Quest News

Volume 12 No. 01             February 3, 2005

Top Stories
Compiled & written by Mike Fitzpatrick

Over 400 Lobby Against Proposed
Anti-Gay Constitutional Ban
Full Coverage in Words & Pictures by Mike Fitzpatrick, Steven Vargas, Dan Ross & Jamie Steckelberg

Madison - They came from every one of the Wisconsin’s thirty three senate districts. Many from the far north and west got in Wednesday and stayed overnight. Thirty-five from Milwaukee boarded the Center Advocates bus as dawn broke, just about an hour after an Auburndale dairy farmer/activist delivered a calf prior to his leaving for the capitol. They came, young and old, straight and gay, Christian and nonbeliever, singles, couples and families - over four hundred strong - for Action Wisconsin’s Lobby Day to Stop the Constitutional Ban on Civil Unions and Marriage here January 27.
  For all it was a “take your breath away” kind of day. Massing at the Best Western Inn on the Park the citizen lobbyists first charged through the controlled chaos of registration and sign-in. Unlike AW’s 2003 lobby effort, cobbled together in a matter of days, the overwhelming majority of attendees had pre-registered. The entire process thus proceeded with near-military precision, right down to the “hurry up and wait” lines to receive training packets.

  Across the street in a fourth floor Capitol hearing room, the day-long schedule of events had officially begun with AW’s 9:15 press conference. In his opening remarks Action Wisconsin Executive Director Christopher Ott sounded what would be an oft-repeated mantra heard by elected officials and aides alike in offices and conference rooms within the Capitol dome throughout the day: the proposed Wisconsin Marriage Amendment goes too far and will hurt real people.

  “The amendment will hurt real Wisconsin families,” Ott began. “It bans critical rights and responsibilities, like being able to share health and retirement benefits or take bereavement leave in the case of a death in the family.”
  “The amendment goes too far,” Ott continued. It will not only ban gay marriage. It will also ban civil unions and domestic partnership.” Follow-up reporter questioning after the prepared statements gave Ott a chance to point out how in the eleven states that have passed similar measures last November, it was unmarried heterosexual couples that were being hurt worse same-sex partners. Ott ticked of the loss of domestic partner benefits in Michigan, the Ohio attempts to void all domestic abuse charges leveled against unmarried girlfriend beaters and the Utah abandonment of a battered woman’s restraining order against her unmarried boyfriend.
  Ott also was able to publicly unveil the thirty, mostly non-gay, political, progressive, professional and religious groups cosponsoring the Lobby Day with AW.
  Ott  next introduced Matt Foreman, the Executive Director of the DC-based National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Foreman challenged the assembled reporters - including five Milwaukee and Madison TV stations, three radio networks and a half dozen print journalists - to ask legislators supporting the amendment to “give me one example as to how same-sex unions threaten traditional marriage.”
  Following Foreman’s comments Grant County farmers Jayne Dunnum and Robin Timm detailed the challenges of paying for the partners’ health care costs because Dunnum could not be included on Timm’s state employee’s benefit package as Timm’s married coworkers could. Next Ruth Fett, a Green Bay mother, worried “who would be next” as she outlined her fears for her eight multiracial natural-born and adopted children. “If they are successful in writing into our constitution who can and cannot marry, I fear my family may be next,” Fett said.
  Also speaking at the press conference were Center Advocates President Jamin Mahan and Dane County Supervisor Rob Fryst. Fryst compared the current anti-gay initiative to legislation enacted as a result of America’s historic  racial bigotry. “The constitutional ban on civil unions and marriage does nothing to increase our national humanity,” Fryst said. “The constitutional ban says that laws that exclude, like the Jim Crow laws of the 1950s, are OK, as long as the majority approves it.”
  African American Fryst also encouraged other minorities to take notice. “Community leaders of color and people of faith should be concerned,” Fryst said. “This constitutional amendment is a back-door attempt to get us to admit that there are just reasons to discriminate and exclude others from the promise of our constitution.”
  Following the press conference Ott and the others joined the near capacity crowd in the hotel’s conference center for a ninety-minute lobby training.  The trainings began with a series of pep talks by Ott,  Foreman, HRC Deputy Field Director (and former AW President) Tim O’Brien and the introduction of a half-dozen Madison and Milwaukee Democrats taking the lead in opposing the amendment in the legislature.
  Stealing the show, however, was funny and fiery freshman State Senator Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) who extemporized the best line of the day: “I want to thank you all for having the - what do you call it -  chutzpah for coming to Madison to talk to your legislators. I know I can hardly pronounce chutzpah, but I can’t  say ‘you have the balls’...”
  Following the training, attendees broke into groups by district to share box lunches and coordinate the afternoon’s meetings with Assembly and Senate officials and staffs. As the luncheon concluded the amateur lobbyists were alerted about the presence of a small gaggle of fundamentalist protesters that were attempting to create a gauntlet between the hotel and the Capitol. “Just ignore them,” one local activist quipped. “Everyone else in Madison does.”
  Formal lobbying efforts began with Assembly offices.  Because the Assembly was in session, the overwhelming number of lobbyists met with staffers and legislative aides. Reactions reportedly ranged from cordial to chilly, sometimes correlating with the representative’s 2004 vote on AJR-66. One freshman Republican representative’s staffer shared his discomforting experience with a fundie leafleteer who had dashed into the office just before the anti-amendment lobbyists had arrived.
  Senate district lobbying turned out to be more productive, at least in terms of direct contact with legislators. Senator Robert Cowles (R-DePere) told lobbyists from his district that a second vote on the amendment would not come this Spring but very likely in the Fall of 2006. One of the lobbyists who met with Senator Tom Reynolds (R-West Allis) characterized the meeting as “downright pleasant, though I don’t think we got very far in changing his mind.”
  Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and senior staffer Jay Wadd’s meeting with AW’s lobbyists lasted nearly halfway through the end of the day rally. Wadd took the blame for the last minute nixing of Hansen’s December meeting with nearly two dozen community representatives drawn together by the Green Bay Action Network because he feared the Senator might arrive to find a “media ambush.”
  Alberta Darling’s (R-River Hills) meeting with 45 of her constituents ranged from tense to touching. Darling’s initial attempts to claim she was forced to vote for the bill by Senator Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) were not accepted by some in the group. Gay father of triplets Patrick Brown then recounted a tense event when his partner was forced to seek Brown’s permission to pick up his then sick little girl’s prescription medication because the partner was not the child’s legal father. As he held up her picture he told Darling: “The next time you vote on this bill, I want you to think of my daughter’s face.” Other lobbyists and an aide confirmed Darling appeared genuinely moved.
  Some of the 20 citizen lobbyists who tried to meet with Senator Mike Ellis (R-Neenah) were moved to anger and others to disappointment when a reportedly promised meeting with an aide was not held. Ellis had already made it clear to Action Wisconsin coordinators that he would not be in Madison due to an in-district commitment prior to the lobby day.
  The aide was visible in Ellis’ personal office “with a cell phone to each ear,” according to several lobbyists present. “I and a good number of the people who went to meet with Ellis took the day off to do so,” one first-time lobbyist said. “What they did was just plain rude.” Ellis’ secretary offered each lobbyist an opportunity to write the Senator a note that she promised she would make certain the senator would read.
  Ellis’ staff denied that a firm meeting commitment with the aide had been made, though Quest has learned that at least six lobbyists reportedly received confirmation personally. Quest also learned at deadline that Ellis will now hold a meeting with at least some of the lobbyists still available at his district office on February 1.
  The Lobby Day formally concluded with a rally in the Capitol rotunda. Among the speakers were Rev. Curt Anderson of Wisconsin Christians For Equality, Ott, Foreman, O’Brien, and Senator Taylor.
  Taylor again stole the show. “I know some of you didn’t have very good experiences with the people who represent you here today,” Taylor said. “But you can’t let that stop you. Couldn’t see some today? Follow up! Discrimination is not okay. You must be heard!”
  Following the rally there was a  reception and party for the lobbyists at Cafe Montmartre just off the Capitol Square. Later that evening a $100-a-plate dinner with Matt Foreman benefiting Action Wisconsin was held at Chautara on State Street.
  Action Wisconsin’s still tired but exhilarated public relations director Josh Frekker told Quest at deadline that he felt the day went very well. “ From the stories I’ve heard - and we even begun to read the feedback and meeting reports - I think it went well,” Frekker said. “We may have even begun to move some people a little.”
  (Editor’s Note: Quest also obtained an extensive interview with NGLTF’s Executive Director Matt Foreman on the current state of gay activism. Look for that interview to be featured in the next issue of Quest.)

Perspective: Family Means No One Gets Left Behind
By Jamie Steckelberg

Say it with me, Wisconsin, “Ohana” means “family.  Family means no one gets left behind  -- or forgotten.”  At a time when the proponents of the constitutional ban on civil unions and marriage are using “Postcards from Buster” and other various cartoons against us, Lilo and Stitch comes to our rescue. In Hawaii, where the battle for same-sex marriage began in 1993, “ohana” means an individual may create their own sense of family.
  The proposed constitutional amendment seeks to harm more than just gays and lesbians.  It seeks to harm real Wisconsin families.  The amendment reads: “Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.  A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state.” 
  The second sentence is dangerously confusing.  It will also ban civil unions and domestic partnership.  Intentionally or unintentionally, the amendment will not only define “marriage” for all Wisconsinites, but it will leave many behind. 
  Victims of domestic abuse, regardless of their orientation, are one group who will definitely be left behind. Companies, which already offer domestic partnership benefits, may be challenged by the state.  Institutions that do not offer domestic partnership benefits, such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will most likely lose stature as young gays, lesbians, transsexuals, and transgendered people find states that do value their worth to the state, both culturally and economically.  Children of gays and lesbians are already being left behind, as couples struggle to provide health care to them.  In all of these ways and countless unknown others, Wisconsin will be left behind. 
  As Dane County supervisor Rob Fyrst stated during the Lobby Day kick off press conference January 27, “It is time to wake up in America and speak truth to power.” Fyrst challenged anyone to show how civil unions or domestic partnership demeaned his mother and father’s marriage of 35 years.  One of the myths that Executive Director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Matt Foreman told the more than 400 people assembled during the Lobby Day’s morning training is that the institution of marriage is somehow harmed by civil unions or gay and lesbian marriages. “I challenge you to ask anyone who supports this amendment how their marriage is affected, and they will not have an answer for you,” Foreman said. 
  The second myth, Foreman pointed out, is that somehow gay marriage destabilizes Christianity. “In fact, since Massachusetts enacted same-sex marriage, “Kansas has had a bumper crop, and the sun has risen each day.” Foreman said.   
  In my post-lunch meeting with Democratic Representative Joseph  Parisi, one of the members of my district proposed that if this amendment passes, the state motto be changed from “Forward” to “Backward.”
  Unfortunately, America may already be seen as “backward” by other countries.  As Jack and Janet Ochalla related during that same meeting, they were visiting Toronto for their son’s wedding this past summer.  When the waitress approached them and asked who the lucky couple was, they pointed to their son Bryan and his partner David.  Without blinking, the waitress inquired why they had to come to Toronto to marry.  While they explained how America doesn’t allow gays and lesbians to marry, the waitress could hardly believe it.  Many countries, such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and Finland, among others, are already ahead of us.  
  Senator Mark Miller relayed a bit o history in his meeting with his constituents. Wisconsinites pride themselves on being the first state to initiate change such as social security, welfare reform, along with innovative programs like the Peace Corps Miller noted.   One of the members from his district reminded Miller about the Nuremberg laws that attempted to regulate whom Jewish people could and could not marry in 1935.  Miller related his own personal story to our group.  He had married a woman of Japanese descent and moved to the South where mixed marriages were illegal at the time. Wisconsinites like to ponder over ethical, philosophical, and intellectual issues, without interference from the government.
  “Our lives are on the line,” argued Jamie Bolyard, another citizen lobbyist meeting with Miller.  “This is not a religious issue.  It is a civil rights issue.”  Bolyard stated that she did not move all the way from Portland, Oregon, where a similar measure was approved, after she had already married, to have this amendment pass the legislature in Wisconsin.  She worried, as others in our group did, that we are not doing enough to support our cause.  Others questioned out loud if we need to sit in front of the clerk of court to petition for a marriage license.   Besides just writing letters to the editor, several in our group wondered if we could do more.  One suggested that we promote open forums to discuss this issue further.
  State Senator Lena Taylor from Milwaukee energized the crowd at day’s end rally in the rotunda with her words of encouragement:  “Follow up.  Discrimination is not okay.  You must be heard.  Do not stop the fight.”
  Together, we acted as one big family to try to lobby against the proposed ban that seeks to define marriage and put limits on what family is and is not.  Regardless of what the state will deem constitutional, the legislature cannot legislate our love.  The refreshing thing about being gay or being supportive of the gay and lesbian cause is that we don’t have to all agree with each other, but we do accept one another, regardless of our individual differences.  One of the main ideas behind our efforts is to make known the fact that you do not have to agree with homosexuality in order to oppose this amendment.    On my way home with my partner from the celebration at Café Montmarte, I started lobbying right away on the bus by asking my next door neighbor to sign our petition.  Afterwards, my partner and I visited the local baby store to learn more about becoming parents.  We laughed and joked with the other parents and prospective parents.  Then we all went home to our families.

There’s Proof: It’s Genetic!
DNA Linked With Male Sexual Orientation Found

Chicago - The genes a man gets from his mother and father may play an important role in determining whether he is gay or not, according to a new study likely to reignite the gay gene debate. Researchers say it’s the first time the entire human genetic makeup has been scanned in search of possible genetic determinants of male sexual orientation. The results suggest that several genetic regions may influence homosexuality.
  “It builds on previous studies that have consistently found evidence of genetic influence on sexual orientation, but our study is the first to look at exactly where those genes are located,” says researcher Brian Mustanski, PhD, a psychologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
  Those previous studies looked only at the genes located on the X chromosome. Genes on this chromosome are only passed to a son from his mother. But this study examined genetic information on all chromosomes, including genes from the father. The findings show that identical stretches of DNA on three chromosomes were shared by about 60 percent of gay brothers in the study compared to the about 50 percent normally expected by chance
  A heated debate over the existence of a gay gene emerged from a 1993 report published in the journal Science by then-NIH researcher Dean Hamer, PhD. That study linked DNA markers on the X chromosome to male sexual orientation. Other researchers are attempting to replicate and verify Hamer’s findings. Hamer is also senior author of the current study, which appears in the March issue of Human Genetics.
  But researchers say this study takes a different approach. Its goal was not to replicate those findings but to search for new genetic markers associated with male sexual orientation. “Since sexual orientation is such a complex trait, we’re never going to find any one gene that determines whether someone is gay or not,” says Mustanski. “It’s going to be a combination of various genes acting together as well as possibly interacting with environmental influences.” Previous studies in male twins have suggested that between 40-60% of the variability in sexual orientation is due to genes. The rest is thought to be due to environment and possibly other biologic but nongenetic causes.
  In the study, researchers analyzed the genetic makeup of 456 men from 146 families with two or more gay brothers. The genetic scans showed a clustering of the same genetic pattern among the gay men on three chromosomes -- chromosomes 7, 8, and 10. These common genetic patterns were shared by 60 percent of the gay men in the study. This is slightly more than the 50 percent expected by chance alone. The regions on chromosome 7 and 8 were associated with male sexual orientation regardless of whether the man got them from his mother or father. The regions on chromosome 10 were only associated with male sexual orientation if they were inherited from the mother.
  Mustanski compares the study’s approach to a search for doctors in a town of 40,000 people, a number that roughly corresponds to the number of human genes. Rather than guessing that doctors live in a particular type of house and going to only the houses that meet that criteria, researchers in this scenario would knock on every door to ask the residents if a doctor lives on their street. Using a similar approach, researchers were able to locate a few potential genetic neighborhoods that likely contribute to male sexual orientation.
  Researchers say the next step is to verify these results in a different group of men to see if the same genetic regions are associated with sexual orientation. If the findings hold up, then Mustanski says they could start to look for the individual genes within these regions linked to sexual orientation
  Elliot S. Gershon, MD, professor of psychiatry and human genetics at the University of Chicago, says the study represents an important step forward in understanding how genes affect human sexual orientation. “It is worth testing genes within a region of linkage to see if one of them has a variant that is more frequent in men who are gay than in men who are not,” says Gershon, who is also currently involved in another study of gay brothers and genetic influences on sexual orientation.
 “This report adds to the legitimacy of research on normal variations in human behavior,” Gershon said. “There is an argument that has been made in public press that it doesn’t make sense to study conditions or traits that are behavioral. But this suggests that there is a genetic contribution to this particular trait of same sex orientation.”

National News:

California: Bible Bigots Claim SpongeBob Squeezes Queer - Extremist religious groups accuse the makers of a video starring SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney and a host of other cartoon characters of promoting homosexuality to children. The wacky square yellow SpongeBob is one of the stars of a music video due to be sent to 61,000 U.S. schools in March. The makers -- the nonprofit We Are Family Foundation -- say the video is designed to encourage tolerance and diversity.
  But at least two of the “Christian” groups say the innocent cartoon characters are being exploited to promote the acceptance of homosexuality. “A short step beneath the surface reveals that one of the differences being celebrated is homosexuality,” Ed Vitagliano claimed in an article for the American Family Association.
  The video is a remake of the 1979 hit song “We Are Family” using the voices and images of SpongeBob, Barney, Winnie the Pooh, Bob the Builder, the Rugrats and other TV cartoon characters. It was made by a foundation set up by songwriter Nile Rodgers after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in an effort to promote healing. The fundie groups take exception to the tolerance pledge on the foundation’s Web site, which asks people to respect the sexual identity of others along with their abilities, beliefs, culture and race. “Their inclusion of the reference to ‘sexual identity” within their ‘tolerance pledge’ is not only unnecessary, but it crosses a moral line,” James Dobson complained January 20.
  “That is so myopic and harsh,” Rodgers said. “You have really got to look hard to find anything in this that is offensive to anyone. The last thing I am going to do is taint these characters.”
  It is not the first time that children’s TV favorites have come under the critical spotlight of the Christian right. In 1999, the Rev. Jerry Falwell described Tinky Winky, the purse-toting purple Teletubbie, as a gay role model.

California: Social Significance of Drag Queen, Porn Star Names Explored - Coco Butters, Winnie Baygo, Selena  Cantcia, Miles Long - glittering names on the runway or the hardcore video for sure, but the stuff of sociologists and political science? Apparently so if you were in Oakland earlier this year.
  Duke University’s Ronald C. Butters presided over a recent panel on “Queer Names of Stage, Screen and Fiction” at the American Names Society conference, held in conjunction with the Linguistic Society of America, the American Dialect Society and three other groups. The conference, held in early January, drew people from all over the country and the world, and, in addition to official business (the Linguistic Society’s vote on “Word of the Year,” for instance), there were three days of overlapping panels and paper presentations.
  The subjects covered by American Name Society, though, stood out in a sea of obscure papers on obscure topics. Perhaps the broader appeal of its work has to do with the universal nature of its mission statement; the society, founded in 1951, “seeks to find out what really is in a name.”
  Issues tackled at the conference speak to how many things can be discerned from studying names -- chosen names, given names, place names, product names, names in fiction and names in history. In the “Queer Names’’ panel alone, vast stores of cultural information were mined from, for instance, the methodical study of gay male porn names. Who knew that although drag queens usually employ sexual innuendo or humor in their stage names, it is strikingly uncommon for male gay porn stars to do so? Apparently, bland names are perceived to be more attractive.
  Butters delivered a paper on names in gay-themed novels before Stonewall, the 1969 riot that brought national attention to the gay rights movement, with names as heavily symbolic as Mr. Right, Deli Pickup, Senorita Chien de los Perros (meaning, approximately and politely, Miss Dog of the Dogs) and street names playing off of Beach and Buch (they sound like “bitch” and “butch,” no?).
  The next two papers were probably chosen for their mirrored themes -- Philip Carter’s “The Social Meanings of Drag Queen Names” and Rebecca Childs’ “Drag Kings: Creating a Name in a More Socially Conscious Performance Space.” Carter distributed a handout breaking down a list of drag queen names in the Washington, D.C., area by racial and class markers. Unsurprisingly, many drag queens chose honorifics such as Lady and Miss and upwardly mobile names like Xaviar Onassis Bloomingdale or, less frequently, overtly lower-class monikers such as Winnie Baygo or Mary K. Mart. Ethnic stereotypes got some play too, with China Silk and Bang Bang Ledesh.
  If hyperfeminity was the drag queens’ goal, drag kings work equally hard to come up with deeply masculine markers. (Drag kings are women performing as men, often, like drag queens, to music.) Sample names: Moby Dick, Pat Riarch, Jacques Strap and Miles Long.
  In a standing-room-only session titled “How to Name a Porn Star,’’ Stanford Professor Arnold Zwicky looked at names of gay porn actors. After screening out specifically ethnic films, he had 2,622 names to analyze. He found that the vast majority had completely white bread, all American names with a common metrical pattern of syllabic stress (strong-weak emphasis, as in the names Chet Roberts or Tag Adams). The most common first name was Mark. The last names reflected a number of American masculine obsessions, like cowboy themes (Tex, Denver, Steers, Colt), aping celebrities (Thom Cruz, Clark Kent, Mike Nichols), and animals and objects that sound tough (Wolf, Cougar, Panther, Saber, Stryker, Mallett).
How does one become a namer? Members of the American Name Society enter the world of naming from many directions. Ed Lawson, a professor emeritus at SUNY Fredonia and former president of the American Name Society, was a psychologist who studied stereotypes before focusing on names. In one study, he selected a group of young women with “ethnically nonspecific faces” and gave them three ethnically distinctive names for three groups of subjects. Sure enough, Lawson found that people’s impressions were colored by the perceived culture of the names. “The Jewish girls were labeled smart, the Italian girls were seen as passionate, and so on,” Lawson said.
  Another active member of the name society brings an entirely different perspective. Laurel Sutton is still a doctoral candidate at UC Berkeley in “an obscure part of phonetics that only my adviser and I care about,’’ but she has managed to parlay her knowledge of linguistics and passion for names into a business. Sutton is a founder of Catchword, a San Francisco naming firm that works with companies to name products, create taglines and revamp brand structures.
  Catchword, along with other Bay Area naming firms like Igor, Idiom and Lexicon, sprang up during the Internet boom when selecting a domain name was a hot issue. Every firm has its own philosophy on the best way to name names, but Sutton says, in general, the name alone won’t make or break the product. “Even with a horrible name, the brand might still work. When Nike first got started, for example, people had a hard time with that name. No one knew how to pronounce it, and very few people knew where it came from.”
  Sutton uses her academic tools in a variety of ways. Her company, for instance, works hard to make sure that a potential name doesn’t have a negative connotation in another country or language. “Some companies are willing to give a name that has bad associations to get as much attention as possible. We don’t have that philosophy.” She went on to say, though, that even a great name can only go so far. “Names aren’t the only thing that makes a brand -- it’s just the first thing people notice.”
  This may not be true for porn stars, though. When asked about the persistent Internet memo about how to choose a porn star name (some combination of first pet’s name or mother’s maiden name or your middle name with the street name of your first address), Zwicky laughed. “No, I didn’t see any evidence of those games at play in my study. I, for one, couldn’t get a good porn name from that. My first dog’s name was Spot.”  But as Zwicky noted in his presentation, he has no data on what, if any, impact a name has on a porn career. A name isn’t a porn star’s most salient feature.

Canada: Big Betters Believe Simpsons’ Ned Flanders Will Come Out  -  Internet wagering on The Simpsons is continuing to take center stage at BetUS.com since the company posted odds on the mystery gay character who will be “outed” in the upcoming episode to be aired February 20. Rumors have been circulating since last summer on who it might be, but in recent weeks the debate and speculation have turned into big money wagers. And the big money is on devoutly Christian character Ned Flanders.
  “It appears that many of our customers have an opinion on who the gay character is,” BetUS.com spokesperson Mike Foreman said. “We’ve taken more than 900 bets, mostly on Patty and Smithers.”
  According to Foreman, Marge’s sister Patty was the favorite at 4/5 with Smithers trailing at 4/1 to be “outed.” Ned Flanders is posted as 15/1, making the Flanders character a long shot; however, several large wagers have been placed on his character, which has come as a surprise to the bookmaker. “We were positive that Patty would be the betters’ favorite, seeing that she has been identified in many online sources as the gay character thanks to a leak at Fox,” says Foreman. “Nevertheless, it seems that our customers believe that Patty is just a rumor planted by the network to throw viewers off.”
  The Simpsons series is known to push the envelope, highlighting hypocrisy and culturally based ignorance. Critically acclaimed for its fresh and cynical storylines, in its sixteenth season it is the longest running cartoon featured on prime-time television.
  Foreman suggested that BetUS.com’s customers are not necessarily betting on who’s gay; it’s a matter of how far the show is willing to go. The series has sparked controversy more than once, and if the mystery character is Ned Flanders, The Simpsons-gay debate may explode. “Don’t be surprised if the gay character is Flanders,” Foreman said. “Can you imagine the controversy Matt Groening and writers will create if Ned comes out of the closet?”

Washington: Gay Student Sent Home for Dsicriminating Against Himself - An openly gay Longview high school student was sent home to change after he wore a shirt that said “Too Gay To Function” during homecoming week. Billy Zepeda, a senior at R.A. Long High School, decorated the lime green shirt with marker-drawn rainbows and wrote the phrase from the teen movie “Mean Girls” on the front. He wore it January 20 during the school’s “make-your-own-shirt” day. A teacher told him the shirt was inappropriate and offensive to gay people, he 17-year old Zepeda claimed.
  School officials said students weren’t given specific rules for their designs, and shirts were deemed inappropriate on a case-by-case basis. “Two other students were sent home to change, one with a cut-off shirt that exposed his stomach, and another that had an inappropriate comment,” assistant principal Ty Morris said. “If a faculty member feels it offends them or is inappropriate ... then they send them home to change. You can’t micromanage it.”
  Zepeda said the shirt wasn’t meant to offend. “It’s quite aggravating,” he said. “I can’t wear my shirt because it’s discriminating against gays. ... Why would I discriminate against myself?”
  Other students wore shirts with gangster themes, made of bubble-wrap or duct-tape. Zepeda said one student had a shirt “talking about his gender area.”

Washington, DC: New Education Secretary Condemns PBS Show - In her very first act as the nation’s new education secretary denounced PBS on January 25 for spending public money on a cartoon with lesbian characters, saying many parents would not want children exposed to such lifestyles. The not-yet-aired episode of “Postcards From Buster’’ shows the title character, an animated bunny named Buster, on a trip to Vermont - a state known for recognizing same-sex civil unions. The episode features two lesbian couples, although the focus is on farm life and maple sugaring.
  A PBS spokesman later said that the nonprofit network has decided not to distribute the episode, called “Sugartime!,’’ to its 349 stations. She said the Education Department’s objections were not a factor in that decision. “Ultimately, our decision was based on the fact that we recognize this is a sensitive issue, and we wanted to make sure that parents had an opportunity to introduce this subject to their children in their own time,’’ said Lea Sloan, vice president of media relations at PBS.
  However, the Boston public television station that produces the show, WGBH, does plan to make the “Sugartime!’’ episode available to other stations. WGBH also plans to air the episode on March 23, Sloan said.
  PBS gets money for the “Postcards from Buster’’ series through the federal Ready-To-Learn program, one aimed at helping young children learn through television. The show about Buster also gets funding from other sources.
  Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said the “Sugartime!’’ episode does not fulfill the intent Congress had in mind for programming. By law, she said, any funded shows must give top attention to “research-based educational objectives, content and materials.’’ She asked PBS to consider refunding the money it spent on the episode.
  Spellings issued three requests to PBS. She asked that her department’s seal or any statement linking the department to the show be removed. She asked PBS to notify its member stations of the nature of show so they could review it before airing it. And she asked for the refund “in the interest of avoiding embroiling the Ready-To-Learn program in a controversy that will only hurt’’ it. In closing, she warned: “You can be assured that in the future the department will be more clear as to its expectations for any future programming that it funds.’’
  In the show, Buster carries a digital video camera and explores regions, activities and people of different backgrounds and religions. On the episode in question, “The fact that there is a family structure that is objectionable to the Department of Education is not at all the focus of the show, nor is it addressed in the show,’’ said Sloan of PBS.
  The Human Rights Campaign was quick to respond to Spellings action. “The Secretary’s first act in office denies children an education about the diversity of American families,” HRC Political Director Winnie Stachelberg said. “Teaching children about respect for differences promotes tolerance of their fellow human beings. Those are the values our children should be learning. Instead, Secretary Spellings is sending the message that differences should concealed. This creates a dangerous environment for children’s growth. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth are disproportionately at risk for suicide. Creating a climate in which children are taught that differences should be feared does nothing to promote understanding for peers.”

Washington, DC: Victory Fund Wins Award for Fundraising Technology - The American Association of Political Consultants announced that the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, the nation’s  largest lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender (LGBT) political action committee, received a Gold Pollie Award for the best use of a website for fundraising (www.victoryfund.org). Held on January 22, the Pollie Awards honor the highest professional achievements in political communications and public affairs. This is the first Gold Pollie to be bestowed upon a national LGBT organization.
  “This award is well deserved because the Victory Fund does a great job using the Internet to connect  individual donors to GLBT candidates,” software entrepreneur and Gill Foundation president Tim Gill said. “Combining our resources to elect members of our own community is a great way to create positive systemic change for gay Americans. Victory’s portal lets everyone participate, wherever they are in the Unites States.”
  The Pollie Award is a highly coveted prize among political professionals and this year the  competition was intense - with a record number of entries. Over 150 judges from across the nation selected winners from numerous categories that represent the broad spectrum of political communications.
  Among other unique features, Victory Fund’s site offers “shopping cart-like” technology allowing users to add different candidate contributions to the cart, while tracking their contributions in real-time on an electronic map. Donors can also view their past contributions, RSVP for political fundraisers  and sign-up to receive candidate specific news articles.
  The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund is the nation’s largest LGBT political action committee and the only organization whose central mission is to increase the number of gay and lesbian public officials at  all levels of government. In 2004, 41 of 65 Victory Fund endorsed LGBT candidates won their races, including five in states that also passed anti-gay amendments in 2004: Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon and Utah. Since its founding in 1991, the Victory Fund has invested over $15 million and secured more than a fivefold increase in the number of openly gay and lesbian officials serving in America to over 295 today.

State News:

Green Bay: ARCW’s 14th Annual Have A Heart Takes Wings - “An Evening Among Angels” will soar high over the Lambeau Field Atrium Saturday, February 12 as ARCW’s 14th Annual Have A Heart Dinner and Silent Auction takes flight. A spectacular evening is planned with heavenly hors d’ourves served by living angels during the cocktail reception from 5:30 to 7 PM. The silent auction will also begin at that time, continue through dinner served at 7 PM and conclude at 8 PM.  A program and presentation of awards will follow. VIP tickets are $75 each or $750 per tables of 10 and include a VIP reception overlooking Lambeau Field with complimentary drink, hors d'oeuvres, live entertainment and wine at the dinner table. Standard tickets are $50 each or $500 per table of 10. ARCW is also accepting sponsorships for its northeast clients at standard and VIP ticketing prices. Inivtations have been mailed to historic attendees. For more information or to book reservations, call 800-359-9272, Ext. 1545 or via the internet at www.arcw.org.

LaCrosse: Diverse Interest Groups Offered At LGBT Center - The 7 Rivers LGBT Resource Center is now offering a wide variety of group discussions and activities on an array of topics that reflect the diverse interests of the Coulee region’s LGBT community.
  The next book group meeting will be February 6 at 4 PM. at the resource center. The group is reading “Crybaby Butch” by Judith Frank. Attendees are asked to bring a drink and snack and join the discussion. If you need more information, contact Sandi at: krajewsk.sand@uwlax.edu.
  The resource center’s Outdoor Group had a ski day January 23 and participated in the city’s annual Winter Rec-Fest by joining a torch-lit ski trail at the Forest Hills Golf Course January 28.  The group also enjoyed the trail’s end bonfire, cocoa, and fireworks display.  Following the pyrotechnics the group enjoyed that unique Wisconsin tradition of a fish fry at the club house. For more information about the outdoors group’s upcoming events, contact Brandon at: brandonshayes@yahoo.com.
  For those who love movies, contact Jessica for information about the movie group’s activities: Schaffer121@Hotmail.com. Interested in becoming part of a dance group with lessons? Want to learn how to do ballroom dancing, swing, waltz, and more? Contact Beth at: cherne.lbeth@uwlax.edu. The Transgender Issues Group is just starting. For more information, contact: ginamariewms@excite.com.

Madison: Christians For Equality To Lobby February 22 - A statewide group of Christians opposing the so-called Wisconsin Marriage Amendment announced their preliminary plans for their first-ever statewide lobby day during the final moments of Action Wisconsin’s Lobby Day here January 27. Christians for Equality in Wisconsin are sponsoring on February 22 a lobby day and rally in Madison opposing the proposed state constitutional amendment.  Persons of faith from religious communities are strongly encouraged to attend so the elected officials serving in the Legislature know there is another religious voice. The schedule will begin with a 10:30  AM press conference, followed by lobby training at 11 AM, a 12:15 PM rally with speakers and music and conclude with afternoon meetings with legislators. Information and specific locations will be posted to the group’s websitewww.marriage-equality-wi.org.

Madison: Women’s Coming Out Group Forming - A women’s coming out support group is forming in Madison and will begin meeting at OutReach Inc, Madison and south-central Wisconsin’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community center & safe space (600 Williamson Street) in February. The purpose of the group is to offer support women who are dealing with the realization that they are not heterosexual and how that affects their everyday lives.
  The support group will identify and discuss the stages of coming out and explore topics such as how to deal with family members, physical and sexual safety, legal rights and discrimination, and spirituality, among others.
Two trained volunteers will facilitate each meeting. The group will meet  Monday evening at 6 PM for ten consecutive weeks starting in late February. Women who are interested in attending the meetings should call 608-255-8582 or e-mail at programs@outreachinc.com by Monday, Feb. 14th and leave a message for Jenny to schedule an interview for the group.

Madison: Queer Chapters Forming For Page Turners - OutReach has announced the formation of Queer Chapters, a new LGBT monthly book group that will have its first meeting on Tuesday, February 8 in the OutReach Library Space at 7 PM. The first book to be discussed will be Ron Nyswaner’s “Blue Days, Black Nights”, a memoir by the screenwriter of the films “Philadelphia” and “Soldier’s Girl”. The book can be purchased at Border’s West Bookstore in Madison at a 20% discount if you mention it is for the Queer Chapters Book Group. For more information, please call Steve or Eirik at 608-255-8582 or e-mail them at stevemiller355@hotmail.com or eirikhaaken@yahoo.com.

Madison: New LGBTQ Youth Group Starting at OutReach in March- Generation Q, a social support group for 18-24 year old lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) youth will be starting at OutReach. The group will be informal in nature and serve as an opportunity for LGBTQ youth to get together to share their lives, make new friends, and plan activities. Possible activities may include movie nights, coffeehouse salons, club dancing, group dining out and sports activities. If interested, call Chris or Jenny at 608-255-8582 to scheduled an interview or e-mail at them at programs@outreachinc.com by Thursday, February 17.

Milwaukee: Time Change For Anti-Amendment Valentine’s Day Rally - Center Advocates, the lead organization coordinating the February 14 Anti-Amendment rally has announced a time change for the event.  The rally now will be begin a half hour earlier in the Milwaukee City Hall Rotunda, 200 E. Wells Street on Monday, February 14, 2005 (Valentine’s Day) from 5-6:15 PM.
  This Valentine’s Day, show your support for love, commitment, and tolerance for all Wisconsin families. Come to the Valentine’s Day Rally, sponsored by the Milwaukee “No on the Amendment” Coalition. Learn how the proposed amendment to the Wisconsin constitution goes too far and why people from all walks of life are opposing it.
  For more information, call Patrick at 414-71-2656, ext. 112. The Milwaukee “No on the Amendment” Coalition is a diverse group of clergy and civic organizations united against a constitutional ban on civil unions and  same-sex marriage. The Coalition supports tolerance for all Wisconsin families.

Milwaukee: Project Q’s February Calendar Stuffed With Activities - The LGBT Center’s Project Q has made th shortest month of the year one of its busiest. The youth group started the month on the peak of good energy and appreciation by sponsoring a Black History Month Kick-Off Drop-in Soiree February 1.
 On Friday, February 4 there will be a  drop-in movie night featuring the documentary “Ruth Ellis: Living with Pride to 100.” The next evening (February 5) the youth who choose to stop by  will play Mafia, a PQ favorite, and Killer, a game on a meteoric rise, for a while. Then will switch gears break up into teams to play some team oriented games such as a LGBT/Pop Culture themed round of Pictionary with rewards for the winning team.
  Among the topics and activities of other drop-in events planned this month are “Famous African American LGBT People” on February 8, a battle royale game of Twister as the “Twister’s Converge” February 11,  at “Heartbreaker Party” on February 13, a “Stop Smoking Challenge” on February 15, a “Let the Creative Juices Flow – Express Yourself” creative night of writing, art, or even interpretive dance on February 18. weekday drop-in events run from 4:30 - 9 PM; weekend events run from 5 - 9 PM. Events scheduled later in the month will be profiled in the next issue of Quest and are also listed on the Project Q website at: www.projectq.org.

Milwaukee: Keith Boykin To Speak at UWM - Former Clinton White House staffer, author, activist, American Candidate reality show contestant and inspirational lecturer Keith Boykin will appear at the UW-Milwaukee on February 16, from 7:30 - 9:30 PM in the Union Ballroom.
  Born on the anniversary of Dr. King’s famous March on Washington, Keith Boykin has become one of the nation’s leading commentators on race, sexuality and politics. Keith appeared on the Showtime television show American Candidate and is a frequent presence in the media. He has appeared on CNN, Fox News, NPR, BET and numerous other television and radio programs. He has been featured on the cover of several publications including Out and The Advocate, and he was selected as one of Out Magazine’s 100 most intriguing people of 2004. He has also been featured or quoted in articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and JET magazine.
  After graduating from Dartmouth College, Keith spent a year and a half working for the Dukakis for President Campaign and then entered Harvard Law School, where he was a leader in the campus diversity movement and general editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. When he received his J.D. from Harvard, Keith turned down a lucrative offer to work for a major California law firm so he could join the Clinton/Gore Campaign in Arkansas. Afterwards, he became a Special Assistant to the President and Director of Specialty Media.
  Once the highest-ranking openly gay person in the Clinton White House, Keith helped to organize and participated in the nation’s first meeting between gay and lesbian leaders and a U.S. President. In 1997, President Clinton appointed Keith to the U.S. presidential trade delegation to Zimbabwe, along with Rev. Jesse Jackson, Coretta Scott King and Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater. He now serves as president of the board of the National Black Justice Coalition.
  Keith left the White House to write his first book, “One More River to Cross,” and has since become an award-winning author, a political lecturer, a college professor and an ambassador for change in America. He has written for the Village Voice, San Francisco Chronicle, the St. Petersburg Times, The Advocate, Black Issues Book Review and Crisis magazine. His syndicated column appears in several newspapers across the country, including the New York Blade, the Washington Blade, Southern Voice and Houston Voice.
  Boykin’s appearance is sponsored by the UW-M LGBT Resource Center and open to the public without charge.
For more information, call 414-229-4116 or 414-229-3758.

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