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TX-based Millions of Moms for Love counters One Million Moms’ hate

Posted on 20 May 2013 at 1:22pm

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFor more than 20 years, gays have gathered in Orlando the first week of June for Gay Days at Walt Disney World, where folks and their friends and families can experience the Magic Kingdom and all its camp appeal. Over the decades, it has grown to a weeklong event, covering all the Disney parks (as well as Universal) and attracting hundreds of thousands of out-and-proud people, looking to enjoy the amusements.

And for almost as long, it has been a lightning rod for hate groups.

Disney does not officially sponsor Gay Days (though, as a regular attendee for many years, I can tell you they don’t oppose it), but that hasn’t stopped homophobic groups like the American Family Association and spinoff One Million Moms from accusing the House of Mouse and gays of “expos[ing] and desensitiz[ing] children to this lifestyle by same-sex couples holding hands, hugging and kissing.” Let’s ignore for a minute that “holding hands, hugging and kissing” is also what parents do with the kids, and couples of all ages do in public on a daily basis without causing a stir. Still, OMM is urging its supporters to email Disney and demand they not “go along” with Gay Days.

Of course, I don’t know how Disney could stop it: You show up with money and a ticket, they let you in — they are a business. But that doesn’t stop OMM.

It has, however, spurred a straight Texas mother, Darcy Christ, to act. (Don’t you just love her last name? Christ is on our side!) Earlier this month, Christ started a Facebook fan page to get folks who believe in love to oppose OMM and their rants against gays. She’s also teamed with Outloud Enterprises, which has established a page where you can sign a letter to Disney voicing your support for inclusion.

And, of course, you can show your support simply by attending Gay Days and spending money. For some reason, that seems to work.

— Arnold Wayne Jones

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Man appeals dismissal of suit alleging Texas AG fired him for being gay

Posted on 20 May 2013 at 9:33am
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Jason Smith

The case of a gay Tyler man who sued the Texas Attorney General’s office for employment discrimination comes before the Court of Appeals in Austin this week.

Vic A. Gardner worked for the AG’s child support division for about three years. He received excellent performance reviews until an office Halloween costume party, the suit alleges. When he attended dressed as a geisha girl, his supervisor determined he was gay.

Once his sexual orientation was assumed by the supervisor, he was repeatedly disciplined until he resigned in February, according to his attorney, Jason Smith of Fort Worth.

In a sworn affidavit, the supervisor admitted he had a religious objection to Gardner being gay.

“You are who you are, but try not to be so out,” Smith said his client was told.

Knowing Gardner’s father was a Baptist minister, the supervisor asked Gardner at one point how he could do that to his father.

In October 2010, a lower court judge ruled the AG had immunity from prosecution and dismissed the case. Gardner appealed in November 2010 but withdrew his appeal in January 2011.

Gardner’s new appeal is asking the court to order a jury trial. The AG contends all Gardner can do is ask for reinstatement. Smith said his client is entitled to lost wages and more.

Continue reading “Man appeals dismissal of suit alleging Texas AG fired him for being gay” »

— David Taffet

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Activists plan 2nd annual Dallas Harvey Milk celebration May 26

Posted on 17 May 2013 at 2:42pm
Participants hold candles as they listen to speakers Tuesday, May 22, during Dallas’ first-ever Harvey Milk Day celebration at the Legacy of Love Monument. (John Wright/Dallas Voice)

Participants hold candles as they listen to speakers May 22, 2012, during Dallas’ first-ever Harvey Milk Day celebration at the Legacy of Love Monument. (John Wright/Dallas Voice)

Dallas activists are having a Harvey Milk celebration again this year.

The event will include speakers, music and a staged reading of “Dear Harvey” by Patricia Loughrey, which will be the first time the play has been staged in Dallas in any form.

GetEQUAL TX regional coordinator Daniel Cates, who is directing it, said he hopes to mount a full production later in the year.

“This is a beautiful piece and one that I am excited to bring to Dallas,” he said in a statement. “Harvey’s message of hope is one that all people, LGBT and not, should hear. This will be an inspiring evening.”

“Dear Harvey” is an ensemble piece created though interviews with people who actually knew Milk, his personal and political writings, newspaper stories and letters written to him from across the nation.

The cast includes the the Rev. Carol West of Celebration Community Church in Fort Worth, Lynn Walters, executive director of Hope for Peace and Justice, Jeffrey Harper, Mark Calloway, Todd Whitley and Alan Dudley of the Cathedral of Hope Theatre Ministry, and local activist Natalie Johnson.

The 2nd annual event planned by GetEQUAL TX and Hope for Peace and Justice will be 7 p.m. Sunday, May 26, at Cathedral of Hope’s Interfaith Peace Chapel.

“It is important for us to celebrate and remember our history as LGBT people. No one is going to tell our story for us, we have to do it ourselves. We owe it to younger generations to let them know where they come from and how far they can go,” Cates said.

Tickets to the Dallas Harvey Milk Celebration are available here for a suggested $15 All proceeds benefit programs of Hope for Peace and Justice and GetEQUAL TX.

— Anna Waugh

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This week’s takeaways: Life+Style

Posted on 17 May 2013 at 11:20am
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For tickets to Pam Ann, go here.

Indigo Girls, the lesbian folk band, plays at the McKinney Arts Center on Friday night, but there are lots of other gay-friendly things to do closer to downtown.

Also on Friday, photographer Alex Remington opens his one-man show of Dallas landmarks, Architectura, at the ilume Gallerie; it will play there through June. And Dallas ComicCon bursts into the Irving Convention Center in Las Colinas for a weekend of events.

On Saturday night, the Turtle Creek Chorale holds its annual Turtle Ball, this time at Trinity Groves, the new development near our fancy Calatrava bridge.

This is the last weekend to see Re-Designing Women at the Rose Room, as well as Fela! at the Winspear. And it’s your only chance to see Pam Ann, pictured, in her one-woman comedy act at the Majestic. But you still have time to catch Priscilla Queen of the Desert at Fair Park and the Dallas Theater Center’s Fly By Night at the Kalita.

— Arnold Wayne Jones

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Equal Scouting Summit to take place next week when BSA discusses gay ban

Posted on 17 May 2013 at 10:30am

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Scouts for Equality and the Inclusive Scouting Network are holding a national Equal Scouting Summit next week while the Boy Scouts’ National Council debates whether or not to allow gay youth.

The event will bring together national leaders and discuss how to make the BSA more inclusive moving forward. Jennifer Tyrrell, Zach Wahls, Greg Bourke, Will Oliver and Eagle Scout Dave McGrath, who is biking 1,800 miles with his son for equality, are among the speakers.

The Voice of the Gay Scout project will also be a part of the summit. Gay Scouts are encouraged to send letters about what they would say to members of the BSA’s National Council. Scouts and allies will bring the letters to the National Council and read them aloud. Letters can be sent to voice@inclusivescouting.net.

The summit is May 22-24 at the Great Wolf Lodge, 100 Great Wolf Drive in Grapevine.

For more information or to RSVP, go here.

— Anna Waugh

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REVIEW: ‘Priscilla’ — queens on the verge of a nervous breakdown

Posted on 17 May 2013 at 10:27am
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The queens of ‘Priscilla’

It is a small perturbation that the two longest-running Broadway musicals about drag queens — La Cage aux Folles and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, now playing at Fair Park Music Hall — involved plots where gay men have ill-advised sex with women and produce sons, only hoping not to embarrass their offspring. My guess is, this is done intentionally, to remind mainstream hetero audiences that gay or straight, we are all basically the same (as if showing our emotions weren’t already enough).

Still, you can practically hear the jaws drop inside the auditorium during many of the numbers of Priscilla, which makes La Cage look like a church social by comparison. Its outrageousness is less offensive and shocking than merely unbridled: It’s out-and-proud about its camp factor, and you’d better adjust or stay away.

Adjust. Do, do adjust, because Priscilla is a hoot, as glamorously trashy and enjoyable as the best drag show you’ve ever seen. Some people didn’t stay through Act 2; that was their loss.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Priscilla’ — queens on the verge of a nervous breakdown” »

— Arnold Wayne Jones

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Rawlings calls anti-gay flier at council meeting ‘just plain unacceptable’

Posted on 16 May 2013 at 2:03pm
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Mayor Mike Rawlings

Below our post about an anti-gay flier distributed at a Dallas City Council meeting on Wednesday, one commenter suggested that Mayor Mike Rawlings is fostering an environment conducive to hate by not being more outspoken in support of LGBT equality:

“I urge all readers to contact the Mayor’s office and voice your displeasure with Mayor Rawlings’ apathetic and cowardly approach in addressing LGBT equality,” Mack Clark wrote. “Stories like this illustrate how imperative it is that Mayor Rawlings act as a leader and speak out against those who spew hatred and defame the Mayor’s LGBT constituency. Mayor Rawlings is obviously in bed with these hatemongers, thus his hesitance to proclaim otherwise. This is outrageous.”

A review of the video from the council meeting shows that two council members — Dwaine Caraway and Angela Hunt — had a chance to speak against the flier before Rawlings adjourned the meeting without addressing the matter. Caraway suggested that the mayor undertake a review of the rules governing public comments at council meetings, and Hunt seconded the suggestion, calling the flier “disgusting.” Curious what the mayor’s thoughts were, I reached out to Rawlings’ office today.

“The behavior Richard Sheridan displayed yesterday at the end of the city council meeting was disrespectful, discourteous, and inappropriate and will not be tolerated,” Rawlings chief of staff, Paula Blackmon, wrote in an email. “The city attorney’s office is reviewing speaker guidelines so that this type of action will not happen again. It is just plain unacceptable.”

I also asked if Rawlings has decided how he’ll vote on a council resolution backing marriage equality and LGBT employment protections, but Blackmon didn’t respond to that question.

— John Wright

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San Antonio religious leaders threaten lawsuits to end city’s DP benefits

Posted on 16 May 2013 at 1:07pm
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Philip Sevilla

Two religious leaders are threatening lawsuits if the city doesn’t stop offering domestic partner benefits in light of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s advisory opinion saying they violate the state Constitution.

Pastor Gerald Ripley of Voices for Marriage and Philip Sevilla of Texas Leadership Coalition addressed the San Antonio City Council Wednesday, threatening lawsuits in order to stop the benefits from being offered if the city doesn’t end them by June 30, the San Antonio Express-News reports.

“Lawsuits will be filed if necessary,” Ripley said.

“We cannot allow this in San Antonio. We are not San Francisco,” Sevilla said.

City attorney Mike Bernard told the newspaper the city won’t change its policy until the U.S. Supreme Court rules in two key marriage equality cases.

San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro has supported the benefits and said last month Abbott’s opinion to take away the benefits would hold Texas back.

Meanwhile, Fort Worth officials aren’t changing anything to the city’s DP benefits program because of Abbott’s opinion, according to an employee newsletter sent out yesterday.

— Anna Waugh

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DGLA endorses Kingston in runoff

Posted on 16 May 2013 at 12:37pm

Kingston.PhilipThe Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance has endorsed Philip Kingston in the District 14 Dallas City Council runoff. Kingston faces Bobby Abtahi in the June 15 election. Abtahi has the backing of Stonewall Democrats. DGLA originally endorsed Jim Rogers, who finished third among seven candidates and out of the runoff on May 11.

DGLA PAC chair Damien Duckett said his organization believes Kingston has the same sort of independent spirit as incumbent Angela Hunt, who is stepping down due to term limits.

“It allows her to stand up on the council even when it’s not popular,” he said. “He made the PAC feel he’ll be that same sort of councilman.”

In deciding on the endorsement, PAC member Nell Gaither recused herself from the discussion because she had previously endorsed Kingston.

Duckett called the decision between Abtahi and Kingston difficult because PAC members like both of the candidates but felt Kingston was the stronger of the two.

Duckett said the group was impressed with Kingston’s performance at the DGLA forum held in March at Sue Ellen’s.

“One of the messages I tried to deliver at the forum was you can’t be the District 14 rep without reaching out to the LGBT community,” Kingston said.

Four of the seven candidates in the race skipped the forum.

“I like that group and I’m really excited about the endorsement,” Kingston said.

— David Taffet

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REVIEW: ‘Star Trek: Into Darkness’

Posted on 16 May 2013 at 11:28am

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

In Star Trek Into Darkness, opening today, the crew might as well have rechristened the Enterprise the U.S.S. Kitchen Sink; certainly that’s what they filmmakers have thrown into this, the second film in the reboot of a series rebooted so much, it might have been designed in a cowboy footwear store.

One of the fun things about a reboot is that you get to experience old things as new. This incarnation of the series — which follows a “new” timeline of the original crew — makes ample references to iconic items from the original: There are references to Klingons, tribbles, Dr. Carol Marcus, Khan, photon torpedoes, “the needs of the many” and the Enterprise’s famous “five-year mission.”

It also, sometimes, makes the film unintentionally comic, as recycled lines (especially Dr. McCoy’s penchant for homespun aphorism) sound suddenly cliched. There’s also the problem that the ad campaign promises that “nothing can prepare us” for what happens, though of course, it’s easy to prepare: Just watch Star Trek II.

Another downside is that the screenwriters (here and in Star Trek) have seemed more interested in reinventing most of the characters for their own uses, and sacrificing what we have come to love about them. The most awkward fit of these is the relationship between Kirk (Chris Pine, pictured right — who is, sadly, shirtless only once) and Spock (Zachary Quinto, pictured left). The original actors, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, invented the ultimate bromance, two men who occasionally argued but were never disrespectful of the other. Here, they snipe like cats in a bag. And the plot changes focus so much, it’s difficult to tell the good guys from the villains.

Still, such quibbles aside, director J.J. Abrams has concocted a rip-roaring sci-fi action picture with great special effects (the 3-D is well used) and a touching, keenly played performance by Quinto. It’s hard when you’re supposed to be the only emotionless character on screen to show the heart of a picture, but Quinto does it. And, considering his all-out brawl with the bad guy (Benedict Cumberbatch) on the streets of San Francisco, it’s to his credit that the audience experiences it as a duel, not as a gay-bashing.

In wide release.

— Arnold Wayne Jones

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