This Issue dedicated to Cat Carrel for your commitment to dignity and compassion through your work at SAN and professional diligence and community-building in your leadership at the Rainbow Center.
What is “MCC”?
Please see page 12
Embezzlement crushes Emmanuel MCC
Part 1 of a 2 part article by Mike
(SPOKANE, WA) “Emmanuel (MCC) is currently involved in a police investigation” states Len Mace, Emmanuel Metropolitan Community Church pastor. “In
July we discovered we’d been the victim of embezzlement from the inside. At this point Emmanuel is basically bankrupt” Speaking in measured tone, Mace laid out the current crisis facing Emmanuel and its uncertain future. With the congregation in arrears and unable
In celebration of National Coming OUT Day, OutSpokane wants to remind everyone that there are a series of celebrations, parties and events during those few weeks around Oct. 11 for the Spokane’s GLBTQA community.
In addition to the variety of celebrations by the Gay Student Alliances in our surrounding area, OutSpokane will host Another Gay Movie at a local venue. Think: American Pie for queers and ‘family.’ Showings are planned for Oct. 8 at 2 and 7 P.M.
Lilac City Men’s Project is hosting Quick D8 on Sat. Oct. 14 at the Merq.
This is your chance to have some fun as well as meet new friends and prospects for romance!
OutSpokane will be hosting an evening at LaCage Las Vegas at 8 P.M. on Oct. 19 at Northern Quest Casino as a Pride 2007 fundraiser. Dempsey’s will host a cast party afterwards and they promise their very own Dempsey’s Diva’s will be in the La Cage audience.
The elegant and exciting Odyssey Masquerade Ball will take place on Sat., Oct. 28 at CenterStage Theater from 8 P.M. to 1 A.M. For tickets call 509.325.3637. Live entertainment and
to pay any debts, and tithing income evaporated, bankruptcy and dissolution sits on the front burner as possibly the only option.
“We will be having a membership meeting on October 1st to present to the
(SPOKANE, WA) ‘Storm Your Brain,’ a two-part leadership roundtable/ community input discussion on the future focus of Spokane’s GLBTQ Community Center brought ideas and suggestions from a wide variety of organizational representatives, but fell short for the community discussion portion, as almost no one from the community (outside of the organizations) showed up to give input.
a Silent Auction for 21 and over. More information is available at www.odysseymasquerade.com.
Dempsey’s Halloween Party will take place on Oct. 31 with cash prizes for best costumes. Dress up as your favorite ‘goy’ or ‘ghoul.’
If you have any events you would like to schedule, please contact us so that we can help with promotion.
As always, check the Stonewall News Northwest Calendar for the most complete listing of all GLBTQA events at www.stonewallnews.net.
Lunging into the air, Leonard Jenkins (right), swings his bat with unbridled determina tion. Dennis Davis (left) serves as catcher during the game.
Schultz
Emmanuel MCC Pastor Len Mace (right) talks with Stonewall Publisher, Mike Schultz.
by Mike Schultz
Photo by Mike Schultz
Led by Rainbow Center Chairperson, Cat Carrel, numerous community leaders meet Saturday, September 9th, at a conference room at Shadle Library to discuss what happens next for the Rainbow Center.
Photo by Mike Schultz
Letters to the Editor
Hong Tran understands
Hong Tran arrived as a refugee from Viet Nam in 1975 when she was an 8year-old child. She has a very deep and personal memory of that conflict that consumed our country. Our troops were on the ground for a year each. She was “on the ground” for her entire life before finding sanctuary in our country. Her understanding of the issues of our current troops being sent back for multiple tours in Iraq is deep and wide. She is running for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat against Maria Cantwell, who is not speaking out on this issue.
I served as a captain in the Army Medical Service Corps from 1968 to 1970. I have had many conversations with hundreds of Viet Nam era veterans over my years of clinical practice from 1970 to 2000 and those conversations argue against the present conflict.
The lack of activism about this war may well reflect the all-volunteer status of our military services. If the average American family had to offer their young men and women for service to fill a draft, this war would likely be over very soon.
John A Olsen O.D. Spokane , WA
Open Letter to the Community from PFLAG Spokane
Dear Friends and Family members in the GLBT community,
Please accept this invitation to a Spokane PFLAG open house on Tuesday, October 17th at 7:00pm at the Unitatian Universalift Church on Fort George Wright Drive. October is also “coming out” month - so - “come out” to PFlag!
PFLAG Spokane needs your input and advice. We are beginning the fall season without leaders. Tina Buckaloo and Wanda Daehlin have generously and expertly led our group for a long time. They are moving on to other pursuits and we of PFLAG are thankful that they have led us so well. For now, the group will be led by the Executive Board. The Board met in July to begin to determine PFLAG’s direction in the coming year. The group will be run by the board and we may take turns leading meetings and hosting events.
The Board is questioning, however PFLAG’s role as a bridge group between the gay and non gay communities. Here are some of the questions up for consideration: Is PFLAG needed? Should the role of parents, friends and family members change in response to changing times?
By way of explanation, the three purposes of
PFLAG International have always been: support, education and activism
Now that there are over thirty activist groups pursuing various causes, does PFLAG still need to do the same?
PFLAG Spokane has volunteer jobs available for folks who would like to help. Some of them are: leader, co-leader, website updating, liason to National PFLAG and other local groups and assistance with outreach to public schools
PFLAG Spokane has been here for over twentytwo years. Many parents and family members have come seeking help with adjustment to having gay family members. They received the help they needed and moved on. Some of the founders of our group are still here, but, we are aging and cannot do all the things we used to do. What can we provide for our beloved gay and transgendered friends and family members? What programs and/or events would you like to see us sponsor? Join us for dialogue and discussion. As our signs read: “All are welcome here!”
Helen Bonser, PFLAG member Spokane, WA
Spokane
A living tribute to those lost to AIDS in our community
by Mark Garrett Spokane AIDS Network
As you pass by the corner of 9th and Monroe on Spokane’s South Hill your eyes are magically drawn to the splashes of colorful flowers, gently swaying wild grasses that seem to wave to you like old friends while tall majestic Maple and Tamarack stand reverently like gentle giants providing shelter from the weather. Welcome to the AIDS Memorial Garden located at Spokane AIDS Network (SAN). This beautiful garden is a living tribute to our friends and loved ones whose lives were tragically cut short by AIDS over the past 25 years.
This past spring, the loving vision
of Cherie Moss, SAN’s Food Program and Volunteer Coordinator, became a reality through a generous grant from New Priorities Foundation and the efforts of SAN’s staff, board and community.
With the arrival of fall, SAN invites you to join us once again on Monday September 25th from 3 to 6 pm for a fall planting and community appreciation BBQ. Food and refreshments will be provided along with flowering bulbs for you to plant or you may bring your own appropriate plant.
Please call SAN at (509) 455-8993 to reserve your place at this important community event and thank you all for your support.
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Carla
joins INWE
(SPOKANE, WA) Carla Brannan replaces Krista Benson as the new coordinator for Inland Northwest Equality (INWE), a part of the Peace and Justice Action League.
“I am honored to have this opportunity to work with our community to progress equality, peace, and justice.” Brannan states, “In addition to this new beginning, I am headed back to school, looking toward a Professional Development degree. It has been a while and I’m excited to be going back.”
Brannan previously served as the Administrator at the Unitarian Universalist Church for eight years. While there, she cofounded the U.U. Pride Team, worked to make the church more visible as a resource for our community and coordinated events at the church with a number of GLBTQA groups.
Brannan’s additional volunteer work has included performing on Miss Auntie Bijou Matinee’s stage at the Rainbow Awards, PRIDE Festival and other benefits for OutSpokane, YWCA’s Alternatives for Domestic Violence Programs, Giant Ass Drum Corp and the PRIDE Foundation.
“My wife, Gwen and stepdaughter, Carley top my list of passions,” Brannan reveals, “followed by singing, volunteer work, gardening, ice cream, and camping.”
Brannan and INWE can be reached at 838-7870 or email: inwe@qwest.net.
Gay men’s bowling returns for its second season
(SPOKANE, WA) After a summer break the Gay Men’s bowling group will begin another season Sunday October 1st from 1 to 3 pm at North Bowl located at 125 West Sinto Avenue between Division and Washington.
Last season, the group bowled on the last Thursday of each month from 7 to 9 pm. But due to an increase in league use of lanes around Spokane during weekday evenings we are changing our bowling day to Sunday afternoons and will expand from just once a month to twice a month on the first and third Sunday of each month through May of 2007.
The Gay Men’s bowling group is sponsored by the Lilac City Men’s Project. The cost is just $10.00 per person for 2 hours of bowling and that includes stylish shoe rental and your choice of balls..
Space is very limited but the fun isn’t so reserve your spot now by calling Mark Garrett at 509 879-8747 or email MarkJGarrett@comcast.net.
‘Vision’ finds new home
(SPOKANE, WA) The Vision Committee has been at the forefront of establishing a visible gay community in Spokane. This group of dedicated individuals works to create a community moving toward a vision of equality, visibility and acceptance. Meeting at least twice per month for the past three years, they have quietly changed Spokane’s reputation as a narrow, conservative community forever.
The Vision Committee evolved from the group of people who planned and hosted several GLBTQA events in 2003. They have given us the ongoing Let’s Get Visible campaign. Their efforts to create a Gay District in Spokane have received world-wide media attention.
Originally formed as a working committee of the Inland Northwest Business Alliance, the Vision Committee’s membership has always included INBA members and individuals representing other community organizations.
They are currently planning a “We’re
Your Neighbors” billboard campaign for Spokane. Their goals continue to promote the original Let’s Get Visible vision and create a social climate of acceptance for GLBTQ citizens. Toward this end, the Vision Committee has chosen to take its next step by partnering with OutSpokane.
Dennis Ryan, INBA President, remarked, “We have been proud to develop and nurture the Vision Committee over the past three years and we look forward to continued collaboration in future endeavors.”
When contacted for comment, Christopher Lawrence, Chair of OutSpokane said: “We are thrilled with the possibilities of this new alliance. Our entire board agrees that the Vision Committee is perfectly aligned with our goals.”
If you are interested in being part of either OutSpokane or the Vision Committee, call (509) 838-3866 or visit www.outspokane.com for more information.
Brannan
Regional
No Rest for the Wicked.
Leaping Lesbians: My Failed Audition for Lesbian Chat
by Joan Opyr
Sing with me, dear readers, to the tune of the Rolling Stones’ Beast of Burden: Am I smart enough? Am I funny enough? Am I gay enough? For you?
For reasons I cannot explain, largely because I still don’t understand them myself, I recently auditioned for an exclusive lesbian chat group. By exclusive, what I really mean is excluding. We’re talking about the lesbian version of the Skull and Bones here—not rich and not powerful, but you must prove that you’re spiritually descended from Vita Sackville-West and Sappho, or that you know your way around a softball diamond and have listened at least once to the Meg Christian song Leaping Lesbians. (If you actually enjoyed it, ten bonus points for you.)
Thinking, foolishly, that this would be a cake walk—I’m a dyed-in-the-wool lesbian, a seasoned third baseman, and I know all the words to Ode to a Gym Teacher—I acquired the necessary two chat group sponsors, and I applied for membership. That’s when the fun began. I answered questions about why I wanted to join, and then I answered questions about my answers to the original questions, and all so that a secret membership committee could give me the Simon Cowell treatment.
Question #1: Do you plan to participate in this group?
Answer: No. I applied to this list for no good reason. The real reason I’m here turning more tricks than a Reno hooker is because I’m tired of hanging with the Trekkies. I am so done with their pointyeared lists! Jean-Luc Picard is way cooler than Kirk. Picard plays chess and drinks Earl Grey tea. Kirk has sex with green women and wears a cheap toupee. And England is cooler than Canada. Everyone knows that.
What was the question again? Moving on . . .
Question #2: Why do you wish to join this group?
Answer: Because I don’t have it in me to join the Shriners. I look stupid in a fez, and I get claustrophobic just thinking about cramming sixteen lesbians into a clown car. It’s hard enough to fit four lesbians in a Subaru. I want to join this chat group because I’m hoping to chat. You know, talk. With people I meet online. Like you, the chat group membership committee. We are chatting, aren’t we? We’re not? Oh, I see. You’re quizzing me, and you’ve just learned that I’m a smart ass. Whoops. Does this mean that I won’t be competing against Kelly Clarkson and Fantasia in the finals?
I guess it does.
What amazes me is that I put up with this nonsense for nearly two weeks. Then, I wised up and withdrew my name from consideration. I belong to several chat groups already. I didn’t need to join this one. So why did I try?
At first, I was intrigued. I’d been invited to join by several of the group’s members, and it seemed like an interesting enough bunch: writers, readers, fans of lesbians and lesbian fiction. And so I applied. When the assorted hurdles were tossed in my path, I couldn’t stop myself. I’m a humorist. I’m a curmudgeon. There’s nothing I love more than a tack in the road unless it’s a whole lot of tacks and a couple of downed tree limbs.
Groucho Marx once said that he would never belong to a club that would have him as a member. I’ve taken this one step further. I feel a strange compulsion to force myself on clubs that won’t have me as a member. Why am I not a conservative Baptist George Bush Republican? Perhaps I’m saved by my lack of self-loathing. I like me too much to answer silly questions. If your club won’t have me as a member, I’m inclined to sip my coffee, shrug it off, and go on about my business. To paraphrase Navin R. Johnson in The Jerk, I don’t need this. I don’t need any of this, and I don’t need you. I don’t need anything except this ashtray. Just this ashtray, and this paddle game. The ashtray, and the paddle game, and the remote control. And these matches.
And, well, you get the picture. Soon, I’ll be walking out the door with a chair, an ashtray, the remote control, and my laptop computer. My pants may be down around my ankles and Bernadette Peters may be crying in the doorway, but I won’t care. Unlike Navin R. Johnson, I find that I cannot get excited about nothing. Well, maybe my name in the phone book, but that’s not nothing. That’s something! Hundreds of people pick up the phone book every day, and there I am. I’m famous!
Whoops. I’m quoting Navin R. Johnson again. Well, why not? If I’m going to be vetted by jerks, why can’t it be The Jerk? Why aim low when you can aim really low? Point that arrow right at the very bottom of the barrel and fire away. If nothing else, you’re bound to hit a carp. Not to mention a carp, carp, carp!
Small town Idaho, where everyone knows your business is no place for a baby dyke to go looking for love. Especially when murder and homophobia are stalking the streets.
For Wilhelmina “Bil” Hardy, trapped in the coils of her eccentric family and off-the-wall friends, neither the course of true love nor amateur sleuthing runs smoothly. Mistaken identity, misunderstandings and mysteries galore take Bil to places she’s never dreamed of visiting.
Available from:
Letters of the Law
The ABC’s of DUI law
by Jerry J. Davis (Re-printed from
the March 2006
Stonewall issue)
There is one thing in Spokane that transcends the gay and straight community, and that is the willingness of our police officers to zealously enforce the drinking while driving laws. It may appear to those who have received a DUI that police target gay bars, but that is untrue. Two years ago more drivers were ticketed for DUI in front of Trick Shot Dixies than anywhere else, while last year the honor went to The Big Easy. Regardless of one’s sexuality, if you drink and drive, be ready to pay.
More and more, the legislative branch is taking away flexibility once garnered to prosecutors and judges alike. In this day and time, thanks in large part to lobbyists on behalf of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD), there are strict parameters in place that govern one’s punishment according to blood-alcohol content (BAC) and criminal history. Here is a quick rundown of the laws currently governing DUI’s in Washington.
in Snohomish County, the Implied Consent Law has been found to be unconstitutional and no BAC’S or refusals are admissible in courtrooms there. Spokane has not gone that route yet, but with different jurisdictions ruling differently on this issue, it should not be long before the Washington Supreme Court makes a determination in the matter.
A person can be arrested for DUI if he or she has a blood-alcohol level of .08 or more. To most people, these are just numbers. Let me demystify them. It usually takes the average-sized male 3 to 4 drinks (1 ounce of liquor per drink or one beer or glass of wine) in an hour’s time to reach or exceed the legal limit for driving. The body can normally expel one drink per hour.
There are many myths about sobering someone up. These myths include giving the person coffee or food. Giving someone who is intoxicated coffee will just lead to a wide-awake drunk. Food is a bit trickier, with many in the field believing that eating before drinking will indeed influence the way alcohol affects the drinker, but most agree that eating after drinking does little or nothing to counter alcohol consumption.
Washington’s Implied Consent Law states that anyone who operates a motor vehicle in the state of Washington agrees to do so in compliance with the laws of Washington, and agrees to a breathalyzer or blood analysis if probable cause exists to have an officer of the law request one. Failure to adhere to this leads automatically to a one-year suspension of driving privileges. The constitutionality of this law is being challenged, however. In fact,
There are solid financial reasons to call a cab in lieu of driving after taking even a single drink. A DUI arrest will exact at minimum $823 in fines to the court, the cost of an alcohol evaluation and any follow-up treatment, probation fees in the amount of $400 and a one-day MANDATORY stay in Geiger Correctional Facility or the like. In addition, the Legislature has recently enacted a law which mandates that a person found guilty of a DUI (trial or plea) must pay the salary of law enforcement personnel who made the arrest for the time it took the officer/s from initiating the stop to making the arrest. This example is for someone with a clean record and is the minimum. There are so many reasons to make the right choice and not drink and drive. Our community should take the lead on this issue and lead by example to ensure that we all get home safe and sound and protect all those on our roads.
If you have a legal question or questions of a general nature that you wish to see addressed in this column, please send them to: mail@stonewallnews.net or write to: Stonewall News Northwest, P.O. Box 2704, Spokane, WA 99220
Jerry J. Davis, J.D., has practiced law in Washington for three years. His Spokane office caters to the general law needs of the GLBTQA community.
Trust planning for the non-traditional family requires imagination and thought. Tender circumstances must be recognized in many same-sex partner relationships, such as children from a previous marriage, or unapproving family members who may try to interfere.
National & International
Sept. 11 introduced U.S. to gay families
On fifth anniversary, activists ponder impact of attacks on gay couples’ rights
By LOU CHIBBARO JR
Friday, September 08, 2006
Less than a week after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks rocked the United States and much of the world, Tom Hay sat tensely in a pew near the front of St. Matthews Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
Minutes earlier, dozens of flight crew employees of American Airlines, wearing their formal, navy blue dress uniforms, filed into the cathedral to join Hay and hundreds of others for a memorial mass for pilot David Charlebois.
Charlebois, Hay’s domestic partner for nearly 13 years, held the position of first officer onboard American Airlines Flight 77 at the time terrorists hijacked the Boeing 757 jetliner and crashed it into the Pentagon.
“It sounds mushy, but we saw each other from across the room, and that was it,” Hay told Southern Voice in 2002, on the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks. “He was the first and only person I ever had a serious relationship with.”
Hay was among at least 22 known survivors of same-sex partners that died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which included crashing two other jetliners into New York’s World Trade Center buildings. A fourth hijacked plane plunged into the countryside in Western Pennsylvania.
Most of the 22 gay widows and widowers would soon face a tangle of legal obstacles over inheritance rights and a firstof-its-kind victim compensation program offered by the federal government that would complicate their lives and, in many cases, add to their grief.
City Fire Department, was giving last rites to an injured firefighter when the Twin Towers collapsed, killing them both and many others.
Sheila Hein, a Maryland resident who left behind her partner of 17 years, was working in the Pentagon when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into it.
And perhaps the most well-known gay 9/11 victim, public relations executive and rugby player Mark Bingham, helped fight back against terrorists on United Airlines Flight 93, causing it to crash in a rural Pennsylvania field instead of reaching its target in Washington, D.C.
Bingham’s mother reported that her son informed her in a cell phone conversation that his plane had been hijacked and he expected to join several other passengers in an attempt to wrestle control of the plane from the hijackers.
Bingham was among the 9/11 victims portrayed in the recently release film “United 93,” named after the United Airlines flight in which all passengers perished.
the next to take steps to provide assistance to same-sex survivors in the 9/11 attacks. With the support of Republican Gov. George Pataki, the legislature passed a bill that provided state worker’s compensation benefits to domestic partners of 9/11 victims.
Another bill approved by the legislature enabled same-sex partners and their children to be eligible for a newly created World Trade Center Memorial Scholarship Program. The legislature passed a third measure calling on the federal government to include same-sex partners in federal relief programs aimed at 9/11 survivors.
Over the next few years, the legislature adopted domestic partner measures that apply to all state residents in addition to 9/11 partners. Hospital visitation rights, the right to take position of the remains of a deceased partner, and eligibility of partners of state employees to join credit unions were among the same-sex partner benefits included in the domestic partner bills.
Gay rights advocates described the federal relief program put in place by the Bush administration as a “mixed bag” for same-sex partner survivors of the 9/11 attacks.
“As the days went by, we learned that some of the missing rescue personnel were gay, and that many of their lovers, some of whom are cops and fire fighters, were grieving in silence for fear of outing them. There were also gay cops that lost family members that were rescue personnel. We all learned too quickly and in too cruel a way that the closet is a terrible place to grieve...”
-- Edgar Rodriguez, NYPD
‘Unprecedented’ support for grieving gay partners
But on that day at St. Matthews, Hay was afforded the full dignity and respect of a surviving spouse in a national tragedy that appeared to be shared equally by all those who suffered the loss of loved ones.
“It had such an impact because the loss was about death and relationships,” said Jennifer Pizer, senior counsel for Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, a gay litigation group that represented several of the same-sex partner survivors in the 9/11 attacks.
“The grief and loss was the same between heterosexual and same-sex couples, and a perception of this seemed to come through to much of the public,” Pizer said.
Yet Pizer and other gay rights advocates familiar with the 9/11 tragedy said that, five years later, they remain uncertain whether the memory of lost same-sex partners would continue to spillover into the political area and prompt lawmakers to approve domestic partner, civil union and even same-sex marriage laws.
In the days following the attacks, Americans learned through the news media of other gay victims of the 9/11 attacks.
Plump-cheeked preschooler David Brandhorst-Gamboa and his two fathers, Daniel Brandhorst and Ronald Gamboa, were returning home to Los Angeles from a vacation at Cape Cod on United Airlines Flight 175. They died together as it slammed into the World Trade Center.
Eugene Clark, whose partner’s daughter affectionately called him her “step-queen,” worked for Aon Corporation in the World Trade Center.
Mychal Judge, a gay Catholic priest who served as a chaplain for the New York
In the months following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Lambda Legal; the Empire State Pride Agenda, a New York gay rights group; the Human Rights Campaign; and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force stepped in to provide legal and financial assistance to some of the surviving samesex partners.
“It became clear to us that some were falling through the cracks of existing disaster relief programs,” said Joe Tarver, spokesperson for the Empire State Pride Agenda.
The groups created a joint “September 11 Gay & Lesbian Family Fund,” which provided about $17,000 in emergency relief for each of 22 same-sex couple survivors, Tarver said. He said the groups raised about $379,000 for the fund.
ESPA and HRC, among other groups, met with top officials of the American Red Cross, which initially limited its relief services to blood relatives or married spouses of 9/11 victims. In a development that disaster relief observers considered unprecedented, the Red Cross adopted a new set of criteria for defining a “family member” eligible for relief assistance that included domestic partners.
Agreeing to suggestions by ESPA, HRC, and Lambda Legal, Red Cross officials adopted criteria such as a joint bank account, the naming of a partner as an insurance beneficiary, or a joint lease on an apartment as verification that an applicant for relief was a legitimate partner eligible for relief services.
Red Cross officials went a step further by putting the new criteria in place for all future disasters such as hurricanes and floods.
The New York State Legislature was
September 11, 2001: Gay Victims & Heroes
Among the openly Gay people known dead at the World Trade Center is New York Fire Department Catholic chaplain Father Mychal Judge. Judge, 68, was killed while ministering to a fallen firefighter at Ground Zero. Judge’s helmet was presented to the Pope, and Judge was chosen Grand Marshal of the 2002 Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade. There is also an initiative to elevate Fr. Mychal to sainthood. In June 2002, the president signed the Mychal Judge Act, granting federal money to certain survivors of victims of 9/11, including same-sex partners.
Congress approved the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, which allocated more than $7 billion to provide compensation to families of 2,880 people killed and 2,680 people injured in the terrorist attacks. Officials said the program was aimed at providing a viable alternative to thousands of individual wrongful death lawsuits that likely would have emerged against airline companies and the company that operated the World Trade Center if such a fund were not offered.
The legislation creating the fund did not restrict unmarried relatives or partners from receiving compensation under the program, a development that prompted gay Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to say it opened the way for inclusion for domestic partners.
But implementing regulations prepared by special master Kenneth Fienberg, whom President Bush named to run the program, called for leaving the decision on who was eligible for relief to the probate laws of the individual states where the victims lived.
That policy meant that same-sex partners would likely be shut out of the program in nearly all states unless the couples had wills that designated the surviving partner the beneficiary of the deceased person’s estate.
Pizer of Lambda Legal said her group knows of cases where some of the 22 known surviving gay partners worked amicably with blood relatives of the deceased person and obtained a share of the compensation allocation. Feinberg said the average disbursement came to more than $2 million for the estate of each person killed in the 9/11 attacks.
In other cases, Pizer said, parents and siblings prevented a same-sex partner from receiving any compensation. In such cases, the same-sex partners did not have a bill or other legal documents that legally recognized their relationships.
“One of the key lessons for our community in this tragedy is not to put off preparing basic legal documents such as a will,” Pizer said. “It’s a very affirming and loving thing to do.”
Medal of Freedom Nominee, Voted Person of the Year 2001, Arthur Ashe Courage Award: Mark Bingham, 31, a Gay passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania, helped to thwart the plane’s hijackers. September 16 is officially designated Mark Bingham Day in San Francisco. 40-year-old Carol Flyzik’s plane, American Airlines Flight 11, never made it to California. It was the first of two to crash into the World Trade Center. Flyzik, who was a registered nurse and a member of the Human Rights Campaign, is survived by Nancy Walsh, her partner of nearly 13 years.
David Charlebois, the co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon, was openly Gay, the Washington Blade reported. Charlebois was a member of the National Gay Pilots Association. Charlebois is survived by Tom Hay, his partner of almost 13 years.
Graham Berkeley, 37, a native of England who lived in Boston, boarded United Airlines Flight 175 on Sept. 11 on his way to a conference in Los Angeles. He died when the plane became the second hijacked airliner to crash into the World Trade Center. -- Washington Blade
Pamela J. Boyce, 43, is only one of several dozen World Trade Center workers who have officially been confirmed dead. Boyce, a resident of Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, worked on the 92nd floor of One World Trade Center as assistant vice president of accounting for the New York office of Carr Futures. She is survived by her partner Catherine Anello.
A Gay couple on their way home to Los Angeles from Boston were killed when United Airlines Flight 175 was hijacked Tuesday and crashed into the second tower of New York’s World Trade Center. Ronald Gamboa, 33, and his partner of 13 years, Dan Brandhorst, 42, were traveling with their 3-year-old adopted son, David. Brandhorst and Gamboa were founding members of the Pop Luck Club, an L.A. organization for Gay men interested in adopting children. -- planetout.com
James Joe Ferguson, 39, director of geography education outreach for the National Geographic Society, was on American Airlines Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon. Ferguson was traveling on a National Geographicsponsored educational field trip to the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary off Santa Barbara, Calif. Openly Gay flight attendant Jeffrey Collman’s American Airlines Flight 11 (from Boston) smashed into the north tower of New York’s World Trade Center. Collman is survived by Keith Bradkowski, his partner of 11 years. 41-year-old John Keohane was at work near the World Trade Center when the planes hit. He was killed by falling debris. Keohane worked at One
Liberty Plaza near the World Trade Center and died when the towers collapsed. After the planes hit the Trade Center towers, Keohane met Mike Lyons, his partner of 17 years, on the street, and called his mother from his cell phone. “They were just in the streets like everybody else,” Keohane’s sister, Darlene Keohane, told The San Francisco Chronicle. “As he was talking, he had thought a third plane crashed into the building.” What Keohane thought was a third crash was really the collapse of the South tower of the World Trade Center. While Lyons survived, Keohane was killed by falling debris. Tragically, Lyons committed suicide March 1, 2002, on his 41st birthday.
Defense of Freedom Medal
Recipient:: Sheila Hein, 51, was working for the U.S. Army’s management and budget office in the Pentagon when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into it. Peggy Neff is Hein’s partner of 18 years. Virginia’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund administrators refused to accept the couple were anything but “friends.” However, in January 2003, “the federal government’s 9-11 Compensation Fund approved what is said to be the first payment to [Neff], a person in a gay relationship whose partner was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.” -365Gay.com
“Roxy Eddie” Ognibene, a beloved member of the Renegades of New York’s Big Apple Softball League, was tragically lost in the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack. He worked as a bond trader for Keefe, Bruyette & Woods on the 89th floor of WTC 2. -- Jerry Rosco, Renegades for Outsports.com
Larry Courtney and Eugene Clark were partners for 11 years. Clark, 47, worked for Aon Consulting on the 102nd floor of the World Trade Center’s south tower. Clark sent Courtney a voice message: “I’m OK. The plane hit the other tower. And we’re evacuating.” Clark is still missing. -- Victoria Scanlan Stefanakos (advocate.com)
Bill Randolph’s lover of 26 years, Wesley Mercer, 70, is among three security personnel from Morgan Stanley still missing in the World Trade Center rubble. Mercer, who was vice president of corporate security, was drinking coffee on the ground floor of the WTC when the first plane hit. He rushed to the 44th floor to supervise the evacuation of employees. All 3,700 employees escaped harm. Then Mercer, a decorated Army veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, returned to the 44th floor to make sure no one was left behind. Unlike other surviving partners, Mr. Randolph is not eligible for the full range of benefits, from pensions to Social Security payments to special memorial funds available to victims of Sept. 11. -advocate.com
Luke A. Dudek, 50, was the food and beverage controller at Windows on the World. Dudek is survived by his partner of 20 years, George Cuellar. Cuellar said his partner loved Cuellar’s flower business so much that after years of renting space, this year they bought their own property for the business. He said Dudek spent a week of vacation in September completing renovations. Dudek’s first day back to work in New York was Sept. 11. He died in the attacks on the World Trade Center.
Since Sept. 11, friends of Michael Lepore, 39, a project analyst at Marsh & McLennon, have been pruning his rosebushes, clearing wayward ivy off stone walls, planting bulbs for next spring. It is the perfect act of kindness, said Mr. Lepore’s partner of 18 years, David O’Leary. Their house and garden in Yonkers had been Mr. Lepore’s pride and joy and are now Mr. O’Leary’s primary source of comfort. -- The New York Times via H. S. Levine, NYC
John Winter and his lover William Anthony Karnes, 37, lived within sight of Karnes’ office at Marsh & McLennon on the 97th floor of the World Trade Center Tower One. Walking to the office together, the couple had timed the “commute” at just 11 minutes. On the morning of September 11, Karnes, who went by “Tony,” left for his office at about 8:30. At 8:45, Winter heard what sounded like a calamitous thunder clap. When he looked out his apartment window, he could already see his future.
Karnes was killed in that morning’s tragedy. In dealing with the aftermath, Winter says that he was “fortunate [in having] a good relationship with Tony’s family in Knoxville.” -- Paul Schindler (lgny.com)
New York resident Tom Miller lost his partner Seamus O’Neal in the World Trade Center attack. “I did not have the luxury of grieving without having to defend myself and prove who I am and who we were,” Miller said. “If down the road anyone can be spared that torture, that would be excellent,” he said -- Dan Kerman, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network
Elba Cedeno lost her partner of six years, Catherine Smith, 44, who worked on the 97th floor of one of the World Trade Center towers. They both had wills, which will ease the process of Cedeno taking sole ownership of their home. But Cedeno said she is angry that she will not qualify to receive any of Smith’s Social Security benefits. “This was my soul mate. We planned to live the rest of our lives together and retire together,” Cedeno said. -- AP via contaxguide.com
Emergency aid kept Margaret Cruz afloat after the loss of her partner of 18 years, Patricia McAneney. Ms. Cruz documented her finanacially interdependent partnership and prevailed with the Crime Victim’s Board, the Red Cross and the New York State charitable fund. A total of $80,000 went to Ms. Cruz. McAneney, 50, was the fire marshal of her floor of 1 World Trade Center, where she worked for the insurance company Guy Carpenter. -Jane Gross via Lucy at fiancesof911.com
Waleska Martinez, 37, a computer whiz in the Census Bureau’s New York office, was aboard flight 93 that crashed outside Shanksville, PA. In his book, Among the Heroes, Jere Longman “unobtrusively quotes [Angela Lopez, her] same-sex partner.” Lopez said, “She was my longtime companion, best friend and soul mate.” -- NY Times Book Review, 9-8-02, p. 13.
Renee Barrett, injured in the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, died on October 18 of her injuries. Barrett was a member of [the Gay] Metropolitan Community Church of New York. She leaves behind her life partner Enez Cooper and her 18-year-old son, Eddie, who lived with them. Renee was an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald, and was in Tower 1 at the time of the attacks. Though critically burned she escaped the building prior to its collapse, and had been hospitalized at Cornell-Presbyterian Hospital.
Francis S. Coppola, a New York City detective whose partner, a firefighter named Eddie, died in the attacks, summed up the bipolar feelings many GLBT people have had about Sept. 11.
“I have never been more proud of being an American or a New Yorker, but at the same time it has made me sad. The greatest country in the world, and yet we are treated like second-class citizens....
The great love of my life died doing what he did best and what he loved to do: helping others. I have never been an activist or ever wanted to be one; however, it is time we stand up and be counted and demand equality -- nothing more or nothing less.” -- Tom Musbach, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network
As the days went by, we learned that some of the missing rescue personnel were gay, and that many of their lovers, some of whom are cops and fire fighters, were grieving in silence for fear of outing them. There were also gay cops that lost family members that were rescue personnel. We all learned too quickly and in too cruel a way that the closet is a terrible place to grieve... -- Edgar Rodriguez, NYPD (in the former Lesbian & Gay New York)
Matt Foreman, former executive director of Empire State Pride Agenda, says advocates have already identified 24 surviving partners from the Trade Center attack, and believe that there may be as many as 50 in total, based on surveys about gay and lesbian participation in long term relationships. -- Paul Schindler in Lesbian & Gay New York
Christopher Lawrence, A & E Editor
Can’t Miss Music!
Here are some opportunities to enjoy the unique and wonderful music coming up this and next month. This is our chance to quench the thirst so many of us in Spokane have for nostalgic fare with a twist. I hope to see you there.
opens their 32nd concert season with “Jazz In the City.”
This concert will feature five time Grammy nominee Nnenna Freelon on Friday, Sept. 29 at 8 PM in the Met Theater. For sample Mp3’s of her works go to www. spokanejazz.com
Tickets are available by calling TicketsWest (800)-325-7328 or online at www.ticketswest.com.
THE BOBS a capella singing quartet is playing at CenterStage on Oct. 16 at 8 P.M. After their PBS Special they were honored with a spot in the Smithsonian Institute’s Museum of American History! According to all reports, a capella has seldom sounded so fine. Tickets available at TicketsWest for $20 or $25 at the door.
GLBT Book Group
Spokane’s GLBT Book Group meets the first Wednesday monthly in the second floor conference room of Auntie’s Bookstore. Facilitator Julie Smith says review sessions begin at 7 P.M. Upcoming review sessions include: Hit by a Farm by Catherine Friend on Oct. 4.
Mark your calendars for Thurs. Oct. 5 at 2 P.M. for the no-cost Mike Stern’s clinic in the SFCC Band room - Bldg. 15.
That same evening at 7:30 The Mike Stern Band will perform their steamy jazz at the SFCC Music Bldg. Auditorium so If you would like to groove out to a smooth energetic Mp3 sample of Mike’s work go to http://www.headsup.com/ ecards/3115/ and get a preview!
Snag those tickets before they sell out by calling Hoffman Music at (509) 444-4140 or the SFCC Cashier at (509) 533-3569 (no fees). $23 for adults; $18 for students and seniors. (General seating only) Tickets at the door will be $3 more. Advanced tickets are also available from: www.ticketswest.com
Mike Stern band
Oct 5 7:30pm
Liner
AR t ’s Shape of Things
Before I give you the teaser for The Shape of Things, I want to say a few words about performances of the concurrent productions of Greater Tuna and A Tuna Christmas which closed on Sept. 9.
The two rollicking, screwball comedies were nearly a perfect double-bill on Saturday when I attended with my ‘play’ mate. The acting, directing and timing were superb, sets effectively evoked a nostalgia of an earlier time in rural America (OK maybe only in Tuna, Texas) and the laughter was rampant.
Micheal Weaver and William Marlowe were both top-notch perfection in all their characters for this madhouse farce filled with quips and quick changes.
Even a few poignant moments tugged at the heartstrings of the audience in between the quaint and occasionally obnoxious behavior of Tuna’s misfit citizenry.
Written to poke fun at our stereotypes of nearly every make and model, the two manic actors took great delight in lampooning everything from the spirit of Christmas to government and the NRA. My jaws were aching after laughing through more than five hours–two shows on one day.
How far would you go for love?
I NTER players’ first production of the season, Bus Stop by WIlliam Inge, opened Sept. 14 and runs through Oct. 1. Ellen Travolta and Jack Bannon are directed by Scott A. Smith in this classic comedy about the relationships formed between bus passengers stranded at a roadside diner outside of Kansas City during a snowstorm.
The play focuses on the kindling romance between a nightclub chanteuse (played in the movie by Marilyn Monroe) and a headstrong cowboy, as well as the poignant lives of the others waiting out the storm.
Waiting for my review to come out in the Oct. 1 Stonewall to get your tickets is probably not a good idea, so get your tickets by calling 455-PLAY (7529), 3257328, or visit www.interplayers.com
...played with Bob Berg, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius, Bela Fleck, Jack DeJohnette, Ron Carter, John Scofield, Dave Weckl, Joe Henderson, John Patitucci, Richard Bona, Tom Harrell, Stan Getz, to name a few...
What would you be willing to change? The Shape of Things offers a story of love, sex and art that follows the flowering relationship between Evelyn and Adam.
As Evelyn’s romantic hold tightens, Adam’s emotional and physical evolution disturbs his friends with unexpected consequences. Both hopeful and harsh, this play about a quartet of college-age characters deals with the conflicting human desires for independence, attachment, truth, love and the realization that seduction is an art.
For tickets or more information you may call (509) 838.-4013 or email at info@actorsreptheatre.com or visit http://actorsreptheatre.com
Singin’ in the Rain was the musical that probably changed my life. When I saw Gene Kelly singing “What a glorious feeling, I’m happy again!” and dancing in the rain, I fell in love with musicals and with dance as an art form.
One of my favorite veteran theater artists, Kathie Doyle-Lipe directs this extravaganza adapted from the 1952 film classic. I anticipate the pleasure of seeing it come to life on Civic’s Main stage.
This broad musical dramedy about the roaring twenties during the transition from silent films to ‘talkies’ promises to be nostalgic fun and full of familiar, historical hit songs!
Tickets are available now for performances from Sept. 28 – Oct. 29. Call (509) 325-2507) during box office hours or TicketsWest at (800)-325-7328. www.spokanecivictheatre.com
The Way Out
by Christopher Lee Nutter
Health
Communications,
Inc., 181 pages
Inspiration is a personal thing. Each of us find our motivation for personal growth in different ways and at various points along our paths. Our investigation into who we REALLy are comes in spurts and fits of starts and stopping to ponder our experiences and what they ultimately mean to us.
Many of us attend church, meditate, contemplate, read self help books and work at our becoming more of who we want to be in a variety of ways.
Some of us are frozen inside the belief that we are powerless to change our lives.
Some people have found the way out. The way out of pain. The way out of self-destruction. Even the way out of the closet.
Depak Chopra, The Course in MIracles, Marrianne Williamson and many others have been shining light on that path for decades. What if we find out that our limitations are only illusions and are mainly due to false convictions that we hold as truths?
BOOKS – VIDEOS – MUSIC
Say Uncle
Peter Paige, writer/director
TLA Releasing, 91 minutes
Peter Paige is best known for his role as the slightly awkward and flamboyant character of Emmet on “Queer as Folk” from Showtime. In this, his directorial debut, he also portrays Paul, an amateur artist with a good amount of talent and very little sense of adult responsibilities. You would probably guess that he is frequently late for work and seldom focuses on the details that make an adult male successful in this world. He is, in fact, a naive, child-like, misunderstood man who is happiest when playing with his godchild.
Finding a non-fiction book that can speak to every soul about the journey that each of us faces while we are here, is not easy; let alone a tome that can illuminate the truth about our true selves, whether we identify as GLBTQ or not.
I wish every person I know would read this book, The Way Out
The author is working from a gay man’s perspective and shares his journey with thoughtfulness and insight. He clearly shows that we all have the same journey, but each manifests in incredibly individual ways.
If you are in the closet, half in, half out, just out or have been around the proverbial queer block, there is an abundance of freedom, happiness and selfunderstanding available in these pages. Even if you are not GLBTQ this is a book that belongs in your library to be read and re-read over time.
When Paul’s best friend, her husband and their child (his god-child) move halfway around the world, Paul is devastated. He experiences denial and finally despair at losing the only relationship that seemed to nourish his own inner child. He quits his job and begins to spend his days playing with children at the playground in order to recreate that sense of fulfillment he has missed.
Kathy Nijimi, who normally offers zany characters that make us giggle with delight, takes a turn here at being the unhappy and angry housewife who is trapped in a loveless marriage and desperate to feel meaning in her life. She finds Paul’s odd lack of adult/child boundaries the perfect target. As is often the case when someone feels powerless and angry, her character lashes out at someone else – Paul.
What greater gift can you give yourself than freedom and the attainment of self worth beyond any attack from the outer world? Is there anything more powerful?
Buy it. Read it.
Re-read it. Give it to friends and family. Create a life that nourishes your heart and your soul.
Crazy Itch Radio Basement Jaxx XL Recordings
Deep strings and melodramatic voices announce the start of this, the fourth full-length offering from British electronica duo Basement Jaxx. An “album” in the classic sense, the 14 tracks here should be listened to as a whole. In the Jaxxiverse, you have just tuned into Crazy Itch Radio, a station that will scratch parts of your musical soul which have been begging for attention. For the first half, even the most dissatisfied spirit will find fulfillment in the eclectic mix of sounds offered by the Jaxx.
“Hush Boy” is the first single from this album, and as an opener, it is a doozy. The Latin-tinged dance grooves underscore a very funny story of a first date gone terribly wrong. This song is so infectious, one wonders if the CDC is developing a vaccine. It has become my new “dance naked in the living room” track, and I cannot wait to inflict it on friends to see if it takes over their consciousness as quickly as it did mine. Following this is the “banjo house” track, “Take Me Back To Your House,” just as catchy as the first. “Hey U” and “On The Train” continue the nonstop run of edgy potential charttoppers, combining dance loops with klezmer music and heroin inferences, respectively. The creativity seems to be unbounded, as the Jaxx pull in samples from all corners of the musical map and front the songs with talent such as Vula Malinga, Robyn, and Lady Marga.
Jamestown
Jimmy James Made Records
Unless you are a drag queen or a regular at jet set Manhattan parties, you most likely have never heard of Jimmy James. His reportedly perfect impersonations of celebrities ranging from Cher to David Bowie to Eartha Kitt don’t stop with good clothes and makeup. He also sings, channeling the famous voices with uncanny precision. His “resurrection” of Marilyn Monroe has led to Jimmy doing command performances for Elton John, Boy George, and Cyndi Lauper, to name a few. He just took his one-man show, “The One and Many Voices of Jimmy James,” to the Edinburgh Fringe festival, where it was enthusiastically received by both critics and audiences.
After so many years being other people, Jimmy has decided to set aside his various masks. He had a surprise dance hit in 1998 with his single, “Who Wants To Be Your Lover,” complete with an accompanying video which showcased his various Diva personae. Now in 2006, he releases his first full album of music, and this time, it is Jimmy doing the talking, not Marilyn.
She organizes everyone in the neighborhood on a vendetta against the assumed pedophile and rouses them into frenzy of self-protection and the witch hunt is on.
Fear tactics, as we have witnessed even in government and politics, can create hatred for anyone who doesn’t agree.
The major stumbling block for this reviewer was trying to believe that anyone could be so unaware that they did not comprehend the boundaries with children that adults must keep. The plot deals with Paul’s naivete somewhat effectively and reminds us that assumptions and judgments often have profound effects.
Occasionally, it was uncomfortable to watch, yet the story remains as pure as Paul’s intentions. This is an original story and better than average on all counts
Unfortunately, the vibe begins to lag with “Run 4 Cover,” which has the same plastic Casio sound which made the Vengaboys’ “Venga Bus” so annoying. Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe, the men who are the Jaxx, try to recover with “Lights Go Down,” the closest thing to a ballad on this release. It is an imaginative cut, full of dark strings and surprising loops, but it never recaptures the energy or spirit of the opening tracks. “Everybody” has the same creative spirit as that wonderful opening run, but doesn’t succeed with its ambitions. The album never recovers, and the energy finally trickles off with a hidden track “Light Moves On,” a whimper instead of a bang. A shockingly weak ending compared to the outstanding opening.
Producer Markus Moser (of iio, reviewed here last issue) has teamed with Jimmy, creating a 13-track chronicle of the corridors of Jimmy’s mind. Album opener “Fashionista” has already made a splash on the Billboard Club chart, an aggressive dance/pop chant-along catalog of everywhere and everyone famous in the fashion industry.
“Summer Sun,” a smooth celebration of the warm afternoons which will soon give way to autumn, should be surfacing on white labels right about now. “Bebobobody” is a thumping cautionary tale about appearances and deception, where the girl you took home “understands how to do everything a man can.”
Deception is also the theme of the much darker “Desire (Mr. Seedy)” about a straight man cruising gay clubs, and “Kissing A Fraud,” the intense, possibly autobiographical emotional apex of Jamestown.
Note: There was a suspicious extra band of data at the end of the music tracks. I found no mention of aggressive DRM on this album, but I suspected this might be the case, and blacked out part of this extra band with a Sharpie to keep it from damaging my computer. Inspect your own copy, and take appropriate precautions before playing this disc on anything other than a CD player.
Moser combines cues from electropop with modern dance grooves. Three-minute pop songs appear next to longer electronica pieces. The result is accessible, pleasing fans of both pop and dance without alienating either. Through it all runs Jimmy’s voice. His own voice, too, not any impersonations. He has a lot to say and he is finally saying it. The good news is, it is worth hearing. Jamestown is available Sept. 19
Christopher Lawrence & Graham Ames
Downtown Spokane offers a variety of alternative places to visit, shop, dine, dance, and stay overnight.
Whether you have cocktails and meet new friends at Europa or party until the wee hours at Dempsey’s Brass Rail, you can have fun! Spend the night at The Fotheringham House B&B, have lunch at Wild Sage and dinner & live theater at CenterStage. Check out the wide selection of books including an alternative section at Auntie’s Bookstore and be sure to pick up your new 2006 Inland Northwest Business Alliance Directory... everywhere!
CASINOS
18 Northern Quest Casino N 100 Hayford Rd, Airway Heights (509) 242-7000 ww.northernquest.com
Welcome to Spokane!
LODGING
3 The Fotheringham House B&B 2128 W 2nd Ave (509) 838-1891 www.FotheringhamHouse.com
LIVE THEATRE
7 CenterStage 1017 W 1st Ave (509) 74-STAGE www.spokanecenterstage.com
15 InterPlayers 174 S Howard St (509) 455-PLAY www.interplayers.com
16 Spokane Civic Theatre 1020 N Noward St (509) 325-2507 www.spokanecivictheatre.com
BARS & CLUBS
1 Dempsey’s Brass Rail 909 W 1st Ave (509) 747-5362 www.dempseysbrassrail.net
2 Merq Cafe & Liquid Lounge 706 N Monroe St (509) 325-3871 www.themerq.net
BOOK STORES
5 Auntie’s Bookstore 402 W Main Ave (509) 838-0206 www.auntiesbooks.com
Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-9pm, Sun 11am-6pm
6 Best Buy Adult Books 123 E Sprague Ave (509) 536-7001 2425 E Springfield (509) 624-7522
DINING PLACES
4 Wild Sage American Bistro 916 W 2nd Ave (509) 456-7575 www.wildsagebistro.com/
7 CenterStage 1017 W 1st Ave (509) 74-STAGE www.spokanecenterstage.com
8 Europa Pizzaria
126 S Wall St (509) 455-4051
9 Satellite Diner 425 W Sprague Ave (509) 624-3952
12 - Announcements & Notices
National GLBTQ Youth ‘Talk Line’
Gay or Questioning and in need a sympathetic ear? Call the free and confidential staff composed of young peer counselors familiar with the issues of coming out, HIV, bullying and parental and relationship problems. Over 18,000 listings of social/support groups, gay-friendly religious organizations and student groups. Call 800/246PRIDE or e-mail to: youth@GLBTNationalHelpCenter.org
Items Wanted. Odyssey Youth Center has an ongoing need for bus token donations. There is also a need for a soda dispensary machine, gift cards/certificates to use as youth rewards and incentives, and an X-Box 360 video game console. To donate these or other items please call Odyssey Youth Center, 509/325-2627.
13 - Volunteers
Spokane AIDS Network Needs Volunteers Contact Cherie at 509/455-8993
Classifieds
Ou T Sp O k AN e IS LOO k ING for community-minded people to help with the 2007 pride Call Christopher at 509/624-9639 for details on meeting the 1st & 3rd Thursday of each month.
Construction, Volunteers/Materials Needed Odyssey Youth Center needs volunteers with construction experience for framing walls, hanging and taping drywall and some demolition with a back hoe. Call Odyssey Youth Center, 509/325-3637.
24 - Housing for Sale
reLOCATING? BOISe, IDAHO HOMe fOr SALe! 2712 square feet, 3 bedrooms plus office loft, 2.5 baths. professionally landscaped and decorated 2001 parade Home. Gay owned on a “family” street. $489,900. Chuck Wilkerson (208) 870-0696.
30 - Commercial Space
COMMerCIAL SpACe for rent in remodeled 1898 Victorian house. Great visibility on major street, direct
access to southbound Maple Street Bridge and walking distance to courthouse. Shared space includes waiting rooms, kitchen, bath, laundry, storage and off-street parking. More than 1100 SF on two floors; subdividable into smaller suites and perfect for legal, professional, therapist, etc. NNN lease. Call (509) 599-1578 or e-mail info@spokanefineproperties to make appointment to select your space. Valerie M. Blake, Broker/Owner/Lessor, Spokane Fine Properties.
46 - Miscellaneous For Sale
COMMerCIAL freeZer Used Arctic Air upright commercial freezer on wheels. 22 Cubic Feet, 32”W x 74.5”H x 29.3”D, NSF Level-7 certified. Great condition but too big for space. List: $1696. Sale: $500 obo, cash & carry. Valerie (509) 838-1891.
fO
Need to be cleaned and demineralized. Work perfectly and need a good dry home to love. $30 each. 509/5703751
Good working condition but no instrumentation. Excellent
and lower body workout. Call 509/570-3751
13
-
Personal-General Services
rent-A-Wife errands & More!
Cleaning, Shopping, Pick-up, Delivery, General Errands, House/Pet Sitting, Personal Chef, Waiting for Repairmen. Excellent References. Family discount. Call JO 483-1236 Just imagine, you come home to a sparkling clean house,
anymore – we can do all this for you and more, so stop dreaming and call Rent-AWife …Errands & More! (509) 217-0481 http://home.comcast.net/~its-about-time
or telephoning your information.
E-mail Ads: You may submit your Classified Ad at Stonewall’s Web site at www.stonewallnews.net . Click on the Classifieds link to enter your information on the E-mail. Your payment will need to be received by Stonewall on or before the 1st or 15th of the month for that issue.
Mail-In Ads: Type or legibly print your ad on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper along with your name, address, and phone number; include your signature. Mail your completed ad along with your payment to: SNN, PO Box 2704, Spokane, WA 99220.
Personals: If your Personal ad uses an address, Stonewall will only use a PO Box or a Stonewall Personal Blind Box (PBB). For a PBB, add $5 to the cost of the ad. Stonewall will assign a code for your PBB and will forward replies weekly for up to two months after your ad runs.
Policy: Stonewall reserves the right to reject or edit any ad which may be considered demeaning or offensive to our readers. Any errors will be compensated with advertising credit.
Deadline: Classified ads must be received by Stonewall by the 8th or the 20th of each month for following 15th or 1st of the month publication.
Mailing Address: SNN, PO Box 2704, Spokane, WA 99220
Website: www.stonewallnews.net E-mail: mail@stonewallnews.net
Northwest Business Directory
continued from Front page
membership what our options are” Mace stated. “We’re doing everything possible to keep Emmanuel open and functioning and we don’t know at this point that’s realistic”
How did this come to be? Mace explained that two board members exploited a hole in the congregation’s accounting controls and made off with funds exceeding an entire year’s operating costs. Mace, himself, hasn’t been paid in months, but is shy to acknowledge his own sacrifices from the crisis. Instead, he shifts the focus to what he hopes the community may embrace - an eventual positive outcome.
“I do believe there will be some type of ministry that continues here in Spokane but it may take on a different form than we’re accustomed to. If it comes to a point that we have to officially close, then there is help available through the (MCC) fellowship in the future to start a brand new work (to begin a new congregation). The name would probably go away and something new and wonderful would come out of this”
Mace continues, “What would certainly appear to be a very negative thing,
we’re looking at this being a very positive thing.”
When asked for an example, Mace responded “We could just wipe the slate clean. We could start fresh. For many years Emmanuel has had a very difficult road with various struggles. A number of our folks feel a new name, new leadership, would be the way to go.”
While the police investigation is in process, Mace stated Spokane’s prosecuting attorney is a year out in cases. If and when this should be prosecuted, restitution, if any, would no doubt be too little too late to save Emmanuel.
Mace has resigned as pastor of Emmanuel. He will preside over the Sunday, October 15th, service for the last time. The timing of his resignation is only coincidence to the unfolding financial crisis, Mace states. Citing he joined Emmanuel two years ago for a six month interim position, he politely insists his plans to transition out of the congregation had originated much earlier in the year.
For more of this interview including Mace’s reflections on his life Journey in Spokane and plans for his future, as well as updated developments, please see part 2 in the Oct 1 Stonewall issue.
What is MCC ?
How MCC Began
In 1968, a year before New York’s Stonewall Riots, a series of most unlikely events in Southern California resulted in the birth of the world’s first church group with a primary, positive ministry to gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender persons.
Those events, a failed relationship, an attempted suicide, a reconnection with God, an unexpected prophecy, and the birth of a dream led to MCC’s first worship service: a gathering of 12 people in Rev. Troy Perry’s living room in Huntington Park, California on October 6, 1968.
That first worship service in a Los Angeles suburb in 1968 launched the international movement of Metropolitan Community Churches, which today has grown to 43,000 members and adherents in almost 300 congregations in 22 countries. During the past 36 years, MCC’s prophetic witness has forever changed the face of Christianity and helped to fuel the international struggle for LGBT rights and equality
These edited excerpts are from “The Lord Is My Shepherd, And He Knows I’m Gay” authored by MCC Founder and Moderator, Rev. Troy D. Perry. The book is available on-line atwww.MCCchurch.org.
Inclusion
Love is our greatest moral value and resisting exclusion is a primary focus of our ministry. We want to continue to be the conduits of a faith where everyone is included in thefamily of God, and where all parts of our being are welcomed at God’s table.
Community
Offering a safe and open community for people to worship, learn and grow in their faith is our deep desire. We are committed to equipping ourselves and each other to do the work that God has called us to do in the world.
Spiritual Transformation
Providing a message of liberation from the oppressive religious environment of our day or to those experiencing God for the first time is what guides our ministry. We believe that when people are invited to experience God through the life and ministry of Christ, lives will be transformed.
Social Action
Working to talk less and do more, we are committed to resisting the structures that oppress people and standing with to those who suffer under the weight of oppressive systems, being guided always by our commitment to Global Human Rights.
--MCC has an inclusive membership of over 43,000 members and adherents in 22 countries as of September 2003.
--Starting with one group of 12 in Los Angeles in 1968, MCC now has almost 300 churches throughout the world.
-- MCC was founded in October 1968, one year prior to 1969’s Stonewall Riots.
--MCC has been at the vanguard of civil and human rights movements and addresses the important issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, and other forms of oppression.
--MCC congregations have an aggregate annual operating budget in excess of $20 million (US). MCC Headquarters and Regional Elders have an annual operating budget of $3.2 million (US).
--More than fifty percent (50.5%) of MCC clergy are women, a higher percentage than any other Christian denomination.
--MCC churches and groups are located in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Nigeria, Romania, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, the United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
--MCC has churches in 48 states of the United States. There are members in every state.
--The largest MCC church is Resurrection MCC (Houston, TX), with a membership exceeding 600.
--MCC holds observer status in the World Council of Churches, participates in the programs of the National Council of Churches -- and has full membership in four U.S. state councils: California, Colorado, Hawaii, and North Carolina.
--The MCC Headquarters are located in the $3.8 million MCC World Center in West Hollywood, California.
--AIDS has dramatically affected MCC churches. Since 1982, an estimated 6,000 MCC members have died of AIDS and related diseases, yet the epidemic has also brought many new members who are facing questions of life and death.
--MCC clergy are trained by 20 seminaries of mainline Christian denominations that accept MCC students.
--An increasing number of the children of lesbian or gay parents are active in MCC, and many congregations offer specialized ministries to meet the spiritual needs of these children.
--MCC clergy bless same-sex couples with Marriage and Holy Union ceremonies. MCC clergy perform more than 6,000 same-sex weddings annually.
--Elected leadership of the denomination consists of a 10-member Board of Elders composed of the denominational Moderator, Vice-Moderator, and eight Regional Elders. Reverend Troy D. Perry is the Moderator and of the denomination. A Board of Administration oversees administration, finances, and policies for the denomination.
--MCC follows a congregational form of church government with self-governing local congregations. Local churches are represented in an international General Conference that meets once every two years.
--MCC Moderator, Reverend Troy D. Perry, is an internationally recognized human rights activist and has received honors from many human rights organizations, including honorary doctorates from Episcopal Divinity School, Samaritan College and Sierra University along with awards from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign, the Lazarus Project, and the Gay and Lesbian Press Association.
-- Reverend Perry attended the first ever White House meeting of gay and lesbian leaders during the Carter presidency, was the first openly gay member of the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission and was appointed as a delegate to the White House Conference On Hate Crimes by President Bill Clinton.
--MCC is the largest international vehicle for public education about homosexuality and Christianity.
--Twenty-one MCC congregations have been victimized by the antigay hates crimes of arson or fire-bombing.
continued from Front page.
Twenty people representing twenty queer or allied organizations gathered at the Shadle Public Library on September 9 to discuss how a GLBTQ community center could help their organizations achieve or enhance their missions. Suggestions ranged from resources for the allied (and unallied) community such as a speakers’ bureau or media packet, to youth mentorship, cultural competency training for medical and nursing school students, increased leadership visibility, and expanded web site. Many comments centered on the Center being a “clearinghouse” of information. One attendee suggested a “Grand Central Station” vision for a Center, where people
SPOKANE AREA
BiNet Spokane
A social support group for bisexual men and women.
Call: (509) 217-1271
Eastern Washington University SAFE Students’ Alliance for Equality Weekly meetings for students, faculty and staff.
Call: Kat Olson: (509) 359-4253
Web site http://iceberg.ewu.edu/safe/safe.htm
EMCC –
Emmanuel Metropolitan Community Church
Christian church with outreach to the GLBT community.
Call: (509) 838-0085
Web site: www.emmanuelmcc.com
Friends of SAN Fundraising organization for people living with HIV/AIDS to improve the quality of their lives.
Write: 1212 E. Front Ave. Spokane, WA 99202
Gay/Lesbian Info Line
Call: (509) 489-2266
Immediate Crisis: (509) 838-4428
GLBT Book Group
Discusses selected works at Auntie’s Bookstore at 7 p.m. the first Wednesday each month.
Call: Julie Smith: (509) 838-0206
Gonzaga University
GLBT Resource Center
For information and to contact resource organizations on the GU campus, September-May.
HERO (Helping Educate Regarding Orientation) gay-straight alliance.
SODA (Sexual Orientation Diversity Alliance) law school support group.
Direct line: Bryce: 323-5847
Hospice of Spokane
Physical, emotional and spiritual care for the terminally ill and loved ones; bereavement support and HIV/AIDS counseling services.
Call: (509) 456-0438
ISCS –
Imperial Sovereign Court of Spokane
Call: (509) 251-1242.
Web site: www.iscspokane.com
INBA –
Inland Northwest Business Alliance
A Professional GLBTQ/Allied Business Alliance. Monthly luncheon meetings and annual community resource directory.
Write: PO Box 20163, Spokane, WA 99204
Voice mail: 509-455-3699
E-mail: info@inbaspokane.org
Web site www.inbaspokane.org
Inland Northwest Equality
A coalition of local individuals and organizations committed to progressing GLBT equality and justice.
Call: Krista Benson: 838-7870
Web site www.icehouse.net/pjals/issues/inwe.html
Integrity
Gay and lesbian Episcopalians meet monthly for communion and simple meal.
Call: Chuck: (509) 326-7707 or Ann: (509) 624-6671
Lutheran Communtiy ServicesSafeT Response Center
Call: (509) 747-8224
Crisis line (509) 624-7273
Lilac City Men’s Project
For gay and bisexual men; a frank and open forum about sex, self, safety and socializing.
For more information about upcoming meetings and events:
Web site www.lilaccitymensproject.org
Northwest Fair Housing Alliance
Private, nonprofit organization provides education, outreach and enforcement assistance for those who have experienced discrimination and the general public.
Call: (509) 325-2665 or (800)-200-3247
Odyssey Youth Center
Discussion/support group and social drop-in center for GLBT and questioning youth.
come and go, have the opportunity to reidentify as GLBTQ people, and be in the “heart” of the community.
A virtual community center was a concept that was supported on many occasions. Many (more than 30%) of the people attending the meeting were adamant about increasing resources on the Center’s web site, and for the Center to operate on a virtual level during its down time. Topics that touched on this subject included “an immigrants’ guide to queer Spokane,” wellness and health links, coming out stories, and an “area code” for finding queers in Spokane.
Many of the organizational representatives stayed for the community input portion of the day. After taking
off their various organizational hats, the participants’ conversations centered on the need for serious organizational change. Infrastructure, such as the bylaws, power structure, transparency of operations, and accountability of directors was discussed at length. The need for posting board notes online and posting current financials was stressed as well.
Health and wellness (lesbian health, tobacco use, substance abuse), legal issues, family programming and recreational opportunities were suggested as well as old standards such as meeting space and a resource and referral library. Coming out programs, transgender and bisexual support, and community education were also suggested.
Resource Directory
Call: Ramon or Bonnie: (509) 325-3637
Outreach Center
Condoms, needle exchange, AIDS information.
Open M-F, 3-5 p.m. at 1103 W. First Ave.
Call: (509) 838-6859
OutSpokane
Committee organizes annual Pride march and celebration and other community events.
Web site: www.OutSpokane.com
Papillon
Social support group for the transgender community.
Call: (509) 292-8852
PFLAG - Spokane –
Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays
Support group for parents, family, friends and members of the GLBT community.
Call: (509): 624-6671
Web site: www.pflagspokane.org
PJALS –
Peace and Justice Action
League of Spokane
Independent, membership organization building foundations for a just and nonviolent world.
Call: (509) 838-7870
Planned Parenthood of
The Inland Northwest
HIV antibody testing and counseling.
Call: Clinic for Appt.: (800) 788-9128
Administration: (509) 326-6292
Pride Foundation/Inland Northwest
The Pride Foundation connects, inspires and strengthens the Pacific Northwest GLBTQ community in pursuit of equality by awarding grants and scholarships and cultivating leaders.
Call: Spokane office (509) 327-8377 or (888) 575-7717
E-mail: outreach@pridefoundation.org
Website: www.pridefoundation.org
Quest Youth Group
To “inspire, encourage and support” gay and bisexual guys, 18-25, in the Inland Northwest through free monthly recreational activities, discussions, service projects and movie nights.
Call: Ryan: (509) 290-3519
Web site: www.QuestYouthGroup.org
Ryan White CARE Consortium
HIV care education and planning group.
Call: Tarena Coleman: (509) 444-8200
E-mail: tcoleman@chas.org
Rainbow Regional Community Center
Support services for GLBTQ community and individuals exploring their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
Call: (509) 489-1914
Web site: www.spokanerainbowcenter.org
SAN –
Spokane AIDS Network
Call: (509) 455-8993 or 1-888-353-2130
Web site: www.spokaneAIDSnetwork.org
Spokane County Domestic Violence Consortium
A private, nonprofit organization with members from a variety of professions who have come together to end intimate partner violence.
Call: (509) 487-6783
Spokane Falls Community College
- The Alliance
GLBT and allies group to provide a safe space; to educate our community.
Call: (509) 533-4507
Spokane Human Rights Commission
Call: Equity Office: (509) 625-6263
Spokane Regional Health District
Providing health services and referrals for the public. HIV testing.
Call: (509) 324-1542 or 1-800-456-3236
Web site: www.spokanecounty.org/health
Stonewall News Northwest
Flagship publication for the gay and lesbian community and the Inland Northwest.
Call: (509) 570-3750
Fax (509) 267-6309
Web site: www.stonewallnews.net
Spokane Gender Center Resources and support for transgender people.
Web site: www.gendercenter.com
Unitarian Universalist Church
Gay, lesbian resource committee. Call: (509) 325-6383
Web site: www.uuchurchofspokane.org
Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery
Call: 535-3155
Web site: www.vanessabehan.org
Women and Friends
Women-only activities and events in the Spokane area.
Call: (509) 458-4709
Idaho for Basic Rights
Citizen action group to work for civil and legal equality on basis of sexual orientation. Call: (208) 343-7402
NIAC –
North Idaho AIDS Coalition
HIV/AIDS prevention, education and assistance for people infected with, affected by HIV.
Call: (208) 665-1448
Web site: www.nicon.org/niac
North Idaho College
Gay-Straight Alliance
E-mail: BCHARDISON@icehouse.net
NIGMA -
North Idaho Gay Men’s Association
Creating community by providing real time social activities for gay men in the Moscow/Pullman area, visitors, and allies.
E-mail: NIGMA@yahoogroups.com
Panhandle Health District
STD/HIV testing, condoms, and other methods of birth control, physical exams, shots, cancer screening, resource nurse voucher program, referrals to area resources and education. All services are confidential.
• Kootenai County Call: (208) 667-3481
• Boundary County Call: (208) 267-5558
• Shoshone County Call: (208) 786-7474
• Bonner County Call: (208) 263-5159
• Benewah County Call: (208) 245-4556
Web site: www2.stateid.us/phd1
PFLAG - Sandpoint
Support, education and advocacy group for Sandpoint gay people, parents, family and friends.
Call: (208) 263-6699
Planned Parenthood of The Inland Northwest HIV antibody testing and counseling. Call: Clinic for Appt.: (800) 788-9128 Administration: (509) 326-6292
LEWISTON/CLARKSTON
PFLAG - Lewis-Clark Support, education and advocacy group for Lewis-Clark gay people, parents, family and friends. Meets in Lewiston. Call: (509)
Washington State University
“I’m pretty stoked at the outcome, although I think the voice of the community was underrepresented,” says Cat Carrel, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Rainbow Center. “I hope that more people will come forward and let us know what needs aren’t being met.”
And the community will have an opportunity to do just that, as immediate action items that were decided upon were to upgrade the web site, and present a survey to the community to narrow down the programming options. All of the ideas presented fell into four general categories, Health, Welfare, Advocacy, and Organizational Restructuring.
Gender Identity/Expression and Sexual Orientation Resource Center
Call: Heidi Stanton (509)335-8841
E-mail: hstanton@wsu.edu
Web site www.thecenter.wsu.edu
Washington State University
GLBA Student Group
Fun, fellowship and socializing.
Call: (509) 335-6428
Web site http://cubwsu.edu/GLBAP
Out There
Safer-sex information and supportive programs for young men who have sex with men.
Call Melinda: (509) 335-6428
University of Idaho
Gay-Straight Alliance
Promoting a fabulous, positive and inclusive environment for all people on campus and encouraging individual growth and understanding by developing outreach programs, improving visibility and recognition of queer issues and history.
Call: (208) 885-2691
TRI-CITIES
Benton-Franklin
District Health Department
Confidential and anonymous HIV testing, case management, educational and referral services.
Call: (Pasco) (509) 547-9737, ext. 234
Confidential voice mail also.
River of Life
Metropolitan Community Church Christian church celebrating diversity and affirming GLBTQ people. Sunday services at 11:30 a.m.
Call: (509) 542-8860
Tri-Cities Chaplaincy/ Tri-Cities CARES
Columbia AIDS relief, education and support. Survivor support group and HIV/PWA support group.
Call: (509) 783-7416
WALLA WALLA
Blue Mountain Heart to Heart AIDS prevention education, support and services.
Call: (509) 529-4744
Toll Free: (888) 875-2233 (pin #4744) Spanish: (509) 529-2174
PFLAG – Walla Walla
Support, education and advocacy group for parents, family, friends and members of the GLBTQ community. Promoting the health and well-being of GLBTQ individuals, their families and friends.
Call: (509) 529-5320
Write: 527 E. Oak Walla Walla, WA 99362-1248
E-mail: pflag_walla2wash@hotmail.com Web site www.wwpflag.0catch.com/ Seventh-day Adventist Kinship
Call: (509) 525-0202
WENATCHEE SHINE
An organization that strives to eliminate all forms of prejudice and discrimination by promoting awareness, education, and selfempowerment through the use of the arts.
Call: (509) 860-7354 E-mail: shine_org.@yahoo.com
PULLMAN/MOSCOW
Lesbian Avengers A direct action group focused on issues vital to lesbian survival and visibility. Call: (406) 523-6608
Our Montana Family Supporting Montana’s GLBT parents and their children. E-mail: barbatpride@aol.com
PFLAG Billings Meets monthly Sept. - May. Call: (406) 255-7609
PRIDE!
Statewide lesbigaytrans civil rights advocacy group. Call: (406) 442-9322 or, in Montana: (800) 610-9322
PRIDE Celebration Group in charge of annual Montana June PRIDE celebrations. Call: (406) 442-9322
Western Montana Gay & Lesbian Community Center 127 North Higgins, Suite 202 Missoula, MT 59802 (406) 543-2224
E-mail: wmglcc@gaymontana.org Web: www.gaymontana.org/wmglcc
WASHINGTON
Bi MEN Group
Bi and bi-curious men and gay men who enjoy and support bisexual men. Web site www.egroups.com/group/bi-men-west
Equal Rights Washington Fighting for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. Call: (206) 324-2570 Web site www.equalrightswashington.org
GLSEN Washington State
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) envisions a future in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. E-mail: mail@glsenpugetsound.org Web site www.glsenpugetsound.org
Legal Marriage Alliance
Working to achieve the right of same-sex couples to marry legally in Washington. Web site www.lmaw.org
Lesbian Resource Center Resources and referrals, groups and events. Monthly newspaper. Call: (206) 322-3953
Lifelong AIDS Alliance
Providing support, prevention and advocacy for people with HIV/AIDS. Call: (206) 329-6923
PositiveVoice Washington Advocates for programs and services needed by people with HIV. Offers self-advocacy training.
Call: (888)
Spokane, WA
Saturday, September 16th
12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Goddess Awarenesss Faire (Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane)
Admission: suggested donation of 3 non-perishable food items to benefit local 2nd Harvest Food Bank. Featuring public Autumnal Equinox Ceremony, presentations by archaelogist Dr. Bonny Bazemore and mystical storyteller Helewise, goddess chant workshops, drum circle, and other performances and lectures. Vendors, info booths, kids activities, and soup buffet. To enter your pagan/goddess/divine feminine artwork in the juried show contact SINW Pagan Pride by Sep 8th. http://www.geocities.com/spokaneinlandnw_p aganpride
Sunday, September 17th
8:30 am–2:00 pm
LCMP Hiking Group (Spokane/E. Washington/N. Idaho Area)
Hikes and meeting times will vary. One hike per month will be an easier hike, the other will be a little more on the rigorous side. Call Corey for details 267-9444.
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EMCC Evening Service (at Bethany Presbyterian)
Monday, September 18th
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm Vision Committee Meeting
Tuesday, September 19th
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
PFLAG Monthly Meeting (at Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane)
Our mission is to provide support, education and advocacy for GLBTQ family and friends.
Wednesday, September 20th
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
LCMP Core Group (at SAN)
“Core Group” meeting of the Lilac City Men’s Project. The last Wednesday of the month will be a social outing (out of the office) with no planning.
SAN is located at the corner of 9th and S. Monroe, in the big blue house across the street from Huckleberrys!
Saturday, September 23rd
10:00 am – 6:00 pm ValleyFest (at Maribeau Point Park)
Sunday, September 24th
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
EMCC Evening Service (at Bethany Presbyterian)
Monday, September 25th
6:00 pm - 8:30 pm INWE Common Grounds (at Community Building)
Wednesday, September 27th
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Sunday, October 1st
LCMP Core Group (at SAN)
“Core Group” meeting of the Lilac City Men’s Project. The last Wednesday of the month will be a social outing (out of the office) with no planning.
SAN is located at the corner of 9th and S. Monroe, in the big blue house across the street from Huckleberrys!
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm LCMP Bowling is back! (at North Bowl)
Come hang out with the guys and bowl. Ten bucks gets you two game and shoes. Space is limited, so reserve your spot early by calling 267-9444 and leave a message for Mark or just mention Bowling Night.
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EMCC Evening Service (at Bethany Presbyterian)
6:30 pm ISCS Board Meeting (at Dempsey’s)
7:30 pm ISCS Court Meeting (at Dempsey’s)
Tuesday, October 3rd
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Rainbow Center Board Meeting (location TBA)
RRCC Board Meeting. Public is welcome, but please e-mail info@spokanerainbowcenter.org at least one week in advance if you wish to be placed on the agenda. Watch www.spokanerainbowcenter.org or call 489-1914 for location.
Wednesday, October 4th
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm Vision Committee Meeting
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm LCMP Core Group (at SAN) “Core Group” meeting of the Lilac City Men’s Project. The last Wednesday of the month will be a social outing (out of the office) with no planning. SAN is located at the corner of 9th and S. Monroe, in the big blue house across the street from Huckleberrys!
Thursday, October 5th
7:15 pm - 9:00 pm OutSpokane Meeting (at Kress Gallery) Meetings are the Kress Gallery on the 3rd floor of RiverPark Square. Located next to and behind the food gallery near the theater ticket outlets.
Friday, October 6th
time TBA ISCS Coronation (at Dempsey’s)
8:00 pm–10:00 pm Friday Night OUT! (at CenterStage) FNO is a social hour for LGBTQ and allied individuals to get together for fun and friendship. There will be no politics, no fund raising. So come and meet some people and have some fun!
Saturday, October 7th
time TBA ISCS Coronation (at Dempsey’s)
Sunday, October 8th
time TBA ISCS Coronation (at Dempsey’s)
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EMCC Evening Service (at Bethany Presbyterian)
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm “Another Gay Movie” (location TBA) Hosted by OutSpokane
Tuesday, October 10th
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm Rainbow Center Board Meeting (location TBA) RRCC Board Meeting. Public is welcome, but please e-mail info@spokanerainbowcenter.org at least one week in advance if you wish to be placed on the agenda. Watch www.spokanerainbowcenter.org or call 489-1914 for location.
Wednesday, October 11th NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY!
11:30 am - 1:00 pm INBA Luncheon (at Europa) Guest Speaker: Ben Cablido, Executive Director, AHANA
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm LCMP Core Group (at SAN) “Core Group” meeting of the Lilac City Men’s Project. The last Wednesday of the month will be a social outing (out of the office) with no planning. SAN is located at the corner of 9th and S. Monroe, in the big blue house across the street from Huckleberrys!
Friday, October 13th
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm HIV/AIDS Support Group (at Maple Street CHAS Clinic) Community Health Association of Spokane (CHAS), in conjunction with Ryan White Title 3 Community Advisory Board, is offering monthly educational/support groups for people living with HIV/AIDS and their friends and families. Topics will vary by month and time will be provided for discussion and support. Snacks provided. This month: “Myth Busters” -- What’s Myth & What’s Truth about HIV/AIDS?
Saturday, October 14th
9:30 – 10:30 am PFLAG Mom’s Group (at Conley’s Restaurant)
The MOM’S Group, an informal support group welcomes and supports mothers (and occasionally grandmothers!) of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered children. It meets monthly, on the second Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. for breakfast at Conely’s Restaurant on east Sprague. Call the PFLAG help line 509.624.6671 for more information.
8:00 pm - 10:00 pm LCMP “QuickD8!” (at the Merq)
Tri-Cities, Pullman/Moscow, Walla
Sunday, September 17th
Walla, Yakima, WA
10:30am-11:30am River of Life MCC Sunday Service (Tri-Cities, Center for Positive Living)
6:30 pm Rainbow Cathedral MCC Sunday Service (Yakima, 225 N 2nd St)
7:00 pm PFLAG Monthly Meeting (Yakima, at First Street Conference Center)
Monday, September 18th
7:30–8:30 pm Rainbow Sobriety AA Meeting (Tri-Cities, All Saints Episcopal Church)
Tuesday, September 19th
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Starbucks Tuesdays! (at Pasco Starbucks) Get a chance to meet more people within the Tri-Cities GLBT Community. Information about upcommung GLBT events, and support group information will also be available.
Wednesday, September 20th
7:30–9:00 pm NIGMA Coffee Social (Pullman/Moscow)
NIGMA’s Coffee Social is a weekly event and is held on alternating weeks in Moscow or Pullman. When in Moscow the Coffee group meets at the One World Cafe on the corner of Main and 6th streets. When in Pullman we meet at the Daily Cup near the corner of Main St. and Grande Ave. For information on location please visit us online at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NIGMA
Friday, September 22nd
7:00–9:00 pm NIGMA Fourth Friday Wine Tasting (Pullman/Moscow) NIGMA’s Wine tasting is held at private residences and is only open to those who are 21 and over. Please visit us online at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NIGMA
Sunday, September 24th
10:30am-11:30am River of Life MCC Sunday Service (Tri-Cities, Center for Positive Living)
6:30 pm
Rainbow Cathedral MCC Sunday Service (Yakima, 225 N 2nd St)
Monday, September 25th
7:30–8:30 pm Rainbow Sobriety AA Meeting (Tri-Cities, All Saints Episcopal Church)
Wednesday, September 27th
7:30–9:00 pm NIGMA Coffee Social (Pullman/Moscow)
NIGMA’s Coffee Social is a weekly event and is held on alternating weeks in Moscow or Pullman. When in Moscow the Coffee group meets at the One World Cafe on the corner of Main and 6th streets. When in Pullman we meet at the Daily Cup near the corner of Main St. and Grande Ave. For information on location please visit us online at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NIGMA
Thursday, September 28th
7:00–9:00 pm PFLAG Monthly Meeting (Tri-Cities, Check website for meeting location) http://www.TCPFLAG.org
Sunday, October 1st
10:30am-11:30am River of Life MCC Sunday Service (Tri-Cities, Center for Positive Living)
6:30 pm Rainbow Cathedral MCC Sunday Service (Yakima, 225 N 2nd St)
Monday, October 2nd
7:30–8:30 pm Rainbow Sobriety AA Meeting (Tri-Cities, All Saints Episcopal Church)
Tuesday, October 3rd
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Starbucks Tuesdays! (at Pasco Starbucks) Get a chance to meet more people within the Tri-Cities GLBT Community. Information about upcommung GLBT events, and support group information will also be available.
Wednesday, October 4th
7:30–9:00 pm NIGMA Coffee Social (Pullman/Moscow) NIGMA’s Coffee Social is a weekly event and is held on alternating weeks in Moscow or Pullman. When in Moscow the Coffee group meets at the One World Cafe on the corner of Main and 6th streets. When in Pullman we meet at the Daily Cup near the corner of Main St. and Grande Ave. For information on location please visit us online at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NIGMA
Friday, October 6th
7:00–9:00 pm First Fridays (Yakima, 1st Street Conference Center) Yakima’s gay social group welcomes you and your friends to our monthly gathering!
7:00–9:00 pm NIGMA First Friday (Moscow, University Inn Quiet Bar) Visit us on the web at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NIGMA for more information.
Sunday, October 8th
10:30–11:30 am River of Life MCC Sunday Service (Tri-Cities, 1105 N Conway, Kennewick) 11:00 am–1:00 pm NIGMA Second Sunday Brunch held in Moscow or Pullman at the homes of NIGMA members. The Brunch location is changed monthly for information on the brunch please visit us online at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NIGMA
6:30 pm Rainbow Cathedral MCC Sunday Service (Yakima, 225 N 2nd St) Monday, October 9th COLUMBUS DAY
7:00 pm PFLAG Monthly Meeting (Walla Walla, First Congregational Church) 7:30–8:30 pm Rainbow Sobriety AA Meeting (Tri-Cities, All Saints Episcopal Church) Wednesday, October 11th
7:30–9:00 pm NIGMA Coffee Social (Pullman/Moscow) NIGMA’s Coffee Social is a weekly event and is held on alternating weeks in Moscow or Pullman. When in Moscow the Coffee group meets at the One World Cafe on the corner of Main and 6th streets. When in Pullman we meet at the Daily Cup near the corner of Main St. and Grande Ave. For information on location please visit us online at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NIGMA
Missoula, Butte, Kalispell, MT
Saturday, September 16th
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
WMGLCC: T/G/TS/Intersex Group (at WMGLCC, 127 N Higgins Ave, Ste 202, Missoula) First and Third Saturdays.
WMGLCC: PFLAG Missoula / Five Valleys Meeting (at University Congregational Church) Call 406-721-5013 or 406-541-0163. Third Saturday of the month prior to Potluck.
7:00 pm
WMGLCC: GLBTI Community Potluck (at University Congregational Church) Call 406-721-5013 or 406-541-0163. Third Saturday of the month.
Monday, September 18th
7:00 pm
7:00 pm
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
WMGLCC: QSA Forum Meeting (at Strand Student Union Building) A meeting generally focused around topical conversations pertaining to sexual identity in the Gallatin Valley. Everyone is welcome. 7 p.m., every Monday night, excepting school holidays. SUB Room 106e. Located in the Strand Student Union Building at the bottom/basement level of the north stairwell adjacent to the Centennial Mall. Contact qsa-msu-owner@googlegroups.com for more information.
WMGLCC: U of M Lambda Alliance General Meetings (at UC, Room 330) Call 406-243-5922 for more info. Every Monday of the Month
WMGLCC: Gay Men’s Chorus Rehearsal (at WMGLCC, 127 N Higgins Ave, Ste 202, Missoula) Weekly
WMGLCC: Gay & Lesbian AA Meeting Call Randy at 406-726-3525. Every Monday of the Month
Tuesday, September 19th
6:30 pm
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
WMGLCC: HIV+ Monthly Dinner (at University Congregational Church) all Nancy at 406-543-4770. Third Tuesday of the month.
WMGLCC: Lesbian Chat Group (at WMGLCC, 127 N Higgins Ave, Ste 202, Missoula) Call 406-543-2224 for more information. Weekly
WMGLCC: “Strong and Getting Stronger: Men Who Take Themselves Seriously” A process discussion group for men who have sex with men. Call Andrew Laue, LCSW for more information. Every Tuesday
Wednesday, September 20th
7:00 pm
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
WMGLCC: WMGLCC Board Meeting (at WMGLCC, 127 N Higgins Ave, Ste 202, Missoula) Third Wednesday of the month
WMGLCC: “Living Forward Goup: Men Who Are Living With HIV” Call Andrew Laue, LCSW for more information. Every Wednesday. Thursday, September 21st
7:00 pm
7:00 pm
WMGLCC: Men’s Night (at WMGLCC, 127 N Higgins Ave, Ste 202, Missoula) Weekly
WMGLCC: Coffee Social (at International Coffee Traders, 720 S 10th Ave, Bozeman) Every other Thursday.
Monday, September 25th
7:00 pm
WMGLCC: QSA Forum Meeting (at Strand Student Union Building) A meeting generally focused around topical conversations pertaining to sexual identity in the Gallatin Valley. Everyone is welcome. 7 p.m., every Monday night, excepting school holidays. SUB Room 106e. Located in the Strand Student Union Building at the bottom/basement level of the north stairwell adjacent to the Centennial Mall. Contact qsa-msu-owner@googlegroups.com for more information.
7:00 pm WMGLCC: U of M Lambda Alliance General Meetings (at UC, Room 330) Call 406-243-5922 for more info. Every Monday of the Month
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm WMGLCC: Gay & Lesbian AA Meeting Call Randy at 406-726-3525. Every Monday of the Month
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm WMGLCC: Gay Men’s Chorus Rehearsal (at WMGLCC, 127 N Higgins Ave, Ste 202, Missoula) Weekly
Tuesday, September 26th
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm WMGLCC: Lesbian Chat Group (at WMGLCC, 127 N Higgins Ave, Ste 202, Missoula) Call 406-543-2224 for more information. Weekly
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
WMGLCC: “Strong and Getting Stronger: Men Who Take Themselves Seriously” A process discussion group for men who have sex with men. Call Andrew Laue, LCSW for more information. Every Tuesday continued on next page
8:15 am - 5:15 pm
necessary. Free to women of all ages.
WMGLCC: GLBT Health Summit (at University of Montana, Missoula)
2006 Montana GLBT Health Summit: Bridging The Gap Between Health Care Professionals and the GLBT Community. The summit welcomes health providers as well as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender men and women to enjoy this opportunity to learn more about health issues affecting the health and well being of our community. The summit includes a continental breakfast and lunch, and features a wide variety of interactive workshops examining topics such as mental health and spirituality. All events will be held on campus in the Continuing Education Building. Everyone is welcome. We especially encourage Montana health professionals and HIV prevention providers to attend. Registration required. Call FDH & Associates @ 406-829-8075 or (outside Missoula area) 888.713.4683
(toll-free) REGISTRATION DEADLINE: September 22nd
Monday, October 2nd
7:00 pm
WMGLCC: QSA Forum Meeting (at Strand Student Union Building)
A meeting generally focused around topical conversations pertaining to sexual identity in the Gallatin Valley. Everyone is welcome. 7 p.m., every Monday night, excepting school holidays. SUB Room 106e. Located in the Strand Student Union Building at the bottom/basement level of the north stairwell adjacent to the Centennial Mall. Contact qsa-msu-owner@googlegroups.com for more information.
Tuesday, October 3rd
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Saturday, October 7th
WMGLCC: Lesbian Chat Group (at WMGLCC, 127 N Higgins Ave, Ste 202, Missoula) Call 406-543-2224 for more information. Weekly
TBA WMGLCC: Drag N Hoot 2 (location TBA, Livingston)
Monday, October 9th
7:00 pm
WMGLCC: QSA Forum Meeting (at Strand Student Union Building)
A meeting generally focused around topical conversations pertaining to sexual identity in the Gallatin Valley. Everyone is welcome. 7 p.m., every Monday night, excepting school holidays. SUB Room 106e. Located in the Strand Student Union Building at the bottom/basement level of the north stairwell adjacent to the Centennial Mall. Contact qsa-msu-owner@googlegroups.com for more information.
Tuesday, October 10th
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
WMGLCC: Lesbian Chat Group (at WMGLCC, 127 N Higgins Ave, Ste 202, Missoula) Call 406-543-2224 for more information. Weekly
Saturday, October 14th
TBA
WMGLCC: QSA Dance (location TBA, Bozeman)
