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Description
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ToC Pride Issue; Adventuring With Wild Woman by Jennifer Corday (p26); On the Cover: Girls in Love [Alix Olson and Pamela Means] by Malinda Lo (p50); 2006 Photo Contest Winners (p56); Show Us Your Pride: Festival Favorites by Diane Anderson-Minshall (p30); Racing for a Cause by Aefa Mulholland (p32); Blasts from the Past by Malinda Lo (p34); The Power of Pride by Jocelyn Voo (p36); Best When Fresh by Zak Szymanski (p40); Getting Zen by Malinda Lo (p42); Fat Girl Speaks by Diane Anderson-Minshall (p44); Fantastic Voyage by John Esther (p46); Artsy Tartsy by Jocelyn Voo (p48): Cover Photo by Desdemona Burgin.
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Pride Issue
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Photo Contest Issue
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issue
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5
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Date Issued
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June 2006
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Format
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PDF/A
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Publisher
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Frances Stevens
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Identifier
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Curve_Vol16_No5_June-2006_OCR_PDFa.pdf
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extracted text
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I
GAY GAMES®VII
CHICAGO, USA
WHERE WOMEN OF THE WORLD MEET
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Curve
FranklySpeaking
curve
THE BEST-SELLING LESBIAN MAGAZINE
The New Look ofCuRVE
"It's Pride month, and our
20-page special Pride section
delivers a bounty of festivities,
including a historical timeline, interviews with Rosie
O'Donnell and Chastity Bono,
profiles of amazing women
and much more."
16 NUMBER 5
Frances Stevens
Diane Anderson-Minshall
Malinda Lo
Rachel Pepper
Margaret Coble
Julia Bloch, Victoria A.
Brownworth,Gretchen Lee,
Sarah Warn
Copy Chief
Laura K. Cucullu
Emmie Q. Lam, Jocelyn Voo
Proofreaders
ArianeConrad,Janel M. Lynch
Editorial Assistants
Art Director
Kas Neteler
Nathalie Peterson
Photography Editor
Photo Assistant
Marcy Mendelson
Ondine Kilker
Production Manager
Web Producer
Nikki Woelk
Catalog Manager
Holly DeMaagd
Advertising
Danie Belfield
Sara Jane Keskula
(415) 863-6538
Rivendell Media
(212) 242-6863
Kathy Beige, Jennifer Corday,
Contributing Writers
Gina Daggett, John Esther,
Michele Fisher, Lauren
Marie Fleming, Tracy E.
Gilchrist,Jenna Goldberg,
Jodi Helmer, Kate Lacey,
Char1eneLichtenstein,Karlyn
Lotney,Aefa Mulholland,
Lauren Palmigiano, Char1otte
Rice, Zak Szymanski
Contributing Illustrator Katherine Streeter
Contributing Photographers Jon Aravosis,Sunny Bak,
Arpad Benedek,Peter Bull,
DesdemonaBurgin,Heather
Carruthers,Lydia Daniller,
Dr. Dave, Lars Frazer,Beth
Herzhaft,ChristaHolka,
TeresaHurst, Limor lnbarHansen,LaWandaJohnson,
Dor Jordan,Jamie Kivisto,
CynthiaMacAdams,Jeffrey
McDonald, RoxanneMitchell,
DanielNicoletta,DanielOchoa,
Maggie Par1<er,
SiddiqiRay,
ElizabethReade, LaurieK
Schenden,ElisaShea, Amy
Silverman,Debra St. John
Publisher/Editor in Chief
Executive Editor
Associate Editor
Book Review Editor
Music Review Editor
Contributing Editors
Frances Stevens Publisher/Editor in Chief
W
VOLUME
1550 Bryant Street, Suite 510
San Francisco, California 94103
Phone (415) 863-6538 Facsimile {415) 863-1609
Advertising Sales {415) 863-6538 or (212) 446-6700
Subscription Inquiries (818) 760-8983
Advertising E-mail advertising@curvemag.com
Editorial E-mail editor@curvemag.com
Letters to the Editor E-mail letters@curvemag.com
elcome to Pride month! As you can see, we're kicking off the gay holidays with a bold new look,
designed by our savvy art director, Kas Neteler.'Tve been envisioning this change for a long time;'
she says, and her vision delivers a fresh, hip style with a sleek, modern feel.
On first glance, you probably noticed the front cover looks different. We've streamlined the CURVE
logo and made sure that the cover pulls you in with one glance - now you can easily see what's inside.
But the cover isn't the only thing we've changed: It's a cover-to-cover transformation.
The energetic, bright color palette we're using throughout the magazine (check out, especially,
Curvatures and our reviews department) is intended to be as vibrant as our community. Once at your
favorite section, it'll be simple to spot the Editor's Picks, now in their new format on the outermost
columns of the page.
Our new design unifies all the departments from the front and back of the magazine in a cohesive
style while still allowing for flexibility in tone. You can still count on Dyke Drama to crack you up and
Victoria Brownworth to make you think about politics. The versatility of this format has also allowed us
to deliver more editorial content. Out in Front, which used to highlight only one woman, now profiles
three amazing women who work behind the scenes in our community. We've also brought back horoscopes for your astrological fix; check out Charlene Lichtenstein's new column, Astro Grrl, in our Advice
section near Ask Fairy Butch and Lipstick & Dipstick.
Our redesign is just part of the many exciting things happening in this issue. It's Pride month, and
our 20-page special Pride section delivers a bounty of festivities, including a historical timeline, interviews with Rosie O'Donnell and Chastity Bono, profiles of amazing women who lead Pride festivals
across the country, and much more.
In the special section, you can also find a schedule of Pride events that highlights those that CuRVE
will be attending this summer. And don't forget: We'll be hosting official parties at both Atlanta Pride
(see the opposite page) and Gay Games VII (see page 1 for details). So be sure to stop by, enjoy the parties with us, and let us know what you think about our new look.
Volume 16 Issue 5 Curve (ISSN 1087 -867)() is published monthly (except for
Januruy and July) by Outspoken Enterprises, Inc., 1550 Bryant St., Ste. 510,
San Francisco, CA 94103. Subscription price: $31.60/year, $43.60 Canadian
(U.S. funds only) and $44 international (U.S. funds only). Returned checks will
be assessed a $25 surcharge. Periodicals postage paid at San Francisco,
CA 94114 and at additional mailing offices (USPS 0010-355). Ccntents of
Curve Magazine may not be reproduced in any manner, either whole or in
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Lack of any representation only signifies insufficient materials. Submissions
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Printedin the U.S.
A.
Keyword: Curvemag Web site: curvemag.com
21curve
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JUNE
22
NIGHT
OF
Features
"Whatkind
of lesbian
was I if
I couldn't
camp and
wear
flannel?I
knew I could
butchit up.
I would learn
to canoe.
I would
swim naked
in the river."
June 2006
26 Adventuring With Wild Women A handful
36 The Power of Pride In more and more cities,
of women, a slew of drums and the wilderness
women are heading up powerful Pride organiza-
reunite one lesbian with her nature-loving side.
tions. What does this mean for the rest of us?
By Jennifer Corday
By Jocelyn Voo
50 Girls in Love Poet Alix Olson and musician
page 26
Volume 16#5
40
Best When Fresh Choreographer Sean Dorsey
Pamela Means make for one sexy couple. They tell
takes San Francisco's annual Fresh Meat Festival
us how they pull off their complex romance.
to tasty new levels. By Zak Szymanski
By Malinda Lo
42 Getting Zen Former party girl Valerie Mason56 2006 Photo Contest Winners You snapped,
John helps us get our Zen on. By Malinda Lo
we judged, now revel in the glorious winners.
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Fat Girl Speaks Chastity Bono talks about shed-
5
Show Us Your Pride
ding pounds, ditching drugs and finding love.
a:
30
By Diane Anderson-Minshall
44
Festival Favorites Looking for a place to strut
az
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your stuff? Snag this handy guide.
(.)
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By Diane Anderson-Minshall
46
Fantastic Voyage Rosie O'Donnell makes us
want to plan a vacation - with the kids.
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32
Racing for a Cause Lesbian activists run, race,
By John Esther
walk and compete - and you can help, too.
By Aefa Mulholland
34
Blasts From the Past Our Pride timeline offers a
magnificent visual history lesson. By Malinda Lo
Q,
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48 Artsy Tartsy The National Queer Arts Festival
_promises even more captivating lesbians.
Cover Photo by
DesdemonaBurgin
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LET'S
GO
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Departments
June 2006
"I livedfor many
years in the
BeaverState,
and although
I trapped a lot
more of them in
Californiathan I
did in Oregon,
I stillhavea
specialplace
in my, ahem,
heartfor the
PortlandPride
celebration."
page 70
2
8
Frankly Speaking Publisher Frances
Stevens tells it like it is.
Contributors Read all about 'em here.
16 Open Studio Lisa Congdon paints a
66 Music Watch Margaret Coble takes
very pretty picture.
on Candye Kane, Janis Ian and Nunez.
Plus: Tina Angotti, Cris Williamson and
Pansy Division.
22 Ask Fairy Butch She tells us about the
Loken is hot, The L Word sucks and so
much more.
12 Out in Front Up close and personal
with teen feminist Miranda Elliott, lesbian
fitness guru Linda Cole and Zimbabwean
gay rights activist Fadzai Muparutsa.
14 Curvatures Dyke March musts ... The
women of V-Day ... Dirty moms ... Pee
standing up ... Save Tee Corinne ...
Goodbye lesbian pioneers ... Gossip
about Keira Knightley, Mischa Barton,
Jenna Jameson ... We love Beth Ditto
even more now.
teach us how to flirt.
Tech Girl The iPod Hi-Fi, Crosley's
old-school Stack-O-Matic, iBall wireless speakers and Outrigger's outdoor
sounds.
24 Astro Grrl Astrologer Charlene
Lichtenstein reveals all.
62 Sapphic Screen Tracy E. Gilchrist goes
inside the lesbian film scene in Austin,
Texas. Plus: Karen Green comes out,
Breasts and Mammie Dearest.
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23 Lipstick & Dipstick Our two gals
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10 Letters Melissa rocks, Kristanna
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a look at what's really important this
Pride season.
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that it's time to find your own pride.
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64 In the Stacks Rachel Pepper investigates Leslie Feinberg's Drag King
Dreams and Diane DiMassa's Chicken
Rules. Plus: Poet Amy King and new
guides to lesbian sex.
80 Top Ten Reasons We Love Former
TV exec and Queer Lounge founder
Ellen Huang.
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Contributors
"As Feb. 14th approached this year, a lot of my friends groaned about
Valentine's Day;' recalls contributor LaurenPalmigiano.
But rather than
echoing their complaints about the growing commercialism of the holiday,
Palmigiano told her friends about V,Day, the movement started by
VaginaMonologuesplaywright Eve Ensler to stop violence against women.
She writes about the event, officially celebrated annually on Feb. 14, on
page 17."We spent V,Day buying tickets to fundraising events and
making plans to attend a benefit performance of The VaginaMonologues,"
Palmigiano says."The more we learned, the less we complained about love
lost or love never even had, and the meaning of the day changed:' A writer
and newly proclaimed Vagina Warrior, Palmigiano recently moved to Los
Angeles where she co,hosts a monthly gay comedy show at the Upright
Citizens Brigade Theater.
"Between the unbelievable energy of the performers and the crowds of
people stomping their feet and hollering, I thought the room was going to
implode;' says ZakSzymanski
of the very first performance of Fresh Meat,
San Francisco's groundbreaking trans and queer cabaret. "I knew then
that San Francisco's trans community was a powerful contributor to the
creation of an entirely new world:' In this issue, Szymanski profiles the
5,year,old music and dance showcase and its artistic director, choreogra,
pher Sean Dorsey (see page 40), whose own queerly gendered narratives
have been making big waves in the modern dance world. Szymanski is a
writer and journalist whose work has been featured in books and media
worldwide. He is an assistant editor at the Bay Area Reporter,one of the
oldest and longest,running LGBT newspapers in the country, and a
frequent contributor to CuRvE.
Needto get away1
Wehavethe perfectplace.
Actually,we have9,000.
Ourguidesa e packedwith
LGBTaccommodations,
bars,
bookstores,
cafes& more,
acrossthe US,Canada,
Europe& beyo d.
Photo assistant MarcyMendelson
joined the CuRvE staff this spring to
learn the ins,and,outs of magazine publishing before launching her online
venture, rootmag.typepad.com, a magazine on global dance culture. Though
her position at CURVErequires her to uncover a variety of unusual images,
"I never expected that I would have a hard time finding usable pictures of
Jenna Jameson;' she says,"but it was fun sourcing them:' Mendelson has
worked as an artist's representative, a commercial photographer, and taught
online classes in digital photography through the Academy of Art. Her fine
art photography, including subjects as diverse as San Francisco's night life
and her pregnant friends, has been exhibited in Philadelphia and San
Francisco. Visit her online at innercamera.com.
Stargayzer and new CuRvE horoscope columnist Charlene
Lichtenstein
(see 'J\stro Grrl;' page 24) is the author of the best,selling astrology book
HerScopes:A Guide to Astrologyfor Lesbians."When I first started out
writing my columns in 1989, there was no specific LGBT,oriented
horoscope;' Lichtenstein says. "The past few years have seen great
expansion, providing me with opportunities to work with some terrific
publications and Web sites, as well as penning a sun sign, lesbian
astrology book:' She has hosted a weekly astrology chat show on the
WashingtonPostWeb site, given astrological advice on GAYBC radio,
and been interviewed on radio stations from Australia to Ireland. When
she isn't globe,trotting, she lectures on astrology and tarot to anyone
Callfor a freeca alog,
or logonto ouro ineservice.
s I curve
who will listen. Lichtenstein predicts that one day a lesbian will be
elected president of the United States, although definitely not before
2008. Her horoscopes appear in LGBT publications worldwide as well
as on her Web site, thestarryeye.com.
■
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Letters
"I am now 35 and willbe goingfor yearlymammograms
insteadof waitinguntilI am 38. I hope Melissa[Etheridge]
sees this shortletter.She is my idolnot just becauseshe
is a lesbian,but a cancersurvivorlikemy mom. Thankyou
for beinga survivor,Melissa."
Kudos to Kristanna
Butch Fashion Alert
I really enjoyed reading about Kristanna Loken
(Vol. 16, #2). She seems like a strong woman who
knows what she wants and does what she wants to
I have been a subscriber of your magazine for
bad reputations are raped. R.A.D. seeks to educate and empower all women so they may learn
years. I read an article about a lesbian designer that
not only dependency on self, but also decision-
do rather than following others. I think she was a
designs clothes for butch girls. Not just T-shirts,
but jeans and professional clothing. I can't find the
making skills and self-realization of their own
physical power. I believe this issue touches and
great actress to have on the cover!
magazine and have looked all over the Internet for
affects every human being through either per-
the designer. Would you happen to have the name
of the designer?
sonal experiences or those shared between family
and friends. Please continue to enlighten your
- Brittany, New York
What the L?
When The L Word first aired, the lesbian community grasped onto it because it showed us
not just as stereotypes but as regular people in
real relationships of all kinds, including healthy,
monogamous relationships. The show was witty,
it was funny, and of course it was sexy as hell! So,
what the hell happened in season 3?
We have more drama and tragedy than anything else. Worse than that, somehow this season
has decided to focus on penises in more ways than
one. What I want is what The L Word gave us
in seasons 1 and 2. I want lesbian sex! Is that so
much to ask from a show about lesbians?
- Jen, Orlando,Fla.
We Miss Dana, Too
I think you should do an interview with Erin
Daniels. I think it would ... help the fans understand what happened. As a once very enthusiastic L
Word watcher, I probably won't watch The L Word
next year. Season 3 was a bummer. [The character
of] Dana Fairbanks [was] the one woman on The
L Word who made us all stand up and take notice.
Not only was she goofy and funny, but she was real.
I wish that the story line for Dana ... would have
been one of survival, because every day people do
survive. We are subjected to enough bad, no matter
how real it is, and ... the one show we have could
have kept us on an upbeat tempo.
Thanks for being a great magazine and being
around for so long. I love all your hard work and
dedication to the GLBT community.
- Robin, via e-mail
101curve
- Terri Smith, via e-mail
Terri,we hopeyou had a chanceto look
throughour April 2006 issue(Vol. 16, #3), in which
we covereda slew of great queerdesigners.Check out
Studded, a line of tailored,business-appropriate
clothing for butches, at chocolatebabydesigns.com,
and
Parisa Parnian'sRigged OUT /Fitters, for a more
casuallook,at riggedoutfit.com.
Editor's note:
Thanks to Melissa
My mom had breast cancer when she was 48. The
cancer spread into her lymph nodes. She lost her
right breast and most of her nodes. I was 19 and
very devastated, but the cancer never returned.
I know ·what Melissa [Etheridge] and her family
have been through. The song "I Run for Life" hits
me especially hard, and I thank her for writing that
song. I am now 35 and will be going for yearly
mammograms instead of waiting until I am 38.
I hope Melissa sees this short letter. She is
my idol not just because she is a lesbian, but a
cancer survivor like my mom. Thank you for
being a survivor, Melissa. Thank you Tammy,
Bailey and Beckett for being strong and supportive through a rough time, because I know
somewhat about that.
- April C. Hedlund, Bridgeport,Conn.
Radical Defense Against Rape
I instruct a women-only Rape Aggression Defense
course at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. It's
quite shocking to see how many students buy
into myth that only young, attractive women with
many readers ("Fighting Rape on Campus;' Vol.
16, #3) about the dangers of date rape drugs,
same sex rape, recognizing the warning signs and
how to be a survivor.
- Jennifer K. Kellogg,Minneapolis
God Is Dead
I am a lesbian atheist and have had no luck in
finding any articles on any gay/lesbian Web sites
or in any gay/lesbian mags about atheism in our
community. It is sad that the gay community never
acknowledges that we exist. Many people believe
that you need God in your life to be moral and
good. Well, I'm living proof that this is not true.
God and religion are practically forced down
my throat every time I watch TV or pick up a
magazine (even a lesbian magazine). I hope you
will consider giving some space in your mag to
atheists in our community.
- Sue, via e-mail
Got Something on Your Mind?
E-mail letters@curvemag.com; write to CuRVE
Letters, 1550 Bryant St., Ste. 510, San Francisco,
CA 94103; or fax to (415) 863-1609. Please
include your name, city and state. Letters may be
edited for clarity and length.
Corrections
On the Scene page in our May 2006 issue (Vol.
16, #4), we neglected to credit photographers
Nancy Wood and Purdy Art Co. for the photos
from Diversity Weekend in Eureka Springs, Ark.
CuRVE regrets the omission. ■
MIAMIANDBEACHES.COM or call 1-888-76-MIAMI
Four of Miami's most popular and renown annual
celebrations highlight a noteworthy calendar of
events, attracting visitors from across the country
and around the world.
For a complete
list of Miami
events,
visit
• White Party (11/22/2006 - 11/27/2006)
• Winter Party Festival (March 2007)
• Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (4/21/2006 - 4/30/2006)
• Aqua Girl (5/11/2006 - 5/14/2006)
FestivalSeason.com.
Additional
information
can be found
at GoGayMiami.com
Feminist Firebrand
InternationalHonors
WorkingHard for Her Money
Is feminism dead? Not for 18-year-old
MirandaElliott,who co-founded a feminist
club at the University of Chicago Laboratory
In a country where the president has
repeatedly declared gays and lesbians to
be "worse than dogs and pigs," and arrests
The decision to stop selling ads for the Los
Angeles Times and start sculpting bodies has
turned LindaColeinto one of the hottest
High School in the fall of 2004 with her
and intimidation are frequent, Fadzai
entrepreneurs on the fitness scene. Her stu-
friend Claire Redfield. Though Elliott says
that her high school is quite progressive,
"When we started, there was definitely a lot
Muparutsa- head of Gays and Lesbians
dio, 4 Ideal Fitness, has become ground zero
of Zimbabwe's gender advocacy program
- risks her health and safety to work for
for getting in shape, for everyone from soccer
moms to celebrities. Cole knew it would
the rights of sexual minorities. Undeterred
by the hostile political climate, the 26-year-
require long hours and a significant financial
investment in order to become successful, but
old activist has been working with GALZ,
founded in 1990, since 2002.
she never doubted that she would eventually
of misconception about who feminists are ....
Even at our really liberal school people were
like, 'Oh, feminazis:" Elliott, who was also
the president of her school's Queer-Straight
Alliance and came out to her parents when
she was a freshman, says she has "always been
outspoken about feminist issues:'
Seeking advice on how best to build the
club, Elliott consulted feminist activists,
including Alix Olson. "We had these broad
plans of like 'Let's save the world!,,, Elliott
says. "But Alix basically said, 'Focus your energies into your community .... Try to fix what
you know the best, first:" Taking that advice
as its guiding principle, the club organized
around issues of sex education in Chicago's
high schools. 'J\bstinence-only programs are
the only government-funded sex education
programs at this point;' Elliott explains.
The club has since worked with Planned
Parenthood, NARAL, the Illinois Caucus for
Adolescent Health and the Sex Education
Activists. Last December, Elliott helped
organize a rally at the Chicago Public Schools
offices to lobby for improving sex education,
and as a result, Elliott's club met with CPS
administrators to take steps to change the system. And that's only the beginning for Elliott:
This spring she began blogging about sex
education and feminism at sexetc.org, and this
fall she begins college at Columbia University
in New York. - Malinda Lo
Last year, she traveled to New York on
behalf of the organization to accept the
International Gay and Lesbian Human
Rights Commission's Felip~ de Souza
Award, named after a 16th-century Brazilian
woman who was persecuted after another
woman confessed her intimacy with de
Souza during an inquisition trial. The
$5,000 award will allow GALZ to further its
current efforts on behalf of women's rights,
economic equality and their HIV/ AIDS
campaign, which provides care and education
in attempts to reduce the stigma attached to
HIV/ AIDS in Zimbabwe.
"It was really fabulous;' Muparutsa says,
to receive the award. "For a lot of people in
the organization it was a real boost .... Not
a lot of people know the work that we do, so
be running a thriving business.
"I realized from the beginning that ... I
had to have faith in myself;' she says. "I also
had a lot of passion and a lot of confidence
that made me believe that I would make it:'
Cole decided to start a fitness studio after
learning about a new fitness trend that she
believed would revolutionize the fitness
world. "I heard about SuperSlow, which is a
30-minute workout, once a week, and I decided to try it. I was really skeptical at first but
once I tried it, I was convinced it worked:'
Cole spent a few months working as a
SuperSlow trainer at small studios in Los
Angeles before opening 4 Ideal Fitness in
2002. In the beginning, Cole had just 10
clients, and she trained them in the corner of
a small studio. Four years later, 4 Ideal Fitness
for it to be recognized internationally means
that we are making some sort of an impact:'
Muparutsa and GALZ may be making a
encompasses 2,500 square feet of studio space
and has grown into the largest SuperSlow
studio in Southern California.
"I am proud to be a successful business
bigger impact than they know; as their work
becomes internationally recognized, they offer
inspiration to others far from their home.
woman;' she says. "I am equally proud that I
am out, and I am making a statement to other
women in the lesbian community that they
- Janel M. Lynch
can do anything they want if they just put
their hearts and souls into it:'
- Jodi Helmer
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Icurve
Curvatures
Dyke March Fashion Demands
For years weve been striding
down the streets every summer
with thousands of other queer
GOTTA GO?
Justin timefor Pride- and
its smellyport-a-potties
that
arenowhere
nearwomanfriendly- comestheamazingWhizPlus,a stand-to-pee
devicethatletsyoupeeanywherea guycan.TheWhiz
Plusrollsdownto fit in your
pocketor purseandis great
fortraveling,
campingand
avoiding
dirtypublictoilet
seats.Justunzipyourjeans
or pullupyourskirt,move
yourundiesaside,pressit
snuglyagainstyourstuff
andlet 'er fly.Withitsbright
purplecolor,it's notmeant
to bea man'smember,
but
if you'renothopingto pass,
youcansaunterupto the
men'surinalandbedonein
a flash.Themanufacturer
claimsitsself-cleansing
plasmacoatingrepelsliquid,
soit drieswithoneflick.Get
yoursat whizbiz.com.au.
- JennaGoldberg
girls in the annual dyke marches,
wearing protest tees, tank tops,
plain ol' bras or nothing at all.
For those of us who are bored
with baring our simple cotton bras but aren't quite ready
for going completely nude (or
donning Victoria's Secret sheer
black bias cuts), well, I've got the
answer: Jude Marks' delightfully
fun, handmade and whimsically
empowering Sparkle Plenty
Creations bustiers.
Marks, a former instructional
designer
for
Apple
Computers, left the corporate fast track to make oneof-a-kind bras for women in
beachy Santa Cruz, Calif.,
after she found inspiration
while attending the Burning
Man Festival. Available online at sparkleplentycreations.com, her sexy and outrageous
bus tiers - think Victoria's Secret meets John Waters - have
become an unexpected hit with women, especially lesbians,
across the age spectrum (including one woman who bought
a handmade bra for her 80th birthday) and size ranges ("I
never charge more for plus sizes!" Marks exclaims).
Marks scours the Internet and the garment districts of New
"When I wear my bustiers, I get lots of reactions from passersby: high fives, appreciative comments, whistles and mostly
big smiles. This happened first at Burning Man ... and it was
such an exhilarating experience I decided to start Sparkle
Plenty Creations so other women could have the same kind of
fun. And to spread joy and whimsy to the world:'
Even her daughter, who currently works in retail man-
York, Los Angeles and San Francisco to find unique trims and
embellishments, ensuring that no two bras are ever alike. And,
agement, caught the bug; she designs the Pink Line, which
is especially popular among hipster chicks. Diane
Marks admits, shes her own best customer.
Anderson-Minshall
The Internet Killed the TV Star
For those whose TV cravings aren't satiated by
the hundreds of satellite or digital cable options
their most popular offerings. Women
make appearances on the net-
out there, there's a new network to program into
the remote - or the mouse. Proud Television
(part of Pride Nation), the world's first 24-hour
work's game shows, talk shows
and comedy series, but Proud
Television is on the lookout for more 'girl programming and series" and plans to
gay IPTV network, can be viewed 24 hours a day
either on your TV with a set top box, along with
over 70 other channels, or on the Internet, simply
by opening up an online remote. Later in 2006,
Proud's programming will also be bouncing off
satellites to cell phones and iPods near you.
Proud Television's reality series, travel shows
and special events coverage are currently among
14lcurve
aggressively focus on acquiring
more for 2006. Future womenspecific scheduling is set to include
several radio podcasts on Pride Nation
Network's online radio, featuring independent recording artists and shows balancing great
music with talk. With new delivery
methods and more carriage agreements reaching a potential audience of over 10 million viewers,
the network hopes to do the
LGBT world proud. Those
who want to witness this
televised revolution can equip
themselves with an Akimbo set
top box and get 75 niche channels, including Proud Television, or
watch online at pridenation.com for free.
- Aefa Mulholland
Pledging Diversity
What better name for one of the nation's first non-gender specific, queer-friendly fraternity than Kappa Iota Nu or KIN?
With its commitment to diversity reflected in the identities
Emelee
Sharon Stone
of its founding members (a lesbian, a bisexual woman and a
bisexual man), the fraternity welcomes pledges of all genders
and sexual identities as long as they are current Sacramento
State University students.
Co-founder Fantasia Stensland combined efforts with
Lenaea Sanders and Nick Franco to start the fraternity
"I think people are too judgmental. They stereotype
and they don't give other people a chance."
>> Teen club music diva Emelee
after reading an article in the university's newspaper, The State
Hornet, that featured a student explaining how much her mem-
bership in a sorority had meant to her. It occurred to Stensland
that the gay community could benefit from something similar
- an organization that offered a sense of connection and support to students.
"There are gay fraternities and lesbian sororities and I just
felt that, that was counterintuitive to my understanding of this
population, that gender identity is something that a lot of people deal with;' Stensland says. "Some people, clearly, would not
be able to choose [one or the other] and for our community, it
just seemed natural that we be non-gender specific co-ed. What
other way could it go? As I looked around for that it appeared
that nothing existed just yet:'
While the fraternity will focus on socials, philanthropy and
activism, as well as academics, Stensland emphasizes that the
main goal of the fraternity is to help other students graduate.
"Were organizing to graduate students. Overwhelmingly students who participate like their experience better, they perform
better and they are able to graduate at a higher percentage:'
KIN's founders hope the idea will catch on at campuses with
much larger gay populations and that the fraternity will eventually have a national affiliation. At Sacramento State, KIN has
received only positive support from the Greek community and
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from students of varying genders and sexualities interested in
pledging. Stensland stresses that the fraternity does not wish
to be exclusively queer: "We see the alliance component of our
organization as one of the most important components. We
want to have an alliance with people who can be understanding of our issues and want to support them, not necessarily
because they are dealing with the issues but just because they
understand and because they like hanging out with us, we're
Cl)
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fun!" To find out more about KIN go to kappaiotanu.com.
LL
- Janel M. Lynch
::::,
z
"Seeing it in a room full of strangers was so disrespectful and so shocking that I did not know what
to do. So I went into the booth and slapped [the
director]. And left.">> Sharon Stone, on the
first time she saw her infamous leg-crossing
· scene, in a new interview on the recently
released DVD Basic Instinct: Ultimate Edition
"I feel very proud of who I was to [Ellen] and for her
and with her and who I am in many ways,
because of her. So, I feel proud about my part of
it, whereas I can think of relationships I had when I
was younger and less responsible that, for years, I
would look back on and feel so bad that I did X, Y
and Z. That's the hard stuff, to overcome the forgiveness of yourself. Forgiveness of other people,
I think, is actually less of a feat."
>> Alexandra Hedison to She
"One of the ways we're not willing to sell out is by
acting straight, talking straight, being thin. I don't
want to look like Britney Spears, I just don't want
to. She's hideous."
>> The Gossip's Beth Ditto to PopMatters.com
0
...,
June 2006 j 15
Lisa Congdon
I MIXED-MEDIA ARTIST I
The daughter of a textile artist mother and physicist father, LisaCongdon
has a love of art and craft that began at a young age.
Though she has no formal artistic training, she uses this to her advantage. Her work explores dark themes such as loneliness and
longing in bright, airy, pastel~colored scenes and collages. She draws most of her inspiration from images that represent liberation
- pirate ships and birds are among her current favorites - and works in several media including paper collage, wood, screen~
printing, ink on paper, textiles and paint. Her individual pieces are often part of a larger series and start as an idea in a small note~
book she carries with her everywhere. Congdon's art has been shown in Seattle and can currently be seen at the Edo Gallery in San
Francisco in June and July 2006. For more information, visit her blog at birdinthehand.typepad.com.
16
Icurve
-
Marcy Mendelson
Curvatures
Calling All Vagina Warriors
O~ Valentine's Day you may
have showered your girlfriend
set to put on benefit productions ofEnsler's multi-woman
with gooey filled chocolates,
play The Vagina Monologues
in 45 different countries.
singing teddy bears and
edible undies, but many of us
Each
year the
V-Day
welcomed in V- Day, a global
grass-roots movement started
campaign spotlights a particular group of women who are
eight years ago by Vagina
Monologues
creator,
Eve
experiencing violence, with
the goal of creating world-
Ensler, to help stop violence
against women. The "V" in
wide awareness of the issue.
Themed "Vagina Warriors:
V-Day stands for victory, val-
The New Revolution;'
entine and vagina, and though
Feb. 14 is the official V-Day,
2006 focus is on comfort
the
women, female civilians who
it's really a kickoff to annual
efforts, to stop violence and increase awareness, that continue
all year long.
Since its inception, V-Day has raised over $30 million for
national and international anti-violence organizations. In 2005
there were over 2,500 V-Day benefit events, contributing to
over 1,000 anti-violence groups. The Karama program started
were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military between 1932 and 1945. V-Day
joins organizations across Asia in support of these women and
their fight for an official apology from Japan's government. In
August 2005, these groups coordinated simultaneous demonstrations in front of Japanese embassies around the world
and are currently workin~ on petitions, demonstrations, and
in Cairo to provide training workshops, meetings and cultural
events to end gender violence in Africa, Asia and the Middle
Vagina Monologues performances in Seoul.
East. V-Day is also responsible for funding the first women's
community organizers can host benefit productions of The
shelters in Egypt and Iraq, and sponsoring workshops for
women in Afghanistan. Those are major strides in countries
that usually don't rank women's rights as a high priority.
Want to become a Vagina Warrior:> College students and
Vagina Monologues. Proceeds from those productions, or any
type of fundraising event, go right back to school or community
organizations working to stop violence against women. Vagina
V-Day's goal is to celebrate new activists and leaders and
Warriors can also donate money directly through vday.org or by
to inspire those already working. Vagina Warriors are people,
women and men, who have dedicated themselves to ending
shopping in the V-Day online store. Sign up online for V-Mail
to keep informed about upcoming events and opportunities.
violence against women. Currently over 860 communities are
-
•'
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TEES FOR
DYKE MOMS
A fewfirebrandT-shirt
companies
arehoningin
on the mommymarketwith
somerighteousresults.
TakeTBMaternity'stees
emblazoned
with"Virgin"
and"Goodin Bed."Fortune
Teesoffersfortunecookieworthyshirtsadornedwith
phraseslike"Anepidural
is in my nearfuture."And
queergirlsaregoinggaga
overRobertaD'Cunha's
BadMommyline.D'Cunha
is oneof thosejill-of-alltrades(filmmaker,
model,
artist,etc.)whose"I like
Bush.Nonothim,stupid"
teesaregainingin popularity becauseof D'Cunha's
queer-friendly
bent.
Pickupyourfaveat
tbmaternity.com,
fortuneteeshirt.com
or
badmommy.net.
- Diane
Anderson-Minshall
Lauren Palmigiano
Never Want to Say Goodbye
•
attorney, novelist and publisher,
died at her home in Rehoboth
Lesbians (like most people) are funny about death
- we want our sheroes immortalized and eulo-
her life to making people aware
of composting.
gized but we also don't want to hear too much
about their passing, a reminder of our own mortal-
Jean O'Leary, a lesbian
activist and former nun, died
ity. Editors have a hard time balancing those needs
with the deadline pressure of creating a magazine
June 4, 2005, of lung cancer. O'Leary, former execu-
that leaves our computers a full three months
before it gets into the hands of readers.
tive director of the National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force,
the legendary feminist publisher Naiad Press in 1972, and
We've mourned the passing of plenty of
women beloved wives, girlfriends, mothers, daughters - and we hope to tell you more
helped to organize the first
National Coming Out Day.
After suffering from a sei-
A&M Books in 1995. As a law
student, Marchant was assistant
to women's rights pioneer Alice
about them as the year goes by. We missed some
in 2005 worthy of note: Mary Arlene Appelhof
passed away May 4, 2005, from cancer of the
zure caused by a drug reaction,
Anyda Marchant
Allison Noelle Crews died June
11, 2005, at the age of 22. Editor and producer of
Paul, who at the time was doing
research for an Equal Rights
Amendment. She is survived by Muriel Crawford,
abdominal lining. Through her publishing company, Flowerfield Enterprises, Appehof published
her book Worms Eat My Garbage, and dedicated
girl-mom.com, Crews was named one of the Top
30 Activists Under 30 for Choice in 2003.
her partner of 57 years, as well as a large circle of
loving friends. - Diane Anderson-Minshall
On Jan. 11, 2006, Anyda Marchant, a retired
Beach, Del., at age 94. The
Brazil-born Marchant, who
• wrote 14 novels under the pen
name "Sarah Aldridge;' founded
and Lauren Marie Fleming
June 2006
I 17
Curvatures
Lesbofile
We're So Proud of Our Fellow "Lesbians"
Dannii Minogue, Mischa Barton, Jenna Jameson and more. I ByJocelynYoo
It's June, which means, of course, you're probably
already preparing to celebrate Pride by getting
drunk with a bunch of gay men - a practice that
many "straight" women also seem to follow. And
you know what happens when you combine booze
and the bi-curious? Juicy gossip, that's what.
"Threegirlsin a bed is a bedfulof girls,"Ford rationalized."Twogirlsin bed are lesbians."No word as
to what two straightgirlsand a gay man in bed are
- besidesgood publicity.
Now Showing: Everything!
In the grand tradition of lesser-celebrity siblings
(Ashlee Simpson, anyone?), it's textbook to get
your name in the paper by any means necessary.
Quasi-famous singer Dannii Minogue,younger
sister of ass-tastic Kylie,was caught on tape at
London's Puss 'N Boots female strip club enjoying a probing tongue-bath from a naked dancer. "I
can't believe how far they went;' said one witness
to a local newspaper. "It was more like a porn film.
There were hands and tongues everywhere - I
thought it was going to turn into a full-on orgy:'
Guess the "no touching" strip club rule doesn't
apply when you're famous ... even moderately so.
Mischa, Mischa, Mischa
Maybe it's because The O.C. devoted five -
five!
episodes to developing the lesbian-relation-
ship-tryst-whatever between MischaBartonand
OliviaWilde,but we always hoped that Barton still
harbored a special soft spot for chocha in her cruel,
surprisingly hetero (especially by Hollywood standards) heart. Could it be true? At a Tinseltown
new-wave, brat-pack party attended by much of her
O.C. brethren and JeremyPiven,Barton was spotted connected at the lips with a blond rocker chick
- until she suddenly remembered she's still dating
ol' oil heir what's-his-face. Damn.
AngelinaJolie and almost-husband
What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas
JennaJamesonhooking up with girls? Old hat.
Jenna Jameson hooking up with a girl who denies
the encounter? Say it ain't so! Jameson told all the
details, about an alleged Halloween sex romp in
Vegas with fellow busty blond bombshell Jenny
McCarthy,to shock jock HowardStern."We're
hosting a Halloween party at the Hard Rock;'
Jameson said, "and afterward the two of us went
into a secluded booth ... Jenny kicked back ... and
I'm just, like, 'Oh, here we go. It's on .. .' and she
was great!"
All in the Family
According to British newspaper
1sjcurve
Daily Star,
Brad Pitt
were at odds as to who would be the godparent of their children, Maddox, Zahara and resident Hottest Fetus in the World. A source told
the paper, "Brad plumped for his best friend
GeorgeClooney,and Angelina was keen on her
ex-husband JonnyLee Miller.But she decided
they needed a strong female force in their lives:'
Tabloids immediately latched onto the idea that
Jolie had asked her ex-lover JennyShimizuto
provide that strong female force (and you can't
blame them - all tabloids are unoriginal when
it comes to lesbian gossip), but Shimizu later
dismissed it as mere rumor, telling the folks at
AfterEllen.com, "Maybe [Jolie] called me and I
didn't get the message:'
Gay Arithmetic
The March issue of Vanity Fair features Scarlett
Johansson
and KeiraKnightley
in the buff, lying
atop a fluffy white bed, with fashion designer Tom
Fordpractically stuffing his nose in Knighdey's ear.
The reason for the puzzling, straight-guy fantasy
acted out by Ford, a decidedly not-straight guy?
Wedding Crashers actress RachelMcAdams
was set
to be the third naked body in the Annie Leibovitz
photo shoot, but evidently didn't get the memo
that the photo would be more revealing than Paris
Hilton's sex tape. So why did Ford jump in the
mix? "Three girls in a bed is a bedful of girls;' he
rationalized. "Two girls in bed are lesbians:' No
word as to what two straight girls and a gay man
in bed are - besides good publicity. ■
Curvatures
HELP A
LEGEND
Dratna Queen
The literary and theater arts communities mourned
the loss earlier this year of Wendy Wasserstein,
who died at age 55 after being diagnosed just two
months earlier with lymphoma.
A playwright and essayist who was a recipient of the Obie, Tony and Pulitzer awards, the
Brooklyn-born Wasserstein wrote penetrating,
often devastatingly funny accounts of contemporary women's negotiations with the worlds of
career, family and society. The first play of hers to
receive major notice was Uncommon Women and
Others, which reflected Wasserstein's experiences
at the all-women Mount Holyoke College. It was
produced off-Broadway in 1977 with a cast that
included Jill Eikenberry and Swoosie Kurtz, and
later was adapted for television with Meryl Streep
joining the cast.
In 1988, Wasserstein won the Pulitzer (among
other awards) for The Heidi Chronicles,which spans 20 years
in the life of a baby-boomer art historian and is considered
one of the most important literary works to depict 20thcentury American feminist life. The Heidi Chronicles opened
off-Broadway with Joan Allen and Sarah Jessica Parker, who
was later replaced by
Cynthia Nixon when the
play moved to Broadway.
I was fortunate to
have met Wasserstein
when I was 14 years old
at an awards luncheon
for young playwrights,
where I was able to
experience first-hand her
commitment to emerging artists. She was an
avid supporter of the
Henry Fonda Young
Playwrights
Project,
Very Special Arts and
many other organizations dedicated to fostering talented, young writers in the New York area and beyond.
I will always remember her warm, enthusiastic support of
me and all the other young playwrights dreaming of Broadway,
a place where sometimes even a brash, witty, outspoken femi-
TeeCorinne's
sensual
photographs
of lesbians
and
herbooksonlesbian
erotica
helpedshapeandexpand
images
of lesbians
and
lesbian
sexuality
overthepast
30years.Butlastyear,cancer
claimed
Corinne's
partner
of 17years,Beverly
Brown,
andnowCorinne
herself
hasbeendiagnosed
with
cancer.
Likemanylesbians,
Corinne
haslimitedfinancial
resources.
ArtistJeanSiriusis
currently
caringforCorinne,
butCorinne
needsmorethan
thehelpof closeandcaring
friends.Sheneedsmoney.
Please
sendwhatever
you
can;checksshouldbemade
outtoTeeA.Corinne
and
mailedto P.O.Box278,Wolf
Creek,
OR97497.AWeb
sitehasbeensetupto share
information
aboutherconditionatjeansirius.com/
TeeACorinne/tee_update.html.
- Victoria
A. Brownworth
nist can get some love. - Julia Bloch
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1-888-279-3632
a:
June 2006
l 19
1 Radical queer performance art at Esoterica Chicago's 45 Minutes in Heaven 2 Emily Savard, Koko
Whitelaw and Meg Bradley from Everything Good at the film's release party in Boston 3 Roll Bounce
star Jurnee Smollett (left) and AIDS activist Hydeia Broadbent at the Ryan White Youth Conference
on HIV and AIDS in Philadelphia last February 4 From left: Erin Daniels, Katherine Moennig and
Alexandra Hedison of Showtime's The L Word work the red carpet at the 5th Annual General Motors
TEN fashion show in Hollywood last February 5 The lovely barmaids of Pearl's Rainbow, a women's
resort and guest house, in Key West, Fla. 6 Lovely Key West resident Piper Crisovan accepts her
award at Pearl's Rainbow's Oscar party 7 Actor Carlease Burke (right) with friend Linna Landry at
POWER UP's Power Premiere
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Porlrail
ef O Marriage
Avalable
6/27/06
Imagine
Ke&You
An innocentglancebetweenbride-to-beRachel(Piper
Perabo)and an unexpectedwedding guest is all it
takes to spark a 'love at first sight' romancewith a
surprisingtwist - the object of Rachel'saffection is
a smart and sensuouswoman!
#4289D
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ONSALE!
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5/30/06
Portrait
ofaMarriage
If you likedTippingthe Velvet,you'll thrillto this BBC
drama about the utterly captivatingVita SackvilleWest(JanetMcTeer)and herparamourVioletTrefusis
(Cathryn Harrison). Original BBC uncut version!
219 min.
l
In this lesbianBonnieand Clyde,a FrenchCasanova
butch falls in love with a socialworker and the two
teamup to rob banksand sharethe wealthwith local
social serviceagencies.81 min. [CC]
#4271D
SRP$39.95
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Twotroubledteens(Katharine
Isabelleand KettTurton)
carjack a pretty yuppie (hot Canadianstar Michelle
Nolden)in this awesomethrillerwith a lesbiantwist.
97 min. (CC]
Filmf
herb
sum
town.
Advice
DYKE MARCH
DOS & DON'TS
Everyyear,theDykeMarch
provides
lesbians
with
opportunities
for celebration,
activismandself-expression,
buttherearesomethings
you'llwantto avoiddoing.
Do bring your
politics. However,
avoid
chantingdie-hardslogans
like:"Wewillnevergoback
to themullet,"or "Bringback
Marinato TheL Word."
While
theseissuesareheartfelt,
youwillbemocked
for advocatinglosingpropositions.
Do bring your pets.
However,
do notputyour
dogin a sweaterthat says
"I RollOverfor the Right
Wing,"as the Dykeson
Bikesmayroll rightover
youandyourpropagandapronouncing
pooch.
Do support the small
vendors selling Pride
gear. However,
donot
takeit personally
whenthe
hot-dogvendor(aka"the
wienerdyke")says,"Youare
whatyoueat."Andwhen
sheofferscondiments,
she's
talkingaboutketchupand
mustard,
notprophylactics.
Do bring your kids
along. Butmakesure
to stopthewhining,crying,fightingandpouting.
Because
onceyou'vegotten
yourdrama-queen
girlfriend
to stopactingout,you'll
finallygetto enjoya fabulous
afternoon
withthekids.
Do not impede the
progress of the
march. Donotattempt
to
doanEvelKnievel
jumpover
themotorcycle
chicksonyour
Huffy.Noonereallycares
to seehowmanyDykeson
Bikesyoucanjumpnorhow
manystitches
youwillincur
afteryourill-fatedattempt.
Do dance in the
streets, but avoid the
chicken dance. Donot
attempt
to kissa stranger
unlessyou'reabsolutely
sure
she'sintoit andthather
girlfriend
is looking
theother
way.Donot,inyourinebriated
state,pounce
onthegrand
marshal,
insisting
thatyou
wantto haveherlovechild.
However,
if you'resober,
pounce
away!- KateLacey
22
Icurve
Ask Fairy Butch
-Normal
What's That?
Dear Fairy Butch: I'm having a problem with girls. See,
I'm butch. I've gotten a number of offers from femmes.
Most of the girls who go after me are really sweet, but
the problem is that I'm all about other butches. I feel like
I'm weird and dysfunctional because of it. Also, I've gotten some bad reactions from people in the gay community.As for other butches, forget about it. I met one other
butch, and found out she had a crush on a mutual friend
(who is also butch) and she was quick to defend herself,
saying, "Oh, I usually don't like girls like that," and she
was really embarrassed. What's wrong with me? What's
wrong with anybody else? Why am I so alone in this?
- Butch-Loving Butch in Baltimore
Dear Butch-Loving: Honey, first off, allow me to trot out
my trusty old saw: As long as it's safe, sane and consensual
between consenting adults, any kind of sexual or romantic
relationship you want to have is absolutely peachy keen. And
if anyone has a problem with this notion, just tell them that
your Uncle Fairy says to mind the bushes in their own backyard. Butches can love butches, femmes can love femmes and
all of you nondeclared folks out there can go any which way
Dear Fairy Butch: How do I deal with the fact that the
but loose. I mean, I love femmes more than a groundhog loves
mud, but we're not freakin' on Noah's Ark, darling. We're queer,
girl I was with for over two years, my first true love,
people, which means we can make up our own rules, or better
yet, forego those which limit the responsible expression of our
has somehow made the switch back to the other side?
Should I feel inferior because perhaps she'll find in
own freedom and desires as well as those of others.
Secondly, sugar, you're far from alone. I know that San
a man something she could never have with me? Or
should I be happy about the fact that she's not left me
Francisco is a rarefied place, but I can tell you that it's so queer
here that even tons of the dykes are fags! And it's not the only
for another lesbian? - Frantic in Frankfort
such locale. I believe that in recent years, the dyke community
has become far more sophisticated and accepting around issues
of gender and sexuality; people are coming to realize that the
existence of someone else's kink need not threaten their own. As
for exploring yours, check out the .anthology Set in Stone: Butch
on Butch Erotica, edited by Angela Brown, for hot tales ofboi-on-
boi love, and playbutch.com for hot photos as well as erotica.
Dear Fairy Butch: Do you think that it is abnormal for a woman to refuse to have sex
unless she has had a shower right before? - Wet in
Washington, D.C.
Dear Wet: It takes an awful lot to get me to slap the label
"abnormal" on somebody, and this little scenario sure doesn't
seem to warrant it. It's a matter of preference, comfort level and
compatibility. Aspiring to "normalcy" isn't a grave concern in
my estimation, dumpling. If, however, you'd prefer your date
be a bit more accessible to you, perhaps she'll be willing to
occasionally forego the waterworks if you reassure her that you
love her natural odor and that you find her sufficiently tidy in
the state in which you've found her.
Dear Frantic: Wow, that's a tough one, hon -
I'm truly sorry
for your loss. Nobody likes to get dumped. And whether it's for
a man or another woman, you'll find agonies common in either
case, as well as those that are unique to each sex. For example,
in a culture in which being queer is often made to seem second
best (or worse), getting left for a guy can be a real blow to one's
sexual identity. Alternatively, those with a penchant for rumination can also find plenty to torture themselves with in the
prospect that their beloved has left them for a woman: ''Ah, she
was indeed a dyke, I just wasn't dyke enough (or femme enough
or smart enough or sexy enough) for her:'
At any rate, you needn't feel inferior or insecure because
of the choices your ex has made. The often difficult fact of the
matter is that many relationships don't last forever, regardless
of the source of the split. And while it's constructive to learn
how to be a better partner from one relationship to the next,
comparing yourself to a real or fictional other (wo)man is a
losing game that's best exchanged for tennis or racquetball or
some other sport in which you get to hit things - hard. ■
u5
I
E-mail Jb@fairybutch.com with your queries regarding lesbian life,
sexuality and romance.
Cl)
c73
::J
UJ
Lipstick & Dipstick Advice
How Will I Know?
you can finally get that Melissa Etheridge box set
Dear Lipstick and Dipstick: My co-worker
Sheila and I have been in a closeted relationship for five years. She lives with her
father, and he hates me. I'm pretty sure that
people suspect we're together, but it isn't
discussed. Aside from being lovers, we
lead separate lives. To compound our situation, she's been spending more time with
her kids on the weekend and less with me.
Can we make it work? - Closet Case
Lipstick: This situation makes me want to crack
open a tall one and light a cigarette - and I don't
even smoke. First off, I can't believe you girls have
lasted this long. Second, C.C., you deserve happiness. At the very least, you deserve to be able
to wake up next to your girlfriend. You need to
dump the dead weight - tell Sheila that you're
sick of being a liar and that you don't like the person you've become - and then get your ass out of
the closet! Imagine how liberating it will be: You'll
have a new swagger, you'll get to enjoy all that Gay
Pride has to offer (drag queens and free lube), and
q
0
~
a.
0
0
z<(
a kid, the only action I ever got was when Sally
you've been too afraid to buy at the mall. Plus, if
Dobson and I squared off during a pillow fight
you suspect your loved ones know you're a big ol'
scissor sister, you're damn right they know. Now
at my birthday party. Sure, it was my idea to get
naked, but she tackled me! Anyway, I think you
get out while being gay is still in vogue!
need to out yourself immediately. My guess is that
Dipstick: Lipstick is right, Closet Case. Did you
ever do that experiment in elementary school
where you grow two beans, one in the darkness and
the other on the window sill? The closeted bean
grows but is pale and droopy. The one that spends
its life in the sun sprouts into a beautiful, blooming beanstalk. Heed the scientific theory - open
your shutters and let in some light, C.C. And while
they're open, do some spring cleaning. Sweep that
anemic string bean and her nasty father out of your
life, and bask in the sunshine for a while. Quit waiting for her to change, and take charge of your own
life. Once you've seen the light, you'll wonder how
you lived in the dark for so long.
Dear Lipstick and Dipstick: I am 14 and
have known I was gay since I was in kindergarten. Recently, I found out the girl I'd
had a huge crush on at camp is bisexual! I
really like her and want to ask her out, but
I have no idea what to say or how to do it.
Help! - Torn Teen
Lipstick: Can you believe how young chicks get
together these days, Dipstick? Back when I was
bi-girl came out because she had an ulterior motive
- like she wants to meet you in the stables after
art class in nothing but her riding boots. Once she
knows you're a confirmed homo who enjoys communal showers at Camp Hoochi- Koochi as much
as she does, maybe she'll ask you out!
Dipstick: Whoa, Lipstick, slow down! Not every
14-year-old is as bold as you were. Yes, even Portia
de Rossi admitted to fondling her girlfriends at
a young age, but you lipsticks have it easy: Your
gal pals will fool around with you because no one
suspects you're gay. Dipsticks have to be stealth
and suave. Torn Teen, take three deep breaths.
Don't think of it as a big high-pressure date; just
plan to meet up sometime in person. Walk a bit,
talk a bit, and if you feel the vibe, try to hold her
hand. Save running after her naked with a pillow
for your second date.
Dear Lipstick and Dipstick: I recently ran into
a woman I have a mad crush on at the Pride
Film Festival. Her name is Beatrice. At the
snack bar, we said a quick hello before she
introduced me to the woman she was with.
The problem is she introduced her without a
tag like ''friend"or "partner."Do you think this
was her gir1friend?How can I find out if she's
available? - Piningfor Popcorn and Passion
Lipstick: How about moving your lips? Next
time you see Beatrice, tell her that it was nice to
meet her girlfriend. If she says, "She's not my girlfriend;' put down your tub of popcorn and plant a
buttery one on her.
'.II::
0
~
a.
2-
Dipstick: It doesn't matter if that popcorn muncher
is her girlfriend or not. Ask Beatrice out! What's
~
the harm in a little flirtatious fodder? Even if she
does have a girlfriend, they may break up one day.
a:
w
'.II::
a:
w
c3
:::f
In Sleeplessin Seattle,Meg Ryan was engaged before
she met Tom Hanks. If you really dig this woman,
Q,
a:
let her know you're interested. Take a risk! Don't let
~
a Hollywood happy ending pass you by. ■
CJ
<(
'.:2:
a:
:::)
I
~
w
a:
w
I-
Ask us anything about sex, love or lesbians at
lipstickdipstick.com.
June 2006
I23
Advice
Astro Grrl
logether
We
Can
Help
UnlockTurn on the Charm
The
Cure
Gemini (May 22-June 21)
Sex: Expect major changes in
relationships.
forBreast
Cancer
InOur
lifetime
...
Have you been
very naughty? You deserve a
spanking. Lucky girl! Career:
Girl~girl twins can charm any~
one they want at work, but try to
charm that sexy payroll clerk.
Cancer (June 22-July 23)
Sex: Crab dykes feel more
romantic
than
usual. Exactly
whom do you feel? Career:Your
financial acumen is in top form
now. Try to become well~endowed and share it
with a bosom buddy.
Capricorn (Dec. 23-Jan. 20)
Sex: Gal pals can easily become lovergrrls. Do you
Leo (July 24-Aug. 23)
want things to get that complicated? Career:
Lambda
Sex:Who put the tiger in your tank this Pride
Caps can realize their professional dreams this June.
month? Grrr. Enjoy every minute! Career: Dream big, but don't daydream it away.
Be prepared to make a good first impression.
forEvery
Wlllll1
Lionesses strut and fret, but may only get an
hour upon the stage.
more than they can give now, so make love, not
Virgo (Aug. 24-Sept. 23)
Sex: Lambda virgins find love in the corner
Everyw~ere
I
GHNY
is proudto donate
20% ~
of it'sproceeds
fromeachsale///
ofourspecially-designed
keychainto helpinthe
fightagainst
breast
cancer.
office this June. And not only in the corner but
also around the curves. Woohoo! Career:Your
hard work will reap its just rewards. But when in
doubt, turn on the charm.
$24.95
Each
plusS&H
ORDERYOURSTODAY
... CALL
Icurve
start anything. Keep planning until someone takes
them over and you can relax.
Pisces (Feb. 20-March 20)
Sex: You burst onto the scene like a supernova.
enjoyed it more. Career:June can bring major
career changes. A new broom sweeps clean - or
is it a vacuum?
corporate star, but also pack a parachute just
Aries (March 21-April 20)
in case.
Sex: Show your Pride with a bevy of pert beauties
as your entourage. Lesbian rams can be seen at all
the best venues. Who let you in? Career:
You have_
Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 22)
Sex:Lesbian Scorps can enjoy their relationships
with their lovergrrls. If you don't have one, get one
immediately! Or maybe even two. Career:
You will
some great ideas and don't mind sharing them
with whomever. Get the credit you know you
deserve ... or else!
work hard for everything you get this June. That is
a real change of pace for you.
Taurus (April 21-May 21)
Sex: All eyes are on you this Pride month. Wear
Sagittarius (Nov. 23-Dec. 22)
Sex:You are the consummate romantic this June.
clean underwear ... or none at all! Career:
Sapphic
bulls can push their weight around the office. Do
Sapphic archers have lots of excess energy, and
you have a crush on anyone in particular therd ■
nothing succeeds like excess. Career:You are so
charming that you can get others to do your work
for you. Hurry - this passes quickly.
For more advice from the stars, visit our astrologer,
1-800-741-11131
www.ghny.biz
24
war. Career:Plan out your projects before you
It would be better if you took your time and
Libra (Sept. 24-Oct. 23)
Sex:You are alluring all through June, especially
to• strangers. Just wait until they get to know you
better. Career:Hitch your wagon to a shooting
AVAILABLE
IN24KGOLD
OVERLAY
ORSILVER
OVERLAY
Aquarius (Jan. 21-Feb. 19)
Sex:Avoid arguments with partners. You want
Charlene Lichtenstein, online at thestarryeye.com.
19 Passengerferry service resumes
between Bostonand Ptown
20 PBGCasinoNight
20-21 MonumentalYardSale
26-29 Memorial DayWeekend
JUNE
1 Annual Chef'sTable
10 HelpingOurWomen:By the Sea
Bike Trek
14-18ProvincetownInternationalFilm
Festival
17 TennisFor Life Tournament
22 A ProvincetownTastingat The
ProvincetownTheater
22-25 PortugueseFestival
JULY
1-7 4th of July Week-parties/events
4 Fourthof July Paradeand
Fireworks
9 ProvincetownArt Associationand
Museum:Secret GardenTour
25 FamilySunsetCampfireand Singalong at Race Point Beach
7/29-8/5 11thAnnual FamilyPrideWeek
AUGUST
5-6 Pan-MassachusettsChallenge
11-13SecondAnnual Provincetown
Jazz Festival
Call888-361-5211
for yourGuideto Gay& LesbianProvincetown.
Visit us at:·www.Ptown.org
14-19CarnivalWeek
17 C.arnivalParade
(starts in EastEndat 3PM)
WILD
WOMEN
DON'T
GET THE
ll
26
I curve
BY JENNIFER CORDAY
The thought of taking a Wild Women Expedition in Canada
just a short 70-minute flight north. We were greeted by our fabu-
intrigued me, but I was also, I admit, a tiny bit nervous.
Camping expeditions are way out of my comfort zone. I'm
lous tour guide, Meredith Armstrong, from the Sudbury Travel .
Commission, who explained that Sudbury is home to the largest
a city girl, so abandoning my daily routine to fly up to the
integrated mining complex in the world and is where most of the
rugged Canadian woods and camp with a group of strange
women sounded both terrifying and liberating. Could I bring
my laptop, cell phone and iPod? Would there be electricity,
world's nickel and copper comes from. Blackened by pollution
from the miners, Sudbury once looked as flat and desolate as
toilet paper and vegetarian food? How would I survive?
But really, I asked myself, what kind of lesbian was I if I
couldn't camp and wear flannel? I knew I could butch it up.
I would learn to canoe. I would swim naked in the river. I
would reconnect with nature. It had been years since I communed with nature. Hell, I'd been at my desk so long I barely
even remembered my own backyard. So I decided to go.
Wild Women Expeditions, Canada's largest outdoor
adventure company for women, now celebrating its 15th
anniversary, offers year-round adventures including canoe
Wild Women Expeditions
brought together a host of
adventure-seeking women
- a social worker, a medical
supply saleswoman, an actor,
a mother of three, a lesbian
couple, a musician and two
weight-loss buddies - for
a weekend drumming circle
that had them not only making music but also canoeing,
hiking, swimming, camping
and carousing (some of it
was even naked) in the Canadian Wilderness.
I PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMIE KIV!STO
trips, mountain biking adventures, cycling road trips, hiking
expeditions, kayaking tours, fly fishing, cross-country skiing
and dog sledding. With riverside cabins, a wood-burning
Finnish sauna, a bodywork therapist and wonderful cooks,
Wild Women promises an unspoiled wilderness setting that
is perfect for swimming, paddling and reveling in nature. Of
the numerous adventures available, one spoke to me: drumming camp. As a musician, I've always wanted to experience
a drum circle, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to
learn about the mystery and power of rhythm.
I wrangled in the talents of photographer-artist Jamie
Kivisto, and we sped into LAX just in time to catch a red-eye to
Toronto. From there we caught a connector flight to Sudbury,
the moon. Thankfully, land rehabilitation acts spawned major
regrowth in the '70s, when over 11 million trees were planted.
Today Sudbury is a rich and diverse outdoor playground and
may be the best kept secret of the Northeast.
With a population of 155,000 people and over 300 lakes,
Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario. There's ice
fishing, hockey, skating, skiing and snowmobiling in the winter; camping, hiking, fishing, canoeing and swimming in the
summer. There are festivals celebrating garlic, blueberries,
Greeks and, most famously, the Northern Lights (the latter is a three-day outdoor event in July featuring live music).
Sudbury is a multicultural hub, with a rich mix of Italian,
Finnish, Polish, Chinese, Croatian and Ukrainian immigrants, so there are lesbians of all kinds. Even sexier: at least
half of the population speaks French.
Meredith finished the tour and dropped us off at our hotel
where we passed out from jet lag and _thenmet up with her the
next morning to visit the local science center across the street.
Science North is a local attraction, built right into the bedrock
against Lake Ramsey. The architecture alone was fascinating.
Cruise through underground tunnels carved out of 2-billionyear-old rock and check out the museum, which is really more
like an interactive learning center. It's a great place for kids, but
also fun for adults. We saw a porcupine and a hairy beaver (no
June 2006
I 27
"Wecanoedin, insteadof walkingdownan aisle.And Bethgaveus
a honeymooner
tent,withthe bestview.We come backeveryyear.
Eachtime I come, I thinkit'sthe bestgroupof womenever."
pun intended), and I especially adored the butterfly room.
That evening we met the wild woman hersel£ camp
director Beth Mairs, who picked us up in an old, green,
come up and meet so many amazing women:'
Lesley is a medical saleswoman from Toronto, who had just
beat-up pickup truck and shepherded us to a party in our
honor at the only gay bar in town, Zig's - a super clean
come out of a two-year relationship. "I wanted to discover what
and friendly place, where we mingled with some fabulous
not want to let go of the past, but I knew I needed to find the
Sudbury women who insisted we try the Canadian beer,
namely Molson, Labatt's, Northern and Steam Whistle
courage to come up by mysel£ I wanted to do something adventurous, so I started searching for adventures on the Internet. I
was very scared and I found all kinds of excuses not to come:'
(which you're supposed to drink with a lemon).
The next day, we arrived at the Wild Women base camp, a
1920s-era fishing camp spread across 230 waterfront acres.With
adorably quaint, tongue-and-groove log cabins that include
it was like to be on my own again;' she says.''A big part of me did
Though many of the women are lesbians, campers who
aren't felt right at home. "I don't see lesbians;' says Nancy, a
40-year-old mother of three. "I just see strong women. My
bunks and breakfast nooks, a beautiful old barn and several tents
right on the river,Wild Women's base camp offers that summer-
best friend, Linda, brought me here as a birthday gift. I am so
camp feel complete with outdoor showers and outhouses.
Best friends Jeananne and Chi won their trip at a charity
fundraiser dinner."We've been best friends since junior high;'
Mairs, a self-described adventure addict, has spent a lifetime camping and canoeing. While working as a social worker
helping battered and abused women in Toronto, Mairs was
overcome with extreme exhaustion and was diagnosed with
IFYOU GO
for an opportunity to work at the camp. I love being able to
Epstein-Barr. A canoeing trip during recovery brought much
needed peace - and a business idea that later became Wild
Beforeyouheadupnorthonyour Women. Today, over 30 women contribute to the company.
WildWomenadventure,
check
"We have a fine team of guides;' Mairs says, "ranging in
outthefollowing
Websitesfor age from 24 to 50 fabulous years, who are not only skilled
moreinformation:
outdoorswomen but, equally importantly, excellent facilita-
wildwomenexp.comtors, full of a Joie de vivre that is contagious:'
Wild's participants - who traveled from Minnesota,
Thesourcefor all yourquestions
aboutWildWomenExpeditions, Toronto and California to attend the drum workshop - were
or givethema ringat fullof the same kind of spunk. As we gathered around a candlelit
888-WWE·
1222.
table for a meet-and-greet over warm blueberry pie and tea,
sudburytourism
.ca these women of varying ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations and
happy to come here and celebrate life:'
Chi explains. ''And we went to Paris for our 10-year anniversary. I'm about to go away to school in London, so I thought
this would be a great chance for us to hang out one more time
before I leave:'
"It's nice to be somewhere where gender isn't a problem;'
actress-model-singer Jeananne adds. "I get hassled a lot by
guys, so it's nice to relax in the absence of men. It's really nice
that this space exists:'
The adorable Donna and Chaiya won their trips at a Heather
Bishop concert. "I lost 70 pounds;' explains Chaiya, "and Donna
lost 50. So we have been wanting to do something physical. I
looked at the brochure and thought everything looked so cool.
I wanted to take the biking trip to Nova Scotia, but this drum
circle has been awesome. I really like the women I've met:'
The next morning, Jamie and I slept right through break-
Yourguideto allthingsSudbury. economic backgrounds could hardly contain their excitement.
Sharon and Linda are partners of seven years who originally
ontariotravel.
net met on a Wild Women adventure. Sharon was freshly single and
Stopherebeforeyou
looking for a challenge when she signed up for her first trip.
headto Ontario.
"I wanted to do something outdoorsy, something I wouldn't
fast and woke just in time to make the morning drum circle.
Each woman chose an instrument and gathered in the barn.
Instructor Carol Anne gave us an introduction to the drum
sciencenorth.on.canormally do;' says Sharon. "I called Beth and asked if there was
Butterflies
aren'tallyou'llfindat anyone I could carpool with, which is totally unlike me because
thismeccafor sciencegeeks I'm usually independent. But I figured it would be a good way
(andtheirfriends).
to meet new people. She gave me Linda's number and when I
cle in silence and concentrated on letting go of our problems.
I could feel the stress in the room drift off with the smoke.
nlfbsudbury.cacalled, we talked for an hour - she was fabulous on the phone.
FinddetailsonSudbury's By the time we got here, we had been dating for three weeks:'
Northern
LightsFestival,
now
Meeting at Wild Women was so pivotal for the couple
in its 35thyear. that they decided to get married in front of the birch trees
for another drum session before hitting the wood-burning
sauna. Naked and sweaty, we stayed in the sauna until we
couldn't stand it anymore and then ran outside and jumped
in the river - an awesome experience.
behind the sauna. "We canoed in, instead of walking down an
aisle;' Linda says, smiling. ''And Beth gave us a honeymooner
The next day was even more varied. That is, of course,
the best part of a Wild Women Expedition - the absolute
freedom to do and explore as you choose. Sure, adventure
tent, with the best view. We come back every year. We find
the experience here is rejuvenating and energizing. Each time
I come, I think it's the best group of women ever:'
Our adorable cook, Karen, who made some amazing
meals, explains: "This is my fourth summer. A friend of mine
told me about it, and spoke so highly of it that I tracked down
Beth at the Canada outdoor trade show. I kept bugging her
28
I curve
and led us through a smudging, a Native American ritual of
cleansing. As we passed the burning lavender around the cir-
After our drum session, there was free time to play
before lunch, so we took a topless hike and then gathered
abounds - and what hearty dyke could resist something like
the ultimate Canadian Winter Adventure with dog sledding,
ice fishing, snowboarding and snow blading across Northern
Manitoba? But Wild Women was more than a physical experience for me; it was a spiritual getaway, a chance to revel in the
magic of an all-women's group in the middle of the wild. ■
Pride Across
the Country
So many festivals, so little time.
Here's a handy guide to get you
in the game.
With so many Pride events around the country, most involving days of celebrations culminating in a Pride parade, it's hard to pick just one. CuRVE certainly
couldn't. This year we'll be at 10 Pride festivals around the U.S.A. (see the
starred events below), so stop by our booth for celebrity signings, L Word posters and tons of cool mags!
Anchorage, Alaska (June 18-26)
anchoragepride.com
Albuquerque, N.M.* (June 8-10)
CuRvE sizzles in the Southwest.
Brooklyn, N.Y. (June 5-10)
Did you know Brooklyn held the
Northeast's first and largest nighttime Pride parade in 200 U
brooklynpride.org
abqpride.com
Asbury Park, N.J.(June 4)
jerseypride.org
Atlanta* (June 23-25)
CuRVE hosts Atlanta Pride's biggest
women's party, Peach, at the Loft on
June 24.
new.atlantapride.org
Burlington, Vt. (July 8)
pridevermont.org
Cedar Rapids, Iowa (June 3)
crglrc.org
Chicago (June 25)
chicagopridecalendar.org
Denver (June 24-25)
Austin, Texas (June 3)
austinprideparade.org
Birmingham, Ala. (June 9-11)
centralalabamapride.org
Don't miss Saturday's .hilarious Dogs
in Drag parade.
pridefestdenver.org
Bismarck, N.D. (July 21-23)
equalicynd.org
Detroit (June 4)
Motor City Pride happens in downtown Ferndale.
motorcitypride.com
Boise, Idaho* (June 10)
CuRvE's executive editor, Diane
Durham, N.C. (Sept. 30-Oct.1)
ncpride.org
Anderson-Minshall, a spud state
native and Boise Pride's keynote
speaker, helps kick off the state's
Flagstaff, Ariz. (June 9-11)
Bagstaflpride.org
fundraising campaign to defeat an
anti-marriage amendment.
yffn.org
Gainesville, Fla.* (Oct. 6-15)
gainesvillepride.org
Boston (June 2-11)
Join more than 400,000 other parrygoers at the largest Pride celebration
in New England.
bostonpride.org
Honolulu (June 24)
thecencerhawaii.org/Pride_
Celebration.hem
Pride Events continued on page 39
June 2006
I3'1
Don't Just Sit There, Do Something
Women who are just doing it for a good cause.
As you read this, thousands of women are training furiously to change the
world. They speed through city streets, vault crevasses at 14,000 feet, pedal
determinedly along coastlines, stride miles through the darkness. These
women get on their bikes and into their climbing gear and running shoes
to raise awareness, funds and spirits and to honor and commemorate loved
ones. Participants of endurance events such as the Breast Cancer Fund's
Climb Against the Odds and Ride FAR's New England bike rides persevere
against daunting odds. These women are determined to find cures, eliminate
the causes of diseases, raise funds to provide support an4 care, and beat huge
physical challenges. Unwilling to accept defeat, they take something negative
and do something positive about it, one rest stop, one gear change, one step
at a time.
Sherry
Miller, Nevada
Climb Against the Odds, Mount Shasta, California
When Sherry Miller, a 51-year-old cabinetmaker from Reno, tackles Mount
Shasta this summer, it will have been five months since her fourth go-around
with chemotherapy. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, six months after
her sister, Miller underwent both surgery and chemotherapy. She was close to
being five years disease-free when cancer cells were discovered on her lungs. In
2004 she and her partner of 22 years, Tamela Gorden, got the news there were
two tumors on Miller's liver.
This ascent will be Miller's second Climb Against the Odds to benefit the
Breast Cancer Fund. She says her best moments from 2005's Mount Rainier
climb include standing on her favorite mountain watching the sun rising
before her, the moon setting behind. But, she says,"the absolute best moment
was when I came down from the mountain - my partner, Tam, was waiting
there for me with a big smile on her face and a hug. It didn't matter to her
that I didn't make it to the summit; she was just happy that I had ha~ the
32
I curve
*
By Aefa Mulholland
Clockwise from top
experience and that I made it down safely:'
left: Women walking
BCF focuses on breast cancer prevention rather
for Out of the Darkness
than treatment, and Miller has her sights set on rais- Overnight; leading off
ing $15,000 toward their goals. She adds that the
the AIDS/LifeCycle;
climb is a personal quest as well:"My physical goal is bikers on the road for
Ride FAR; the flying
to get back into shape and hopefully be in even betcolors of Climb Against
ter shape than last year.I just finished fivemonths of
the Odds.
chemotherapy, so it is going to take a lot of work, but
my energy level is starting to come back up:'
She adds, "The fact that I have completed a challenge, or got as far as
I possibly could, is very personally satisfying. It's very good for the ego. My
original diagnosis with breast cancer, and then the metastatic diagnosis, has
probably pushed me even harder to look for these physical challenges. They
are proof to my family and friends, as well as to myself, that I am not going to
give into the cancer and let it take over my life:'
Natalie Cordellos,
California
AIDS/LifeCycle, San Francisco to Los Angeles
A recent UC Davis graduate who worked as an HIV/ AIDS educator in South
Africa, Natalie Cordellos is training for the AIDS/LifeCycle, a 585-rnile, sevenday bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Cordellos says she was
attracted to the LifeCyde by the"profound statement" it makes and the commitment it demands. "More than 2,000 cyclists going such a long distance, taking
a week out of their own lives ... it's definitely a larger commitment;' Cordellos
explains, adding that the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's work in outreach,
education, broad treatment advocacy,counseling and housing impress her.
In addition to her work educating in South Africa and tutoring AIDS and
society classes at UC Davis, Cordellos managed to recruit a friend to ride with
her this summer. The LifeCyde has a minimum fundraising goal of $2,500 per
Endurance Events
for a Good Cause
Sign up or Chip in Today
participant, but Cordellos says she's hoping for closer to $5,000. She says that bike rides and
walking events to benefit AIDS organizations are desperately needed to bring more attention
to the health crisis. "I feel people are getting complacent about HIV and AIDS;' she argues.
"The numbers are increasing in California. The perception in my age group is that it's not that
big of a deal .... The challenge is convincing people that it's still an issue:'
Linda Dublin, Louisiana
Out of the Darkness Overnight, Chicago and San Francisco
It's a powerful image: thousands of people walking through the night, the light breaking through
as they near the end of their trek. Out of the Darkness Overnight walks benefit the American
Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which funds suicide prevention research, education and
awareness programs and supports survivors of suicide loss.
New Orleans resident Linda Dublin's experience with suicide extends to four family
members: her aunt, her only sibling, and her mother and father. She describes online support
groups as "a lifesaver:' After having been part of a sibling support group for eight years, Dublin
rallied her network to form a team for an Out of the Darkness walk in Chicago last year.
Dublin says she planned for "a tremendous, healing experience by doing something positive
about such a hard thing:'
She also wanted to boost the cause. "The fundraising amount was $1,000. I wanted to
raise $4,000; $1,000 for each member of my family:' Dublin and her partner, Mary,Ellen
Harwood, walked together and met Dublin's financial goal. Dublin remembers, "Mary,Ellen
and I had shirts made. On the front of the shirt it said, 'Team SOLOS' [survivors of loved
ones' suicide). Anybody who wanted their sibling's name on the back could have it. There were
50 names on those shirts. I had pictures of my four family members on the front of my shirr:'
Dublin, who turned 50 in April, adds, "As you might imagine, walking for 20 hours was ardu,
ous. It was absolutely amazing how emotional it was:'
Dublin is now organizing a New Orleans walk for 2007. She explains that since Hurricane
Katrina hit, "So many people are having mental health issues. Next year I think it will have a
huge impact on the city. I want to do this for survivorship:'
Suzy Becker,
Massachusetts
Ride FAR, Provincetownto Stowe
Suzy Becker, author of the best,selling All I Need to Know I LearnedFromMy Cat,the illustrated
memoir I Had BrainSurgeryWhats YourExcuse?and the children's picture book Mannys Cows,
created the biennial Ride For AIDS Resources in 1989. She remembers, "I was looking for a
place where our small greeting card company [Becker's Widget Factory Cards] could make a
difference. At that point, HIV/ AIDS was largely viewed as a problem or plague which belonged
to the gay community - there was a lot of blame and fear, not enough compassion and action.
So I took my first love, biking, and put together the country's first HIV/ AIDS bike,a,thon. By
the second ride, colleagues of mine had died. By the third ride, looking back on it, I was subcon,
sciously,desperately trying to strike some sort of bargain, a karmic vaccine: If I do this, none of
my friends will die:'
Ride FAR's reception has changed since the inaugural ride."In 1989, there were towns where
we weren't welcome;' Becker says. "People picketed a radio station where we were being inter,
viewed. A lot of our donations were marked for 'AGE; not AIDS, resources, and a lot of times
I took them without correcting them:' Riders are welcomed everywhere now, and so are family
members: In 2005, when Becker's daughter was only 10 months old the rider had to breastfeed
or pump breast milk at rest stops. But, Becker worries, "The country's moved to the other end of
the spectrum, become apathetic or blase about HIV/ AIDS, viewing it as a chronic, manageable
illness, where the need for a vaccine ... is less compelling:'
Last year's ride raised $150,000; the organization's small scale, being 25 riders and a
crew of 10, makes it possible for 100 percent of proceeds to reach beneficiaries. Becker, who
still organizes and rides, explains, "We have always given our money to services rather than
research because ... we believe the dollars go further:' ■
AIDS/LifeCycle 5
Benefiting San Francisco AIDS Foundation
aidslifecycle.org, (866) BIKE-4-AIDS
San Francisco to Los Angeles, June 4-10
AIDS Walk
Benefiting several national and local organizations
aidswalk.net, (415) 615-WALK, (213) 201-WALK
San Francisco, July 16; Los Angeles, October 15
Out of the Darkness Overnight
Benefiting American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention
theovernight.org, (888) NIGHT-05
San Francisco, July 22-23; Chicago, August 12-13
Climb Against the Odds
Benefiting Breast Cancer Fund
bcf.kintera.org/Shasta2006, (415) 346-8223
Mount Shasta, Calif., July 7-13
Walk for Hope to Cure Breast Cancer
Benefiting City of Hope Cancer Center
cityofhope.org/walkforhope, (626) 256-4673
Edison, N.J., June 4; Dallas, Sept. 30; Philadelphia,
Oct. 1; Phoenix, Oct. 1; Seattle, Oct. 1; Chicago,
Oct. 8; Los Angeles, Oct. 8; Washington, D.C., Oct.
8; San Francisco, Oct. 14
Avon Walk for Breast Cancer
Benefiting Avon Foundation
avonwalk.org, (800) 510-WALK
Chicago, June 3-4; Denver, June 24-25; San
Francisco, July 8-9; Los Angeles, Sept. 16-17; New
York, Oct. 7-8; Charlotte, N.C., Oct. 21-22
Race for the Cure
Benefiting Susan G. Komen Breast
Cancer Foundation
komen.org, (800) IM-AWARE
Various locations and dates online
Team in Training
Benefiting Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
teamintraining.org, (800) 955-4572
Various locations and dates online
Ride FAR 10
Benefiting various AIDS organizations
ridefar.org
Provincetown, Mass., to Stowe, Vt., Sept. 5-7, 2007
June 2006 j 33
Pride Through Time
From Stonewall to Jerusalem, a brief history of key moments in the politics
of Pride.
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Director's Cut
Lesbians are flexing their muscles at LGBT Pride organizations
across the country.
ByJocelynVoo
*
Pride -
often seems
as a beacon of hope to those in smaller cities, rural communities and from all
to be a boys' wonderland, but several of the biggest Pride celebrations in the
United Scates are actually run by lesbians. Here's their insider's guide to what it
cakes to put on a festival to remember.
with its hard bodies, disco divas and endless partying -
over the globe, [symbolizing) chat it is OK to be who we are, unapologetically;'
she says. Indeed, the two-day celebration, which started as a "gay-in" 36 years
Lindsey Jones
ExecutiveDirector,San FranciscoPride
Growing up in the heyday of the Civil Rights movement and second-wave feminism, 44-year-old executive director Lindsey Jones always knew she wanted
to have an impact on the community.Jones, who came out in her mid-20s and
is a former director of AIDS Walk San Francisco, worked with organizations
dedicated to child abuse prevention, domestic violence, and alcohol and drug
rehabilitation before she joined SF Pride in March 2004.
"For years, before ocher Prides came into existence, San Francisco stood
36
I curve
ago, has grown to be the largest LGBT event in the nation, drawing an estimated 500,000 out-of-cowners in June.
Besides Pride, Jones and her team also provide leverage and support to
other queer groups, committees and organizations. For example, they are
currently mentoring Iqaluit Pride and Friends of Pride on Baffin Island in
the Canadian Arctic, the only LGBT organization in the Nunavut Territory.
San Francisco Pride, a nonprofit organization, also grants over $150,000 each
year to ocher local nonprofits.
"I get chills every time and a lovely feeling in the pit of my stomach
[every time we put on Pride);' Jones says. "My hope is chat the people who
attend, the volunteers who work it, the entertainers on the stages, the vendors
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and businesses who participate, the
contingents who march in the parade
-
and that city street cleaner -
admits, adding that she
avoids bringing work baggage home
to her girlfriend, opting to read a
all
book or play with their dog instead.
"But over and over I meet so many
feel connected, a part of something
important, a part of a movement:'
people who tell me how much their
Pam Kinsmith
Co-Chair, NorthamptonPride
coming to Atlanta's Pride event for
the first time meant to them, and
Northampton, Mass., a lesbian Mecca
then I am humbly reminded of the
in its own right, needs no introduction.
importance of the event and why we
all keep doing it."
Pam Kinsmith remembers the joy when
she first visited the town: "I was blown
away. Walking down the street hand in
hand?What?"
Nikki Leonard
Co-Chair, Boise Pride
Before working with Northampton
Pride, where she and Melinda Shaw
Nikki Leonard is co-chair of Your
are now co-chairs, the 38-year-old
ing LGBT advocacy group in Idaho
that produces Pride each year. This
Family, Friends and Neighbors, a lead-
says that gay activism wasn't much on
her radar. It wasn't until she met her
year, Boise Pride, started in the 1990s
future wife, Kirsten, that Kinsmith got
as a response to anti-gay ballot initia-
involved with LGBT and pro-female
organizations, such as the Women's
tives, is leading the fight against the
state's anti-gay marriage constitutional
Fund of Western Massachusetts and
amendment, and CuRVE executive edi-
Northampton Pride.
Kinsmith and her wife are about
tor and Idaho native Diane- Anderson
Minshall is the event's keynote speaker.
to adopt a little boy and his sister,
Leonard, a SO-year-old Los Angeles
and have been busily refurbishing a
bedroom in their house for their new
native, is a pre-op transperson who
Pride power (clockwise from top left): Lindsey Jones (San Francisco), Kim
Backer-Kelley (Gainesville), Donna Narducci (Atlanta), NikkiLeonard (Boise)
young ones. "I am really proud to be
able to be married in Massachusetts to
identifies primarily as lesbian, which
may explain this year's emphasis on
trans awareness. Her trans activism
the person I love, and thrilled that our state will also support us as we become
started with furtive participation in her local transgender support group, then
adoptive parents," she says. "The network of people here is so amazing that I
couldn't imagine embarking on parenthood anywhere else.
branched into joining the board of the local LGBT community center and
eventually heading YFFN.
The community's response to Northampton Pride, now celebrating its
25th year, has been encouraging, with many local businesses showing sup-
Boise isn't exactly known for its political or social progressiveness, but
Leonard insists that's what makes Boise Pride such a crucial event - so
port through sponsorship. Girlyman is the headlining the event this year,
with America's Next Top Model finalist Kim Stolz as emcee. However, with
queers can feel genuinely at home in their surroundings, both geographical
and social.
scant volunteers, Kinsmith and the rest of the committee wear multiple
hats, from marketing to making sure there's enough water at the tents during the festival. Still, that's not to say there's a lack of camarader-ie: "It warms
affirmation of all the goodness we bring to life," she says. "So, for me, in
"I think a big component of Pride is the celebration -
it's like an
me when I meet someone brand new who comes to me and says, 'Can I help
you with that?"'
the midst of all the emotions and stress of fighting for our rights, I need to
remember to deliberately keep joy in my life - to celebrate who I am and
who I am becoming:'
Donna Narducci
Executive Director,Atlanta Pride
Kim Backer-Kelley
Co-Chair,GainesvillePride
As a member of the Atlanta Pride Committee for 13 years and its executive
director since 1995, Donna Narducci, 47, has had her fair share of diffusing
Kim Backer-Kelley, a retired locksmith who has worked with various local
queer events for eight years, feels a personal commitment to the LGBT
adverse situations: Last year, "We had these religious protestors set up their
PA system right at the entrance to the park where our festival is held .... I got a
agenda. "I wanted to be involved with the community that helped me
through my lesbian area of my life," says the 35-year-old Florida native, who
stroke of the spirit myself and had the Delta/ Coca-Cola float with its gigantic
sound system park their float right there at the entrance and tum that area into
a giant, dancing-in-the-street experience that drowned out the protestors, took
away their power to spew their hate, and we took back our event!"
admits that though she had worked as a Sunday school teacher for nine
years, she was going to church during the day and gay bars at night. "I went
through a time in my life of not understanding who I am. Like all of us:'
Gainesville Pride, which has been going on for over 10 years, attracts all
kinds of Floridians as well as out-of-state visitors, but having the University
U)
and early '90s, which she says fostered her interest in queer activism.
Atlanta Pride spans three days and draws over 250,000 visitors, and
of Florida in the same city is particularly conducive to the involvement of
young supporters and participants. This, she hopes, will set an example and
encourage a new generation of activists, as it did for her: "I feel that my skills
6
is the largest gathering of LGBT organizations in Atlanta. "It can be
so totally nerve-wracking at times that I wonder why I'm still doing it,"
are from watching and learning from others in my community;' she says.
"I have a saying," she adds. "Be yoursel£ because no one else can:' ■
Before working for APC, Narducci was one of the few out administrators
in Student Activities at Emory University and at Georgia Tech in the late '80s
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Pride Events continued from page 31
Long Beach, Cali£* (May 20-21)
New York (June 18-25)
Celebrate in the port city where Melissa
Etheridge got her start.
longbeachpride.com
See the Empire State Building lit up in
lavender.
hopinc.org
Los Angeles (June 9-11)
Northampton, Mass.* (May 6)
Lesbians have held powerful positions
at Christopher Street West, the organi~
zation behind Los Angeles Pride, since
its founding way back in 1970.
lapride.org
Don't miss Girlyman at the
CuRVEbooth.
northamptonpride.org
Omaha, Neb. (June 9-11)
San Francisco* (June 24-25)
rainbowcelebrations.org
Pride in the Gay Mecca, aka CuRvE's
hometown.
sfpride.org
Louisville, Ky.(June 16-17)
kentuckianapridefestival.com
Milwaukee (June 9-11)
pridefest.com
Minneapolis (June 23-25)
Polar explorer Ann Bancroft is the
Grand Marshal.
tcpride.org
Philadelphia (June 11)
phillypride.org
Seattle (June 24-25)
Portland, Ore.* (June 17-18)
seattlepride.org
Col. Grethe Cammermeyer is this year's
grand marshal - and CuRVEis there!
pridenw.org
St. Louis (June 24-25)
Providence, R.I. (June 17)
prideri.com
New Orleans (October 2006)
Katrina who? Mardi Gras proved you
can't keep a good dyke down.
gayprideneworleans.com
San Diego* (July 28-30)
Come see us and bring your bikini.
sdpride.org
One of the largest in the Midwest.
pridesd.org
Washington, D.C.* (June 2-11)
Capital Pride brings out the movers,
shakers and CuRvE's publisher,
Frances Stevens.
capitalpride.org
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June 2006
I39
Queer Poetry in Motion
Sean Dorsey brings it. * By Zak Szymanski
"People who hear the words modern dance are like, aagghhh!"says Sean Dorsey,
remember the last time I saw so much tenderness, romanticism, delicacy of
mimicking the cry of skeptical audience members who have difficulty relating
to anything they perceive as abstract.
But this 33,year,old choreographer is already known for making power,
feeling, tentative grace, truth of gesture, human longings for loyalty, affection,
and abiding relationship surrounded by such claims to be shocking, bold,
futurist, subversive:•
ful connections to emotional and physical realities with a popular repertoire
of mixed media narrative dance that has its finger on America's queer pulse.
The show - which will run again in November 2006 - cemented
Dorsey's reputation for being accessible to a general audience without sacri,
"My goal is to make dances that people can actually understand and relate
to;' Dorsey explains. "This is why I use storytelling in my work - because it
contextualizes dance in deeply felt personal experience:•
Last year, Dorsey became the first openly transgender artist to be com,
missioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission to create, perform and
produce new pieces that reflect the world of the "gender outsider:' His
$10,000 commission paid off with The Outsider Chronicles, which pre,
miered last fall at the ODC Theater and featured five modern dances that
explored the intersections of gender, family and love. Red Tie, Red Lipstick
was one such piece, a vulnerable pas de deux about police brutality set to
the poetry of hip,hop artist Marcus Van. Another dance, Six Hours, was a
tender, humorous depiction of the tense road trip journey of two lovers on
their way to visit estranged family.
The Outsider Chronicles opened to critical acclaim. BalletTanz magazine
called the show "exquisite ... poignant and important;' and the San Francisco
Chronicle said it was "trailblazing:' A critic for Dance View Times said, "I can't
40
I curve
£icing refined artistic quality. But Dorsey's work has always been considered
groundbreaking: Aside from being the only modern dancer doing professional
work rooted in queerly gendered bodies, Dorsey is the founder and artistic
director of Fresh Meat Productions, an organization widely credited with
fostering San Francisco's thriving transgender performance scene. This mul,
ticultural community includes the vocal, writing and dance talents of trans,
sexuals, genderqueers, dykes, fags, intersexed people and allies. Dorsey, who
identifies simply (or complexly) as trans, views the overlap of all these various
populations as crucial to his creative and political process.
"I definitely see the dyke and trans movements as related for the same
reasons that I see dyke, trans, feminist, anti,racist, disability rights and fat,
positive movements as related;' Dorsey says. "We are all working for the
creation of new, positive, empowered public understanding of who we are,
and for the civil rights that accompany that understanding. Art is an incred,
ibly powerful tool to do that work with. Art is my activism: By exploring
Sean Dorsey continued on page 43
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Keepin' It Fresh
The Fresh Meat Festival keeps bringing
down the house.
* By Zak Szymanski
Picture this: you've scored tickets to one of the hottest shows at the
premier professional dance theater in town. When the house lights
dim, the stage is infused with electrically charged salsa and tango,
live rap and hip-hop, four-part harmony, modern dance, rock and roll,
gospel, burlesque and trapeze. The crowd is moved to its feet by the
intensity of the performance. Now imagine that all the artists onstage
represent queer and transgendered bodies and stories, and that much
of the applause is coming from mainstream patrons and top professionals in their artistic fields.
messages through hard rock - and a good dose of sexy sarcasm.
Such a scene is a reality every June in San Francisco at Fresh
Virago says that Fresh Meat inherently builds artistic as well as
Meat, described by artistic director Sean Dorsey as "a joyful, soulful,
political bridges. "As an activist I find I'm usually taking my message
extraordinary festival of transgender and queer performance." Now in
to communities to which I already belong, but a lot of people in ODC's
its fifth year at the prestigious ODC Theater, the event prioritizes vis-
audience are from other communities who would otherwise never see
ibility for artists who are transgendered and/or people of color, and has
trans performers or hear from a queer perspective," Virago points out.
smashed stereotypes in the process of producing kick-ass productions. It also is a rare opportunity for trans and queer populations to be
showcased at a top-rate venue.
"It's one of the first performance festivals where people are actually
buying tickets and sitting down to watch trans-specific performers,"
says Shawna Virago, a male-to-female transgendered woman better
known as a guitarist, singer and songwriter who delivers serious
The venue also has given LGBT people a chance to see the many
different faces of their own community, from the "homohop" rap group
Deep Dickollective to the female breaking troupe Extra Credit Crew,
organized by Sisterz of the Underground, a queer-positive, female, hiphop collective that has consistently brought down the Fresh Meat house.
"The thing I love so much is that anybody can enjoy Fresh Meat.
Fresh Meat continued on page 43
June 2006
I41
Rehab Your Reality
Once a fixture on London's lesbian nightlife scene, author
Valerie Mason-John shows us how to find inner peace.
By Malinda Lo
*
Valerie Mason-John is a woman who has been there and done that -
and
somehow found a way out to the other side. When she explains how her life has
transformed from one of"champagne and cocaine" to one centered on mindfulness and helping others, it's clear that her transformation is no Hollywood-style
quickie conversion marked by a red Kabbalah string bracelet; Mason-John's the
real deal. Ordained into the Western Buddhist Order with the Buddhist name
Vimalasara, Mason-John is gifting the rest of us with her hard-won wisdom in
her most recent spiritual self-help book, Detox Your Heart.
"It's a guide, a spiritual guide;• she explains. "Basically, all I'm saying is we
have to learn to love ourselves, really.That's been my journey, because I've had
so much self-hatred. I've made a lot of progress, but I'll be working with it
for the rest of my life:'
As a child in Britain, Mason-John grew up in orphanages and was physically and sexually abused. By the age of 14 she was living on the streets, and
a year later she entered a juvenile detention center. Luckily, she later found
her way to Leeds University in the late 1970s, where she became part of the
lesbian separatist movement. "There was a very strong lesbian organization
called Women Against Violence Against Women;' she recalls. "I was at the
age -
18, 19 -
when you're beginning to think about the world ... and that
was, in a way, what gave me my political reference:'
After college, Mason-John became an international journalist, covering
the Aboriginal land rights movement in Australia and the volatile situation in
Northern Ireland. At the same time, she continued to be very involved in the
lesbian community.'Tve always been a dyke;' she says.'Tve always had relationships with women, and the lesbian separatist movement shaped me and shaped
how I thought, and what I ate and what I did:'
In 1991, she co-authored Making Black Waves,
one of the first books about black and Asian lesbians in the United Kingdom. She later produced the
hit show Sin Dykes; worked as a women's nightclub
promoter; produced the politically charged Lesbian
Beauty Contest; and was the artistic director of
"I've had so much self-hatred. I've
made a lot of progress, but I'll be
working with it for the rest of my life."
London's Mardi Gras Festival, where Mason-John recalls she lived"a very highpowered, fast life in that gay men's world" while working for Elton John's manager and Leonardo DiCaprio's agent.
"(I was] very much in that ... champagne, cocaine world. I can't blame it
all on them 'cause I was into champagne and cocaine before this;' she admits
big political rift (and] people were never going to speak to each other again, and
here I am - one day I'm walking along the road, bump into somebody I was
never going to speak to again, and I smile. So it had a really huge effect on me:'
Meditation and Buddhism, which teaches that there is no fixed sense of sel£
with a grin. But she eventually found that high-powered lifestyle unfulfilling.
"What happened was that I can remember just feeling dissatisfied. And I can
also prompted her to begin letting go of labels, whether they be her identity as a
lesbian or as a black woman. That has in turn pushed her to broaden her artistic and personal horizons.''! can't stop myself writing things;' she says."I think
remember ... waking up one morning and thinking, I want my brain back:'
At a transcendental meditation class, she found what would later change
her life."I went along to that first meditation ... and I had such a strong expe-
what's changed is that I'm not just writing for a lesbian audience now:•
Her first novel, Borrowed Body, which was published in 2005 and nominated for the Young Minds Book Award, "is definitely for a general audience:•
rience that I just knew that was it:' She began meditating with the Friends of
the Western Buddhist Order, a Buddhist movement founded in London that
The novel is about the life of a young, black girl growing up in U.K. orphanages in the 1970s. "It became too restrictive ... to say that I'm a black writer
has since grown into a worldwide spiritual community.
Through meditation, Mason-John says, "Two very profound things happened. I think the first thing was doing the metta bhavana and actually coming off of retreat and thinking, 'Oh my God, the whole world is changing; and
or I'm a lesbian writer. And of course as black people, as lesbians, we live out
in the world .... I don't just have to write about black people, and I don't just
have to write about lesbians:'
actually what was happening was I was changing:' Metta bhavana is a type of
Buddhist meditation that cultivates feelings ofloving kindness toward everyone, including those considered to be enemies.
''I've been in that lesbian separatist community (where there was a] great
42lcurve
But, adds Mason-John, "I feel very grateful to my lesbian and gay audience, because they're the ones who have supported me and believed in my
work in whatever I've done:' ■
_Formore information on Mason-John, visit valeriemasonjohn.co.uk.
Sean Dorsey continued from page 40
Fresh Meat continued from page 41
the transgender experience through movement,
There are so many different identities converging," said Sisterz of the Underground founder
I'm challenging perceptions about dance, the
Sarah Smalls. "You also can't compare any one of the performances to each other. They are all
dancer's body and physicality at its core. I'm chal-
so eclectic and beautiful."
lenging the very instrument we dancers rely upon.
Smalls estimates that half of the collective are queer women. Representative of the diver-
I'm pushing at the walls of who traditionally is and
sity of the trans-queer communities held together by events like Fresh Meat, Smalls herself is
isn't allowed to be onstage. I want to bring entirely
straight, but considers herself "part of the family."
new stories and content to modern dance and
bring modern dance to entirely new audiences:'
Dorsey seems to be succeeding beautifully: The
artist has graced the stages ofLadyFest and TransArt
events as well as theaters across the United States and
Canada, and is anticipating a European tour in late
"I take my boyfriend to Fresh Meat. He's a b-boy and he's supposed to be one of these
typical straight guys. He loves the show," says Smalls, who also notes that the event has
opened many other doors for her; one Fresh Meat performer is a high school teacher who
just hired the Sisterz to teach breaking to her phys ed students.
For Dorsey, Fresh Meat seized upon an opportunity that he first recognized in 2001, the
year he arrived in San Francisco.
2006. This June he will perform as part of New York
"I happened to come to the Bay Area at a time when there was a real ground swell of
City's Fresh Fruit Festival. Dorsey also was nomi-
totally dynamic trans artists and in some ways the beginnings of a real trans art community,
nated for a 2006 Isadora Duncan Dance Award for
but we had very few venues and organizations that supported us," Dorsey says. "So often
ensemble performance of his choreography,and was
transgender and queer artists are relegated to perform in cafes and small spaces. The time
awarded a prestigious Wallace Alexander Gerbode
was right to take a step forward and gather this growing momentum and take our trans
Choreographer'sCommission to create his next con-
selves onto big stages and into big venues."
cert of work.
Even though he's worked hard at his craft, he
says, he feels lucky to be in a position to give back
to his audience. "I get to do what I love, and it
Still, Dorsey "could not have predicted its success," and since its debut, Fresh Meat
Productions has grown to include many other media forms and smaller events throughout
the year; the annual Fresh Meat cabaret now also hosts an art show in the ODC lobby.
At press time, confirmed performers for Fresh Meat 2006 include Kate Bornstein,
moves people deeply;' Dorsey remarks. "I can't tell
lmani Henry, Miguel Chernus-Goldstein, Ryka Aoki de la Cruz, Katastrophe, JenRO, Juba
you how many people have come up to me after a
Kalamka, Scarletto, Virago and of course, Dorsey. The shows take place June 15, 16 and
show having cried because they were finally see-
17, and reservations are
recommended. ■
ing their story told, or because they related to the
work and understood trans a little better:' ■
For more information, visit freshmeatproductions. org.
June 2006 j 43
Big Boned Gal
Actress Chastity Bono takes on personal trainers, carb counting and her
sexy actress girlfriend with VH1 's Celebrity Fit Club.
By Diane Anderson--Minshall
*
Since she came out - or was outed by the tabloids - as a lesbian, Chastity
Bono, actor, author and pop culture fixture, has been one of those ever,visible
lesbians in Hollywood. With two books under her belt, a career in music behind
her and a tumultuous but successful tum as entertainment director at GLAAD
in the history books (thanks to that infamous Yep,I'm GayTV show), Bono
tackled her chemical addiction, found new love and then signed up for the third
installment ofVHl's rock'n' roll weight,loss reality show CelebrityFit Club.We
caught up with her just as the season was coming to a close.
Did you have any concerns about doing a weight-loss show?
Not really. I had more concerns about doing what is a reality TV show.
You seem like the last person I'd imagine doing a reality show.
Yeah, so that was really where my concerns lay.... What was the spirit of
the show? Was it sensational for the sake of sensationalism, or were the
intentions more of a good nature? Once I kind of found that it was a
pretty good show with an overall positive message ... then I decided to
go ahead and do it.
You've been in recovery -
Almost two years.
Is that hard to maintain in Hollywood?
That's a good question. You have to change your lifestyle, because somebody
who's a big party person, you can't put yourself in those types of situations.
That was never really me; I was always kind of the, you know, pathetic
in,my,home closet user, you know? So, my social life actually picked up
quite a bit since I've gotten sober.
I'm wondering, how does it feel for you, you know, when you see
somebody like Jeff Conaway struggling with his addictions?
It was tough to work with Jeff, really tough I think for everybody, you know.
Maybe a little tougher for me and Ant because we've been there and ... it's
weird when you are trying to separate yourself from that, and you are living
a clean and sober lifestyle, and you're surrounding yourself with others who
are doing the same, to then kind of be smack in the face of act~veaddiction
is kind of a trip. I think it made all of us uncomfortable, because everybody
for the most part, it's a nice thing for viewers. I mean, Bruce is just so funny,
and you can't help but laugh at him. He's one of the funniest, smartest,
quickest people I've ever met in my life. It was nice to be part of something
that wasn't gay ... that wasn't the central issue, but I still am who I am.
One of the things I really liked about the show is the week where
who did the show was very professional .... Then you've got this kind of
train wreck who just is making all of our lives more difficult than it had to
have been. You know, it kind of started it out on a bad note for us, because it
you worked out five days in a row with all the different people that
seemed like the past two seasons there were people who had those types of
issues, but nobody's ever gotten kicked off the show because of it before.
She was totally into it. You know, we met about a month before I started
In addition to you being the show's first lesbian, this is the queerest
season with you and Bruce Villanch and Ant. How do you think viewers sort of perceive the show's gay cast?
I'm sure gay viewers are probably thrilled just to see representation, as we all
are. There's still - although it's gotten so much better - there's still far
fewer of us being represented in the media than straight people, so that's
a cool thing.
your girlfriend helped set up. How does your girlfriend feel about
the show?
filming it, and so she went through the entire process with me and would
come on the weekends that we would shoot, and she got close to every,
body that was on the show, and so it was just kind of this thing that we
did every other week.
I know that, among lesbians, there's still a lot of debate about
whether fat is a feminist issue. Have you had that kind of dialogue
at all?
I don't know. I've never heard of this "fat is feminist" issue. Enlighten me.
Especially gay, fat people.
[Laughs.] Well, fat doesn't always have to be unhealthy, and it can
I went to Tower Video last night with my girlfriend, and there was some
event going on. They were having some kind of thing for some kind of
off,the,wall movie, and there were, like, a lot of punk people there, and
the shackles of the traditional, patriarchal beauty standards.
I was shocked how many young kids - kind of punk kids, rock 'n' roll,
punk kids - coming up to me, and [saying], "Lesbians are great .... We're
watching the show!" And I don't think these were gay kids. I think that,
44lcurve
mean that a woman is - for lack of a better phrasing - throwing off
I see. Yeah, we don't have that in L.A. It's just fat.
One of the things you said is that when you are overweight in L.A.,
you kind of feel separate and apart.
Yeah, definitely.
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Do you feel like that? Is that something that's changing for you - or
will change?
in All About Eveand ended up not getting it because she was too thin, and
she had a lot of trouble kind of working because her natural frame was
A little bit. I'm not thin by any stretch of the imagination, but I lost some
nice chunk of weight on the show, and it definitely made me feel bet-
too thin for that time. Back then they were into the whole voluptuous,
ter. I would like to lose more; it's definitely harder without the pres-
anorexic look that everybody's striving for, and that's certainly not a good
sure of the show
to
do that but, you know, I'd like to keep whittling
away at it. I think going into it, [it's] more of a health thing but it does,
it's definitely a self-esteem issue. I mean, this whole debate that you
talk about, I think it's kind of bullshit, I have to say, kind of a justification. I don't think there are that many people that are overweight that
feel that good about it. You know, that's why the diet industry in this
curvaceous female body, and now we're faced with kind of being into this
thing either.
On the other hand, in America we've got a serious obesity problem, and we
eat really crappy food and portions that are gigantic -
so I don't think it's
a black-or-white issue; I think it's various shades of gray.
Tell me about your new project with here! TV.
I don't want to go into too much detail ... but it's a screenplay that I co-wrote
country is so huge, but I don't think you have to be ... rail thin either,
with a friend of mine from high school, actually. We' re close to signing
and I certainly would never be comfortable with that either. I think it's
that and getting the script in development over there, and assuming were
about finding a place where you feel good about yourself and where
you feel healthy.
all happy with it, it's something that, you know, that I'll be co-producing
with my writing partner as well.
Well, do you think that the diet industry sort of exploits this issue?
Great, and then can you tell me anything about your girlfriend?
You know, it's hard. There are so many varying degrees of it, you know what
I'm saying? Like if we are talking about people who are a little bit over-
Why, what do you want to know?
weight, yeah, I think it's definitely exploitative and I think that Hollywood
has kind of exploited that or changed it.
It's interesting, you see trends throughout history. You know, my grandmother
was an actress and a model, and she was up for the Marilyn Monroe part
••
Is she in the industry?
Yeah, she's a struggling actress and writer. And she's 30, and we've been
together for six months today.
Is it too soon to ask about wedding bells?
No, I don't think so; I think it's a definite possibility at some point. ■
Call toll-free 1-877-794-8037 to receivethe "It's Only Natural"pocket guide or check
MySwitzerland.comfor more informationand packages.
June 2006
I45
Hope_ Floats
Rosie O'Donnell wants everyone to come aboard.
*
By John Esther
Far from the sunny oceans and beaches depicted in
All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise, the documentary
by Shari Cookson that aired last spring on HBO,
lesbian showbiz powerhouse Rosie O'Donnell sits
across from me in a massive tent at the bottom of a
ski slope in Park City, Utah, with her wife, Kelli.
Looking very chipper, O'Donnell is here to
promote the documentary that chronicles their
adventure back in 2004, when 1,500 people of
varying sexual orientations set sail aboard the
Norwegian Dawn on an R Family Vacations
cruise to th.::: Caribbean. The unprecedented
cruise line, which was created by Kelli O'Donnell
and Gregg Kaminsky (formerly of the gay char,
ter company Atlantis Vacations), brought people
together to foster an atmosphere of love for gay
and nongay families alike, without any prejudice
based on sexual orientation. Voyagers enjoyed
seminars on adoption and raising a child with gay
parents. Teenagers gave younger children advice on
how to deal with homophobia. Marriages were held
at sea. There was a lot of fun out on the water.
The trip was not all rosy. At the port of Nassau
in the Bahamas, homophobic protesters heckled
passengers as they went ashore. Nonetheless,
Cookson's camera depicts the humanity and joy of
the passengers - young and old - that couldn't
be suppressed. All Aboard! leaves viewers with the
distinct feeling that when people create the right
environment, prejudice drowns in an ocean oflove
and compassion.
Did it surprise you how much the cruise
meant to the passengers and to you?
We went on the premise that if you build it, they
will come. We built it, and luckily people
showed up. Shari [Cookson] was amazing in
capturing the whole experience of what Kelli
and Gregg Kaminsky put together. Until you
saw the movie, you didn't actually see the full
effect it had, because you only had your own
experience.
Can you talk about the financial elements?
we were nuts. But I knew it was a niche within
a niche. I knew that there's an estimated 8 mil,
risk that was in the light. Choosing to believe
in the goodness. I'm fortunate enough to be in
Chartering a cruise ship is a big financial risk.
lion children in America being raised by one or
I did pay for it. Kelli and Gregg made a business
plan and they came up with a few different ships
and showed me them. The most expensive and
best,looking was the Norwegian Dawn, and I
said, "Let's get that:' My feeling was these pea,
more gay parent.
a position to do it. What better way to spend
or risk your money?
ple who would be coming needed to be served
a full meal. Most of their lives they were given
crumbs and told they were full meals. I wanted
to give them the full experience. We got the big
ship; it was a big risk and a lot of people said
46
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Did any cruise companies not want to take
Did you have concerns about the camera
on the project out of fear of backlash?
intruding into your lives?
When you say you want to charter the entire ship
and you have the money, they say, 'Welcome
aboard: [Laughs.] A lot of people thought we
chartered a floor and not the entire ship. It's
rare that it's done, and it usually takes compa,
Yes. [Laughs.]
nies a lot of time to get there. We were very
lucky. It was a r~sk, but I also felt that it was a
People came on the cruise to establish a
collective identity, but at one point that trip
took them into an atmosphere of homophobia. Did that strike you as ironic?
Most of them had encountered [homophobia]
many times before. I was probably one of the
few who never had, because I grew up in New
I think you either feel social responsibility or you
York. I had sort of an easy life as a gay per-
don't. I don't think it has to do with being gay
son. I'd say 99 percent of the people on that
cruise had horrible stories of being mistreated
or straight. For me, as a child growing up, it
was the activists [and] artists who moved me
because of homophobia, whether it was legal
the most - the ones who spoke out against
injustice, whether that be Martin Luther King,
or just social. The only time I ever felt any
kind of homophobia was when we tried to
adopt a foster child we had raised and we
were informed that it was illegal in the state
of Florida. That is actually what propelled
me to come out.
The film shows us teenagers giving advice
Jane Fonda or Harry Belafonte. The people
who moved me inside and made my soul quake
were the ones who realized that there is power
in celebrity.
Do you think the rejection of gay marriage
in America these days goes deeper than
to younger kids, but what were those teens
homophobia?
up to off-screen?
There are basic civil rights every human in
America is entitled to, supposedly, by the
They ran the ship. [Laughs.]The only problems
we had were the teenagers. We were like, the
heterosexual offspring of the queers are causing trouble on this ship. Can you reign in your
heterosexual teens? They were teenagers, and
they do what teenagers do.
What did you think of the protests?
I didn't get off the boat, but people took pictures.
The first time I really felt the effects of the protests was during the screening. It was much
Constitution. I believe it became a political
issue here because Karl Rove, the ultimate
evil of the universe, figured out that this
would be a way to incite the right-wing base.
When you look at this film, you see that these
are people who are committed to each other,
who love each other and who are often willing
to take the children the heterosexuals weren't
more terrifying than I could have imagined.
capable of raising and raise them in light and
love. I understand that the word "marriage"
[During the cruise] I had to explain to our kids
has been viewed in a certain way in our coun-
why people were protesting. I didn't know how
to find the words.
try and that might be a frightening line for
some people to cross. However, we are based
What sort of complications arose in making
the film? Beyond the Bahamas sequence, it
appears everything was easygoing.
The crew of the Norwegian Dawn said it was the
most well-behaved cruise they've ever had.
They had no complaints. They were shocked
all the children were so well-nurtured and
cared for. What people don't realize is that in
order to have a child as a gay person, it takes
three or four times the effort than [that of] a
straight couple, because it's complicated. There
are a lot of other people involved. The law's
involved. There are a lot of things you don't
have to think about if you're a heterosexual.
Usually, when homosexuals have children,
on freedom and equality, life, liberty and justice, and it doesn't say [anywhere] "except for
the queers:'
I think it's a distraction. In the middle of the
Iraq war, Kelli and I, before we were married, were watching TV, and there was this
news alert. I'm thinking, my God, we've lost
a platoon. And Bush is sitting in the White
House. This smug, son of a rich former CIA
director didn't say anything about Iraq, but
[only] that gay people were ruining the country. I was so enraged. I think he will go down
in history as the worst president ever - the
most divisive, corrupt and unjust and, by far,
the least intelligent.
they've thought about it long and hard, and
those children are definitely wanted. They' re
And yet, Vice President Dick Cheney's
the focus of the family.
I think of her far more often than one should
think of someone they don't know. I think of
her a lot, and what it must be like to know that
What's next for R Family Vacations?
We are sold out on the next cruise, which is in
July. We go to Alaska. Then, in February, we
go to the eastern Caribbean. We have a high
recidivism rate!
You often use your clout for progressive
purposes. Do you encourage people who are
in your position to do the same thing?
daughter is queer.
your father is the vice president of an administration that is trying to rob you of your civil
rights. I can't imagine what that's doing to her
soul and psyche. Every child wants their parents to love them, and this puts her in the most
horrific position that I can imagine. ■
June 2006
I4 7
Art Breaker
Almost a decade old, the National
Queer Arts Festival is the place to
be in June.
* ByJocelynVoo
An established San Francisco Bay Area tradition now in its ninth year, the
National Queer Arts Festival has grown considerably from a small, six-event
festival to a 45-program extravaganza involving 15 other organizations.
Produced by the nonprofit Queer Cultural Center, Queer Arts has showcased
nearly 1,000 music, dance, visual arts, film and theater performers since its
inception, spread across multiple venues in San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland
and Marin County.
"I think we concentrate on showcasing all aspects of our community;' says
57 -year-old Pamela Peniston, executive director of this year's NQAF. "We
present the MacArthur 'genius' award-winner and the 19-year-old slam poet;
we highlight all ethnicities, all abilities and all genders to the stage, and we
let them have their say. We want our audiences to see themselves reflected
onstage and on film. And we want the audiences to discover other communities and come to value that work and those communities as well:'
Performers range from celebrities to underground shakers in all disciplines; this year's highlights include porn star-turned-sex guru Annie Sprinkle
and musician Vicki Randle. Peniston lists watching Michelle Tea curating
Transforming Community and seeing Alice Walker, Dorothy Allison and
Jewelle Gomez on the same stage as some ofNQAF's greatest hits.
'Tm an unabashed fan [of Queer Art's performers];' Peniston says. "I love
meeting and interacting with all of the artists and discussing the work with
the audience. I almost lost it when Alice Walker said she liked my dreads:'
That type of camaraderie -
between host and guest, artist and audience
even goes beyond queer parameters. As one of the few arts organizations
that includes the q~word in its name, the Festival prides itself on being a bastion of the queer community. Queer student groups have called QCC seeking
help with expanding their arts department, and the Center has even fielded
requests from the organizers of Belgrade Pride.
Moreover, both QCC and NQAF make a concerted effort to intersect with
nonqueer institutions and celebrate queer artists in their genre. In past years,
NQAF supported a showcase of Win Ng (of the East-meets-West home
furnishing company Taylor & Ng) at the San Francisco Chinese Historical
Society, and this spring the organization coordinated Dykes to Watch Out
For cartoonist Alison Bechdel's appearance at the San Francisco Cartoon Art
Museum's No Straight Lines exhibition.
Among the ever-increasing number of Pride parades and celebrations,
NQAF is the little festival that could. A scant seven-person board of directors
manages everything from booking and promotions to manning the concessions stand. In fact, they're so passionate about queer arts that each boardmember is an artist or arts administrator.
This year's theme, "Hope & Healing in Times of War;' can be interpreted
as a nod to the war in Iraq, but Peniston describes it more as the artist's own
definition of who or what they are struggling with.
"Were asking artists to look at the wars going on around them past and
present and to re-energize people to do something about them;' she says,
"whether that's building bridges to other communities or taking to the streets
to effect social change:' It's a theme that's meant to build something up out
of what was broken down. And considering the mission of the NQAF and
QCC, it's one that's entirely fitting. ■
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June 2006
I49
CouplesThat
PlayTogether
Stay Together
BY MALINDA LO I PHOTOGRAPHY BY DESDEMONA BURGIN
When spoken word artist Alix Olson and singer-songwriter Pamela Means first met, in the
fall of 1997 in a Wesleyan University dorm room, "It was very uneventful;' recalls Means
with a laugh. "Her friend randomly found me playing at a coffeehouse in Bosto~ and invited
me to play at the college, which I did, and then I crashed over in her room for the night:'
Olson puts in, "I don't really remember that, actually:'
"No sparks whatsoever;' Means says. "I was completely ignored. I was the random folksinger sleepin' in the corner:•
It wasn't until years later, when Means was touring with Olson in 2003 to promote Olson's
second album, IndependenceMeal, that the two friends discovered there was something more
to their relationship. Since then, the two women have been sharing lives, though not apartments (they maintain separate residences), in Northampton, Mass. Olson is best known for
her politically charged spoken word performances, which have lit up stages everywhere from
HBO's DefJam to the main stage of the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. Means released
her fifth CD, SingleBulletTheory,in 2003 and is known for her punchy, adept guitar playing.
When I spoke with them this spring they were about to begin planning a move to New
York, where both intend to pursue new projects: Olson in theater and writing; Means with her
new ensemble, the Pamela Means Jazz Project. We talked about their relationship, their politics
and their disagreements, and I discovered that though Olson and Means are quite different
from each other, they do have one very important thing in common: "Were still the friends and
mutual admirers that we started out being,"Means says.
June 2006
I 51
When I talked with you, Alix, at the Breast
Cancer Action gala last fall, you said that
you and Pamela have been together for a
couple of years now.
Alix: We've been lovers for three years and friends
for 10.
Have you been keeping this under wraps?
Alix: Well, it was kind of annoying because people
kept hinting that we should be dating, because
they kept saying that we had this chemistry
onstage, and we were very staunch about the
fact that it was not a romantic chemistry, it
was just sort of like two actors in a movie, kind
of just having stage chemistry. But then, gosh
darn it, we went and fell in love. We couldn't
help it. [Laughs.]
What did you think of Pamela when you
became friends?
Alix: I thought Pamela was just super cool and
really mellow and very charming, but definitely
very intimidating.
Why did you find her intimidating?
Alix: She was so wicked on the guitar .... I had
never seen anyone play guitar like that. She
had great politics. I perceived her as really
quiet, even though she's not at all.
Pamela: I've always felt intimidated by her as
well, because she seems like such a powerful
persona. I was pretty nervous the first time
that I was invited to play with her. I was like,
oh I'd better not mess it up .... Gotta be on
point.
Alix: [Laughs.]And I was so nervous to have her
in the studio 'cause she's such a badass .... I was
afraid of what she would think of my work.
So how did you manage to make this shift
from friends to lovers?
Alix: It was actually surprisingly, incredibly organic,
I think. Part of it is that we both have very
clear understandings of what we want out of
a healthy relationship. For example, we keep a
lot of things really separate; that's really important to us. I think we've both had and witnessed
relationships that were so enmeshed that they
crumbled so quickly, (so] that we were sort of
determined to keep our independence - and
we're both incredibly independent people to
begin with. We made the decision to join different gyms. The small details make a difference in terms of maintaining who you are as
whole and separate people.
Pamela: And we don't live together, either. That's
a conscious choice .... When we got together
and realized that this was gonna happen, we
really thought about it and have felt committed to not taking any aspect of it for granted
. . . and to bear in mind that we were before
and still are independent people with our own
paths, and we choose to come together and
52
Icurve
share our lives, but without trying to get lost
in it and become one big blob. That sometimes
can happen when you become a couple.
Alix: Yeah, we're anti-blob. We do work together,
but ... I don't think (we) force it. We don't
meddle in each other's art.
Pamela: We're still the friends and mutual admir-
ers that we started out being.
Alix: I think we're mostly inspired by each other
at an idea level.
"I thought Pamela was just
super cool and really mellow
and very charming, but definitely
very intimidating." -Alix
You both tour so much. How do you maintain
a relationship when you're both on the road
be able to have a lover in your life who can
[Laughs.]I'm the mistress to the music. Were
so much?
relate completely to the life you live, even
also nonmonogamous,
Alix: [Laughs.]I have a calendar and Pamela has
though you're living them separately sometimes. I just can't imagine a person who works
healthy thing for us.
So has that brought up any major challenges
think it's almost becauseof our lifestyles that
a 9-to-5 job necessarily being [that way], and
we don't resent each other for being away.
Alix: It's brought up a lot of challenges, but it's
the relationship is maintained, because we're
Pamela: That's a whole other aspect about what
each going off having these adventures all the
time, and then we come back and we have new
I think is wonderful about the relationship
something we're both really committed to.
Even the pain ... (is] all worth it, and it's all
from my perspective: being with someone
who . . . (is) kind of doing the same thing, in
inherent ... in the process. Sometimes it feels
like bad pain, but I don't think it's necessarily
a Palm pilot.
Pamela: [Laughs.]The wonders of technology. I
things to tell each other. You become a new
which I think is a
for you?
bad pain, it's just growing pain.
person every time you have a new experience,
that we have these crazy lifestyles and live out
so that's always happening. There's always
newness in our relationship. There are a lot of
of hotels more than the average person and log
on the miles. In the past, I've had relationships
Was nonmonogamy ever a question or was
goodbyes, but there are a lot of hellos.
Alix: We're kind of forced to be good communica-
where I have felt that my music was a threat to
my partner and that there was some kind of
Alix: It was never a question.
tors, I guess. But you know, I'll get a panicked
call from backstage, like, "The show's gonna
competition, or my going away was a stress on
the relationship, and with Alix that's never -
ate within it, because everyone kind of does
it differently .... And I embrace it because I've
suck, what should I do?" And it's amazing to
Alix: I let her music be her wife. I'll be her lover.
thought a lot about it. I'm biracial, I'm queer,
this kind of negotiated?
Pamela: Yeah. Maybe negotiated how to oper-
alued amd R
You've worked hard to get where you are
professionally. Now come to a place that
truly respects your dedication and talentBarnes-Jewish Hospital, one of America's
best hospitals* and the only adult hospital
in St. Louis to achieve Magnet status for
nursing excellence. We offer a competitive
salary and partner benefits including medical &
dental, with pharmacy and vision discount&
June 2006
I53
I'm totally outside the status quo, so I choose
to conduct my personal and romantic relationships outside of that sphere as well. Why
should my love life have that straight-world
template on it?
Pamela, do you think of this as kind of a
political decision?
Pamela: For me, the political aspect of it has been
the easier part to believe in and to get behind,
and [is] what helps get me through ... moments
of jealousy and insecurity.
Alix: Yeah ... it's also something that is incred-
ibly political to me: the idea of not possessing
somebody else's spirit, and not possessing their
body, and accepting what's offered.
Pamela: In a way it's acknowledging and respect-
ing the diverse and complicated ways of
human sexuality.
So do you think that marriage would ever be
in your future?
Alix: Not in mine, no. Even when I identified as
straight, it was never something I was interested
in. I think it's an institution that was based
primarily upon the government controlling
people and a Noah's Ark idea of two-by-two,
and I'm not interested in involving the government in my romantic practices.
Pamela: I wouldn't say never, because I'm a big
romantic person, but it's unlikely.
Alix: That's true, we both watched when they passed
gay marriage in Massachusetts. Were both huge
criers and we definitely went through a couple of
boxes of tissues watching the news.
Pamela: Also ... we're in full support of gay
marriage.
Alix: We're in support of all civil liberties.
Tell me about some big challenges you've
gotten through.
Alix: We've been through
some really, really
tough family stuff these past few years, which
I think is always hard on a relationship ....
When really bad things happen in your life
you really lean on your partner, and I think
that's an amazing thing but it's also a hard
thing for the other person to feel that much
pressure to be there. My mom got cancer, my
stepmother got cancer, my dad had a heart
attack ... and Pamela was dragged through all
of that, all the family drama, [and] was ... in
and out of hospitals four different times with
me. I think that's a lot of pressure on a relationship, to have your partner sort of lost and
crying a lot. And we made a commitment ...
to find [Pamela's] biological parents.
Pamela: I was born to a white mother, black
father, and I was given up because of that, and
then I was adopted because of that by my parents who raised me, and then my mom died. So
I've always wanted to [but have] been afraid of
54
I curve
"I was bornto a white mother,blackfather,and I was given
up becauseof that, and then I was adopted becauseof
that by my parentswho raisedme ... "
PamelaMeans
taking on the search for my birth parents, and
Alix really helped me face that fear, to take big,
ger steps toward it. As a result, my birth mother
was located. That was huge for me, but then she
didn't want to meet me, so that was painful.
Alix: We're still trying to find her father. We went
to all these different high schools in Milwaukee
and photocopied all the pictures based on
the information we had: that he was African
American and he was a basketball player and
wore glasses - that's pretty much all we knew
about him. We found six people that met that
description, and one of them had these huge
dimples and looks, I think, exactly like Pamela,
but we haven't really contacted him yet.
What do you fight about?
Alix: One thing we definitely fought about a lot
- and it's something we don't fight about any,
more, primarily because we don't talk about it
- is religion. Pamela was raised deeply, deeply
religious, and I was raised strongly, strongly
atheist, and both of us were raised to be incred,
ibly critical of the other's views. That was defi,
nitely something that brought some tears.
What's changed?
Alix: I think we both have mellowed out a little bit,
in general, about this. And I also think that we
both recognize that it's a very personal thing.
Pamela: Yeah, I think we respect each other's
views a little bit more than just thinking the
other person is a loser. [Laughs.] I was raised a
very strict Lutheran. I believed every other per,
son who was not the kind of Lutheran I was,
was going to hell.
Alix: She was raised believing that Santa was
Satan because . . . he was taking Christmas
away from Jesus. I was raised never to believe
in Santa because my parents believe that's the
first big lie you tell your kids.
Pamela: I knew I was queer in my adolescence, but
being taught that I would be going to hell for
that, [I'm] still kind of working the kinks out.
Alix: I was recently asked to [perform at] a col,
lege, and it was written [in] my contract that I
couldn't do a certain poem because it was about
religion. So I called Pamela immediately and
said, "What do I dot And she said, "Well, mor,
ally and ethically you can't do the show:' And
then I told her I was getting paid a fair amount
of money that we could use for our move to
New York and she said, "Do it:' [Laughs.]
Pamela: I was like, well then just don't do that
poem!
Alix: [The poem was] "Cute for a Girl" [and they
didn't want me to do the poem] because they
said that I would be promoting homosexuality.
So instead, I'm not going to do the poem, I'm
going to wear a T,shirt that says "I promote
homosexuality:' [Laughs.] Might as well be
direct about it, you know? ■
For outtakes from our interview with Alix and Pam,
visit curvemag.com.
June 2006
I55
June 2006 j 57
• •
• • • "Electric Kiss," by Yvette J. Marthell, Long Beach, Calif. 3rd Prize Winner
"My Lovely Wife," by Gray Lyons, Elkton, Md. "Daughter of Mayor of Beverly Hills," by Yvette J. MartheR,
Long Beach, Calif. "Her Eyes," by Taschka Turnquist, Los Angeles "Rainbow Color Ennui," by Fred Ford,
Chofu, Japan
June 2006
I59
Reviews
Sapphic Screen
A Texas Tinseltown
Getting to know Austin's lesbian film scene. I By Tracy E. Gilchrist
EDITOR'S
PICK
Breasts: A
Documentary
(FirstRunFeatures)
Inthisprofoundly
amusing
andintimately
candid
doc,20-something
filmmakerMeemaSpadola,
the
daughter
of lesbians
who
directed
thegroundbreaking
OurHouse,
hasgathered
22
women(manyof whomare
topless)
to discusshowtheir
breastshaveshaped
their
lives.Spadola
andfilmmaker
ThomPowers
(whoalso
collaborated
withSpadola
ontheequallyinsightful
documentary
PrivateDicks)
sentquestionnaires
to
everything
fromdoctor's
officesto stripclubsand
foundover200womenwho
wereeagerto talkabouttheir
knockers.
Amongthewomen
in thedocumentary
- which Nestled in the heart of Bush country, where everything is bigwasfilmedbyanall-woman
ger and longhorns are all the rage, a burgeoning community of
crew- area 420-pound
comedienne,
an11-year-old lesbian filmmakers can be found in Austin, Texas. The celluloid
girl,twowomenwithmastec- stories created by Austin's queer ladies offer a little something
tomies,anda stripperanda
for all the gay gals. Their recent films are a melange of fetish
transsexual
woman- both and fantasy, poignancy and perversity, narrative and documenwithimplants.
Breasts
isa
tary, all laced with an innate pop-culture sensibility.
fascinating
must-see.
(firstrunfeatures.com) Acclaimed documentarian Ellen Spiro, Passion Fruit Video
- DianeAnderson-Minshall founder Alpha, drag king Mocha Jean Herrup and Austin
radio personality Jenn Garrison wrangle a wide repertoire of
films, from feature-length documentaries to quirky shorts.
These Austin-based auteurs have harnessed the art of mixing
kitsch, irony and wicked humor with cutting-edge sociopolitical commentary - proving that at least in the area of queer
filmmaking, progressive Austin has nearly seceded from the
rest of Texas.
Documenting the Deep South
For nearly 15 years, Ellen Spiro - an associate professor of
Radio-TV-Film at the University of Texas, Austin - has
directed funny and poignant documentaries in which she's
given .a voice to those quirky purveyors of Americana that
often lurk in the Deep South. Her subjects have ranged from
a South Carolina beautician who doled out AIDS and safesex education to her clients in DiAna's Hair Ego, to "Geritol
gypsies;' an aging group of nomads who tour the country in
an Airstream RV in Roam Sweet Home.
62
Icurve
In 1993, her documentary GreetingsFrom Out Here paid
homage to various forms of gay subculture in the South, including gay rodeo. It looks like Spiro had Hollywood's Brokeback
Mountain beat on that subject by about 13 years. Her most
recent documentary, produced by Karen Bernstein, is 2005's
Troop 1500, a hard-hitting yet touching look at a Girl Scout
program that brings together incarcerated mothers and their
daughters, at Hilltop Prison in Gatesville, Texas.
A Passion for Camp
Austin-based Passion Fruit Video boasts a troupe of Robert
Altman-esque actors who work with Alpha, the company's
founder and director. Passion Fruit's 2004 mockumentary
guide to lesbian dating, How to Pick up Girls:A Guidefor the
Dating Impaired, was featured at the 2004 Austin Gay and
Lesbian Film Festival, and won Best Debut Lesbian Film at
Fort Worth's QCinema.
For Xena fans who longed for the lesbian subtext to simmer
to the surface, or for anyone who thought the overtly masculine Lord of the Rings trilogy could have used a good makeout
session between Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett, Passion Fruit
offers Chroniclesof Halcyon:PleasureDome, in which the fairies
and queens are dykes, and so are the warriors. Alpha combines
camp and sex appeal to reach out to those Xena fans who have
been in a rerun stupor since the series ended.
Texas Tinseltown continued on page 71
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DVD PICKS
Mammie Dearest: Hollywood
Royalty Edition (Paramount):
whovoicesLisaSimpson,
aswellasa
multi-angle
animation
showcase
and
oneof myall-timefavoriteSimpsons
episodes,
"A FishCalledSelma."In it,
Selmagetsropedintobeinga beardfor
fallenHollywood
hotshot
TroyMcClure
- notfor beinggay("OhI wish!"
McClure
proclaims)
butfor something
farworse.(thesimpsons.com)
"Don'tfuckwithme,fellas.Thisain'tmy
firsttimeat therodeo."
OK,that'snot
themostfamousphrase
fromthiscamp
classic("Christina,
bringmetheaxe"
and"Nowirehangers,
ever"probably
topthelist)butit'soneofthemost
tellingaboutthelifeof legendary
Joan
Crawford
(portrayed
expertly
byFaye
Dunaway).
Nowforthe25thanniversary
ofthecultclassic,
Paramount
has
re-released
thisspecial
editionofthe
film- a memoir
toldthrough
theeyes
of Crawford's
adopted
(andnowlesbian)
daughter
Christina
- alongwithcommentary
fromgaydirector
JohnWaters.
(paramount.com/homeentertainmenO
The Simpsons Kiss and Tell:
The Story of Their Love (Fox):
Thismulti-episode
anthology
is a nice
introduction
to thequeerlandof The
Simpsons.
It includes
thehilarious
episode
"ThreeGaysof theCondo,"
inwhichHomermovesin withtwo
gaymen,adoptstheirurbanrainbow
lifestyle
andlockslipswithanother
dude.(thesimpsons.com)
Betty Blowtorch (And
Her Amazing True Life
Adventures) (Cinema
Libre):
lJ.J
a:
~
lJ.J
0
~
a:
~al
~
::J
lJ.J
The Simpsons: The Complete
Seventh Season (Fox):
Asusual,
a solidandqueer-friendly
boxsetof
hilarity.
There'scommentary
onevery
episode,
including
thatofYeardley
Smith,thebutchyfeministactress
I
The first words on Karen Green's Web site, karenscomingout.com, are, 'Tm a giant
lesbian:' This Jersey girl came flying out of the closet when she signed on with gay
cable channel Logo's Coming Out Stories. The mother of a 7-year-old, Green also
cares for her own mother, who suffers from a brain disease. As many of us know,
coming out isn't easy, and Green's story includes the often harsh reality involved with
has brought Green the liberation ofliving honestly and the peace of knowing that it's
OK to be gay. -Charlotte
Rice
Why did you decide to do the show?
What helped me to go for it was the possibility that others would be inspired.
Hopefully, people would watch my story and say, "If she could come out to
her dying mom, maybe I can too:'
How hard was it trying to function on a daily basis with all of those cameras on you?
Daily functioning was weird at first, but after a few hours it was as if they
weren't even there. I did find myself 'coming out' to strangers constantly,
though. People were curious about the cameras ... even at my son's school!
What kindsof reactionshave you had, as opposedto what you expected?
I am amazed over the number of people who decided to come out to their families or friends after watching the show. I get fan mail from people who have
Transamerica (Weinstein
Co.):
zlJ.J
ACTIVIST AND DOCUMENTARY SUBJECT
making such a revelation. But in addition to raw, emotional reactions, coming out
King of the Hill, The
Complete Third Season (Fox):
Honorary
lesbianKathyNajimyvoices
Thisaward-winning
documentary
thelovable
feministhousewife
chronicles
theriseof thehard-rocking, Peggy,
in King,andthisseason
shegoes
foul-mouthed
femalefoursome
Betty
skydiving,
pitchesfor Hank'sbaseball
Blowtorch
fromits rootsintheband
teamandgetsa beautypageant
ButtTrumpet
- whichcameunder
makeover
to wina 5.4literV-8pickup
firefromTipperGore- to thetragic
deathof leadsingerBianca"Butthole" truck.(foxtvdvd.com)
Halstead.
Thefilmis a compelling
and
sometimes
side-splitting
lookat a rare
all-girlbandthat,givenmoretime,
couldhavechanged
howthemusic
industry
treatswomen.
Thisspecial
editionDVDincludes
never-beforeseenfootage.(cinemalibrestudio.com)
FelicityHuffman,
bestknownfor her
roleonDesperate
Housewives,
sowonderfullyinhabits
thecharacter
of Bree,
a transsexual
womantakingthefinal
stepsof hertransition
thatyou'llwant
to bothlaughandcrya lot.Betteryet,
you'llforgetallaboutsexandgender
andjustfeelforthiswomanandher
almostordinary
humanity.
(weinsteinco.com)
Karen Green
I
lost their parents without having told them they were gay. And they regret it.
Sometimes, I sit in front of my computer and just cry reading their stories.
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of
Low Price (BraveNewFilms):
Finallyyoucanseethefilmthat
thecritics(including
me)loveand
Wal-Mart
execshate.In Wal-Mart,
anhonestbutpropaganda-like
film,
thedirectorgoesbehindtheWally
worldfaQade
to talkwithrealworkers
hereandabroad,andexamine
the
impactthatWal-Mart's
enticingly
low
priceshavehadonAmerica.
Hint:It
ain'tgood.(walmartthemovie.com)
- DianeAnderson-Minshall
How has it changed you?
I immediately dropped weight, for one. I think food was comforting to me
because I always had that dark cloud above me, reminding me of my little
secret. So, now that I'm totally out, food has become less important. On the
inside, I've become much more sensitive. Most of the mail I receive comes
from tiny rural corners of our country where it is not OK to be gay. They
feel trapped: trapped in marriages, trapped in small towns ... and I feel bad
because they don't have immediate resources. I am so thankful everyday that
I have support around me.
Are you and Kelly still together?
Kelly and I are doing great! She is so wonderful and I am so lucky to have her.
She helps me with my mom so much. I'm her No. 1 fan. ■
June 2006
I63
Reviews
In the Stacks
Chicken Rules, Drag Kings Don't
Check your expectations at the door. I By Rachel Pepper
Authors who have achieved critical and popular acclaim
I believed that the question, "Who cares what anybody's got
often face a difficult test when their latest works are pub-
between their legs?" would be the sounding call to action to
drive the narrative forward.
lished: Will their newest book live up to expectations? This
month brings us two new works by well-established
queer
authors, Diane DiMassa, the pen behind the Hothead Paisan
Instead, the novel slowly submerges any promise it held into
a big boiling cauldron of mix-and-match politics. It becomes
graphic novels, and Leslie Feinberg, who gave us the classic
more a political manifesto than a novel, and a cliche-ridden one
Stone Butch Blues.
at that. Feinberg aims her net of self-righteousness too high, trying to incorporate themes of Native American and Palestinian
Chicken Rules, Diane DiMassa
For those of you wondering what has
EDITOR'S
PICK
happened to Diane DiMassa since her
TheLesbian
KamaSutra, Hothead Paisan days, be assured she's
KatHardin(St.Martin's);
alive and well, and more art is on the way.
TheGuidetoLesbian
Sex,
DiMassa's got a couple of new projects up
JudeSchell(Hylas)
her
sleeve, but in the meantime, Hothead
Somanysaucybooks,
solittletime.Girlswith
fans will be delighted to know about her
lustshouldcheckoutKat
latest incarnation, a comic zine starring
Hardin'sLesbian
KamaSutra
everyone's favorite Zen cat, Chicken. In
andJudeSchell'sGuide.
The
Chicken Rules, we learn that Chicken
ancientIndianKamaSutrais
a guideto lovemaking
meant acquired her name because her lounging
to teachtheexpression
of
pose produced a fowl-like appearance,
uninhibited
pleasure
through and that she was reincarnated from a
sex.Nowsome2,000years
horse, sent to be reunited with her owner
later,TheLesbian
Kama
from a past life. This owner has also been
Sutraoffersupfranktalk
aboutsexandlovebetween reborn - not as a sweet little girl, but
women.It covershottopics our favorite homicidal lesbian terrorist,
including
sexually
transmitted Hothead Paisan.
diseases,
comingoutand
Chicken Rules is all about the cat,
S/M,andis illustrated
with
from
the perils of stinky cat breath to a detailed explanaclassicSapphic
artsuchas
tion
of
the Vomero-Basal organ response in cats; from how
Gustave
Courbet's
1866
"TheSleep."Meanwhile,
The cats bathe (including Chicken's famous "playing the cello"
Guideto Lesbian
Sexoffers pose) to how they ward off "kitty humiliation" by licking
gorgeous,
contemporary
lesthemselves furiously and then staring blankly into the air.
bianphotosandscintillating
Hothead
fans will especially love the zine's opening strip, in
adviceonallthingsdykerotic.
which
we
finally see how Hothead and Chicken met. It's not
(stmartins.com,
hylaspublishing.com/sex)
a full-scale book's worth of enjoyment, but for those who
- DianeAnderson-Minshall have harbored an especially soft spot for "Mom's own turkey;' the ever-sage gray-and-white cutie named Chicken and
her yogi alter-ego Swami Chicknanda, this zine is a longawaited tasty treat. (hotheadpaisan.com)
oppression, union organizing, New
York labor history, socialist causes,
Drag King Dreams, Leslie Feinberg
(Carroll and Graf)
It's hard to express my disappointment in Leslie Feinberg's
new novel, Drag King Dreams, and not feel like a traitor to
the queer literary cause. Feinberg, after all, is the well-known
author of the award-winning novel Stone Butch Blues, a transgender warrior and scholar who has written so eloquently
about the history and struggles of transgender people. Given
all that, it's especially difficult to say this is not the novel I
was hoping for. The opening pages are indeed riveting, and
group called the Immigrant Workers Alliance?
Certainly there are redeeming features of Drag King
Dreams that make it worth a read, including Max's forays
into a flirtatious online universe called AvaStar, as well as
64
I
curve
AIDS-based
medical discrimination,
the political marginalization of Arabs
after 9 / 11, Chinese-American history, police brutality, and the seemingly
constant harassment that trans people
- in particular older transfolk - face
every day in the New York City of·
recent years.
There seems to be no cause that
Feinberg avoids, and thus we are bogged
down with politics on each and every
page. For example, was it really necessary for the one Asian character to state,
as she walks through Chinatown, "My
people came here to find the Golden
Mountain" r Or for the main character, Max, who is described as rather
bumbling, to make a long,
impassioned speech at a
friend's funeral including such painfully overwrought lines as, "I live
on land where, just a few
hundred years ago, the
Lenni-Lenape still hunted in the forests. Their
blood, spilled by settlers,
still drenches the soil:' Or
for the book's rough-andtumble drag contingent to
be continuously saved by a
descriptions of some nightclub events where Max tends bar,
featuring the elusive drag kings of the title. For the most part,
though, the book falls flat, laden with stilted dialogue and
solidarity speeches worthy of 1969, and a supposed political
reawakening of the main character that in the end does little
to inspire its readers. ■
PAGE TURNERS
The God Factor: Inside the
Spiritual Lives of Public
People, Cathleen Falsani
(Farrar,
Straus,andGiroux):
Seeking
to createa pictureof modern
faith,
religion
journalist
Cathleen
Falsani
interviewed
individuals
responsible
for shapingourcultureandexplored
theirbeliefsontopicssuchasJesus,
heaven
andevil.In morethan25
interviews
withpeopleincluding
MelissaEtheridge,
Sen.BarackObama
andauthorAnneRice,Falsani
offers
a fascinating
lookat thebeliefsthat
shapeourlives.(fsgbooks.com)
Amazons: Sexy Ta/es of
Strong Women, eds. Sage
Vivant and M. Christian
Amy
King
I
POET
I
Lambda Literary Award finalist Amy King's Antidotesfor an Alibi
(Blaze VOX) offers a poetic vision that is as styled as a modern
cityscape and as intimate as the details that often shape the poems'
otherwise metaphysical reach. In "The Open Box;' King writes, "I
hope you sense/ the finished and unfinished beauty/ in progressive
(Avalon):
Amazons
is a collection
of
frames of us/ inhabiting brick plots:' Invoking what Daniel Nester
eroticstoriesexploring
theconcept
of
has called "downtown folklore" and what Charles Bernstein called
thepowerful
woman.
Thestoriespose
"the paradise of possibility;' King's poems love the city they inhabit.
questions
(WhatmakesanAmazon?
Howfarcantheconceptbepushed?) King is also the author of The PeopleInstruments (Pavement Saw);
throughtalesthatincludelegendary
she teaches at Nassau Community College and at Poets House in
femalewarriors,
dykegangs,drag
New York, where she has taught a workshop about writing in and
queensandbodybuilders.
Someselecon the city. - Julia Bloch
tionsarechallenging,
othershumorous
or fantastic,
buteachis unquestionably
andsatisfyingly
erotic.(avalonpub.com)There's a real urban sensibility to many of the poems in
Antidotes for an Alibi.
Simone de Beauvoir, Lisa
Appignanesi (Haus):
Anintimate
biography
of anexemplary
life,Simone
deBeauvoir
examines
thephilosopher's
lifeindetail,including
herfemalelovers
andherideasconcerning
lesbianism.Thebook,whichchronicles
de
Beauvoir's
lifelong
devotion
to intellectualhonesty
andindependence,
reveals
a womanof manycontradictions:
She
was,for example,
a cultfigureof the
feministmovement
whodescribed
herrelationship
withJean-Paul
Sartre
as"theoneundoubted
success
in
mylife."(www.life-and-times.co.uk)
- JanelM.Lynch
The G-String Murders, Gypsy
Rose Lee (Feminist
Press):
Proving
I grew up in Georgia in a kind of backwoods neighborhood,
which meant I was left to my own resources much of the
time. I was the tomboy who hung out at the creek catching
crawdads and hiding beer in the cold water with the other
boys and tomboys .... When you finally take the girl out of
the country and relocate her in one of the busiest cities in the
world, it is then that one discovers the wonders of outsider
R D.uarterlqComic
BookSeries
bq GilbertIt JaimeHernandea
·erilliant. • - TheNew YorkTimes
·1f you've never heard of Gilbert and
Jaime Hernandez. you've been missing
out two of the hidden treasures of our
impov rished culture.· -The Nation
·one of the highest peaks the comics
medium has yet achieved.· - TheOnion
·No other men in or out of the field
understands women the way they do.•
-Trina Robbins. author of
From Girls to Grrlz
Order today at www.fantagraphics.com
1he top Lesbian
web sitessalutePride2006.
lesbianout
< drama
/ family
/ whoopee
>
status that so many poets hail as integral to a poet's growth.
There's almost a clipped quality to your lines; not abbreviated, but economical. I'm curious to hear about your
process, whether you pare down your writing as you're
finishing poems or compose this way from the start.
I think I do both. I collect stand~out phrases, misheard
snippets, misread items - I'm myopic - whatever over~
used slogan has burrowed into my brain, among other
miscellany, and attempt to put them together in some
hertalentsrangefar beyond
herability
fashion akin to collage or pastiche. I'm actually branching
to teaseandtaunt,famousburlesque
out now and doing some narrative work, though it doesn't
queenGypsyRoseLeewrotethis
feel as successful as the former .... I've always wanted to be
murdermystery
decades
ago,butit
one of those poets who could submit a request to the muse
canstilltransport
thereaderbackto
thegoldenyearsof vaudeville.
Leeset
and write perfect poems in between life's activities. I don't
herdoublehomicide
amongtheglitter,
want to work at writing. Who wants to face a computer
glamandgloryof theburlesque
houses
screen solo when it's gorgeous out in a city that offers so
sheknewbyheart,creatingcharacters
many activities anytime, day or night? ■
andscenarios
sooutrageous
they're
probably
true.Thebasisforthe1943
filmLadyof Burlesque
starringBarbara Checkout Amy King'spoetry, blogand more at amyking.org.
Stanwyck,
thisbookis a must-read
for
burlesque
fans.(feministpress.org)
- LaurenMarieFleming
Butch-Femme.com
red wtJrld(.$hflJU1Jtif;/
June 2006
I65
Reviews
Music Watch
Pride Festival Favorites
From newbies to classics, weve got it covered.
IBy Margaret
Coble
This month we offer three out, queer artists
at various stages of their careers, whom you
just might see on the Pride festival circuit
this year: an up-and-coming lesbian rocker
looking to bust out of her local Florida market (Nunez); a mid-career bisexual vocalist
who's built up a huge indie and cult following (Candye Kane); and a veteran lesbian
singer-songwriter who's seen and done it all,
and just keeps on ticking (Janis Ian).
Cry Mercy, Nunez (self released)
Linda
Nunez'
soaring,
melodic
vocals
instantly evoke her self-professed musical
EDITOR'S
PICK
TheChangerand the
Changed- Limited
Edition,CrisWilliamson
(WolfMoon)
OnJan.28,2006,in San
Francisco's
Herbst
Theater,
CrisWilliamson
beganthe
firstlegof a national
tour
celebrating
the30thanniversaryof hergroundbreaking
album,TheChanger
andthe
Changed.
Sinceits release
in
1976,Changer
hasbecome
themostsuccessful
independentmusicrelease
ever,sellingcloseto a millioncopies.
Williamson
sharedthestage
thatnightwithwomen's
musicforemothers
Holly
Near,MargieAdamsand
Rhiannon,
percussionist
Vicki
Randle
(ofthe Tonight
Show
band),musicians
Barbara
Higbie,
JulieWolf,Jami
Sieber,
BonnieHayes
and
specialguestBonnieRaitt.
Themostmemorable
remark
(andthebiggestlaugh)of the
nightwasfromBonnieRaitt
to Williamson,
"I loveyou
Cris- [the]secretto that
is,wedon'tgoouttogether."
(criswi/liamson.
com)
- HollyS.DeMaagd
influences -
Ann and Nancy Wilson of
Heart and Pat Benatar. Originally a solo
singer-songwriter, Nunez decided after a
successful stint in Nashville to return home
to Orlando, Fla., in 2002 to form a rock
band. Since then, her five-piece group has
gained quite a reputation in both gay and
straight circles with its classic, sometimes
Latin-tinged sound, rockin' all manner of
festivals and clubs around Florida and the Southeast, and get-
Mamas Are Back in Style" and "Estrogen Bomb"), Kane offers
released album is a well-produced, hook-laden, 10-track affair
that offers the titular single as its centerpiece. With its catchy
listeners not only her wide-reaching vocal abilities and varying
chorus and head-bangin' power chords, after one listen I guarantee it'll be stuck in your head forever. Cuts like "Yea"pump it up a
musical tastes, but also her saucy, sassy spirit that has helped
her triumph over many adversities. Queer girls will especially
appreciate Kane's "Masturbation Blues" and the girl lovin' tale
notch further while "Havana" offers a little Latin flavor,and "Red
"What Happened to the Girl:' (candyekane.com)
Headed Woman'' brings it down to power-ballad tempo. Keep
an ear - and eye! - out for this one. (lindanunez.com)
White Trash Girl, Candye Kane (Ruf)
Buxom, brash and belting; bisexual blues singer, fat activist and all around badass, Candye Kane has got one of the
most colorful bios in the biz. If you've never heard it, it bears
repeating - which she does both overtly via the liner notes and
more subtly through the lyrics of White Trash Girl,her seventh
album. Embracing the slur "white trash;' Kane recalls her
blues-worthy life story of no-count parents, a welfare- and food
stamp-filled childhood, and her teen years of gang banging and
unwed motherhood. Her early music career was self-financed
by her work as a model and writer in the sex industry, and after
a mid-'80s major label deal gone bad, Kane has built up a wide
and loyal following as an indie artist. This latest 14-track effort
has Kane recording with old friends in Austin, Texas, offering
a gutsy mix of boogie woogie, honky tonk, big band, Dixieland
jazz, rockabilly and straight-up blues. From original compositions like the biographical tide track, the Billie Holliday
throwback "Misunderstood;' and '50s-flavored "I Could Fall
66
I
curve
For You;' to brassy covers that fit her like a glove ("Big Fat
ting radio airplay from Miami to Jacksonville. This fourth, self-
Folk Is the New Black, Janis Ian (Rude Girl/
Cooking Vinyl)
Coming full circle from her humble folk beginnings in the
mid-1960s when she stunned the world with her controversial
interracial relationship ode "Society's Child;' the outspoken
singing-songwriting legend returns - 40 years and 23 albums
later - with a new 15-track collection of mellow, contemplative and mostly personal songs that prove she's still got it after
all these years. Surprisingly, only the first two cuts on the disc
are overtly political: "Danger Danger" offers a gentle warning
about the perils of censorship, prejudice and blind patriotism,
while "The Great Divide" is a call to arms, beckoning listeners to challenge political corruption and religious hypocrisy.
The remainder of the disc is filled with heartbreak ('J\11Those
Promises"), self-examination ("Standing in the Shadows of
Love") and whimsical self-deprecation ("My Autobiography"),
with only a few misses - mainly the silly tide track - that
makes for a strong showing and maintains Ian's status as an
insightful, eloquent and often humorous observer and critic of
the world. (janisian.com)■
OTHER LICKS
On CD
The Essential Pansy Division,
Pansy Division (Alternative
Tentacles):
Celebrating
15yearsof
in-your-face,
out,queerpunk,the
groundbreaking
SanFrancisco
fag
quartethasreleased
thisCDandDVD
best-ofsetfeaturing30 classicsongs
plusmusicvideos,TVappearances
andliveconcertfootage.
(pansydivision.
com)
Tina
Angotti
I
I
•
SINGER-SONGWRITER
Long Walk to Freedom,
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
(HeadsUpInternational):
Thelatest
fromtheaward-winning,
revolutionary
SouthAfricanvocalensemble
offers
newrecordings
of 12of itsclassic
songswitha star-studded
rosterof
guestvocalists,
including
ZapMama,
MelissaEtheridge,
SarahMclachlan,
NatalieMerchant
andEmmylou
Harris.
(mambazo.
com)
Supemature, Goldfrapp (Mute):
Tina Angotti knows that life is full of spiritual growth and change,
and has aptly named her forthcoming, second album Transitions. Her
debut CD, Mirror, was a melodically intricate and vocally startling
reflection of the movements and moments oflife. Performing almost
nonstop since Mirror's release in 2002, Angotti has been gaining
momentum, winning numerous awards and building an ever-growing fan base. - Jennifer Corday
So when did you decide you were a lesbian?
I always felt that I was, for many, many years. I guess I always
was gay, but I never did anything about it because I was in a
Theelectro-glam-pop
duo'slatest,
relationship; I was married. But I got divorced at 28, and once
11-trackmasterpiece
finallyhits
I was with a woman, that was it.
American
shores
aftera 2005release
in
Why do you think it took you so long to come out?
theUnitedKingdom.
Thepulsating
leadI think that moving out west gave me the freedom to make
off,"OohLaLa,"isalready
a worldwide
that choice. People in the Midwest seem a little more closeted
smash,
spotlighting
AlisonGoldfrapp's
sultry,seryvocals.
(goldfrapp.co.uk)
tome.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
Definitely the Beatles and Elton John. I like the powerful
songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon. Lately I've
been studying the great vocalists like Julia Fordham and
[Barbra] Streisand. But I also like rock, bands like the Stones
and the Pretenders. My dad was into country so I learned
to appreciate artists like Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash.
Country songs are so raw, so simple. I take a bunch of different genres and make my own sound.
Sun Under Me, Teri Falini
(Radiostar):
Aggressive,
grungyrock
fromtheSanFrancisco-based
quartet
namedfor itsleadsinger,
whosegritty
butmelodic
vocalsrecalleveryone
fromP.J.Harvey
to PattiSmithandKim
Deal.(terifalini.com).
Other Licks continued on page 71
The songs on your debut album, Mirror,seem to be very
personal. Is the album autobiographical?
Yes, about my life and other lives I've been touched by. The
songs are really about emotions in general.
Experience the historic
April 2002 live solo show at
Carnegie Hall, featuring
the first NYCperformance
of the epic poem "self evident."
Ani delivers a must-have recording
to the listening
world.
For more info, visit us
at www.righteousbabe.com
I liked "It's Alright." It seems to be saying it's OK to feel your
pain and go through hard times if you learn from it.
You're exactly right, it's all in our attitude. Everything helps us
grow; we have to learn to get through it and we'll be stronger
because of it. Life happens, and it's going to happen to every
one, it just depends what we do with it. ■
June 2006
I 67
Reviews
Tech Girl
Surround Yourself With Sound
Stereos that go boom.
IBy Diane Anderson~Minshall
II
When I was 12 years old I had two big dreams: to become a professional
writer and to get my own stereo. The stereo was the top priority. And when
I finally did get one, I was jubilant; not only was it mine alone, but it was
also the first in the house that didn't play 8-track cartridges. Instead, it had
a turntable for vinyl albums as well as the hot new technology: an audio cassette player. Stereos have changed dramatically from the late '70s and early
'80s when bigger was better, and with the introduction of the iPod they've
been eliminated in some households altogether. But for us diehard stereo lovers, there are still plenty of sweet products topping our wish lists.
- Diane Anderson-Minshall
Kiss the Boombox Goodbye
Like every other technology, the classic, once-giant portable stereo has become nano-ized. Who better
to get in on that game than Apple? Their new iPodHi-Fi,a small, portable stereo with multi-speaker
sound, plugs into your iPod and lets you view full-screen album art while cranking out the tunes. It'll
also charge your iPod, can run on electricity or batteries (hello, beach bash) and you can even remotely
control it from up to 30 feet away.You can also connect to a second external music source such as a gaming console, DVD player or AirPort Express with Air Tunes. ($349, apple.com/ipodhifi)
Audio Blast From the Past
The retro resurgence has been a vibrant backlash to the obsessions with all things new and tiny, and Crosley
Clockwise from top: The iPod Hi-Fi,the Crosley
Travler Stack-O-Matic and the iBallWireless Stereo
willkeep the tunes spinning this summer.
Radio, the leading maker of retro-styled electronics, has been at the forefront of this thriving niche market. A favorite among retro-rads is the Crosley
Traveler
Stack-0-Matic
CR89,a classic spin on an old time
record changer from a time when listening to music required you to stack your records. The funky, portable
Traveler Stack-0-Matic has an automatic swinging arm that accesses the stack and marvelously drops one
album at a time onto the platter. It plays at three speeds; accommodates 7, 10 and 12-inch records;
and comes in a smart brown tweed traveling case. ($180, crosleyradio.com)
The Future Is Here
With the popularity of Apple's iPod, more and more people have become podestrians - those
earbud-sporting folks oblivious to the outside world, enraptured by their own music. But even pod
people sometimes want to share their tunes with their friends (think cocktail parties, family gatherings and lesbian potlucks), and for them, the iBallWireless
StereoSpeakeris the answer. The iBall
lets you beam music up to 100 feet from your iPod, and it looks futuristic cool - kind of like what
1960s-era filmmakers imagined the 21st century would look like. ($249, oregonscientific.com)
Pool Party Pleasures
It's time to start thinking about outdoor living again, and JBL:s new Northridge
SeriesN24AWIIand
StudioSeriesS36AWIIoffer the perfect all-weather loudspeakers to take that Pride party
out to the pool. Imagine the clear, powerful sound quality of Barry White while
you and your gal skinny dip under the stars, or Melissa Etheridge rocking out
from speakers on your deck. The Northridge models are super compact, while
the Studio Series offer concert-quality audio. ($299 and up,jbl.com)
Loudspeakers That Go With You
The InfinityOutrigger
loudspeakers can also bring natural musical sound quality
outdoors for your summer pleasures. The two-way Outrigger features a oneinch dome tweeter and a 5¼-inch woofer, and they send crisp audio across a
wide spectrum because of it. They can be wall-mounted with brackets that allow
them to tilt and swivel, or you can place them on a table or shelf. ($269 per pair,
infinitysystems.com)
68
I curve
VictoriaA. Brownworth Politics
Pride Is More Than a Party
A
h, pride. Such a loaded word for queers. As I
ponder Pride, I wonder: Are heterosexuals
proud? Why do queers need a Pride month? Why
does this magazine (and every other queer publica,
tion) need a Pride issue?
in queer society. I don't need to buy queer
buttons and T,shirts and books and music,
we existed. Queerness was deeply, darkly, painfully
hidden. So we have to celebrate the discovery of our
sexuality,our history and ourselves.
because I can do that any day of the week
at my local queer bookstores because they
exist now, and queer books are even in non,
In one of my college classes back at the end of
queer bookstores.
I don't need to go to Pride marches
black and women's history months. Several of my
African,American students claimed we don't need
because there is nothing I am more secure
black history month anymore. Several women stu,
to be queer every day, not just in June.
It isn't that I don't think Pride month and
Pride issues and Pride marches are impor,
dents agreed about women's history month. Then
I went around the room and asked students to
name five - just five - important historical fig,
meant for the young and the newly queer, for
those women and men for whom a big crowd
of fellow queers is like a warm embrace from
a long,lost love. The newly out need Pride
sorial tone, "we need black and women's history
months. Because otherwise, you'll never learn about
them, that there is a huge community of
diverse queers out there - dykes with babies
and boys in feather boas and folks in leather
for everyone to realize how little they knew about
either themselves or each other's history. (Quick:
are the only one, to prevent them from the
fear of being called 'cfyke" or ''faggot;' of being
Name five queers vital to history. Could you do it?)
Those of us who are marginalized by the
beaten up or of getting kicked out of school or
their parents' homes.
I don't go to marches anymore, but I do
we are is, simply, affirming.
My first Pride march was in 1970 in New York City. I was in high school;
ant queers flaunting their marginality in the face of a majority straight culture
that gets to be so prideful at our expense every day. I want to remember the
it was one year after the Stonewall Rebellion; and it was both heady and scary
because it was the very first gay Pride march in history. In addition to the gay
feeling of my first march and my first speech. I want to remember marching in
New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, New Orleans and Washington, D.C.
I want to remember the yelling and chanting and general euphoria that came
0
since I attended a Pride march.
Why doesn't an old,guard activist like me go to Pride marches anymore?
Shouldn't I be leading the march as did those women and men before me?
I don't go to Pride marches because I don't need to go. I don't need to give
<(
speeches because I've given hundreds over the past 36 years, and it's time
~
a:
to buoy them up when they feel like they
want to be able to turn on the evening news
throughout June and see Pride marches. I want to see a long line of flamboy,
published lesbian journalists in America. It's also been more than a decade
Cl)
-
majority - women, people of color, queers
- are made to feel ashamed for being different.
Having a parade or party or other declaration that we are OK with who
That day has come. I turned 50 this year. It's been more than three
decades since I was expelled from my all,girls high school for being a
lesbian, and more than two decades since I became one of the most widely
zlJ.J
events to reinforce that there are others like
important people outside your own group:'
So when I was thinking about Pride month, I
thought about that class and how shocking it was
my debut into civil rights activism, that every day thereafter would be a kind
of Pride parade, that I would never be done with "outing" myself, that one day
I would be an old,guard activist like those leading that first parade.
lJ.J
tant. They are. But I've come to think they are
No one could do it - and this was at a liberal
arts college.
'J\nd that's why;' I said in a mockingly profes,
and lesbian marchers, there were people who protested our openness. They
lJ.J
about than my lesbian identity. I am proud
ures who were either black or female.
looked so normal while they verbally assaulted us.
But I was a teenager then and didn't much care what adults thought; I
certainly had no desire to be "normal:' I also wasn't aware that the march was
0
by other lesbians and gay men because I
am surrounded by them all the time; I live
Why? Because not that long ago, nobody knew
February, my students were discussing the need for
:I<::
to let someone else make their statements
about Pride. I don't need to be surrounded
from being in the streets with hundreds or thousands of other queers and
knowing that there were just as many others to take our place if we left.
Pride is, in the end, a state of being. It is our identity, our chosen initial
in the LGBTQI alphabet. It's been 36 years since my first march. Thirty,six
years of loving other women and fighting for queer rights and being on the
front lines, whether it was standing in front of my high school principal or
standing in the U.S. Supreme Court, shouting outside St. Patrick's Cathedral
in New York or in front of the White House in Washington.
Pride is a state of being, and whether it's June or January, I feel it. But I am
more aware in 2006 than I was in 1970 that my sense of pride is not matched
by civil rights. So when you wonder why we need a Pride month and a Pride
issue, that's why. Because pride is just our part of the equation. Equality is
something else again. And until we have that, Pride marches will always be
more than simply a warm embrace from people like us - they will be a march
into battle for everything that we deserve and have yet to win. ■
June 2006
I69
Dyke Drama
Michele Fisher
Find Your Pride
T
here are no gay bars in Wyoming. Queers
who want to cut loose in a club have to go to
Ft. Collins, Colo., which is about an hour's drive
from Cheyenne. The rest of Wyoming is at a loss.
No wonder those depressed range riders in
Brokeback Mountain were always passing a bottle
back and forth by the campfire. I guess it is a little
tough to drive a herd of sheep to another state just
to get a drink -
not to mention trying to park
them when you get there.
I am a spoiled San Francisco dyke. I realized what an ungrateful snot I was while visiting
Wyoming online. How could I have forgotten that
in many places, queers are lucky to get one day a
year? Those of us who live in a gay bubble, caught
up in a jaded, been-there-done-her attitude, can
easily forget that lesbians in Missoula might actually look forward to attending their local Pride celebration, rather than bitching about the number of
hetero tourists who pack our parades or the exorbitantly overpriced bad beer. So this year, to recharge
my Pride spirit, I decided to take a virtual crosscountry trip to check out where the girls are at.
I am happy to report that despite the lack of
queer beverage establishments in Wyoming, there
are still plenty of homosexuals! And even though
they don't have their own full-fledged Gay Pride
event, they do have a big gay camp-out in August
called Rendezvous, which is well-attended and
looks like a lot more fun than chasing sheep to
another state.
It takes a bucket of guts to plan a gay event in
hostile territory, and I am inspired by those daring souls. I want to go to Bismarck, N.D., where
Pridefest is celebrated in July at a place called
Eagles Park. It's another homo camping adventure that lasts for three days.
And Vermont's queers aren't taking their freedom to be civilly united for
I'm much more into camp than camping, but then again, I've only camped
a few miserable times in my life. As a kid, I camped with my family because
my parents were too proud to admit we were too poor for an actual vaca-
granted. They are marching in Burlington on July 8. I think that Ben and Jerry
would make excellent grand marshals - they make such a cute bear couple.
tion. The last time I went camping, it was with a grouchy dyke girlfriend, and
on that trip that I discovered what's worse than being trapped in the woods
with your broke-ass parents. Had I been at Rendezvous or the North Dakota
plenty of gay happenings and groups. They are only a few miles from five
other states, so they celebrate Pride all summer long. "Live Free or Die": now
that is a state motto. Sure beats the crap out of"Land of Enchantment" or
"The Garden State:'
Pridefest, I could have abandoned my campsite for a much more entertaining
one, and no doubt made some new friends as well.
The Pride events hosted by small East Coast states don't look so bad
either; in fact they even look empowering. I've noticed that queers in small
states really don't take any crap.
Delaware celebrates Pride on Sept. 16 this year. It is the 10-year anniversary of their event, so look for big things to happen in this little place.
By the way, Delaware has at least nine gay bars, which is like one bar per
resident. Perhaps one of the proprietors of these establishments would
like to move his or her operation to Wyoming where they could have a
monopoly on gay watering holes.
70
I curve
New Hampshire doesn't have a specific Pride event, but they sure do have
However, it is hard to beat the land of enchantment when it comes to
being queer-friendly. This magical state (New Mexico, in case you were wondering) is home to many creative and interesting folks, aka homosexuals. This
year, Albuquerque is hosting its 30th Annual Pride celebration, and all of the
major burgs in New Mexico as well as some of the small towns have their very
a:
UJ
own celebrations planned.
Arizona has a slew of events too, and they kick off the Pride season
t:i
UJ
way earlier than anybody else. In order to avoid the heat (or is it because
of spring training?), Phoenix Pride takes place in April. If you missed it
this year, head down to Tucson Pride in October instead. Who knew the
UJ
~
z
a:
UJ
I
~
Head to Charleston, W.V.,in June and you could find yourself a mountain
Southwest was so proud?
The South also plays host to some fabulous gay celebrations. I guess
being part of an oppressed subculture inspires one to cut loose when the
opportunity
presents itself. Being really oppressed means that people
make every party moment count. Pop onto the Central Alabama Pridefest
Web site and you'll see what I mean. They even have a countdown clock
to Gay Pride.
I had some trouble finding the Pride events for Louisiana this year, but
I'm going to assume the party's still on despite that visit from Katrina. Pride
in New Orleans is an experience every homo should have at least once: clubs
that stay open all night, sweet syrupy drinks that go down easy and give you
the courage to ask impossibly beautiful women to dance with you. Pass the
gumbo, please.
mama. Or, pick up an old Kentucky homo (or a young one) in Louisville on
June 17. The Show Me State has three different events. Show me the [fill in
the blank]. Lincoln, Neb., is throwing their party on June 3. The Midwest
farmers' daughters actually put out a nice spread. Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin
and Ohio all have big Pride events, too.
And if you find yourself in Queer as Folk country this summer, you'll
want to celebrate in the Pitts on June 17. But don't worry: If you can't
make it to Pittsburgh, there are four other Pride events happening in the
Keystone State.
Back on the West Coast, Pride happens in more than just the Golden
State. I lived for many years in the Beaver State, and although I trapped a lot
more of them in California than I did in Oregon, I still have a special place in
Georgia, South Carolina and Florida also look like great places to eel,
my, ahem, heart for the Portland Pride celebration. It is quite the wingding,
ebrate. Remember last year, when Florida's Hillsborough County made big
news because local politicians voted to ban the city and county from acknowl,
and getting wet only improves the party.
And they don't call Seattle the "Emerald City" for nothing. If you're there
edging Gay Pride? They even ordered that a display of works by gay authors
at the end of June, you will be rewarded with wondrous sights and sounds.
And feel free to bring your little dog too - it's a pet,friendly affair.
at the public library be removed. Let's just say that the Floridian gays are not
going to take this action lying down ... especially not from the unattractive lot
that passed the homophobic measure.
Mississippi has something called an OUToberfest, which makes me won,
der if they'll also have a beer garden and people in leather shorts.
And Texas isn't all longhorns and cowpokes. From what I saw, there
After the party, drive north a couple of thousand miles to Anchorage.
Plenty of klondikes live in Alaska, and plenty of lesbians do, too. Summer is
very short but the days are very long, and these women know how to make
the most of the sunshine.
Attend an event. If not yours, then one in Boise or Memphis or some,
are plenty of places for a girl to saddle up, too. The Lone Star State has
where else where your attendance is not just appreciated, it's needed.
celebrations in Dallas, Houston and Austin. Now I know why they call
it "bush country:'
Or you could always come to San Francisco Pride, where you would be
awfully lucky to be one of a million like me. ■
Texas Tinseltown continued from page 62
Suits Us
There might not be a Catholic school girl uniform among the lot, but filmmaker and
drag king Mocha Jean Herrup zips into gender politics and uniform fetishes in her
2004 documentary, A Few GoodDykes, about an elite corps of lesbians who endure
intense physical fitness training and mental humiliation in order to join the Dyke
Uniform Corps. An Officerand a Gentleman is small potatoes compared to these
tough chicks. Richard Gere never got spanked like these recruits do - at least not
in front of the camera.
In 2002, Mocha Jean Herrup joined Evie Leder, Gretchen Lee and Dan Janos
in directing lesbian.film,
a hilariously self,reflexive short film about a group of queer
filmmakers attempting to get a feature length project off the ground. Due to excessive
pontificating and politics, the feature never comes to fruition - but that's the point
of this 9,minute gem.
Other Licks continued from page 67
Words Came Back To Me,
Sonya Kitchell (Velour/Hear
Music):Youwon'tbelieve
thissmoky,
soulfulvoiceandmasterful
command
ofjazz-inflected
popandfolkis coming
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The Way It Is, Keyshia Cole
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native'sdebut
singlewithinfamous
rapperKanye
West,"Changed
MyMind,"hasheads
turningintheR&Bandhip-hopworld;
Cole'spowerful
voiceistherealstory,
though.(keyshiacole.com)
Radio Makes a Video Star
Austin's local radio personality and filmmaker Jenn Garrison may be best known for
her 2002 short film The Lancebian- in which she captured Mocha Jean Herrup as
the lesbian version of *NSYNC's Lance Bass - but she's churned out so many more
shorts that she'll need a Texas,sized belt buckle to keep them under control. Her debut
film, PrizeWhores,about groupies who virtually make a living scooping up radio station
promotions and prizes, premiered at South by Southwest Film Festival.
Her most recent project,JO FM, is an erotically charged examination of the gen,
trification of mass media on the radio, in which an obsessed fan kidnaps her once,
favorite DJ, who has succumbed co playing the dumbed,down radio station playlists.
And in Greg,set to be released later this year, Garrison profiles a savant of the local
women's music scene, deemed by some fans as a straight male pervert, while the musi,
cians he follows recognize him as a devoted fan. ■
anniversary
withpop-punk
songsabout
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jeansandanime.
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You Want Me - The
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mixesof this breakoutLatin-and
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(chantalchamandy.com)
On DVD
Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to
Cole Porter, Various Artists
(Shout!Factory):Thisremastered
reissueof thegroundbreaking,
AIDSbenefiting,
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anda live
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June 2006 j 75
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In the poignant novel The Seasons of a
Heart, the strugglefor survival in a frozen
wilderness awakens a forbidden love.
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Top Ten ReasonsWe Love Ellen Huang
Ellen Huang, founder of the Queer Lounge - one
of the coolest, queerest hangouts at the Sundance
Film Festival - is changing the way people see
LGBT cinema. Through Queer Lounge, a magnet
for power dykes like Guinevere Turner as well as
cute young starlets, Huang connects queer filmmakers to Hollywood hotshots, forcing the studio
bigwigs to take queer cinema seriously. Here's why
we love her for it. - Lauren Marie Fleming
ThroughQueerLounge,a magnetfor powerdykeslike
GuinevereTurneras wellas cuteyoungstarlets,Huang
connectsqueerfilmmakers
to Hollywoodhotshots,forcingthe studiobigwigsto take queercinemaseriously.
4.Sheshinesthespotlight
onqueercinema.Queer
7. Sheshapesthe futureof LGBTcinema."More
Lounge tracked and promoted over 40 films at
1. She has alwaysbeen honestaboutherself. the 2006 Park City film festivals. Queer Lounge's
Huang made her way into the film industry as an
panel discussions and parties, including the res-
than anything, some of these gay and lesbian film
festivals tend to ghettoize [the films], and they
openly queer, Asian-American woman, working
as a producer with industry powerhouses such as
Helen Hunt and Hans Zimmer.
urrected and no longer queer-exclusive Homos
Away From Home bash, bring much-needed
international buzz to films that might otherwise
get lost in the Sundance shuffle.
2. She createdthe QueerLounge,"a nonprofit
organization, (that) creates a physical venue supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
other queer-identified film professionals and
festival-goers at major, mainstream film festivals:' So far, Queer Lounge is only present at the
5. Shebridgesthe gapbetweenthe straightand
gayworlds.Through Queer Lounge, Huang says,
Sundance Film Festival, but Huang soon hopes
to branch out to both the Cannes and Toronto
film festivals in the very near future.
tions between queer filmmakers and studios such
as Miramax, Focus Features and Disney.
she is trying to "create a dialogue between those
communities where one wouldn't have necessarily
existed before:' That dialogue has led to collabora-
6. She'swell-connected.
Queer Lounge events
need to be in a place where they can meet ... the
talent that can make a difference in GLBT film:'
8. She has advicefor queerfilmmakers."Stop
writing movies about the same thing - the biggest surprise shouldn't be that the person is gay:'
9. Sheknowshowyoucan supportqueerfilms.
"Go see them;' she says, emphasizing that the films
will be made only if they have an audience who
will watch them.
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Queer Lounge was started with
have drawn celebrities such as Nick Nolte, Toni
tell you for sure, Huang can certainly pick a great
date movie. ■
Huang's own money, and at peak times she spends
100 hours a week working for the organization.
Collette, Liz Phair, Gus Van Sant and Jenny
Shimizu, as well as top industry professionals.
Visit the Queer Lounge at queerloungeonline.com.
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Curve
FranklySpeaking
curve
THE BEST-SELLING LESBIAN MAGAZINE
The New Look ofCuRVE
"It's Pride month, and our
20-page special Pride section
delivers a bounty of festivities,
including a historical timeline, interviews with Rosie
O'Donnell and Chastity Bono,
profiles of amazing women
and much more."
16 NUMBER 5
Frances Stevens
Diane Anderson-Minshall
Malinda Lo
Rachel Pepper
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Brownworth,Gretchen Lee,
Sarah Warn
Copy Chief
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VOLUME
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elcome to Pride month! As you can see, we're kicking off the gay holidays with a bold new look,
designed by our savvy art director, Kas Neteler.'Tve been envisioning this change for a long time;'
she says, and her vision delivers a fresh, hip style with a sleek, modern feel.
On first glance, you probably noticed the front cover looks different. We've streamlined the CURVE
logo and made sure that the cover pulls you in with one glance - now you can easily see what's inside.
But the cover isn't the only thing we've changed: It's a cover-to-cover transformation.
The energetic, bright color palette we're using throughout the magazine (check out, especially,
Curvatures and our reviews department) is intended to be as vibrant as our community. Once at your
favorite section, it'll be simple to spot the Editor's Picks, now in their new format on the outermost
columns of the page.
Our new design unifies all the departments from the front and back of the magazine in a cohesive
style while still allowing for flexibility in tone. You can still count on Dyke Drama to crack you up and
Victoria Brownworth to make you think about politics. The versatility of this format has also allowed us
to deliver more editorial content. Out in Front, which used to highlight only one woman, now profiles
three amazing women who work behind the scenes in our community. We've also brought back horoscopes for your astrological fix; check out Charlene Lichtenstein's new column, Astro Grrl, in our Advice
section near Ask Fairy Butch and Lipstick & Dipstick.
Our redesign is just part of the many exciting things happening in this issue. It's Pride month, and
our 20-page special Pride section delivers a bounty of festivities, including a historical timeline, interviews with Rosie O'Donnell and Chastity Bono, profiles of amazing women who lead Pride festivals
across the country, and much more.
In the special section, you can also find a schedule of Pride events that highlights those that CuRVE
will be attending this summer. And don't forget: We'll be hosting official parties at both Atlanta Pride
(see the opposite page) and Gay Games VII (see page 1 for details). So be sure to stop by, enjoy the parties with us, and let us know what you think about our new look.
Volume 16 Issue 5 Curve (ISSN 1087 -867)() is published monthly (except for
Januruy and July) by Outspoken Enterprises, Inc., 1550 Bryant St., Ste. 510,
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21curve
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NIGHT
OF
Features
"Whatkind
of lesbian
was I if
I couldn't
camp and
wear
flannel?I
knew I could
butchit up.
I would learn
to canoe.
I would
swim naked
in the river."
June 2006
26 Adventuring With Wild Women A handful
36 The Power of Pride In more and more cities,
of women, a slew of drums and the wilderness
women are heading up powerful Pride organiza-
reunite one lesbian with her nature-loving side.
tions. What does this mean for the rest of us?
By Jennifer Corday
By Jocelyn Voo
50 Girls in Love Poet Alix Olson and musician
page 26
Volume 16#5
40
Best When Fresh Choreographer Sean Dorsey
Pamela Means make for one sexy couple. They tell
takes San Francisco's annual Fresh Meat Festival
us how they pull off their complex romance.
to tasty new levels. By Zak Szymanski
By Malinda Lo
42 Getting Zen Former party girl Valerie Mason56 2006 Photo Contest Winners You snapped,
John helps us get our Zen on. By Malinda Lo
we judged, now revel in the glorious winners.
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Fat Girl Speaks Chastity Bono talks about shed-
5
Show Us Your Pride
ding pounds, ditching drugs and finding love.
a:
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By Diane Anderson-Minshall
44
Festival Favorites Looking for a place to strut
az
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your stuff? Snag this handy guide.
(.)
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By Diane Anderson-Minshall
46
Fantastic Voyage Rosie O'Donnell makes us
want to plan a vacation - with the kids.
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Racing for a Cause Lesbian activists run, race,
By John Esther
walk and compete - and you can help, too.
By Aefa Mulholland
34
Blasts From the Past Our Pride timeline offers a
magnificent visual history lesson. By Malinda Lo
Q,
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48 Artsy Tartsy The National Queer Arts Festival
_promises even more captivating lesbians.
Cover Photo by
DesdemonaBurgin
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Departments
June 2006
"I livedfor many
years in the
BeaverState,
and although
I trapped a lot
more of them in
Californiathan I
did in Oregon,
I stillhavea
specialplace
in my, ahem,
heartfor the
PortlandPride
celebration."
page 70
2
8
Frankly Speaking Publisher Frances
Stevens tells it like it is.
Contributors Read all about 'em here.
16 Open Studio Lisa Congdon paints a
66 Music Watch Margaret Coble takes
very pretty picture.
on Candye Kane, Janis Ian and Nunez.
Plus: Tina Angotti, Cris Williamson and
Pansy Division.
22 Ask Fairy Butch She tells us about the
Loken is hot, The L Word sucks and so
much more.
12 Out in Front Up close and personal
with teen feminist Miranda Elliott, lesbian
fitness guru Linda Cole and Zimbabwean
gay rights activist Fadzai Muparutsa.
14 Curvatures Dyke March musts ... The
women of V-Day ... Dirty moms ... Pee
standing up ... Save Tee Corinne ...
Goodbye lesbian pioneers ... Gossip
about Keira Knightley, Mischa Barton,
Jenna Jameson ... We love Beth Ditto
even more now.
teach us how to flirt.
Tech Girl The iPod Hi-Fi, Crosley's
old-school Stack-O-Matic, iBall wireless speakers and Outrigger's outdoor
sounds.
24 Astro Grrl Astrologer Charlene
Lichtenstein reveals all.
62 Sapphic Screen Tracy E. Gilchrist goes
inside the lesbian film scene in Austin,
Texas. Plus: Karen Green comes out,
Breasts and Mammie Dearest.
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10 Letters Melissa rocks, Kristanna
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a look at what's really important this
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that it's time to find your own pride.
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64 In the Stacks Rachel Pepper investigates Leslie Feinberg's Drag King
Dreams and Diane DiMassa's Chicken
Rules. Plus: Poet Amy King and new
guides to lesbian sex.
80 Top Ten Reasons We Love Former
TV exec and Queer Lounge founder
Ellen Huang.
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Contributors
"As Feb. 14th approached this year, a lot of my friends groaned about
Valentine's Day;' recalls contributor LaurenPalmigiano.
But rather than
echoing their complaints about the growing commercialism of the holiday,
Palmigiano told her friends about V,Day, the movement started by
VaginaMonologuesplaywright Eve Ensler to stop violence against women.
She writes about the event, officially celebrated annually on Feb. 14, on
page 17."We spent V,Day buying tickets to fundraising events and
making plans to attend a benefit performance of The VaginaMonologues,"
Palmigiano says."The more we learned, the less we complained about love
lost or love never even had, and the meaning of the day changed:' A writer
and newly proclaimed Vagina Warrior, Palmigiano recently moved to Los
Angeles where she co,hosts a monthly gay comedy show at the Upright
Citizens Brigade Theater.
"Between the unbelievable energy of the performers and the crowds of
people stomping their feet and hollering, I thought the room was going to
implode;' says ZakSzymanski
of the very first performance of Fresh Meat,
San Francisco's groundbreaking trans and queer cabaret. "I knew then
that San Francisco's trans community was a powerful contributor to the
creation of an entirely new world:' In this issue, Szymanski profiles the
5,year,old music and dance showcase and its artistic director, choreogra,
pher Sean Dorsey (see page 40), whose own queerly gendered narratives
have been making big waves in the modern dance world. Szymanski is a
writer and journalist whose work has been featured in books and media
worldwide. He is an assistant editor at the Bay Area Reporter,one of the
oldest and longest,running LGBT newspapers in the country, and a
frequent contributor to CuRvE.
Needto get away1
Wehavethe perfectplace.
Actually,we have9,000.
Ourguidesa e packedwith
LGBTaccommodations,
bars,
bookstores,
cafes& more,
acrossthe US,Canada,
Europe& beyo d.
Photo assistant MarcyMendelson
joined the CuRvE staff this spring to
learn the ins,and,outs of magazine publishing before launching her online
venture, rootmag.typepad.com, a magazine on global dance culture. Though
her position at CURVErequires her to uncover a variety of unusual images,
"I never expected that I would have a hard time finding usable pictures of
Jenna Jameson;' she says,"but it was fun sourcing them:' Mendelson has
worked as an artist's representative, a commercial photographer, and taught
online classes in digital photography through the Academy of Art. Her fine
art photography, including subjects as diverse as San Francisco's night life
and her pregnant friends, has been exhibited in Philadelphia and San
Francisco. Visit her online at innercamera.com.
Stargayzer and new CuRvE horoscope columnist Charlene
Lichtenstein
(see 'J\stro Grrl;' page 24) is the author of the best,selling astrology book
HerScopes:A Guide to Astrologyfor Lesbians."When I first started out
writing my columns in 1989, there was no specific LGBT,oriented
horoscope;' Lichtenstein says. "The past few years have seen great
expansion, providing me with opportunities to work with some terrific
publications and Web sites, as well as penning a sun sign, lesbian
astrology book:' She has hosted a weekly astrology chat show on the
WashingtonPostWeb site, given astrological advice on GAYBC radio,
and been interviewed on radio stations from Australia to Ireland. When
she isn't globe,trotting, she lectures on astrology and tarot to anyone
Callfor a freeca alog,
or logonto ouro ineservice.
s I curve
who will listen. Lichtenstein predicts that one day a lesbian will be
elected president of the United States, although definitely not before
2008. Her horoscopes appear in LGBT publications worldwide as well
as on her Web site, thestarryeye.com.
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Letters
"I am now 35 and willbe goingfor yearlymammograms
insteadof waitinguntilI am 38. I hope Melissa[Etheridge]
sees this shortletter.She is my idolnot just becauseshe
is a lesbian,but a cancersurvivorlikemy mom. Thankyou
for beinga survivor,Melissa."
Kudos to Kristanna
Butch Fashion Alert
I really enjoyed reading about Kristanna Loken
(Vol. 16, #2). She seems like a strong woman who
knows what she wants and does what she wants to
I have been a subscriber of your magazine for
bad reputations are raped. R.A.D. seeks to educate and empower all women so they may learn
years. I read an article about a lesbian designer that
not only dependency on self, but also decision-
do rather than following others. I think she was a
designs clothes for butch girls. Not just T-shirts,
but jeans and professional clothing. I can't find the
making skills and self-realization of their own
physical power. I believe this issue touches and
great actress to have on the cover!
magazine and have looked all over the Internet for
affects every human being through either per-
the designer. Would you happen to have the name
of the designer?
sonal experiences or those shared between family
and friends. Please continue to enlighten your
- Brittany, New York
What the L?
When The L Word first aired, the lesbian community grasped onto it because it showed us
not just as stereotypes but as regular people in
real relationships of all kinds, including healthy,
monogamous relationships. The show was witty,
it was funny, and of course it was sexy as hell! So,
what the hell happened in season 3?
We have more drama and tragedy than anything else. Worse than that, somehow this season
has decided to focus on penises in more ways than
one. What I want is what The L Word gave us
in seasons 1 and 2. I want lesbian sex! Is that so
much to ask from a show about lesbians?
- Jen, Orlando,Fla.
We Miss Dana, Too
I think you should do an interview with Erin
Daniels. I think it would ... help the fans understand what happened. As a once very enthusiastic L
Word watcher, I probably won't watch The L Word
next year. Season 3 was a bummer. [The character
of] Dana Fairbanks [was] the one woman on The
L Word who made us all stand up and take notice.
Not only was she goofy and funny, but she was real.
I wish that the story line for Dana ... would have
been one of survival, because every day people do
survive. We are subjected to enough bad, no matter
how real it is, and ... the one show we have could
have kept us on an upbeat tempo.
Thanks for being a great magazine and being
around for so long. I love all your hard work and
dedication to the GLBT community.
- Robin, via e-mail
101curve
- Terri Smith, via e-mail
Terri,we hopeyou had a chanceto look
throughour April 2006 issue(Vol. 16, #3), in which
we covereda slew of great queerdesigners.Check out
Studded, a line of tailored,business-appropriate
clothing for butches, at chocolatebabydesigns.com,
and
Parisa Parnian'sRigged OUT /Fitters, for a more
casuallook,at riggedoutfit.com.
Editor's note:
Thanks to Melissa
My mom had breast cancer when she was 48. The
cancer spread into her lymph nodes. She lost her
right breast and most of her nodes. I was 19 and
very devastated, but the cancer never returned.
I know ·what Melissa [Etheridge] and her family
have been through. The song "I Run for Life" hits
me especially hard, and I thank her for writing that
song. I am now 35 and will be going for yearly
mammograms instead of waiting until I am 38.
I hope Melissa sees this short letter. She is
my idol not just because she is a lesbian, but a
cancer survivor like my mom. Thank you for
being a survivor, Melissa. Thank you Tammy,
Bailey and Beckett for being strong and supportive through a rough time, because I know
somewhat about that.
- April C. Hedlund, Bridgeport,Conn.
Radical Defense Against Rape
I instruct a women-only Rape Aggression Defense
course at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. It's
quite shocking to see how many students buy
into myth that only young, attractive women with
many readers ("Fighting Rape on Campus;' Vol.
16, #3) about the dangers of date rape drugs,
same sex rape, recognizing the warning signs and
how to be a survivor.
- Jennifer K. Kellogg,Minneapolis
God Is Dead
I am a lesbian atheist and have had no luck in
finding any articles on any gay/lesbian Web sites
or in any gay/lesbian mags about atheism in our
community. It is sad that the gay community never
acknowledges that we exist. Many people believe
that you need God in your life to be moral and
good. Well, I'm living proof that this is not true.
God and religion are practically forced down
my throat every time I watch TV or pick up a
magazine (even a lesbian magazine). I hope you
will consider giving some space in your mag to
atheists in our community.
- Sue, via e-mail
Got Something on Your Mind?
E-mail letters@curvemag.com; write to CuRVE
Letters, 1550 Bryant St., Ste. 510, San Francisco,
CA 94103; or fax to (415) 863-1609. Please
include your name, city and state. Letters may be
edited for clarity and length.
Corrections
On the Scene page in our May 2006 issue (Vol.
16, #4), we neglected to credit photographers
Nancy Wood and Purdy Art Co. for the photos
from Diversity Weekend in Eureka Springs, Ark.
CuRVE regrets the omission. ■
MIAMIANDBEACHES.COM or call 1-888-76-MIAMI
Four of Miami's most popular and renown annual
celebrations highlight a noteworthy calendar of
events, attracting visitors from across the country
and around the world.
For a complete
list of Miami
events,
visit
• White Party (11/22/2006 - 11/27/2006)
• Winter Party Festival (March 2007)
• Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (4/21/2006 - 4/30/2006)
• Aqua Girl (5/11/2006 - 5/14/2006)
FestivalSeason.com.
Additional
information
can be found
at GoGayMiami.com
Feminist Firebrand
InternationalHonors
WorkingHard for Her Money
Is feminism dead? Not for 18-year-old
MirandaElliott,who co-founded a feminist
club at the University of Chicago Laboratory
In a country where the president has
repeatedly declared gays and lesbians to
be "worse than dogs and pigs," and arrests
The decision to stop selling ads for the Los
Angeles Times and start sculpting bodies has
turned LindaColeinto one of the hottest
High School in the fall of 2004 with her
and intimidation are frequent, Fadzai
entrepreneurs on the fitness scene. Her stu-
friend Claire Redfield. Though Elliott says
that her high school is quite progressive,
"When we started, there was definitely a lot
Muparutsa- head of Gays and Lesbians
dio, 4 Ideal Fitness, has become ground zero
of Zimbabwe's gender advocacy program
- risks her health and safety to work for
for getting in shape, for everyone from soccer
moms to celebrities. Cole knew it would
the rights of sexual minorities. Undeterred
by the hostile political climate, the 26-year-
require long hours and a significant financial
investment in order to become successful, but
old activist has been working with GALZ,
founded in 1990, since 2002.
she never doubted that she would eventually
of misconception about who feminists are ....
Even at our really liberal school people were
like, 'Oh, feminazis:" Elliott, who was also
the president of her school's Queer-Straight
Alliance and came out to her parents when
she was a freshman, says she has "always been
outspoken about feminist issues:'
Seeking advice on how best to build the
club, Elliott consulted feminist activists,
including Alix Olson. "We had these broad
plans of like 'Let's save the world!,,, Elliott
says. "But Alix basically said, 'Focus your energies into your community .... Try to fix what
you know the best, first:" Taking that advice
as its guiding principle, the club organized
around issues of sex education in Chicago's
high schools. 'J\bstinence-only programs are
the only government-funded sex education
programs at this point;' Elliott explains.
The club has since worked with Planned
Parenthood, NARAL, the Illinois Caucus for
Adolescent Health and the Sex Education
Activists. Last December, Elliott helped
organize a rally at the Chicago Public Schools
offices to lobby for improving sex education,
and as a result, Elliott's club met with CPS
administrators to take steps to change the system. And that's only the beginning for Elliott:
This spring she began blogging about sex
education and feminism at sexetc.org, and this
fall she begins college at Columbia University
in New York. - Malinda Lo
Last year, she traveled to New York on
behalf of the organization to accept the
International Gay and Lesbian Human
Rights Commission's Felip~ de Souza
Award, named after a 16th-century Brazilian
woman who was persecuted after another
woman confessed her intimacy with de
Souza during an inquisition trial. The
$5,000 award will allow GALZ to further its
current efforts on behalf of women's rights,
economic equality and their HIV/ AIDS
campaign, which provides care and education
in attempts to reduce the stigma attached to
HIV/ AIDS in Zimbabwe.
"It was really fabulous;' Muparutsa says,
to receive the award. "For a lot of people in
the organization it was a real boost .... Not
a lot of people know the work that we do, so
be running a thriving business.
"I realized from the beginning that ... I
had to have faith in myself;' she says. "I also
had a lot of passion and a lot of confidence
that made me believe that I would make it:'
Cole decided to start a fitness studio after
learning about a new fitness trend that she
believed would revolutionize the fitness
world. "I heard about SuperSlow, which is a
30-minute workout, once a week, and I decided to try it. I was really skeptical at first but
once I tried it, I was convinced it worked:'
Cole spent a few months working as a
SuperSlow trainer at small studios in Los
Angeles before opening 4 Ideal Fitness in
2002. In the beginning, Cole had just 10
clients, and she trained them in the corner of
a small studio. Four years later, 4 Ideal Fitness
for it to be recognized internationally means
that we are making some sort of an impact:'
Muparutsa and GALZ may be making a
encompasses 2,500 square feet of studio space
and has grown into the largest SuperSlow
studio in Southern California.
"I am proud to be a successful business
bigger impact than they know; as their work
becomes internationally recognized, they offer
inspiration to others far from their home.
woman;' she says. "I am equally proud that I
am out, and I am making a statement to other
women in the lesbian community that they
- Janel M. Lynch
can do anything they want if they just put
their hearts and souls into it:'
- Jodi Helmer
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Curvatures
Dyke March Fashion Demands
For years weve been striding
down the streets every summer
with thousands of other queer
GOTTA GO?
Justin timefor Pride- and
its smellyport-a-potties
that
arenowhere
nearwomanfriendly- comestheamazingWhizPlus,a stand-to-pee
devicethatletsyoupeeanywherea guycan.TheWhiz
Plusrollsdownto fit in your
pocketor purseandis great
fortraveling,
campingand
avoiding
dirtypublictoilet
seats.Justunzipyourjeans
or pullupyourskirt,move
yourundiesaside,pressit
snuglyagainstyourstuff
andlet 'er fly.Withitsbright
purplecolor,it's notmeant
to bea man'smember,
but
if you'renothopingto pass,
youcansaunterupto the
men'surinalandbedonein
a flash.Themanufacturer
claimsitsself-cleansing
plasmacoatingrepelsliquid,
soit drieswithoneflick.Get
yoursat whizbiz.com.au.
- JennaGoldberg
girls in the annual dyke marches,
wearing protest tees, tank tops,
plain ol' bras or nothing at all.
For those of us who are bored
with baring our simple cotton bras but aren't quite ready
for going completely nude (or
donning Victoria's Secret sheer
black bias cuts), well, I've got the
answer: Jude Marks' delightfully
fun, handmade and whimsically
empowering Sparkle Plenty
Creations bustiers.
Marks, a former instructional
designer
for
Apple
Computers, left the corporate fast track to make oneof-a-kind bras for women in
beachy Santa Cruz, Calif.,
after she found inspiration
while attending the Burning
Man Festival. Available online at sparkleplentycreations.com, her sexy and outrageous
bus tiers - think Victoria's Secret meets John Waters - have
become an unexpected hit with women, especially lesbians,
across the age spectrum (including one woman who bought
a handmade bra for her 80th birthday) and size ranges ("I
never charge more for plus sizes!" Marks exclaims).
Marks scours the Internet and the garment districts of New
"When I wear my bustiers, I get lots of reactions from passersby: high fives, appreciative comments, whistles and mostly
big smiles. This happened first at Burning Man ... and it was
such an exhilarating experience I decided to start Sparkle
Plenty Creations so other women could have the same kind of
fun. And to spread joy and whimsy to the world:'
Even her daughter, who currently works in retail man-
York, Los Angeles and San Francisco to find unique trims and
embellishments, ensuring that no two bras are ever alike. And,
agement, caught the bug; she designs the Pink Line, which
is especially popular among hipster chicks. Diane
Marks admits, shes her own best customer.
Anderson-Minshall
The Internet Killed the TV Star
For those whose TV cravings aren't satiated by
the hundreds of satellite or digital cable options
their most popular offerings. Women
make appearances on the net-
out there, there's a new network to program into
the remote - or the mouse. Proud Television
(part of Pride Nation), the world's first 24-hour
work's game shows, talk shows
and comedy series, but Proud
Television is on the lookout for more 'girl programming and series" and plans to
gay IPTV network, can be viewed 24 hours a day
either on your TV with a set top box, along with
over 70 other channels, or on the Internet, simply
by opening up an online remote. Later in 2006,
Proud's programming will also be bouncing off
satellites to cell phones and iPods near you.
Proud Television's reality series, travel shows
and special events coverage are currently among
14lcurve
aggressively focus on acquiring
more for 2006. Future womenspecific scheduling is set to include
several radio podcasts on Pride Nation
Network's online radio, featuring independent recording artists and shows balancing great
music with talk. With new delivery
methods and more carriage agreements reaching a potential audience of over 10 million viewers,
the network hopes to do the
LGBT world proud. Those
who want to witness this
televised revolution can equip
themselves with an Akimbo set
top box and get 75 niche channels, including Proud Television, or
watch online at pridenation.com for free.
- Aefa Mulholland
Pledging Diversity
What better name for one of the nation's first non-gender specific, queer-friendly fraternity than Kappa Iota Nu or KIN?
With its commitment to diversity reflected in the identities
Emelee
Sharon Stone
of its founding members (a lesbian, a bisexual woman and a
bisexual man), the fraternity welcomes pledges of all genders
and sexual identities as long as they are current Sacramento
State University students.
Co-founder Fantasia Stensland combined efforts with
Lenaea Sanders and Nick Franco to start the fraternity
"I think people are too judgmental. They stereotype
and they don't give other people a chance."
>> Teen club music diva Emelee
after reading an article in the university's newspaper, The State
Hornet, that featured a student explaining how much her mem-
bership in a sorority had meant to her. It occurred to Stensland
that the gay community could benefit from something similar
- an organization that offered a sense of connection and support to students.
"There are gay fraternities and lesbian sororities and I just
felt that, that was counterintuitive to my understanding of this
population, that gender identity is something that a lot of people deal with;' Stensland says. "Some people, clearly, would not
be able to choose [one or the other] and for our community, it
just seemed natural that we be non-gender specific co-ed. What
other way could it go? As I looked around for that it appeared
that nothing existed just yet:'
While the fraternity will focus on socials, philanthropy and
activism, as well as academics, Stensland emphasizes that the
main goal of the fraternity is to help other students graduate.
"Were organizing to graduate students. Overwhelmingly students who participate like their experience better, they perform
better and they are able to graduate at a higher percentage:'
KIN's founders hope the idea will catch on at campuses with
much larger gay populations and that the fraternity will eventually have a national affiliation. At Sacramento State, KIN has
received only positive support from the Greek community and
Cu
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from students of varying genders and sexualities interested in
pledging. Stensland stresses that the fraternity does not wish
to be exclusively queer: "We see the alliance component of our
organization as one of the most important components. We
want to have an alliance with people who can be understanding of our issues and want to support them, not necessarily
because they are dealing with the issues but just because they
understand and because they like hanging out with us, we're
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fun!" To find out more about KIN go to kappaiotanu.com.
LL
- Janel M. Lynch
::::,
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"Seeing it in a room full of strangers was so disrespectful and so shocking that I did not know what
to do. So I went into the booth and slapped [the
director]. And left.">> Sharon Stone, on the
first time she saw her infamous leg-crossing
· scene, in a new interview on the recently
released DVD Basic Instinct: Ultimate Edition
"I feel very proud of who I was to [Ellen] and for her
and with her and who I am in many ways,
because of her. So, I feel proud about my part of
it, whereas I can think of relationships I had when I
was younger and less responsible that, for years, I
would look back on and feel so bad that I did X, Y
and Z. That's the hard stuff, to overcome the forgiveness of yourself. Forgiveness of other people,
I think, is actually less of a feat."
>> Alexandra Hedison to She
"One of the ways we're not willing to sell out is by
acting straight, talking straight, being thin. I don't
want to look like Britney Spears, I just don't want
to. She's hideous."
>> The Gossip's Beth Ditto to PopMatters.com
0
...,
June 2006 j 15
Lisa Congdon
I MIXED-MEDIA ARTIST I
The daughter of a textile artist mother and physicist father, LisaCongdon
has a love of art and craft that began at a young age.
Though she has no formal artistic training, she uses this to her advantage. Her work explores dark themes such as loneliness and
longing in bright, airy, pastel~colored scenes and collages. She draws most of her inspiration from images that represent liberation
- pirate ships and birds are among her current favorites - and works in several media including paper collage, wood, screen~
printing, ink on paper, textiles and paint. Her individual pieces are often part of a larger series and start as an idea in a small note~
book she carries with her everywhere. Congdon's art has been shown in Seattle and can currently be seen at the Edo Gallery in San
Francisco in June and July 2006. For more information, visit her blog at birdinthehand.typepad.com.
16
Icurve
-
Marcy Mendelson
Curvatures
Calling All Vagina Warriors
O~ Valentine's Day you may
have showered your girlfriend
set to put on benefit productions ofEnsler's multi-woman
with gooey filled chocolates,
play The Vagina Monologues
in 45 different countries.
singing teddy bears and
edible undies, but many of us
Each
year the
V-Day
welcomed in V- Day, a global
grass-roots movement started
campaign spotlights a particular group of women who are
eight years ago by Vagina
Monologues
creator,
Eve
experiencing violence, with
the goal of creating world-
Ensler, to help stop violence
against women. The "V" in
wide awareness of the issue.
Themed "Vagina Warriors:
V-Day stands for victory, val-
The New Revolution;'
entine and vagina, and though
Feb. 14 is the official V-Day,
2006 focus is on comfort
the
women, female civilians who
it's really a kickoff to annual
efforts, to stop violence and increase awareness, that continue
all year long.
Since its inception, V-Day has raised over $30 million for
national and international anti-violence organizations. In 2005
there were over 2,500 V-Day benefit events, contributing to
over 1,000 anti-violence groups. The Karama program started
were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military between 1932 and 1945. V-Day
joins organizations across Asia in support of these women and
their fight for an official apology from Japan's government. In
August 2005, these groups coordinated simultaneous demonstrations in front of Japanese embassies around the world
and are currently workin~ on petitions, demonstrations, and
in Cairo to provide training workshops, meetings and cultural
events to end gender violence in Africa, Asia and the Middle
Vagina Monologues performances in Seoul.
East. V-Day is also responsible for funding the first women's
community organizers can host benefit productions of The
shelters in Egypt and Iraq, and sponsoring workshops for
women in Afghanistan. Those are major strides in countries
that usually don't rank women's rights as a high priority.
Want to become a Vagina Warrior:> College students and
Vagina Monologues. Proceeds from those productions, or any
type of fundraising event, go right back to school or community
organizations working to stop violence against women. Vagina
V-Day's goal is to celebrate new activists and leaders and
Warriors can also donate money directly through vday.org or by
to inspire those already working. Vagina Warriors are people,
women and men, who have dedicated themselves to ending
shopping in the V-Day online store. Sign up online for V-Mail
to keep informed about upcoming events and opportunities.
violence against women. Currently over 860 communities are
-
•'
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TEES FOR
DYKE MOMS
A fewfirebrandT-shirt
companies
arehoningin
on the mommymarketwith
somerighteousresults.
TakeTBMaternity'stees
emblazoned
with"Virgin"
and"Goodin Bed."Fortune
Teesoffersfortunecookieworthyshirtsadornedwith
phraseslike"Anepidural
is in my nearfuture."And
queergirlsaregoinggaga
overRobertaD'Cunha's
BadMommyline.D'Cunha
is oneof thosejill-of-alltrades(filmmaker,
model,
artist,etc.)whose"I like
Bush.Nonothim,stupid"
teesaregainingin popularity becauseof D'Cunha's
queer-friendly
bent.
Pickupyourfaveat
tbmaternity.com,
fortuneteeshirt.com
or
badmommy.net.
- Diane
Anderson-Minshall
Lauren Palmigiano
Never Want to Say Goodbye
•
attorney, novelist and publisher,
died at her home in Rehoboth
Lesbians (like most people) are funny about death
- we want our sheroes immortalized and eulo-
her life to making people aware
of composting.
gized but we also don't want to hear too much
about their passing, a reminder of our own mortal-
Jean O'Leary, a lesbian
activist and former nun, died
ity. Editors have a hard time balancing those needs
with the deadline pressure of creating a magazine
June 4, 2005, of lung cancer. O'Leary, former execu-
that leaves our computers a full three months
before it gets into the hands of readers.
tive director of the National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force,
the legendary feminist publisher Naiad Press in 1972, and
We've mourned the passing of plenty of
women beloved wives, girlfriends, mothers, daughters - and we hope to tell you more
helped to organize the first
National Coming Out Day.
After suffering from a sei-
A&M Books in 1995. As a law
student, Marchant was assistant
to women's rights pioneer Alice
about them as the year goes by. We missed some
in 2005 worthy of note: Mary Arlene Appelhof
passed away May 4, 2005, from cancer of the
zure caused by a drug reaction,
Anyda Marchant
Allison Noelle Crews died June
11, 2005, at the age of 22. Editor and producer of
Paul, who at the time was doing
research for an Equal Rights
Amendment. She is survived by Muriel Crawford,
abdominal lining. Through her publishing company, Flowerfield Enterprises, Appehof published
her book Worms Eat My Garbage, and dedicated
girl-mom.com, Crews was named one of the Top
30 Activists Under 30 for Choice in 2003.
her partner of 57 years, as well as a large circle of
loving friends. - Diane Anderson-Minshall
On Jan. 11, 2006, Anyda Marchant, a retired
Beach, Del., at age 94. The
Brazil-born Marchant, who
• wrote 14 novels under the pen
name "Sarah Aldridge;' founded
and Lauren Marie Fleming
June 2006
I 17
Curvatures
Lesbofile
We're So Proud of Our Fellow "Lesbians"
Dannii Minogue, Mischa Barton, Jenna Jameson and more. I ByJocelynYoo
It's June, which means, of course, you're probably
already preparing to celebrate Pride by getting
drunk with a bunch of gay men - a practice that
many "straight" women also seem to follow. And
you know what happens when you combine booze
and the bi-curious? Juicy gossip, that's what.
"Threegirlsin a bed is a bedfulof girls,"Ford rationalized."Twogirlsin bed are lesbians."No word as
to what two straightgirlsand a gay man in bed are
- besidesgood publicity.
Now Showing: Everything!
In the grand tradition of lesser-celebrity siblings
(Ashlee Simpson, anyone?), it's textbook to get
your name in the paper by any means necessary.
Quasi-famous singer Dannii Minogue,younger
sister of ass-tastic Kylie,was caught on tape at
London's Puss 'N Boots female strip club enjoying a probing tongue-bath from a naked dancer. "I
can't believe how far they went;' said one witness
to a local newspaper. "It was more like a porn film.
There were hands and tongues everywhere - I
thought it was going to turn into a full-on orgy:'
Guess the "no touching" strip club rule doesn't
apply when you're famous ... even moderately so.
Mischa, Mischa, Mischa
Maybe it's because The O.C. devoted five -
five!
episodes to developing the lesbian-relation-
ship-tryst-whatever between MischaBartonand
OliviaWilde,but we always hoped that Barton still
harbored a special soft spot for chocha in her cruel,
surprisingly hetero (especially by Hollywood standards) heart. Could it be true? At a Tinseltown
new-wave, brat-pack party attended by much of her
O.C. brethren and JeremyPiven,Barton was spotted connected at the lips with a blond rocker chick
- until she suddenly remembered she's still dating
ol' oil heir what's-his-face. Damn.
AngelinaJolie and almost-husband
What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas
JennaJamesonhooking up with girls? Old hat.
Jenna Jameson hooking up with a girl who denies
the encounter? Say it ain't so! Jameson told all the
details, about an alleged Halloween sex romp in
Vegas with fellow busty blond bombshell Jenny
McCarthy,to shock jock HowardStern."We're
hosting a Halloween party at the Hard Rock;'
Jameson said, "and afterward the two of us went
into a secluded booth ... Jenny kicked back ... and
I'm just, like, 'Oh, here we go. It's on .. .' and she
was great!"
All in the Family
According to British newspaper
1sjcurve
Daily Star,
Brad Pitt
were at odds as to who would be the godparent of their children, Maddox, Zahara and resident Hottest Fetus in the World. A source told
the paper, "Brad plumped for his best friend
GeorgeClooney,and Angelina was keen on her
ex-husband JonnyLee Miller.But she decided
they needed a strong female force in their lives:'
Tabloids immediately latched onto the idea that
Jolie had asked her ex-lover JennyShimizuto
provide that strong female force (and you can't
blame them - all tabloids are unoriginal when
it comes to lesbian gossip), but Shimizu later
dismissed it as mere rumor, telling the folks at
AfterEllen.com, "Maybe [Jolie] called me and I
didn't get the message:'
Gay Arithmetic
The March issue of Vanity Fair features Scarlett
Johansson
and KeiraKnightley
in the buff, lying
atop a fluffy white bed, with fashion designer Tom
Fordpractically stuffing his nose in Knighdey's ear.
The reason for the puzzling, straight-guy fantasy
acted out by Ford, a decidedly not-straight guy?
Wedding Crashers actress RachelMcAdams
was set
to be the third naked body in the Annie Leibovitz
photo shoot, but evidently didn't get the memo
that the photo would be more revealing than Paris
Hilton's sex tape. So why did Ford jump in the
mix? "Three girls in a bed is a bedful of girls;' he
rationalized. "Two girls in bed are lesbians:' No
word as to what two straight girls and a gay man
in bed are - besides good publicity. ■
Curvatures
HELP A
LEGEND
Dratna Queen
The literary and theater arts communities mourned
the loss earlier this year of Wendy Wasserstein,
who died at age 55 after being diagnosed just two
months earlier with lymphoma.
A playwright and essayist who was a recipient of the Obie, Tony and Pulitzer awards, the
Brooklyn-born Wasserstein wrote penetrating,
often devastatingly funny accounts of contemporary women's negotiations with the worlds of
career, family and society. The first play of hers to
receive major notice was Uncommon Women and
Others, which reflected Wasserstein's experiences
at the all-women Mount Holyoke College. It was
produced off-Broadway in 1977 with a cast that
included Jill Eikenberry and Swoosie Kurtz, and
later was adapted for television with Meryl Streep
joining the cast.
In 1988, Wasserstein won the Pulitzer (among
other awards) for The Heidi Chronicles,which spans 20 years
in the life of a baby-boomer art historian and is considered
one of the most important literary works to depict 20thcentury American feminist life. The Heidi Chronicles opened
off-Broadway with Joan Allen and Sarah Jessica Parker, who
was later replaced by
Cynthia Nixon when the
play moved to Broadway.
I was fortunate to
have met Wasserstein
when I was 14 years old
at an awards luncheon
for young playwrights,
where I was able to
experience first-hand her
commitment to emerging artists. She was an
avid supporter of the
Henry Fonda Young
Playwrights
Project,
Very Special Arts and
many other organizations dedicated to fostering talented, young writers in the New York area and beyond.
I will always remember her warm, enthusiastic support of
me and all the other young playwrights dreaming of Broadway,
a place where sometimes even a brash, witty, outspoken femi-
TeeCorinne's
sensual
photographs
of lesbians
and
herbooksonlesbian
erotica
helpedshapeandexpand
images
of lesbians
and
lesbian
sexuality
overthepast
30years.Butlastyear,cancer
claimed
Corinne's
partner
of 17years,Beverly
Brown,
andnowCorinne
herself
hasbeendiagnosed
with
cancer.
Likemanylesbians,
Corinne
haslimitedfinancial
resources.
ArtistJeanSiriusis
currently
caringforCorinne,
butCorinne
needsmorethan
thehelpof closeandcaring
friends.Sheneedsmoney.
Please
sendwhatever
you
can;checksshouldbemade
outtoTeeA.Corinne
and
mailedto P.O.Box278,Wolf
Creek,
OR97497.AWeb
sitehasbeensetupto share
information
aboutherconditionatjeansirius.com/
TeeACorinne/tee_update.html.
- Victoria
A. Brownworth
nist can get some love. - Julia Bloch
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June 2006
l 19
1 Radical queer performance art at Esoterica Chicago's 45 Minutes in Heaven 2 Emily Savard, Koko
Whitelaw and Meg Bradley from Everything Good at the film's release party in Boston 3 Roll Bounce
star Jurnee Smollett (left) and AIDS activist Hydeia Broadbent at the Ryan White Youth Conference
on HIV and AIDS in Philadelphia last February 4 From left: Erin Daniels, Katherine Moennig and
Alexandra Hedison of Showtime's The L Word work the red carpet at the 5th Annual General Motors
TEN fashion show in Hollywood last February 5 The lovely barmaids of Pearl's Rainbow, a women's
resort and guest house, in Key West, Fla. 6 Lovely Key West resident Piper Crisovan accepts her
award at Pearl's Rainbow's Oscar party 7 Actor Carlease Burke (right) with friend Linna Landry at
POWER UP's Power Premiere
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Portrait
ofaMarriage
If you likedTippingthe Velvet,you'll thrillto this BBC
drama about the utterly captivatingVita SackvilleWest(JanetMcTeer)and herparamourVioletTrefusis
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219 min.
l
In this lesbianBonnieand Clyde,a FrenchCasanova
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teamup to rob banksand sharethe wealthwith local
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Twotroubledteens(Katharine
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carjack a pretty yuppie (hot Canadianstar Michelle
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97 min. (CC]
Filmf
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Advice
DYKE MARCH
DOS & DON'TS
Everyyear,theDykeMarch
provides
lesbians
with
opportunities
for celebration,
activismandself-expression,
buttherearesomethings
you'llwantto avoiddoing.
Do bring your
politics. However,
avoid
chantingdie-hardslogans
like:"Wewillnevergoback
to themullet,"or "Bringback
Marinato TheL Word."
While
theseissuesareheartfelt,
youwillbemocked
for advocatinglosingpropositions.
Do bring your pets.
However,
do notputyour
dogin a sweaterthat says
"I RollOverfor the Right
Wing,"as the Dykeson
Bikesmayroll rightover
youandyourpropagandapronouncing
pooch.
Do support the small
vendors selling Pride
gear. However,
donot
takeit personally
whenthe
hot-dogvendor(aka"the
wienerdyke")says,"Youare
whatyoueat."Andwhen
sheofferscondiments,
she's
talkingaboutketchupand
mustard,
notprophylactics.
Do bring your kids
along. Butmakesure
to stopthewhining,crying,fightingandpouting.
Because
onceyou'vegotten
yourdrama-queen
girlfriend
to stopactingout,you'll
finallygetto enjoya fabulous
afternoon
withthekids.
Do not impede the
progress of the
march. Donotattempt
to
doanEvelKnievel
jumpover
themotorcycle
chicksonyour
Huffy.Noonereallycares
to seehowmanyDykeson
Bikesyoucanjumpnorhow
manystitches
youwillincur
afteryourill-fatedattempt.
Do dance in the
streets, but avoid the
chicken dance. Donot
attempt
to kissa stranger
unlessyou'reabsolutely
sure
she'sintoit andthather
girlfriend
is looking
theother
way.Donot,inyourinebriated
state,pounce
onthegrand
marshal,
insisting
thatyou
wantto haveherlovechild.
However,
if you'resober,
pounce
away!- KateLacey
22
Icurve
Ask Fairy Butch
-Normal
What's That?
Dear Fairy Butch: I'm having a problem with girls. See,
I'm butch. I've gotten a number of offers from femmes.
Most of the girls who go after me are really sweet, but
the problem is that I'm all about other butches. I feel like
I'm weird and dysfunctional because of it. Also, I've gotten some bad reactions from people in the gay community.As for other butches, forget about it. I met one other
butch, and found out she had a crush on a mutual friend
(who is also butch) and she was quick to defend herself,
saying, "Oh, I usually don't like girls like that," and she
was really embarrassed. What's wrong with me? What's
wrong with anybody else? Why am I so alone in this?
- Butch-Loving Butch in Baltimore
Dear Butch-Loving: Honey, first off, allow me to trot out
my trusty old saw: As long as it's safe, sane and consensual
between consenting adults, any kind of sexual or romantic
relationship you want to have is absolutely peachy keen. And
if anyone has a problem with this notion, just tell them that
your Uncle Fairy says to mind the bushes in their own backyard. Butches can love butches, femmes can love femmes and
all of you nondeclared folks out there can go any which way
Dear Fairy Butch: How do I deal with the fact that the
but loose. I mean, I love femmes more than a groundhog loves
mud, but we're not freakin' on Noah's Ark, darling. We're queer,
girl I was with for over two years, my first true love,
people, which means we can make up our own rules, or better
yet, forego those which limit the responsible expression of our
has somehow made the switch back to the other side?
Should I feel inferior because perhaps she'll find in
own freedom and desires as well as those of others.
Secondly, sugar, you're far from alone. I know that San
a man something she could never have with me? Or
should I be happy about the fact that she's not left me
Francisco is a rarefied place, but I can tell you that it's so queer
here that even tons of the dykes are fags! And it's not the only
for another lesbian? - Frantic in Frankfort
such locale. I believe that in recent years, the dyke community
has become far more sophisticated and accepting around issues
of gender and sexuality; people are coming to realize that the
existence of someone else's kink need not threaten their own. As
for exploring yours, check out the .anthology Set in Stone: Butch
on Butch Erotica, edited by Angela Brown, for hot tales ofboi-on-
boi love, and playbutch.com for hot photos as well as erotica.
Dear Fairy Butch: Do you think that it is abnormal for a woman to refuse to have sex
unless she has had a shower right before? - Wet in
Washington, D.C.
Dear Wet: It takes an awful lot to get me to slap the label
"abnormal" on somebody, and this little scenario sure doesn't
seem to warrant it. It's a matter of preference, comfort level and
compatibility. Aspiring to "normalcy" isn't a grave concern in
my estimation, dumpling. If, however, you'd prefer your date
be a bit more accessible to you, perhaps she'll be willing to
occasionally forego the waterworks if you reassure her that you
love her natural odor and that you find her sufficiently tidy in
the state in which you've found her.
Dear Frantic: Wow, that's a tough one, hon -
I'm truly sorry
for your loss. Nobody likes to get dumped. And whether it's for
a man or another woman, you'll find agonies common in either
case, as well as those that are unique to each sex. For example,
in a culture in which being queer is often made to seem second
best (or worse), getting left for a guy can be a real blow to one's
sexual identity. Alternatively, those with a penchant for rumination can also find plenty to torture themselves with in the
prospect that their beloved has left them for a woman: ''Ah, she
was indeed a dyke, I just wasn't dyke enough (or femme enough
or smart enough or sexy enough) for her:'
At any rate, you needn't feel inferior or insecure because
of the choices your ex has made. The often difficult fact of the
matter is that many relationships don't last forever, regardless
of the source of the split. And while it's constructive to learn
how to be a better partner from one relationship to the next,
comparing yourself to a real or fictional other (wo)man is a
losing game that's best exchanged for tennis or racquetball or
some other sport in which you get to hit things - hard. ■
u5
I
E-mail Jb@fairybutch.com with your queries regarding lesbian life,
sexuality and romance.
Cl)
c73
::J
UJ
Lipstick & Dipstick Advice
How Will I Know?
you can finally get that Melissa Etheridge box set
Dear Lipstick and Dipstick: My co-worker
Sheila and I have been in a closeted relationship for five years. She lives with her
father, and he hates me. I'm pretty sure that
people suspect we're together, but it isn't
discussed. Aside from being lovers, we
lead separate lives. To compound our situation, she's been spending more time with
her kids on the weekend and less with me.
Can we make it work? - Closet Case
Lipstick: This situation makes me want to crack
open a tall one and light a cigarette - and I don't
even smoke. First off, I can't believe you girls have
lasted this long. Second, C.C., you deserve happiness. At the very least, you deserve to be able
to wake up next to your girlfriend. You need to
dump the dead weight - tell Sheila that you're
sick of being a liar and that you don't like the person you've become - and then get your ass out of
the closet! Imagine how liberating it will be: You'll
have a new swagger, you'll get to enjoy all that Gay
Pride has to offer (drag queens and free lube), and
q
0
~
a.
0
0
z<(
a kid, the only action I ever got was when Sally
you've been too afraid to buy at the mall. Plus, if
Dobson and I squared off during a pillow fight
you suspect your loved ones know you're a big ol'
scissor sister, you're damn right they know. Now
at my birthday party. Sure, it was my idea to get
naked, but she tackled me! Anyway, I think you
get out while being gay is still in vogue!
need to out yourself immediately. My guess is that
Dipstick: Lipstick is right, Closet Case. Did you
ever do that experiment in elementary school
where you grow two beans, one in the darkness and
the other on the window sill? The closeted bean
grows but is pale and droopy. The one that spends
its life in the sun sprouts into a beautiful, blooming beanstalk. Heed the scientific theory - open
your shutters and let in some light, C.C. And while
they're open, do some spring cleaning. Sweep that
anemic string bean and her nasty father out of your
life, and bask in the sunshine for a while. Quit waiting for her to change, and take charge of your own
life. Once you've seen the light, you'll wonder how
you lived in the dark for so long.
Dear Lipstick and Dipstick: I am 14 and
have known I was gay since I was in kindergarten. Recently, I found out the girl I'd
had a huge crush on at camp is bisexual! I
really like her and want to ask her out, but
I have no idea what to say or how to do it.
Help! - Torn Teen
Lipstick: Can you believe how young chicks get
together these days, Dipstick? Back when I was
bi-girl came out because she had an ulterior motive
- like she wants to meet you in the stables after
art class in nothing but her riding boots. Once she
knows you're a confirmed homo who enjoys communal showers at Camp Hoochi- Koochi as much
as she does, maybe she'll ask you out!
Dipstick: Whoa, Lipstick, slow down! Not every
14-year-old is as bold as you were. Yes, even Portia
de Rossi admitted to fondling her girlfriends at
a young age, but you lipsticks have it easy: Your
gal pals will fool around with you because no one
suspects you're gay. Dipsticks have to be stealth
and suave. Torn Teen, take three deep breaths.
Don't think of it as a big high-pressure date; just
plan to meet up sometime in person. Walk a bit,
talk a bit, and if you feel the vibe, try to hold her
hand. Save running after her naked with a pillow
for your second date.
Dear Lipstick and Dipstick: I recently ran into
a woman I have a mad crush on at the Pride
Film Festival. Her name is Beatrice. At the
snack bar, we said a quick hello before she
introduced me to the woman she was with.
The problem is she introduced her without a
tag like ''friend"or "partner."Do you think this
was her gir1friend?How can I find out if she's
available? - Piningfor Popcorn and Passion
Lipstick: How about moving your lips? Next
time you see Beatrice, tell her that it was nice to
meet her girlfriend. If she says, "She's not my girlfriend;' put down your tub of popcorn and plant a
buttery one on her.
'.II::
0
~
a.
2-
Dipstick: It doesn't matter if that popcorn muncher
is her girlfriend or not. Ask Beatrice out! What's
~
the harm in a little flirtatious fodder? Even if she
does have a girlfriend, they may break up one day.
a:
w
'.II::
a:
w
c3
:::f
In Sleeplessin Seattle,Meg Ryan was engaged before
she met Tom Hanks. If you really dig this woman,
Q,
a:
let her know you're interested. Take a risk! Don't let
~
a Hollywood happy ending pass you by. ■
CJ
<(
'.:2:
a:
:::)
I
~
w
a:
w
I-
Ask us anything about sex, love or lesbians at
lipstickdipstick.com.
June 2006
I23
Advice
Astro Grrl
logether
We
Can
Help
UnlockTurn on the Charm
The
Cure
Gemini (May 22-June 21)
Sex: Expect major changes in
relationships.
forBreast
Cancer
InOur
lifetime
...
Have you been
very naughty? You deserve a
spanking. Lucky girl! Career:
Girl~girl twins can charm any~
one they want at work, but try to
charm that sexy payroll clerk.
Cancer (June 22-July 23)
Sex: Crab dykes feel more
romantic
than
usual. Exactly
whom do you feel? Career:Your
financial acumen is in top form
now. Try to become well~endowed and share it
with a bosom buddy.
Capricorn (Dec. 23-Jan. 20)
Sex: Gal pals can easily become lovergrrls. Do you
Leo (July 24-Aug. 23)
want things to get that complicated? Career:
Lambda
Sex:Who put the tiger in your tank this Pride
Caps can realize their professional dreams this June.
month? Grrr. Enjoy every minute! Career: Dream big, but don't daydream it away.
Be prepared to make a good first impression.
forEvery
Wlllll1
Lionesses strut and fret, but may only get an
hour upon the stage.
more than they can give now, so make love, not
Virgo (Aug. 24-Sept. 23)
Sex: Lambda virgins find love in the corner
Everyw~ere
I
GHNY
is proudto donate
20% ~
of it'sproceeds
fromeachsale///
ofourspecially-designed
keychainto helpinthe
fightagainst
breast
cancer.
office this June. And not only in the corner but
also around the curves. Woohoo! Career:Your
hard work will reap its just rewards. But when in
doubt, turn on the charm.
$24.95
Each
plusS&H
ORDERYOURSTODAY
... CALL
Icurve
start anything. Keep planning until someone takes
them over and you can relax.
Pisces (Feb. 20-March 20)
Sex: You burst onto the scene like a supernova.
enjoyed it more. Career:June can bring major
career changes. A new broom sweeps clean - or
is it a vacuum?
corporate star, but also pack a parachute just
Aries (March 21-April 20)
in case.
Sex: Show your Pride with a bevy of pert beauties
as your entourage. Lesbian rams can be seen at all
the best venues. Who let you in? Career:
You have_
Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 22)
Sex:Lesbian Scorps can enjoy their relationships
with their lovergrrls. If you don't have one, get one
immediately! Or maybe even two. Career:
You will
some great ideas and don't mind sharing them
with whomever. Get the credit you know you
deserve ... or else!
work hard for everything you get this June. That is
a real change of pace for you.
Taurus (April 21-May 21)
Sex: All eyes are on you this Pride month. Wear
Sagittarius (Nov. 23-Dec. 22)
Sex:You are the consummate romantic this June.
clean underwear ... or none at all! Career:
Sapphic
bulls can push their weight around the office. Do
Sapphic archers have lots of excess energy, and
you have a crush on anyone in particular therd ■
nothing succeeds like excess. Career:You are so
charming that you can get others to do your work
for you. Hurry - this passes quickly.
For more advice from the stars, visit our astrologer,
1-800-741-11131
www.ghny.biz
24
war. Career:Plan out your projects before you
It would be better if you took your time and
Libra (Sept. 24-Oct. 23)
Sex:You are alluring all through June, especially
to• strangers. Just wait until they get to know you
better. Career:Hitch your wagon to a shooting
AVAILABLE
IN24KGOLD
OVERLAY
ORSILVER
OVERLAY
Aquarius (Jan. 21-Feb. 19)
Sex:Avoid arguments with partners. You want
Charlene Lichtenstein, online at thestarryeye.com.
19 Passengerferry service resumes
between Bostonand Ptown
20 PBGCasinoNight
20-21 MonumentalYardSale
26-29 Memorial DayWeekend
JUNE
1 Annual Chef'sTable
10 HelpingOurWomen:By the Sea
Bike Trek
14-18ProvincetownInternationalFilm
Festival
17 TennisFor Life Tournament
22 A ProvincetownTastingat The
ProvincetownTheater
22-25 PortugueseFestival
JULY
1-7 4th of July Week-parties/events
4 Fourthof July Paradeand
Fireworks
9 ProvincetownArt Associationand
Museum:Secret GardenTour
25 FamilySunsetCampfireand Singalong at Race Point Beach
7/29-8/5 11thAnnual FamilyPrideWeek
AUGUST
5-6 Pan-MassachusettsChallenge
11-13SecondAnnual Provincetown
Jazz Festival
Call888-361-5211
for yourGuideto Gay& LesbianProvincetown.
Visit us at:·www.Ptown.org
14-19CarnivalWeek
17 C.arnivalParade
(starts in EastEndat 3PM)
WILD
WOMEN
DON'T
GET THE
ll
26
I curve
BY JENNIFER CORDAY
The thought of taking a Wild Women Expedition in Canada
just a short 70-minute flight north. We were greeted by our fabu-
intrigued me, but I was also, I admit, a tiny bit nervous.
Camping expeditions are way out of my comfort zone. I'm
lous tour guide, Meredith Armstrong, from the Sudbury Travel .
Commission, who explained that Sudbury is home to the largest
a city girl, so abandoning my daily routine to fly up to the
integrated mining complex in the world and is where most of the
rugged Canadian woods and camp with a group of strange
women sounded both terrifying and liberating. Could I bring
my laptop, cell phone and iPod? Would there be electricity,
world's nickel and copper comes from. Blackened by pollution
from the miners, Sudbury once looked as flat and desolate as
toilet paper and vegetarian food? How would I survive?
But really, I asked myself, what kind of lesbian was I if I
couldn't camp and wear flannel? I knew I could butch it up.
I would learn to canoe. I would swim naked in the river. I
would reconnect with nature. It had been years since I communed with nature. Hell, I'd been at my desk so long I barely
even remembered my own backyard. So I decided to go.
Wild Women Expeditions, Canada's largest outdoor
adventure company for women, now celebrating its 15th
anniversary, offers year-round adventures including canoe
Wild Women Expeditions
brought together a host of
adventure-seeking women
- a social worker, a medical
supply saleswoman, an actor,
a mother of three, a lesbian
couple, a musician and two
weight-loss buddies - for
a weekend drumming circle
that had them not only making music but also canoeing,
hiking, swimming, camping
and carousing (some of it
was even naked) in the Canadian Wilderness.
I PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMIE KIV!STO
trips, mountain biking adventures, cycling road trips, hiking
expeditions, kayaking tours, fly fishing, cross-country skiing
and dog sledding. With riverside cabins, a wood-burning
Finnish sauna, a bodywork therapist and wonderful cooks,
Wild Women promises an unspoiled wilderness setting that
is perfect for swimming, paddling and reveling in nature. Of
the numerous adventures available, one spoke to me: drumming camp. As a musician, I've always wanted to experience
a drum circle, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to
learn about the mystery and power of rhythm.
I wrangled in the talents of photographer-artist Jamie
Kivisto, and we sped into LAX just in time to catch a red-eye to
Toronto. From there we caught a connector flight to Sudbury,
the moon. Thankfully, land rehabilitation acts spawned major
regrowth in the '70s, when over 11 million trees were planted.
Today Sudbury is a rich and diverse outdoor playground and
may be the best kept secret of the Northeast.
With a population of 155,000 people and over 300 lakes,
Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario. There's ice
fishing, hockey, skating, skiing and snowmobiling in the winter; camping, hiking, fishing, canoeing and swimming in the
summer. There are festivals celebrating garlic, blueberries,
Greeks and, most famously, the Northern Lights (the latter is a three-day outdoor event in July featuring live music).
Sudbury is a multicultural hub, with a rich mix of Italian,
Finnish, Polish, Chinese, Croatian and Ukrainian immigrants, so there are lesbians of all kinds. Even sexier: at least
half of the population speaks French.
Meredith finished the tour and dropped us off at our hotel
where we passed out from jet lag and _thenmet up with her the
next morning to visit the local science center across the street.
Science North is a local attraction, built right into the bedrock
against Lake Ramsey. The architecture alone was fascinating.
Cruise through underground tunnels carved out of 2-billionyear-old rock and check out the museum, which is really more
like an interactive learning center. It's a great place for kids, but
also fun for adults. We saw a porcupine and a hairy beaver (no
June 2006
I 27
"Wecanoedin, insteadof walkingdownan aisle.And Bethgaveus
a honeymooner
tent,withthe bestview.We come backeveryyear.
Eachtime I come, I thinkit'sthe bestgroupof womenever."
pun intended), and I especially adored the butterfly room.
That evening we met the wild woman hersel£ camp
director Beth Mairs, who picked us up in an old, green,
come up and meet so many amazing women:'
Lesley is a medical saleswoman from Toronto, who had just
beat-up pickup truck and shepherded us to a party in our
honor at the only gay bar in town, Zig's - a super clean
come out of a two-year relationship. "I wanted to discover what
and friendly place, where we mingled with some fabulous
not want to let go of the past, but I knew I needed to find the
Sudbury women who insisted we try the Canadian beer,
namely Molson, Labatt's, Northern and Steam Whistle
courage to come up by mysel£ I wanted to do something adventurous, so I started searching for adventures on the Internet. I
was very scared and I found all kinds of excuses not to come:'
(which you're supposed to drink with a lemon).
The next day, we arrived at the Wild Women base camp, a
1920s-era fishing camp spread across 230 waterfront acres.With
adorably quaint, tongue-and-groove log cabins that include
it was like to be on my own again;' she says.''A big part of me did
Though many of the women are lesbians, campers who
aren't felt right at home. "I don't see lesbians;' says Nancy, a
40-year-old mother of three. "I just see strong women. My
bunks and breakfast nooks, a beautiful old barn and several tents
right on the river,Wild Women's base camp offers that summer-
best friend, Linda, brought me here as a birthday gift. I am so
camp feel complete with outdoor showers and outhouses.
Best friends Jeananne and Chi won their trip at a charity
fundraiser dinner."We've been best friends since junior high;'
Mairs, a self-described adventure addict, has spent a lifetime camping and canoeing. While working as a social worker
helping battered and abused women in Toronto, Mairs was
overcome with extreme exhaustion and was diagnosed with
IFYOU GO
for an opportunity to work at the camp. I love being able to
Epstein-Barr. A canoeing trip during recovery brought much
needed peace - and a business idea that later became Wild
Beforeyouheadupnorthonyour Women. Today, over 30 women contribute to the company.
WildWomenadventure,
check
"We have a fine team of guides;' Mairs says, "ranging in
outthefollowing
Websitesfor age from 24 to 50 fabulous years, who are not only skilled
moreinformation:
outdoorswomen but, equally importantly, excellent facilita-
wildwomenexp.comtors, full of a Joie de vivre that is contagious:'
Wild's participants - who traveled from Minnesota,
Thesourcefor all yourquestions
aboutWildWomenExpeditions, Toronto and California to attend the drum workshop - were
or givethema ringat fullof the same kind of spunk. As we gathered around a candlelit
888-WWE·
1222.
table for a meet-and-greet over warm blueberry pie and tea,
sudburytourism
.ca these women of varying ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations and
happy to come here and celebrate life:'
Chi explains. ''And we went to Paris for our 10-year anniversary. I'm about to go away to school in London, so I thought
this would be a great chance for us to hang out one more time
before I leave:'
"It's nice to be somewhere where gender isn't a problem;'
actress-model-singer Jeananne adds. "I get hassled a lot by
guys, so it's nice to relax in the absence of men. It's really nice
that this space exists:'
The adorable Donna and Chaiya won their trips at a Heather
Bishop concert. "I lost 70 pounds;' explains Chaiya, "and Donna
lost 50. So we have been wanting to do something physical. I
looked at the brochure and thought everything looked so cool.
I wanted to take the biking trip to Nova Scotia, but this drum
circle has been awesome. I really like the women I've met:'
The next morning, Jamie and I slept right through break-
Yourguideto allthingsSudbury. economic backgrounds could hardly contain their excitement.
Sharon and Linda are partners of seven years who originally
ontariotravel.
net met on a Wild Women adventure. Sharon was freshly single and
Stopherebeforeyou
looking for a challenge when she signed up for her first trip.
headto Ontario.
"I wanted to do something outdoorsy, something I wouldn't
fast and woke just in time to make the morning drum circle.
Each woman chose an instrument and gathered in the barn.
Instructor Carol Anne gave us an introduction to the drum
sciencenorth.on.canormally do;' says Sharon. "I called Beth and asked if there was
Butterflies
aren'tallyou'llfindat anyone I could carpool with, which is totally unlike me because
thismeccafor sciencegeeks I'm usually independent. But I figured it would be a good way
(andtheirfriends).
to meet new people. She gave me Linda's number and when I
cle in silence and concentrated on letting go of our problems.
I could feel the stress in the room drift off with the smoke.
nlfbsudbury.cacalled, we talked for an hour - she was fabulous on the phone.
FinddetailsonSudbury's By the time we got here, we had been dating for three weeks:'
Northern
LightsFestival,
now
Meeting at Wild Women was so pivotal for the couple
in its 35thyear. that they decided to get married in front of the birch trees
for another drum session before hitting the wood-burning
sauna. Naked and sweaty, we stayed in the sauna until we
couldn't stand it anymore and then ran outside and jumped
in the river - an awesome experience.
behind the sauna. "We canoed in, instead of walking down an
aisle;' Linda says, smiling. ''And Beth gave us a honeymooner
The next day was even more varied. That is, of course,
the best part of a Wild Women Expedition - the absolute
freedom to do and explore as you choose. Sure, adventure
tent, with the best view. We come back every year. We find
the experience here is rejuvenating and energizing. Each time
I come, I think it's the best group of women ever:'
Our adorable cook, Karen, who made some amazing
meals, explains: "This is my fourth summer. A friend of mine
told me about it, and spoke so highly of it that I tracked down
Beth at the Canada outdoor trade show. I kept bugging her
28
I curve
and led us through a smudging, a Native American ritual of
cleansing. As we passed the burning lavender around the cir-
After our drum session, there was free time to play
before lunch, so we took a topless hike and then gathered
abounds - and what hearty dyke could resist something like
the ultimate Canadian Winter Adventure with dog sledding,
ice fishing, snowboarding and snow blading across Northern
Manitoba? But Wild Women was more than a physical experience for me; it was a spiritual getaway, a chance to revel in the
magic of an all-women's group in the middle of the wild. ■
Pride Across
the Country
So many festivals, so little time.
Here's a handy guide to get you
in the game.
With so many Pride events around the country, most involving days of celebrations culminating in a Pride parade, it's hard to pick just one. CuRVE certainly
couldn't. This year we'll be at 10 Pride festivals around the U.S.A. (see the
starred events below), so stop by our booth for celebrity signings, L Word posters and tons of cool mags!
Anchorage, Alaska (June 18-26)
anchoragepride.com
Albuquerque, N.M.* (June 8-10)
CuRvE sizzles in the Southwest.
Brooklyn, N.Y. (June 5-10)
Did you know Brooklyn held the
Northeast's first and largest nighttime Pride parade in 200 U
brooklynpride.org
abqpride.com
Asbury Park, N.J.(June 4)
jerseypride.org
Atlanta* (June 23-25)
CuRVE hosts Atlanta Pride's biggest
women's party, Peach, at the Loft on
June 24.
new.atlantapride.org
Burlington, Vt. (July 8)
pridevermont.org
Cedar Rapids, Iowa (June 3)
crglrc.org
Chicago (June 25)
chicagopridecalendar.org
Denver (June 24-25)
Austin, Texas (June 3)
austinprideparade.org
Birmingham, Ala. (June 9-11)
centralalabamapride.org
Don't miss Saturday's .hilarious Dogs
in Drag parade.
pridefestdenver.org
Bismarck, N.D. (July 21-23)
equalicynd.org
Detroit (June 4)
Motor City Pride happens in downtown Ferndale.
motorcitypride.com
Boise, Idaho* (June 10)
CuRvE's executive editor, Diane
Durham, N.C. (Sept. 30-Oct.1)
ncpride.org
Anderson-Minshall, a spud state
native and Boise Pride's keynote
speaker, helps kick off the state's
Flagstaff, Ariz. (June 9-11)
Bagstaflpride.org
fundraising campaign to defeat an
anti-marriage amendment.
yffn.org
Gainesville, Fla.* (Oct. 6-15)
gainesvillepride.org
Boston (June 2-11)
Join more than 400,000 other parrygoers at the largest Pride celebration
in New England.
bostonpride.org
Honolulu (June 24)
thecencerhawaii.org/Pride_
Celebration.hem
Pride Events continued on page 39
June 2006
I3'1
Don't Just Sit There, Do Something
Women who are just doing it for a good cause.
As you read this, thousands of women are training furiously to change the
world. They speed through city streets, vault crevasses at 14,000 feet, pedal
determinedly along coastlines, stride miles through the darkness. These
women get on their bikes and into their climbing gear and running shoes
to raise awareness, funds and spirits and to honor and commemorate loved
ones. Participants of endurance events such as the Breast Cancer Fund's
Climb Against the Odds and Ride FAR's New England bike rides persevere
against daunting odds. These women are determined to find cures, eliminate
the causes of diseases, raise funds to provide support an4 care, and beat huge
physical challenges. Unwilling to accept defeat, they take something negative
and do something positive about it, one rest stop, one gear change, one step
at a time.
Sherry
Miller, Nevada
Climb Against the Odds, Mount Shasta, California
When Sherry Miller, a 51-year-old cabinetmaker from Reno, tackles Mount
Shasta this summer, it will have been five months since her fourth go-around
with chemotherapy. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, six months after
her sister, Miller underwent both surgery and chemotherapy. She was close to
being five years disease-free when cancer cells were discovered on her lungs. In
2004 she and her partner of 22 years, Tamela Gorden, got the news there were
two tumors on Miller's liver.
This ascent will be Miller's second Climb Against the Odds to benefit the
Breast Cancer Fund. She says her best moments from 2005's Mount Rainier
climb include standing on her favorite mountain watching the sun rising
before her, the moon setting behind. But, she says,"the absolute best moment
was when I came down from the mountain - my partner, Tam, was waiting
there for me with a big smile on her face and a hug. It didn't matter to her
that I didn't make it to the summit; she was just happy that I had ha~ the
32
I curve
*
By Aefa Mulholland
Clockwise from top
experience and that I made it down safely:'
left: Women walking
BCF focuses on breast cancer prevention rather
for Out of the Darkness
than treatment, and Miller has her sights set on rais- Overnight; leading off
ing $15,000 toward their goals. She adds that the
the AIDS/LifeCycle;
climb is a personal quest as well:"My physical goal is bikers on the road for
Ride FAR; the flying
to get back into shape and hopefully be in even betcolors of Climb Against
ter shape than last year.I just finished fivemonths of
the Odds.
chemotherapy, so it is going to take a lot of work, but
my energy level is starting to come back up:'
She adds, "The fact that I have completed a challenge, or got as far as
I possibly could, is very personally satisfying. It's very good for the ego. My
original diagnosis with breast cancer, and then the metastatic diagnosis, has
probably pushed me even harder to look for these physical challenges. They
are proof to my family and friends, as well as to myself, that I am not going to
give into the cancer and let it take over my life:'
Natalie Cordellos,
California
AIDS/LifeCycle, San Francisco to Los Angeles
A recent UC Davis graduate who worked as an HIV/ AIDS educator in South
Africa, Natalie Cordellos is training for the AIDS/LifeCycle, a 585-rnile, sevenday bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Cordellos says she was
attracted to the LifeCyde by the"profound statement" it makes and the commitment it demands. "More than 2,000 cyclists going such a long distance, taking
a week out of their own lives ... it's definitely a larger commitment;' Cordellos
explains, adding that the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's work in outreach,
education, broad treatment advocacy,counseling and housing impress her.
In addition to her work educating in South Africa and tutoring AIDS and
society classes at UC Davis, Cordellos managed to recruit a friend to ride with
her this summer. The LifeCyde has a minimum fundraising goal of $2,500 per
Endurance Events
for a Good Cause
Sign up or Chip in Today
participant, but Cordellos says she's hoping for closer to $5,000. She says that bike rides and
walking events to benefit AIDS organizations are desperately needed to bring more attention
to the health crisis. "I feel people are getting complacent about HIV and AIDS;' she argues.
"The numbers are increasing in California. The perception in my age group is that it's not that
big of a deal .... The challenge is convincing people that it's still an issue:'
Linda Dublin, Louisiana
Out of the Darkness Overnight, Chicago and San Francisco
It's a powerful image: thousands of people walking through the night, the light breaking through
as they near the end of their trek. Out of the Darkness Overnight walks benefit the American
Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which funds suicide prevention research, education and
awareness programs and supports survivors of suicide loss.
New Orleans resident Linda Dublin's experience with suicide extends to four family
members: her aunt, her only sibling, and her mother and father. She describes online support
groups as "a lifesaver:' After having been part of a sibling support group for eight years, Dublin
rallied her network to form a team for an Out of the Darkness walk in Chicago last year.
Dublin says she planned for "a tremendous, healing experience by doing something positive
about such a hard thing:'
She also wanted to boost the cause. "The fundraising amount was $1,000. I wanted to
raise $4,000; $1,000 for each member of my family:' Dublin and her partner, Mary,Ellen
Harwood, walked together and met Dublin's financial goal. Dublin remembers, "Mary,Ellen
and I had shirts made. On the front of the shirt it said, 'Team SOLOS' [survivors of loved
ones' suicide). Anybody who wanted their sibling's name on the back could have it. There were
50 names on those shirts. I had pictures of my four family members on the front of my shirr:'
Dublin, who turned 50 in April, adds, "As you might imagine, walking for 20 hours was ardu,
ous. It was absolutely amazing how emotional it was:'
Dublin is now organizing a New Orleans walk for 2007. She explains that since Hurricane
Katrina hit, "So many people are having mental health issues. Next year I think it will have a
huge impact on the city. I want to do this for survivorship:'
Suzy Becker,
Massachusetts
Ride FAR, Provincetownto Stowe
Suzy Becker, author of the best,selling All I Need to Know I LearnedFromMy Cat,the illustrated
memoir I Had BrainSurgeryWhats YourExcuse?and the children's picture book Mannys Cows,
created the biennial Ride For AIDS Resources in 1989. She remembers, "I was looking for a
place where our small greeting card company [Becker's Widget Factory Cards] could make a
difference. At that point, HIV/ AIDS was largely viewed as a problem or plague which belonged
to the gay community - there was a lot of blame and fear, not enough compassion and action.
So I took my first love, biking, and put together the country's first HIV/ AIDS bike,a,thon. By
the second ride, colleagues of mine had died. By the third ride, looking back on it, I was subcon,
sciously,desperately trying to strike some sort of bargain, a karmic vaccine: If I do this, none of
my friends will die:'
Ride FAR's reception has changed since the inaugural ride."In 1989, there were towns where
we weren't welcome;' Becker says. "People picketed a radio station where we were being inter,
viewed. A lot of our donations were marked for 'AGE; not AIDS, resources, and a lot of times
I took them without correcting them:' Riders are welcomed everywhere now, and so are family
members: In 2005, when Becker's daughter was only 10 months old the rider had to breastfeed
or pump breast milk at rest stops. But, Becker worries, "The country's moved to the other end of
the spectrum, become apathetic or blase about HIV/ AIDS, viewing it as a chronic, manageable
illness, where the need for a vaccine ... is less compelling:'
Last year's ride raised $150,000; the organization's small scale, being 25 riders and a
crew of 10, makes it possible for 100 percent of proceeds to reach beneficiaries. Becker, who
still organizes and rides, explains, "We have always given our money to services rather than
research because ... we believe the dollars go further:' ■
AIDS/LifeCycle 5
Benefiting San Francisco AIDS Foundation
aidslifecycle.org, (866) BIKE-4-AIDS
San Francisco to Los Angeles, June 4-10
AIDS Walk
Benefiting several national and local organizations
aidswalk.net, (415) 615-WALK, (213) 201-WALK
San Francisco, July 16; Los Angeles, October 15
Out of the Darkness Overnight
Benefiting American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention
theovernight.org, (888) NIGHT-05
San Francisco, July 22-23; Chicago, August 12-13
Climb Against the Odds
Benefiting Breast Cancer Fund
bcf.kintera.org/Shasta2006, (415) 346-8223
Mount Shasta, Calif., July 7-13
Walk for Hope to Cure Breast Cancer
Benefiting City of Hope Cancer Center
cityofhope.org/walkforhope, (626) 256-4673
Edison, N.J., June 4; Dallas, Sept. 30; Philadelphia,
Oct. 1; Phoenix, Oct. 1; Seattle, Oct. 1; Chicago,
Oct. 8; Los Angeles, Oct. 8; Washington, D.C., Oct.
8; San Francisco, Oct. 14
Avon Walk for Breast Cancer
Benefiting Avon Foundation
avonwalk.org, (800) 510-WALK
Chicago, June 3-4; Denver, June 24-25; San
Francisco, July 8-9; Los Angeles, Sept. 16-17; New
York, Oct. 7-8; Charlotte, N.C., Oct. 21-22
Race for the Cure
Benefiting Susan G. Komen Breast
Cancer Foundation
komen.org, (800) IM-AWARE
Various locations and dates online
Team in Training
Benefiting Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
teamintraining.org, (800) 955-4572
Various locations and dates online
Ride FAR 10
Benefiting various AIDS organizations
ridefar.org
Provincetown, Mass., to Stowe, Vt., Sept. 5-7, 2007
June 2006 j 33
Pride Through Time
From Stonewall to Jerusalem, a brief history of key moments in the politics
of Pride.
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Director's Cut
Lesbians are flexing their muscles at LGBT Pride organizations
across the country.
ByJocelynVoo
*
Pride -
often seems
as a beacon of hope to those in smaller cities, rural communities and from all
to be a boys' wonderland, but several of the biggest Pride celebrations in the
United Scates are actually run by lesbians. Here's their insider's guide to what it
cakes to put on a festival to remember.
with its hard bodies, disco divas and endless partying -
over the globe, [symbolizing) chat it is OK to be who we are, unapologetically;'
she says. Indeed, the two-day celebration, which started as a "gay-in" 36 years
Lindsey Jones
ExecutiveDirector,San FranciscoPride
Growing up in the heyday of the Civil Rights movement and second-wave feminism, 44-year-old executive director Lindsey Jones always knew she wanted
to have an impact on the community.Jones, who came out in her mid-20s and
is a former director of AIDS Walk San Francisco, worked with organizations
dedicated to child abuse prevention, domestic violence, and alcohol and drug
rehabilitation before she joined SF Pride in March 2004.
"For years, before ocher Prides came into existence, San Francisco stood
36
I curve
ago, has grown to be the largest LGBT event in the nation, drawing an estimated 500,000 out-of-cowners in June.
Besides Pride, Jones and her team also provide leverage and support to
other queer groups, committees and organizations. For example, they are
currently mentoring Iqaluit Pride and Friends of Pride on Baffin Island in
the Canadian Arctic, the only LGBT organization in the Nunavut Territory.
San Francisco Pride, a nonprofit organization, also grants over $150,000 each
year to ocher local nonprofits.
"I get chills every time and a lovely feeling in the pit of my stomach
[every time we put on Pride);' Jones says. "My hope is chat the people who
attend, the volunteers who work it, the entertainers on the stages, the vendors
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and businesses who participate, the
contingents who march in the parade
-
and that city street cleaner -
admits, adding that she
avoids bringing work baggage home
to her girlfriend, opting to read a
all
book or play with their dog instead.
"But over and over I meet so many
feel connected, a part of something
important, a part of a movement:'
people who tell me how much their
Pam Kinsmith
Co-Chair, NorthamptonPride
coming to Atlanta's Pride event for
the first time meant to them, and
Northampton, Mass., a lesbian Mecca
then I am humbly reminded of the
in its own right, needs no introduction.
importance of the event and why we
all keep doing it."
Pam Kinsmith remembers the joy when
she first visited the town: "I was blown
away. Walking down the street hand in
hand?What?"
Nikki Leonard
Co-Chair, Boise Pride
Before working with Northampton
Pride, where she and Melinda Shaw
Nikki Leonard is co-chair of Your
are now co-chairs, the 38-year-old
ing LGBT advocacy group in Idaho
that produces Pride each year. This
Family, Friends and Neighbors, a lead-
says that gay activism wasn't much on
her radar. It wasn't until she met her
year, Boise Pride, started in the 1990s
future wife, Kirsten, that Kinsmith got
as a response to anti-gay ballot initia-
involved with LGBT and pro-female
organizations, such as the Women's
tives, is leading the fight against the
state's anti-gay marriage constitutional
Fund of Western Massachusetts and
amendment, and CuRVE executive edi-
Northampton Pride.
Kinsmith and her wife are about
tor and Idaho native Diane- Anderson
Minshall is the event's keynote speaker.
to adopt a little boy and his sister,
Leonard, a SO-year-old Los Angeles
and have been busily refurbishing a
bedroom in their house for their new
native, is a pre-op transperson who
Pride power (clockwise from top left): Lindsey Jones (San Francisco), Kim
Backer-Kelley (Gainesville), Donna Narducci (Atlanta), NikkiLeonard (Boise)
young ones. "I am really proud to be
able to be married in Massachusetts to
identifies primarily as lesbian, which
may explain this year's emphasis on
trans awareness. Her trans activism
the person I love, and thrilled that our state will also support us as we become
started with furtive participation in her local transgender support group, then
adoptive parents," she says. "The network of people here is so amazing that I
couldn't imagine embarking on parenthood anywhere else.
branched into joining the board of the local LGBT community center and
eventually heading YFFN.
The community's response to Northampton Pride, now celebrating its
25th year, has been encouraging, with many local businesses showing sup-
Boise isn't exactly known for its political or social progressiveness, but
Leonard insists that's what makes Boise Pride such a crucial event - so
port through sponsorship. Girlyman is the headlining the event this year,
with America's Next Top Model finalist Kim Stolz as emcee. However, with
queers can feel genuinely at home in their surroundings, both geographical
and social.
scant volunteers, Kinsmith and the rest of the committee wear multiple
hats, from marketing to making sure there's enough water at the tents during the festival. Still, that's not to say there's a lack of camarader-ie: "It warms
affirmation of all the goodness we bring to life," she says. "So, for me, in
"I think a big component of Pride is the celebration -
it's like an
me when I meet someone brand new who comes to me and says, 'Can I help
you with that?"'
the midst of all the emotions and stress of fighting for our rights, I need to
remember to deliberately keep joy in my life - to celebrate who I am and
who I am becoming:'
Donna Narducci
Executive Director,Atlanta Pride
Kim Backer-Kelley
Co-Chair,GainesvillePride
As a member of the Atlanta Pride Committee for 13 years and its executive
director since 1995, Donna Narducci, 47, has had her fair share of diffusing
Kim Backer-Kelley, a retired locksmith who has worked with various local
queer events for eight years, feels a personal commitment to the LGBT
adverse situations: Last year, "We had these religious protestors set up their
PA system right at the entrance to the park where our festival is held .... I got a
agenda. "I wanted to be involved with the community that helped me
through my lesbian area of my life," says the 35-year-old Florida native, who
stroke of the spirit myself and had the Delta/ Coca-Cola float with its gigantic
sound system park their float right there at the entrance and tum that area into
a giant, dancing-in-the-street experience that drowned out the protestors, took
away their power to spew their hate, and we took back our event!"
admits that though she had worked as a Sunday school teacher for nine
years, she was going to church during the day and gay bars at night. "I went
through a time in my life of not understanding who I am. Like all of us:'
Gainesville Pride, which has been going on for over 10 years, attracts all
kinds of Floridians as well as out-of-state visitors, but having the University
U)
and early '90s, which she says fostered her interest in queer activism.
Atlanta Pride spans three days and draws over 250,000 visitors, and
of Florida in the same city is particularly conducive to the involvement of
young supporters and participants. This, she hopes, will set an example and
encourage a new generation of activists, as it did for her: "I feel that my skills
6
is the largest gathering of LGBT organizations in Atlanta. "It can be
so totally nerve-wracking at times that I wonder why I'm still doing it,"
are from watching and learning from others in my community;' she says.
"I have a saying," she adds. "Be yoursel£ because no one else can:' ■
Before working for APC, Narducci was one of the few out administrators
in Student Activities at Emory University and at Georgia Tech in the late '80s
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Pride Events continued from page 31
Long Beach, Cali£* (May 20-21)
New York (June 18-25)
Celebrate in the port city where Melissa
Etheridge got her start.
longbeachpride.com
See the Empire State Building lit up in
lavender.
hopinc.org
Los Angeles (June 9-11)
Northampton, Mass.* (May 6)
Lesbians have held powerful positions
at Christopher Street West, the organi~
zation behind Los Angeles Pride, since
its founding way back in 1970.
lapride.org
Don't miss Girlyman at the
CuRVEbooth.
northamptonpride.org
Omaha, Neb. (June 9-11)
San Francisco* (June 24-25)
rainbowcelebrations.org
Pride in the Gay Mecca, aka CuRvE's
hometown.
sfpride.org
Louisville, Ky.(June 16-17)
kentuckianapridefestival.com
Milwaukee (June 9-11)
pridefest.com
Minneapolis (June 23-25)
Polar explorer Ann Bancroft is the
Grand Marshal.
tcpride.org
Philadelphia (June 11)
phillypride.org
Seattle (June 24-25)
Portland, Ore.* (June 17-18)
seattlepride.org
Col. Grethe Cammermeyer is this year's
grand marshal - and CuRVEis there!
pridenw.org
St. Louis (June 24-25)
Providence, R.I. (June 17)
prideri.com
New Orleans (October 2006)
Katrina who? Mardi Gras proved you
can't keep a good dyke down.
gayprideneworleans.com
San Diego* (July 28-30)
Come see us and bring your bikini.
sdpride.org
One of the largest in the Midwest.
pridesd.org
Washington, D.C.* (June 2-11)
Capital Pride brings out the movers,
shakers and CuRvE's publisher,
Frances Stevens.
capitalpride.org
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June 2006
I39
Queer Poetry in Motion
Sean Dorsey brings it. * By Zak Szymanski
"People who hear the words modern dance are like, aagghhh!"says Sean Dorsey,
remember the last time I saw so much tenderness, romanticism, delicacy of
mimicking the cry of skeptical audience members who have difficulty relating
to anything they perceive as abstract.
But this 33,year,old choreographer is already known for making power,
feeling, tentative grace, truth of gesture, human longings for loyalty, affection,
and abiding relationship surrounded by such claims to be shocking, bold,
futurist, subversive:•
ful connections to emotional and physical realities with a popular repertoire
of mixed media narrative dance that has its finger on America's queer pulse.
The show - which will run again in November 2006 - cemented
Dorsey's reputation for being accessible to a general audience without sacri,
"My goal is to make dances that people can actually understand and relate
to;' Dorsey explains. "This is why I use storytelling in my work - because it
contextualizes dance in deeply felt personal experience:•
Last year, Dorsey became the first openly transgender artist to be com,
missioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission to create, perform and
produce new pieces that reflect the world of the "gender outsider:' His
$10,000 commission paid off with The Outsider Chronicles, which pre,
miered last fall at the ODC Theater and featured five modern dances that
explored the intersections of gender, family and love. Red Tie, Red Lipstick
was one such piece, a vulnerable pas de deux about police brutality set to
the poetry of hip,hop artist Marcus Van. Another dance, Six Hours, was a
tender, humorous depiction of the tense road trip journey of two lovers on
their way to visit estranged family.
The Outsider Chronicles opened to critical acclaim. BalletTanz magazine
called the show "exquisite ... poignant and important;' and the San Francisco
Chronicle said it was "trailblazing:' A critic for Dance View Times said, "I can't
40
I curve
£icing refined artistic quality. But Dorsey's work has always been considered
groundbreaking: Aside from being the only modern dancer doing professional
work rooted in queerly gendered bodies, Dorsey is the founder and artistic
director of Fresh Meat Productions, an organization widely credited with
fostering San Francisco's thriving transgender performance scene. This mul,
ticultural community includes the vocal, writing and dance talents of trans,
sexuals, genderqueers, dykes, fags, intersexed people and allies. Dorsey, who
identifies simply (or complexly) as trans, views the overlap of all these various
populations as crucial to his creative and political process.
"I definitely see the dyke and trans movements as related for the same
reasons that I see dyke, trans, feminist, anti,racist, disability rights and fat,
positive movements as related;' Dorsey says. "We are all working for the
creation of new, positive, empowered public understanding of who we are,
and for the civil rights that accompany that understanding. Art is an incred,
ibly powerful tool to do that work with. Art is my activism: By exploring
Sean Dorsey continued on page 43
c::
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Keepin' It Fresh
The Fresh Meat Festival keeps bringing
down the house.
* By Zak Szymanski
Picture this: you've scored tickets to one of the hottest shows at the
premier professional dance theater in town. When the house lights
dim, the stage is infused with electrically charged salsa and tango,
live rap and hip-hop, four-part harmony, modern dance, rock and roll,
gospel, burlesque and trapeze. The crowd is moved to its feet by the
intensity of the performance. Now imagine that all the artists onstage
represent queer and transgendered bodies and stories, and that much
of the applause is coming from mainstream patrons and top professionals in their artistic fields.
messages through hard rock - and a good dose of sexy sarcasm.
Such a scene is a reality every June in San Francisco at Fresh
Virago says that Fresh Meat inherently builds artistic as well as
Meat, described by artistic director Sean Dorsey as "a joyful, soulful,
political bridges. "As an activist I find I'm usually taking my message
extraordinary festival of transgender and queer performance." Now in
to communities to which I already belong, but a lot of people in ODC's
its fifth year at the prestigious ODC Theater, the event prioritizes vis-
audience are from other communities who would otherwise never see
ibility for artists who are transgendered and/or people of color, and has
trans performers or hear from a queer perspective," Virago points out.
smashed stereotypes in the process of producing kick-ass productions. It also is a rare opportunity for trans and queer populations to be
showcased at a top-rate venue.
"It's one of the first performance festivals where people are actually
buying tickets and sitting down to watch trans-specific performers,"
says Shawna Virago, a male-to-female transgendered woman better
known as a guitarist, singer and songwriter who delivers serious
The venue also has given LGBT people a chance to see the many
different faces of their own community, from the "homohop" rap group
Deep Dickollective to the female breaking troupe Extra Credit Crew,
organized by Sisterz of the Underground, a queer-positive, female, hiphop collective that has consistently brought down the Fresh Meat house.
"The thing I love so much is that anybody can enjoy Fresh Meat.
Fresh Meat continued on page 43
June 2006
I41
Rehab Your Reality
Once a fixture on London's lesbian nightlife scene, author
Valerie Mason-John shows us how to find inner peace.
By Malinda Lo
*
Valerie Mason-John is a woman who has been there and done that -
and
somehow found a way out to the other side. When she explains how her life has
transformed from one of"champagne and cocaine" to one centered on mindfulness and helping others, it's clear that her transformation is no Hollywood-style
quickie conversion marked by a red Kabbalah string bracelet; Mason-John's the
real deal. Ordained into the Western Buddhist Order with the Buddhist name
Vimalasara, Mason-John is gifting the rest of us with her hard-won wisdom in
her most recent spiritual self-help book, Detox Your Heart.
"It's a guide, a spiritual guide;• she explains. "Basically, all I'm saying is we
have to learn to love ourselves, really.That's been my journey, because I've had
so much self-hatred. I've made a lot of progress, but I'll be working with it
for the rest of my life:'
As a child in Britain, Mason-John grew up in orphanages and was physically and sexually abused. By the age of 14 she was living on the streets, and
a year later she entered a juvenile detention center. Luckily, she later found
her way to Leeds University in the late 1970s, where she became part of the
lesbian separatist movement. "There was a very strong lesbian organization
called Women Against Violence Against Women;' she recalls. "I was at the
age -
18, 19 -
when you're beginning to think about the world ... and that
was, in a way, what gave me my political reference:'
After college, Mason-John became an international journalist, covering
the Aboriginal land rights movement in Australia and the volatile situation in
Northern Ireland. At the same time, she continued to be very involved in the
lesbian community.'Tve always been a dyke;' she says.'Tve always had relationships with women, and the lesbian separatist movement shaped me and shaped
how I thought, and what I ate and what I did:'
In 1991, she co-authored Making Black Waves,
one of the first books about black and Asian lesbians in the United Kingdom. She later produced the
hit show Sin Dykes; worked as a women's nightclub
promoter; produced the politically charged Lesbian
Beauty Contest; and was the artistic director of
"I've had so much self-hatred. I've
made a lot of progress, but I'll be
working with it for the rest of my life."
London's Mardi Gras Festival, where Mason-John recalls she lived"a very highpowered, fast life in that gay men's world" while working for Elton John's manager and Leonardo DiCaprio's agent.
"(I was] very much in that ... champagne, cocaine world. I can't blame it
all on them 'cause I was into champagne and cocaine before this;' she admits
big political rift (and] people were never going to speak to each other again, and
here I am - one day I'm walking along the road, bump into somebody I was
never going to speak to again, and I smile. So it had a really huge effect on me:'
Meditation and Buddhism, which teaches that there is no fixed sense of sel£
with a grin. But she eventually found that high-powered lifestyle unfulfilling.
"What happened was that I can remember just feeling dissatisfied. And I can
also prompted her to begin letting go of labels, whether they be her identity as a
lesbian or as a black woman. That has in turn pushed her to broaden her artistic and personal horizons.''! can't stop myself writing things;' she says."I think
remember ... waking up one morning and thinking, I want my brain back:'
At a transcendental meditation class, she found what would later change
her life."I went along to that first meditation ... and I had such a strong expe-
what's changed is that I'm not just writing for a lesbian audience now:•
Her first novel, Borrowed Body, which was published in 2005 and nominated for the Young Minds Book Award, "is definitely for a general audience:•
rience that I just knew that was it:' She began meditating with the Friends of
the Western Buddhist Order, a Buddhist movement founded in London that
The novel is about the life of a young, black girl growing up in U.K. orphanages in the 1970s. "It became too restrictive ... to say that I'm a black writer
has since grown into a worldwide spiritual community.
Through meditation, Mason-John says, "Two very profound things happened. I think the first thing was doing the metta bhavana and actually coming off of retreat and thinking, 'Oh my God, the whole world is changing; and
or I'm a lesbian writer. And of course as black people, as lesbians, we live out
in the world .... I don't just have to write about black people, and I don't just
have to write about lesbians:'
actually what was happening was I was changing:' Metta bhavana is a type of
Buddhist meditation that cultivates feelings ofloving kindness toward everyone, including those considered to be enemies.
''I've been in that lesbian separatist community (where there was a] great
42lcurve
But, adds Mason-John, "I feel very grateful to my lesbian and gay audience, because they're the ones who have supported me and believed in my
work in whatever I've done:' ■
_Formore information on Mason-John, visit valeriemasonjohn.co.uk.
Sean Dorsey continued from page 40
Fresh Meat continued from page 41
the transgender experience through movement,
There are so many different identities converging," said Sisterz of the Underground founder
I'm challenging perceptions about dance, the
Sarah Smalls. "You also can't compare any one of the performances to each other. They are all
dancer's body and physicality at its core. I'm chal-
so eclectic and beautiful."
lenging the very instrument we dancers rely upon.
Smalls estimates that half of the collective are queer women. Representative of the diver-
I'm pushing at the walls of who traditionally is and
sity of the trans-queer communities held together by events like Fresh Meat, Smalls herself is
isn't allowed to be onstage. I want to bring entirely
straight, but considers herself "part of the family."
new stories and content to modern dance and
bring modern dance to entirely new audiences:'
Dorsey seems to be succeeding beautifully: The
artist has graced the stages ofLadyFest and TransArt
events as well as theaters across the United States and
Canada, and is anticipating a European tour in late
"I take my boyfriend to Fresh Meat. He's a b-boy and he's supposed to be one of these
typical straight guys. He loves the show," says Smalls, who also notes that the event has
opened many other doors for her; one Fresh Meat performer is a high school teacher who
just hired the Sisterz to teach breaking to her phys ed students.
For Dorsey, Fresh Meat seized upon an opportunity that he first recognized in 2001, the
year he arrived in San Francisco.
2006. This June he will perform as part of New York
"I happened to come to the Bay Area at a time when there was a real ground swell of
City's Fresh Fruit Festival. Dorsey also was nomi-
totally dynamic trans artists and in some ways the beginnings of a real trans art community,
nated for a 2006 Isadora Duncan Dance Award for
but we had very few venues and organizations that supported us," Dorsey says. "So often
ensemble performance of his choreography,and was
transgender and queer artists are relegated to perform in cafes and small spaces. The time
awarded a prestigious Wallace Alexander Gerbode
was right to take a step forward and gather this growing momentum and take our trans
Choreographer'sCommission to create his next con-
selves onto big stages and into big venues."
cert of work.
Even though he's worked hard at his craft, he
says, he feels lucky to be in a position to give back
to his audience. "I get to do what I love, and it
Still, Dorsey "could not have predicted its success," and since its debut, Fresh Meat
Productions has grown to include many other media forms and smaller events throughout
the year; the annual Fresh Meat cabaret now also hosts an art show in the ODC lobby.
At press time, confirmed performers for Fresh Meat 2006 include Kate Bornstein,
moves people deeply;' Dorsey remarks. "I can't tell
lmani Henry, Miguel Chernus-Goldstein, Ryka Aoki de la Cruz, Katastrophe, JenRO, Juba
you how many people have come up to me after a
Kalamka, Scarletto, Virago and of course, Dorsey. The shows take place June 15, 16 and
show having cried because they were finally see-
17, and reservations are
recommended. ■
ing their story told, or because they related to the
work and understood trans a little better:' ■
For more information, visit freshmeatproductions. org.
June 2006 j 43
Big Boned Gal
Actress Chastity Bono takes on personal trainers, carb counting and her
sexy actress girlfriend with VH1 's Celebrity Fit Club.
By Diane Anderson--Minshall
*
Since she came out - or was outed by the tabloids - as a lesbian, Chastity
Bono, actor, author and pop culture fixture, has been one of those ever,visible
lesbians in Hollywood. With two books under her belt, a career in music behind
her and a tumultuous but successful tum as entertainment director at GLAAD
in the history books (thanks to that infamous Yep,I'm GayTV show), Bono
tackled her chemical addiction, found new love and then signed up for the third
installment ofVHl's rock'n' roll weight,loss reality show CelebrityFit Club.We
caught up with her just as the season was coming to a close.
Did you have any concerns about doing a weight-loss show?
Not really. I had more concerns about doing what is a reality TV show.
You seem like the last person I'd imagine doing a reality show.
Yeah, so that was really where my concerns lay.... What was the spirit of
the show? Was it sensational for the sake of sensationalism, or were the
intentions more of a good nature? Once I kind of found that it was a
pretty good show with an overall positive message ... then I decided to
go ahead and do it.
You've been in recovery -
Almost two years.
Is that hard to maintain in Hollywood?
That's a good question. You have to change your lifestyle, because somebody
who's a big party person, you can't put yourself in those types of situations.
That was never really me; I was always kind of the, you know, pathetic
in,my,home closet user, you know? So, my social life actually picked up
quite a bit since I've gotten sober.
I'm wondering, how does it feel for you, you know, when you see
somebody like Jeff Conaway struggling with his addictions?
It was tough to work with Jeff, really tough I think for everybody, you know.
Maybe a little tougher for me and Ant because we've been there and ... it's
weird when you are trying to separate yourself from that, and you are living
a clean and sober lifestyle, and you're surrounding yourself with others who
are doing the same, to then kind of be smack in the face of act~veaddiction
is kind of a trip. I think it made all of us uncomfortable, because everybody
for the most part, it's a nice thing for viewers. I mean, Bruce is just so funny,
and you can't help but laugh at him. He's one of the funniest, smartest,
quickest people I've ever met in my life. It was nice to be part of something
that wasn't gay ... that wasn't the central issue, but I still am who I am.
One of the things I really liked about the show is the week where
who did the show was very professional .... Then you've got this kind of
train wreck who just is making all of our lives more difficult than it had to
have been. You know, it kind of started it out on a bad note for us, because it
you worked out five days in a row with all the different people that
seemed like the past two seasons there were people who had those types of
issues, but nobody's ever gotten kicked off the show because of it before.
She was totally into it. You know, we met about a month before I started
In addition to you being the show's first lesbian, this is the queerest
season with you and Bruce Villanch and Ant. How do you think viewers sort of perceive the show's gay cast?
I'm sure gay viewers are probably thrilled just to see representation, as we all
are. There's still - although it's gotten so much better - there's still far
fewer of us being represented in the media than straight people, so that's
a cool thing.
your girlfriend helped set up. How does your girlfriend feel about
the show?
filming it, and so she went through the entire process with me and would
come on the weekends that we would shoot, and she got close to every,
body that was on the show, and so it was just kind of this thing that we
did every other week.
I know that, among lesbians, there's still a lot of debate about
whether fat is a feminist issue. Have you had that kind of dialogue
at all?
I don't know. I've never heard of this "fat is feminist" issue. Enlighten me.
Especially gay, fat people.
[Laughs.] Well, fat doesn't always have to be unhealthy, and it can
I went to Tower Video last night with my girlfriend, and there was some
event going on. They were having some kind of thing for some kind of
off,the,wall movie, and there were, like, a lot of punk people there, and
the shackles of the traditional, patriarchal beauty standards.
I was shocked how many young kids - kind of punk kids, rock 'n' roll,
punk kids - coming up to me, and [saying], "Lesbians are great .... We're
watching the show!" And I don't think these were gay kids. I think that,
44lcurve
mean that a woman is - for lack of a better phrasing - throwing off
I see. Yeah, we don't have that in L.A. It's just fat.
One of the things you said is that when you are overweight in L.A.,
you kind of feel separate and apart.
Yeah, definitely.
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Do you feel like that? Is that something that's changing for you - or
will change?
in All About Eveand ended up not getting it because she was too thin, and
she had a lot of trouble kind of working because her natural frame was
A little bit. I'm not thin by any stretch of the imagination, but I lost some
nice chunk of weight on the show, and it definitely made me feel bet-
too thin for that time. Back then they were into the whole voluptuous,
ter. I would like to lose more; it's definitely harder without the pres-
anorexic look that everybody's striving for, and that's certainly not a good
sure of the show
to
do that but, you know, I'd like to keep whittling
away at it. I think going into it, [it's] more of a health thing but it does,
it's definitely a self-esteem issue. I mean, this whole debate that you
talk about, I think it's kind of bullshit, I have to say, kind of a justification. I don't think there are that many people that are overweight that
feel that good about it. You know, that's why the diet industry in this
curvaceous female body, and now we're faced with kind of being into this
thing either.
On the other hand, in America we've got a serious obesity problem, and we
eat really crappy food and portions that are gigantic -
so I don't think it's
a black-or-white issue; I think it's various shades of gray.
Tell me about your new project with here! TV.
I don't want to go into too much detail ... but it's a screenplay that I co-wrote
country is so huge, but I don't think you have to be ... rail thin either,
with a friend of mine from high school, actually. We' re close to signing
and I certainly would never be comfortable with that either. I think it's
that and getting the script in development over there, and assuming were
about finding a place where you feel good about yourself and where
you feel healthy.
all happy with it, it's something that, you know, that I'll be co-producing
with my writing partner as well.
Well, do you think that the diet industry sort of exploits this issue?
Great, and then can you tell me anything about your girlfriend?
You know, it's hard. There are so many varying degrees of it, you know what
I'm saying? Like if we are talking about people who are a little bit over-
Why, what do you want to know?
weight, yeah, I think it's definitely exploitative and I think that Hollywood
has kind of exploited that or changed it.
It's interesting, you see trends throughout history. You know, my grandmother
was an actress and a model, and she was up for the Marilyn Monroe part
••
Is she in the industry?
Yeah, she's a struggling actress and writer. And she's 30, and we've been
together for six months today.
Is it too soon to ask about wedding bells?
No, I don't think so; I think it's a definite possibility at some point. ■
Call toll-free 1-877-794-8037 to receivethe "It's Only Natural"pocket guide or check
MySwitzerland.comfor more informationand packages.
June 2006
I45
Hope_ Floats
Rosie O'Donnell wants everyone to come aboard.
*
By John Esther
Far from the sunny oceans and beaches depicted in
All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise, the documentary
by Shari Cookson that aired last spring on HBO,
lesbian showbiz powerhouse Rosie O'Donnell sits
across from me in a massive tent at the bottom of a
ski slope in Park City, Utah, with her wife, Kelli.
Looking very chipper, O'Donnell is here to
promote the documentary that chronicles their
adventure back in 2004, when 1,500 people of
varying sexual orientations set sail aboard the
Norwegian Dawn on an R Family Vacations
cruise to th.::: Caribbean. The unprecedented
cruise line, which was created by Kelli O'Donnell
and Gregg Kaminsky (formerly of the gay char,
ter company Atlantis Vacations), brought people
together to foster an atmosphere of love for gay
and nongay families alike, without any prejudice
based on sexual orientation. Voyagers enjoyed
seminars on adoption and raising a child with gay
parents. Teenagers gave younger children advice on
how to deal with homophobia. Marriages were held
at sea. There was a lot of fun out on the water.
The trip was not all rosy. At the port of Nassau
in the Bahamas, homophobic protesters heckled
passengers as they went ashore. Nonetheless,
Cookson's camera depicts the humanity and joy of
the passengers - young and old - that couldn't
be suppressed. All Aboard! leaves viewers with the
distinct feeling that when people create the right
environment, prejudice drowns in an ocean oflove
and compassion.
Did it surprise you how much the cruise
meant to the passengers and to you?
We went on the premise that if you build it, they
will come. We built it, and luckily people
showed up. Shari [Cookson] was amazing in
capturing the whole experience of what Kelli
and Gregg Kaminsky put together. Until you
saw the movie, you didn't actually see the full
effect it had, because you only had your own
experience.
Can you talk about the financial elements?
we were nuts. But I knew it was a niche within
a niche. I knew that there's an estimated 8 mil,
risk that was in the light. Choosing to believe
in the goodness. I'm fortunate enough to be in
Chartering a cruise ship is a big financial risk.
lion children in America being raised by one or
I did pay for it. Kelli and Gregg made a business
plan and they came up with a few different ships
and showed me them. The most expensive and
best,looking was the Norwegian Dawn, and I
said, "Let's get that:' My feeling was these pea,
more gay parent.
a position to do it. What better way to spend
or risk your money?
ple who would be coming needed to be served
a full meal. Most of their lives they were given
crumbs and told they were full meals. I wanted
to give them the full experience. We got the big
ship; it was a big risk and a lot of people said
46
Icurve
Did any cruise companies not want to take
Did you have concerns about the camera
on the project out of fear of backlash?
intruding into your lives?
When you say you want to charter the entire ship
and you have the money, they say, 'Welcome
aboard: [Laughs.] A lot of people thought we
chartered a floor and not the entire ship. It's
rare that it's done, and it usually takes compa,
Yes. [Laughs.]
nies a lot of time to get there. We were very
lucky. It was a r~sk, but I also felt that it was a
People came on the cruise to establish a
collective identity, but at one point that trip
took them into an atmosphere of homophobia. Did that strike you as ironic?
Most of them had encountered [homophobia]
many times before. I was probably one of the
few who never had, because I grew up in New
I think you either feel social responsibility or you
York. I had sort of an easy life as a gay per-
don't. I don't think it has to do with being gay
son. I'd say 99 percent of the people on that
cruise had horrible stories of being mistreated
or straight. For me, as a child growing up, it
was the activists [and] artists who moved me
because of homophobia, whether it was legal
the most - the ones who spoke out against
injustice, whether that be Martin Luther King,
or just social. The only time I ever felt any
kind of homophobia was when we tried to
adopt a foster child we had raised and we
were informed that it was illegal in the state
of Florida. That is actually what propelled
me to come out.
The film shows us teenagers giving advice
Jane Fonda or Harry Belafonte. The people
who moved me inside and made my soul quake
were the ones who realized that there is power
in celebrity.
Do you think the rejection of gay marriage
in America these days goes deeper than
to younger kids, but what were those teens
homophobia?
up to off-screen?
There are basic civil rights every human in
America is entitled to, supposedly, by the
They ran the ship. [Laughs.]The only problems
we had were the teenagers. We were like, the
heterosexual offspring of the queers are causing trouble on this ship. Can you reign in your
heterosexual teens? They were teenagers, and
they do what teenagers do.
What did you think of the protests?
I didn't get off the boat, but people took pictures.
The first time I really felt the effects of the protests was during the screening. It was much
Constitution. I believe it became a political
issue here because Karl Rove, the ultimate
evil of the universe, figured out that this
would be a way to incite the right-wing base.
When you look at this film, you see that these
are people who are committed to each other,
who love each other and who are often willing
to take the children the heterosexuals weren't
more terrifying than I could have imagined.
capable of raising and raise them in light and
love. I understand that the word "marriage"
[During the cruise] I had to explain to our kids
has been viewed in a certain way in our coun-
why people were protesting. I didn't know how
to find the words.
try and that might be a frightening line for
some people to cross. However, we are based
What sort of complications arose in making
the film? Beyond the Bahamas sequence, it
appears everything was easygoing.
The crew of the Norwegian Dawn said it was the
most well-behaved cruise they've ever had.
They had no complaints. They were shocked
all the children were so well-nurtured and
cared for. What people don't realize is that in
order to have a child as a gay person, it takes
three or four times the effort than [that of] a
straight couple, because it's complicated. There
are a lot of other people involved. The law's
involved. There are a lot of things you don't
have to think about if you're a heterosexual.
Usually, when homosexuals have children,
on freedom and equality, life, liberty and justice, and it doesn't say [anywhere] "except for
the queers:'
I think it's a distraction. In the middle of the
Iraq war, Kelli and I, before we were married, were watching TV, and there was this
news alert. I'm thinking, my God, we've lost
a platoon. And Bush is sitting in the White
House. This smug, son of a rich former CIA
director didn't say anything about Iraq, but
[only] that gay people were ruining the country. I was so enraged. I think he will go down
in history as the worst president ever - the
most divisive, corrupt and unjust and, by far,
the least intelligent.
they've thought about it long and hard, and
those children are definitely wanted. They' re
And yet, Vice President Dick Cheney's
the focus of the family.
I think of her far more often than one should
think of someone they don't know. I think of
her a lot, and what it must be like to know that
What's next for R Family Vacations?
We are sold out on the next cruise, which is in
July. We go to Alaska. Then, in February, we
go to the eastern Caribbean. We have a high
recidivism rate!
You often use your clout for progressive
purposes. Do you encourage people who are
in your position to do the same thing?
daughter is queer.
your father is the vice president of an administration that is trying to rob you of your civil
rights. I can't imagine what that's doing to her
soul and psyche. Every child wants their parents to love them, and this puts her in the most
horrific position that I can imagine. ■
June 2006
I4 7
Art Breaker
Almost a decade old, the National
Queer Arts Festival is the place to
be in June.
* ByJocelynVoo
An established San Francisco Bay Area tradition now in its ninth year, the
National Queer Arts Festival has grown considerably from a small, six-event
festival to a 45-program extravaganza involving 15 other organizations.
Produced by the nonprofit Queer Cultural Center, Queer Arts has showcased
nearly 1,000 music, dance, visual arts, film and theater performers since its
inception, spread across multiple venues in San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland
and Marin County.
"I think we concentrate on showcasing all aspects of our community;' says
57 -year-old Pamela Peniston, executive director of this year's NQAF. "We
present the MacArthur 'genius' award-winner and the 19-year-old slam poet;
we highlight all ethnicities, all abilities and all genders to the stage, and we
let them have their say. We want our audiences to see themselves reflected
onstage and on film. And we want the audiences to discover other communities and come to value that work and those communities as well:'
Performers range from celebrities to underground shakers in all disciplines; this year's highlights include porn star-turned-sex guru Annie Sprinkle
and musician Vicki Randle. Peniston lists watching Michelle Tea curating
Transforming Community and seeing Alice Walker, Dorothy Allison and
Jewelle Gomez on the same stage as some ofNQAF's greatest hits.
'Tm an unabashed fan [of Queer Art's performers];' Peniston says. "I love
meeting and interacting with all of the artists and discussing the work with
the audience. I almost lost it when Alice Walker said she liked my dreads:'
That type of camaraderie -
between host and guest, artist and audience
even goes beyond queer parameters. As one of the few arts organizations
that includes the q~word in its name, the Festival prides itself on being a bastion of the queer community. Queer student groups have called QCC seeking
help with expanding their arts department, and the Center has even fielded
requests from the organizers of Belgrade Pride.
Moreover, both QCC and NQAF make a concerted effort to intersect with
nonqueer institutions and celebrate queer artists in their genre. In past years,
NQAF supported a showcase of Win Ng (of the East-meets-West home
furnishing company Taylor & Ng) at the San Francisco Chinese Historical
Society, and this spring the organization coordinated Dykes to Watch Out
For cartoonist Alison Bechdel's appearance at the San Francisco Cartoon Art
Museum's No Straight Lines exhibition.
Among the ever-increasing number of Pride parades and celebrations,
NQAF is the little festival that could. A scant seven-person board of directors
manages everything from booking and promotions to manning the concessions stand. In fact, they're so passionate about queer arts that each boardmember is an artist or arts administrator.
This year's theme, "Hope & Healing in Times of War;' can be interpreted
as a nod to the war in Iraq, but Peniston describes it more as the artist's own
definition of who or what they are struggling with.
"Were asking artists to look at the wars going on around them past and
present and to re-energize people to do something about them;' she says,
"whether that's building bridges to other communities or taking to the streets
to effect social change:' It's a theme that's meant to build something up out
of what was broken down. And considering the mission of the NQAF and
QCC, it's one that's entirely fitting. ■
48
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June 2006
I49
CouplesThat
PlayTogether
Stay Together
BY MALINDA LO I PHOTOGRAPHY BY DESDEMONA BURGIN
When spoken word artist Alix Olson and singer-songwriter Pamela Means first met, in the
fall of 1997 in a Wesleyan University dorm room, "It was very uneventful;' recalls Means
with a laugh. "Her friend randomly found me playing at a coffeehouse in Bosto~ and invited
me to play at the college, which I did, and then I crashed over in her room for the night:'
Olson puts in, "I don't really remember that, actually:'
"No sparks whatsoever;' Means says. "I was completely ignored. I was the random folksinger sleepin' in the corner:•
It wasn't until years later, when Means was touring with Olson in 2003 to promote Olson's
second album, IndependenceMeal, that the two friends discovered there was something more
to their relationship. Since then, the two women have been sharing lives, though not apartments (they maintain separate residences), in Northampton, Mass. Olson is best known for
her politically charged spoken word performances, which have lit up stages everywhere from
HBO's DefJam to the main stage of the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. Means released
her fifth CD, SingleBulletTheory,in 2003 and is known for her punchy, adept guitar playing.
When I spoke with them this spring they were about to begin planning a move to New
York, where both intend to pursue new projects: Olson in theater and writing; Means with her
new ensemble, the Pamela Means Jazz Project. We talked about their relationship, their politics
and their disagreements, and I discovered that though Olson and Means are quite different
from each other, they do have one very important thing in common: "Were still the friends and
mutual admirers that we started out being,"Means says.
June 2006
I 51
When I talked with you, Alix, at the Breast
Cancer Action gala last fall, you said that
you and Pamela have been together for a
couple of years now.
Alix: We've been lovers for three years and friends
for 10.
Have you been keeping this under wraps?
Alix: Well, it was kind of annoying because people
kept hinting that we should be dating, because
they kept saying that we had this chemistry
onstage, and we were very staunch about the
fact that it was not a romantic chemistry, it
was just sort of like two actors in a movie, kind
of just having stage chemistry. But then, gosh
darn it, we went and fell in love. We couldn't
help it. [Laughs.]
What did you think of Pamela when you
became friends?
Alix: I thought Pamela was just super cool and
really mellow and very charming, but definitely
very intimidating.
Why did you find her intimidating?
Alix: She was so wicked on the guitar .... I had
never seen anyone play guitar like that. She
had great politics. I perceived her as really
quiet, even though she's not at all.
Pamela: I've always felt intimidated by her as
well, because she seems like such a powerful
persona. I was pretty nervous the first time
that I was invited to play with her. I was like,
oh I'd better not mess it up .... Gotta be on
point.
Alix: [Laughs.]And I was so nervous to have her
in the studio 'cause she's such a badass .... I was
afraid of what she would think of my work.
So how did you manage to make this shift
from friends to lovers?
Alix: It was actually surprisingly, incredibly organic,
I think. Part of it is that we both have very
clear understandings of what we want out of
a healthy relationship. For example, we keep a
lot of things really separate; that's really important to us. I think we've both had and witnessed
relationships that were so enmeshed that they
crumbled so quickly, (so] that we were sort of
determined to keep our independence - and
we're both incredibly independent people to
begin with. We made the decision to join different gyms. The small details make a difference in terms of maintaining who you are as
whole and separate people.
Pamela: And we don't live together, either. That's
a conscious choice .... When we got together
and realized that this was gonna happen, we
really thought about it and have felt committed to not taking any aspect of it for granted
. . . and to bear in mind that we were before
and still are independent people with our own
paths, and we choose to come together and
52
Icurve
share our lives, but without trying to get lost
in it and become one big blob. That sometimes
can happen when you become a couple.
Alix: Yeah, we're anti-blob. We do work together,
but ... I don't think (we) force it. We don't
meddle in each other's art.
Pamela: We're still the friends and mutual admir-
ers that we started out being.
Alix: I think we're mostly inspired by each other
at an idea level.
"I thought Pamela was just
super cool and really mellow
and very charming, but definitely
very intimidating." -Alix
You both tour so much. How do you maintain
a relationship when you're both on the road
be able to have a lover in your life who can
[Laughs.]I'm the mistress to the music. Were
so much?
relate completely to the life you live, even
also nonmonogamous,
Alix: [Laughs.]I have a calendar and Pamela has
though you're living them separately sometimes. I just can't imagine a person who works
healthy thing for us.
So has that brought up any major challenges
think it's almost becauseof our lifestyles that
a 9-to-5 job necessarily being [that way], and
we don't resent each other for being away.
Alix: It's brought up a lot of challenges, but it's
the relationship is maintained, because we're
Pamela: That's a whole other aspect about what
each going off having these adventures all the
time, and then we come back and we have new
I think is wonderful about the relationship
something we're both really committed to.
Even the pain ... (is] all worth it, and it's all
from my perspective: being with someone
who . . . (is) kind of doing the same thing, in
inherent ... in the process. Sometimes it feels
like bad pain, but I don't think it's necessarily
a Palm pilot.
Pamela: [Laughs.]The wonders of technology. I
things to tell each other. You become a new
which I think is a
for you?
bad pain, it's just growing pain.
person every time you have a new experience,
that we have these crazy lifestyles and live out
so that's always happening. There's always
newness in our relationship. There are a lot of
of hotels more than the average person and log
on the miles. In the past, I've had relationships
Was nonmonogamy ever a question or was
goodbyes, but there are a lot of hellos.
Alix: We're kind of forced to be good communica-
where I have felt that my music was a threat to
my partner and that there was some kind of
Alix: It was never a question.
tors, I guess. But you know, I'll get a panicked
call from backstage, like, "The show's gonna
competition, or my going away was a stress on
the relationship, and with Alix that's never -
ate within it, because everyone kind of does
it differently .... And I embrace it because I've
suck, what should I do?" And it's amazing to
Alix: I let her music be her wife. I'll be her lover.
thought a lot about it. I'm biracial, I'm queer,
this kind of negotiated?
Pamela: Yeah. Maybe negotiated how to oper-
alued amd R
You've worked hard to get where you are
professionally. Now come to a place that
truly respects your dedication and talentBarnes-Jewish Hospital, one of America's
best hospitals* and the only adult hospital
in St. Louis to achieve Magnet status for
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salary and partner benefits including medical &
dental, with pharmacy and vision discount&
June 2006
I53
I'm totally outside the status quo, so I choose
to conduct my personal and romantic relationships outside of that sphere as well. Why
should my love life have that straight-world
template on it?
Pamela, do you think of this as kind of a
political decision?
Pamela: For me, the political aspect of it has been
the easier part to believe in and to get behind,
and [is] what helps get me through ... moments
of jealousy and insecurity.
Alix: Yeah ... it's also something that is incred-
ibly political to me: the idea of not possessing
somebody else's spirit, and not possessing their
body, and accepting what's offered.
Pamela: In a way it's acknowledging and respect-
ing the diverse and complicated ways of
human sexuality.
So do you think that marriage would ever be
in your future?
Alix: Not in mine, no. Even when I identified as
straight, it was never something I was interested
in. I think it's an institution that was based
primarily upon the government controlling
people and a Noah's Ark idea of two-by-two,
and I'm not interested in involving the government in my romantic practices.
Pamela: I wouldn't say never, because I'm a big
romantic person, but it's unlikely.
Alix: That's true, we both watched when they passed
gay marriage in Massachusetts. Were both huge
criers and we definitely went through a couple of
boxes of tissues watching the news.
Pamela: Also ... we're in full support of gay
marriage.
Alix: We're in support of all civil liberties.
Tell me about some big challenges you've
gotten through.
Alix: We've been through
some really, really
tough family stuff these past few years, which
I think is always hard on a relationship ....
When really bad things happen in your life
you really lean on your partner, and I think
that's an amazing thing but it's also a hard
thing for the other person to feel that much
pressure to be there. My mom got cancer, my
stepmother got cancer, my dad had a heart
attack ... and Pamela was dragged through all
of that, all the family drama, [and] was ... in
and out of hospitals four different times with
me. I think that's a lot of pressure on a relationship, to have your partner sort of lost and
crying a lot. And we made a commitment ...
to find [Pamela's] biological parents.
Pamela: I was born to a white mother, black
father, and I was given up because of that, and
then I was adopted because of that by my parents who raised me, and then my mom died. So
I've always wanted to [but have] been afraid of
54
I curve
"I was bornto a white mother,blackfather,and I was given
up becauseof that, and then I was adopted becauseof
that by my parentswho raisedme ... "
PamelaMeans
taking on the search for my birth parents, and
Alix really helped me face that fear, to take big,
ger steps toward it. As a result, my birth mother
was located. That was huge for me, but then she
didn't want to meet me, so that was painful.
Alix: We're still trying to find her father. We went
to all these different high schools in Milwaukee
and photocopied all the pictures based on
the information we had: that he was African
American and he was a basketball player and
wore glasses - that's pretty much all we knew
about him. We found six people that met that
description, and one of them had these huge
dimples and looks, I think, exactly like Pamela,
but we haven't really contacted him yet.
What do you fight about?
Alix: One thing we definitely fought about a lot
- and it's something we don't fight about any,
more, primarily because we don't talk about it
- is religion. Pamela was raised deeply, deeply
religious, and I was raised strongly, strongly
atheist, and both of us were raised to be incred,
ibly critical of the other's views. That was defi,
nitely something that brought some tears.
What's changed?
Alix: I think we both have mellowed out a little bit,
in general, about this. And I also think that we
both recognize that it's a very personal thing.
Pamela: Yeah, I think we respect each other's
views a little bit more than just thinking the
other person is a loser. [Laughs.] I was raised a
very strict Lutheran. I believed every other per,
son who was not the kind of Lutheran I was,
was going to hell.
Alix: She was raised believing that Santa was
Satan because . . . he was taking Christmas
away from Jesus. I was raised never to believe
in Santa because my parents believe that's the
first big lie you tell your kids.
Pamela: I knew I was queer in my adolescence, but
being taught that I would be going to hell for
that, [I'm] still kind of working the kinks out.
Alix: I was recently asked to [perform at] a col,
lege, and it was written [in] my contract that I
couldn't do a certain poem because it was about
religion. So I called Pamela immediately and
said, "What do I dot And she said, "Well, mor,
ally and ethically you can't do the show:' And
then I told her I was getting paid a fair amount
of money that we could use for our move to
New York and she said, "Do it:' [Laughs.]
Pamela: I was like, well then just don't do that
poem!
Alix: [The poem was] "Cute for a Girl" [and they
didn't want me to do the poem] because they
said that I would be promoting homosexuality.
So instead, I'm not going to do the poem, I'm
going to wear a T,shirt that says "I promote
homosexuality:' [Laughs.] Might as well be
direct about it, you know? ■
For outtakes from our interview with Alix and Pam,
visit curvemag.com.
June 2006
I55
June 2006 j 57
• •
• • • "Electric Kiss," by Yvette J. Marthell, Long Beach, Calif. 3rd Prize Winner
"My Lovely Wife," by Gray Lyons, Elkton, Md. "Daughter of Mayor of Beverly Hills," by Yvette J. MartheR,
Long Beach, Calif. "Her Eyes," by Taschka Turnquist, Los Angeles "Rainbow Color Ennui," by Fred Ford,
Chofu, Japan
June 2006
I59
Reviews
Sapphic Screen
A Texas Tinseltown
Getting to know Austin's lesbian film scene. I By Tracy E. Gilchrist
EDITOR'S
PICK
Breasts: A
Documentary
(FirstRunFeatures)
Inthisprofoundly
amusing
andintimately
candid
doc,20-something
filmmakerMeemaSpadola,
the
daughter
of lesbians
who
directed
thegroundbreaking
OurHouse,
hasgathered
22
women(manyof whomare
topless)
to discusshowtheir
breastshaveshaped
their
lives.Spadola
andfilmmaker
ThomPowers
(whoalso
collaborated
withSpadola
ontheequallyinsightful
documentary
PrivateDicks)
sentquestionnaires
to
everything
fromdoctor's
officesto stripclubsand
foundover200womenwho
wereeagerto talkabouttheir
knockers.
Amongthewomen
in thedocumentary
- which Nestled in the heart of Bush country, where everything is bigwasfilmedbyanall-woman
ger and longhorns are all the rage, a burgeoning community of
crew- area 420-pound
comedienne,
an11-year-old lesbian filmmakers can be found in Austin, Texas. The celluloid
girl,twowomenwithmastec- stories created by Austin's queer ladies offer a little something
tomies,anda stripperanda
for all the gay gals. Their recent films are a melange of fetish
transsexual
woman- both and fantasy, poignancy and perversity, narrative and documenwithimplants.
Breasts
isa
tary, all laced with an innate pop-culture sensibility.
fascinating
must-see.
(firstrunfeatures.com) Acclaimed documentarian Ellen Spiro, Passion Fruit Video
- DianeAnderson-Minshall founder Alpha, drag king Mocha Jean Herrup and Austin
radio personality Jenn Garrison wrangle a wide repertoire of
films, from feature-length documentaries to quirky shorts.
These Austin-based auteurs have harnessed the art of mixing
kitsch, irony and wicked humor with cutting-edge sociopolitical commentary - proving that at least in the area of queer
filmmaking, progressive Austin has nearly seceded from the
rest of Texas.
Documenting the Deep South
For nearly 15 years, Ellen Spiro - an associate professor of
Radio-TV-Film at the University of Texas, Austin - has
directed funny and poignant documentaries in which she's
given .a voice to those quirky purveyors of Americana that
often lurk in the Deep South. Her subjects have ranged from
a South Carolina beautician who doled out AIDS and safesex education to her clients in DiAna's Hair Ego, to "Geritol
gypsies;' an aging group of nomads who tour the country in
an Airstream RV in Roam Sweet Home.
62
Icurve
In 1993, her documentary GreetingsFrom Out Here paid
homage to various forms of gay subculture in the South, including gay rodeo. It looks like Spiro had Hollywood's Brokeback
Mountain beat on that subject by about 13 years. Her most
recent documentary, produced by Karen Bernstein, is 2005's
Troop 1500, a hard-hitting yet touching look at a Girl Scout
program that brings together incarcerated mothers and their
daughters, at Hilltop Prison in Gatesville, Texas.
A Passion for Camp
Austin-based Passion Fruit Video boasts a troupe of Robert
Altman-esque actors who work with Alpha, the company's
founder and director. Passion Fruit's 2004 mockumentary
guide to lesbian dating, How to Pick up Girls:A Guidefor the
Dating Impaired, was featured at the 2004 Austin Gay and
Lesbian Film Festival, and won Best Debut Lesbian Film at
Fort Worth's QCinema.
For Xena fans who longed for the lesbian subtext to simmer
to the surface, or for anyone who thought the overtly masculine Lord of the Rings trilogy could have used a good makeout
session between Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett, Passion Fruit
offers Chroniclesof Halcyon:PleasureDome, in which the fairies
and queens are dykes, and so are the warriors. Alpha combines
camp and sex appeal to reach out to those Xena fans who have
been in a rerun stupor since the series ended.
Texas Tinseltown continued on page 71
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DVD PICKS
Mammie Dearest: Hollywood
Royalty Edition (Paramount):
whovoicesLisaSimpson,
aswellasa
multi-angle
animation
showcase
and
oneof myall-timefavoriteSimpsons
episodes,
"A FishCalledSelma."In it,
Selmagetsropedintobeinga beardfor
fallenHollywood
hotshot
TroyMcClure
- notfor beinggay("OhI wish!"
McClure
proclaims)
butfor something
farworse.(thesimpsons.com)
"Don'tfuckwithme,fellas.Thisain'tmy
firsttimeat therodeo."
OK,that'snot
themostfamousphrase
fromthiscamp
classic("Christina,
bringmetheaxe"
and"Nowirehangers,
ever"probably
topthelist)butit'soneofthemost
tellingaboutthelifeof legendary
Joan
Crawford
(portrayed
expertly
byFaye
Dunaway).
Nowforthe25thanniversary
ofthecultclassic,
Paramount
has
re-released
thisspecial
editionofthe
film- a memoir
toldthrough
theeyes
of Crawford's
adopted
(andnowlesbian)
daughter
Christina
- alongwithcommentary
fromgaydirector
JohnWaters.
(paramount.com/homeentertainmenO
The Simpsons Kiss and Tell:
The Story of Their Love (Fox):
Thismulti-episode
anthology
is a nice
introduction
to thequeerlandof The
Simpsons.
It includes
thehilarious
episode
"ThreeGaysof theCondo,"
inwhichHomermovesin withtwo
gaymen,adoptstheirurbanrainbow
lifestyle
andlockslipswithanother
dude.(thesimpsons.com)
Betty Blowtorch (And
Her Amazing True Life
Adventures) (Cinema
Libre):
lJ.J
a:
~
lJ.J
0
~
a:
~al
~
::J
lJ.J
The Simpsons: The Complete
Seventh Season (Fox):
Asusual,
a solidandqueer-friendly
boxsetof
hilarity.
There'scommentary
onevery
episode,
including
thatofYeardley
Smith,thebutchyfeministactress
I
The first words on Karen Green's Web site, karenscomingout.com, are, 'Tm a giant
lesbian:' This Jersey girl came flying out of the closet when she signed on with gay
cable channel Logo's Coming Out Stories. The mother of a 7-year-old, Green also
cares for her own mother, who suffers from a brain disease. As many of us know,
coming out isn't easy, and Green's story includes the often harsh reality involved with
has brought Green the liberation ofliving honestly and the peace of knowing that it's
OK to be gay. -Charlotte
Rice
Why did you decide to do the show?
What helped me to go for it was the possibility that others would be inspired.
Hopefully, people would watch my story and say, "If she could come out to
her dying mom, maybe I can too:'
How hard was it trying to function on a daily basis with all of those cameras on you?
Daily functioning was weird at first, but after a few hours it was as if they
weren't even there. I did find myself 'coming out' to strangers constantly,
though. People were curious about the cameras ... even at my son's school!
What kindsof reactionshave you had, as opposedto what you expected?
I am amazed over the number of people who decided to come out to their families or friends after watching the show. I get fan mail from people who have
Transamerica (Weinstein
Co.):
zlJ.J
ACTIVIST AND DOCUMENTARY SUBJECT
making such a revelation. But in addition to raw, emotional reactions, coming out
King of the Hill, The
Complete Third Season (Fox):
Honorary
lesbianKathyNajimyvoices
Thisaward-winning
documentary
thelovable
feministhousewife
chronicles
theriseof thehard-rocking, Peggy,
in King,andthisseason
shegoes
foul-mouthed
femalefoursome
Betty
skydiving,
pitchesfor Hank'sbaseball
Blowtorch
fromits rootsintheband
teamandgetsa beautypageant
ButtTrumpet
- whichcameunder
makeover
to wina 5.4literV-8pickup
firefromTipperGore- to thetragic
deathof leadsingerBianca"Butthole" truck.(foxtvdvd.com)
Halstead.
Thefilmis a compelling
and
sometimes
side-splitting
lookat a rare
all-girlbandthat,givenmoretime,
couldhavechanged
howthemusic
industry
treatswomen.
Thisspecial
editionDVDincludes
never-beforeseenfootage.(cinemalibrestudio.com)
FelicityHuffman,
bestknownfor her
roleonDesperate
Housewives,
sowonderfullyinhabits
thecharacter
of Bree,
a transsexual
womantakingthefinal
stepsof hertransition
thatyou'llwant
to bothlaughandcrya lot.Betteryet,
you'llforgetallaboutsexandgender
andjustfeelforthiswomanandher
almostordinary
humanity.
(weinsteinco.com)
Karen Green
I
lost their parents without having told them they were gay. And they regret it.
Sometimes, I sit in front of my computer and just cry reading their stories.
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of
Low Price (BraveNewFilms):
Finallyyoucanseethefilmthat
thecritics(including
me)loveand
Wal-Mart
execshate.In Wal-Mart,
anhonestbutpropaganda-like
film,
thedirectorgoesbehindtheWally
worldfaQade
to talkwithrealworkers
hereandabroad,andexamine
the
impactthatWal-Mart's
enticingly
low
priceshavehadonAmerica.
Hint:It
ain'tgood.(walmartthemovie.com)
- DianeAnderson-Minshall
How has it changed you?
I immediately dropped weight, for one. I think food was comforting to me
because I always had that dark cloud above me, reminding me of my little
secret. So, now that I'm totally out, food has become less important. On the
inside, I've become much more sensitive. Most of the mail I receive comes
from tiny rural corners of our country where it is not OK to be gay. They
feel trapped: trapped in marriages, trapped in small towns ... and I feel bad
because they don't have immediate resources. I am so thankful everyday that
I have support around me.
Are you and Kelly still together?
Kelly and I are doing great! She is so wonderful and I am so lucky to have her.
She helps me with my mom so much. I'm her No. 1 fan. ■
June 2006
I63
Reviews
In the Stacks
Chicken Rules, Drag Kings Don't
Check your expectations at the door. I By Rachel Pepper
Authors who have achieved critical and popular acclaim
I believed that the question, "Who cares what anybody's got
often face a difficult test when their latest works are pub-
between their legs?" would be the sounding call to action to
drive the narrative forward.
lished: Will their newest book live up to expectations? This
month brings us two new works by well-established
queer
authors, Diane DiMassa, the pen behind the Hothead Paisan
Instead, the novel slowly submerges any promise it held into
a big boiling cauldron of mix-and-match politics. It becomes
graphic novels, and Leslie Feinberg, who gave us the classic
more a political manifesto than a novel, and a cliche-ridden one
Stone Butch Blues.
at that. Feinberg aims her net of self-righteousness too high, trying to incorporate themes of Native American and Palestinian
Chicken Rules, Diane DiMassa
For those of you wondering what has
EDITOR'S
PICK
happened to Diane DiMassa since her
TheLesbian
KamaSutra, Hothead Paisan days, be assured she's
KatHardin(St.Martin's);
alive and well, and more art is on the way.
TheGuidetoLesbian
Sex,
DiMassa's got a couple of new projects up
JudeSchell(Hylas)
her
sleeve, but in the meantime, Hothead
Somanysaucybooks,
solittletime.Girlswith
fans will be delighted to know about her
lustshouldcheckoutKat
latest incarnation, a comic zine starring
Hardin'sLesbian
KamaSutra
everyone's favorite Zen cat, Chicken. In
andJudeSchell'sGuide.
The
Chicken Rules, we learn that Chicken
ancientIndianKamaSutrais
a guideto lovemaking
meant acquired her name because her lounging
to teachtheexpression
of
pose produced a fowl-like appearance,
uninhibited
pleasure
through and that she was reincarnated from a
sex.Nowsome2,000years
horse, sent to be reunited with her owner
later,TheLesbian
Kama
from a past life. This owner has also been
Sutraoffersupfranktalk
aboutsexandlovebetween reborn - not as a sweet little girl, but
women.It covershottopics our favorite homicidal lesbian terrorist,
including
sexually
transmitted Hothead Paisan.
diseases,
comingoutand
Chicken Rules is all about the cat,
S/M,andis illustrated
with
from
the perils of stinky cat breath to a detailed explanaclassicSapphic
artsuchas
tion
of
the Vomero-Basal organ response in cats; from how
Gustave
Courbet's
1866
"TheSleep."Meanwhile,
The cats bathe (including Chicken's famous "playing the cello"
Guideto Lesbian
Sexoffers pose) to how they ward off "kitty humiliation" by licking
gorgeous,
contemporary
lesthemselves furiously and then staring blankly into the air.
bianphotosandscintillating
Hothead
fans will especially love the zine's opening strip, in
adviceonallthingsdykerotic.
which
we
finally see how Hothead and Chicken met. It's not
(stmartins.com,
hylaspublishing.com/sex)
a full-scale book's worth of enjoyment, but for those who
- DianeAnderson-Minshall have harbored an especially soft spot for "Mom's own turkey;' the ever-sage gray-and-white cutie named Chicken and
her yogi alter-ego Swami Chicknanda, this zine is a longawaited tasty treat. (hotheadpaisan.com)
oppression, union organizing, New
York labor history, socialist causes,
Drag King Dreams, Leslie Feinberg
(Carroll and Graf)
It's hard to express my disappointment in Leslie Feinberg's
new novel, Drag King Dreams, and not feel like a traitor to
the queer literary cause. Feinberg, after all, is the well-known
author of the award-winning novel Stone Butch Blues, a transgender warrior and scholar who has written so eloquently
about the history and struggles of transgender people. Given
all that, it's especially difficult to say this is not the novel I
was hoping for. The opening pages are indeed riveting, and
group called the Immigrant Workers Alliance?
Certainly there are redeeming features of Drag King
Dreams that make it worth a read, including Max's forays
into a flirtatious online universe called AvaStar, as well as
64
I
curve
AIDS-based
medical discrimination,
the political marginalization of Arabs
after 9 / 11, Chinese-American history, police brutality, and the seemingly
constant harassment that trans people
- in particular older transfolk - face
every day in the New York City of·
recent years.
There seems to be no cause that
Feinberg avoids, and thus we are bogged
down with politics on each and every
page. For example, was it really necessary for the one Asian character to state,
as she walks through Chinatown, "My
people came here to find the Golden
Mountain" r Or for the main character, Max, who is described as rather
bumbling, to make a long,
impassioned speech at a
friend's funeral including such painfully overwrought lines as, "I live
on land where, just a few
hundred years ago, the
Lenni-Lenape still hunted in the forests. Their
blood, spilled by settlers,
still drenches the soil:' Or
for the book's rough-andtumble drag contingent to
be continuously saved by a
descriptions of some nightclub events where Max tends bar,
featuring the elusive drag kings of the title. For the most part,
though, the book falls flat, laden with stilted dialogue and
solidarity speeches worthy of 1969, and a supposed political
reawakening of the main character that in the end does little
to inspire its readers. ■
PAGE TURNERS
The God Factor: Inside the
Spiritual Lives of Public
People, Cathleen Falsani
(Farrar,
Straus,andGiroux):
Seeking
to createa pictureof modern
faith,
religion
journalist
Cathleen
Falsani
interviewed
individuals
responsible
for shapingourcultureandexplored
theirbeliefsontopicssuchasJesus,
heaven
andevil.In morethan25
interviews
withpeopleincluding
MelissaEtheridge,
Sen.BarackObama
andauthorAnneRice,Falsani
offers
a fascinating
lookat thebeliefsthat
shapeourlives.(fsgbooks.com)
Amazons: Sexy Ta/es of
Strong Women, eds. Sage
Vivant and M. Christian
Amy
King
I
POET
I
Lambda Literary Award finalist Amy King's Antidotesfor an Alibi
(Blaze VOX) offers a poetic vision that is as styled as a modern
cityscape and as intimate as the details that often shape the poems'
otherwise metaphysical reach. In "The Open Box;' King writes, "I
hope you sense/ the finished and unfinished beauty/ in progressive
(Avalon):
Amazons
is a collection
of
frames of us/ inhabiting brick plots:' Invoking what Daniel Nester
eroticstoriesexploring
theconcept
of
has called "downtown folklore" and what Charles Bernstein called
thepowerful
woman.
Thestoriespose
"the paradise of possibility;' King's poems love the city they inhabit.
questions
(WhatmakesanAmazon?
Howfarcantheconceptbepushed?) King is also the author of The PeopleInstruments (Pavement Saw);
throughtalesthatincludelegendary
she teaches at Nassau Community College and at Poets House in
femalewarriors,
dykegangs,drag
New York, where she has taught a workshop about writing in and
queensandbodybuilders.
Someselecon the city. - Julia Bloch
tionsarechallenging,
othershumorous
or fantastic,
buteachis unquestionably
andsatisfyingly
erotic.(avalonpub.com)There's a real urban sensibility to many of the poems in
Antidotes for an Alibi.
Simone de Beauvoir, Lisa
Appignanesi (Haus):
Anintimate
biography
of anexemplary
life,Simone
deBeauvoir
examines
thephilosopher's
lifeindetail,including
herfemalelovers
andherideasconcerning
lesbianism.Thebook,whichchronicles
de
Beauvoir's
lifelong
devotion
to intellectualhonesty
andindependence,
reveals
a womanof manycontradictions:
She
was,for example,
a cultfigureof the
feministmovement
whodescribed
herrelationship
withJean-Paul
Sartre
as"theoneundoubted
success
in
mylife."(www.life-and-times.co.uk)
- JanelM.Lynch
The G-String Murders, Gypsy
Rose Lee (Feminist
Press):
Proving
I grew up in Georgia in a kind of backwoods neighborhood,
which meant I was left to my own resources much of the
time. I was the tomboy who hung out at the creek catching
crawdads and hiding beer in the cold water with the other
boys and tomboys .... When you finally take the girl out of
the country and relocate her in one of the busiest cities in the
world, it is then that one discovers the wonders of outsider
R D.uarterlqComic
BookSeries
bq GilbertIt JaimeHernandea
·erilliant. • - TheNew YorkTimes
·1f you've never heard of Gilbert and
Jaime Hernandez. you've been missing
out two of the hidden treasures of our
impov rished culture.· -The Nation
·one of the highest peaks the comics
medium has yet achieved.· - TheOnion
·No other men in or out of the field
understands women the way they do.•
-Trina Robbins. author of
From Girls to Grrlz
Order today at www.fantagraphics.com
1he top Lesbian
web sitessalutePride2006.
lesbianout
< drama
/ family
/ whoopee
>
status that so many poets hail as integral to a poet's growth.
There's almost a clipped quality to your lines; not abbreviated, but economical. I'm curious to hear about your
process, whether you pare down your writing as you're
finishing poems or compose this way from the start.
I think I do both. I collect stand~out phrases, misheard
snippets, misread items - I'm myopic - whatever over~
used slogan has burrowed into my brain, among other
miscellany, and attempt to put them together in some
hertalentsrangefar beyond
herability
fashion akin to collage or pastiche. I'm actually branching
to teaseandtaunt,famousburlesque
out now and doing some narrative work, though it doesn't
queenGypsyRoseLeewrotethis
feel as successful as the former .... I've always wanted to be
murdermystery
decades
ago,butit
one of those poets who could submit a request to the muse
canstilltransport
thereaderbackto
thegoldenyearsof vaudeville.
Leeset
and write perfect poems in between life's activities. I don't
herdoublehomicide
amongtheglitter,
want to work at writing. Who wants to face a computer
glamandgloryof theburlesque
houses
screen solo when it's gorgeous out in a city that offers so
sheknewbyheart,creatingcharacters
many activities anytime, day or night? ■
andscenarios
sooutrageous
they're
probably
true.Thebasisforthe1943
filmLadyof Burlesque
starringBarbara Checkout Amy King'spoetry, blogand more at amyking.org.
Stanwyck,
thisbookis a must-read
for
burlesque
fans.(feministpress.org)
- LaurenMarieFleming
Butch-Femme.com
red wtJrld(.$hflJU1Jtif;/
June 2006
I65
Reviews
Music Watch
Pride Festival Favorites
From newbies to classics, weve got it covered.
IBy Margaret
Coble
This month we offer three out, queer artists
at various stages of their careers, whom you
just might see on the Pride festival circuit
this year: an up-and-coming lesbian rocker
looking to bust out of her local Florida market (Nunez); a mid-career bisexual vocalist
who's built up a huge indie and cult following (Candye Kane); and a veteran lesbian
singer-songwriter who's seen and done it all,
and just keeps on ticking (Janis Ian).
Cry Mercy, Nunez (self released)
Linda
Nunez'
soaring,
melodic
vocals
instantly evoke her self-professed musical
EDITOR'S
PICK
TheChangerand the
Changed- Limited
Edition,CrisWilliamson
(WolfMoon)
OnJan.28,2006,in San
Francisco's
Herbst
Theater,
CrisWilliamson
beganthe
firstlegof a national
tour
celebrating
the30thanniversaryof hergroundbreaking
album,TheChanger
andthe
Changed.
Sinceits release
in
1976,Changer
hasbecome
themostsuccessful
independentmusicrelease
ever,sellingcloseto a millioncopies.
Williamson
sharedthestage
thatnightwithwomen's
musicforemothers
Holly
Near,MargieAdamsand
Rhiannon,
percussionist
Vicki
Randle
(ofthe Tonight
Show
band),musicians
Barbara
Higbie,
JulieWolf,Jami
Sieber,
BonnieHayes
and
specialguestBonnieRaitt.
Themostmemorable
remark
(andthebiggestlaugh)of the
nightwasfromBonnieRaitt
to Williamson,
"I loveyou
Cris- [the]secretto that
is,wedon'tgoouttogether."
(criswi/liamson.
com)
- HollyS.DeMaagd
influences -
Ann and Nancy Wilson of
Heart and Pat Benatar. Originally a solo
singer-songwriter, Nunez decided after a
successful stint in Nashville to return home
to Orlando, Fla., in 2002 to form a rock
band. Since then, her five-piece group has
gained quite a reputation in both gay and
straight circles with its classic, sometimes
Latin-tinged sound, rockin' all manner of
festivals and clubs around Florida and the Southeast, and get-
Mamas Are Back in Style" and "Estrogen Bomb"), Kane offers
released album is a well-produced, hook-laden, 10-track affair
that offers the titular single as its centerpiece. With its catchy
listeners not only her wide-reaching vocal abilities and varying
chorus and head-bangin' power chords, after one listen I guarantee it'll be stuck in your head forever. Cuts like "Yea"pump it up a
musical tastes, but also her saucy, sassy spirit that has helped
her triumph over many adversities. Queer girls will especially
appreciate Kane's "Masturbation Blues" and the girl lovin' tale
notch further while "Havana" offers a little Latin flavor,and "Red
"What Happened to the Girl:' (candyekane.com)
Headed Woman'' brings it down to power-ballad tempo. Keep
an ear - and eye! - out for this one. (lindanunez.com)
White Trash Girl, Candye Kane (Ruf)
Buxom, brash and belting; bisexual blues singer, fat activist and all around badass, Candye Kane has got one of the
most colorful bios in the biz. If you've never heard it, it bears
repeating - which she does both overtly via the liner notes and
more subtly through the lyrics of White Trash Girl,her seventh
album. Embracing the slur "white trash;' Kane recalls her
blues-worthy life story of no-count parents, a welfare- and food
stamp-filled childhood, and her teen years of gang banging and
unwed motherhood. Her early music career was self-financed
by her work as a model and writer in the sex industry, and after
a mid-'80s major label deal gone bad, Kane has built up a wide
and loyal following as an indie artist. This latest 14-track effort
has Kane recording with old friends in Austin, Texas, offering
a gutsy mix of boogie woogie, honky tonk, big band, Dixieland
jazz, rockabilly and straight-up blues. From original compositions like the biographical tide track, the Billie Holliday
throwback "Misunderstood;' and '50s-flavored "I Could Fall
66
I
curve
For You;' to brassy covers that fit her like a glove ("Big Fat
ting radio airplay from Miami to Jacksonville. This fourth, self-
Folk Is the New Black, Janis Ian (Rude Girl/
Cooking Vinyl)
Coming full circle from her humble folk beginnings in the
mid-1960s when she stunned the world with her controversial
interracial relationship ode "Society's Child;' the outspoken
singing-songwriting legend returns - 40 years and 23 albums
later - with a new 15-track collection of mellow, contemplative and mostly personal songs that prove she's still got it after
all these years. Surprisingly, only the first two cuts on the disc
are overtly political: "Danger Danger" offers a gentle warning
about the perils of censorship, prejudice and blind patriotism,
while "The Great Divide" is a call to arms, beckoning listeners to challenge political corruption and religious hypocrisy.
The remainder of the disc is filled with heartbreak ('J\11Those
Promises"), self-examination ("Standing in the Shadows of
Love") and whimsical self-deprecation ("My Autobiography"),
with only a few misses - mainly the silly tide track - that
makes for a strong showing and maintains Ian's status as an
insightful, eloquent and often humorous observer and critic of
the world. (janisian.com)■
OTHER LICKS
On CD
The Essential Pansy Division,
Pansy Division (Alternative
Tentacles):
Celebrating
15yearsof
in-your-face,
out,queerpunk,the
groundbreaking
SanFrancisco
fag
quartethasreleased
thisCDandDVD
best-ofsetfeaturing30 classicsongs
plusmusicvideos,TVappearances
andliveconcertfootage.
(pansydivision.
com)
Tina
Angotti
I
I
•
SINGER-SONGWRITER
Long Walk to Freedom,
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
(HeadsUpInternational):
Thelatest
fromtheaward-winning,
revolutionary
SouthAfricanvocalensemble
offers
newrecordings
of 12of itsclassic
songswitha star-studded
rosterof
guestvocalists,
including
ZapMama,
MelissaEtheridge,
SarahMclachlan,
NatalieMerchant
andEmmylou
Harris.
(mambazo.
com)
Supemature, Goldfrapp (Mute):
Tina Angotti knows that life is full of spiritual growth and change,
and has aptly named her forthcoming, second album Transitions. Her
debut CD, Mirror, was a melodically intricate and vocally startling
reflection of the movements and moments oflife. Performing almost
nonstop since Mirror's release in 2002, Angotti has been gaining
momentum, winning numerous awards and building an ever-growing fan base. - Jennifer Corday
So when did you decide you were a lesbian?
I always felt that I was, for many, many years. I guess I always
was gay, but I never did anything about it because I was in a
Theelectro-glam-pop
duo'slatest,
relationship; I was married. But I got divorced at 28, and once
11-trackmasterpiece
finallyhits
I was with a woman, that was it.
American
shores
aftera 2005release
in
Why do you think it took you so long to come out?
theUnitedKingdom.
Thepulsating
leadI think that moving out west gave me the freedom to make
off,"OohLaLa,"isalready
a worldwide
that choice. People in the Midwest seem a little more closeted
smash,
spotlighting
AlisonGoldfrapp's
sultry,seryvocals.
(goldfrapp.co.uk)
tome.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
Definitely the Beatles and Elton John. I like the powerful
songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon. Lately I've
been studying the great vocalists like Julia Fordham and
[Barbra] Streisand. But I also like rock, bands like the Stones
and the Pretenders. My dad was into country so I learned
to appreciate artists like Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash.
Country songs are so raw, so simple. I take a bunch of different genres and make my own sound.
Sun Under Me, Teri Falini
(Radiostar):
Aggressive,
grungyrock
fromtheSanFrancisco-based
quartet
namedfor itsleadsinger,
whosegritty
butmelodic
vocalsrecalleveryone
fromP.J.Harvey
to PattiSmithandKim
Deal.(terifalini.com).
Other Licks continued on page 71
The songs on your debut album, Mirror,seem to be very
personal. Is the album autobiographical?
Yes, about my life and other lives I've been touched by. The
songs are really about emotions in general.
Experience the historic
April 2002 live solo show at
Carnegie Hall, featuring
the first NYCperformance
of the epic poem "self evident."
Ani delivers a must-have recording
to the listening
world.
For more info, visit us
at www.righteousbabe.com
I liked "It's Alright." It seems to be saying it's OK to feel your
pain and go through hard times if you learn from it.
You're exactly right, it's all in our attitude. Everything helps us
grow; we have to learn to get through it and we'll be stronger
because of it. Life happens, and it's going to happen to every
one, it just depends what we do with it. ■
June 2006
I 67
Reviews
Tech Girl
Surround Yourself With Sound
Stereos that go boom.
IBy Diane Anderson~Minshall
II
When I was 12 years old I had two big dreams: to become a professional
writer and to get my own stereo. The stereo was the top priority. And when
I finally did get one, I was jubilant; not only was it mine alone, but it was
also the first in the house that didn't play 8-track cartridges. Instead, it had
a turntable for vinyl albums as well as the hot new technology: an audio cassette player. Stereos have changed dramatically from the late '70s and early
'80s when bigger was better, and with the introduction of the iPod they've
been eliminated in some households altogether. But for us diehard stereo lovers, there are still plenty of sweet products topping our wish lists.
- Diane Anderson-Minshall
Kiss the Boombox Goodbye
Like every other technology, the classic, once-giant portable stereo has become nano-ized. Who better
to get in on that game than Apple? Their new iPodHi-Fi,a small, portable stereo with multi-speaker
sound, plugs into your iPod and lets you view full-screen album art while cranking out the tunes. It'll
also charge your iPod, can run on electricity or batteries (hello, beach bash) and you can even remotely
control it from up to 30 feet away.You can also connect to a second external music source such as a gaming console, DVD player or AirPort Express with Air Tunes. ($349, apple.com/ipodhifi)
Audio Blast From the Past
The retro resurgence has been a vibrant backlash to the obsessions with all things new and tiny, and Crosley
Clockwise from top: The iPod Hi-Fi,the Crosley
Travler Stack-O-Matic and the iBallWireless Stereo
willkeep the tunes spinning this summer.
Radio, the leading maker of retro-styled electronics, has been at the forefront of this thriving niche market. A favorite among retro-rads is the Crosley
Traveler
Stack-0-Matic
CR89,a classic spin on an old time
record changer from a time when listening to music required you to stack your records. The funky, portable
Traveler Stack-0-Matic has an automatic swinging arm that accesses the stack and marvelously drops one
album at a time onto the platter. It plays at three speeds; accommodates 7, 10 and 12-inch records;
and comes in a smart brown tweed traveling case. ($180, crosleyradio.com)
The Future Is Here
With the popularity of Apple's iPod, more and more people have become podestrians - those
earbud-sporting folks oblivious to the outside world, enraptured by their own music. But even pod
people sometimes want to share their tunes with their friends (think cocktail parties, family gatherings and lesbian potlucks), and for them, the iBallWireless
StereoSpeakeris the answer. The iBall
lets you beam music up to 100 feet from your iPod, and it looks futuristic cool - kind of like what
1960s-era filmmakers imagined the 21st century would look like. ($249, oregonscientific.com)
Pool Party Pleasures
It's time to start thinking about outdoor living again, and JBL:s new Northridge
SeriesN24AWIIand
StudioSeriesS36AWIIoffer the perfect all-weather loudspeakers to take that Pride party
out to the pool. Imagine the clear, powerful sound quality of Barry White while
you and your gal skinny dip under the stars, or Melissa Etheridge rocking out
from speakers on your deck. The Northridge models are super compact, while
the Studio Series offer concert-quality audio. ($299 and up,jbl.com)
Loudspeakers That Go With You
The InfinityOutrigger
loudspeakers can also bring natural musical sound quality
outdoors for your summer pleasures. The two-way Outrigger features a oneinch dome tweeter and a 5¼-inch woofer, and they send crisp audio across a
wide spectrum because of it. They can be wall-mounted with brackets that allow
them to tilt and swivel, or you can place them on a table or shelf. ($269 per pair,
infinitysystems.com)
68
I curve
VictoriaA. Brownworth Politics
Pride Is More Than a Party
A
h, pride. Such a loaded word for queers. As I
ponder Pride, I wonder: Are heterosexuals
proud? Why do queers need a Pride month? Why
does this magazine (and every other queer publica,
tion) need a Pride issue?
in queer society. I don't need to buy queer
buttons and T,shirts and books and music,
we existed. Queerness was deeply, darkly, painfully
hidden. So we have to celebrate the discovery of our
sexuality,our history and ourselves.
because I can do that any day of the week
at my local queer bookstores because they
exist now, and queer books are even in non,
In one of my college classes back at the end of
queer bookstores.
I don't need to go to Pride marches
black and women's history months. Several of my
African,American students claimed we don't need
because there is nothing I am more secure
black history month anymore. Several women stu,
to be queer every day, not just in June.
It isn't that I don't think Pride month and
Pride issues and Pride marches are impor,
dents agreed about women's history month. Then
I went around the room and asked students to
name five - just five - important historical fig,
meant for the young and the newly queer, for
those women and men for whom a big crowd
of fellow queers is like a warm embrace from
a long,lost love. The newly out need Pride
sorial tone, "we need black and women's history
months. Because otherwise, you'll never learn about
them, that there is a huge community of
diverse queers out there - dykes with babies
and boys in feather boas and folks in leather
for everyone to realize how little they knew about
either themselves or each other's history. (Quick:
are the only one, to prevent them from the
fear of being called 'cfyke" or ''faggot;' of being
Name five queers vital to history. Could you do it?)
Those of us who are marginalized by the
beaten up or of getting kicked out of school or
their parents' homes.
I don't go to marches anymore, but I do
we are is, simply, affirming.
My first Pride march was in 1970 in New York City. I was in high school;
ant queers flaunting their marginality in the face of a majority straight culture
that gets to be so prideful at our expense every day. I want to remember the
it was one year after the Stonewall Rebellion; and it was both heady and scary
because it was the very first gay Pride march in history. In addition to the gay
feeling of my first march and my first speech. I want to remember marching in
New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, New Orleans and Washington, D.C.
I want to remember the yelling and chanting and general euphoria that came
0
since I attended a Pride march.
Why doesn't an old,guard activist like me go to Pride marches anymore?
Shouldn't I be leading the march as did those women and men before me?
I don't go to Pride marches because I don't need to go. I don't need to give
<(
speeches because I've given hundreds over the past 36 years, and it's time
~
a:
to buoy them up when they feel like they
want to be able to turn on the evening news
throughout June and see Pride marches. I want to see a long line of flamboy,
published lesbian journalists in America. It's also been more than a decade
Cl)
-
majority - women, people of color, queers
- are made to feel ashamed for being different.
Having a parade or party or other declaration that we are OK with who
That day has come. I turned 50 this year. It's been more than three
decades since I was expelled from my all,girls high school for being a
lesbian, and more than two decades since I became one of the most widely
zlJ.J
events to reinforce that there are others like
important people outside your own group:'
So when I was thinking about Pride month, I
thought about that class and how shocking it was
my debut into civil rights activism, that every day thereafter would be a kind
of Pride parade, that I would never be done with "outing" myself, that one day
I would be an old,guard activist like those leading that first parade.
lJ.J
tant. They are. But I've come to think they are
No one could do it - and this was at a liberal
arts college.
'J\nd that's why;' I said in a mockingly profes,
and lesbian marchers, there were people who protested our openness. They
lJ.J
about than my lesbian identity. I am proud
ures who were either black or female.
looked so normal while they verbally assaulted us.
But I was a teenager then and didn't much care what adults thought; I
certainly had no desire to be "normal:' I also wasn't aware that the march was
0
by other lesbians and gay men because I
am surrounded by them all the time; I live
Why? Because not that long ago, nobody knew
February, my students were discussing the need for
:I<::
to let someone else make their statements
about Pride. I don't need to be surrounded
from being in the streets with hundreds or thousands of other queers and
knowing that there were just as many others to take our place if we left.
Pride is, in the end, a state of being. It is our identity, our chosen initial
in the LGBTQI alphabet. It's been 36 years since my first march. Thirty,six
years of loving other women and fighting for queer rights and being on the
front lines, whether it was standing in front of my high school principal or
standing in the U.S. Supreme Court, shouting outside St. Patrick's Cathedral
in New York or in front of the White House in Washington.
Pride is a state of being, and whether it's June or January, I feel it. But I am
more aware in 2006 than I was in 1970 that my sense of pride is not matched
by civil rights. So when you wonder why we need a Pride month and a Pride
issue, that's why. Because pride is just our part of the equation. Equality is
something else again. And until we have that, Pride marches will always be
more than simply a warm embrace from people like us - they will be a march
into battle for everything that we deserve and have yet to win. ■
June 2006
I69
Dyke Drama
Michele Fisher
Find Your Pride
T
here are no gay bars in Wyoming. Queers
who want to cut loose in a club have to go to
Ft. Collins, Colo., which is about an hour's drive
from Cheyenne. The rest of Wyoming is at a loss.
No wonder those depressed range riders in
Brokeback Mountain were always passing a bottle
back and forth by the campfire. I guess it is a little
tough to drive a herd of sheep to another state just
to get a drink -
not to mention trying to park
them when you get there.
I am a spoiled San Francisco dyke. I realized what an ungrateful snot I was while visiting
Wyoming online. How could I have forgotten that
in many places, queers are lucky to get one day a
year? Those of us who live in a gay bubble, caught
up in a jaded, been-there-done-her attitude, can
easily forget that lesbians in Missoula might actually look forward to attending their local Pride celebration, rather than bitching about the number of
hetero tourists who pack our parades or the exorbitantly overpriced bad beer. So this year, to recharge
my Pride spirit, I decided to take a virtual crosscountry trip to check out where the girls are at.
I am happy to report that despite the lack of
queer beverage establishments in Wyoming, there
are still plenty of homosexuals! And even though
they don't have their own full-fledged Gay Pride
event, they do have a big gay camp-out in August
called Rendezvous, which is well-attended and
looks like a lot more fun than chasing sheep to
another state.
It takes a bucket of guts to plan a gay event in
hostile territory, and I am inspired by those daring souls. I want to go to Bismarck, N.D., where
Pridefest is celebrated in July at a place called
Eagles Park. It's another homo camping adventure that lasts for three days.
And Vermont's queers aren't taking their freedom to be civilly united for
I'm much more into camp than camping, but then again, I've only camped
a few miserable times in my life. As a kid, I camped with my family because
my parents were too proud to admit we were too poor for an actual vaca-
granted. They are marching in Burlington on July 8. I think that Ben and Jerry
would make excellent grand marshals - they make such a cute bear couple.
tion. The last time I went camping, it was with a grouchy dyke girlfriend, and
on that trip that I discovered what's worse than being trapped in the woods
with your broke-ass parents. Had I been at Rendezvous or the North Dakota
plenty of gay happenings and groups. They are only a few miles from five
other states, so they celebrate Pride all summer long. "Live Free or Die": now
that is a state motto. Sure beats the crap out of"Land of Enchantment" or
"The Garden State:'
Pridefest, I could have abandoned my campsite for a much more entertaining
one, and no doubt made some new friends as well.
The Pride events hosted by small East Coast states don't look so bad
either; in fact they even look empowering. I've noticed that queers in small
states really don't take any crap.
Delaware celebrates Pride on Sept. 16 this year. It is the 10-year anniversary of their event, so look for big things to happen in this little place.
By the way, Delaware has at least nine gay bars, which is like one bar per
resident. Perhaps one of the proprietors of these establishments would
like to move his or her operation to Wyoming where they could have a
monopoly on gay watering holes.
70
I curve
New Hampshire doesn't have a specific Pride event, but they sure do have
However, it is hard to beat the land of enchantment when it comes to
being queer-friendly. This magical state (New Mexico, in case you were wondering) is home to many creative and interesting folks, aka homosexuals. This
year, Albuquerque is hosting its 30th Annual Pride celebration, and all of the
major burgs in New Mexico as well as some of the small towns have their very
a:
UJ
own celebrations planned.
Arizona has a slew of events too, and they kick off the Pride season
t:i
UJ
way earlier than anybody else. In order to avoid the heat (or is it because
of spring training?), Phoenix Pride takes place in April. If you missed it
this year, head down to Tucson Pride in October instead. Who knew the
UJ
~
z
a:
UJ
I
~
Head to Charleston, W.V.,in June and you could find yourself a mountain
Southwest was so proud?
The South also plays host to some fabulous gay celebrations. I guess
being part of an oppressed subculture inspires one to cut loose when the
opportunity
presents itself. Being really oppressed means that people
make every party moment count. Pop onto the Central Alabama Pridefest
Web site and you'll see what I mean. They even have a countdown clock
to Gay Pride.
I had some trouble finding the Pride events for Louisiana this year, but
I'm going to assume the party's still on despite that visit from Katrina. Pride
in New Orleans is an experience every homo should have at least once: clubs
that stay open all night, sweet syrupy drinks that go down easy and give you
the courage to ask impossibly beautiful women to dance with you. Pass the
gumbo, please.
mama. Or, pick up an old Kentucky homo (or a young one) in Louisville on
June 17. The Show Me State has three different events. Show me the [fill in
the blank]. Lincoln, Neb., is throwing their party on June 3. The Midwest
farmers' daughters actually put out a nice spread. Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin
and Ohio all have big Pride events, too.
And if you find yourself in Queer as Folk country this summer, you'll
want to celebrate in the Pitts on June 17. But don't worry: If you can't
make it to Pittsburgh, there are four other Pride events happening in the
Keystone State.
Back on the West Coast, Pride happens in more than just the Golden
State. I lived for many years in the Beaver State, and although I trapped a lot
more of them in California than I did in Oregon, I still have a special place in
Georgia, South Carolina and Florida also look like great places to eel,
my, ahem, heart for the Portland Pride celebration. It is quite the wingding,
ebrate. Remember last year, when Florida's Hillsborough County made big
news because local politicians voted to ban the city and county from acknowl,
and getting wet only improves the party.
And they don't call Seattle the "Emerald City" for nothing. If you're there
edging Gay Pride? They even ordered that a display of works by gay authors
at the end of June, you will be rewarded with wondrous sights and sounds.
And feel free to bring your little dog too - it's a pet,friendly affair.
at the public library be removed. Let's just say that the Floridian gays are not
going to take this action lying down ... especially not from the unattractive lot
that passed the homophobic measure.
Mississippi has something called an OUToberfest, which makes me won,
der if they'll also have a beer garden and people in leather shorts.
And Texas isn't all longhorns and cowpokes. From what I saw, there
After the party, drive north a couple of thousand miles to Anchorage.
Plenty of klondikes live in Alaska, and plenty of lesbians do, too. Summer is
very short but the days are very long, and these women know how to make
the most of the sunshine.
Attend an event. If not yours, then one in Boise or Memphis or some,
are plenty of places for a girl to saddle up, too. The Lone Star State has
where else where your attendance is not just appreciated, it's needed.
celebrations in Dallas, Houston and Austin. Now I know why they call
it "bush country:'
Or you could always come to San Francisco Pride, where you would be
awfully lucky to be one of a million like me. ■
Texas Tinseltown continued from page 62
Suits Us
There might not be a Catholic school girl uniform among the lot, but filmmaker and
drag king Mocha Jean Herrup zips into gender politics and uniform fetishes in her
2004 documentary, A Few GoodDykes, about an elite corps of lesbians who endure
intense physical fitness training and mental humiliation in order to join the Dyke
Uniform Corps. An Officerand a Gentleman is small potatoes compared to these
tough chicks. Richard Gere never got spanked like these recruits do - at least not
in front of the camera.
In 2002, Mocha Jean Herrup joined Evie Leder, Gretchen Lee and Dan Janos
in directing lesbian.film,
a hilariously self,reflexive short film about a group of queer
filmmakers attempting to get a feature length project off the ground. Due to excessive
pontificating and politics, the feature never comes to fruition - but that's the point
of this 9,minute gem.
Other Licks continued from page 67
Words Came Back To Me,
Sonya Kitchell (Velour/Hear
Music):Youwon'tbelieve
thissmoky,
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The Way It Is, Keyshia Cole
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West,"Changed
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turningintheR&Bandhip-hopworld;
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though.(keyshiacole.com)
Radio Makes a Video Star
Austin's local radio personality and filmmaker Jenn Garrison may be best known for
her 2002 short film The Lancebian- in which she captured Mocha Jean Herrup as
the lesbian version of *NSYNC's Lance Bass - but she's churned out so many more
shorts that she'll need a Texas,sized belt buckle to keep them under control. Her debut
film, PrizeWhores,about groupies who virtually make a living scooping up radio station
promotions and prizes, premiered at South by Southwest Film Festival.
Her most recent project,JO FM, is an erotically charged examination of the gen,
trification of mass media on the radio, in which an obsessed fan kidnaps her once,
favorite DJ, who has succumbed co playing the dumbed,down radio station playlists.
And in Greg,set to be released later this year, Garrison profiles a savant of the local
women's music scene, deemed by some fans as a straight male pervert, while the musi,
cians he follows recognize him as a devoted fan. ■
anniversary
withpop-punk
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On DVD
Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to
Cole Porter, Various Artists
(Shout!Factory):Thisremastered
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AIDSbenefiting,
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anda live
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74
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First love between teen
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Top Ten ReasonsWe Love Ellen Huang
Ellen Huang, founder of the Queer Lounge - one
of the coolest, queerest hangouts at the Sundance
Film Festival - is changing the way people see
LGBT cinema. Through Queer Lounge, a magnet
for power dykes like Guinevere Turner as well as
cute young starlets, Huang connects queer filmmakers to Hollywood hotshots, forcing the studio
bigwigs to take queer cinema seriously. Here's why
we love her for it. - Lauren Marie Fleming
ThroughQueerLounge,a magnetfor powerdykeslike
GuinevereTurneras wellas cuteyoungstarlets,Huang
connectsqueerfilmmakers
to Hollywoodhotshots,forcingthe studiobigwigsto take queercinemaseriously.
4.Sheshinesthespotlight
onqueercinema.Queer
7. Sheshapesthe futureof LGBTcinema."More
Lounge tracked and promoted over 40 films at
1. She has alwaysbeen honestaboutherself. the 2006 Park City film festivals. Queer Lounge's
Huang made her way into the film industry as an
panel discussions and parties, including the res-
than anything, some of these gay and lesbian film
festivals tend to ghettoize [the films], and they
openly queer, Asian-American woman, working
as a producer with industry powerhouses such as
Helen Hunt and Hans Zimmer.
urrected and no longer queer-exclusive Homos
Away From Home bash, bring much-needed
international buzz to films that might otherwise
get lost in the Sundance shuffle.
2. She createdthe QueerLounge,"a nonprofit
organization, (that) creates a physical venue supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
other queer-identified film professionals and
festival-goers at major, mainstream film festivals:' So far, Queer Lounge is only present at the
5. Shebridgesthe gapbetweenthe straightand
gayworlds.Through Queer Lounge, Huang says,
Sundance Film Festival, but Huang soon hopes
to branch out to both the Cannes and Toronto
film festivals in the very near future.
tions between queer filmmakers and studios such
as Miramax, Focus Features and Disney.
she is trying to "create a dialogue between those
communities where one wouldn't have necessarily
existed before:' That dialogue has led to collabora-
6. She'swell-connected.
Queer Lounge events
need to be in a place where they can meet ... the
talent that can make a difference in GLBT film:'
8. She has advicefor queerfilmmakers."Stop
writing movies about the same thing - the biggest surprise shouldn't be that the person is gay:'
9. Sheknowshowyoucan supportqueerfilms.
"Go see them;' she says, emphasizing that the films
will be made only if they have an audience who
will watch them.
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to CuRVE readers. And if there's anything we can
a:
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3.She'sdedicated.
Queer Lounge was started with
have drawn celebrities such as Nick Nolte, Toni
tell you for sure, Huang can certainly pick a great
date movie. ■
Huang's own money, and at peak times she spends
100 hours a week working for the organization.
Collette, Liz Phair, Gus Van Sant and Jenny
Shimizu, as well as top industry professionals.
Visit the Queer Lounge at queerloungeonline.com.
so I curve
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10.She'ssingle- a fact she was happy to reveal
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