The Morning News today continued what appears to be an unofficial series that might as well be titled, “Why you should vote for Republican Lowell Cannaday for sheriff.” Here we are, in the second week of early voting, and the newspaper felt compelled to publish on its front page this not-so-groundbreaking piece about an old topic — Commissioner John Wiley Price’s involvement in the jail. Of course, the goal of the article is to suggest that Price has gotten involved in jail matters because Sheriff Valdez can’t handle them herself. But the reality is, it makes sense for at least one commissioner to be closely involved with jail operations since it’s the county’s largest department and the Commissioners Court is responsible for the budget. Does anyone take The DMN seriously anymore?
With early voting in full swing, DMN revs up campaign to elect Lowell Cannaday
SMU alum Kathy Bates makes Erica Kane her prison beeyotch
Found this campy 1983 “All My Children” clip featuring Southern Methodist University grad Kathy Bates pushing Susan Lucci around in a jail cell. WOW!
Soulforce Equality Ride update
Here’s an update on the Soulforce Equality Ride — which visited Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth on Monday — courtesy of The Star-Telegram. And here’s a report about the visit from CBS 11. The Dallas Morning News thus far has been ignoring the Equality Ride, except for posting press releases on its Religion Blog, which to me doesn’t really count. Also, you can view photos of the Equality Ride’s visit to Dallas Baptist University last Friday by going here. The Equality Ride will be at Southwestern Assembles of God University in Waxahachie on Wednesday. See Friday’s Dallas Voice for a full recap of the group’s activities in North Texas.
In related news, the University of Houston recently became the only college in Texas to offer a minor concentration in GLBT studies, according to this article in The Houston Chronicle. Where were you on that one, Dallas?
Jennifer Hudson's brother's SUV found — with dead child inside
More on the horrible tragedy.
No confirmation about the identity of the child, but it’s believed to be Hudson’s nephew, Julian King.
Strangers in a strange land for too long now
Marriage may be the rallying cry, but LGBT people must realize that we have long been treated as less-than-full citizens in ways large and small
In a recent article in the Huffington Post, John Hallmann likens the Bush years to a country living under a foreign occupier. He hits the nail on the head as he compares the situation in the United States to that of France during World War II.
The characteristics he details are telling:
• Public opinion is ignored.
• Core values overturned
• Basic infrastructure neglected
• National resources diverted overseas
• Propaganda ratcheted up
This list really defines the Bush years, and now as we struggle to cast off the remnants of this disastrous chapter in American history LBGT people need to take note.
LGBT Americans have lived under much the same occupation for most of modern history and it’s time we realized it. As citizens of this country, we have been denied our rights for so long we have forgotten what full citizenship looks and feels like.
Much like the French, living under foreign control, we still go about our daily lives and may even buy into the illusion that we are no different from our fellow citizens. But step outside the prescribed parameters and the reality comes crashing down.
Proposition 8 was just another wake-up call. The marriage issue may be a battle cry, but it is far from what we should stake our futures on.
Consider the simple display of affection that is taken for granted by full citizens of our country. They hold hands, hug and even kiss in the most public of places without so much as a moment’s notice.
Outside the "gay ghettos" that kind of public display of affection by LGBT citizens will bring stares, cat calls and worse. The problem is, we have learned our place and don’t notice the disparity.
At work, full citizens display photographs of their wives, husbands, lovers and children with pride. Others even comment on the pictures and fawn over their partners with kind comments.
For LGBT citizens, posting a picture of your significant "other" is always a minefield. Unless you work in an enlightened workplace, that picture will cause whispers and perhaps even a reprimand from a superior.
Full citizens accompany their wives and husbands to the hospital and are treated as family members who can in many cases share in medical decisions in emergencies. Unless LGBT citizens have the proper paperwork, that option is denied. Even visitations can be restricted and as "less-than-full" citizens, we have little right to protest.
Full citizens can raise their children however they see fit, and barring abuse or negligence, they can never be taken away from them.
For LGBT citizens, our children, both adopted and by birth can be removed from our homes simply because a group of zealous fanatics push through discriminatory laws that would never be applied to any other group.
The list could go on, but the point would still be the same. Though we have gained many rights, we still live as "less-than-full citizens" and until we shake off our complacency, we will continue to live without our full rights.
It is high time we pushed back with a resistance. We have been docile for too long and many of our brothers and sisters have actively collaborated against us.
We have lived as strangers in our own land for too long.
Hardy Haberman is a longtime local LGBT activist and a board member for Stonewall Democrats of Dallas. His blog is at http://dungeondiary.blogspot.com.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition November 28, 2008.
Letters – November 28, 2008
Lack of foresight on food pantry
I am concerned about the article on the Resource Center of Dallas’ food pantry ("Food pantry less than halfway to total needed for year-end move," Dallas Voice, Nov. 21). First, I think the food pantry is a valuable service that is provided for people who need it due to them having HIV. However, it is unfortunate that poor management and foresight have led to such a predicament. After all, how does such a large non-profit organization who has been in business for 25 years wait until the last month of a five-year lease to negotiate a new lease?
Considering that there have been town halls and Dallas Voice articles about how some of the other tenants and businesses on Cedar Springs have been upset with the food pantry’s attracting unsavory people, I would think it would have been in the best interest of the agency to have secured a lease prior to this time. So why would the agency’s administration and board wait? They would have to be deaf to not hear the concerns raised by their neighbors. Did they think people would just bail them out financially? Isn’t this the same agency that is trying to raise money for a new building? These are hard times financially for everyone. Now this agency with poor foresight is putting our community in a tight situation. Let’s face it. It will be the gay and lesbian community that will have to come to the rescue financially to help. When HIV/AIDS first hit, we had to take care of ourselves. Now that HIV/AIDS affects everyone, we have the burden of taking care of ourselves — and everyone else. I’m sure I’m in the minority opinion here. However, I just think that this is a situation that could have been avoided.
Armando Torres
Dallas
Saying ‘married’ doesn’t make it so
I was shocked to read Michael Piazza’s op-ed piece on gay marriage ("We lost because we were crazy enough to keep fighting for ‘marriage’ instead of the rights that come with it," Dallas Voice, Nov. 21).
He said, "Same-sex couples can get married at any one of a dozen churches in Dallas if they want to, and no one can stop them."
This statement is not only erroneous, it is criminal. According to Texas state law, religious clergy and churches risk criminal prosecution from a misdemeanor to a felony offense, if they conduct illegal marriages.
Since the state constitution prohibits marriage between two people of the same sex, anyone who conducts such a marriage commits the same level of criminal offense who knowingly conducts a marriage involving underage people or already married people.
When a clergy member, of which I am one, conducts a marriage (s)he acts as an agent of the state and says clearly, "By the authority invested in me by the state of Texas." The word marriage can’t, under Texas law, be used in any situation where the couple doesn’t have a legal Texas marriage license that is at least three days old and no more than 30 days old.
We can call it a commitment ceremony or any other name to make ourselves feel better. But it is not marriage.
While I appreciate Mike’s sentiment, "My partner and I got married in a church in Atlanta in 1980," he is not married and does not have the married rights of heterosexual couples, who can be married in this state by license or simply by registering a common law marriage.
Letting our sentiment win out with such statements and not demanding full and equal rights before the law in name, is to dishonor our community.
The African-American community has taught us a great deal about fighting for equal rights. The 14th amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1868. But it was well into the 1960s, almost 100 years later, before those full rights began to be realized.
When we accept less that full equal rights, we accept the message of fear and ignorance that Christians have used to oppress people in this country. We allow members of our own community to believe that they are not deserving of equal respect by their neighbors and friends.
We tell gay men, who live in small town Texas, to stay in the closet and act like gay love is shameful. We tell every lesbian couple who live together to continue telling their family and friends they are merely roommates. We tell every transgendered person, or those so desiring, that they are some sort of strange creature to be ashamed of and secreted away.
If American history has taught us anything about civil rights, it is that only in standing up for those rights will we receive them. Women didn’t accept a "pink" ballot that could be discarded when they asked for the right to vote. Black people didn’t accept second-class rights when it came to schooling, marriage, voting and jobs.
People have stood actively against ignorance and oppression to the risk of their lives and livelihood. We, following in their footsteps, must not dishonor them by doing less.
Shame on us for allowing ourselves to be fooled into believing that we should accept less than everything. Shame on me personally for allowing fear to rule my life.
The mistake we made in California was believing too much in the idea that there is good in humans. Fear is a terrible animal that has ruled our species from its inception. It is an emotion that has great power when it is used to protect our lives or community. It is a terrible tool in the hands of manipulators who use it to oppress people.
When we forget that power, we forget the greatest tool our enemy has.
Marlin Bynum
Irving
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition November 28, 2008.
Celebration Church opens new LGBT counseling center
Barron House offers ‘win-win’ situation with sliding scale for clients, cost sharing to keep expenses low for therapists, church official says
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| The Rev. Carol West, senior pastor at Celebration Community Church, said it was the kindness of church members that made the Barron House possible. |
FORT WORTH — For years those seeking spiritual guidance and solace have rushed to churches for support. Now one church is taking another approach to help its congregation.
Celebration Community Church in Fort Worth dedicated Barron House, a new counseling center with an outreach to the LGBT community, on Oct. 26. Barron House is managed by Celebration Cares, the non-profit arm of the church.
Angela King, chair of the Celebration Cares board, said the center will benefit both clients and therapists.
"We are working with therapists who base their rates on a sliding scale, and in exchange we will work with them on reducing their costs," King said.
For many therapists, she added, this is a win-win situation.
"It is a great opportunity for those just starting out or therapists who only want to work a few days," she said.
King said there are a lot of overhead costs associated with a practice, such as rent and facilities costs. Barron House will help cut down on those expenses.
"Here we will make it less expensive for them. We will also help them with back office duties," she said.
And as a result, clients will have to pay less money to see a therapist.
"Everyone must pay something for treatment to be beneficial and meaningful," King said.
Licensed professional counselor Lisetta Thomas, who is one of the therapists involved with the center, said, "I think there is less access to affordable counseling for our community. I feel this is one of the needs Barron House will meet."
Although, anyone can receive counseling at Barron House, it is Tarrant County’s first counseling center with a primary focus on the LGBT community. Most of the counseling opportunities for the LGBT community are in Dallas, King noted.
The Rev. Carol West, senior pastor at Celebration, said about 95 to 98 percent of her church’s congregation are LGBT people, so when the opportunity to start the counseling center presented itself, church officials decided to jump on it.
"A property became available next to the church which needed lots of work, and I didn’t think I could convince the congregation to buy it," West said. But, she said, it was the kindness of some of the church members who banded together and bought the property and then donated it to the church that allowed the project to proceed.
King said the property was then gutted and completely redone.
"Before the building was a fourplex which people rented. We converted the building into an amazing structure," she said.
King said the facility now consists of a group rooms with a kitchen, four counseling rooms and bathrooms. And it complies completely with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
King remarked, "People are extremely generous," in reference to church and community members who have donated many items to Barron House for use.
West added, "We were really glad we were able to set this up for the community. We wanted it to be for everyone."
Although Barron House was dedicated last month, King said the center has been operating a few months. "We have some volunteer therapists who are affiliated with the church. We envision 10 to 15 therapists who are helping 40 to 50 people a week," she said.
King noted that there is a possibility Barron House would be used by groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous in the future.
She said people interested in seeing a therapist at Barron House are asked to answer a few questions over the phone before being referred to a therapist based on their problem or their schedule. For those with scheduling conflicts, Barron House tries to provide flexible hours, which include Saturdays and evenings.
Barron House is located adjacent to Celebration church at 516 College Ave.
in Fort Worth. To schedule an appointment call 817-335-3222.
E-mail Praveen@dallasvoice.com
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition November 28, 2008.
Election results give Black Tie air of elation, anger, disappointment
HRC president says LGBT rights will ‘take a back seat to no one’; gay bishop warns against racial divide
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| Joe Solmonese |
The mood at the 27th annual Black Tie Dinner on Saturday, Nov. 22 was a mixture of elation, disappointment and anger.
Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese drew applause when he spoke about the country’s new "gifted, strong and wise leader named Barack Obama" and the "new sense of possibility in the nation’s capital" as the new president’s inauguration draws nearer.
Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson, this year’s Elizabeth Birch Award winner, and Logo President Brian Graden, accepting the Media Award on behalf of the LGBT cable TV channel, expressed the community’s disappointment and anger over the passage of California’s Proposition 8 and other anti-gay ballot initiatives in Florida, Arkansas and Arizona.
Solmonese said that although the community’s political prospects are much brighter with Obama in the White House, his organization won’t slack off in its efforts toward LGBT equality.
"The issues that affect our community take a back seat to no one," he said. "We will continue to prepare the way and lay the groundwork, and we expect to make more progress in the next four years than we have in the last 40. …
"Obama, like John F. Kennedy, will usher in a new era of hope and possibility. We are in a new morning … of light and hope and possibility," he said.
Solmonese also acknowledged the "frontal attack" on LGBT rights that came in the form of the anti-gay ballot initiatives on Nov. 4. But he said even in those losses, the community can see progress.
"Eight years ago, we lost this battle by 20 points [in California]. This year, it was only four. It is only a matter of time … and in two years, the arc of history will bend in our direction, and we will win," he said.
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| Gene Robinson |
Robinson also urged the audience of about 2,800 to find the silver lining in the dark clouds of Prop 8 and the other measures: "Some of our younger LGBT people got a wake-up call, and maybe some of us got a reminder that we all need to be working" for equality.
But he warned against making Prop 8′s passage a racial issue. "There is not a racial divide among us," the bishop said. "It is a tried and true tactic of an oppressor to get the oppressed to fight each other" instead of a common enemy.
There is, however, a racial divide, Robinson continued. "Never has a civil rights issues been so tied to religious belief. … The church has been wrong before, and it is wrong again," he said. "The God I know is sick to death of the Bible being used to abuse us. … It is time to take the Bible back from those who wrongly use it to bludgeon us.
"It will be hard," he said. "Some of us will have to pay a price. Our community needs to be willing to pay that price. Join me in being willing to pay that price."
Graden, after thanking the audience for "helping create a world where Logo can exist," recalled the immediate aftermath of the Prop 8 vote in California: "We felt like we had been sucker-punched."
But, the TV exec added, that anger and disappointment must be funneled into productive action. "History only spins forward," he said. "This is our America, too. This will be our time."
The evening also featured a keynote speech by fashion designer Kenneth Cole, who talked about the founding of his company 20 years ago and the large part that social activism and AIDS activism have played in its development.
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| Kenneth Cole |
Cole, who is also on the board of the American Foundation Fighting AIDS, reminded the crowd that "to be aware is more important than what you wear."
Black Tie co-chairs Randy Ray and Laurie Foley presented the Kuchling Humanitarian Award to co-winners Phil Johnson and Rebecca Covell.
Johnson, known as the historian of Dallas’ LGBT community, recalled his decades of activism, of chronicling the community’s history and collecting mementos of that history. He did it all, he said, because "I don’t want another child to grow up thinking, as I did, ‘I’m the only one.’"
Covell, an attorney, told the audience that the battle for equality "won’t be won in the courts. It will be won in our backyards. … Tell your stories. Come out. When you are authentic with them, they understand. It makes politics personal."
Ray said this week that about 2,800 people attended the event at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel.
"Although it was not a sell-out, we had a wonderful response to this year’s dinner from sponsors, table captains and individual ticket purchasers. We had about the same number of guests as in 2007," he said.
The DFW Federal Club Luxury Travel Package featuring stays in Sofitel Hotels and first-class round-trip travel from Los Angeles to Tahiti on Tahiti Nui Air was the top seller in the live luxury auction, going for $26,000. Ray said final totals from the live and silent auctions are not yet complete.
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| Brian Graden |
Each year, the Human Rights Campaign receives about half of the total proceeds from the Black Tie Dinner, with the rest being divided between local beneficiaries. Early in the evening, a small group of transgender activists protested outside the front doors of the hotel to draw attention to what they said was HRC’s lack of support for transgender equality. (See story, Page 6.) A parking valet said the number of protesters ranged from two to about five, and that the group left shortly after 7 p.m., when most of the dinner attendees had already arrived. The dispute that sparked the protest can be traced back to 2007 and HRC’s willingness to support a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that did not include transgenders.
Ray said Black Tie organizers had been aware there might be protesters at the event, but that he had not heard anyone at the dinner comment on the group outside.
"We certainly understand the issues that the transgender community is concerned about," Ray said. "Black Tie’s mission statement is focused on the full GLBT community, and many of our beneficiaries have transgender programs, including the education and outreach of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
"We were pleased this year to include the transgender community in the telling of our Stories Untold, and to have the positive images of the transgender community in the videos Saturday night at the dinner," he added. "We were also pleased that the recipient of our Elizabeth Birch Equality Award, Bishop Gene Robinson, reached out to the transgender community in Texas and participated in the Transgender Conversation Saturday afternoon."
Proceeds from the dinner will be distributed to beneficiaries during a reception on Dec. 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the Austin Ballroom at the Sheraton Dallas. The 2009 Black Tie Dinner has been set for Oct. 3 at the same hotel. Ray said the event was moved up to the earlier date to accommodate schedules at the hotel.
E-mail nash@dallasvoice.com
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition November 28, 2008.
1st Wednesday’s 1st anniversary
Merchants Association upbeat about prospects as gay shopping hub comes back to life
Eighteen months ago, things were looking a little bleak on the Cedar Springs strip.
Major road construction projects on either side of the gayborhood were keeping customers away, and the number of vacant storefronts was rising. On top of that, widespread redevelopment in the area meant fewer residents, and a high-profile murder near a sidewalk ATM brought safety concerns.
It was around this time that, in response to the problems, a handful of business owners on the strip banded together to form the Cedar Springs Merchants Association.
Today, the Merchants Association has more than 20 members, including almost all businesses on the strip, and the group’s monthly First Wednesday event typically draws up to 1,000 people.
The road projects are winding down and redevelopment has progressed significantly. Safety issues are being dealt with, and despite tough economic times, Cedar Springs business owners seem rather upbeat. In fact, they’re now planning major improvements in the entertainment district, including gateway arches at Wycliff and Oak Lawn avenues, within a few years.
"We’ve got people coming back to the street. Now, we’ve got to make it a street that people want to come back to," said Scott Whittall, president of the Merchants Association and owner of Buli Café.
Whittall and others said First Wednesday, which will celebrate its one-year anniversary Dec. 3, has been instrumental to the strip’s rebound. First Wednesday, from 6 to 9 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month, features discounts and other promotions at participating businesses. Whittall said the event has increased interest in the Merchants Association among business owners, and reminded customers that the strip isn’t open only on weekends.
"If you give people a reason to come down here, other than the same old thing, they turn out," Whittall said.
December’s First Wednesday will feature a tree lighting ceremony and Santa Claus, as well as performances by the Oak Lawn Band and the Texas Women’s Chorus.
Whittall said in addition to the gateway arches, the Merchants Association plans new trees, light poles that can hold vertical signs, posts for hanging banners across the roadway, and cobblestone sidewalks and crosswalks.
The upgrades are necessary to remain competitive with other LGBT-friendly entertainment districts, such as Knox-Henderson and the Bishop Arts District, he said.
Whittall said the Merchants Association plans to tackle the improvements a little at a time over the next few years, but the first changes will be evident this winter after a property owner renovates Crossroads Market and TapeLenders Video, as well as vacant storefronts that housed An Occasional Piece and Shades of Grey.
Meanwhile, Throckmorton Mining Co. recently reopened in the old Sue Ellen’s, an Italian restaurant is scheduled to replace Frida’s, and a development at the site of the old Tom Thumb store is nearing completion.
The Merchants Association’s board, which meets monthly, recently traveled to City Hall to talk to Councilwoman Pauline Medrano and openly gay former Councilman Ed Oakley. The main topic of discussion was the possibility of obtaining matching funds from the city for the Cedar Springs projects.
"It was a very positive meeting and everybody came out feeling very good about it," Whittall said. "Obviously the biggest issue with anything is raising the capital."
For more information on the Merchants Association and First Wednesday, go to http://dallascrossroads.com.
E-mail wright@dallasvoice.com
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition November 28, 2008.
Event marks Day of Remembrance, raises awareness
More than 60 people gathered on the coldest night of the year to remember.
They stood in the harsh wind, guarding the flames of their candles as the loudspeakers boomed the stories of 30 transgender people killed in hate crimes this year.
"I am Samantha Rangel Brandau from Milan, Italy. I was beaten, gang-raped and stabbed numerous times before being left for dead at the age of 30."
The event on Southern Methodist University’s campus Nov. 20 was part of the 10th annual National Transgender Day of Remembrance. The Remembering Our Dead Web Project estimates that two people a month, on average, are killed in violence against transgender people.
"Tonight we are here to pay homage to strangers, perhaps showing more love to them than they ever received in life," featured speaker and LGBT counselor Felishia Porter said. "We did not know them, yet we have taken time out of our lives to pause and remember."
In addition to honoring the dead, the event was intended to raise awareness of gender identity hate crimes.
"It’s important to me that we as a large community don’t forget," organizer Beth Richard said. "Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. Well, repeating those kinds of pasts is something I don’t want to see ever again."
Porter agreed.
"This kind of hate to commit these kinds of murders does not happen over night. It’s propagated over generations," she said. "It is my opinion that the most effective response to hate is to embrace it’s antithesis — love — by loving ourselves for who and what we are.
"This is a time to wrap ourselves and each other in a blanket of compassion and tenderness while we are still alive to give and receive it," Porter said.
Richard also said the venue for the event was important.
"Things are getting better," she said. "When I was in college, it was something that just could not be talked about. But the youth in college these days have an avenue and have the resources and the ability to become who they are at an earlier age."
Karen Click with SMU’s Women’s Center echoed the sentiment.
"Southern Methodist University stands in solidarity with all those who gathered for this transgender day of remembrance and encourages our students, faculty, staff and larger community to reflect on the significance before us," Click said.
Similar events took place in Fort Worth at Agape Metropolitan Community Church and other places across the nation.
Overall, organizers considered the event an important success.
"When I think about these people who lost their lives in these horrific ways, my heart hurts," Porter said. "I wonder, did they know their worth? Did they experience the acceptance of a mother? A father? A friend? Did they ever feel love?
"That’s why we are here tonight to show them that love. And the message is strong."
E-mail Briscoe@dallasvoice.com
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition November 28, 2008.
