires strong
medicine. The international
campaign to stop the stoning of
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani,
a woman who was sentenced to
death for alleged adultery, shows
that the Islamic Republic of Iran
is vulnerable to a human rights
pressure-point campaign.
While Ashtiani could still face
execution, the global effort to influ-
ence a change in the behavior of
the pariah regime in Tehran has
forced Iran’s rulers to temporar-
ily backpedal from their medieval
practices. Replicating that con-
certed drive could deliver another
potent dose of behavioral therapy
to force the regime to recoil from
its ongoing eradication of the Ira-
nian LGBT community.
The opening salvo in a human
rights movement to end violence
and bias against LGBT Iranians
ought to originate from President
Barack Obama, who was initially
wishy-washy and aloof about
■ DRUG REFORM
Medical Marijuana Gains Traction in New York
W
ith little fanfare, Alba-
ny almost passed a
medical marijuana bill
last year. The progress on mov-
ing the measure represents a
significant development, but it’s
impact on the larger drive for
drug reform should not be over-
stated.
As the New York legislative
session drew to a close last
June, the final tweaks were
made in a bill that satisfied
former Governor David Pater-
son, the barebones Democratic
majority in the Senate, and the
Assembly.
Democrat Richard Gottfried,
who represents Manhattan’s
West Side and chairs the Assem-
bly Health Committee, had
maneuvered the bill to the point
where it almost passed. The
chair of the Senate Health Com-
mittee, out gay Chelsea Demo-
crat Tom Duane, made compa-
rable progress. With approval
from the Senate’s health and
criminal justice committees, the
bill had momentum. It was the
closest the bill had ever come to
passing; but it was just that —
human rights when Iran’s regime
viciously cracked down on its civil-
ian population during the fraudu-
lent 2009 election.
This past September, however,
the Obama administration, to its
credit, imposed precedent-setting
human rights sanctions against
eight top-level Iranian government
officials for committing torture,
rape, violent beatings, and unlaw-
ful detention of Iranians. The
sanctions aim to penalize only a
slice of the Iranian military appa-
ratus and regime responsible for
crushing the pro-democracy pro-
tests against the doctored election
results in 2009. But it is a fresh
beginning.
As Gay City News reporter
Doug Ireland has exhaustively
documented over nearly six years,
Iran’s mullah regime is pursuing a
strategy of eliminatory homopho-
bia. Iran outlaws all same-sex
activity, prosecuting male same-
sex intercourse with the death
penalty and lesbian sex with 100
lashings for the first three instanc-
close, but no cigar.
The momentum is still there,
but the players have changed.
Long Island Republican Kemp
Hannon is the new Senate
Health Committee chair, and
Dr. Nirav Shah of the NYU Lan-
gone Medical Center and Bel-
levue Hospital is the new state
health commissioner and would
be responsible for managing
any medical marijuana program
approved.
The final negotiated ver -
sion of last year’s bill will be re-
introduced soon, according to
Mark Furnish, Duane’s counsel,
who said he is optimistic about
its prospects. Countering any
assumption that the measure
would be stalled with Republi-
cans back in charge in the Sen-
ate, Furnish noted that Duane
won approval for the 2000 hate
crimes law and the 2002 gay
rights law when he “was in the
minority — and he’s going to
keep fighting for this bill as well.”
Legislators pushing the medi-
cal marijuana bill have impres-
sive allies. Among those sup-
porting the drive are Gay Men’s
BY BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
es, but execution after that.
The long-overdue Decem-
ber release of the Human Rights
Watch report “‘We Are a Buried
Generation’: Discrimination and
Violence against Sexual Minorities
in Iran” bolsters Ireland’s reporting
and captures the pressing need for
human rights sanctions targeting
Iranian rulers. (A link to Ireland’s
story on the HRW report, “Human
Rights Watch Scorches Iran Over
Anti-Gay Violence,” can be found
in the online version of this article
at gaycitynews.com.)
Efforts by human rights watch-
dog organizations like the Jerusa-
lem-based NGO Monitor contrib-
uted to HRW breaking its eerie
longstanding silence about the
intensifying repression of LGBT
Iranians since Ahmadinejad took
power. NGO Monitor highlighted
the skewed priorities of HRW,
such as fundraising in violently
homophobic Saudi Arabia and
devoting the bulk of its Middle
East resources to investigating the
region’s only democracy — Israel
BY NATHAN RILEY
Health Crisis, Housing Works,
the New York AIDS Coalition,
the American Academy of HIV
Medicine, the New York State
AIDS Institute Advisory Coun-
cil, and the state Medical Soci-
ety and Nurses Association.
The Duane-Gottfried mea-
sure sets out guidelines allowing
producers to grow marijuana and
for a doctor, nurse practitioner,
or physician’s assistant to cer-
tify that the patient has a seri-
ous condition and symptoms
that may be relieved by canna-
bis. Pharmacists, whose trade
association supports the bill,
may sell marijuana to the certi-
fied patients, and other dispen-
saries can be established under
the law. Insurance will not reim-
burse the cost, but the dispensa-
ries will be taxed a small portion
of their gross receipts to fund the
program. The bill provides that it
would be a criminal offense for
anyone to divert medicinal mari-
juana to recreational use.
Nicholas Eyle of ReconsiDer
in Syracuse has been fighting for
drug reform and legalization for
more than 20 years, but he says
Perspective /11
— which guarantees LGBT rights
and freedoms for Jewish and Arab
Israelis.
Professor Gerald Steinberg,
president of NGO Monitor, told
me, “Human Rights Watch con-
tinues to be driven by an anti-
Israel bias and lack of focus on
real human rights issues in the
Middle East, including women’s
rights, religious freedom, and sex-
ual freedom. Ignoring the plight of
the Iranian LGBT community for
many years is indicative of what
HRW founder Robert Bernstein
repeatedly condemned — HRW
has abandoned its mission to pry
open closed societies, to help indi-
viduals in those societies who lack
the infrastructure to fight for their
rights.”
Bernstein wrote a scathing
2009 indictment of HRW’s wrong-
headed approach to the Middle
East on the New York Times op-ed
page. The thrust of his thesis is
that closed and authoritarian
societies, like those in the Mus-
lim world, should be the principal
this bill is not a priority. “It will
bring changes slightly around
the edges,” he said.
Gottfried confir med that
assessment about the bill’s nar-
rowly defined scope. “The New
York medical marijuana bill has
more restrictive controls than
any medical marijuana law in
the country,” he said. “It is more
restrictive than the New York
laws regulating highly danger-
ous drugs like morphine, Oxy-
contin, or Valium. The notion
that anyone would use the medi-
cal marijuana system to obtain
marijuana for recreational use is
absurd.”
The bill is tightly drawn, giv-
ing doctors the opportunity to
expand the remedies they offer
seriously ill patients, but is not
going to change drug policy in
any manner comparable to the
passage of Rockefeller drug law
reform last year.
Gabriel Sayegh, who directs
the New York office of the Drug
Policy Alliance, supports the bill,
but agrees that it will not bring
about major drug policy changes.
His organization is disturbed by
focus of contemporary human
rights organizations, and not open,
vibrant democracies. (A link to the
Bernstein’s op-ed also appears in
this article’s online version.)
The record is replete with exam-
ples demonstrating that Islamic
countries are the most repres-
sive and violently homophobic on
the planet. Ahmadinejad’s denial
of the existence of Iranian gays
during his Columbia University
speech in 2007 brought to the fore
the West’s massive human rights
blind spot. The Iranian president’s
denialism was of a piece with his
policy of extinguishment. Why is
the West running scared of tack-
ling Iranian genocidal rhetoric and
activity against gays?
Take the example of openly gay
German Foreign Minister Guido
Westerwelle. In an interview with
the tabloid Bunte last year, he
offered the following justifica-
tion for not traveling with his gay
partner to Saudi Arabia and other
䉴 IRAN, continued on p.15
the “stop and frisk” arrests that
target minority youth in New York
City, making it the marijuana
arrest capital of the world.
The group has also met with
parents on Long Island, where
inexperienced heroin users are
overdosing. Many parents are
interested in a Good Samaritan
Law that would protect indi-
viduals who might themselves
be using heroin from criminal
charges if they provide first aid
to an overdose victim. Fear of the
police often leads drug users to
abandon the victim and flee the
scene.
Elsewhere around the nation,
there are signs of increased sup-
port for reforms that go beyond
medical uses. Last November,
a referendum that would have
legalized the sale of marijuana
in California proved popular,
receiving more than 45 percent
of the vote, encouraging activ-
ists to pursue a tax and regu-
late system.
This shift in attitudes has
focused new attention on the
䉴 MARIJUANA, continued on p.15

12/ Legal
Gestational Surrogacy Win in Conn.
State Supreme Court finds non-genetic co-parent can be listed on birth certificate
BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD
T
he Connecticut Supreme
Court unanimously ruled
on January 7 that state
laws governing parental status
authorize listing a same-sex co-
parent on the birth certificate of
a child conceived pursuant to
a gestational surrogacy agree-
ment, even though that parent
has no genetic relationship to
the infant. The court rejected
the state’s argument that the
co-parent would have to go
through a second-parent adop-
tion proceeding after the birth
in order to be listed.
A gestational surrogacy agree-
ment spells out the responsibil-
ity of a woman who carries an
embryo resulting from the fertil-
ization of an egg harvested from
another woman to surrender
the child to the intended par-
ents after its delivery.
Connecticut is unusual in
affirmatively taking account of
gestational surrogacy agree-
ments — unlike neighboring
New York, which makes such
agreements, and indeed all sur-
rogacy agreements, unenforce-
able.
In the case before the high
court, Anthony Raftopol and
Shawn Hargon, a same-sex
American couple residing in
Romania, made a gestation-
al surrogacy agreement with
Karma Ramey, a Connecti-
cut resident. Raftopol’s sperm
was used to fertilize eggs from
a third-party egg donor. Two of
the three embryos implanted in
Ramey resulted in the birth of
twins.
Under the gestational sur-
r ogacy agr eement, Ramey
agreed to terminate her paren-
tal rights as a birth mother and
allow a substitute birth certifi-
cate to be issued. Prior to the
delivery date, Raftopol and Har-
gon applied in trial court for an
order to be named as the two
parents on the substitute cer-
tificate. The state appeared in
trial court objecting to Hargon
It is a revolutionary legal step to
base parental status on a pre-birth
gestational agreement, not on any
genetic or biological ties or adoption.
being named a parent, argu-
ing that the court did not have
jurisdiction to list him or to ter-
minate the parental rights of
Ramey, the egg donor, and any
husbands either woman might
have, who were not parties to
the proceeding.
New Haven Superior Court
Judge James G. Kenefick, Jr.,
rejected the state’s arguments,
ruling that the gestational
agreement was valid, Raftopol
was the genetic and legal father
of the children, Hargon was the
other legal father of the chil-
dren, and Ramey is neither the
genetic nor legal mother of the
children. Kenefick ordered the
Department of Public Health to
issue the replacement certificate
listing both men as the parents.
The state appealed to the
court of appeals, but the State
Supreme Court took up the
case directly. The high court
was unanimous in affirming
Kenefick’s decision, but divided
about the reasoning. The major-
19 JAN - 1 FEB 2011
ity, in an opinion by Justice C.
Ian McLachlan, found ambigui-
ties in the statutory language,
but looked to both the logical
implications of how those ambi-
guities might be resolved and
the legislative history and con-
cluded that Kenefick had cor-
rectly rejected the state’s argu-
ment that Hargon could only
become a parent of the twins by
adopting them. The two justices
who concurred argued that
when ambiguity lends itself to
two possible meanings, one of
which would produce an absurd
result, then the other meaning
is the one that the court should
use; they said looking to the
legislative history was unneces-
sary.
According to McLachlan’s
opinion, the construction the
state applied to the statute, if
taken to an extreme, could pro-
䉴 CONNECTICUT, continued on p.13
19 JAN - 1 FEB 2011
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 JAN 23, from p.9
“Setup Squad”), along with Kara Klenk
(Comedy Central, Spike TV) and Adrienne
Iapalucci (NBC’s “Last Comic Standing”).
Therapy Bar, 348 W. 52nd St.. Jan. 23,
10 p.m. No cover charge, and $7 cosmos
all evening.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ prised. We’ll still have the same
CABARET
MON.JAN.24
Songs In the Lea of
Life
Chanteuse, actor, and comic Lea DeLar-
ia hosts an evening of the Stevie Wonder
Songbook with performances by Justin
Bond, Cady Huffman, Michele Lee, Patina
Miller, Sarah Saltzberg, Daphne Rubin-
Vega, Mary Testa, and Scott Thompson.
Janette Mason is musical director. Joe’s
Pub, inside the Public Theater, 425
Lafayette St., btwn. E. Fourth St. &
Astor Pl. Jan. 24, 9 p.m. Tickets are $25
at joespub.com. For table reservations,
with a $12 food & drink minimum, call 212-
539-8778.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ crosshairs and killed.
Downtown Uptown
In “The Cosmo Report,” self-styled
“middle-aged party girl” and chanteuse
Marianne Challis offers songs including
her most requested, “Both Sides Now” and
“Downtown,” along with rib-tickling com-
edy. Musical director Tedd Firth is on piano,
John Redsecker on drums, and Dick Sarpola
on bass. Feinstein’s at Loews Regency,
Park Ave. at 61st St. Jan. 24-25, 8:30 p.m.
The cover charge is $30-$50, with a $25 food
& drink minimum. Reservations at feinstein-
sattheregency.com or 212-339-4095.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ own separate homesteads with
GALLERY
The Bronx is Up and
the Battery’s Down
Environmentalist, artist, and author
Michael DeJong exhibits his new photog-
raphy show, “Manhattan: River to River.”
George Billis Gallery, 521 W. 26th St.,
B1, Jan. 6, 6-8 p.m. Exhibit runs Tue.-
Sat., 10 a.m.- 6 p.m., through Feb. 5.
More information at georgebillis.com.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ could be bor n without any
Transcendent
Photography
In a window gallery exhibition titled
“Home Sweet Homo,” the Leslie/ Lohman
Gay Art Foundation will feature eight new
䉴 JAN 24, continued on p.14
■ A DYKE ABROAD
Towards An American Dream
A
couple of months or a
year from now, when
another anti-govern-
ment or bigoted nut climbs to
the top of a tower with a sniper’s
rifle, or puts a bomb in a bar,
or buys a semi-automatic and
kills a dozen or more, I’ll won-
der aloud why you’re so sur-
“eliminationist” speech about
the malignant threat posed by a
political enemy, the same river
of guns, the same untreated
mentally ill giving teeth to unfet-
tered hate.
All because there’s no cause
and effect for most amnesiac
Americans. We throw a rock and
then stand there gape-mouthed
in surprise when the window
breaks. If the self-made man
pulls himself up by his own
bootstraps, the crazy must be
just as independent in his crazi-
ness. It is a purely random mat-
ter that Representative Gabri-
elle Giffords, or pro-choice doc-
tor George Tiller, or any number
of queers have been put in the
Unable, or unwilling, to see
relationships, there’s no cherry
pie, Presidents’ or MLK Day that
can help us forge a 21st century
dream in which all the resi-
dents of the United States are
equal to each other, members
of an extended family, however
dysfunctional. Forget working
together toward anything as
grandiose as life, liberty, or the
pursuit of happiness.
Our highest aspiration is to
retreat independently to our
no loss of benefits or privileges.
Down with taxes. But let me
keep my Medicare and you bet-
ter plow my roads. In truth, the
last thing we want is real pio-
neer America, living on fatback
䉴 CONECTICUT, from p.12
duce a result in which a child
legal parent — clearly not what
the Legislature intended — if
a sperm donor other than an
intended father was used to
conceive the child. As a result,
the court rejected Connecticut’s
argument that only somebody
with a biological relation to a
BY KELLY JEAN COGSWELL
Our highest aspiration is to
retreat to our own separate
homesteads with no loss
of benefits or privileges.
and cornmeal and dried beans,
shivering next to a smoky fire,
dying of overwork, malnutrition,
childbirth. And that was only
if you were lucky enough to be
white and free.
And what are Americans
without a dream? Are we just
shopkeepers? Pharisees? Have
we actually lost the capacity to
see beyond ourselves? Or is it
the temporary effect of swallow-
ing our own hook and line that
Americans already have the
best of everything from democ-
racy and health care to educa-
tion and flat-screen TVs? No, it
doesn’t get any better than this.
Without dreams, our spirits
and imaginations wither like
old apples under a naked tree.
The reason we don’t learn geog-
raphy anymore isn’t because
we’re stupid, but because we
don’t quite believe anything
exists beyond the parameters of
our peeling picket fences. And
the same atrophied muscle that
obliterates Africa, Asia, Europe
is equally suspicious of the for-
eign past, though it also relin-
quishes the present as fast as
possible, and can’t even muster
the energy to imagine a future
more distant than the check-
out guy at Starbucks two feet
away.
What will guide us with-
out dreams? Despair? Like in
poverty-stricken Tunisia? On
December 17, 2010, 26-year-
old vegetable vendor Mohamed
child can be a legal parent in
the absence of a valid adoption
proceeding.
Both the majority and the
concurring judges concluded
that the most logical inter -
pretation was to find that the
“intended parents” named in
a valid gestational surrogacy
agreement should be consid-
ered the legal parents of the
child and named on the substi-
Perspective /13
Bouazizi set himself on fire
because police seized his gro-
cery cart. His eventual death set
off riots of the poor, the young
unemployed middle class, and
students, all agitating for dem-
ocratic and economic reform.
Last week, those angry crowds
forced the president for life to
leave the country. Shortly after-
wards, his second in command
fled as well.
Elections are promised in six
months. Observers are hopeful
Tunisia can emerge as a democ-
racy, and a secular one at that.
Without dreams, our spirits and
imaginations wither like old apples
under a naked tree.
There’s even talk that the fever
will spread, and the whole of
North Africa begin to transform
itself into a more just and dem-
ocratic place.
Inspired, or maybe pushed
over the edge, by the example
of Bouazizi’s suicide and the
effective riots in Tunisia, at least
six more men have engaged in
self-immolation in North Africa.
Four men set themselves on fire
in Algeria and one each in Mau-
ritania and Egypt, where pro-
testers demanded reforms until
the cops regained control.
tute birth certificate. Some may
see it as a revolutionary legal
step to base Hargon’s parental
status on the pre-birth gesta-
tional agreement, not on any
genetic or biological ties or any
legal procedure such as adop-
tion.
Going forward, Hargon and
any other such non-genetic co-
parent involved in a gestational
surrogacy agreement in Con-
I used to believe in the phoe-
nix. I’m less sure these days,
but maybe that’s my own lack
of faith. My own failure of imagi-
nation. Who am I to believe that
the bodies on funeral pyres
must stay dead? Though a
phoenix is a little tricky. What
exactly will reemerge?
Just a couple of days ago,
the former dictator Baby Doc
returned unexpectedly to Haiti
after being chased out nearly 25
years ago. Nobody quite knows
what for, except to spread chaos
in an already messy political
situation where the governing
party is hanging on by fraud
and a run-off after the recent
election has been postponed.
Maybe he’s become a phi-
lanthropist in his old age, and
is there to return some of the
money he siphoned off into
Swiss accounts. Maybe he’s
there to get more. A year after
the earthquake, most of the
rubble remains where it fell,
and three quarters of a million
of Haitians are still in makeshift
camps where women are raped
in incredible numbers, kids die
from dirty water, and interna-
tional aid money flows like rain.
For baby dykes, activists, and
anybody who’s ever wanted to
save the world, visit the Lesbian
Avenger Documentary Project at
lesbianavengers.com. Check out
Kelly Sans Culotte at http://kel-
lyatlarge.blogspot.com/.
necticut can be recognized as a
legal parent from the moment
of the child’s birth.
The Gay & Lesbian Advo-
cates & Defenders, Lambda
Legal, and private counsel from
the Weltman Law Group in Bos-
ton Horton, Shields & Knox in
Hartford represented the cou-
ple. Several professional organi-
zations involved in reproductive
technology filed amicus briefs.
 19 JAN - 1 FEB 2011

14/ Politics
Youth Cuts Restored 14 DAYS
Council mayor agree on $1.7 mm in drop-in, outreach homeless programs 14 NIGHTS
BY PAUL SCHINDLER advocates for their steadfast 䉴 JAN 24, from p.13
support and advocacy.”

C
ity Council Speaker In an op-ed published last larger than life-size photographic prints
Christine Quinn and month in Gay City News — highlighting human beings of transgen-
Finance Committee “Alone & Sleeping on the Street: der experience photographed by Amos
Chair Domenic Recchia on Jan- Happy Holidays” — Fidler called Mac and Katie Koti. One of the works
uary 6 announced successful the proposed cuts “one of the on display will be Mac’s 40 in. x 30 in.
completion of negotiations with cruelest actions imaginable.” 2010 digital photo of Justin Bond. An
the Bloomberg administration Siciliano, in addition to interview with Mac is featured in the
related to objections the Coun- thanking Quinn and Fidler, latest issue of Leslie/ Lohman’s quarterly
cil had to certain mid-fiscal applauded the mobilization by publication The Archive. Leslie/ Lohm-
year budget cuts the mayor had community activists and orga- an’s ongoing window gallery series is
ordered. nizations to press City Hall on curated by Cora Lambert and brings the
Their statement emphasized the issue. work of LGBTQ artists to a public domain
that the agreement results in “I do not think that the mayor, to tackle issues of sex, gender, identity,
the same dollar amount of bud- in proposing the cuts, anticipat- and pop culture. Leslie/ Lohman, 26
get adjustments originally pro- ed the depth of the commitment Wooster St., btwn. Canal & Grand
posed but would fully restore of the LGBT community to pro- Sts., through Mar. 12.
cuts planned for drop-in and tecting our youth who have been ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
street outreach services for thrown out to the streets, and I
LGBTQ youth, as well as for am deeply moved by the caring TELEVISION

GAY CITY NEWS

rapid HIV testing efforts the that our community revealed in Hiding, Seeking,
Council had funded in the cur- fighting the cuts.” Revealing,
rent budget that began July 1, Ali Forney and Bronx Pride Representing
2010. City Council Youth Services Committee Chair Lew Fidler speaking at a June rally supporting were joined in a December 6 This month, “In the Life,” public tele-
When the proposed cuts greater spending on services for homeless LGBTQ youth. letter of protest to Bloomberg vision’s LGBT newsmagazine, looks at the
were first announced shortly and Department of Youth and critically-acclaimed “Hide/ Seek” exhibi-
after Thanksgiving, advocates homes. for LGBT youth numbering only Community Development Com- tion at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait
for homeless queer youth said Both Ali Forney and the Bronx in the low hundreds. missioner Jeanne Mullgrav by Gallery in Washington (which received
they would amount to roughly Center have drop-in centers “I am thrilled that the Council well-known players in the social widespread criticism for the removal of a
$970,000 in the current fiscal that are City Council-funded has been able to restore these services world, including Cov- David Wojnarowicz video in early Decem-
year and another $700,000 next projects, which would have lost services to runaway and home- enant House, Green Chimneys, ber), and at the life of Sam Steward, a
year, a miniscule amount in a half of their money. less youth, so many of whom Safe Space NYC, and the Urban pre-Stonewall English professor, novelist,
budget of more than $60 billion. Dirk McCall, the Bronx Cen- who are LGBTQ,” said Quinn, Justice Center, as well as LGBT- and porn writer, who compiled a Stud File
Those figures, however, would ter’s executive director, told an out lesbian who represents oriented groups such as the with some very famous names among
reduce funding for drop-in cen- Gay City News his group ear- Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen. Asian Pacific Islander Coalition his tricks and was the subject of Justin
ters by one-third to one-half and, lier faced the loss of a $425,000 “While I recognize the diffi- on HIV/ AIDS (APICHA), Con- Spring’s recent fascinating biography,
within two years, eliminate dol- three-year contract awarded cult times we face, I absolutely gregation Beth Simchat Torah, “Secret Historian: The Life and Times of
lars for street outreach to home- to another Bronx social service oppose balancing our budget on FIERCE, Gay Men’s Health Cri- Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist,
less youth completely. agency at the time it was up for the backs of our most vulner- sis, and the Callen-Lorde Com- and Sexual Renegade.” WNET, channel
Nearly 20 percent of that first renewal. able citizens.” munity Health Center. 13. Jan. 24, 10:30 p.m. & Jan. 29, 5:30
year reduction — $186,000 — “We’re already doing more Youth Services Committee In announcing the funding a.m. The episode can also be screened at
would have been borne by the with less,” McCall said. “The Chair Lew Fidler, who has over- restorations, the Council also inthelifetv.org.
two city-funded groups that $86,000 in funding was a City seen 18 hearings about run- pointed to cuts avoided in child ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
work specifically with LGBT Council band-aid for us.” away and homeless youth in health clinics, the Administra-
homeless youth: the Ali Forney Ali Forney was set to lose recent years and developed the tion for Children’s Services,
Center and the Bronx Commu-
nity Pride Center. An estimated
3,800 young people go without
$143,000, which its executive
director, Carl Siciliano, said
would, among a number of
first funding streams to support
efforts tailored to the unique
needs of LGBTQ youth, said, “I
senior services, fire compa-
nies, and recreation centers.
Roughly $25 million in cuts GALLERY
WED.JAN.26
shelter on any given night in New impacts, have jettisoned hopes am overjoyed that we were not were found elsewhere in the Recalling the ’70
York City, and up to 40 percent of establishing a 24-hour drop- only able to restore the city tax city budget. Recchia’s Finance Downtown Poetry
of those are LGBT or question- in center; for many, that could levy cuts to these services, but Committee held more than 13 Scene
ing, often driven to the streets be the only safe and warm alter- the state cuts as well. Thanks hours of hearings on the issue New York University’s Fales Library
by hostility and violence in their native in a city with beds suited to Speaker Quinn and LGBTQ in December. presents “At Moments Like These He
Feels Furthest Away,” a new series of
paintings by gay painter Philip Mon-
䉴 BRIEFS, from p.10 D. Hayworth, dug in, castigat- As the Senate moved toward week by General James Amos, view published on December aghan. The exhibit, based on the late
ing both Defense Secretary a final vote on repeal in an unusu- the Marine Corps commandant, 14. “I don’t want to lose any Tim Dlugos’ mid-’70s poem “Gilligan’s
group completed a nine-month Robert Gates and Admiral al Saturday session on Decem- who remained opposed to repeal Marines to the distraction. I Island,” includes 54 works on oil and
study of the policy on Novem- Michael Mullen, the chair of ber 18, McCain sounded more action up to the end. don’t want to have any Marines canvas as well a graphic depiction of
ber 30 with a recommendation the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dur- weary and resigned than angry “Mistakes and inattention that I’m visiting at Bethesda the Dlugos’ famous poem on the gallery
to end it, the Arizonan, who ing December 2 hearings, for as he declared it was “a sad day.” or distractions cost Marines [National Naval Medical Cen- walls. Marvin Taylor, David Trinidad, and
faced a tough right-wing pri- failing to live up to the stan- That didn’t stop him, however, lives,” Amos told Stars and ter, in Maryland] with no legs Monaghan provide essays for the show’s
mary challenge last summer dard of “every great leader I from repeating an extraordinary Stripes, the independent mili- be the result of any type of dis-
from former Congressman J. have known.” warning made earlier in the tary news outlet, in an inter- traction.” 䉴 JAN 26, continued on p.20
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
䉴 IRAN, from p.11
Islamic countries: “We want to encourage
the idea of tolerance around the world, but
we don’t want to achieve the opposite either
by acting imprudently.”
This form of misguided social and politi-
cal correctness actually achieves the oppo-
site of tolerance and greenlights new waves
of gay executions. The bottomless pit of
cultural relativity — in place of universal
human rights standards — is precisely
what authoritarian Islamic regimes invoke
when defending their harshly repressive
anti-LGBT policies and incurably dogmatic
Sharia law practices.
In sharp contrast to the soggy sexual
minority appeasement politics of most
Western leaders toward Iran, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered
a UN speech in late 2009 that included a
blistering attack on Iran’s human rights
record. “Wherever they can, they impose
a backward regimented society where
women, minorities, gays, or anyone not
deemed to be a true believer is brutally
subjugated,” he said.
In a stunning low point in Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton’s posture toward Iran,
䉴 MARIJUANA, from p.11
laws regulating alcohol. State liquor laws
drafted after the repeal of prohibition were
designed to keep the criminals out. The
CdbViiZgl]^X]lVnndj\d!ndjÉgZValVnh]ZVYZY^ci]Zg^\]iY^gZXi^dc^c@ZnLZhi#
19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011
she tweeted last October a birthday greet-
ing to Ahmadinejad when he turned 54. It
was a great source of embarrassment for
Americans concerned with global democ-
racy.
The modern LGBT community — and
Western democracies — must confront
revolutionary Iranian Islamist ideology.
Europe’s 26-year dual strategy of “critical
dialogue” and “change through trade” has
flopped and produced a more jingoistic Ira-
nian regime. Some gay intellectuals dan-
gerously misjudged the destructive energy
of Ayatollah Khomeini’s 1979 Islamic revo-
lution.
The late gay poet Allen Ginsberg, in the
1980s, said, “I shouldn’t have been march-
ing against the shah of Iran because the
mullahs have turned out to be a lot worse.”
He did not intend an endorsement of the
Pahlavi monarchy; rather, he showed
commendable intellectual honesty and
self-reflection about his failure to see the
hatred of gays that so often animates Isla-
mist movements. In a 1994 interview with
the Progressive magazine, Ginsberg said,
“They all want to eliminate or get rid of the
alien, or the stranger, or the Jews, or the
gays, or the Gypsies, or the artists, or who-
purpose was to prevent mobsters who
bootlegged booze from turning the newly
legal businesses into criminal enterprises.
These laws achieved their goal and are still
in effect more than 75 years later.
ever are their infidels. And they’re all will-
ing to commit murder for it, whether Hitler
or Stalin or Mao or the ayatollah…”
Dr. Emanuele Ottolenghi, a lead-
ing Brussels-based expert on European
Union-Iranian relations and a fellow at the
Foundation for Defense of Democracies, in
his 2010 book “Iran: The Looming Crisis,”
noted the “enthusiastic support for the
revolution” that the late gay French philos-
opher Michel Foucault voiced in a series of
1979 articles in Italy’s daily Corriere della
Sera. In those articles, Foucault waxed
lyrical about the “historical significance” of
Khomeinism and “its potential to overturn
the existing political situation in the Middle
East and thus the global strategic equilib-
rium… Islam — which is not simply a reli-
gion, but an entire way of life, an adherence
to a history and civilization…”
How can the US and its international
partners influence a sea change in Iran’s
murderous policy toward its LGBT popula-
tion?
First, the State Department should
appoint an LGBT czar to investigate the
persecution of the global LGBT communi-
ty, with embassies collecting data and evi-
dence, particularly in closed societies. The
The “alcohol model” is what drug
reformers point to when they talk about a
tax and regulate system. That notion is at
the core of the arguments directly attack-
ing drug prohibition.
6L=DA:C:L@>C9
D;8GJ>H>C<#
fla-keys.com/gaykeywest ~ 877-999-9539
15
findings must be incorporated into State
Department country assessments, with
recommendations on how to address the
documented homophobia.
Second, human rights sanctions should
target Iranian officials for their enforcement
of its anti-LGBT policies and Islamic law
aimed at sexual minorities.
Third, public squares or streets in the US
and European cities should be named after
the two Iranian teenagers, Ayaz Marhoni
and Mahmoud Asgari, hanged in 2005 for
what was likely consensual same-sex inter-
course.
Fourth, the US, the EU, and non-EU
countries like Switzerland should dramati-
cally liberalize their asylum laws to offer
greater protections to LGBT Iranians fleeing
the Islamic Republic.
Finally, the West should pump significant
funding into pro-LGBT and pro-Iranian
democracy organizations seeking to combat
Iran’s ubiquitous discrimination and vio-
lence against its LGBT citizens.
Benjamin Weinthal is a Berlin-based
journalist and a fellow at the Iran Energy
Project of the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies.
The Duane-Gottfried bill may well be a
footnote in this larger effort. It has a com-
passionate purpose, but it is unlikely, on
its own, to herald a broader relaxation of
drug laws in New York.
16
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19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011
Brian Bedford as Lady Bracknell and Charlotte Parry as Cecily in Roundabout Theatre’s production of Oscar Wilde’s “The
Importance of Being Earnest,” at the American Airlines Theatre through March 6.
■ THEATER
Wilde Ride
Brian Bedford dons a dress
and brings down the house
BY DAVID KENNERLEY
I
n recent seasons, the Roundabout
Theater Company has been roundly
criticized for its frivolous tinkering
with certain classics. Amid well-inten-
tioned efforts to refresh musty material,
they often added a brash twist or two
that defused the power of the original.
So you can’t blame artistic director
Todd Haimes for betting on a sure thing.
He has wisely imported the acclaimed
Stratford Shakespeare Festival produc-
tion of the Oscar Wilde 1895 comic clas-
sic “The Importance of Being Earnest”
to the Roundabout’s American Airlines
Theatre on Broadway.
No one could argue that the new ingre-
dient that spikes this top-notch revival
isn’t illustrious stage veteran Brian Bed-
ford, who not only stars as the snooty
society matron Lady Bracknell but also
directs.
Following in the tradition of such Brit-
ish greats as John Gielgud and Noel
Coward, the 75-year old thespian has
amassed a shelf full of Tony Awards for
his masterful interpretations of iconic
comedies, particularly those by Moliere
and Shakespeare. For the record, this is
the first time he’s portrayed the opposite
sex — professionally, that is.
Not surprisingly, Bedford is divine, his
regal, camp-free take on the formidable
doyenne easily a highlight of the season.
His droll delivery of Wilde’s arch dialogue
is punctuated by well-timed sneers and
squints. “Never speak disrespectfully of
society, Algernon,” lilts Bedford. “Only
people who can’t get into it do that.”
To be fair, Bedford’s turn is boosted
immensely by the dazzling Victorian
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
JOAN MARCUS
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
American Airlines Theatre
227 W. 42nd St.
Through Mar. 6
Tue.-Sat. at 8 p.m.
Wed., Sat.-Sun. at 2 p.m.
$67-$127; roundabouttheatre.org
Or 212-719-1300
costumes by Desmond Heeley, who also
designed the spectacular set.
The drawing-room farce, a send-up of
social conventions of late Victorian Eng-
land threatened by “modern” notions,
is widely considered Wilde’s finest and
most durable. A wry update of Shake-
speare comedies hinging on mistaken
identity, it features not one but two clev-
er bachelors leading double lives.
John Worthing regularly escapes his
humdrum country life by dashing off to
London, becoming a rake named Ernest,
his invented younger brother. The raff-
ish Algernon Moncrieff concocts a sickly
chap named Bunbury, who supposedly
lives in the country, so he can visit when
he wants to escape dreary social obliga-
tions. Algernon often speaks of “Bun-
burying,” a ploy to subvert convention
and escape prying eyes.
Both men become smitten by will-
ful women curiously obsessed with the
name Ernest. Algernon makes a surprise
visit to John’s country estate pretending
to be his brother Ernest. As in the best
of farces, the women discover their ruse
and just as the entire scheme is about to
come crashing down, a secret is revealed.
But is it enough to ensure a cozy fairytale
ending?
䉴 WILDE RIDE, continued on p.25
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011 17

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18 19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011
Writer and director Gregg Araki on the set of “Kaboom.”
■ FILM
Apocalypse Then
Gregg Araki revisits the freedom
and anarchy in coming of age
BY GARY M. KRAMER
G
regg Araki’s “Kaboom” is a sexy,
sci-fi, romantic mystery about
Smith (Thomas Dekker), a bisex-
ual college film student. Smith lusts after
his frequently nude surfer roommate
Thor (Chris Zylka); is best friends with
the wisecracking Stella (Haley Bennett);
and has a series of intense, intimate
sexual encounters with London (Juno
Temple). And he happens to believe ani-
mal-masked men are hunting him. In
fact, three threaten him one night after
he encounters a strange woman from a
recurring dream he has.
Araki’s film throbs with both sexual
tension between Smith and Thor and
dramatic tension as the engaging mys-
tery unfolds. “Kaboom” is vivid in both
its color and style, providing viewers with
a trippy experience visually and nar-
ratively. On the phone from Los Ange-
les, the filmmaker explained he likes to
infuse his work with surrealism. (In fact,
he includes a clip of Luis Buñuel’s clas-
sic “Un Chien Andalou” in “Kaboom.”)
“I’m not interested in reality when I go
to the movies,” Araki said. “I don’t want
to see a constructed, controlled vision of
the world. That’s why my films have the
colors and pop aesthetic. I want some-
thing more stylized.”
All of Araki’s films — from his break-
out 1992 hit “The Living End” to his
critically acclaimed “Mysterious Skin” in
2004 — have a dreamy quality, a height-
ened sensibility that plays with real-
ity. Dekker, his lead actor, told him that
“Kaboom” is “like my greatest hits — the
best bits from every film I’ve done.”
“There is a certain truth to that,” Araki
admitted. “For me, it was a return to
those culty films ‘The Doom Generation’
and ‘Nowhere.’”
These titles, along with the documen-
tary-styled “Totally F***ed Up,” com-
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
IFC FILMS
KABOOM
Directed by Gregg Araki
IFC Films
Opens Jan. 28
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at W. Third St.
ifccenter.com
prised the director’s “Teen Apocalypse
Trilogy.”
“Kaboom” could be “The Doom Gen-
eration” for a new generation. While this
new film shares the fatalistic quality of
Araki’s earlier work, it is a decidedly sun-
nier project, despite the ominous title.
“It’s a strange movie to me in that
it’s dark and apocalyptic, but it’s fun —
there is an optimism,” he said. “I made
it, in a way, to return to a style unbound
by genre, expectation, and convention;
an experiment in creative freedom. I let
story and character do whatever they
want. I did not worry about it being too
weird or confusing or different.”
“Kaboom” unfolds in its own crazy
logic, with characters and plots going off
in all directions. Being along for the ride
is part of the fun for viewers.
Araki explained that his inspiration for
the film began in “nostalgic recollection”
of his college routine of sitting in coffee
shops with his best friend and talking
about their days as Smith and Stella
do. And he still enjoys being transported
by music, as Smith is when he sees his
favorite band perform.
“These are pure and real moments,”
the filmmaker said about the scenes
drawn from his experiences. “All the
conspiracy comes in from I don’t know
where. I wanted it to be a mystery with
an element of intrigue.”
If the characters suffer from an
impending sense of doom, it may be
because Araki believes teenagers mag-
䉴 KABOOM, continued on p.19
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011 19
■ FILM

Out Front on Politics, If Not Style

Basil Dearden’s films broke ground on civil rights, gay rights, but not cinematic technique
BY STEVE ERICKSON BASIL DEARDEN’S
LONDON UNDERGROUND

T
he title of “Basil Dearden’s Lon-
don Underground,” a four-DVD
Eclipse Series box set from Crite-
rion Collection covering the late ’50s and
early ’60s work of the British director,
is a bit deceptive. To be fair, Dearden’s
work was often prescient about the com-
ing rebellions of the 1960s, depicting
the beginnings of the black and gay civil
rights movements. However, he did so
Criterion Collection
$59.95; criterion.com
On sale Jan. 25
procedural also seems like an excuse to
sermonize about racism; not surpris-
ingly, one cop is liberal, while another one
occasionally spouts overtly bigoted state-
ments. A brief scene at a jazz club, full of
lively music and close-ups of musicians’

from a well-intentioned but square out-
sider’s perspective.
There’s a world of difference between
Dearden’s visions of interracial couples in
“Sapphire” and “All Night Long” and the
excoriations of Japanese director Nagisa
Oshima, recently honored with his own
Eclipse box set, aimed at his country’s dis-
crimination against Koreans. Dearden’s
noble politics are often expressed through
plodding filmmaking.
Still, he beat a seemingly more progres-
sive director like Oshima to the punch in
one respect. Dearden took on the subject
of homosexuality when it was still illegal
in Britain, creating a landmark of gay
cinema with “Victim.” Oshima wouldn’t
get around to addressing it until 1983’s
“Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.”
“Sapphire,” made in 1959, begins with
children discovering the dead body of a
21-year-old college student named Sap-
phire. As the two cops investigating the
case quickly discover, she was a light-
skinned black woman passing for white.
They meet her much darker-skinned
brother and learn that her passing was
a relatively recent phase. “Sapphire” is a
character study of sorts; its central prob-
lem is that its protagonist is a corpse.
Everything that happened in Sapphire’s
life is told to the audience — and our on-
screen surrogates, the police — after her
death.
Dearden and screenwriter Janet
Green’s storytelling is risky, and they’re
not skilled enough to pull it off. The police
hands, where blacks and whites mingle,
shows what “Sapphire” could have been.
As it is, it intermittently suggests a Stan-
ley Kramer remake of John Cassavetes’
“Shadows,” a far more cutting treatment
of much the same subject matter made
around the same time.
“All Night Long” takes off from the jazz
club scene in “Sapphire,” but it’s not
nearly as exciting. Inspired by Shake-
speare’s “Othello,” it depicts Johnny
Cousin (Patrick McGoohan) attempting
to tear apart white singer Delia (Marti
Stevens) and her black boyfriend, musi-
cian Aurelius (Paul Harris). The film
takes place over the course of one eve-
ning, during the couple’s anniversary
party, and features appearances by
jazz legends Charlie Mingus and Dave
Brubeck as themselves. It was shot
entirely on a single set.
Unfortunately, its aspirations toward
hipness are sabotaged by a lack of focus.
The film is content to drift toward its nar-
rative destination, interrupted periodi-
cally by musical numbers. Stylistically,
Dearden takes his cues from the com-
plex tracking shots of Max Ophüls, but
he can’t match their poetic force.
By far the longest film in this set, “The
League of Gentlemen,” in which a colo-
nel organizes a group of corrupt former
British military officers to pull off a bank
heist, suffers from pacing. If the other
films included in “Basil Dearden’s Lon-
don Underground” look forward, this one
looks backwards, toward the discipline
Dirk Bogarde, seen here with Sylvia Syms, in Basil Dearden’s “Victim.”
and rigor of Britain during World War II.
One is never sure whether its gaze is nos-
talgic or satirical. However, its two big
set pieces — a raid on an Army weapons
caché and the robbery itself — fall flat.
Eclipse has preserved the original Brit-
ish Board of Film Censors certificate for
“Victim,” which gave it the equivalent of
the MPAA’s present-day NC-17. Not bad
for a film with no on-screen sex, violence,
or even swearing. The highlight of this
box set, “Victim” retains a righteous
anger that transcends its sometimes
preachy dialogue. For its first half
hour, it cuts between two characters:
“Boy” Barrett, a young construction
worker and blackmail victim, and Mel-
ville Farr (Dirk Bogarde), a middle-aged
lawyer whom Barrett tries to contact.
Suddenly, the subject of homosexual-
ity is broached, and the film’s true plot
becomes apparent.
“Victim” has a clear political agen-
da, but unlike “Sapphire,” one never
gets the sense that Dearden is using
genre forms solely to get across a mes-
sage. Especially in its first half hour,
the film works as a noir thriller. The
dark lighting and cinematography are
atmospheric. Bogarde’s performance
CRITERION COLLECTION
is compelling. The film takes in a cross
section of gay London in the early ’60s.
Not surprisingly, the gay characters,
aside from the married and closeted
Farr, are so consumed by apologia and
self-hatred that they make the cast of
“The Boys in the Band” look like Har-
vey Milk. Nevertheless, the film is much
more than a historical curio. Its anger
still resonates.
“Victim” has been credited with influ-
encing the decriminalization of homo-
sexuality in Britain in 1967. That effect
may be questionable, but its impact on
Dirk Bogarde’s career is less so. Until
he made it, Bogarde had never really
been taken seriously as an actor. He’d
been regarded as a teen idol. Although
he remained more or less in the closet
in his personal life, taking the lead role
in “Victim” was a coded form of coming
out. He would go on to play homoeroti-
cally tinged roles in Joseph Losey’s “The
Servant” and Luchino Visconti’s “Death
in Venice” and work with gay directors
like George Cukor, Visconti, and Rainer
Werner Fassbinder. “Basil Dearden’s
London Underground” might not make a
compelling case for Dearden’s value as a
whole, but “Victim” is a clear stand-out.

䉴 KABOOM, from p.18 dramatically interesting because they

nify every emotion they have. The apoc-
alypse becoming real is a metaphor he
likes, which may be why he titled the
film “Kaboom.”
But can this New Queer Cin-
ema pioneer still relate to teenag-
ers now that he is — gasp! — 51?
“I don’t know why I can’t,” he responded,
betraying a fair measure of sass. “People
talk about me or Larry Clark or Gus Van
are unformed and unpredictable. Most
middle-aged people have extremely bor-
ing lives that would make boring movies.
Teenagers don’t have the ability to make
a film about themselves — save Xavier
Dolan.”
Araki said “Kaboom” is his most auto-
biographical film. He likes portraying
that period in life where who you are,
what you will become, and how you iden-
tify yourself are all “question marks.” He
IFC FILMS

Sant [who make films about] adoles- emphasized that the bisexual and sexu-
cents. But are teenagers supposed to
make these films? For me, teenagers are 䉴 KABOOM, continued on p.28 Can it be any surprise that Chris Zylka as Thor is the source of considerable sexual frisson?

20/ Theater
All Fall Down
Families in turmoil are at center of two new plays
BY CHRISTOPHER BYRNE
S
eeing the names Reed
Birney and Michele Pawk
in a cast list is always
cause for excitement. They are
two of our most dependably
skilled actors, whose consum-
mate artistry enhances any-
thing they’re in. That’s particu-
larly true in the case of “A Small
Fire,” in which these two pros
are asked to take a nothing play
and suddenly make it all seem
worthwhile. It’s to their credit
that they almost succeed.
Adam Bock’s play is a pal-
lid domestic story that trades
in the most conventional ste-
reotypes to no apparent end.
The 90-minute piece is a series
of short scenes, none of which
is developed beyond the most
generalized sketching. “A Small
Fire” is a kind of Rorschach test
that asks the audience to sup-
ply the emotional life of the fam-
ily in question because Bock
doesn’t waste his time with any-
thing as complex as the interior
lives or motivations of his char-
acters. For my 70 bucks, I gen-
erally like it to seem as though
the playwright has done some of
the work.
Emily is a strong profes-
sional woman, which we know
because she wears a hard hat
in the opening scene. John,
her doting husband, is the less
powerful one in the relation-
ship, which we know because
he works in HR and pours the
after-dinner coffee. Jenny, their
daughter, has a difficult rela-
tionship with her mother, which
we know because she rolls her
eyes and whines to her father.
And Billy, who works for Emily,
is devoted and “gets” her, which
we know because, well, he tells
us. Billy is also gay, which we
know because the only real love
of his life died of AIDS. Heard
anything remotely original here
yet? Me neither.
The plot concerns what hap-
pens when Emily comes down
with a disease that progressive-
ly robs her of her senses, leav-
ing her an invalid to be cared for
by John. What this disease is
or how she got it is left for the
audience to determine. The play
ends with John and Emily hav-
A SMALL FIRE
Playwrights Horizons
416 W. 42nd St.
Tue. at 7 p.m.; Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m.
Sat.-Sun. at 2:30 p.m.
$70; ticketcentral.com
Or 212-279-4200
BLOOD FROM A STONE
The New Group on Theatre Row
410 W. 42nd St.
Through Feb. 19
Tue.-Wed. at 7 p.m.
Thu.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 2 p.m
$61.25; telecharge.com
Or 212-239-6200
ing sex and Emily announcing
that she’s still herself inside,
which, given the fairly graphic
nature of the sex, was probably
the only line that didn’t need to
be in a very underwritten play.
At times it seems as if Bock
is trying to create a mash-up of
“Happy Days” (the Beckett play)
and “Happy Days” (the sitcom)
so he can explore individual
alienation in contemporary cul-
ture. The lack of detail and the
unexplained illness border on
the absurdist, but the tone is
neither realistic nor absurdist,
rendering the piece choppy and
disjointed.
Birney has some wonderful
moments as he tries to care for
Emily –– particularly at Jenny’s
wedding, where he describes
what’s going on to his now blind
wife. Pawk’s Emily is softened
by her illness, and though she
plays it well, transitions are
jerky and unmotivated. Director
Trip Cullman does what he can
to get the most out of his actors,
but the best he can do is string
moments together. As Jenny
and Billy, Celia Keenan-Bolger
and Victor Williams are playing
one-dimensional characters,
which is never easy.
This is a rare misfire for Bock.
I’ve been a fan of his previous
plays, which have been more
complete, original, and memo-
rable.
W
hen playwright
Tommy Nohilly finds
his own voice, he’s
going to be a force to be reck-
oned with. He’s not there yet,
but his debut play, getting a
first-rate production by the
Gordon Clapp and Ethan Hawke, who offers beautiful moments all evening long, in Tommy
Nohilly’s “Blood From a Stone.”
New Group, shows a lot of
promise. “Blood From a Stone”
is the story of a family in free
fall. Each character’s world
is crashing around his or her
ears, just as the family home is
rapidly collapsing into decay.
The key influences on Nohilly
seem to be David Rabe, Sam
Shepard, and Martin McDon-
agh, with a little Thomas Wolfe
and Frank Norris thrown in.
The plot is a classically Ameri-
can tale –– with a family coming
apart in desperation and denial
–– that offers a healthy share of
over-the-top moments, in terms
of both situation and emotion.
At almost three hours, the play
would be stronger for sharper
editing and a more organic,
believable ending.
“Blood From a Stone” is
essentially the story of Travis,
who has come home to try to
sort out the chaos before head-
ing out on the road Kerouac-
style. Margaret is disappointed
in her strained marriage to Bill,
and the black sheep brother,
Matt, says he’s on the verge of
something big, but what he’s on
the verge of is personal annihila-
tion. There are also appearances
by their sister and a former lover
of Travis’ who still lives next
store. There are many familiar
tropes of American family litera-
ture, but the play is weakened
by their sheer volume.
Still, Nohilly has a wonder-
ful ear for realistic dialogue,
and rambling as it is, the play
is consistently engaging. That’s
JOAN MARCUS
partially due to the deft direc-
tion of Scott Elliott, who man-
ages a clarity that’s not always
in the script. It also has a lot to
do with the cast.
Ethan Hawke, who has
recently shown his breadth and
comedic chops in Shakespeare,
here reminds us he is also one
of the most accomplished nat-
uralistic actors of our time. As
Travis, he is subtle, complex,
and completely believable. On
stage for virtually the entire eve-
ning, Hawke fills each moment
beautifully.
Natasha Lyonne is wonder-
ful as the sister, Sarah, with
an ease and presence best dis-
played in relationship to Travis.
The scene with the two of them
is one of the highlights of the
evening. Ann Dowd does a solid
job as the beleaguered wife,
Margaret, as do Thomas Guiry
as the brother, Matt, and Gor-
don Clapp as the father. Daph-
ne Rubin-Vega is very good as
the ex-lover, Yvette, but it’s a
part that lengthens the play
unnecessarily and adds little
other than the pleasure of see-
ing the actress.
Derek McLane’s creepily real-
istic, crumbling set, costumes
by Theresa Squire, and lighting
by Jason Lyons all contribute
to the top-notch values of this
production. Heaven knows the
theater needs new playwrights
who can craft scenes and char-
acters, and Nohilly shows a lot
of promise and gives us some-
thing to look forward to.
19 JAN - 1 FEB 2011
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 JAN 26, from p.14
catalogue. Bobst Library, third fl., 70
Washington Sq. S. at LaGuardia Pl.
The opening reception is Jan. 26,
6:30-9 p.m. Exhibition runs Mon.-
Thu., 10 a.m.-5:45 p.m., Fri., 9-4:45,
through Apr. 29.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
CABARET
Top Ten on Stage
“Our Hit Parade” is a live top-
ten countdown show created by
Kenny Mellman (Kiki & Herb), car-
nal chanteuse Bridget Everett (“At
Least It’s Pink” at Ars Nova), and pop
song opera impresario Neal Med-
lyn (“Unpronounceable Symbol” at
P.S. 122) inspired by the iconic “Your
Hit Parade” that ran on radio and
then television from 1935 to 1959.
Tonight’s guests include Erin Mar-
key, Cole Escola, Molly Pope, Hank
and Cupcake, Jeff Hiller, Natalie Joy
Johnson, the Fancy, Lea Delaria, and
Emily Mcnamara. Joe’s Pub, inside
the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette
St., btwn. E. Fourth St. & Astor Pl.
Jan. 26, Feb. 23, Mar. 30, 9:30 p.m.
Tickets are $20 at joespub.com. For
table reservations, with a $12 food &
drink minimum, call 212-539-8778.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
Pistol Pete’s Peter
He’s witty, he’s fun, he’s from the
Big Easy, and he’s often sex-obsessed.
Singer-songwriter Pete Sturman is a
Bob Dylan for the gay community. Dixon
Place, 161A Chrystie St., btwn. Riv-
ington & Delancey Sts. Jan. 26, 7
p.m. This show is free.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
COMEDY
Straight for the
Funny Bone
Adam Sank tonight presents the con-
troversial, perhaps even inflammatory
case that straight people say the funniest
things! Ever the affirmative action host,
Sank welcomes Joe DeVito to “That
Sank Show,” along with the additional
hetero hotness of B-movie scream queen
and Pamela Anderson-lookalike Rachael
Robbins. Don’t worry, if you need the
real deal, Paul Case (Here-TV’s “Hot Gay
Comics”) also drops by. Bar-Tini Ultra
Lounge, 642 Tenth Ave., btwn. 45th &
46th St. Jan. 26, 9 p.m. No cover charge
and no drink minimum.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
䉴 14 DAYS, continued on p.22
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
■ THEATER
A Riot of Revivals in London
Jacobi’s “Lear” tops list and is New York-bound
BY ANDY HUMM
W
hat’s old is new on the Lon-
don stage. I saw a lot of reviv-
als among nine plays at Yule-
tide in the West End, most of which were
like fine wines –– a 1603 Shakespeare,
an 1895 Wilde, a 1938 J.B. Priestly,
and a 1980 Aykbourn, along with a few
new plays. I even saw Sheridan’s “The
Rivals” (1775) at the very Theatre Royal
Haymarket where it was revived in 1821
to open the “new” building of what start-
ed as the “Little Theatre in the Hay” in
1721.
The oldest and greatest in the lot,
“King Lear,” made my trip to “Frozen
Britain” –– as the BBC blared for days ––
worth it. Seeing “Lear” in the intimate,
250-seat Donmar Warehouse (to Febru-
ary 5; donmarwarehouse.com/pl114.
html) was like having a volcanic domes-
tic dispute erupt in a living room. With a
furious and riveting Derek Jacobi in the
lead, a splendid supporting cast, and
brisk direction by Michael Grandage, it
was almost too much to bear witnessing
–– the true test of a great “Lear.” (A very
Where Traditional and Conventional Live HEALTHily Ever After
“Êi>Ì…Ê>˜`Ê
19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011
good recent vintage Lear, Sir Ian McKel-
len, was in the audience.) Grandage, the
artistic director of the Donmar who gave
us the Tony-winning “Red” last season,
continues his run of excellence.
This dark tale is brightly lit on a bare
stage surrounded by sloppily white-
washed walls. The kingdom is in tran-
sition and the bad relations are moving
in.
The intensity and truth with which
these players interacted and drove the
story forward made me forget that I
was watching a 17th century tragedy in
verse. It felt as if it were really happen-
ing, not just being declaimed — though
the incomparable Shakespeare poetry
comes through. And I was blown away
by the unique and subtle way of han-
dling the storm scene. I’ll let that be a
surprise because there are ways you
can see it soon.
This production is being telecast
worldwide as part of the NT Live series
(nationaltheatre.org.uk/61172/venues-
amp-booking/usa-venues.html#list)
around the world, including NYU’s Skir-
ball on February 3. This cast will appear
ELM NUTRITION
21
in the flesh at BAM (bam.org/view.
aspx?pid=2653) from April 28-June 5.
How Jacobi’s ferocious performance
will play on a flat screen and in the
larger BAM Harvey Theater time will
tell, but he’s the best Lear I’ve ever seen.
Gina McKee’s oily Goneril, Gwilym Lee’s
tender Edgar, and the Gloucester of
Paul Jesson (who played the bluff dad of
a gay son in “Cock” at the Royal Court
last season) were exceptionally fine, but
there wasn’t a wrong note in a taut three
hours.
A
n only slightly less dysfunctional
family than the Lears torture
each other in Alan Aykbourn’s
“Season’s Greetings” (at the National
Theatre’s Lyttleton to March 13; nation-
altheatre.org.uk/61749/productions/
seasons-greetings.html), a comedy
directed by Marianne Elliot that makes
JOHAN PERSSON
us feel better about even our worst fam-
ily holiday experiences. “It’s all coming
apart,” the insufferable curmudgeonly
old uncle played by standout David
Derek Jacobi offers a furious and rivetingly unforgettable
䉴 LONDON, continued on p.24 King Lear.
NOW OPEN on 7th Ave & 14th St!
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22
■ IN THE NOH
Tennessee Williams Find
Jackie at 50, Disney tunes, Camp Rufus, theater couture
BY DAVID NOH
F
or the perfect night out,
combining fun, surprise,
and real artistic thrills,
you could do no better than see-
ing the New York premiere of
Tennessee Williams’ 1970 play,
“Green Eyes” at the Hudson
Hotel (356 W. 58th St., through
Jan. 23 only; ovationtix.com).
Your $30 ticket gets you half-
price drinks at this terminally
hip hotel’s bar, and then you
are escorted in a group of 14 to
one of its rooms, where, in the
most intimate site-specific set-
ting imaginable, Adam Couper-
thwaite and Erin Markey give
spectacular, nakedly emotional,
dangerous, and utterly fear -
less performances under Travis
Chamberlain’s terrific direction.
They play Mr. and Mrs. Claude
Dunphy — he a Vietnam vet and
she his new bride on their hon-
eymoon in New Orleans — who,
like all couples, have sex and
fight, but here with that par-
ticular poetic intensity that was
always Williams’ province. It’s
perhaps his rawest play, with
its brutal violence, misogyny,
talk of used condoms in the toi-
let, and black male endowment,
which must have been shock-
ing in 1970, but now seems the
everyday stuff of modern drama-
turgy, not to mention reality TV.
In contrast, the play’s use of the
N-word has probably never been
more incendiary, given the mind-
less p.c. re-edit of “Huck Finn.”
Chamberlain told me, “I was
invited by Target Margin Theater
to participate in their Unknown
Williams Festival last year. They
were presenting one-act plays
by Williams that had rarely, if
ever, been produced. I got to
look through all of these scripts,
a rare opportunity, and choose
one. I found ‘Green Eyes’ and fell
immediately in love with it. No
one else would touch it because
it was so nearly misogynistic
and called for such extreme vio-
lence, but I knew that with the
right actress we’d be able to flip
any potential misogyny around
and turn it into a sophisticated
contemporary feminist piece
about this icky-fun, uncharted
gray area between sadomas-
ochistic desire and domestic
violence, and a woman’s right
Erin Markey and Adam Couperthwaite in Tennessee Williams’ “Green Eyes,” getting an intimate
staging at the Hudson Hotel through January 23.
to chose how she wants to fuck,
regardless of societal pressures.
“I was fascinated by the idea
of taking a situation that could
easily play as a clichéd victim
narrative about an abused wife
and her war-damaged husband
and turning it into a sex game
where both partners were, ulti-
mately, having fun, getting out-
side themselves for a moment.
“I approached a number of
hotels and pitched the proj-
ect. It was one of the hardest
things I’ve ever done — pitching
such a crazy, artsy-fartsy proj-
ect to these corporate hotels.
It’s a very complicated process.
You have to go through spe-
cial events, then it has to be
approved by p.r., then it goes to
corporate, and finally it comes
back for final sign-off by the
hotel’s general manager, which,
in all, usually took about two to
three weeks.
“In almost every case, just
as we were about to sign the
contract, the general manager
pulled the plug because they
were uncomfortable with the
content of the script, perceiving
it as domestic violence, which
they didn’t want their hotel
associated with — even if it was
a premiere work by one of Amer-
ica’s greatest playwrights. At the
last minute, my colleague Jake
Yuzna at the Museum of Arts
and Design put me in touch
with Yael Greenberg at the Hud-
son, who turned the whole proj-
ect around within two days.”
Chamberlain had worked
with the electrifying Markey
before, and said that, as that
rare performance artist “who
can actually act,” he wouldn’t
19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011
VES PITTS
have done this without her. She
described her character as “a
victim of her time and culture.
She has no financial control and
is completely dependent on her
shaken soldier husband to sus-
tain her life. She is in control of
the situation the world gives her
permission to have control over
— seduction and subtext.
“Adam and I are usually
most psyched about our second
shows of the evening. I think
that’s because we’re starting at
a place of higher adrenalin, hav-
ing just run the marathon of the
first one. The show is both com-
pletely gratifying and exhaust-
ing for me, where your body
melts into the mattress at the
end of the night. I never regret
pushing myself.”
Couperthwaite is a real find,
a prime specimen of Hunkus
Americanus, who brings a
brooding sexual menace as well
as a febrile vulnerability, which
recall no less than that ultimate
Williams conduit, Brando.
Chamberlain said that to find
him, “we posted ads, which I
hadn’t done in over a decade,
and called in about 30 actors
from the ones who responded.
We called Adam back twice
before offering him the role — a
very big decision, but we knew
as soon as it was done that it
was absolutely the right choice.
Adam is the perfect compliment
to Erin. He’s such a big, sweet,
lovable kid, always giving us
hugs and calling us by our mid-
dle names. He’s a dude, and he
has no judgments. And, as an
actor, he is not afraid to play in
the deep end, either.
“He has an interesting past,
which became more and more
interesting the more we got
to know him. The alignment
between his backstory and the
narrative of Claude was haunt-
ing and tragic. He was able to
bring a lot of his own truth to
the role, in the same way that
Erin did. We really didn’t know
what we were doing when we
started the casting process, and
we definitely lucked out. The sit-
uation feels cosmic at times.”
Couperthwaite said, “Claude
Dunphy is a guy that is bat-
tling some demons and looking
for help from his wife to get rid
of them, or at least distract him
temporarily. I didn’t have any
hesitations in taking the role. As
an actor, you’re incredibly grate-
ful when a script like this comes
along. Williams will always be
one of my favorites. He man-
aged to mix danger, sex, beauty,
and charm into all of his plays,
while making his language real-
ly swing. Only while watching a
Williams play will you find your-
self on the edge of your seat with
a big smile on your face, then
one scene later it will become so
sexual that you can’t sit still.
“I’m from a small farm town
about an hour north of Toron-
to and moved here five years
ago to go to school at AMDA, a
two-year conservatory program.
Since graduating, I have been
fortunate enough to stay fairly
busy as an actor. Before moving
here, I didn’t have a whole lot of
experience. I played competitive
hockey and rugby my whole life,
so acting was never something
I did. I didn’t realize I wanted to
be an actor until after I gradu-
ated high school.”
S
till a serious contender
for the funniest per -
former in New York —
certainly the most acerbic — is
Jackie Hoffman, whose show,
“Jackie Five-Oh!,” has been
extended at Joe’s Pub through
February (inside the Public
Theater, 425 Lafayette St.; joes-
pub.com), while she continues
to appear as Grandma in “The
Addams Family.” I caught up
with the Rubber-Faced One in
her Broadway dressing room,
conveniently located next to the
䉴 IN THE NOH, continued on p.23
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 14 DAYS, from p.20
THEATER
THU.JAN.27
One Child at a Time
Composer Jenny Giering is winner
of the American Theatre Wing’s Larson
Award, named for the late creator of “Rent,”
Jonathan Larson. Lyricist and librettist Laura
Harrington is winner of the Kleban Award,
named for the late “Chorus Line” lyricist
Edward Kleban. The two previously collabo-
rated on “Alice Unwrapped,” and for the past
several years have been working on “Crossing
Brooklyn,” the story of two idealistic teachers
trying to change the world in the aftermath of
9/11. Steven Carl McCasland directs a cast
that includes Elisabeth Ness, Charlie Duncan,
Emily Floyd, Logan Riley Bruner, Gay City News
contributor Court Stroud, Peter Waugh, and
Rory Allan Meditz. “Crossing Brooklyn” is a pro-
duction of Beautiful Soup Theater Collective, a
company whose work benefits local charities,
including Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS
and Gay Men’s Health Crisis. A portion of
“Crossing Brooklyn “box-office proceeds
will benefit A-STEP Artists Striving to End
Poverty. The Michael Chekhov Theater,
354 West 45th Street, second fl. Jan.
27-29, 7 pm.; Jan. 29-30, 2 p.m. Tickets are
$18 at beautifulsoup.showclix.com. A por-
tion of proceeds will benefit
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
CABARET
Mixing the Genres
Fiercely
Toshi Reagon is a versatile singer,
songwriter, and musician with a pro-
found ear for sonic Americana –– from
folk to funk, from blues to rock. Joe’s
Pub, inside the Public Theater, 425
Lafayette St., btwn. E. Fourth St. &
Astor Pl. Reagon appears with her
band Big Lovely, Jan. 27-28, 9 p.m. ;
and with her band and Bernice Johnson
Reagon, Jan. 30, 7 p.m. Joe’s Pub,
inside the Public Theater, 425 Lafay-
ette St., btwn. E. Fourth St. & Astor
Pl. Tickets are $25 at joespub.com. For
table reservations, with a $12 food &
drink minimum, call 212-539-8778.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
PERFORMANCE
SAT.JAN.29
Songs of a
Community’s
Evolution
“Q” is a musical revue presented by
the Rainbow Players Theater Company,
䉴 JAN 29, continued on p.26
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
䉴 IN THE NOH, from p.22
Charles Addams “Grandma” drawing on
the marquee just outside. I turned my
tape on and just let her rip on a variety
of subjects.
Her new show: “This is about being
Grandma and turning 50 — comic Kis-
met. The good thing about this is I looked
old at five. People said, ‘You’re gonna grow
into that face,’ so this is my time! But it’s
not your typical ‘Oy, I’m 50 — you pass
gas a lot’ show. It’s funny, with really cool
callbacks and scenes, and goes through
all these different emotional levels. And I
get to really sing.”
“The Addams Family”: “In my show, I
rag the people who rag the show and talk
about what it’s become — family-friendly
and it’s making money. Everybody’s con-
tract is up in March, but I can’t quit a job
while my mother’s alive, so I’m signed on
until June, at least. When I auditioned the
first time, I looked at my sides, which had
the word ‘shit’ in it, so thought, ‘Wow, this
is perfect — I’ll do my “Fuck You” song!,’
which I wrote about doing benefits. They
all stared at me in horror but called me
back, and the second time I got it.
“Growing up, we were more of a ‘Mun-
sters’ household — they were a more gen-
tle sort — but I grew up with the Charles
Addams cartoons because of my parents’
New Yorker subscription, and I stared
holes in them. Jeanette MacDonald’s sis-
ter, Blossom Rock, played Grandma on
TV, and one time I stopped in the middle
of the show and sang ‘When I’m Calling
You...” I tried to do her, but it wasn’t work-
ing, so I found a more extreme character
that’s more theatrical.
“Our reviews were devastating. I had a
feeling we might be taking a beating but
think they were over the top. I was trau-
matized because I’d spent the whole night
puking. At the opening party, my man-
ager kept refilling my glass and I kept
not looking and drinking — binge frat
house. I didn’t read reviews ’til later and
just laughed at them. My favorite was
USA Today: ‘hunched over, screeching,
and downright irritating.’ My director for
‘Jackie Five-Oh!,’ Michael Schiralli, said,
‘It’s a gift from God,’ and he’s right.
“And then there was the dicking we got
at the Tonys: ‘The nominees are “Anything
but The Addams Family,” the show with
lots of black people in it, anything with
Angela Lansbury, the show that’s really
a musical revue and not really a musi-
cal, and the other show with lots of black
people in it.’
“Nathan [Lane] is great — it’s comedy
school. Thank God he loves me, so does
she [Bebe Neuwirth]. I consider myself
very fortunate — if I can keep that up ’til
March, I’m in the clear [laughs]. Jews
aren’t allowed to worship idols, but he’s
a comedy god. Watching his relationship
with the audience is amazing: ‘We love
you!,’ and he’s like, ‘Fuck you!’ I’m always
amazed, it’s humbling.
Marriage, to Steve Smith: “We know
each other ten years, been married for
19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011 23
Being on Broadway: “I wish the toilets thrilling when Nathan steps out and they
worked better, but yes, it’s a dream. But go crazy, and I’m there with him and
sometimes you think, ‘When did my life’s Bebe, thinking, ‘Pinch me!’ So people
dream become about temping? Oh, Jesus, are like, ‘I’ve got to get the fuck out,’ and
if I do this one more time, I’m gonna killl I think, ‘I’m gonna stay on, because if I
myself. Am I out yet?’ It’s a routine, but
then the first moment of this show is so 䉴 IN THE NOH, continued on p.28
BIG FUN! SMALL BUCKS!
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281 W 12th St @ 4th St. NYC 212-243-9041
Metropolitan Community Church of New York
JEREMY DANIEL
Homeless
Youth
Services Social Spiritual
Service
A church of lesbian,
Jackie Hoffman, Grandma in “The Addams Family” on and Sylvia Rivera
Home
gay, bisexual
Broadway, also performs her Joe’s Pub show, “Jackie Five- Food Pantry and transgender
people. Open to all.
Oh!,” through February.
two, and he may make an appearance
in the show. He’s a trumpet player — Advocating
Marriage Equality and
like Judy Holliday and Gerry Mulligan. Transgender Rights
We met at Birdland, where he was play-
The Reverend Pat Bumgardner, Pastor
ing with Chico Farrell. I’d said, ‘I’m not
going to a Jewish singles event tonight, Weekly Sunday Services: 9 am (Traditional), 11 am (Celebration)
3 pm (Mandarin) and 7 pm (Praise & Worship)
I’m gonna see something I want.’ He’s not 11 am features ASL interpreter (1st, 2nd and 3rd Sunday of each month)
Jewish, but he’s a blank canvas that I can 446 West 36th St. bet. 9th & 10th Ave. NY, NY 10018
212-629-7440 website: www.mccny.org email: info@mccny.org
mold. He’s not funny but he gets me and
that’s all that matters — and I can run
shit by him and he’s always right. Invalu-
able.”
Children: “Still with no children, which
is one of my greatest accomplishments.
Yes, I still hate kids, although I’m soften-
ing a little on my niece’s kid. But we’ll see.
I’m sure that will grow into full-fledged
hatred. Don’t get me started on kids’ enti-
tlement, that shit that kills me in Whole
Foods: ‘What? There’s no more wheat-
free, gluten-free, yolk-free fuck for my pre-
cious Madison?!’”
Social networking: “Somebody did a fan
page for me, but I can’t access it because
I’m not on Facebook. I’m not interested
in anybody I went to high school with or
ever had contact with. I don’t want to see
pictures of your fucking kids! I hate hear-
ing my 50-year-old friends say the words
‘friending me.’ It’s idiotic. I may get suck-
ered into Tweeting, as people say I should
do that for the snarky potential. I just
started the texting. But iPad, iPhone? I
have the iDon’t.”
Typecasting: “I loved doing the Sedaris-
es’ ‘Book of Liz’ because it showed what
I can really do — the acting chops. It
doesn’t have to be ‘Wuthering Heights,’
but I also did this live ‘Bob and Carol and
Ted and Alice,’ in which I did a monologue
Dyan Cannon did with her psychiatrist.
Everyone said, ‘I didn’t know you could
do that.’ But I think it’s true of all char-
acter people who get typed in these roles.
I’d love to do ‘Virginia Woolf,’ ‘Wonderful
Town,’ and, oh yes, my Miss Hannigan
campaign for ‘Annie 2012!’”
24
䉴 LONDON, from p.21
Trouhgton proclaims, “the whole social
fabric!”
While there is laughter aplenty in the
plight of relatives who would rather not
see each other thrown together under
one roof for several days, there is also an
underlying sadness in how the holidays
highlight the failure of even the married
couples to give the only gift that matters:
love.
The winning ensemble, including
comic Catherine Tate as the conflicted
host Belinda, Jenna Russell as a major
drunk, and Oliver Chris as Belinda’s hot
date, captures both these moods.
A
nother singular drunk with a hot
date was Judy Garland in her last
months in London in 1969 with
fiancé Mickey Deans, who is presented
as managing her to death in the surpris-
ingly engaging “End of the Rainbow” at
the Trafalgar Studios (to April 16; tra-
falgar-studios.co.uk). An amazing Tra-
cie Bennett goes through three or four
breakdowns and ten of Judy’s greatest
hits in a performance that wrings the
audience out as well.
We all know the story of how a broke
Judy kept performing while battling
her addictions. This play by Peter
Quilter and directed by Terry Johnson
brings us into her London hotel room
for rehearsals with her gay accompa-
nist, Anthony (a nice Hilton McRae),
and Deans (Stephen Hagan), who is
trying to keep her off drugs and the
sauce so that she can make her come-
back. Judy is so annoying and messed
up that we want to turn away, but then
Bennett channels Garland’s magi-
cal voice backed up by a big band and
we’re as hooked as she was. It ain’t
Shakespeare, but this sometimes stan-
dard backstage drama achieves tragic
dimensions by the curtain with a mov-
ing rendition of, yes, “Somewhere Over
the Rainbow.”
S
till another tale of a screwed-up
family gets a new twist in Mat-
thew Bourne’s “Cinderella,” his
dance version at Sadler’s Wells (to Jan.
19; sadlerswells.com/show/Matthew-
Bourne-Cinderella) set in the London
blitz of 70 years ago. Bourne first pro-
duced this show in 1997, but it is said
to be substantially revised.
While I’m partial to his “Swan Lake,”
just revived in New York, and “Play
without Words,” “Cinderella” brings
out all the darkness, humor, and joy
he’s famous for in this fairy tale cho-
reographed to Prokofiev’s magnificent
score.
Kerry Biggin as Cinderella and Sam
Archer as her RAF ace beloved shine,
as do Lez Brotherston’s breathtak-
ing sets and costumes. There are even
several sweet tributes to gays in the
military. This show should become a
perennial.
19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011 WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
not landing with the shock and laugh-
ter they ought to. Not sure if that’s due
to Elliot Cowan –– who is an able actor
–– as the Wilde stand-in Lord Goring,
to the direction, or to the fact that the
play is more than a century old.
I
remember “A Flea in Her Ear,” the
quintessential French bedroom
farce, as sidesplitting from a pro-
duction I saw in college at UVA in the
early 1970s. The Old Vic’s revival (to
March 5; oldvictheatre.com) felt forced
the night I saw it, possibly because
the lead, Tom Hollander, who got nice
notices, was “indisposed” (injured run-
ning around on stage, apparently) and
absent. Comedy is serious business,
and Richard Eyre’s direction seemed
to steer his actors more in the direction
of mugging than of being believable
people in ridiculous and perilous situa-
CATHERINE ASHMORE
tions. Freddie Fox does hit, however, as
the unintelligible Camille Chandebise.
P
erfectly clear were characters
Comic Catherine Tate is winning as the conflicted Belinda in Alan Aykbourn’s “Season’s Greetings.” created by E.V. Crowe in “Kin”
(now closed) and directed by
W M
ritten in 1938 and set 30 arriage is also center stage Jeremy Herrin at the Royal Court, a
years earlier, J.B. Priestly’s in Oscar Wilde’s “An Ideal deeply disturbing drama about ten-
“When We are Married” (at Husband,” getting a worthy year -old girls at an English public
the Garrick to February 26; when- revival at the Vaudeville (to February (what we call private) school. The girls,
wearemarried.com) concerns three 26; vaudeville-theatre.co.uk) directed audaciously played by ten-year -olds
upright, uptight, upper middle class by Lindsay Posner, with sumptuous Madison Lygo and Maya Gerber at the
couples on the verge of celebrating sets by Stephen Brimson Lewis. Alex- show I saw, give phenomenal perfor-
their mutual 25th anniversaries in ander Hanson, so good as Frederick mances, and virtually every other word
small-town England. But instead of Egerman, the male lead in the Broad- out of their mouths was some varia-
cutesy nostalgia, the characters get way revival of “A Little Night Music,” tion on the f-word. (An audience mem-
twisted in hilarious knots by the rev- is equally fine as Sir Robert Chiltern, ber at a post-show discussion said the
elation that unknowingly they may whose successful life in business and language was “mild” compared to her
never have been legally married. politics is upended by a shady request own experience in such a school.)
Under Christopher Luscombe’s direc- from Mrs. Chevely (Samantha Bond, in But the real shock is the abandon-
tion, it’s a fun send-up of marriage with a deliciously malevolent turn), his own ment that infuses the lives of these
a great ensemble including Michelle past, and being put on a pedestal by privileged kids, though they do reach
Dotrice, Maureen Lipman, and Rose- his noble wife (Rachel Stirling). out to each other in an implied lesbian
mary Ashe as the wives and comic great The drama is compelling, the comedy
Sam Kelly as one of the husbands. a bit less so, as Wilde’s aphorisms were 䉴 LONDON, continued on p.25
SIMON ANNAND
NOBBY CLARK
Kerry Biggins shines in the title role of Matthew Bourne’s Samantha Bond, deliciously malevolent as Mrs. Chevely, and a fine Alexander Hanson as Sir Robert Chiltern in Oscar
“Cinderella.” Wilde’s “An Ideal Husband.”
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
䉴 WILDE RIDE, from p.16
While it would be tempting to declare
that Bedford steals the show, the truth
is the entire ensemble rises to the chal-
lenge. Santino Fontana imbues the mis-
chievous ne’er-do-well Algernon with
an appealing, devilish charm. David
Furr deftly conveys John’s turmoil over
winning the heart of Gwendolen (Sara
Topham) despite his friend’s selfish
stunt pretending to be Ernest in order
to woo Cecily (Charlotte Parry).
Also on hand are the incomparable
Dana Ivey as Cecily’s pious governess
and Paxton Whitehead as Reverend
Chasuble. Portraying the role of John’s
manservant is Tim MacDonald, who
happens to be Bedford’s partner of 25
years.
Occasionally, a rip along a well-worn
plot seam is exposed, but the pace
moves so quickly that such flaws are
forgiven. The play runs well over two
hours, presented in three acts with two
intermissions, as it was meant to be.
If you’re wondering whether “The
Importance of Being Earnest” contains
as much homosexual subtext as Wilde’s
other plays, you’re not alone. Scholars
have been debating the subject for well
over a century, despite vehement deni-
䉴 LONDON, from p.24
encounter. “Kin” may be too incendi-
ary for our Puritan shores, but it is an
important work.
I
had never seen Sheridan’s “The
Rivals” (at the Royal Haymarket to
February 26; theatre-royal-haymar-
ket.com) and was happy to be introduced
to it by this stellar production led by the
delightful Penelope Keith (as Mrs. Mal-
aprop) and Peter Bowles (as Sir Anthony
Absolute), who were co-stars of the old
popular BBC comedy “To the Manor
Born.” Directed by the legendary Peter
Hall, “Rivals” has lavish sets by Simon
Hughes. Heterosexual romance has been
touted as normative for centuries, but
Sheridan makes us see how difficult it can
be to negotiate. Tam Williams also shines
as Absolute’s son Jack, who tries to win
the woman for whom he is intended by
pretending to be someone else so that she
will really love him. It’s complicated, as
they say on Facebook.
F
inally, the Tricycle Theatre took a
break from the trenchant politi-
cal theater for which it is known
and staged “Midsummer (a play with
songs)” (to January 29; tricycle.co.uk),
a two-hander about unlikely early mid-
dle-aged lovers, written by David Grieg
and Gordon McIntyre and performed
amiably by Cora Bissett as Helena and
Matthew Pidgeon as Bob. It was a hit at
the Edinburgh Festival and has consid-
erable charms, yet could do with some
judicious trimming –– but please not the
19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011 25
als from Gielgud, who famously played
Worthing in the 1948 Broadway pro-
$
5.00 OFF
duction.
As I see it, however, Bedford’s version
is fraught with a gleefully old-school
admission with this ad
gay sensibility, even if you don’t count
the man-in-drag thing.
Although both men vie to marry, the
dialogue repeatedly launches a scath-
ing indictment against matrimony.
MARCH 12-13, 2011
For example, when Algernon plays the
Wedding March on the piano, John
demands he stop playing that “ghastly
tune.” Lady Bracknell disapproves of
long engagements because “they give
people the opportunity of finding out
each other’s character before marriage,
which I think is never advisable.” The
play advocates the pleasures of being
“very bad,” praising the freedoms of
bachelorhood.
Algernon, described in the script as
“very gay and debonair,” recalls Wilde
himself and certainly fits a classic gay
stereotype with his foppish attire and
“artistically furnished” flat. His vice is AMERICA'S PREMIER GLBT EVENT...
gorging on sandwiches meant for tea
with Lady Bracknell. Cucumber sand-
IN THE HEART OF NEW YORK CITY
wiches.
As for his made-up term for escaping
his family — “Bunburying” — you can
decide that one for yourself.
priceless chat Bob has with his penis!
C
oming Up in the West End: For
those of you planning trips to
London later in the year, here are J AC O B J AV I T S C O N V E N T I O N C E N T E R ,
a few noteworthy productions coming up. 3 8 T H S T. A N D 1 1 T H AV E . N Y C
You can read more about them and oth-
ers at londontheatre.co.uk. TAKE THE TRAIN TO THE SHOW AND SAVE!
Penelope Wilton is in Albee’s “A Delicate RAIL & SHOW DISCOUNT GETAWAY PACKAGE
Balance” at the Almeida (May 5-July 2);
Danny Boyle is directing “Franken-
stein” at the National (February 5-April
Click on Deals and Getaways at www.mta.info
17), with Benedict Cumberbatch and
Jonny Lee Miller alternating as the doctor
and the monster and choreography by Bill MARY OCCHINO
T. Jones, whose “Fela!” opens there Janu- Gifted Psychic-Intuitive
Author and host of
ary 13 (both will be telecast in New York
by NT Live);
Peter Hall is directing “Twelfth Night,”
with Simon Callow as Sir Toby Belch and Star of SyFy's Reality Show“Mary Knows Best”
Rebecca Hall as Viola at the National’s
Cottesloe (January 11-March 2); ARE YOU NEW YORK’S
Ian Rickson is reviving “The Children’s TOP GAY CHEF?
Hour” at the Comedy Theatre (January The 18th Original GLBT Expo will present the
22-April 2), with Keira Knightley, Eliza- opportunity for 10 of the Most Talented GLBT Chefs to
beth Moss, Ellen Burstyn, and Carol compete for the title of “NEW YORK’S TOP GAYCHEF”.
Kane;
“The Lord of the Flies” is set for the
Open Air in Regent’s Park (May 19-June
O u r P av i l i o n S p o n s o r s
18);
Shakespeare’s Globe is offering “All’s
Well that Ends Well,” “Much Ado about
Nothing,” “Doctor Faustus,” and “Anne ----------------------------------------EDUCATIONAL SERIES SPONSOR-------------------------------------
Boleyn” among others, including a cover-
to-cover reading of the King James Bible
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Theatre and is finally coming to Lincoln
Center on March 15. Not to be missed.

26/ Opera
Lady in Red Stripped Down
Willy Decker’s take on “Traviata” ramps up focus on Violetta
BY ELI JACOBSON
F
or more than 20 years at
the Metropolitan Opera,
“La Traviata” has been
seen through the eyes of one
man — Franco Zeffirelli. The
illegitimate son of a kept woman
who died of tuberculosis, Zef-
firelli has had a lifelong “Tra-
viata” fixation and staged lavish
productions at the Met in 1989
and 1998.
In 2005, a production by
Willy Decker was the sensation
of the Salzburg Festival and
anointed the two leads, Anna
Netrebko and Rolando Villazon,
as the hottest stars in opera.
Peter Gelb hoped lightning
would strike a second time at
the Met and acquired the pro-
duction with the original dream
team (adding Simon Keenlyside
as Germont) for this season.
A lot can happen in five
years — Villazon’s voice failed,
Netrebko decided not to repeat
herself, and Keenlyside changed
his mind. What the Met was
left with was an abstract mod-
ern dress production and three
gifted but second tier replace-
ments — Marina Poplavskaya,
Matthew Polenzani, and Andrzej
Dobber.
Film clips I had seen from
Salzburg seemed off-putting
and grotesque; I expected a
repeat of last season’s “Tosca”
boo-fest. I badly misjudged the
integrity of Decker’s vision, the
openness of the Met audience
to an intelligent rethinking of a
familiar work, and the durabili-
ty of Verdi’s masterpiece. Cheers
drowned out a few hecklers at
the New Year’s Eve production
premiere, though I found the
response to the singers appre-
ciative rather than effusive.
Decker’s stripped-down mod-
ernist vision is the antithesis
of Zeffirelli’s romantic excess.
Decker sees the story of Vio-
letta as an existential struggle
against death — not as a pic-
turesque period sentimental
drama. At curtain rise, all we
see is a white semi-circular wall
across the back of the stage, a
huge clock, and the death fig-
ure of Dr. Grenvil dressed all in
black.
In Act I, the entire chorus
Marina Poplavskaya, who is Violetta in Willy Decker’s production of Veri’s “La Traviata” at the
Met, is a striking but frustrating artist.
and the supporting characters
(including Flora Bervoix) are all
male and dressed in modern
black suits. The only woman
represented onstage and the
only splashes of color are Vio-
letta in her bright red cocktail
dress and her red sofa. One
might decry the changes to the
original stage directions, but the
effect is to turn Violetta into the
absolute focus of the audience’s
— and all the other characters’
— attention. The chorus seems
predatory and frat-boy vulgar
while pursuing Violetta’s every
move — a magnetic object of
their fantasies.
Act II begins with Alfredo and
Violetta seated on two white
sofas draped in chintz with a
red floral motif repeated on the
ceiling and on their costumes.
Alfredo’s aria, usually delivered
as a monologue to no one in
particular, is turned into a self-
parodying love song to Violetta.
She is supposed to enter later,
but the deviation from the libret-
to has a positive effect. We now
get to see Violetta and Alfredo
as happy lovers in their country
idyll; in a more faithful version,
we see only the dissolution of
their union. The audience here
gets a heightened sense of what
is sacrificed.
effect.
The cast was dramatically up
to everything thrown their way,
without generating the emotion-
al heat of the original Salzburg
cast. Marina Poplavskaya is a
striking but frustrating artist
— an intensely focused musi-
cian and actress with a voice
that changes tonal focus from
note to note and a cool person-
ality that keeps empathy at one
remove. The angular blonde’s
looks and aloofness reminded
me of the young Meryl Streep.
Like Streep, Poplavskaya stim-
ulates the mind but can seem
calculated. One is impressed
KEN HOWARD/METROPOLITAN OPERA
but seldom moved. Her tone sits
uneasily on the breath — one
phrase will have a melancholy
beauty but the next will turn
sour or shrill.
She had a noticeable lack of
emotional chemistry with the
musicianly, boyishly self-effac-
ing Alfredo of Matthew Polen-
zani, who has a beautiful voice
When Violetta sings “Dite alla impeccably used but lacking
Giovane” to Germont, giving up in vocal assertiveness. His “O
Alfredo, the red floral covers are Mio Rimorso” cabaletta was the
removed from the sofas and the most successful rendition since
flowers on the ceiling turn from that of the late Alfredo Kraus,
rose red to gray. A dream has but seemed almost thrown
died. Dr. Grenvil/Death appears away. He should revel in his
at the back of the set as Violetta lyrically sweet sound and show
sings that she will die without off — a little narcissism prop-
Alfredo. The symbolic imagery erly employed has never hurt a
might seem simplistic and lit- tenor.
eral, but the effects are carefully Andrzej Dobber’s handsome,
timed to enhance the music. soft-grained baritone is bet-
In the Zeffirelli production, ter suited to Germont’s lyrical
the Act III divertissement at phrases than the more assert-
Flora’s party was an excuse for ively dramatic Verdi baritone
a Las Vegas floor show staged in roles he has previously sung
an opera house foyer. In Deck- at the Met. Conductor Gianan-
er, it is rethought for specific drea Noseda delivered a sober
dramatic effect. Alfredo enters but intense reading of a very
early, and the little party piece full edition with an unfailing
about the toreador and his sense of the musical structure.
senorita is changed into a drag The Decker production
parody of his affair with Violetta proved that it is not merely a
staged for his benefit — or, per- showcase built around one
haps, torment. Alfredo’s sub- superstar but a valid vision
sequent violent denunciation of a timeless love story. The
of Violetta is given greater emo- production values enhances
tional impetus. the cool intellectual qualities
The characters and music of its current star as well as
are laid bare, touching the audi- emphasizing the sensual vola-
ence’s emotions without filters tility and emotional honesty of
or barriers. The text is mined for the original protagonist. One
specific meaning, and the sing- longs to see how it will change
ers carry the expressive bur- in future seasons when Nata-
den; movement and gesture are lie Dessay and others don the
carefully exploited for maximum red dress.
19 JAN - 1 FEB 2011
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 JAN 29, from p.22
based on the 25-year relationship of
Philadelphia songwriters and life-part-
ners Dan Martin and Michael Biello. It
is a loving, sexy, irreverent, and deeply
joyous expression of life from an LGBT
perspective, featuring 14 original songs
that parallel the queer community’s evo-
lution in erotic liberation, coming out, the
joys and challenges of relationships, and
ongoing quest for spiritual insight and
joy. Metropolitan Community Church,
446 W. 36th St. Jan. 29, 6 p.m. Admis-
sion is $15, with proceeds benefitting
the church’s Sylvia Rivera Food Pantry.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
Inside the Comic’s
Studio
Comedian Adam Sank (NBC’s “Last
Comic Standing”) hosts a unique eve-
ning of comedy and the brainpower and
moxie that inspire it. Christian Finnegan
(“Comedy Central Presents”), Giulia
Rozzi (an Excellence in Comedy NY
Best Female Comedian nominee), and
Josh Homer (Comedy Central’s “Live at
Gotham”) each perform a set, followed
by Sank’s interviews with them. What
was their worst experience on-stage?
Who are the comedians that make
them laugh hardest? And are there cer-
tain topics they’ll never touch? Dixon
Place, 161A Chrystie St., btwn. Riv-
ington & Delancey Sts. Jan. 29, 8
p.m. Tickets are $15; $12 for students &
seniors at https://www.ovationtix.com/
trs/pe/8616635.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
I’ll Be Watching
You
Writer and Tarot card expert Tom
Blunt presents another in his “Meet
the Lady” series, this one showcasing
women from either side of the stalker/
stalkee continuum. Sean Donnelly
(director of the documentary “I Think
We’re Alone Now”), Peter J. Cook, Iris
Explosion, and Joe’s Pub cabaret star
Roslyn Hart present choice movie clips
and thrilling anecdotes, while the Black
Phoenix Alchemy Lab offers stalker
perfume recommendations, “Pecu-
liar Beauty” author Bonnie Downing
focuses on outdated beauty advice,
and Blunt’s dad offers self-defense
tips. 92Ytribeca, 200 Hudson St.,
btwn. Vestry & Desbrosses Sts.,
just below Canal St. Jan. 29, 8 p.m.
Tickets are $12 at 92y.org.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
䉴 14 DAYS, continued on p.29
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011 27

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28 19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011
䉴
IN THE NOH, from p.23
had the choice between not being on
Broadway and being on...’”
T
he TimesTalks’ “Sir Tim Rice &
Friends” on January 7 celebrated
songs from the Disney musical
canon and rather reminded me of my
visit the same day to the Guggenheim’s
“Chaos and Classicism” show, in which
you had to search hard for the gold
among a lot of dross. The 1923 Picasso
portrait of his wife Olga was sublimely
haunting, as were, for different rea-
sons, a triptych of Aryan maidens that
once graced Hitler’s salon, but you had
to plough through an awful lot of indif-
ferent work, including many fascinat-
ing but kitschy bits of homoeroticism,
like de Chirico’s hideous “Gladiators at
Rest” and Albert Janesch’s uber-Nazi
“Water Sports.” Finding melodic value
in the Disney oeuvre proved similarly
arduous, listening to bleary, bombastic
anthems from “The Lion King,” “Aida,”
“Tarzan,” and “The Little Mermaid.”
In this context, the Sherman Broth-
ers’ “Mary Poppins” melodies almost
emerged as melodic masterpieces (they
aren’t), and Ashley Brown proved that
she now owns “Feed the Birds” as
surely as Julie Andrews ever did (don’t
kill me). Brown also blazed on a duet,
“For the First Time,” with talented Josh
Strickland, who proved there is indeed
life after “Tarzan” when he joyously
camped it up to “My Strongest Suit”
from “Aida,” that show’s one catchy
song.
䉴 KABOOM, from p.19
ally ambiguous experiences the film’s
characters have are informed by that
particular time in youth.
The filmmaker acknowledged that his
undergraduate years did not include as
much sex as Smith has in the film, but
noted he has had relationships with
both men and women. Araki’s romance
The path to your first home. with actress Kathleen Robertson, who
starred in his 1999 film “Splendor,”
received wide public attention.
The State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA) While saying, “I consider myself
offers first-time homebuyers: essentially gay,” he was quick to add
‡¬RU\HDUIL[HGLQWHUHVWUDWHVWKDWDUHW\SLFDOO\ that the younger generation today “is
very much not into categories or into
EHORZPDUNHW
strict definitions of sexuality — what it
‡¬)LQDQFLQJXSWR is or who they are. It’s individual desire
‡¬)OH[LEOHXQGHUZULWLQJJXLGHOLQHV and experience. The general loosening
‡¬'RZQSD\PHQWDVVLVWDQFHKLJKHURIRURIWKHORDQ of boundaries is healthy and more nat-
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
A
t TimesTalks’ January 8 Rufus
Wainwright evening, things got tres
gay. Asked if things might have
turned out differently if he’d had a more
traditional upbringing, Wainwright said, “I
only think about that in terms of my body.
Had I been forced to play sports as a kid
instead of sing, I would have had a much
easier time in the gay bars as an adult.”
His sister, Martha, reminisced that, as
kids, “We used to play Cyndi Lauper and
Michael Jackson a lot.” Rufus added,
“Take a guess which one I played... There
is not a lot of precedent for this opera-lov-
ing, piano-playing queen thing that I am.
Well, maybe Elton. But that’s why I some-
times have to think big or over-reach.”
Y
ou have just this weekend to
catch “On Stage in Fashion” at the
Lincoln Center Library for the Per-
forming Arts (40 Lincoln Center Plaza,
through Jan. 22 only; nypl.org/loca-
tions/lpa). This hypnotic, magnificently
researched show explores the confluence
of couture and the performing arts, with
designer gowns ranging from Katharine
Cornell’s classic Valentina robes of the
1930s to Renee Fleming’s Christian Lac-
roix designs for “Thais.” The most exqui-
site piece is an adorable Marc Jacobs
dance frock, and the most impressive
is the Mainbocher wedding gown Mary
Martin wore in “The Sound of Music,” a
daringly nun-like affair with an amazing
square bridal veil.
Contact David Noh at Inthenoh@aol.
com and check out his new blog at http://
nohway.wordpress.com/.
easier for them in the wake of ‘Broke-
back Mountain.’ It’s accepted. There are
still actors that won’t do it, but it’s easi-
er than it used to be. I don’t try to delib-
erately cast queer actors — I don’t care
who they sleep with. Obviously, it would
be cool to have an openly gay actor in a
film, but it’s not an overriding factor.”
So is Araki, the one-time enfant ter-
rible of the New Queer Cinema era, mel-
lowing? Perhaps.
“Th e w e i r d t h i n g a b o u t t h i s
movie is that I find it very different
from ‘Doom Generation,’ he said.
“Although it has immature char -
acters, it has a maturity about it.
‘Doom Generation’ was something I
made when I was younger and angri-
er. Being younger and of the mindset
of the characters, I had a different
perspective. There’s a certain level
DPRXQWRUXSWR ural. For political reasons, though, it’s
‡1RSRLQWV important to declare yourself.”
‡1RILQDQFLQJDGGRQV When Araki made “The Living End”
nearly two decades ago, it was hard to
find actors — gay or straight — to play
queer roles. But the filmmaker said that
For more information, call nowadays, that’s not the case — which
is fortunate for him given the same-sex
1-800-382-HOME (4663) action in the film.
or visit www.nyshcr.org “The world is changing, so rapidly,” he
said. “For actors, in particular, it’s much
of wisdom here. Looking back on life
at middle age, [my college era] was
some of the best years. Stella says —
she’s a mouthpiece for what I think
about that period — that those years
are about your experiences, not your
exams, classes. What you get out of
that period is the people you meet
and relationships you have — that
is your growth as a person. That was
the starting point for ‘Kaboom.’”
19 JAN - 1 FEB 2011
14 DAYS Tex. Lesbian Divorce Stands
14 NIGHTS Appeals court takes no view on gay marriage ban
䉴 14 DAYS, from p.26
SUN.JAN.30 T
MUSIC
Justin Time
The New Yorker’s Hilton Als recently
described Justin Bond (one half of the
performance duo Kiki & Herb) as “the
best cabaret artist of his generation.”
Bond appears tonight at Joe’s Pub, inside
the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St.,
btwn. E. Fourth St. & Astor Pl. Jan. 30,
9:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 at joespub.com.
For table reservations, with a $12 food &
drink minimum, call 212-539-8778.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ decision instead on the attor-
Rainbows, Follies,
and One Very
Windy City
Terri White, most recently on Broad-
way in “Finian’s Rainbow” and “Chicago”
and preparing to co-star with Bernadette
Peters in Stephen Sondheim and James
Goldman’s “Follies” at Washington’s Ken-
nedy Center in late May, appears at Fein-
stein’s at Loews Regency, Park Ave.
at 61st St. Jan. 30, 8:30 p.m. The cover
charge is $40-$60, with a $25 food &
drink minimum. Reservations at feinstein-
sattheregency.com or 212-339-4095.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ requesting that she and Daly
Folk Ways
NPR Music describes Lucinda Black
Bear’s music as “carefully written folk
rock with stunning sonic arrangements.”
Its new CD, “Knives,” finds the band
fleshing out the indie-folk of its 2007
debut, adding more lush, sweeping
string arrangements and broader orches-
tral scope. The band appears tonight at
Mercury Lounge, 217 E. Houston St.,
btwn. Ludlow & Essex Sts. Jan. 30, 7
p.m. Admission is $10. More information
at lucindablackbear.com.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ a Democrat, issued a
DANCE
TUE.FEB.1
Green & May
Premieres
Natalie Green and Juliana F. May/
MAYDANCE present world premieres.
Fanciful, kinetic, and moody, Green’s
“nerves like tombs, nerves like nettles”
draws upon moments of isolation and
exposure in a piece marked by abrupt
shifts in tone and mis-synced sensory
䉴 FEB 1, continued on p.30
BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD
he Texas 3rd District
Court of Appeals in
Austin has rejected an
attempt by State Attorney Gen-
eral Greg Abbott, a Republican,
to appeal an order by Travis
County District Judge Scott H.
Jenkins granting a divorce to
Angelique S. Naylor and Sabina
Daly.
The court, in a January 7
opinion, did not address the
question whether the Texas
law against same-sex marriage
is constitutional, resting its
ney general’s failure to seek
intervention in the case until
after Jenkins granted Naylor’s
divorce petition.
Naylor and Daly married in
Massachusetts in 2004, then
returned to their home in Texas,
where they adopted a child and
started a real estate business
together, according to Justice
Diane M. Henson’s January 7
opinion for the court. After they
separated, Naylor filed a law-
suit in January 2009 in Travis
County District Court in Austin,
share responsibilities for the
child but that she be given the
exclusive right to designate the
Gay Marriages Recognized in New Mexico?
AG finds “comity,” lack of adverse policy argue yes on out-of-state unions
BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD
N
ew Mexico Attor ney
General Gary K. King,
formal opinion on January 4
taking the position that under
principles of comity New Mexico
would recognize same-sex mar-
riages validly performed else-
where, even though the state’s
laws do not provide for them to
be contracted within the state.
King’s formal opinion was
co-signed by Assistant Attorney
General Elaine P. Lujan, pre-
sumably its principal author.
King hedged his bets, how-
ever, by stating, “We cannot
predict how a New Mexico
court would rule on this issue,”
child’s primary residence. The
couple negotiated a settlement
of this action approved by the
court.
Settling property issues
proved more difficult, and in
December 2009, Naylor filed a
petition for divorce and to mod-
ify the couple’s relationship to
the child.
Daly responded with a motion
to declare the marriage void, cit-
ing Texas law that spells out that
marriages between persons of
the same sex are “void.” In Feb-
ruary last year, in hearings over
two days, Judge Jenkins grant-
ed Daly’s motion for temporary
orders governing use of proper-
ty the couple jointly acquired in
their real estate business, but,
noting the deficiencies in their
business record-keeping, urged
them to try to settle as many
issues between themselves as
possible.
When later the second day
the former couple returned to
court to say they had reach
settlement, Jenkins said, “The
divorce is granted pursuant to
the agreement you have recited
into the record.”
The next day, the state filed
a petition to intervene, argu-
ing that Jenkins did not have
jurisdiction since Naylor and
explaining that this was the
opinion of the Attorney Gen-
eral’s Office “after review of the
law in this area.” It is actually
the absence of law that is criti-
cal here; unlike all but a hand-
ful of states, New Mexico has
never adopted a statute or con-
stitutional provision that specif-
ically prohibits the recognition
of same-sex marriages.
After observing that under
the federal Defense of Marriage
Act (DOMA) New Mexico would
not be required to recognize
same-sex marriages performed
elsewhere if it did not want to,
King’s opinion went directly to
the “principle of comity,” observ-
ing, “Ordinarily, as a matter of
comity, a marriage valid when
Daly’s marriage was void.
Daly’s motion to have the mar-
riage declared void was the only
mechanism for dissolving the
Massachusetts marriage, Texas
argued. The state claimed it had
planned to intervene before the
settlement was reached but had
been beaten to the punch by
the judge’s and parties’ rushed
action.
The court of appeals rejected
this argument, stating, “This
suggestion of impropriety on the
part of the trial court is unsup-
ported by the record.”
As the state sought to inter-
vene, Daly moved on March 31
for Jenkins to enter final judg-
ment. Jenkins rejected the
state’s effort to intervene as
untimely, and signed the written
divorce decree without ruling on
Texas’ jurisdictional argument.
Texas could take up that ques-
tion with the court of appeals,
he observed.
The court of appeals also
found that the state’s attempt
to intervene was untimely, not-
ing that “the general rule is that
a party may not intervene after
final judgment unless the judg-
ment is set aside.” Texas argued
that since it petitioned to inter-
vene before Jenkins signed the
final divorce decree, it had acted
and where celebrated is valid in
New Mexico.” That proposition
was specifically supported by a
1990 ruling from the New Mexi-
co Supreme Court.
King pointed out that New
Mexico has codified this general
rule in a statute that provides
that “all marriages celebrated
beyond the limits of the state,
which are valid according to
the laws of the country wherein
they were celebrated or con-
tracted, shall be likewise valid
in this state, and shall have the
same force as if they had been
celebrated in accordance with
the laws in force in this state.”
There is a “general exception”
to this recognition rule, King
noted –– cases where a marriage
Legal/29
in time, but the court of appeals
found that Jenkins had grant-
ed the divorce on February 10,
before the state filed its motion.
Texas also invoked the “vir-
tual representative” doctrine,
which Henson described as “an
exception to the rule that appeal
is available only to parties of
record.” Under this doctrine,
the state must show it is bound
by a judgment and has identical
interests to one of the named
parties.
The Attorney General’s Office
argued that Naylor’s divorce
petition implicitly challenged the
validity of the statutory ban on
same-sex marriages, that Daly’s
response — seeking to void the
marriage — essentially invoked
the marriage ban, but that the
former couple’s negotiated set-
tlement left the law without any
defender in the case, thereby
authorizing the state to inter-
vene.
The court of appeals didn’t
buy this argument, finding
that Naylor never questioned
the constitutionality of the
same-sex marriage ban; she
was merely seeking a divorce in
order to settle issues of parent-
child relationships and property
䉴 TEXAS, continued on p.30
is “contrary to a state’s public
policy.” New Mexico, the attor-
ney general concluded, would
recognize a “valid out-of-state
marriage… as long as the mar-
riage does not offend a suffi-
ciently strong or overriding pub-
lic policy.”
He rejected the idea that the
state’s failure to affirmatively
authorize same-sex marriages
would qualify as such a state
policy, noting that New Mexico
has recognized a variety of mar-
riages performed elsewhere that
could not have arisen or been
performed within the state,
such as uncle-niece and “com-
mon law” marriages.
䉴 NEW MEXICO, continued on p.30
30
䉴 NEW YEAR’S, from p.9
free seminar. To register, call
646-454-0777 or visit.gay-
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䉴 TEXAS, from p.29
ownership division.
“ We d e c l i n e t o r e a d a n
implied constitutional challenge
into Naylor’s petition for divorce
when no such challenge has
been expressly raised,” Henson
wrote.
In fact, the court noted, the
marriage ban could be read to
allow for the couple’s divorce.
“One could argue, for exam-
ple, that section 6.204 did not
prohibit the trial court’s actions
because divorce is a ‘benefit’ of
state residency, rather than
a ‘legal protection, benefit, or
䉴 NEW MEXICO, from p.29
King referred to the recent
opinion issued by the Mary-
land Attorney General’s Office,
reaching a similar conclusion,
noting that the lack of a stat-
ute expressly forbidding such
recognition suggested there
was no strong public policy
basis to deny it.
“The federal DOMA autho-
rizes states to prohibit the
recognition of out-of-state,
same-sex marriages,” wrote
King. “While many states have
enacted such a prohibition,
New Mexico has not. Without
an explicit statute, the prin-
ety, and conflict, and improve
communication in a gay men’s
gestalt psychotherapy inter -
active group, with two groups
beginning in February. For
information, visit gaymensther-
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A wide range of therapists
are also available at the Lesbian
Therapists Referral Network. For
information, visit lesbianthera-
pist.com or call 212-206-1589.
Advance Your Career —
Get the most out of your career
and your money by joining
Out Professionals (outprofes-
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Women can enjoy social
responsibility’ resulting from
marriage,” Henson wrote. “One
could also argue that under the
plain language of section 6.204,
the trial court is only prohibited
from taking actions that create,
recognize, or give effect to same-
sex marriages on a ‘going-for-
ward’ basis, so that the granting
of a divorce would be permis-
sible. Naylor has in fact made
both of these arguments, either
on appeal or in response to the
state’s post-judgment plea to the
jurisdiction. While we express
no opinion on the merit of these
arguments, the fact remains
that there are interpretations
ciple of comity, codified in
New Mexico in Section 40-1-4,
would likely guide the analysis
in this area.”
He also discounted the
weight of an “advisory letter”
that had been sent by an ear-
lier attorney general, Demo-
crat Patricia Madrid, to a state
senator seeking clarification
of the issue in 2004, at a time
when the same-sex marriage
debate had come to a boil in
many places as a result of the
2003 Massachusetts mar -
riage decision and the false
spring of same-sex marriage
licenses being issued without
state authorization in a num-
19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011
events and networking oppor-
tunities with the group’s
women’s affiliate, OP.LYNX.
Make New Friends — New
to town or lost all your friends
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Do you enjoy theater? Get
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rial Court of New York (icny.
org).
Are you passionate about
gay marriage? Team up with
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the grassroots fight to make
civil equality a reality here.
Wish you could meet more
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eaglenyc.com) or check out the
next Truck Stop event (truck-
stopparty.com), a floating
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of section 6.204 that would
allow the trial court to grant the
divorce without finding the stat-
ute unconstitutional..
The court of appeals also
rejected the state’s argument
that future litigants might cite
the Naylor-Daly divorce as prec-
edent for finding a waiver by the
state to any jurisdictional objec-
tions to same-sex divorces. It
concluded that the state’s inter-
ests were not “prejudiced in any
way” by allowing the divorce
decree to stand, since it would
not be prevented from “defend-
ing any state statute from con-
stitutional attack.
ber of local jurisdictions, most
prominently San Francisco.
“We do not believe that the
reasoning in the advisory let-
ter is enough to establish a
strong or overriding public
policy against same-sex mar-
riages in New Mexico,” wrote
King. “Without an identifiable
adverse public policy in this
area, we conclude that a court
addressing the issue would
likely hold, pursuant to Sec-
tion 40-1-4, that a valid same-
sex marriage from another
jurisdiction is valid in New
Mexico.”
The Associated Press
reported that Democratic
town and around the country.
Help others — Volunteer -
ing helps you feel good about
yourself and better about
making a dif ference in the
world around you. So lend a
hand by becoming a friendly
visitor to a gay senior through
SAGE, Services and Advocacy
for GLBT Elders (contact Ber-
tis Shankle at 212-741-3592
or volunteer@sageusa.org).
Or gay it forward by becom-
ing a positive role model to
LGBT youth at FIERCE, the
Fabulous Independent Edu-
cated Radicals for Communi-
ty Empowerment (fiercenyc.
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and social services for home-
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Torres at 212-991-0853 or
btorres@aliforneycenter.org).
You can pitch in for peo-
ple living with HIV/ AIDS by
lending a hand at a Housing
Works thrift shop or used
b o o k s t o r e . Vi s i t h o u s i n g -
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Equitable considerations,
Henson wrote, especially
the best interest of the child,
weighed strongly against allow-
ing the state to intervene and
prolong the case.
The Naylor-Daly divorce will
stand, but the court of appeals
took no position on whether
the Texas gay marriage ban
would allow trial courts to grant
divorces for married same-sex
couples. As such, the decision
is an anomaly in the law, and it
is likely Texas will move to inter-
vene more expeditiously the
next time a same-sex divorce
petition is filed.
House Judiciary Committee
Chair Al Park, who requested
the AG’s opinion because of
queries he’s gotten from mar-
riage equality supporters, said
he agrees with the conclusion
but warned that opponents of
gay marriage might be “galva-
nized” by King’s answer.
A 2008 intermediate appel-
late ruling in New York estab-
lished a statewide precedent
recognizing valid marriages by
same-sex couples contracted
in other jurisdictions, which
accelerated a trend already
underway for state and local
government authorities here
to extend such recognition.
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 FEB 1, from p.29
experiences. May’s “Gutter Gate” cre-
ates an amorphous structure deconstruct-
ing notions of craft and composition and
pruning back the glossiness. Dance The-
ater Workshop’s Bessie Schönberg
Theater, 219 W.19th St. Feb. 1–5, 7:30
p.m. Coffee and conversation precede the
Feb. 2 performance, 6:30 p.m.; the Feb.
4 performance includes a post-show talk;
and a free wine reception follows every
performance. Tickets are $20 at dancethe-
aterworkshop.org or 212-924-0077.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
CABARET
Nothing Gets
Between Brooke &
Her Audience
With “In My Life,” Brooke Shields will
share stories from her journey in show
business in an evening that will include
songs from Broadway, pop, and beyond.
Shields has earned critical praise for turns
in “Grease,” “Cabaret,” “Wonderful Town,”
and “Chicago,” and now appears for 14
shows at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency,
Park Ave. at 61st St. Feb. 1-3, 8-11, 8:30
p.m.; Feb. 4-5, 11-12, 8 & 10:30 p.m. The
cover charge is $75-$95, with a $40 food &
drink minimum. Reservations at feinstein-
sattheregency.com or 212-339-4095.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
THEATER
THU.FEB.3
Weill, Anderson’s
South Africa
Collaboration
“Lost in the Stars,” the second and
final collaboration between Kurt Weill and
Maxwell Anderson, was billed as a “musi-
cal tragedy” when it opened on Broadway
in 1949. Based on Alan Paton’s novel “Cry,
the Beloved Country,” the show provides
an uncompromising social indictment of
apartheid South Africa through the story
of two aging men — one black, one white
— brought together by a shared grief. The
score, one of Weill’s most polystylistic,
contains operatic arias, chorales, blues,
folk music, and pop tunes, and makes
abundant use of a Greek-style chorus. Gary
Griffin directs, Chase Brock choregraphs,
and Rob Berman is musical director of the
City Center’s “Encore” series production,
starring Chuck Cooper, Daniel Breaker, Pati-
na Miller, Sharon Washington, Daniel Ger-
roll, John Douglas Thompson, and Sherry
Boone. New York City Center, W. 55th
St., btwn. Sixth & Seventh Aves. Feb.
3-5, 8 p.m.; Feb. 5, 2 p.m.; Feb. 6, 6:30
p.m. Tickets are $25-$100 at nycitycenter.
䉴 JUMP, continued on p.30
org or 212-581-1212.
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011 31

th :
30 SE
PM ry OU
- 4 ua H
12 , Jan PEN
ay O
nd UR
Su IT O
VI S
RICHARD TERMINE
Fiona Shaw, Lindsay Duncan, Marty Rea, and Alan Rickman in Frank McGuiness’ adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s “John
Gabriel Borkman” at BAM.

■ THEATER
JOIN FOR YOUR HEALTH.
Meet the STAY FOR YOUR WELL BEING.
WORK OUT YOUR SPIRIT AND MIND

Borkmans AS WELL AS YOUR BODY AT THE YMCA.

Late Ibsen breaks them up at BAM

BY ANDY HUMM JOHN GABRIEL BORKMAN
BAM’s Harvey Theatre

T
he quack shrinks in the 1950s 651 Fulton St. at Ashland Pl.
who said that homosexuality was Through Feb. 6
“caused” by having a close-bind- Tue.-Sat. at 7:30 p.m.
ing mother and distant father had obvi- Sat. at 2 p.m.; Sun. at 3 p.m.
ously never met the Borkmans. $25 - $75; bam.org
Or 718-636-4100
JOIN BY JAN. 31ST AND PAY NO JOINER’S FEE.
Henrik Ibsen’s 1896 “John Gabriel
Borkman,” in a new version by Frank
McGuiness now at BAM from the Abbey Nearly half the audience in Brooklyn
VISIT YOUR LOCAL Y, TEXT* YMCA3 TO 30241 OR VISIT
Theatre in Dublin, portrays the king and found the ever more dour and breath-
YMCANYC.ORG TO GET A PASS TO “TRY THE Y FOR FREE.”
queen of these archetypes battling over a takingly misogynist pronouncements in
keenly heterosexual son –– along with an the play laugh-out-loud funny, as if it MANHATTAN
aunt who would also like to smother him were some non-musical version of “The Chinatown (212) 912-2460 Vanderbilt (212) 912-2500
with her need. Addams Family.” I don’t think Ibsen
If you’re hoping for a respite from the set out to write a tragicomedy, nor does
Harlem (212) 912-2100 West Side (212) 875-4100
snow and gloom outside, it is all over the James McDonald’s direction seem to McBurney (212) 912-2300
Harvey Theatre stage –– literally in Tom invite “Borkman” to be treated as camp,
Pye’s set design and Jean Kalman’s light- though some scenes don’t rise above BROOKLYN
ing and figuratively in the acting. melodrama. Bedford-Stuyvesant (212) 912-2280 North Brooklyn (212) 912-2230
The older characters in this little- In the finale, there are some intima- Dodge (718) 625-3136 Park Slope Armory (212) 912-2580
performed play show us how to thwart tions of Samuel Beckett, as John and Flatbush (718) 469-8100 Prospect Park (718) 768-7100
love at every turn. Aloof Alan Rickman is Ella bemoan their lives during a vivid Greenpoint (212) 912-2260
the icy papa, John Gabriel; feisty Fiona snowstorm. By then, the laughers in
Shaw, the desperately clingy mama, the hall were spent.
Gunhild; and merry Marty Rhea, the son There is some serious acting talent QUEENS
Erhart, whose love they covet without on the stage, but I don’t know if any- Cross Island (718) 479-0505 Long Island City (718) 392-7932
realizing he has moved on to girls –– or, one could pull off this late Ibsen play Flushing (718) 961-6880 Ridgewood (NOW OPEN!) (212) 912-2180
in his case, a rich widow, Mrs. Wilton with complete success today. My friend Jamaica (718) 739-6600
(Cathy Belton). Daniel Cook saw a memorable produc-
Also seeking Erhart’s love is Gunhild’s tion at the National Theatre in London
sister, Ella Rentheim (laconic Lindsay 15 years ago, with a dream cast of Paul
STATEN ISLAND
Duncan), who took care of him during Scofield, Eileen Atkins, and Vanessa Broadway (718) 981-4933 South Shore (718) 227-3200
his adolescence when the family was fall- Redgrave, and does not remember it
ing apart due to Dad’s imprisonment for causing any chuckles. He found it “one BRONX (718) 792-9736
embezzlement down at the bank. of the most depressing plays I’ve ever
Ibsen takes bleakness to an absurd seen.”
(or, perhaps, early absurdist) degree. The “Borkman” is not without academic
Borkmans are living in a house on Ella’s interest, but you might want to save FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL
estate on her charity, with John Gabriel your money for BAM’s spring import of (212) 630-YMCA OR VISIT YMCANYC.ORG
upstairs, pacing and waiting for some kind a dazzling “King Lear” that I saw at the
of vindication, and Gunhild downstairs, Donmar Warehouse with Derek Jacobi
consumed with shame and refusing to face directed by Michael Grandage. Treach-
her husband. They have been living this erous children, eyes gouged out, and a *Message and data rates may apply.
way for eight years following John Gabriel’s pile of bodies on stage –– but much more
release after five years in prison. likely to melt your heart.
32 19 JAN – 1 FEB 2011 WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

THANK YOU
BECAUSE OF YOUR SUPPORT, WE SAW UNPRECEDENTED
PROGRESS FOR THE NATION’S LGBT COMMUNITY IN 2010. www.hrc.org

PRESIDENT OBAMA SIGNED LEGISLATION THAT

WILL REPEAL “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL.”
FROM LAUNCHING A NATIONAL VETERANS TOUR TO GENERATING MORE THAN 19 MILLION
COMMUNICATIONS ABOUT REPEAL, HRC WORKED TO ENSURE THAT THIS UNJUST LAW WILL SOON BE PART
OF THE DUSTBIN OF HISTORY. DADT REPEAL JOINS HATE CRIMES PROTECTIONS AS THE SECOND PIECE
OF LANDMARK LEGISLATION FOR THE LGBT COMMUNITY PASSED IN THE LAST TWO YEARS.

SOME OTHER VICTORIES INCLUDE:

Worked closely with the Obama administration to extend hospital Led the campaign to oust bigoted Arkansas school board
visitation rights for LGBT couples. member Clint McCance.

Fought to bring marriage equality across the country. Led the Launched an innovative program to empower transgender job
effort to enact marriage equality in Washington, D.C., and seekers who are unemployed or underemployed by providing
organized the key religious voices in support of marriage. essential skills training to make the most of the job market.

Launched a campaign to work to pass  Led the call for Mormon leader Boyd Packer
marriage equality legislation in New York to renounce his discriminatory, homophobic
and helped elect three new voices for marriage remarks.
in the state Senate. NONE OF THIS
 Worked with the Joint Commission, which
Launched NOMExposed.org to hold the
WOULD HAVE accredits most hospitals, to establish
National Organization for Marriage accountable
for the misinformation and hate spread in its effort
BEEN POSSIBLE LGBT-specific accreditation standards to
eliminate discriminatory policies in healthcare
to thwart equality. WITHOUT YOUR facilities.

Developed the Countdown 2010 Grassroots SUPPORT AND
Campaign calling for a fair and inclusive
ENDA.
LEADERSHIP.
Deployed 39 staff to 17 states to work
for pro-equality candidates and recruited
more than 4,500 volunteers to support these candidates.
HRC’s Corporate Equality Index expanded with 337
employers reaching 100 percent scores, the most ever.
Signed 50 adoption agencies across the country to implement
LGBT-inclusive policies and practices.
HRC is only LGBT national partner organization to join the
national non-partisan citizenship and voter registration
program Ya Es Hora. HRC mobilized more than 500 volunteers for
40 citizenship workshops in 20 communities.
 In response to high profile anti-LGBT
bullying and youth suicides, launched a new
website to help address bullying in
elementary schools.
 Formalized a partnership with National
Education Association (NEA) to extend the reach of HRC’s
Welcoming Schools program.
Successfully lobbied the Obama administration to issue
guidance permitting employees to take federal family and medical
leave to care for a same-sex partner’s child and extending
federal domestic violence protections to include victims in
same-sex relationships.
www.hrc.org/thanks