Reality Check "Mike's Fitzpatrick's Reality Check column can be the bitch-slap
                        every queer  in Wisconsin needs every now and then."
QuestQuest News
                   Volume XII  No. 5   March 31, 2005
                                    Compiled and written by Mike Fitzpatrick
 
From Our Last Issue:
Top Stories:
 

Ohio Domestic Violence Laws For All Unmarried Couples Voided
Two Judges Cite Recently Passed “Gay” Marriage Ban Amendment, Action Wisconsin Responds

Cleveland - In a span of just two days,  two Ohio judges have ruled that domestic violence charges cannot be filed against unmarried people because of Ohio’s recently enacted definition of marriage. The rulings used the ban to have domestic violence charges in heterosexual relationships rejected.
  On March 25 a Cleveland judge said that a man who beat his live-in girlfriend could not be charged because of the provision in the Judge Stuart Friedman amendment that says the state cannot grant legal status to unmarried people living as spouses. On March 23 Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Stuart Friedman changed a felony domestic violence charge against Frederick Burk to a misdemeanor assault charge because of the state’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
  Judges and others across the country have been waiting for a ruling on how the gay marriage ban, among the nation’s broadest, would affect Ohio’s 25-year-old domestic violence law, which has not been limited to married people. Friedman’s ruling is the first for the state among several similar requests to overturn domestic violence charges, prosecutors said. Prosecutors plan to appeal.
  Frederick, 42, of Cleveland, was accused of physically harming his live-in girlfriend in January. Details of the alleged abuse were not included in court documents. Frederick’s lawyer had asked the judge to throw out the domestic violence charge because of the new wording in Ohio’s constitution that prohibits any state or local law that would “create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals.”
  In his ruling, Friedman said he had no choice but to throw out domestic violence in favor of the lessor charge because the domestic violence law conflicts with the state constitution. Courts have applied the domestic violence law by defining a family as including an unmarried couple living together as would a husband and wife, the judge said. Now courts can’t do that because of the gay marriage amendment, he said.
  “By mandating that the State deny any legal recognition ‘that intends to approximate the design, significance or effect of marriage’ to relationships between unmarried individuals, the Ohio Constitution now appears to threaten the limited protections previously available to them by law,” Friedman wrote.
  Action Wisconsin was quick to note the pattern of unintended consequences of the broadly worded marriage bans were impacting unmarried couples regardless of sexual orientation. In it’s March 24 press release the statewide LGBT civil rights group noted, “Yesterday, an Ohio judge ruled that domestic violence charges cannot be filed against unmarried people because of Ohio’s recently enacted constitutional ban on civil unions and marriage for gay couples. Action Wisconsin (has) decried the potential far-reaching consequences of the similar ban being proposed in Wisconsin.”
  “The evidence is piling up that these bans on gay unions do much more than ‘define marriage,’” Action Wisconsin executive director Christopher Ott said. “The effects of these bans are not abstract. In real terms, they mean people--gay and non-gay alike--are denied bereavement leave, lose their health care, and potentially lose the right to be safe from domestic violence. For any reasonable person, these bans simply go too far.”
  Action Wisconsin noted that there are now 17 states with constitutional bans on gay unions, and several are experiencing far-reaching consequences. Last week, the press release continued, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox ruled that cities like Kalamazoo cannot renew future employee contracts that include domestic partner health insurance policies. This ruling could take away existing health benefits for public employees.
  Action Wisconsin pointed out that the Michigan ruling echoed the predictions of Madison City Attorney Michael May. May recently issued a legal opinion saying that the proposed Wisconsin amendment would likely invalidate Madison’s domestic partner benefits policy.
  “Too many Wisconsin lawmakers continue to support the proposed amendment here, despite the mounting evidence that it could have all sorts of far-reaching consequences for Wisconsin families,” Ott said. “But we remain hopeful that more and more Wisconsinites will see that the proposed amendment will hurt real families by denying critical protections that come with civil marriage.”

Task Force: Denial Of Marriage Rights Costs
Same-Sex Couples Tens Of Millions Nationally

Washington, DC - As millions of married couples are signing and sending off their tax returns prior to the April 15 tax day deadline, a groundbreaking report released March 21 by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute and Love Makes a Family NGLTF of Connecticut reveals that same-sex couples face widespread economic disparities and hardships because they are denied equal marriage rights. The report takes situations commonly faced by Connecticut couples and compares the economic benefits afforded to married opposite-sex couples to those available to same-sex couples. Two same-sex couples residing in Connecticut are profiled to show the real-life costs to them and their children of not being able to marry. If the thousands of dollars on average spent by the Connecticut couples were multiplied by the total number of same-sex couples identified nationally in the 2000 U. S. Census, the total cost to same sex couples would be in the tens of millions.
  Economic Benefits of Marriage under Federal and Connecticut Law is the first comprehensive analysis of the disparities same-sex couples in Connecticut face in federal and state income tax, Social Security benefits, gift tax, estate tax, worker’s compensation, and line of duty death benefits. It was authored by Terence R. Dougherty, an attorney with Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler LLP, a prestigious 168-lawyer firm based in New York City. The firm was ranked #1 in the nation for the pro bono contributions of lawyers in 2002.
  One of the couples profiled in the report, Stephen Rinaldi and Andre Kreft, both in their early 50s, earn a total of about $75,000 per year and pay $2,689 (25%) more each year in state and federal income taxes than a married couple earning the same amount because they cannot file a joint return. The analysis also found that if Stephen, a Connecticut state employee, died as a result of an injury at work, his spouse by marriage would receive $2,862 per month ($34,344 per year) in workers’ compensation benefits. However, because Stephen and Andre cannot marry, Andre would receive nothing.
  The study takes this analysis one step further by estimating the aggregate lifetime economic detriment felt by same-sex couples because they are unable to marry. For example, the total economic liability to Stephen and Andre—aggregated over their expected lifetimes and including lost income taxes, Social Security spousal and survivor benefits—will be at least $212,176, not counting the absent investment returns on potentially saved taxed dollars. If Stephen died with a $2 million estate that was subsequently transferred to Andre, the estate tax liability Andre would have to pay would raise the aggregate lifetime economic detriment for the couple up to $751,101. If they were married, they would face none of these liabilities.
  Lawrence B. and Daniel R., an additional real-world couple in Connecticut profiled in the study, have been together for 22 years and are raising three adopted children. Lawrence is the main breadwinner, and Daniel is a stay-at-home father who currently has no income and therefore may be ineligible to receive Social Security retirement benefits. Under federal law, a married spouse is entitled to receive up to half the amount of his or her spouse’s Social Security retirement benefits. However, because they cannot marry, upon retirement age Lawrence and Daniel’s combined monthly Social Security retirement benefit will be $1,030 less per month ($12,360 less per year) than it would be if they were able to legally marry. Additionally, if they were legally married, and Lawrence died before reaching retirement age, Daniel’s Social Security survivor benefit would be $1,952 per month or $23,424 per year. However, because they can not marry, Daniel would receive nothing.
  Given the passage of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996, which allows the federal government to withhold recognition of same-sex marriages performed in any state, in the short run same-sex marriages in Connecticut would not be recognized by federal bureaucracies. However, many believe DOMA to be unconstitutional, and it is possible that in the future DOMA will be struck down or repealed. It is also possible that a President and Congress more supportive of equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people will afford these federal protections to married same-sex couples. While same-sex couples in Connecticut would not be able to immediately access those federal protections, if they are allowed to marry they have the potential to access these protections in the future. However, if same-sex couples are only allowed to form civil unions, under the current legal framework they will never be able to access any federal benefits or protections.
  “Andre and I always knew that marriage discrimination was harmful to us and other same-sex couples in Connecticut,” said Stephen Rinaldi, who along with his partner Andre Kreft is profiled in the study, “But we never realized that we were losing thousands of dollars per year and hundreds of thousands over our lifetime simply because we are gay and can not legally marry. This kind of discrimination at the hands of our own government is shameful and needs to end.”
  To download a free copy of the full report, go to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force publications library at http://www.TheTaskForce.org/connecticutstudy.

World & National News:

California: Gay Marriage Ban Ruled Illegal 
SF Gay WeddingA San Francisco judge ruled March 14 that it is unconstitutional for the state of California to deny marriage to gay and lesbian couples. “It appears that no rational purpose exists for limiting marriage in this state to opposite-sex partners,” County Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer said in a written ruling.
  In striking down the state ban on same-sex marriage Kramer wrote that the state’s historical definition of marriage, by itself, cannot justify the denial of equal protection for gays and lesbians.  “The state’s protracted denial of equal protection cannot be justified simply because such constitutional violation has become traditional,” Kramer wrote.
  “We’re still a little stunned, but we’re overjoyed,” Lancy Woo, a 38-year-old, lifelong San Francisco resident said. Woo is the lead plaintiff in the case with her partner, Cristy Chung, 40.  “Our six-year-old daughter, Olivia, is just beginning to understand how the world works, and we can’t wait to talk with her about today’s ruling.  We’ve always taught that her that our family is based on love, just like other families, and this ruling confirms that our family shouldn’t be treated any differently by our government.”
  Another child of lesbian parents was elated when she heard the news. “I am so happy that my parents can finally get married,” said Ericka Sokolower-Shain, the fifteen-year-old daughter of plaintiffs Karen Shain and Jody Sokolower.  “My parents have been together for over 30 years. They have been together so long they can practically read each others’ minds. It is only right they should be able to get married.”  
  Plaintiffs Corey Davis and Andre Lejeune were elated by news of the decision. “As African American gay men, we joined this lawsuit to lift the mantle of discrimination and inequality perpetuated by the state of California through its outmoded marriage laws,” Corey said. “Years from now, when marriage for gays and lesbians is legal nationwide, our children will study this issue in school and wonder—just as the white kids in my generation did about those so violently opposed to the co-mingling of the races and ending legal segregation—they’ll wonder and secretly pray that their relatives weren’t any of those people perpetuating discrimination against gays and lesbians.”
  “We are overjoyed by today’s ruling,” Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis, two other plaintiffs in the lawsuit said. “Fifty years ago, the California courts paved the way for my mom and dad to get married when they struck down the state law barring interracial couples from marriage,” said Stuart.
  At city hall, a beaming mayor Gavin Newsom was joined at a news conference by several of the gay and lesbian couples involved in the suit. “We will not be appealing this decision,” the mayor joked as the crowd broke into laughter.
  The ruling also brought cheers from the state’s largest LGBT civil rights group  “We’re thrilled that the court not only recognized that discriminatory marriage laws violate the constitutional guarantees of equal protection but also that the court struck down Prop 22 as being unconstitutional,” Geofrey Kors, the executive director of Equality California said. “This is a historic ruling that says the freedoms guaranteed in our state’s Constitution belong to all Californians,” said Jennifer C. Pizer, Senior Counsel for Lambda Legal in the Western Regional Office and its lead attorney on the case.
  “The court recognized that same-sex couples aren’t treated equally under the law unless we can marry.  This ruling says that same-sex couples deserve all the protections and security marriage provides and that we’re entitled to get them the same way straight couples do.”
  Kramer’s ruling will be appealed and the California Supreme Court will make a final ruling.
  California Attorney General Bill Lockyer was expected to file a notice of appeal.  Lawyers for Attorney General Bill Lockyer had argued that the law limiting marriage does not violate the spirit California’s Constitution. The state maintained that the traditional concept of marriage is deeply ingrained in the state’s history and that there is no fundamental right to same-sex marriage.
  The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in November 2003 that it was unconstitutional to deny gays and lesbians marriage. But, the court gave the legislature until May, 2004 to repeal its ban on gay marriage.  When the State House failed to act the court’s ruling kicked in.  The first gay weddings in the state began on May 17, 2004. Although a proposed amendment to the Massachusetts constitution is before the legislature but unlikely to pass.

Maryland: Domestic Partner Bill Passes State Senate
Equality MarylandLegislation supported by statewide gay civil rights group Equality Maryland that would create a registry giving unmarried couples the right to make medical decisions for each other was approved March 25 by the Maryland Senate.
  The bill cleared the Senate on a 31-17 roll call, seven votes more than the number required for passage. It now goes to the House of Delegates, which passed similar legislation last year but which was waiting for Senate action before taking up this year’s bill.
  While the bill was promoted by Equality Maryland, it also would apply to any unmarried couples who want to register with the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Registration would guarantee partners the right to make medical decisions for each other, visit their partners’ hospital rooms, share rooms in nursing homes, share ambulance rides and make decisions about whether to bury or cremate after death.
  Most opponents who spoke during brief but emotional debate said they opposed the bill because it is not needed. Republican State Senator Alex Mooney called the bill “a step toward homosexual marriage” and said its purpose is “promoting the radical homosexual agenda.”
  Democrat State Senator Paul Pinsky countered that the bill is not about gay marriage but is needed to help deal with “a homophobic problem.” “What the bill does is give fair rights in a reasoned way,” Pinsky said, saying a vote in favor of it “is a vote for civil rights and decency.”
  Sponsoring Senator Joan Carter Conway said her bill applies to heterosexual and homosexual couples, including elderly people whose spouses have died and who can’t afford to get married because they would lose Social Security and pension payments.
  New Jersey, Maine and California also have domestic partner registries, but those states offer a broader range of rights to registry members, said gay rights lobbyist Dan Furmansky, executive director of Equality Maryland. Maryland’s bill is limited to offering medical- and hospital-related rights. “It’s about peace of mind for thousands of Maryland families,” Furmansky said. “It’s basic, common decency to pass it into law as soon as possible.”
  A second bill championed by Equality Maryland, which would add crimes motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation to the state’s hate crimes law, has passed the House of Delegates and is awaiting action in the Senate.

Ohio: GOP National Chairman Mehlman
Ducks Gay Question
Closet Case Mehlman“You have asked a question people shouldn’t have to answer,” said Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman to a reporter asking if he is gay. Mehlman was interviewed after he spoke to the Summit County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day dinner March 19 at Quaker Station. Earlier Mehlman had praised the gathering “because Summit County increased its votes for George W. Bush from 2000 to 2004 more than any other county.”
  Mehlman managed the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign and, according to the campaign’s Ohio co-chair, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, directed Ohio anti-gay activists to mount the campaign to put the Issue 1 marriage ban amendment on the ballot (see top stories).
  Internet bloggers have pointed out that if Mehlman, 38, unmarried and never with female companionship, is gay, he is a hypocrite. Activist and blogger John Arovosis says Mehlman should be outed if he is gay because “Mehlman has already said publicly that the gay issue is fair game for politics. If it is fair game, then the same rules apply to him.” Arovosis opines that in addition to Mehlman defending George W. Bush’s anti-gay policies, “the Republican National Committee makes no bones about using gay bashing to help Republican candidates.”
  “The GOP has made it perfectly clear that gays and lesbians and their relationships are a threat to the fabric of American society. As American citizens and voters, we have the right to know if Ken Mehlman’s so-far-undisclosed relationships are posing such a threat or not,” Arovosis wrote.
  As RNC chair, Mehlman organized a campaign to discredit Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. Among the reasons he said Reid is unfit to hold the position is the senator’s longstanding positive relationship with the Human Rights Campaign and his 100 percent LGBT voting record. Also included was Reid’s opposition to a federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
  During his Akron remarks, Mehlman put forth political and policy statements often viewed as anti-gay. “Republicans are for government that stands on the side of marriage,” he said, “and on the side of strong families.” After the dinner, he was asked by a reporter about the GOP’s support for the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment, introduced in the House last week by Representative Dan Lundgren of California.
  Mehlman made it clear that he supports the amendment. “I don’t think it’s anti-gay,” said Mehlman. “I don’t think the intent is to be anti-anything.”
  Mehlman also promoted the “culture of life,” which is seen as code for anti-choice, anti-sex and reproductive privacy laws. “We have to appoint strict constructionists to the bench who know the difference between their job and [that of] legislators,” said Mehlman.
  “Strict constructionists” generally hold to the literal meaning of the Constitution at the time of its writing. They are not likely to rule favorably on the side of plaintiffs who bring civil rights actions.
  Mehlman told the party faithful that the way to achieve a “durable Republican majority” at all levels of government is “to make GOP stand for Grow Our Party.” To do so, Mehlman said, “We must get more African-Americans and Latinos.” Both groups have significant elements of social conservatism opposed to LGBT equality on religious grounds.
  Asked if growing the GOP means embracing LGBT equality and including gays and lesbians, Mehlman avoided the question again, saying, “The Republican Party is based on ideas. Anyone who shares those ideas is welcome.” Mehlman added that his sexual orientation, whatever it is, “changes nothing” as to how the party will operate under his leadership.
  Steve Schmidt, a senior official of the Bush campaign, is the only person near Mehlman to answer a question about his sexuality. “Ken Mehlman is not gay,” he flatly told reporter Jake Tapper for a story in this month’s GQ.
  The dinner’s sponsor, the Summit County Republican Party, is headed by Alex R. Arshinkoff, who was outed by the Cleveland Weekly Scene in June, 2003. The paper reported accounts of Arshinkoff’s presence at Cleveland area gay bars, including the Leather Stallion and the Grid. Arshinkoff’s vanity license plate ARA-1 has been seen in Akron gay bar parking lots and cruising areas for years.
  According to a December 27, 2002 Akron police report, Arshinkoff picked up a 21-year-old male Kent State student who was stranded and needed to get home. The report says Arshinkoff asked the student if he was gay or bi, then began rubbing his thigh and grabbing his crotch, asking the young man if he wanted to make some money. An officer saw the student jump out of the car, but let Arshinkoff go and police never investigated further.
  A second incident concerned a sexual harassment complaint reported to a deputy clerk of the Summit County Board of Elections by a former Municipal Court employee, also male. No charges were filed. Arshinkoff, in addition to recruiting and promoting anti-gay candidates, some of them also believed to be closeted gays, authorized a letter to be sent on behalf of the Summit County Republican Party thanking voters who signed petitions to put Issue 1 on the ballot. “We need voters like you,” the letter said.
  Jim King, the owner of Angel Falls, a mostly gay coffee shop in Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood, said he sent a letter to Arshinkoff, who used to come in the store twice a day, asking if it was true that the party paid for that letter. “I just wanted to know the truth,” said King, “and I never heard from him again.”
  Arshnikoff, who is married, has never publicly come out. Another Ohio county GOP chair, Franklin County’s Doug Preisse, came out quietly last year in a September 12 Columbus Dispatch story on the city’s openly lesbian council member Mary Jo Hudson.
  Four members of the Cleveland Log Cabin Republican group attended the dinner to hear Mehlman. Fred Bachhuber  of the group said he did not expect to hear an LGBT welcome from Mehlman. “He just can’t do it yet, but as long as he’s sleeping with men behind the scenes, that’s all I care about,” Bachhuber said.

Paris: Genetic Study of HIV SuperBug Proves It’s Real
DNAA genetic study of a strain of the AIDS virus that triggered a health alert in New York describes the pathogen as unique, resistant to almost every class of HIV drug and apparently able to wreck the immune system with unprecedented speed.
  US researchers unravelled the DNA identity of the mutated virus after it was found in a New York man who is believed to have progressed to full-blown AIDS just months after becoming infected, rather than years, as is usually the case.
  The unidentified man, aged in his late 40s, had had unprotected anal sex with multiple male partners and regularly took methamphetamine, or “ice” -- an outlawed stimulant that heightens sexual appetite and lowers inhibitions. In a study published on March 13  in The Lancet, a team led by Martin Markowitz of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York, identify the 3-DCR virus as a mutated strain of the B subtype of HIV-1, the most widespread of the two main branches of AIDS virus.
  Its genetic map shows it to have, unusually, a double option for penetrating human immune cells, able to latch onto its target via two docking points, called receptors, on the cell surface. In addition, the virus’ mutated shape means it is impervious to the three of the four classes of anti-retroviral drugs designed to stop the virus from replicating in the immune cell.
  The other class of drug, a small and very expensive category of treatments called fusion inhibitors, which are designed to prevent the virus from docking to the cell, may make headway against it, according to the DNA analysis.
  The patient went to his doctor on December 16, complaining of a sore throat and fatigue, the study said. An HIV test was conducted, and it was positive. However, he had had five previous tests, between September 2000 and May 2003, and all were negative.
  At a follow-up examination on January 13, he bore the hallmarks of full-blown AIDS -- severe weight loss, with the shedding of nearly nine pounds in just three weeks, a sense of sickness, anorexia, sore throat and difficulty in swallowing.  Comparing his test results and record of sexual activities, the researchers believe the patient progressed from infection to AIDS in a time frame of four to 20 months, a speed that has no parallel in the known history of the disease.
  The virus was first reported at an AIDS conference in New York in February. Its discovery was considered so important that the team alerted the city authorities, who began to trace the man’s sex partners and held a press conference to urge the public to practice safe sex.
  The emergence of a new, resistant strain of virus is a nightmare for AIDS campaigners, who worry it could negate the precious antiretroviral drugs that have turned HIV into a manageable if still incurable disease. But the discovery also ignited controversy.  Other researchers blasted the alert as premature and some gay activists branded it hype.
  Drug-resistant strains have sporadically popped up in the long history of AIDS, as have strains that swiftly cause transition to full-blown AIDS.  In addition, some people are highly susceptible to HIV while others can live almost problem-free for a decade or more before their immune system is compromised.
  Markowitz’s team stress it remains unclear how widespread 3-DCR virus is, how easily it can be transmitted, and whether some people may be genetically more vulnerable to it others.  But they also say the new virus is exceptional.  
  Normally, drug-resistant strains are less virulent -- they gain their resistance at the cost of their ability to replicate.  In this case, though, the agent -- but in laboratory conditions -- replicated as easily as non-resistant types.
  “This case serves a reminder that HIV remains a frighteningly versatile foe, one that can mutate to escape immune attack or to acquire drug resistance with surprising speed,” The Lancet said in an editorial.  “Despite all the progress that has been made in developing new drugs, prevention remains the most effective strategy to combat HIV, especially efforts that target high-risk groups.”

State News:

Green Bay: Local Activist Chuck Hubbard Remembered
Chuck HubbardScores of friends and family remembered the life and accomplishments of activist Charles D. “Chuck” Hubbard here Saturday, March 26. In a eulogy delivered by fellow Entertainers Against AIDS member Duane Koontz, Hubbard’s involvement in many projects for area groups such as EAA, the Argonauts and Rainbow Over Wisconsin.
  A suspected case of meningococcal meningitis, a rarely seen inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord, is believed to have taken the Hubbard’s life. Hubbard died at 10:45 AM Friday, March 18.
  Hubbard had been rushed to Bellin Memorial Hospital March 5 after being found non-responsive at his home by a friend and coworker, after he failed to report for work. Hubbard remained in the hospital’s critical care unit until his passing.
  As of March 15, doctors had reported the swelling in Hubbard’s brain has reduced and he had short periods of consciousness. According to family spokeperson Bob Hubbard, despite the improvements in Chuck’s condition at that time, his recovery had remained in doubt.
  Because of the many rumors that had been circulating, an update on Hubbard’s condition was given at a benefit show for the activist at the Fox River Lounge on March 13, at which Hubbard had spoken briefly by phone to several attendees during the show.
  Hubbard was born in Green Bay on July 30, 1966 to the late Charles Dale and Phyllis (Rusch) Hubbard. He was a graduate of Green Bay West High School. Chuck was employed as a floral designer at McDonald Flower Studio for the past 16 years, and also worked part time at the Fox River Lounge.  
  Hubbard is survived by four brothers, William, Kingsford, Michigan; James (Audra) Menomonie; Robert, Green Bay; and John, Mineral Point; one sister, Terry (Henry) Severson, Mosinee; and his two cats, Cody and Hercules. He is further survived by nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

LaCrosse: Action Wisconsin, Community Center Co-Sponsor Speakers’ Training
7 Rivers LGBTThe 7 Rivers LGBT Resource Center is proud to co-sponsor with Action Wisconsin a Speakers’ Training To Stop The Ban on Saturday April 2, from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM in the Ward Room at the UW-La Crosse Cartwright Center, corner of State and Campbell Sts.
  Republican lawmakers are pushing a constitutional amendment that would ban legal recognition of all unmarried couples, regardless of sexual orientation. That would include marriage and civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. The Legislature may take up the amendment again any time and will probably place it on a statewide ballot in November 2006.
  To attend, register in person at the 7 Rivers Center, call Action Wisconsin at 608-441-0143, Ext.309, or email at: lindsey.saunders@actionwisconsin.org

Madison, Milwaukee: Journey Of Hope AIDS Awareness Tour 2005 Makes Two Wisconsin Stops
Journey Of HopeCamp Heartland and GE Healthcare are sponsoring a three-week national AIDS awareness tour, April 6 – 28, designed to reach young people at schools, universities and other community venues with messages of hope, prevention, testing and compassion. The tour will travel throughout the Midwest and West Coast, including stops in Madison on April 8 and 9, and in Milwaukee on April 10. Final plans for the Wisconsin dates had not been announced at Quest’s deadline. Check the Quest News Update site for details as they are provided. Other tour stops include Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Wichita, Boulder, Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.                                      
  More than twenty-five children and young adults will be traveling as part of the Journey of Hope tour. These courageous speakers are either living with HIV/AIDS, have family members with the disease or have lost loved ones to the disease. They will share their thoughts on what it is like to live with a disease that threatens their own or loved ones’ lives; their experiences of telling friends and neighbors; and their hopes for the future.                                          
  Also traveling with the tour will be Camp Heartland staff. Camp Heartland is a national charity that makes a profound year-round and life-long difference for children, teenagers and young adults impacted by HIV/AIDS. Camp Heartland does this through camping sessions, advocacy, recreational programs and community AIDS-awareness efforts. The Journey of Hope AIDS Awareness Program has made Camp Heartland a leader in HIV    
prevention and education.  For general information about the tour, please contact Julie Walker, Community Education Coordinator, at 800-724-4673.

Milwaukee: LGBT Community Center Urges Lesbians To “Kiss Off” Smoking
 Kiss Off poster The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center announces the start of an innovative and creative anti-smoking and smoking cessation advertising campaign targeting lesbians over the age of 40.  The “Delicious Lesbian Kisses Campaign,” part of an ongoing national effort to raise awareness of lesbian health issues, was developed by, for and about lesbians.
    Milwaukee’s kick-off event to the advertising campaign, Kiss Off Smoking, takes place on Saturday, April 16 from 2 PM to 5 PM at Out ‘n About.    
  “We’re very excited to be working with Out ‘n About and the Lesbian Alliance of Metro Milwaukee to introduce the smoking cessation campaign to women in Milwaukee.  Lesbians of all ages – smokers and non-smokers – are invited to join us at Out ‘n About on April 16 for a smoke-free party.   Ronnie Nyles and stand-up comedian, Tanya Atkinson, will be performing, and we’ll have door prizes, give-a-ways, appetizers and a kissing booth, “ said Kathy Herbst, Director of Programs for the Center.
  The campaign, funded in part through a grant from the American Legacy Foundation, was developed the  Mautner Project, The National Lesbian Health Organization in Washington D.C.,  and will also debut in Washington, DC; Philadelphia, PA; and Phoenix, AZ.
  One version of the ad illustrates a very suggestive substitution to smoking.  Juxtaposing images of women’s lips, the tagline reads: “Want to kiss me all night?  All over?  Put that cigarette away.  Let’s put your lips to better use.”
  “Through our partnership with the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center, we are able to reach many more women than through a stand-alone advertising campaign,” said Kathleen DeBold, executive director, Mautner Project. “By utilizing their existing programs in conjunction with the campaign, we can provide lesbians 40-years-old and older with not only a reason to quit, but with the tools to help them do it once and for all.”  
  “We’re delighted to be working with the Mautner Project.  They’ve been leaders in addressing lesbian health issues and once again have come up with a creative, innovative approach to addressing a serious health issue for lesbians,” said Herbst. For more information, including PDF copies of the ads, please contact Kathy Herbst at 414-271-2656 or via email at kherbst@mkelgbt.org. You may also download the poster directly from the Quest site.
  The Mautner Project is The National Lesbian Health Organization. The Mautner Project improves the health of lesbians and their families through advocacy, education, research, and direct service.  We envision a health care system that is guided by social justice and responsive to the needs of all people.
  The mission of the Center is to improve the quality of life for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the greater Milwaukee area through education, programming, services and advocacy.

Milwaukee: Wisconsin AIDS Pioneers To Be Honored At ARCW’s “Make A Promise”
Make A Promise As part of the agency’s 20th anniversary, ARCW will recognize 20 individuals or organizations who have given 20 years to the fight against AIDS in Wisconsin at the annual “Make A Promise” dinner, dance and silent auction to be held this year at the Milwaukee Art Museum on the city’s lakefront. The pioneers’ photographs and stories will be on display in the East Galleria, and they will be honored during a reception after dinner. The event will begin on Saturday, April 9, 2005 at 5:30 PM.
  Tickets are $100 and $150, with tables of ten available for purchase at $1,000 or $1,500. The VIP $150 ticket includes free valet parking and complimentary wine and cocktail service during dinner. To order tickets online, click on the Make A Promise link at www.arcw.org , or contact Joseph Brooks at (800) 359-9272, ext. 1545 or Joseph.Brooks@arcw.org .

Milwaukee: “Angels In America” Playwright Tony Kushner To Appear At Center Advocates Fundraiser
Center Advocates, the Tony Kushner political advocacy arm of the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center will sponsor a fund-raising reception with “Angels in America” Tony Kushner Friday, April 15, at Cranston, Accents for Home & Life, on 250 N. Water St. in the city’s Historic Third Ward.
   Attendees will join the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Angels in America” in this high-profile event to benefit the Advocates’ No on the Amendment Coalition. The requested $100 non-tax-deductible donation will help mobilize our community to defeat Wisconsin’s proposed constitutional ban on civil unions and gay marriage.
   “Archangel” sponsors for the event are Robert Starshak, MD & Ross Draegert. Other “Angel” sponsors include Marie Kohler and Julilly Kohler.
  Attendees may pay at the door or make reservations by contacting Patrick Flaherty by phone at 414-271-2656, Ext112 or by email at: pflaherty@mkelgbt.org.
  Center Advocates  was launched by the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center in 2004 to serve as a political voice for its community. Center Advocates is lead by a diverse board of members. Since its inception, Center Advocates has successfully held rallies, pamphlet drops, discussions with politicians in our state capitol, voter mobilization drives and letter writing campaigns.  In addition, CA has been able to mobilize hundreds for literature drops and poll-station ally drives.
Milwaukee: “Hairspray” Discount Tickets Available In Advance To LGBT Center Members, Friends   Supporters of the Hairspray city’s LGBT Center are getting a special opportunity to obtain tickets to the hit musical “Hairspray” at a discount before they go on sale to the general public. Center members, email subscribers and friends can obtain advance tickets by logging on to a special Marcus Center web page at: http://www.marcuscenter.org/LGBTMILW.html to purchase tickets for the May 26 evening and 29 matinee performances. Tickets must be purchased online and the code word LGBTMKE must be added to the sale. The offer is only good until April 6.
  “Hairspray,” Broadway's musical-comedy phenomenon takes the audience back to 1962 Baltimore, as 16-year old Tracy Turnblad sets out to dance her way onto TV's most popular show.  Can a big girl with big dreams - and even bigger hair! - change the world... and still have time to win the boy she loves?  This mega-hit is piled bouffant-high with laughter and romance - and enough deliriously tuneful new songs to fill a nonstop platter-party. The musical is based on the John Waters’ film of the same name that featured legendary drag diva Divine as Traci’s mother.
  The offer is part of the LGBT Center’s continuing effort to building relationships within the greater Milwaukee community. Performances will be presented in Uihlein Hallof the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Curtain times are at 7:30 PM and 1 PM

Sturgeon Bay: Hate Crime Charges Dropped,
Second Basher Pleads Guilty 
In what appears to be another plea deal, a second Door County man has pleaded guilty to lesser charges in the June, 2004 bar brawl that was allegedly prompted by sexual orientation of openly gay guest house owners Darrin Day and Bryon Groeschl. Adam Bley, 24, of Sturgeon Bay, pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct March 24. Bley was fined  $367.
  Andrew Ostrand pleaded guilty last December 20 to disorderly conduct and battery charges in exchange for the dropping of the hate crime charge. Judge Peter Diltz, who replaced Judge D. Todd Ehlers in the case, deferred acceptance of the guilty plea agreement and until the trials of the other alleged assailants were completed. Since his involvement in the June 6 incident at Bley’s Tavern in rural Jacksonport, Ostrand has been charged with several other crimes including disorderly conduct, criminal damage to property and reckless driving. Earlier this month the Wisconsin Dept. of Revenue issued several warrants against Ostrand for unpaid back taxes.
  According to a March 25 Green Bay Press Gazette report, hate crime charges have allegedly been dropped for two others in the case, Mark Sawyer and Robert Wagner, both of Egg Harbor. A Wisconsin Circuit Court Access Project review did not confirm the report at Quest’s deadline.
  Only Johua Sawyer, the youngest of the alleged gay bashers, continues to be charged with the hate crime penalty enhancer. Oral arguments in his case are scheduled for April 4, with jury selection and trial scheduled respectively for April 25 and 26.

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