December 9–22 Volume 1 ■ Issue 17
Center Loses Another Director Valarie Larabee named to replace Chad Beyer
GSA Students Protest West Jordan School Principal requires parental note to attend dance
Mormons Protest Blockbuster Latter Days ‘appalls’ some members
‘Inclusive’ Church Ad Refused by Networks Commercial shows gays, others being denied church Laurie’s Own Holiday Gift Guide In case you didn’t know what to get her
Ruby Demands Empress ID Badges More than security at stake
News WORLD AND NATIONAL
Welcoming Church Ad Deemed “Too Controversial” by CBS, NBC by Jere Keys jere@slmetro.com
cleveland, ohio –The CBS and NBC television networks are refusing to run a 30-second television ad from the United Church of Christ because its all-inclusive welcome has been deemed “too controversial.”
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United Church of Christ television commercial that was rejected by CBS and NBC
The ad, part of the denomination’s new, broad identity campaign set to begin airing nationwide on Dec. 1, states that—like Jesus—the United Church of Christ seeks to welcome all people, regardless of ability, age, race, economic circumstance or sexual orientation. According to a written explanation from CBS, the United Church of Christ is being denied network access because its ad implies acceptance of gay and lesbian couples—among other minority constituencies—and is, therefore, too “controversial.” “Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations,” reads an explanation from CBS, “and the fact that the Executive Branch has recently proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast on the [CBS and UPN] networks.” Similarly, a rejection by NBC declared the spot “too controversial.” “It’s ironic that after a political season awash in commercials based on fear and deception by both parties seen on all the major networks, an ad with a message of welcome and inclusion would be deemed too controversial,” says the Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC’s general minister and president. “What’s going on here?” Negotiations between network officials and the church’s representatives broke down on November 30, the day before the ad campaign was set to begin airing nationwide on a combination of broadcast and cable networks. The ad has been accepted and will air on a number of networks, including ABC Family, AMC, BET, Discovery, Fox, Hallmark, History, Nick@Nite, TBS, TNT, Travel and TV Land, among others. The UCC’s 3½-week, $1.7 million campaign is meant to attract new members and
could be extended into 2005. UUC membership has declined in recent years. The 1.3 million-member denomination, down from 1.7 million in 1989, has 6,000 congregations. The debut 30-second commercial features two muscle-bound “bouncers” standing guard outside a symbolic, picturesque church and selecting which persons are permitted to attend Sunday services. Written text interrupts the scene, announcing, “Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we.” A narrator then proclaims the United Church of Christ’s commitment to Jesus’ extravagant welcome: “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.” “We find it disturbing that the networks in question seem to have no problem exploiting gay persons through mindless comedies or titillating dramas, but when it comes to a church’s loving welcome of committed gay couples, that’s where they draw the line,” says the Rev. Robert Chase, director of the UCC’s communication ministry. The ad can be viewed at stillspeaking.com.
Pioneering Gay Journalist Roy Aarons Dies of Cancer by Jere Keys jere@slmetro.com
santa rosa, calif.—Leroy “Roy” F. Aarons, the former Oakland Tribune executive editor who founded the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) in his living room and grew it into a force in American journalism, died at 70 late Sunday, November 29 after a 10-month battle with cancer. Aarons, who lived with his partner of 24 years, Joshua Boneh, in Sebastopol, Calif.,
Roy Aarons
Gay Marketing Is No Longer Controversial According to Survey by Jere Keys jere@slmetro.com
princeton, nj—A new survey by the Opinion Research Corporation has found that most Americans simply don’t care if a company supports and markets to gay and lesbian consumers. In fact, 68 percent of American adults surveyed indicate that knowing a company promotes its products or services to gays and lesbians has no effect on how they feel about the company. The vast majority—81 percent—indicates it does not matter to them if a company whose products they use on a regular basis also promotes them to the gay and lesbian community. The survey of more than 1,000 general consumers regarding their sentiments toward marketing to the gay and lesbian community was conducted June 25—28 via OPC’s weekly telephone omnibus poll. It was conducted on behalf of FleishmanHillard International Communications in conjunction with the launch of FH Out Front, the firm’s new communications practice dedicated to helping clients communicate with the queer community. “The results of this survey show the growing acceptance, both in corporate America and among U.S. consumers, of gay and lesbian individuals,” said John D. Graham, the firm’s chairman and chief executive officer. Marketing professionals recognize the queer community as one of the largest untapped audiences remaining in the
communications marketplace with an estimated buying power of $450 billion. The survey also found that a plurality of Americans (45 percent) would not participate in an organized boycott against companies that market or promote products and services to gays and lesbians. Twenty percent said they would speak out against such a boycott, compared to eight percent who would actively participate. Three-fourths (77 percent) of respondents indicated they personally know someone who is gay or lesbian, 21 percent saying they did not. Even more important is the finding that those who personally know someone who is gay or lesbian are more likely than others to support companies that market to the gay and lesbian community. While this survey focused on all Americans, previous surveys targeting the queer community have found that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are significantly more likely to support companies which market to and support them. A 2002 Harris Interactive/Witeck-Combs Communications survey found 75 percent of self-identified gay and lesbian respondents said they prefer to do business with companies committed to diversity. The results of this latest survey by OPC should encourage businesses to abandon fears that marketing to and supporting the queer community will result in controversy and backlash from non-gay consumers.
died of heart failure at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Santa Rosa, Calif. He is also survived by a brother, Ronald Aarons of Boulder, Colo. “Today, NLGJA mourns our founder and a pioneering journalist whose unending dedication has touched all of our lives,” NLGJA Executive Director Pamela Strother said. An accomplished journalist who spent 14 years as a reporter and editor at the Washington Post, Aarons sent shockwaves through the news industry in 1990 when he emotionally acknowledged that he was gay at a conference of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. That announcement, which came at the end of a speech in which he also unveiled results of a landmark survey of gay and lesbian journalists that showed most were unhappy with their professional treatment and coverage of gay issues, served as the catalyst for Aarons’ formation of the NLGJA. Never before had a top editor of a major newspaper come out so publicly. “I had no idea it would be such a big deal until I was at that podium in New York about to say it,” Aarons recalled in an interview at his home in October. “Other people knew it was a big deal, but I don’t think I got it until The New York Times wrote about it.” Not only did the Times write about it, but in his role as NLGJA founder and president, Aarons had the ear of the most influential names in journalism. Times Publisher Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. called Aarons “an important force in journalism” and credited Aarons and NLGJA with a sea change in how the media in general and his newspaper in particular handled gay issues. Today, the NLGJA has more than 1,200 members and chapters in 24 regions in the United States as well as affiliates in Canada and Germany. “His coming out in a major public way was frightening for him,” said Elaine Herscher, then a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle. “But he did it, and it was to the good of all of us. He was a visionary, way ahead of the curve, an absolute dynamo.” NLGJA President Eric Hegedus agreed. “I don’t think anyone can properly quantify the enormous difference Roy made in the journalism world,” said Hegedus, a page designer for The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Through work in the NLGJA and as a founding board member of the Maynard Institute, he also helped bring together the minority journalism groups to tackle some of the most important diversity issues on the broadest scales possible. Roy’s behindthe-scenes work had such a profound and far-reaching impact on so many people.” “Roy Aarons was one of those largely unsung heroes who really did as much as anyone I can think of to advance understanding and equality,” said Andrew Tobias, treasurer of the Democratic National Committee and author of a best-selling memoir about his own coming out. “Long before there were budgets or fundraisers for his National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, he went from newsroom to newsroom, editorial board to editorial board and at the highest levels, opened eyes and minds to what had, up until then, been a largely invisible issue.”
News Briefs News B efs
Indiana Court Rules in Favor of Lesbian Moms
Australians Unite Against Gay Marriage
Teacher Sues Boy’s Lesbian Mom
canberra, aust.—A recent Institute of Family Studies (IFS) report says that while Australians are gradually becoming more tolerant towards gays and lesbians, the country’s ban on same-sex marriage is widely supported. “Our knowledge of attitudes regarding same-sex relationships is patchy but the general picture is that the typical Australian is strongly opposed to homosexuality,” the report read, noting that 60-70 percent of the nation were against giving lesbian and gay couples the legal rights enjoyed by married couples. The study also noted that such opposition was particularly strong among the country’s youth. Although Tasmania has a same-sex partnership registry and, along with West Australia, allows gays and lesbians to adopt children, the federal government made gay marriage illegal last August. Last month, the South Australian Government also withdrew a bill that would have given same-sex couples the same rights as married couples, save for marriage, adoption and access to such reproductive technologies as in vitro fertilization. The IFS study also estimated that the nation was home to 41,535 gay couples and 28,144 lesbian couples. Both sets of couples were more likely to be more educated and affluent than their heterosexual counterparts.—JV
lafayette, la.—A year after a lesbian mother said a second grade teacher disciplined her son for telling his classmates what the word “gay” meant, the teacher in question has filed a $50,000 defamation lawsuit saying the accusations caused damage to her reputation, as well as emotional pain. In the Nov. 29 lawsuit, teacher Terry L. Bethea and husband Kenneth Reed Bethea allege that the defendant Sharon Huff lied about the teacher’s actions in disciplining Huff’s son. These included Bethea allegedly scolding the boy in front of the class and forcing him to write “I will never use the word ‘gay’ in school again” on the board. Bethea and school officials had previously said the student was only punished for disrupting the class. In the days after the incident, the teacher went on sabbatical after receiving threatening letters and phone calls from across the nation. Louisiana American Civil Liberties Union Director Joe Cook said that he did not see any merit in the suit, and considered it an attempt to intimidate Huff into silence. Betheas’ attorney Max Jordan told the Lafayette Louisiana Advertiser on November 28 that this was not the case. “This is because of reckless behavior on the part of the ACLU that defamed my client,” Jordan said. He also charged that the defendants spread their allegations to promote a political agenda, noting that one of them currently works for the ACLU Foundation Lesbian and Gay Rights Project. “Whatever agenda they might have,” he expounded.—JV
Students Sent Home for Gay-Themed Shirts
for nine years sharing household expenses. After the couple split up, King paid child support and visited her daughter until July 2003, when Benham stopped accepting the money and denied King visitation. King then sued for visitation rights, which the Monroe court denied her. Before the ruling, Indiana same-sex couples had access only to second-parent adoptions—costly procedures which grant only a few parental rights to nonbiological parents and which some judges refused to grant them. Although the directors of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union said that the decision will likely impact future custody cases and suits seeking access to benefits such as health insurance through nonbiological parents, the ruling does not address a challenge to the state’s gay marriage ban. The ban is currently pending before the state court of appeals.—JV
Michigan Yanks Same-Sex Partner Benefits
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lansing, mich.—Governor Jennifer Granholm’s administration announced December 1 that new employment contracts won’t include benefits for gay and lesbian partners of state employees. Although contracts slated for adoption by the state’s Civil Service Commission in mid-December included such benefits, State Employer David Fink said that voter approval of Proposal 2, the state’s anti-gay marriage amendment, prompted the administration to strike the benefits. “We’re about following the law and honoring the intent of the voters,” Fink told The Detroit Free Press, adding that the amendment may indeed forbid the state from granting benefits to gay and lesbian partners. “It’s a complicated legal question. I don’t know the answer.” However, Fink added that the benefits could be restored as early as October 1 of next year, if the courts resolve the issue by that time. Although it is too early to tell how state courts will rule in the absence of specific contract provisions that could be challenged, University of Michigan and Wayne State University officials have said in the past that they will continue to provide benefits to their employees’ same-sex partners, because they are exempt from the new amendment as autonomous entities of the state.—JV
DECEMBER 9, 2004
webb city, miss.—School officials sent ten Webb City High School students home November 30 for refusing to change out of t-shirts with pro-gay messages. The shirts, many of which were made by freshman LaStaysha Myers, contained such messages as “We have the right to be who we want to be” and “I’m gay and I’m proud.” The students planned to wear the shirts to school in support of classmate Brad Mathewson, 16, who sued the school district when he was told twice that his gay-pride shirts violated student dress codes. School officials said the shirts disrupted the learning environment and distracted other students. Mathewson and ACLU attorneys, on the other hand, have said that the policy violated Mathewson’s constitutional right to self-expression. The controversy has provoked several protests, including one by anti-gay pastor Fred Phelps and his Topeka, Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church. “We felt what they [the school officials] were doing was wrong,” Myers told the Joplin Globe. Ron Lankford, Webb City schools superintendent, did not comment on the district’s plans for legal defense. But he did say the school’s officials met with an attorney on Monday and the board would be briefed about the case on December 14. In May, Midvale, Utah’s Hillcrest High School faced a similar situation, when several students were sent home for wearing shirts in support of the controversial “Queers Kick Ash” anti-smoking campaign.—JV
indianapolis, ind.— The Indiana court of appeals unanimously ruled Dec. 1 that lesbian couples who conceive through artificial insemination have equal rights over their children and urged lawmakers to address the “current social reality” of nontraditional families. “No reason exists to provide the children born to lesbian parents through the use of reproductive technology with less security and protection than that given to children born to heterosexual parents through artificial insemination,” Judge Ezra H. Friedlander wrote in the ruling. “Our paramount concern should be with the effect of our laws on the reality of children’s lives.” The decision overturns a Monroe circuit court judge’s ruling which said that as a nonbiological parent Dawn King had no legal authority over the girl born to her former partner Stephanie Benham. King and Benham had previously lived together
Opinion
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The Silent Supremes The United States Supreme Court sidestepped the issue of gay marriage on Monday, Nov. 29. Conservative lawyers and activists were trying to get the Court to strike down the ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court allowing same-gender couples to legally wed within the state. But the Court decided, without comment, not to hear arguments on the case, effectively allowing the decision to stand. Many are wondering where the nation’s highest court stands on the subject now. It’s a good question. With a number of legal challenges to marriage law in states across the nation working their way up the judicial branch, it’s only a matter of time before the Supreme Court is going to have to step into this debate one way or the other. Could it be that the Supreme Court is ready, even now, to grant us full marriage rights, but that they’re playing a very smart game? With the hateful rhetoric against “activist judges” over the past year, maybe it’s too soon for the ultimate judicial authority to enter this struggle. Perhaps they are simply waiting for the heat of public discourse to die down a bit before they weigh in. Opinions are changing. In Massachusetts, lawmakers in favor of gay marriage didn’t suffer for their positions in the last election. In California, where a majority of voters outlawed gay marriage several years ago with the Knight Initiative, public opinion polls are shifting more and more toward allowing such marriages. Of all the states that passed anti-gay marriage measures last month, Oregon’s passed by the narrowest margin and
the fight may not be over. All these states have at least one thing in common: they are places where gay and lesbian couples have been able to marry, even if only for a short period of time. Perhaps all the nation needs, before our high courts rule on the subject, is some time to get used to the idea. Some time to see loving, committed couples proudly declaring their love for one another. Our founding fathers weren’t so dumb when they structured a three branch government with checks and balances. The role of the judiciary has always been to protect the rights of the minority from the tyranny of the majority. A role we’ve praised them for in past cases such as Brown v. Board of Education (striking down segregation) and Loving v. Virginia (allowing interracial marriage). Neither of those decisions was popular with the voting public at the time, but have dramatically impacted the social justice of our country. At the same time, in the information/communication age of instant messages, cell phones and CNN, if the Supreme Court were to subvert the majority opinion so clearly and too soon, the backlash could be horrible. The only thing that trumps a Supreme Court ruling in the delicate check and balance system of our country is a federal Constitutional amendment, and that’s a road we need not encourage any moderate people to consider. So we’ll wait. And we hope that despite which ultraconservative judges Dubya stacks the court with over the next few years, when the time does come for the courts to settle the matter, fairness, reason and equality will prevail.
From the Editor The Next Generation by Jere Keys jere@slmetro.com
It’s been my experience that every queer community center and HIV education program in the world trots out gay youth programs when it needs funding. “But think of the kids” is an effective pull on the heartstrings and the pocketbook of many potential donors. It’s hard not to get cynical when this same plea has been made over and over again. Still, I find myself thinking that being cynical about this subject is one of the worst mistakes we, as a community, could make. It’s difficult to say, exactly, how many gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people there are in the world. Estimates range from less than 1% to 10%, often depending on the biases of the people making the claims. National exit polls in the last election found that about 4% of voters self-identify as queer. This number doesn’t include, of course, those who are closeted and those who engage in same-gender sexual relations but don’t self-identify as part of our community. Why is a number important? In numbers we have power. If we truly did account for 10% of the overall population, it would be nearly impossible for politicians to continue marginalizing and ignoring our concerns. Sure, 1 in 10 isn’t even close to a majority, but most of us have straight family members, friends and associates who support us. But what does this have to do with gay youth? Well, I can’t help but wonder how many of our number have died before becoming an active voice in our movement. We know that queer youth are statistically more likely to be lost to suicide. We also know that their lives are more likely to be cut short because of problems with alcoholism, drug addiction, homelessness, and even antigay violence. Not to mention the ongoing problem of AIDS deaths in our community—young gay men are still one of the largest at-risk groups in the nation. Think, just for a second, of all the people we’ve lost to AIDS, suicide, murder, addictions, and the cruelty of the streets. While it’s impossible to compile accurate statistics about all those causes of death, I feel comfortable in guessing that in two decades alone, we’ve lost at least half a million (and I’m guessing low) of our own to untimely death, many of these being young people who could have become part of our larger civil rights struggle. While we were discussing homeless youth topics for this issue, I heard someone use the term “throwaway kids.” Is there a more hateful phrase in the entire English language? Putting my bleeding-heart notions aside, how can we, as a community, afford to lose any of our youth? In a country so sharply divided over, well … us, we need every single soldier we can get. We, as a people, need them to grow up with healthy images of themselves, the education to make smart decisions, and the support of positive role models. It’s not even a question of heartstrings, it’s just smart. Sadly, the services we have are too few and the resources we need are unavailable. Conservative lawmakers have sought to close the public school system to us and have diverted money and protective laws away from homeless youth programs. Many traditional youth empowerment programs, such as the Boy Scouts, are closed to queer kids. What resources do exist, such as The Center’s Youth Activity Center, are under-funded, under-staffed and underequipped to deal with the enormity of the problems many gay youth face. We cannot lose programs like YAC, high school gay-straight alliances, homeless youth services and HIV/AIDS education programs, even if they only address a few of the diverse needs our youth face. So next time someone asks you to “think of the kids,” don’t let yourself be cynical about it. Instead, make the decision that the only goal that works for our common cause, rationally and emotionally, is a zero percent population loss of our youth. They’re ours and we’re keeping them.
Letters Kowtow or Fight?
Bill Perdue
Kiss the Best Man Dear Editor, With the recent election and passage of Amendment 3, I was very disheartened. I was not surprised, but I was still saddened by the outcome. I was then uplifted to learn some of the statistics like Grand and Summit counties actually defeated it. I actually started looking into moving to one of them, but that went by as quickly as it came. Now my reaction is one of anger, spite, and vindictiveness. So, I have been thinking. Nowhere does it say that I have to love my wife. After all there is no measure of love that one could surely use. Everyone’s love is different. Nowhere does it say that I have to live with my wife in the same residence. Nowhere does it say that I have to have sex with my wife during our marriage. And nowhere does is say that I even have to be attracted to my wife. Well with Amendment 3 it states that my wife and I just have to be 1 man and 1 woman. This was to supposedly protect the “sanctity” of marriage. I won’t even start to bring the statistics of divorce and all that, because we know the heterosexuals are destroying the “sanctity” of marriage themselves.
B. Lewis Salt Lake City
Letters to the Editor
Publisher Michael Aaron Editor Jere Keys Arts Editor Eric J. Tierney Sports Editor David Nelson Proofreader Nicholas Rupp Contributing Brandie Balken Writers Lee Beckstead Paul Berge Janice Eberhardt Beau Jarvis Lynette Malmstrom Laurie Mecham LaDonna Moore Rob Orton William T. Park Jim Pitts Jim Provenzano Nicholas Rupp Mandy Q. Racer Ruby Ridge Joel Shoemaker Jim Struve Eric J. Tierney Darren Tucker JoSelle Vanderhooft Ben Williams Alexandra Woodruff Contributing Lucy Juarez Photographers William H. Munk Shauna Sanchez Joel Shoemaker Art Director Michael Aaron Designer Kris Kramer
Salt Lake Metro welcomes letters from our readers. Write us at: Metro Publishing, Inc., Suite 350, 352 S. Denver St., Salt Lake City, UT 84111 or email letters@slmetro.com or fax 801-323-9986
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MetroCosm
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ASKED AT CLUB 161: “Have you been
naughty or nice this year?”
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Troy Customer Service 27 “Naughty, because nice people can really suck.”
John Customer Service 31 “I’ve been nice. I’m just real easygoing all the time.”
David Escrow 38 “Nice? I don’t know… I’ve just been nice. I’m never naughty.”
President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer:
Michael Aaron Steven Peterson Steve Whittaker Larry Tanner
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Dan Engineering Tech. 41 “I’ve been mostly naughty, but I can’t think of an example. I’ve just been exploring new horizons.”
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Steven Unemployed 24 “I’ve been naughty because I need to get spanked every now and then.”
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Dear Editor, Utah is a state synonymous with extensive and relentless homophobia. Behind the camouflage of religious superstition and rightist extremism bigotry against gays and lesbians is widespread and sometimes brutal. Is it any wonder that gay and lesbian students rate Utah on a par with Mississippi or even Texas? Recently, smirking administrators at Copper Hills High School found a way to stop two young men from attending their prom by refusing to protect them from homophobes who ‘might’ jump them, abetted by a lack of sufficient specific state law to protect students from homophobia and violence. They’re trying to isolate and belittle these fine young men, when they should applaud them and if necessary, protect them. The same narrow minded bias was evident earlier when an anti-smoking campaign aimed at gay and lesbian students at Hillcrest High School was shut down. Later the state health department maliciously cut all funding for the gay aimed campaign statewide. This is not what you yexpect from a state that proudly leads the nation in this effort. When bigotry runs schools, it can metastasize into violence. In truth, these attempts to isolate and intimidate gay and lesbian students are playing with fire. They lend legitimacy to and excite homophobic pig-bigots, of which Utah has its full share. They are used, ruthlessly, to prevent health care campaigns against AIDS and smoking. This is doubly dangerous because right wing and religious fanatics no longer find it so easy to be openly racist, as they were just a few years ago, and even misogyny is frowned upon in these ‘degenerate’ modern times. So, searching for a new target for their irrational hostilities, they’ve aimed their obsessive anger and paranoia at gays and lesbians. Note that there is method to their madness. At a time when union-busting, poverty, AIDS, out-sourcing, unemployment, war, and other major problems confront working people, these bigots whine and whimper about the dangers of gay marriage, and school being disrupted by two guys dancing, or alerting young men and women to the dangers of smoking with gay themed materials. Their anti-gay bigotry serves the same purpose that racism and misogyny once did – to divert and divide attention from the challenges and struggles we face. (Anti-Semitism played the same role for the Nazi’s in Germany.) The recent votes on gay marriage and in other recent elections prove that the madness of bigotry is a weapon for the religious and extremist right. One can say that the flip side of Abe Lincoln’s statement is also true – you can fool a lot of the people, but not forever. All across America, more and more people are rejecting homophobia. They see it for what it is – a smoke screen behind which are hidden child abusing priests, money grubbing televangelistsm, and right wing extremists who can’t get elected without a
diversion. Sooner rather than later that process will occur in Utah. What the last few elections shows is a nation in flux on gay and lesbian issues, but with continuous progress. I’m sure the young men and women at Copper Hills and Hillcrest and other schools in Utah will be put up a gutsy and committed fight, because they don’t have much choice. They can either kowtow to bigotry or join the long line of resolute and courageous young men and women who smashed the redcoats at Bunker Hill and Yorktown, who crushed the Confederacy underfoot and ended slavery, who made sure Custer got what he deserved, and who fought and died for labor unions, and the rights of women and African-Americans. That, and not fear of bigots, superstition or extremism, is their authentic American heritage. And sooner or later, you’ll win.
Here is what I propose. For those that want to make a point, make a protest, make Gayle Ruzika and all those that are so petrified of Gay marriage have a coronary. Want to see what a threat to the “sanctity” of marriage is? Watch this! Picture this... Pride week 2005, outside the City and County building a lawn full of wedding gowns, tuxedos and fabulous flower arrangements. A hundred couples getting married in front of TV cameras, reporters, families, and friends. Men and women about to get married EXCEPT the men are wearing the Vera Wang chiffon wedding gowns and the women are wearing the Bill Blass shawl collared tuxedo (nowhere does it say you can’t get married while cross-dressing). Gay men and lesbians getting married to each other. And when they are pronounced man and wife they respectively turn and kiss their “maid” of honor and their best “man” instead of each other. I now share the rights of a married couple and with my lesbian bride, and we can make sure that our partners receive them too with simple pre-nuptial agreements. Could you imagine the pure horror that would be going through the Eagle Forum, Mr. Buttars, and Mr. Christensen? Amendment 3 did nothing to protect marriage, it only made it more about status then it did about love, companionship, and honor! I giggle out loud when I think of the panic that scene would send throughout the state (Except in Summit and Grand Counties).
EarPiece Loving Rufus by Eric J. Tierney eric@slmetro.com
A GRIPPING NEW MYSTERY
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For Tickets call 363-SLAC or 355-ARTS THE SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY 168 WEST 500 NORTH www.saltlakeactingcompany.org
too much about the issue would impede people’s enjoyment of the music, and Rufus has always made sure he’s known as a musician, not a gay musician. Gay references and sensibilities became more pronounced on Poses, the next album, and were an intrinsic part of Want One. Want Two is Rufus at his, please pardon this, gayest. He seems now to embrace and even relish the role of gay troubadour. He even points the laser-focus of his humor at the subject, as in “Gay Messiah,” when,
I remember distinctly the first time I heard Rufus Wainwright sing. I had just turned twenty and was spending my summer break in Maine, where I had somehow landed a job at a high-profile brokerage house—a strange prospect for a theatre major. I made myself at home, though, and soon befriended a very attractive young broker who made a habit of flirting with me. He managed bands on the side and was quite a music lover. I had barely left my teen years behind, and my musical tastes still tended to the adolescently melodramatic, so when we talked music, I usually talked Tori Amos. On the third or fourth such occasion, he suggested that if I liked Tori, I should check out this new guy called Rufus Wainwright. He also wrote big, complex songs for the piano and had an intense singing voice. Skeptical, as it was beyond my ken that anyone other than Tori could possibly be a credible piano player and certainly no one else could write as poignantly or poetically, I schlepped to the hipster music store in Portland’s Old Port to check this Rufus guy out. How clearly I recall picking up the CD for the first time and seeing that smoldering, ironic Rufus Wainright gaze looking back at me. Before I had heard a note of his music, judgin a wink to John the Baptist, he sings ing solely from his album art, I could tell “someone will demand my head/And then that Rufus was, if nothing else, a grade-A I will kneel down/ And give it to them.” smartass. Gay male musicians have had a very I took the disc home and the rest, as hard time of it. Even Elton couldn’t admit they say, is history. I’ve bought every to his “bisexuality” in the first years of album on its first day of release. his career. A lot of gay musicians make Rufus Wainwright is a rarity in popular music today in that he’s a genuine musician. themselves into gimmick acts, selling Elton John has said on a variety of occasions themselves as freak show oddities: “By God, that queer can sing! And listen, he’s that Rufus is the best songwriter making singing about a guy!” Rufus, then, is a music today. This claim is hard to dispute. point of pride for music lovers, gays, and His lyrics are well crafted and most could gay music lovers: he is, first and foremost, stand on their own, independent of their musical context. His voice is a phenomenon the Real Deal, a musician and composer of the first order who’s developed his unto itself—throaty and smoky in the lower career and following through great artistry registers, soaring and full in the release. His and stellar technique. He’s also a successsound cannot be defined, since his prowess ful, out mainstream musician, which is as a composer makes each song unique in no small accomplishment. Finally, he’s form, harmonics, melody and style. And transcendent—when he sings, he sings his playing ranks with the great popular not only of and for gay men, but of and for pianists of all time—he can even hold his any person with a heart. own with that red headed powerhouse I In the years since that broker opened mentioned earlier. my eyes to a broader musical world Last week I picked up Want Two, his (among other things), my tastes have new album. It’s a follow up to last year’s become much more sophisticated and Want One, and was recorded largely in have generally changed a great deal. One the same sessions. The album showcases of the things I have enjoyed most, though, everything I love about Rufus—sweeping is watching as my favorite artists’ work in scope, it ranges from epic to intimate, grows and changes with me. I’m twentypoignant to humorous. Some melodies five now, and Rufus and I have come a will break your heart while others would long way. I can’t wait to hear what we make the catatonic dance. It is also the sound like in another five years. most overtly gay of all his records. I’ve always respected Wainwright for the way he’s dealt with his homosexuality: in the early days, he didn’t trumpet it, but made no efforts to hide it. He felt that talking
Wainright’s new CD, Want Two, was just recently released and available through Salt Lake Metro’s Holiday Shopping Guide at slmetro.com.
Christopher’s Seafood & Steak House by Vanessa Chang vanessa@slmetro.com
Address: 110 W. Broadway, SLC, UT Phone: 519-8515 Hours: Mon-Thurs 11:30am–3pm, 4:30–10pm Fri 11:30am–3pm, 4:30–11pm Sat 4:30–11pm, Sun 4–9pm All major-credit cards accepted, Handicap accessible (except restrooms)
DECEMBER 9, 2004 ■
SALT LAKE METRO ■
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Meat is Man-Food. Or so I’ve been told. Take any slab, grill it until it’s nicely charred and place it with some form of that popular tuber, the potato. You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone with an XY chromosome to decline such an offering. How many prospective mates have uttered, “I’m a meat & potatoes kinda guy?” One hub of carnivorous pleasure is Christopher’s Seafood and Steak House. Located in downtown’s Peery Hotel, it’s a stone’s throw from the Rose Wagner Theater, Capitol Theater, and Club Naked. So you can get some serious sustenance whatever your activity of choice may be. Grilling/charring meats has been around since the advent of fire. It’s a hunter’s prize, associated with the feeling of “that’s right, I’ve just proved my masculinity. Now pass the potatoes” (note last summer’s family barbecue). So, it’s ironic that such primitive food is housed in such high brow settings (with the exception of the Wagon Master). The dining room is expansive with paneled walls in shades of vanilla and tobacco, elegant light fixtures, and a blazing fireplace against the west wall. For such a power lunch-like setting, my dining party and I seemed to make it on a night that everyone had a family reunion—modern day men bringing their tribes to the meat. The space obviously accommodates large parties, including a private room for special events. Conversations echoed through the walls as did the shrieking of a child or two. Appetizers include oysters on the half shell, crab-stuffed mushrooms and Cajun chicken fingers ($5.99) which were nicely crunchy, if
slightly overcooked and with no trace of “Cajun” seasoning. The signature clam chowder is worth a try with a thick creamy broth and tender clams. Domestic labels dominate the wine list and, helpfully, each variety includes a brief synopsis of which dishes suit it best. Sadly, only a few of the bottles were available by the glass, leaving few options for moderate solo drinkers. Note to self: bring large group and drink plentifully. Service was attentive this evening and helpful in deciphering the beguiling steakhouse lexicon. I chose a Kansas City Sirloin ($21.99) and ordered it black and blue (charred on the outside and fairly rare on the interior). The result was delicious combined with the delightfully crispy roasted red potatoes. The menu also includes chicken entrees, pork chops, a few pasta dishes, and selection of seafood (it is in the name after all) including cioppino ($21.99). A tomatobased stew of shellfish, tender fish, and wine, served in this case, atop a bed of creamy mashed potatoes, it was a pleasant surprise for its quality and also in that I turned out to be the meat-and-potatoes man that evening. Additional vegetable sides (suited for meat, apologies to my Cioppino-loving companion) such as asparagus hollandaise and sautéed mushrooms are available at an additional cost. Caramelized onions ($3.25) were satisfactory—soft and golden, pooled in a reduction of meat stock. The creamed spinach ($4.25) showcased excellent freshness of the vegetable with every vibrant bite. However, the “creamed” aspect of the dish was ill-conceived as the beautiful spinach seemed to bide its time in warm cream apparently poured straight from the carton and haphazardly sprinkled with parmesan. As the large parties left, things quieted down. The warm fireplace and remnants of the gargantuan chocolate decadence cake were welcome endnotes to the meal. As contradictory as Christopher’s may seem, the ambience and quality of meat make it worth giving a nod to the ancestors (distant and near) who made savoring charred meats in such elegant environments possible. Here’s to the Meat-and-Potatoes Man.