A M E R I C A’ S L A R G E S T C I R C U L AT I O N G AY A N D L E S B I A N N E W S P A P E R !
Gay City
S E R V I N G G A Y, L E S B I A N , B I A N D T R A N S G E N D E R E D N E W Y O R K • W W W . G A Y C I T Y N E W S . C O M
■ POLITICS
Big NYC
Turnout Key to
DC March, Cleve
Jones Says
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE
C I
leve Jones finished his pitch for
the National Equality March in
front of the Stonewall Democrats
of New York City, and a member of the
political club moved that they endorse
the march and rally slated for October 11
in the nation’s capital. After the motion
was seconded, the meeting moderator
asked if there were any objections.
Jones put his hands on his hips and
the look on his face threatened anyone
who might take up the moderator’s invi-
tation. The group unanimously endorsed
the march as they roared at Jones’ imi-
tation of a stern school teacher.
Prior to the vote, Jones had told the
group, which met at the Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender Community
Center, “It needs to be massive. I need
New York to turn out.”
More than anyone else in the commu-
nity, Jones is identified with the march,
which he conceded was controversial at
New York City events on September 23
and 24. Whether any given march suc-
DC MARCH P. 6
LEVI WALKER
A BOY AND HIS SOUL
19
MAYOR BLOOMBERG IN CHELSEA FOR A SEPTEMBER 17 INTERVIEW WITH GAY CITY NEWS
Bloomberg Bearish on
Gay Marriage Chances
EXCLUSIVE
BY PAUL SCHINDLER
E
ven as he put the chances of
moving a gay marriage bill in
Albany this fall at “zero, zero,”
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg argued
that he has the political clout to win sup-
port from key New York Republican state
senators, including two from the city
who are vociferous in their opposition.
As early as 2005, the mayor pledged to
lobby the Legislature to enact marriage
equality legislation passed twice since
then by the State Assembly and actively
pushed by Governor David A. Paterson.
In a series of high profile appearances
this year, Bloomberg has reiterated that
commitment.
In an exclusive interview with Gay
City News on September 17 — a cam-
© GAY CITY NEWS 2009 • COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
TM
NEWS YOUR FREE
LGBTQ
NEWSPAPER
OCTOBER 1-14, 2009
VOLUME EIGHT, ISSUE 20
■ POLITICS
Duane,
Thompson
Hit Back at
Bloomberg
BY PAUL SCHINDLER
n the wake of Mayor Michael R.
Bloomberg’s comments pegging the
chances of gay marriage moving in
Albany this fall at “zero, zero,” and charg-
ing that his Democratic opponent in the
November 3 election is “afraid to go near
any of these issues,” Senator Thomas K.
Duane and City Comptroller William C.
Thompson, Jr., have struck back hard.
“Once again Mike Bloomberg is talking
out of both sides of his mouth,” Thomp-
son’s campaign argued in an email to
Gay City News. “The fact of the matter
GAY CITY NEWS
is Mike will stand up in press confer-
ences and talk the talk but at the end of
the day he never walks the walk. Mike
Bloomberg has consistently supported
the Republican Party and its anti-gay
marriage agenda.”
Duane, an out gay Chelsea Democrat
who is leading the efforts to win Senate
RESPONSE P. 8
paign aide said it was his first since City
Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr.,
officially became his Democratic oppo-
In this issue:
nent — the mayor was asked whether ■ A TEPID APOLOGY
GOP senators such as Brooklyn’s Mar-
tin Golden and Queens’ Frank Padavan Brit PM “sorry” over torture
were persuadable. of gay war hero, math genius
“If it came down to it, I suspect yes,” ■ 10
he said. “I don’t know. I don’t speak for —————————————————
them. When you are from the city, even
your conservative base is more liberal
■ NYFF FOR BELIEVERS
than elsewhere, and also that’s where This year, Pedro Almodovar
I can have some influence. If it came to
you needed their votes, that’s where I
offers the middlebrow
can do something.” ■ 18
That influence, that ability to do some-
thing comes from the mayor’s extraordi-
nary level of support for the Republican
WEB EXCLUSIVE
State Senate caucus during the past NYC schools to strengthen,
two election cycles, 2005-6 and 2007-8 expand anti-bullying drive
— when he contributed $1.175 million
LOG ON:
BLOOMBERG P. 8 GAYCITYNEWS.COM
 1 - 14 OCT 2009

2/ Health
No Youth Infection Progress Cited
City Council hearing a “mirror conversation” of early 2008 HIV oversight panel
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE cussed. some survey data.
During her testimony at this year’s “We have back some of the research

S
ixteen months after the City
Council held a hearing on new
HIV infections among young
gay men, testimony at a September 23
hearing on that subject suggested that
the city has done little to address those
infections.
“What are they going to do?” said Jose
Davila, executive director of the Bronx
AIDS Services, after he testified at the
hearing. “Are they going to let these kids
continue to get infected and die?”
In his testimony, Davila noted that a
coalition of AIDS and gay groups had pro-
duced a report in early 2008 that docu-
mented the rise in infections among young
gay men, especially Latino and African-
American men, and sought new programs
and funding from the city in response.
Those groups were particularly
angered when Dr. Thomas R. Frie-
den, then the commissioner of the
city’s Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene, abruptly pulled out of a 2008
meeting where the matter was to be dis-
hearing, Dr. M. Monica Sweeney, assis-
tant commissioner for the Bureau of
HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control
at the health department, said that
while most new HIV diagnoses among
men who have sex with men (MSM)
are in men over 30, new diagnoses are
increasing among those men who are
under 30.
Sweeney reported that there were
420 new HIV diagnoses among MSM
under 30 in 2001 and that number
rose to 592 in 2008. Among all MSM,
new diagnoses declined by 2.1 percent
from 2001 to 2007. Following the hear-
ing, she described the city’s actions
since the May 2008 hearing.
“We have some Internet outreach,
some Internet programs, and we have
some survey instruments that are out
there for young MSM... where they con-
gregate, and these are things that have
been done in the last 15 months,” she
told Gay City News. Sweeney could not
say if these actions have had an impact.
Dr. M. Monica Sweeney said Internet interventions had
been implemented to reach young gay and bisexual men,
but could not address their effectiveness.
“I can’t say they’ve had an impact until
we get the results of the survey,” she
said. “That’s the best way to have objec-
tive data.”
The health department has received
data for young MSM,” Sweeney said.
“We are going to use that information to
help to inform some of the programs for
young MSM.”
Steve Gordon, the HIV services coordi-
nator at the Ali Forney Center, an orga-
nization serving homeless queer youth,
said the hearing was a “mirror conversa-
tion” of the 2008 hearing.
“We had this conversation in May of
2008 and, in my opinion, I don’t feel that
the issue has gotten as far as it could,”
he told Gay City News following the hear-
ing. “It’s great that we had this hearing
and we were able to testify again, but I
think a little more action is necessary for
any change to occur.”
Gordon felt that the “visibility of the
issue” had improved as a result of last
year’s hearing.
“I think it’s great that politicians, peo-
ple in the department of health are talk-
ing about this, but other than that I can’t
say there has been much change,” Gor-
don said.

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4/ Crime
Dwan Prince Attacker Gets 9 Years
Steven Pomie, facing retrial on reduced second-degree assault charges, admits guilt
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE returned with one of those men get his first parole hearing in
to deliver a second beating, and roughly four years.

T
hree years after insisting
that he was not guilty,
following his conviction
in a 2006 trial, Steven Pomie
admitted to the brutal, anti-gay
assault that left Dwan Prince
partially paralyzed to this day.
“ Yo u ’ r e p l e a d i n g g u i l t y
because you are guilty,” said
Judge John P. Walsh at a Sep-
tember 21 hearing held in
Brooklyn criminal court. “Is
that correct?”
Pomie, who stood hand-
cuf fed during the proceed-
ing, said “yes” and nodded his
then came back alone a third At the September 21 hearing,
time, but was prevented by wit- Thomas C. Ridges, the assistant
nesses from beating Prince. As district attorney who handled
Pomie left the scene that third the case, said the Brooklyn dis-
time, he delivered a kick to trict attorney had not wanted
Prince’s head saying, “Yo, leave the plea deal.
it alone son, the nigger’s a fag- “There was no offer by the
got,” witnesses said. people,” he said after Pomie
In 2006, Pomie was sen- asserted that he had been
tenced to 25 years with the offered a plea bargain. A spokes-
requirement that he serve at man for the district attorney
least 21-and-a-half years before told Gay City News, “The plea
being eligible for parole. was taken over our office’s
In 2008, a state appeals objection. We wanted the maxi-
court overturned the conviction mum time.”
and dismissed the top charges Prince did not know that the

GAY CITY NEWS

head. After his 2006 convic-
tion for first-degree assault
and first-degree assault as a
hate crime, Pomie said he was
innocent.
“I did not commit this crime,
first off,” he said at his 2006
sentencing. “The person who
committed this crime is on the
street right now.”
In 2005, Pomie attacked
Prince with two other men after
Prince flirted with him. Pomie
against Pomie, saying he could
be retried on the lesser charges
of second-degree assault and
second-degree assault as a hate
crime.
Pomie’s possible second trial,
at which he faced up to 15 years
if convicted, was complicated
when Prince sent him a letter in
which he blamed himself for the
assault and expressed the hope
that Pomie get no more than five
years in prison.
Victim Dwan Prince, seen here earlier this year, said he is satisfied with the sentence assailant
Steven Pomie received.
Pomie will be sentenced on
October 13 and will receive a
nine-year term with the require-
ment that he serve six-sevenths
of the time, or just under eight
years, before being eligible for
parole. Pomie will also get five
plea was going to be made and
said he was “flabbergasted”
when Gay City News called him
for comment.
“Mr. Ridges told me that they
were still working on a sentence
years post-release supervi- of 15 years,” he said. “I would
sion, and he waived his right to have liked to have seen him
appeal. come out sooner. Nine years
Pomie has been in custody is good enough for me. I wish
since his 2005 arrest, and all him the best... I will be going to
of that time counts toward the court on the 13th to see what
minimum time served. He could his reaction will be.”

NEWS BRIEFS By PAUL SCHINDLER

First Signs of
AIDS Vaccine
Success
A quarter century after
researchers first began the search
for a preventive vaccine against
HIV, a $105 million study funded out
of the US that involved 16,000 vol-
unteers in Thailand has delivered
the first real good news in that
effort. According to Bloomberg
News, the vaccine, made up of a
combination of ALVAC, produced
by the Paris- based Sanofi-Aven-
tis, and AIDSVAX, developed by
VaxGen in South San Francisco,
reduced infections by 31 percent
compared to a group administered
a placebo.
“Although the results were
modest, with an efficacy of 31.2
percent, this is a very important
scientific advance, and gives us
hope that a globally effective HIV
vaccine may be possible in the
future,” said Jerome Kim, the
deputy director of science at the
Walter Reed Army Institute of
Research, which sponsored the
trial. Researchers acknowledge
that they still do not understand
fully how the vaccine worked or
whether its success can be rep-
licated with HIV strains different
than those found in Thailand.
When VaxGen announced its
approach to vaccine development,
many researchers dismissed the
effort as a potential huge waste
of money that would discourage
other efforts. The AIDSVAX shot
contains a protein used by the HIV
virus to enter cells, which VaxGen
believes can encourage the body
to produce neutralizing antibodies.
The French ALVAC shot uses dis-
abled canarypox virus that Sanofi
believes stimulate the body to pro-
duce T-cells needed to kill infec-
tion deep in the body.
Bloomberg quoted Mitchell
Warren, director of the New York-
based AIDS Vaccine Advocacy
Coalition, which was not involved
in the study, responding to the
results saying, “Wow. We are in
a new place in the search for an
AIDS vaccine. It’s safe to say that
the scientific community is caught
off-guard.”
Barney Gung-Ho
on Defense Bill
As a House-Senate conference
committee works to hammer out
differences on a military-funding
bill, out gay Massachusetts Demo-
cratic Congressman Barney Frank,
a frequent critic of military policy,
is pressing allies in the LGBT com-
munity to support the measure,
which provides funding for the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, two
foreign policy initiatives on which
the Obama administration is draw-
ing increasingly flak.
Frank’s interest in the bill comes
from the fact that his long-lan-
guishing hate crimes legislation,
which would provide stiffer penal-
ties for violent attacks against a
variety of communities, including
gay men, lesbians, and the trans-
gendered, is included in the mili-
tary authorization package.
While Frank scrambles to hold
sufficient support for the hate
crimes measure among progres-
sives who may have objections to
elements of the war funding bill,
the Southern Baptist Convention
is meanwhile putting its warning
out about the risks of mixing guns
and gays.
Strange bedfellows, indeed.
Bill Clinton Was
Wrong!
Eight days after he sent con-
gressional sponsors of a bill that
would repeal the 1996 Defense
of Marriage Act that he signed
into law a note of support, former
President Bill Clinton told CNN’s
Anderson Cooper, “I decided I
was wrong” in opposing mar-
riage equality. In an interviewed
aired on September 24, Clinton
explained, “what made me change
my mind, I looked up and said look
at all of this stuff you’re for. I’ve
always believed that — I’ve never
supported all the moves of a few
years ago to ban gay couples from
adoption.” Given his positive view
of LGBT families, the former presi-
dent said, “I realized that I was
over 60 years old, I grew up at a
different time, and I was hung up
about the word… I had all these
gay friends, I had all these gay
couple friends, and I was hung
up about it. And I decided I was
wrong.
In his written statement read
at the September 16 Washington
press conference where New York
Democratic Representative Jer-
rold Nadler introduced his DOMA
appeal, the former president
implicitly defended having signed
the measure 13 years ago, saying,
“When the Defense of Marriage
Act was passed, gay couples
could not marry anywhere in the
United States or the world for
that matter.”
Council Gets
Behind Rent
Cap on AIDS
Housing
In a unanimous 48-0 vote, the
New York City Council passed a
resolution calling on the State
Assembly to approve legislation
that would cap rents paid by cli-
ents of the city’s HIV/ AIDS Ser-
vices Administration (HASA) at 30
percent of their income. . Under
current state law, the Office of
Temporary and Disability Assis-
tance mandates that HASA clients
receiving public income support be
allowed to keep only $330 above
what their rent is pegged at —
which means a mere $11 a day to
cover all their other expenses.
Advocates, including Housing
Works, Gay Men’s Health Crisis,
and the New York City AIDS Hous-
ing Network, have been pressing
to end the $330 limitation since
former Governor George Pataki’s
tenure in office. The legislation
was passed by the State Senate
52-1 after an impassioned speech
by out gay Senator Thomas K.
Duane of Chelsea in the early
morning hours of July 17.
According to a press release
issued by City Council Speaker
Christine Quinn, an out lesbian,
also from Chelsea, the measure
remains bottled up in the Assem-
bly Ways and Means Committee,
and leadership from Speaker Shel-
don Silver and Governor David A.
Paterson is needed to break the
䉴 BRIEFS, continued on p.12
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 1 – 14 OCT 2009 5

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The Empire State Pride Agenda is New York’s statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) civil rights and advocacy organization. Our mission is to win equality
and justice for LGBT New Yorkers and our families. We recognize that while significant
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and responsibilities that most New Yorkers take for granted. Through our education,
organizing and advocacy programs, we work toward creating a broadly diverse alliance of
LGBT people and our allies in government, communities of faith, labor, all sectors of the
workforce and other social justice movements to achieve both equality for LGBT New
Yorkers and the broader goals of social, racial and economic justice.
6 1 – 14 OCT 2009
䉴 DC MARCH, from p.1
ceeds or fails may be a matter of opinion,
but this march will be Jones’ success or
failure, and he has taken on that bur-
den.
Jones has crisscrossed the country
exhorting the community to turn out. At
the New York City appearances — six in
24 hours — he cajoled and occasionally
chastised his audiences. He will not pre-
dict how many will travel to Washington,
but he told a different Center gathering
of roughly 100, “I believe in my heart and
my gut that it’s going to be big.”
Following an appearance at the Jew-
ish Center of Jackson Heights, Jones told
Gay City News that he will visit colleges
near Washington, DC, in the week prior to
the October 11 to rally students who can
easily travel to the march.
“Get your butts on the bus and get to
Washington, DC,” Jones told roughly
40 students at Hunter College. “It’s very
important that New York turn people
out.”
In these appearances, Jones said he
was initially reluctant to back a national
march. Following the opening of “Milk,”
the 2008 film depicting the life of Har-
vey Milk, the openly gay San Francisco
politician, Jones said he began to hear
from young people across the country
who wanted to march and he discour-
aged them.
As a young man, Jones worked for
Milk and was a central figure in the
slain politician’s life. At Hunter, Jones
said, “Harvey was a great, appropriate
father figure for me.”
While he had once “high hopes” for
the Obama administration and the
Democratic majority in Congress, Jones
shares the frustration of some in the
community that there has not been
quicker action on gay issues.
The march will press the federal gov-
ernment to act, but its primary goal is
to move the community’s energies away
from a state-by-state strategy for win-
ning rights to gaining them at the fed-
NATIONAL EQUALITY MARCH: THE ESSENTIALS
Official Website:
http://equalityacrossamerica.org/blog/?page_id=19
The Main Event:
National Equality March
Sunday October 11, noon
Gather on 15th Street at I Street, right near
McPherson Square (Metro stops: McPherson
Square, Farragut West — both Blue and Orange
Lines; Farragut North — Red Line)
Travel South on 15th to H Street; West on H
Street to 17th Street; South on 17th Street to
Pennsylvania Avenue, past the White House to
15th Street; South on 15th Street to Pennsylva-
nia Avenue South; East on Pennsylvania Avenue
South, all the way to the US Capitol West Lawn for
the rally.
Cleve Jones addressed students at Hunter College among six stops in New York last week encouraging a large turnout at
the October 11 National Equality March in Washington.
eral level.
“My sole purpose, my sole objective
for the past year has been to change
your mind,” he said at the Center. “We
are equal, and we can only be granted
our equality by the federal government.”
And it is the Obama administration
and the Democratic majority in Con-
gress that Jones said will deliver equal-
ity.
“To me, it’s just so clear that this is
an historic moment,” he said. “A door is
opening for us, and that door is already
swinging shut.”
To date, the community has had little
success at enacting federal legislation.
Gay legal groups have won two notable
cases at the US Supreme Court — a
1996 ruling that overturned an anti-
gay amendment approved by Colorado
voters and a 2003 decision that threw
out all of the nation’s remaining sod-
omy laws. But Jones conceded, at least
National Equality
March Rally:
The Capitol Building
Sunday October 11, approximately 2 p.m.
Rally speakers include: Cleve Jones, New
York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn,
David Mixner, the Reverend Troy Perry of the
Metropolitan Community Church, Lieutenant
Dan Choi, “Milk” screenwriter Dustin Lance
Black, NAACP chairman Julian Bond, GLAAD
executive director Jarrett Barrios, performance
artist Staceyann Chin, Retail, Wholesale and
Department Store Union president Stuart
Appelbaum, New Jersey trans activist Babs
Siperstein, Judy Shepard, and former National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force executive director
Urvashi Vaid.
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
first introduced Danny Dromm, one of
two openly` gay candidates elected to City
Council seats from Queens on September
15. Dromm and Fay have fought battles
over anti-gay killings and school curricu-
lum dating back to 1990.
“There’s been tears shed on the streets
of this borough, there’s been blood shed
on the streets of this borough,” Fay said.
“There’s always been a new generation
that rises up and insists on nothing less
than full equality.”
Dromm recalled the murders of Julio
Rivera and Edgar Garzon that sparked
community organizing in Queens.
“We keep fighting, and I think that’s
what tonight is all about,” Dromm said.
Jones message is that the state-by-
state strategy does not work.
“I’ve taken a lot of heat over the last sev-
eral months for saying that the strategy
we’ve been pursuing is a failed strategy,”
GAY CITY NEWS
he said in Queens.
Jones pointed to Proposition 8, the
2008 voter initiative that overturned a
ruling made just months earlier by Cali-
fornia’s highest court that allowed gay
marriage in that state.
implicitly, that federal action had often Dating back to 1977, the gay commu-
set back the gay community. nity has fought and almost always lost
“Under Clinton, we got the flowery ballot initiatives that overturned anti-dis-
proclamation and some of our friends crimination laws or banned gay marriage.
got really good jobs — and what did we “Even when we win our victories, they
get?” he said. “We got the Defense of are incomplete and they are imperma-
Marriage Act and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” nent,” Jones said.
Twenty-one states now ban discrimi- As the local, state, and national gay
nation based on sexual orientation groups have racked up small victories, the
in employment, and roughly half bar occasional large win, and the losses, the
housing and public accommodations community has also seen many moments
bias as well. Thirteen of those 21 states when thousands of LGBT Americans took
also ban discrimination based on gen- to the streets. Those times were often
der identity and expression. Many of called the birth of a movement or, most
the laws were passed after local gov- recently, “Stonewall 2.0.”
ernments in those states first enacted When he spoke at the Center, Jones
such protections. Six states now allow noted those earlier bursts of energy that
same-sex marriage. had then dissipated.
The contrast between the local and “I don’t think that’s what’s happening
state successes and failure at the feder- now,” he said. “I think it’s growing, I think
al level was most apparent when Jones it’s continuing. I think we truly are open-
spoke in Jackson Heights. ing up a new chapter in the history of our
Brendan Fay, a longtime gay activist, movement.”
Bus Travel Options from The International Socialist Organization of Hunter
New York: College running buses from Hunter College, 695
The National Equality March will host a bus that Park Avenue at 68th Street. Tickets are $35. Contact
will include Council Speaker Christine Quinn, leaving Amanda at 718-810-9100 or email thepoetsdaugh-
from 16 West 22nd Street at 7 a.m. on October 11. ter@gmail.com.
Tickets cost $33.34 at nycgomarch.eventbrite.com.
Activities throughout the
The NYC National Equality March Mobilization Weekend of October 9-11:
Coalition is sending buses from the LGBT Community Visit: http://nem.gaycities.com/events/655-
Center at 208 West 13th Street at 6 a.m. October 11. national-equality-march-guide/more.
Buses will return no later than 10:00 p.m. that night.
Tickets are $35, $20 for students at equalitynyc.
eventbrite.com/.
Marriage Equality New York is hosting busses with
a $12 same-day roundtrip, or an overnight option. Visit
http://www.firstgiving.com/meny for complete details. news.com
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 1 – 14 OCT 2009 7

8/ Politics
䉴 BLOOMBERG, from p.1
dollars in total to its campaign
coffers.
Writing in the Village Voice,
Wayne Barrett cited reporting in
Newsday that pointed out that
the “bulk” of a separate $1.2 mil-
lion contribution the mayor made
last year to the New York State
Independence Party was used to
support four Senate candidates,
including Padavan and two other
gay marriage opponents who
went down to defeat. Shams
Tarek, the campaign spokesman
last fall for pro-marriage equal-
ity Democrat James F. Gennaro,
who came within a whisker of
unseating Padavan, told Bar-
rett that Bloomberg’s support for
Padavan was the key factor that
allowed the incumbent to survive.
The November 2006 and 2008
elections saw gay marriage advo-
cates, in contrast, opening up
their wallets to support the Dem-
ocratic takeover of the traditional-
ly GOP-led Senate, after it became
clear the Republican leadership
would not countenance a floor
vote on the issue.
“ I ’ m t h e m a i n f u n d e r, ”
Bloomberg said of his ability to
sway the views of Republican
senators. “You know, you can’t
dictate every piece of legisla-
tion, and I don’t want to say that
they’re bribable. But they know
where I stand, and they want me
䉴 RESPONSE, from p.1
approval for Governor David A.
Paterson’s marriage equality bill,
already passed by the Assembly,
was more specific in his critique
of Bloomberg.
“As far as I know, the mayor
hasn’t been in on any discus-
sions with Senate Democrats
or with Senate Republicans on
strategy for getting marriage
passed,” he told Gay City News
on September 24. “There have
been people involved with his
administration that I’ve talked
with and others may have spo-
ken to, but I don’t know of the
mayor personally speaking to
anyone.”
Duane said he continues to
believe that the marriage equal-
ity bill has “an excellent chance”
to move quickly. “I remain con-
fident it will get done this fall,”
he said.
Duane and Thompson
were responding to comments
Bloomberg made in a Septem-
to be a supporter.”
If Bloomberg were to move
Padavan and Golden, it would be
a remarkable feat indeed. Pada-
van, first elected in 1972, has
tried in years past to push a state
Defense of Marriage Act. Last
November, a newsletter from the
Association of Politically Active
Christians reported that the Rev-
erend Duane Motley called Pada-
van “the staunchest ally of New
Yorkers for Constitutional Free-
dom in the Senate.” That group,
which Motley founded along with
the anti-gay New Yorker’s Family
Research Foundation, describes
itself as a “ministry [that] exists to
influence legislation and legisla-
tors for the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Golden was among five Repub-
lican senators represented last
year by the Alliance Defense
Fund, an Arizona-based right-
wing litigation group, seeking to
overturn Paterson’s directive that
state agencies recognize valid
same-sex marriages from other
jurisdictions. When the governor
introduced his marriage equal-
ity bill this past April, one day
after New York’s new archbishop
was installed, Golden called his
action “not just a slap in the face
to Catholics, but to all New York-
ers who respect what the Catholic
Church is and what it stands for.”
Given such hard-line opposi-
tion to gay marriage, how can
Bloomberg expect to move Repub-
ber 17 interview with Gay City
News published online on Sep-
tember 20.
Duane challenged a central
tenet of the mayor’s appeal to
LGBT voters — that his strong
financial backing of the State
Senate Republicans, whose
campaigns he has supported
to the tune of as much as $2
million in the past two election
cycles, allows him the leverage
to round up GOP votes in favor
of gay marriage.
Advocates across the board
acknowledge that some Repub-
licans will be needed to win
approval in a closely divided
32-30 Senate in which Demo-
crats have control by the small-
est of margins.
“His offer to come testify is
the easiest political commitment
to make, but the time for hear-
ings is past,” Duane said. “I held
hearings on the bill years ago. I
can’t say he’s expended much
political capital on this.”
In casting doubt on the may-
licans such as Padavan and
Golden? And given all the asks
that a New York City mayor has of
the State Legislature, would they
view a request for a pro-marriage
equality vote as among his top
priorities?
“I think if it came up and that
they were the deciding votes, yes,”
Bloomberg responded. “I think
if you asked them today, they’d
say, ‘I don’t have to worry about
it. When is it going to come up?’”
And perhaps the mayor doesn’t
have to worry about it either,
at least between now and the
November election.
“I don’t know how to get it to
come up,” he said, explaining his
view that having the issue move
to the Senate floor may prove
more difficult than rounding up
the votes. “If you want my honest
opinion,” Bloomberg continued,
the Senate leadership is unlikely
to move a gay marriage bill “when
I don’t see these guys willing to
stand up for less controversial
issues.”
Despite the fact that the num-
ber of states with legal gay mar-
riage quickly shot up to six this
past spring, the mayor said, “I ‘m
scared to death that the country
is going in the wrong direction…
I think on other LGBT issues they
are clearly moving in the direction
that I think they should go, and
you probably do, too. It’s the mar-
riage thing that I don’t see.”
or’s commitment to the issue,
Duane recalled that Bloomberg
appealed a Manhattan dis-
trict judge’s 2005 pro-marriage
equality ruling at the same time
he first voiced support for the
right of gay and lesbian couples
to wed.
In his comments two
weeks ago, Bloomberg said he
“suspect[s]” Republican Sena-
tors Frank Padavan of Queens
and Martin Golden of Brooklyn,
who have aggressively fought
movement toward gay marriage
in the past, would vote yes “if it
came down to it.”
Asked about the prospects
of changing the minds of these
two Republicans, Duane said,
“I have everybody on my get-
table list; however, those two
particular senators are not on
anybody’s top priorities list.”
Bryan Gorman, Padavan’s
director of public affairs, said
that the mayor has not had any
conversations with the sena-
tor about the marriage equal-
Even in New York, where Pat-
erson and his predecessor Eliot
Spitzer have been outspoken
in supporting gay marriage,
Bloomberg argued, “Whether
anybody who runs for governor
next year will stand up for gay
marriage, I’ll bet you 25 cents no.”
Though the Democrats did
finally achieve a majority in the
State Senate last November,
the mayor who vows to deliver
Republican votes views the com-
position of the Democratic cau-
cus as a bar to action.
“There are a lot of traditional
Democratic communities that
are very conservative,” he said.
“The black community is very
conservative. The Latino. You
know, I don’t win any points with
these communities when I go in
their churches and point out I’m
very pro-choice. I’m very pro-gay
rights. I’m anti-gun. I’m very pro-
immigration. I believe in Darwin.”
The fierce opposition to gay
marriage by Senator Ruben Diaz
of the Bronx and Queens Sena-
tor Shirley Huntley –– an Afri-
can-American Democrat who
told the New York Times that she
rebuffed poet Maya Angelou’s
lobbying on the issue by saying,
“If they gave me a million dollars,
tax free, I just wouldn’t vote for it”
–– backs up the point the mayor
made.
But if winning votes from
black and Latino senators is a
ity issue. A call requesting
comment from Golden’s office
about any discussions he has
had with Bloomberg was not
returned as of press time.
Thompson was responding
to a different argument raised
by the mayor — that the comp-
troller is avoiding discussion
of his support for gay marriage
as he focuses instead on pull-
ing out his base in the African-
American and other people of
color communities. Several
times during the September 17
interview, Bloomberg pointed to
what he said is the social con-
servatism of the black and Lati-
no communities.
The statement fr om the
comptroller’s campaign dis-
tinguished Thompson’s record
from the mayor’s by emphasiz-
ing his support for more com-
prehensive AIDS education,
including classroom condom
demonstrations, and his advo-
cacy for two bills passed over
Bloomberg’s veto but never
1 - 14 OCT 2009
challenge, what message would
be sent to John Sampson, the
African American from Brook-
lyn who now heads up the Sen-
ate Democratic caucus, if gay
leaders, especially white ones,
stood with Bloomberg in his race
against Thompson, who would
be only the second black mayor
in the city’s history?
In a 30-minute interview in
which Bloomberg had been con-
sistently forthcoming, this time
he changed the subject.
“Well, his strategy is to me –– I
can’t speak for him –– he’s afraid
to go near any of these issues,”
charged the mayor, referring
to Thompson’s posture on gay
rights in this year’s campaign.
“Maybe it’s the fact that I’m inde-
pendently wealthy and I’m 67
years old, but my attitude is, if
you want me, you want me.”
Bloomberg’s assertion that
he’s more outspoken on gay
rights than Thompson is indica-
tive of just how aggressive, even
audacious his campaign is in
forcing his opponent back on his
heels at every chance it gets.
Without exception, the Demo-
crat has beaten the mayor to the
punch in advocating major pro-
gay positions. Thompson was
already supportive of gay mar-
riage when first elected comptrol-
ler in 2001; Bloomberg voiced his
䉴 BLOOMBERG, continued on p.9
implemented — one that would
require contractors doing sig-
nificant business with the city
to offer their gay employees the
same partner rights given to
married couples, and another
establishing anti-bullying poli-
cies in city schools protecting
specific groups, including gay,
lesbian, and transgendered stu-
dents. (Last year, the Bloomberg
administration rolled out its
own program to combat harass-
ment in the schools.)
The Thompson campaign also
noted the comptroller’s success,
as head of the city employee
pension funds, in forcing 75
companies in which New York
invests to adopt workplace fair-
ness policies encompassing
sexual orientation and gender
identity, an effort for which he
received the Champion Award
from Out and Equal Workplace
Advocates, an LGBT non-profit.
Duane’s optimism on the
䉴 RESPONSE, continued on p.9
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
䉴 BLOOMBERG, from p.8
support only in February 2005, the same
day he announced he would appeal a pro-
marriage equality ruling from a Manhat-

1$
tan district court judge.
The comptroller supports comprehen-
sive AIDS education, including class-
room condom demonstrations, opposed
by Bloomberg; a bill that would force
contractors doing business with the city
to provide gay couples the same ben-
efits given to straight married couples,
which the mayor successfully challenged
in court; and the anti-bullying Dignity
in All Schools Act, which became law in
2004 over a mayoral veto but was never
implemented. Last fall, the mayor and the
school chancellor did launch the Respect
for All initiative, which they say achieves
much of what DASA would have accom-
plished.
Bloomberg and his campaign are
making the argument that now, when
it counts, Thompson, who hopes to gal-
vanize people of color communities in
November, has lost his voice on gay rights.
When an aide reminded Bloomberg
that he had mentioned marriage equal-
ity in his primary night rally, the mayor
explained, “Yeah, I put that in because
you don’t want any community to think
you’re going to walk away.”
Unspoken by the mayor or his aide was
the fact that Thompson made no similar
mention of marriage equality when he
accepted the Democratic nomination the
same evening.
Bloomberg’s campaign has noted
that the mayor was there when Pater-
son announced introduction of his mar-
riage equality bill at an April press con-
ference in Manhattan, while Thompson
䉴 RESPONSE, from p.8
prospects for enacting the marriage bill
this year was echoed by other advocates.
“We don’t agree with Mayor Bloomberg’s
statement that marriage equality does not
have a chance of coming up for a vote this
fall,” Alan Van Capelle, executive direc-
tor of the Empire State Pride Agenda, the
LGBT community’s lead lobbying group
in Albany, told Gay City News in an email
message. “The mayor is focused on New
York City and his race for re-election, and
not on the details involved in moving the
marriage bill forward in Albany. We know
from the work that we do daily on this
issue that marriage equality is still very
much in play in 2009.”
Van Capelle’s comments included a
hint of pique at the mayor for talking
down marriage equality’s prospects at a
critical juncture in the legislative process.
“The mayor’s statements were disap-
pointing,” he wrote. “Nobody ever thinks
we will win, and in the end we always do.”
Duane sounded less concerned about
the impact of Bloomberg’s words.
“Regardless of what the mayor says, we
will move forward full steam ahead and
1 – 14 OCT 2009 9
was absent. The comptroller was also
not seen at a massive gay marriage rally
near Times Square in May addressed
by both the mayor and the governor. On
that occasion, Thompson’s aides charged
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that the comptroller was denied a chance
to speak by the event’s organizer, the ±"UUPSOFZ
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Human Rights Campaign. HRC denied
that the decision was made at the behest
of the mayor.
How successful Bloomberg will be in
wresting top LGBT endorsements at the
expense of his Democratic rival remains
to be seen. In late June, the two cam-
paigns within days engaged in a dueling
rollout of endorsements. While Thompson
held a press conference with a wide array
of longtime queer Democratic activists,
the mayor’s list boasted no small number /FX
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of gay heavy hitters, including the restau- -BXZFST
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rateur and AIDS activist Florent Morellet;
the Republican ex-mayor of Tempe, Ari-
zona, Neil Giuliano, who had just left the
Over A Decade of Experience
top job at the Gay and Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation; Richard Socarides,
Litigating Employment and Civil Rights
White House LGBT liaison to President
Bill Clinton; Sean Strub, the founder of
Cases for our Community
Poz magazine; and Corey Johnson, one
of the first activists to call for a national
march on Washington planned for Octo- 2007 - 2009 Deputy Commissioner,
ber 11.
The two biggest endorsements, how-
New York State Devision of Human Rights
ever, have to date remained elusive. The
Empire State Pride Agenda, which is lead- 2006 Honoree: New York City Council -
ing the charge on marriage equality in
Albany, has so far been silent. And despite
“Contributions and Service to New York City”
fevered speculation all year that she might
give her nod to the mayor whom some 2003 Honoree: Common Cause
believe she has been too close to, Chris-
tine Quinn, the out lesbian City Council “Holding Power Accountable”
speaker who just last month held off two
spirited primary challengers, has also
Ethical New Yorker of the Year Award
been mum.
his comments won’t change that,” the
Former Aide to Mayor David N Dinkins
senator said. and Public Advocate Mark Green
Christine Quinn, the out lesbian speak-
er of the City Council, who has traveled to
Albany several times this year to lobby
senators on marriage equality, told Gay
City News, “I disagree with the mayor. I do
believe that there is a real potential and a
EMPLOYMENT LAW / CIVIL RIGHTS
very real potential in the near future.” ',6&5,0,1$7,21‡6(;8$/+$5$660(17
Quinn was cautious, however, about 3$571(56+,3$*5((0(176',63,7(6‡&,9,//,7,*$7,21
making a specific prediction of favorable
Senate action this year. 0$75,021,$/&8672'<‡0(',&$/0$/35$&7,&(
“If I knew exactly when” the measure
would move, “I would probably know who
3(5621$/,1-85<
was going to win the trifecta at Belmont,”
she said, but added, “I don’t see any rea-
son to think that there is not potential to
have this vote.”
Thomas D. Shanahan, P.C.
Quinn said she recently met with
John Sampson, the Brooklyn Democrat
who now heads up the majority caucus
551 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2010
in the Senate.
“He was overall very supportive of the
issue,” she said. “Obviously in the posi-
New York, NY 10176
tion he’s in, he’s counting votes.”
Asked whether Bloomberg offering
a negative assessment concerned her, tel (212) 867-1100 WWW.SHANAHANLAW.COM
Quinn said, “People have to answer fax (212) 972-1787 TOM@SHANAHANLAW.COM
questions honestly.”

10/ History
Tepid Apology to Gay Genius
57 years later, Britain “sorry” for castrating anti-Nazi hero, father of computer
BY DOUG IRELAND
G
ay mathematical genius
Alan Turing, considered
the father of modern
computers and a national hero
in Britain for breaking the Nazis’
Enigma code and other German
military ciphers and thus short-
ening the war, has received an
official apology from British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown
for being prosecuted and chem-
ically castrated for his homo-
sexuality. The unspeakable tor-
ture drove the brilliant scientist
to suicide in 1954 at the young
age of 41.
Turing’s gay martyrdom
was movingly recounted in the
prize-winning play “Breaking
the Code” by Hugh Whitemore,
which had a long run in Lon-
don’s West End before coming
to Broadway for six months,
where it received three Tony
Award nominations in 1988.
The play was later made into a
1996 BBC film seen on Ameri-
can television on several occa-
sions. Noted Tony Award-win-
ning actor Sir Derek Jacobi
starred as Turing in all three
productions.
In 1999, T ime magazine
named Turing one of the 100
Most Important People of the
20th Century, saying of his
seminal role in computers,
“The fact remains that everyone
who taps at a keyboard, open-
ing a spreadsheet or a word-
processing program, is working
on an incarnation of a Turing
machine.”
In a September 10 statement
posted on his official website,
Prime Minister Brown said of
Turing, “It is no exaggeration
to say that, without his out-
standing contribution, the his-
tory of the Second World War
could have been very different.
He truly was one of those indi-
viduals we can point to whose
unique contribution helped to
turn the tide of war. The debt
of gratitude he is owed makes
it all the more horrifying, there-
fore, that he was treated so
inhumanely.”
Brown went on to say, “While
Turing was dealt with under
the law of the time, and we
can’t put the clock back, his
Does the Apple Computer logo honor the life
and death of Alan Turing?
treatment was of course utter-
ly unfair, and I am pleased to
have the chance to say how
deeply sorry I and we all are for
what happened to him,” add-
ing, “This recognition of Alan’s
status as one of Britain’s most
famous victims of homophobia
is another step towards equal-
ity, and long overdue.”
Brown’s statement came
in response to an online peti-
tion campaign earlier this year
demanding a posthumous
pardon for Turing. Initiated by
computer scientist Dr. John
Graham-Cumming, the peti-
tion was signed by tens of
thousands, including a host of
well-known Britons — among
them the openly gay actor and
TV personality Stephen Fry,
the biologist and best-selling
author Richard Dawkins, and
the Booker Prize-winning nov-
elist Ian McEwan.
Brown’s apology for what
happened to Turing raised
more than a few eyebrows in
the UK because the dour prime
minister, heavily influenced by
a father who was a minister of
the austere Church of Scotland,
has been notoriously unsympa-
thetic to the LGBT rights cause.
The political editor of the
Sunday newspaper the Observ-
er wrote, “What had persuaded
a man so famously uninter -
ested in gay rights that he has
regularly failed to vote in Parlia-
ment on key gay issues to inter-
vene?” The newspaper reported
that Sarah Brown, the prime
minister’s wife — who has
been outspoken in support of
gay rights, hosted gay activists
and intellectuals at the prime
minister’s official residence at
10 Downing Street, and made
headlines when she marched
in this year’s London Gay Pride
parade — played the key role in
persuading Brown to issue the
apology. She was also respon-
sible for initiating the Gay Icons
exhibit at the National Portrait
Gallery, where Turing’s image
now hangs.
British gay historian and
journalist Neil McKenna —
whose must-read, critically
acclaimed revisionist biogra-
phy “The Secret Life of Oscar
Wilde,” was reviewed by this
reporter in 2005 (“Wilder Than
We Knew,” Aug. 25-31, 2005,
a link to which appears in the
online version of this story)
— was asked by this reporter
to put Brown’s apology in per-
spective, and responded in an
angry e-mail worth quoting at
length.
He wrote: “Gordon Brown
has said that he is ‘sorry’ that
Alan Turing was persecuted,
that his treatment was ‘appall-
ing,’ that thousands of other
gay men were persecuted and
that millions live in fear. Sorry?
Is that it? Is that all? Twelve
measly lines in an of ficial
Downing Street press release to
say how sorry the British state
is that for 21 years, from 1945
to 1966, it did everything it
could to extirpate homosexual-
ity from the British. That thou-
sands, probably tens of thou-
sands, of men were surveilled,
stalked, arrested, and sent to
prison, or offered — as Turing
was — chemical castration, or
aversion therapy consisting
of electric shock torture or the
administration of emetics to
‘correct’ homosexual behavior.
That tens of thousands, prob-
ably hundreds of thousands,
of gay lives — including mine
— were warped, twisted, dam-
aged, and destroyed by the
British state’s blithe belief that
it knew best.
“The most insulting part of
the press release is the party
political point Brown cannot
resist making. It is, accord-
ing to Brown, entirely down to
New Labour that LGTB people
have any rights at all. How dare
he patronize us. Twelve mea-
sly, miserable, weasel-worded
lines in which Brown fails to
acknowledge the half-century-
long journey of gay activists who
struggled to try and right these
wrongs, to try and achieve jus-
tice for gay men. I can remem-
ber the late 1980s and the early
1990s when Labour was far
from friendly towards gay men,
when it writhed in a sea of lies,
half-truths, and half-promises
about reforming the law. I can
remember the time was Brown
was as silent and as sullen on
these issues as the grave.
“ We d e s e r v e m o r e t h a n
twelve measly, miserable,
weasel-worded lines. If Gordon
Brown was really, truly, feel-
ingly, passionately sorry he
should set up a Royal Commis-
sion to document and enquire
into the holocaust of gay men
that took place in Britain. And
while we are about it, when is
Gordon Brown, on behalf of
the British Government, going
to apologize for returning those
‘pink triangle’ prisoners liber-
ated from the concentration
camps to German Prisons with
the foul and twisted logic that
these men had been convicted
of criminal offences and as
concentration camps were not
prisons, they had to serve their
sentences?
“Brown’s statement means
nothing to the LGTB move-
ment. It probably means noth-
ing to Brown himself. It has no
historical significance. There
has been a change in estab-
lishment attitudes towards gay
men, but this change has come
about over the last fifteen years,
beginning with John Major’s
invitation to Ian McKellen to
Downing Street to talk about a
gay rights agenda. I very much
doubt whether Gordon Brown
even wrote it himself. The
statement was only issued in
response to an e-petition which
thousands had signed. The
real question to ask is: would
䉴 TURING, continued on p.30
1 - 14 OCT 2009
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
THU.OCT.1
PERFORMANCE
BAAD in the Bronx
The Bronx Academy of Art & Dance
(BAAD!) presents its annual BlakTino
Performance Series, a five-week festival.
Among this year’s highlights are: (Oct. 1,
8 p.m., free) “Crossing the Lines: Radical
Cartoonists,” in which four groundbreak-
ing LGBT comic book and graphic novel
artists share their work and stories of
thriving in a largely straight male field;
(Oct. 3, 8 p.m., $15) actor, poet, and
performance artist Bruno Aponte pres-
ents “Brunegro,” a one man show in
Spanish delving into his queer Dominican
blackness; (Oct. 8, 8 p.m., free) performers
and artists Jack Waters and Peter Cramer
mount “Short Memory – No History,” a
Living Theater presentation of their expe-
rience living with AIDS and commemorat-
ing art and artists, including some video
interviews in Spanish; (Oct. 9, 8 p.m.,
free), in “Naked White Roses,” filmmaker
Henry Roa uses music, poetry, and visuals
to tell the story of Trance, an aging poet on
the crossroads of life and love, dreams,
gay and bi-cultural relationships, and loss;
and Brian Harris Krinsky’s “Dish” follows
two Emo kids as they walk around East LA
dishing about their high school classmates
and sexual escapades; (Oct. 21, 8 p.m.,
free) “From the Page to the Stage: Poetas
and Writers” is a no-holds barred celebra-
tion of Queer Latin@ poets and writers;
(Oct. 22, 8 p.m., free) scholar and cultural
warrior Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes dis-
cusses his new book, “Queer Ricans:
Cultures and Sexualities in the Diaspora”;
(Oct. 23, 8 p.m., $10) the preliminaries
of the Miss Riis Park Universe Competi-
tion Ball, which raises funds for the AIDS
group Poder De Todos Unidos, will be held;
(Oct. 24, 8 p.m., free) BAAD!’s own Arthur
Aviles assembles a team including Retum-
ba!, Elizabeth “Macha” Marrero, and
Mildred Ruiz in “Recreating Oz,” a retell-
ing of the famous favorite for queer young
people coming out in the South Bronx. 841
Barretto St., btwn. Garrison & Lafayette
Aves., Hunts Point (#6 to Hunts Point Ave.).
A festival pass, good Oct. 1-Nov. 7, is
$50, available, with complete information,
at BronxAcademyofArtsandDance.org.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
FILM
Queer on Queer
Butt Magazine contributing editor
Adam Baran and filmmaker Ira Sachs
curate a series of queer films presented
䉴 OCT 1, continued on p.18
1 - 14 OCT 2009
Cops Blow Off Bias Attack
After victim outcry, Quinn intervention, NYPD doubling-back on Hell’s Kitchen incident
BY PATRICK HEDLUND
P
olice responding to an apparent
bias attack in Hell’s Kitchen over
the weekend failed to report the
incident or take any action against the
assailant for allegedly assaulting a group
of gay men and using anti-gay slurs as
they walked down Ninth Avenue.
According to Blake Hayes, a 24-year-
old radio DJ and Hell’s Kitchen resi-
dent, he was walking with two friends
down Ninth Avenue near 51st Street
around 12:30 a.m. early Saturday,
September 26, when a man standing
outside a local bar flicked at lit ciga-
rette at them as the group passed by.
Expecting an apology, 28-year-old the-
ater performer Danny Calvert stopped
and turned to the man, who responded,
“Keep moving, faggot” after hitting him
with the cigarette.
“I said something like, ‘Do you even
know what neighborhood you’re in?’”
Hayes explained of his initial reply to
the derogatory language. “I said, ‘Do
yourself a favor and get an education,
and shut your mouth.’”
At that point the unknown assail-
ant, who Hayes observed as “definitely
drunk,” started making fun of the third
friend’s hair, saying “Oh, nice part,
homo,” to 23-year -old Alec Bell, who
is also an actor. The men shot back
with their own joke about the man’s
baldness, at which point he verbally
threatened violence and began shoving
Hayes.
The attacker — whom Hayes
described as in his late 20s or early
30s, 6-feet tall with an average build
— proceeded to punch Bell twice in
the face and push Calvert against a
parked car, causing a dent in the vehi-
cle’s fender. A bouncer from the bar,
the Irish pub McCoy’s, then intervened
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Blake Hayes in front of McCoy’s in Hell’s Kitchen.
and restrained the man while the vic-
tims called police. After the incident,
the attacker was allowed to return to
the bar, allegedly telling the men, “Die
of AIDS, you fucking queers,” before
heading inside, Hayes said.
When five officers from the nearby
18th precinct arrived at the scene, they
spoke to all the involved parties but
refused to file a report as requested
by the victims, Hayes explained. Bell
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GAY CITY NEWS
showed at least three different officers
a cut on the inside of his lip that he
sustained from the punches, and the
men also directed police to the dented
fender as further proof of the alterca-
tion. However, the cops still declined to
record any information regarding the
incident or take down the perpetrator’s
name — apparently deeming the inju-
ries too minor — despite the victims’
request to press charges.
“I think there really is a problem with
crimes like this being underreported by
police,” said Hayes, who wrote about
the experience on his personal website.
“I don’t think it’s an anti-gay thing [with
the police] at all. I think it’s a combina-
tion of laziness and not acknowledging
the severity of the problem. There is a
big difference between hitting some-
one because you’re drunk and hitting
someone because they’re gay.”
Later, around 3:30 a.m., Bell and
Calvert were able to file a report at
the 18th precinct stationhouse, but
only after arguing with two officers
who allegedly initially rebuffed their
attempts by stating, “You guys serious-
ly think something’s going to happen?”
Hayes said.
Crime /11
Hayes’s account of the incident on
his website, which he wrote at around
4 a.m. the mor ning of the attack,
quickly circulated online and prompted
a response from City Council Speak-
er Christine Quinn, who represents
Hell’s Kitchen. In a statement released
on Sunday, Quinn, who is an out les-
bian, called the behavior of the police
“outrageous” and said she had been
in contact with Police Commissioner
Raymond Kelly’s office, which agreed to
conduct an investigation.
“One of the most significant tools
that have helped us to combat hate
crimes here in New York City is having
a strong police response to incidents
when they occur,” Quinn’s statement
read, in part. “There was a time in our
city when victims of hate crimes did
not feel that the police were their allies.
Any time a crime of this nature occurs,
victims need to know they will be taken
seriously.”
Hayes said he spoke with a detec-
tive from the commissioner’s office on
Sunday, followed by a two-and-a-half
hour meeting between the victims and
police on Monday. He added that both
a detective from the NYPD’s Hate Crime
Task Force and two officers from the
Internal Affairs Bureau interviewed the
men, and that police are investigating
both the incident and the actions by
cops at the scene.
“There was one detective who… said
out of 40,000 cops, sometimes you get
a couple schmucks,” Hayes said of his
conversations with investigators follow-
ing the incident. When contacted, an
NYPD spokesperson declined to com-
ment on any aspects of the incident
due to the ongoing investigation. He
also would not speak in general terms
about how police are required to treat
possible bias attacks because of the
conditions and circumstances unique
to each scenario.
However, Sharon Stapel, executive
director of the New York City Gay and
Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, said
that the police likely failed to follow
proper protocol based on accounts of
the attack. Citing the NYPD’s standard-
issue “patrol guide,” she said officers
are mandated to report any incidents
where a possible hate motive is present
to a higher-ranking sergeant. In turn,
the sergeant is supposed to respond to
the scene of the incident and report it to
a captain, who decides whether or not
to notify the Hate Crime Task Force.
“If the allegations of the victims of this
䉴 BIAS ATTACK, continued on p.13
 1 - 14 OCT 2009

12/ Perspective
■ A DYKE ABROAD
PUBLISHER & CO-FOUNDER
JOHN W. SUTTER
JWSutter@communitymediallc.com
Redeeming Caster Semenya
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER & CO-FOUNDER BY KELLY JEAN COGSWELL
TROY MASTERS

I
troy@gaycitynews.com
saw the women’s 800 meters on planet Earth, if an African- thought, finding out in the According to Peggy Oren-
in Berlin. This young thing descended female athlete excels morning paper, and looking stine, the Olympic Games quit
EDITOR IN-CHIEF & CO-FOUNDER
PAUL SCHINDLER
was facing the cameras in spectacular fashion, we get down at a body that’s suddenly gender-verifying female athletes
editor@gaycitynews.com before the race started, pretend- accused of cheating or have foreign. Worrying everybody in 1999 because it was proven
ASSOCIATE EDITOR ing to brush a few specks of dust ‘that’s a man’ shade hurled at thinks she’s a freak. Wondering the few women with atypical sex
Duncan Osborne off her shoulders because that’s us.” Like many others, she went if they’ll let her compete again. If development didn’t actually get
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS what the other runners were on to talk about the Williams she can stand to. a competitive edge. Worse, “it
Christopher Byrne (Theater), Susie Day, to her, just dust she was gonna sisters, whose complete domi- The only good that’s come served only to humiliate them.”
Doug Ireland (International), Brian McCormick leave behind. She wasn’t in the nance of the women’s tennis cir- out of the mess is that it gave Given that, it’s hard to under-
(Dance), Dean P. Wrzeszcz
lead at first, but pretty soon she cuit has brought on a lot of the birth to a couple of interesting stand why the International
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Betsy Andrews, Seth J. Bookey,
broke out and that was the end same complaints. “They’re too articles about biological com- Association of Athletics Federa-
Anthony M.Brown, Kelly Jean Cogswell, of it. big, too strong. They’re not real plexity explaining there are far tions continues to go after Cast-
Dean Daderko, Tate Dougherty, Andres Duque, Afterwards, the French women.” She also reminded us more gender variations than we er Semenya.
Michael Ehrhardt, Steve Erickson, Nick Feitel,
Jim Fouratt, Joe Fyfe, Deborah Garwood, announcer said, there were two that Olympic champion Maria acknowledge both on the hor- The only challenge to Caster
Erasmo Guerra, Emily Harney, Andrey Henkin, races, Caster Semenya’s and Mutola of Mozambique faced monal, biological, and genetic should be the field of runners.
Frank Holiday, Andy Humm, James Jorden, Brendan the one everybody else was in. similar accusations despite levels. Hell, X’s and Y’s are scat- Unfortunately, besides the IAAF,
Keane, David Kennerley, Gary M. Kramer, Arthur S.
Leonard, Rachael Liberman, She didn’t crack a smile. Just passing test after test. tered around like party favors. there’s now the emotional obsta-
Michael T. Luongo, Lawrence D. Mass, brushed off her shoulders again, Masculine women and dykes, Unfortunately, few of the arti- cle of stepping back into a stadi-
Winnie McCroy, Eileen McDermott,
Gregory Montreuil, Ioannis Mookas, Carrie Moyer,
that young woman from South of course, get that nonsense all cles went so far as to demand um, and competing in front of a
Stephen Mueller, Christopher Murray, Africa. Somebody handed her a the time, no matter what their Semenya be accepted as an ath- crowd when plenty of them are
David Noh, Wayne Northcross, Lori Ortiz, flag and told her to take a victo- race. Martina Navratilova was in lete, no question, by clarifying thinking she’s a freak of nature,
Pauline Park, Sheila Pepe, John Reed,
Nathan Riley, Andrew Robinson, Gerard Robinson, ry lap. She did it sternly. A dyke, the hot seat for her muscley arms what matters most to her, that and not just because she blew
Chris Schmidt, Sarah D. Schulman, I figured. Stone butch and 18, and total control of women’s ten- in terms of performance, most away the world champion by
Jason Victor Serinus, Linda Shapiro, with a lot to prove. More than I nis a generation before the Wil- intersexed females with testes almost two and a half seconds.
David Shengold, Gus Solomons Jr., David Spiher,
Drew B. Straub, Stefen Styrsky, Jerry Tallmer, knew at the time. liams sisters. For the rest of us, don’t get enough of a handy After the news broke, she
Stefanos Tsigrimanis, Kathleen Warnock, It turns out she was waiting our girlness started getting called hormonal spike to get any kind withdrew from her next race
Benjamin Weinthal, Lee Ann Westover,
James Withers, Kai Wright, Susan Yung
for the results of gender testing into question when we were little of advantage. and apparently began trauma
after complaints from some of and beat boys in games. In fact, women with “normal” counseling. I only hope it’s com-
ART DIRECTOR
Mark Hasselberger
the other runners and coaches All that makes a black, butch sex organs can produce unusu- ing from somebody kind and
about her sudden improvement, woman with wings on her feet ally high levels of testosterone. open-minded who won’t stuff her
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Jamie Paakkonen big muscles, and deep voice fair game. And the medical juries What are we going to do about into dresses or try to extract her
when she came out of nowhere are in. At least the informa- them? The only fair thing would difference with a knife. I can’t
SENIOR VP OF ADVERTISING/MARKETING
FRANCESCO REGINI to win the African Junior Cham- tion was leaked. Caster Seme- be to test all the “female” ath- wait to see her run again. That
francesco@gaycitynews.com pionship. nya wasn’t doping. But she is a letes and establish one set of beautiful burst of speed and
Plenty of writers blame the “hermaphrodite,” as they wrote rules for everyone. Maybe even defiance. Leaving all the other
ADVERTISING MANAGERS
complaints on racism and in some headlines. Intersexed, enforce them by administer - girls in the dust.
COLIN GREGORY
colin@gaycitynews.com misogyny. And it is always tough from those who wanted to be ing hormones until they’re all
for black female athletes. Blog- polite. No external male organs at exactly the same levels. Per- Support KELLY in EXILE. Get
ALLISON GREAKER
allison@gaycitynews.com ger Monica Roberts wasn’t the but reportedly testes hidden up haps the tall ones should be gratitude, art, tattoos: kickstart-
JASON SHERWOOD
only one to voice this view, com- in there. shortened and the short ones er.com/projects/cogswell/b-
jsherwood@gaycitynews.com menting, “I know from my time I can’t imagine what she stretched. ville-in-exile-gallery.
JULIO TUMBACO
julio@gaycitynews.com
DANI ZUPANOVICH 䉴 BRIEFS, from p.4 by Quinn, Bronx Councilwoman siders LGBTQ youth an important the wayside, and one persistent Act (ENDA), which would pro-
dani@gaycitynews.com Annabel Palma, AIDS advocates, voice on waterfront development issue has been the relative share vide job bias protections based
Please call (212) 229-1890 for logjam. Out lesbian West Village and HASA clients. issues.” Morales serves on the of public uses versus commercial on sexual orientation and gender
advertising rates and availability. Assemblywoman Deborah Glick FIERCE Campaign Steering Com- enterprises needed to generate identity and expression, its top
ACCOUNTING sponsors the bill in her chamber. FIERCE Gains mittee that has been meeting the revenues to support the pier. priority. Berry, who is director of
DAVID JAFFE
david@gaycitynews.com Quinn’s release noted that Riverfront Clout with Trust representatives and At an August 13 debate the US Office of Personnel Man-
NATIONAL DISPLAY ADVERTISING
other New Yorkers living in subsi- The efforts by FIERCE, the elected officials to advocate for a among City Council candidates agement, suggested that passing
Rivendell Media / 212.242.6863 dized housing have rents pegged Fabulous Independent Educated youth center being an element of in the Third District, all three, ENDA would make other legisla-
Web master at no more than 30 percent of Radicals for Community Empow- Pier 40’s redevelopment. including Speaker Quinn, who tive objectives easier to advance.
Arturo Jimenez their income. Federal housing erment, to create a 24-hour A recent study released by won the September 15 primary, “It is the keystone that holds up
Arturo@gaycitynews.com
Gay City News, The Newspaper Serving Gay and Lesbian NYC, is pub-
assistance, in fact, mandates that LGBTQ youth center on Pier 40 FIERCE, “White Paper: Expand- pledged to support a redevelop- the whole bunch, and so we need
lishedby Community Media, LLC. Send all inquiries to: Gay City News, maximum. Quinn’s office said that at West Houston Street, got a ing Access to Public Space at ment plan that included a 24-hour to focus our energies and atten-
145 Sixth Ave., First Fl., NYC 10013 Phone: 646.452.2500 Written
permission of the publisher must be obtained before any of the contents limiting rents for HASA clients significant boost on September the Hudson River Park,” called drop-in center tion there,” the Blade quoted
of this paper, in part or whole, can be reproduced or redistributed. All
contents (c) 2009 Gay City News. in the same manner could save 23 when the group won a seat for amendments to the Park Trust Berry as saying of ENDA.
Gay City News is a registered trademark
the city and state $12 million in on the Advisory Council to the legislative authority that would Obama Gay Big: Berry made his comments at
of Community Media, LLC. emergency housing outlays. Hudson River Park Trust, a quasi- “prioritize the creation of public Focus on ENDA the Out for Work national con-
John W. Sutter, President
Fax: 646.452.2501; “The New York State Leg- public group that administers the space, preserve community uses The Washington Blade is vention in Washington on Sep-
E-mail: JWSutter@communitymediallc.com islature must act to correct this land where the pier is located. of the park, increase community reporting that John Berry, the tember 26.
blatant injustice,” said Council- In a written statement from decision-making power, and stop Obama administration’s top- He told the gathering that
Subscriptions:
26 issues, $90.00 woman Rosie Mendez, an out FIERCE, Azreal Morales stated, over-development in the Hudson ranking out gay appointee, is House leadership is “within spit-
(c)2009 Gay City News. lesbian who represents the “Our appointment to the HRPT River Park.” encouraging the LGBT com- ting distance” of securing the 218
All rights reserved. Lower East Side, at a City Hall Advisory Council is one example Several proposals for redevel- munity to make passage of the
press conference also attended of how the community now con- opment of Pier 40 have fallen by Employment Non-Discrimination 䉴 BRIEFS, continued on p.13
1 - 14 OCT 2009

Legal /13
A Kinder, Gentler DOMA Defense
In opposing Boston challenge to bar on federal recognition, DOJ narrows its arguments
BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD any specific harm they had suffered due since there is no dispute that several
to DOMA. The government won its motion plaintiffs do have standing to raise a con-

T
he US Department of Justice has
filed a motion to dismiss the con-
stitutional challenge to Section
3 of the US Defense of Marriage Act that
the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defend-
ers (GLAD) filed in federal court in Boston
last winter. Section 3 bars federal recog-
nition of marriages by same-sex couples.
The brief that DOJ filed on September 18
seems to come from a different universe
on that ground.
But that DOJ brief also made the out-
rageous claim that the case should also be
dismissed on the merits because DOMA
was not discriminatory, instead merely an
attempt by Congress to be “neutral” in a
contentious national debate over same-
sex marriage. The brief generated most of
the public ire in its response to the chal-
lenge to DOMA’s Section 2, which allows
stitutional challenge. All of the plaintiffs
are either same-sex couples who married
in Massachusetts or the surviving spous-
es of such unions. In each case, they had
applied for some federal benefit or sought
to exercise some federal right, but were
denied due to DOMA.
Turning to the merits, DOJ’s argument
is quite straightforward. After conced-
ing that DOMA discriminates and that

than the one it filed in June seeking dis-
missal of a DOMA challenge on the West
Coast. Assessing the two side by side is
like comparing apples and oranges.
In the Smelt case in June, DOJ argued
for dismissal in part based on lack of
standing, because the California married
gay couple who filed suit did not allege
states to refuse recognition to same-sex
marriages from other jurisdictions.
That section is not under challenge in
GLAD’s case in Boston.
In its new brief, DOJ offers some nar-
rowly-focused arguments challenging the
standing of certain of the GLAD plaintiffs,
but those are almost beside the point
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
the administration is seeking its repeal,
the brief goes on to defend its constitu-
tionality on minimalist grounds. No state
authorized same-sex marriage at the time
DOMA was enacted, the motion notes,
saying the law arose out of concern about Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department has
filed a brief opposing a challenge to DOMA considerably
䉴 DOMA, continued on p.14 less noxious than one submitted three months earlier.

䉴 BIAS ATTACK, from p.11
attack are true and the police
refused to take a complaint,
we’re very disturbed by that,”
Stapel said. “What we’re con-
cerned about is the message
that sends to the LGBT com-
munity, which is people may
not feel confident that they will
get help if they call police.”
She also outlined statistics
culled by AVP showing that in
New York City, police refused to
file reports regarding almost 22
percent of all the anti-gay inci-
dents brought to the depart-
ment’s attention. Nationwide,
that figure is about 13 percent,
Stapel added.
“What we absolutely want
people to know is that we
understand that these type
of public incidents, where the
allegations were the police
were not helpful, can have a
chilling effect on the commu-
nity and their willingness to
report to police,” she said.
Based on the swift response
from Commissioner Kelly’s
office, Quinn believes the cops
involved will face repercus-
sions for failing to appropri-
ately respond to the incident.
“Certainly reports from a vic-
tim that anti-gay language was
used, that’s a clear trigger that
the incident should be report-
ed to a superior officer,” said
Quinn, a one-time executive
director of AVP. “These officers,
if the reports are accurate,
didn’t do anything in accor -
dance with the rules.” Based
on her knowledge of the attack,
Quinn added that the situation
doesn’t “offer any clear out for
the officers” upon completion
of the investigation.
“This is such a throwback
to when we had problems with
the police,” she continued,
noting that the attack could
lead to positive changes in how
these incidents are treated
in the future. “I am very sad-
dened that this has happened,
but very surprised.”
Hayes had previously urged
the public to complain to the
18th precinct and the bar,
McCoy’s, outside of which the
attack occurred. After encour-
aging people on his website
to call the bar directly, Hayes
said the owner contacted
him to explain that the inci-
dent should in no way reflect
McCoy’s attitude toward the
neighborhood.
“He is helping us in any way
we can. He has urged he is a
friend of the gay community,
and wants everyone to know
he welcomes everyone to his
bar,” Hayes later wrote on his
website, adding, “I’m confident
he will aid in this investiga-
tion, and be an ally to us in the
future.”
Hayes also explained that,
according to the bar owner,
the assailant had identified
himself as a Marine, and was
discussing just getting back
from Iraq on the night of the
incident. The man had also
apparently acted abrasively
toward bar staff, and argued
about his tab, Hayes said.
Police are apparently attempt-
ing to access video of the dust-
up to ascertain the attacker’s
identity.
In the meantime, Hayes
wants to organize a special
event at McCoy’s as a “good
show of unity” between the
bar and the diverse West Side
community. “That’s one of
the reasons that I love this
neighborhood,” he said. “I
have always felt very safe in
this neighborhood, not only
because it’s gay but because
it’s very accepting.”
But the incident also illus-
trates the fact that no place is
immune from these types of
occurrences, Hayes added. “I
think more than anything, this
incident is about Hell’s Kitch-
en, and how it can happen
anywhere.”

䉴 BRIEFS, from p.12
votes needed for passage of a fully-
inclusive ENDA, with transgender
protections that were absent from
the bill passed in 2007. The abil-
ity to overcome a Senate filibuster,
however, something that requires
60 votes, is still an open question,
he said. Democrats hold 60 seats
in the Senate, and at least some
Republican votes are expected for
the measure.
The Blade quoted Berry saying
that Robert Gates, the defense
secretary Obama held over from
the Bush administration, has “an
open mind” on repealing Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell, but must also “bal-
ance some things,” including the
nation’s military commitments in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
Comprehensive
Review of Gay
Parenting Data
Affirms Quality
of Outcomes
The American Psychological
Association in late September
published the first full-length
analysis of the research on gay
parenting, summarizing data from
the 1970s to the present day. The
report, “Lesbian and Gay Parents
and Their Children: Research on
the Family Life Cycle,” written by
clinical psychologist Abbie E. Gold-
berg, PhD, documents consistent
findings that the well-being and
life outcomes of children raised
by gay and lesbian parents are
no different than of those raised
by heterosexuals. Similar con-
clusions have been reached in
earlier journal articles and social
science book chapters, but Gold-
berg’s work is the first compre-
hensive synthesis and analysis
of all existing research.
Given the increasing debate
over LGBT families and marriage
equality for same-sex couples,
Goldberg, who teaches psychol-
ogy at Clark University in Worces-
ter, Massachusetts, hopes that
her findings can be useful for
policymakers, school officials,
therapists, and parents.
Goldberg’s chief area of
study concerns the transition
to parenthood among children
in diverse families, including
those headed by LGBT parents
and those that include adoptive
children. The National Institute of
Child Health and Human Develop-
ment at the National Institutes
of Health has just given her a
$150,000 grant to continue pursu-
ing this research.
October is LGBT
History Month
Equality Forum, the group
that stages the annual week-long
program of workshops, forums,
panels, and parties noting and cel-
ebrating the LGBT community each
May in Philadelphia, has once
again this year launched its month-
long web salute to “GLBT Icons,”
with a video biography of 31 out-
standing gay and lesbian figures
from the past and present, a new
one rolled out every day.
Among the New Yorkers rec-
ognized this year are City Council
Speaker Christine Quinn, MSNBC/
Air America journalist and broad-
caster Rachel Maddow, actor B.D.
Wong, choreographers Alvin Ailey
and Jerome Robbins, composer
John Cage, author Zora Neale Hur-
ston, artists Robert Rauschenberg
and Jasper Johns, designer Todd
Oldham, financial wiz Suze Orman,
and activists Hilary Rosen and
Urvashi Vaid.
The entire “GLBT Icons” pro-
gram can be viewed at glbthistory-
month.com.
14 1 – 14 OCT 2009
䉴 DOMA, from p.13
a pending gay marriage lawsuit in Hawaii.
DOJ argues that Congress could ratio-
nally have reacted to this unsettled and
unprecedented situation by preserving
the status quo until the states had worked
out a uniform approach to the issue. This
way, eligibility for federal benefits would
not differ from state to state.
DOJ argues that this reasoning would
be sufficient to satisfy the “rational basis”
test of judicial review, under which a law
is presumed constitutional and the bur-
den is on the challenger to prove that
there is no non-discriminatory explana-
tion to justify it.
LGBT rights groups have been argu-
ing in the courts that a more demanding
level of judicial review should apply in gay
rights cases, due to the history of anti-gay
discrimination frequently embedded in
laws and government policies. In cases
involving other groups, such as African
Americans and women, the Supreme
Court has indicated such a history might
require heightened scrutiny of equal pro-
tection claims.
The problem here is that in the only
case in which the Supreme Court has
HELPING CREATE FAMILIES ruled in favor of gay plaintiffs based on
equal protection grounds –– its overturn-
FOR 29 YEARS ing in 1996 of Colorado’s anti-gay Amend-
Visit www.creatingfamilies.com for more information or ment 2 that barred the state and locali-
call our Maryland office at 410-990-9860 ties from enacting gay rights protections
–– its reasoning was rather opaque, leav-
HOPE TAKES ACTION
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Men who are between 18-45 years old and HIV negative can take action
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WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
ing the impression with lower courts that
the “rational basis” test is the appropriate
approach to bring to anti-gay legislation.
Given that both same-sex marriage
and the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
policy were already emerging as constitu-
tional questions in 1996, the high court
was likely looking for a way to answer the
questions posed by Amendment 2 as nar-
rowly as possible. Since Justice Anthony
Kennedy was able to write an opinion
throwing out the Colorado amendment
for failing to meet even the lax ratio-
nal basis judicial review test, the court
found it unnecessary to decide whether
a more searching level of scrutiny was
in fact appropriate to a gay equal protec-
tion claim. Amendment 2 was viewed as
purely the product of animus against gay
people, and the court had previously held
that this was never a legitimate basis for
discriminatory legislation. That was the
end of that.
Unfortunately, last year, the 1st Circuit
Court of Appeals, which would have juris-
diction over any appeal of GLAD’s Bos-
ton case, issued a ruling holding that in
light of the 1996 Amendment 2 case, the
rational basis test was the appropriate
standard for evaluating an equal protec-
tion challenge to the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
policy. That conclusion appeared to be
based on the fact that no higher standard
of review had been used in the Colorado
䉴 DOMA, continued on p.31
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
■ LEGAL
$10 Million HIV
Damages Okayed
South Carolina Supreme Court finds
insurance cancellation “reprehensible”
BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD
T
he South Carolina Supreme
Court has unanimously awarded
$10 million in punitive damages
to a young man living with HIV whose
coverage was retroactively rescinded by
his health insurer after he filed his first
HIV-related claim. The September 14
ruling, calling the insurance company’s
behavior “reprehensible,” also affirmed
an award of $150,000 in actual damages
for bad faith breach of contract.
Jerome Mitchell, Jr., was a 17-year-
old heading off to college and no longer
covered by his mother’s policy on May
15, 2001, when he applied to the Fortis
Insurance Company for an individual
health insurance policy. He truthfully
completed the application form, indicat-
ing that he had never been treated for or
diagnosed as having any “immune defi-
ciency disorder,” and his application was
approved.
In April 2002, Mitchell participated
in a Red Cross blood drive, and on May
13 received word that his blood dona-
tion had tested HIV-positive. Red Cross
advised him to have his own doctor
confirm the result. On May 14, Mitch-
ell tested positive again at his doctor’s
office. The doctor’s assistant wrote a
note attached to his chart: “Gave blood
in March –– got letter yesterday stat-
ing blood tested HIV.” This note cor -
rectly identified Mitchell as 18 years old,
but mistakenly recorded the date of the
appointment as May 14, 2001, rather
than 2002.
Mitchell soon visited an infectious dis-
ease specialist, who recorded the young
man’s medical history on his own intake
form, indicating that the patient was an
18-year-old African-American man with
“no past medical history” who had “tried
to donate blood in April of this year” and
was noted to be HIV-positive, a fact con-
firmed by his personal physician.
When Fortis Insurance received claims
for the services provided by the two doc-
tors, it investigated whether its liability
could be avoided by rescinding the pol-
icy. The claims investigator focused on
the handwritten note by the assistant
working for Mitchell’s doctor, flagging it
for attention. If all the other facts were
overlooked, the misdated note made it
appear as though Mitchell learned he
was HIV-positive on May 14, 2001, and
then applied for health insurance the
very next day, concealing his HIV status.
1 – 14 OCT 2009 15
Fortis ignored all of the contrary evi-
dence, and rescinded Mitchell’s cover-
age, retroactive to the date the policy
was issued. A Fortis senior underwriter,
Kate Stephens, who recommended this
action, sent a letter to Mitchell in Sep-
tember 2002, informing him his policy
was rescinded due to a “material misrep-
resentation” on his application form and
inviting him to submit “any additional
information you may have which would
effect [sic] our decision to rescind your
policy.”
Alar med, Mitchell immediately
phoned Stephens to clear up the mis-
understanding, but his call was diverted
to a customer service representative,
who said nothing could be done about
the rescission. A case manager at a free
medical clinic called Stephens on Mitch-
ell’s behalf, but the Fortis underwriter
refused to accept any evidence and said
“there was nothing she could do.” Ste-
phens made no mention that Mitchell
had a right of appeal.
Finally Mitchell turned to a lawyer,
who wrote Fortis, enclosing the relevant
evidence and reciting the correct chro-
nology of events, demanding that the
young man’s coverage be restored. The
company, however, persisted in relying
solely on the misdated note, and denied
any appeal.
Mitchell sued, but it was not until May
27, 2004, ten months after the lawsuit
was filed, that Fortis finally reinstated
the policy, most likely at the prompting
of its defense lawyers, who knew a losing
case when they saw it.
Mitchell’s case went to a trial jury,
which ruled in his favor, awarding Elaine Retholtz, L.Ac.
$36,000 for breach of contract, $150,000
for bad faith rescission, and $15 million
Acupuncture,
as punitive damages for the bad faith Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
rescission. Expert testimony offered at
the trial indicated that if Mitchell had no
insurance coverage and hence no treat- Practicing Acupuncture since 1992.
ment, he would have advanced to full-
blown AIDS and died within a few years.
That testimony put the projected lifetime Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Classes
cost of treating someone newly discov-
ered to be HIV-positive at just under 1.1 begin the week of October 5th.
million.
Stunned by the jury verdict, Fortis
Call for more information on these classes,
asked the trial judge to set it aside and or to schedule an acupuncture appointment.
reduce the damages. The judge instead
directed Mitchell to elect among any two
of the three amounts the jury awarded, 112 West 27th Street, #402 NY, NY 10001
and of course he waived the $36,000
212.967.6261
䉴 SOUTH CAROLINA, continued on p.30

16/ Theater
Mentor Men
Fathers and sons grapple to find common ground
BY DAVID KENNERLEY
S
cenic designer Todd Edward Irvins
should be commended on his work
for “Father’s & Sons,” the earnest
exploration of fractured male bonds now
playing at the Lion Theatre on Theatre
Row. For not only does his bi-level set —
a rehearsal hall, cluttered with old chairs,
clothes racks, theater posters, and an
overflowing New York City trash can —
mirror the detritus of rocky relationships
headed south, it also reflects the author’s
overzealous attempt to cram in as many
pairs of men as possible.
In just 90 minutes, we are assailed
with an array of complex male relation-
ships that loosely fall under the header
of fathers and sons. Besides the conven-
tional kind — where a college-bound son
is ashamed of his illiterate father, an alco-
holic father returns from prison and his
son rejects him, and a gay son comes out
to a father who turns against him — there
are father stand-ins as well.
A young man squabbles with a plumber
stepfather he can’t stand. An uncle takes
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1 - 14 OCT 2009
theater coach is spot on, but his illiterate
FATHERS & SONS Latino fails horribly (was he supposed to
Lion Theatre at Theatre Row be Chinese?). Chris Dolman is credited
410 W. 42nd St. with being the director, though I suspect
Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m.; Sun. at 3 p.m. Hoehler was tugging at the reigns as well.
Through Oct. 4 The overabundance of material needs
$25; Ticketcentral.com Or 212-279-4200
to be cut and shaped by a firmer hand.
No stranger to Off Broadway, the tal-
er by a clunky framing device — they are ented Hoeler has written and performed
actually scenes rehearsed by an aging the- several solo shows, such as “Working
ater professional named Richard and an Class” and “Human Resources.” You may
PETER JAMES ZIELINSKI
aspiring actor named Edwin. Both have also recognize him from his recurring role
serious father-son issues of their own. on the “Third Watch” television series.
Even without reading the program It would be easy to dismiss “Fathers &
beforehand, it will surprise no one that the Sons” as contrived and self-indulgent, not
actors are also named Richard (Hoeler), to mention overcomplicated and repeti-
Richard Hoehler and Edwin Matos, Jr., in “Fathers and who plays all the father roles, and Edwin tive. Yet the stories are rendered with
Sons.” (Matos), who plays all the son roles. And such conviction that we can forgive the
that the author of the entire enterprise is, shortcomings. Many of the stereotypes
care of a mentally challenged teen who in fact, Richard Hoeler. This play is close feel refreshed, and a couple of scenes do
refuses to go to an institution. Perhaps the to his heart, and it shows. pack an emotional punch.
strongest of the bunch is the long-in-the- While the appealing Matos does a nice If Hoehler has set out to examine the
tooth theater coach who beds his budding job of inhabiting and delineating his vari- thorny dynamics of male bonding — love,
student in exchange for an audition and ous characters, Hoehler is less successful, power, commitment, betrayal, letting go,
companionship, an arrangement that col- confusing his accents and, well, at times and “staying true to yourself” while trying
lapses all too quickly. coming across as simply playing himself. to please Daddy or Son — he achieves his
All of these stories are bundled togeth- Sure, his portrayal of the fey, lecherous goal.
Scheduled Service Starting October 10, 2009
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18/ Film
This Year, For the Believers
NY Film Festival steers clear of mainstream, embracing troublemakers, worse
BY STEVE ERICKSON
T
his year’s New York Film
Festival seems aimed at
hardcore cinephiles.
The festival usually includes
a few high-profile English-lan-
guage films, ranging from the
brilliant (Paul Thomas Ander-
son’s “Punch Drunk Love”)
to the abysmal (Todd Field’s
“Little Children”). One wonders
whether a festival with only 25
slots for new releases should be
showing films that don’t need its
help to play New York theaters
for months. But in 2009, Pedro
Almodovar’s “Broken Embraces”
(Oct. 11, 5 & 8 p.m.) and Lee
Daniels’ “Precious” (Oct. 3, 7 &
10 p.m.) are as middlebrow as
the New York Film Festival gets.
Instead of the Coen brothers,
it’s offering a platform to the
excellent Portuguese directors
Pedro Costa (Oct. 8, 6 p.m.)
and Joao Pedro Rodrigues (Oct.
1, 6 p.m.). It’s also found room
for the anti-crowd-pleaser par
excellence, “Antichrist,” as well
as potential troublemakers like
Harmony Korine (Oct. 1, 10
p.m.; Oct. 2, 11:30 p.m.), Todd
Solondz (Oct. 10, 9 p.m.; Oct.
11, 11 a.m.), and Catherine
Breillat (Oct. 11, 2 p.m.).
The festival has never cared
much for premieres. The Toron-
to Film Festival used to call
itself “the festival of festivals,” a
term that might suit our own.
New York’s program is usually
a greatest-hits selection culled
from Cannes and Venice, with
one or two new entries. How-
ever, this year, the festival offers
a real rarity: “Ghost Town”
(screened on Sep. 27), a three-
hour documentary made last
year and never shown before
outside China. Its view of con-
temporary Chinese life comple-
ments the festival’s sidebar of
Maoist-era Chinese films, most
of which have been impossible
to see in the West until now.
I learned several helpful tips
from Lars von Trier’s “Anti-
christ” (Oct.2, 9 p.m.; Oct. 3,
1 p.m.). Women are feral crea-
tures who respond to grief by
masturbating in the forest and
mutilating their genitals. This
may be the only film ever made
with a credit for “research on
Charlotte Gainsbourg as “She” and Willem Dafoe as “he” in Lars von Trier’s “Antichrist.”
47TH ANNUAL
NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL
Alice Tully Hall
Walter Reade Theater
Lincoln Center
Sep. 25-Oct. 11
Screenings are $20; filmlinc.com
misogyny.”
Trier has always worked with
an eye toward provoking the
audience at Cannes, where he
recently declared himself the
world’s greatest filmmaker. It’s
impossible to tell how serious-
ly Trier’s parade of overacting
(from Willem Dafoe and Char-
lotte Gainsbourg, playing a mar-
ried couple whose son falls out
the window after watching them
have sex) and sexual torture is
intended. At first, it plays like a
serious exploration of depres-
sion, a disease Trier admits to
facing himself.
Ultimately, the film goes off
the rails in spectacular, ludi-
crous fashion — the moment
when a fox talks marks the
point when it begins to feel like
a giant put-on. There’s nothing
really daring abut Trier’s equa-
tion of sex and death; it would
be far more genuinely provoca-
tive for a director of his stature
to depict extremely explicit lov-
ing, happy sex. Impressive cin-
ematography and editing go to
waste in a film that marks the
low point of Trier’s oeuvre so far.
The New York Film Festi-
val’s documentary selections
are often a crapshoot, but Don
Argott’s “The Art of the Steal”
(Oct. 6, 2 p.m.) is a piece of
fast-paced, gripping storytell-
ing. While its subject matter —
whether an art collection in a
Philadelphia suburb should be
moved — might seem arcane
or of limited interest, the film
has resonance beyond the art
world’s small microcosm. Argott
is unabashedly partisan, sid-
ing with those who want the
Barnes Foundation’s collection
to remain in its original loca-
tion, as its late founder wished.
He sets up a parade of heroes,
beginning with the iconoclastic
Dr. Albert Barnes and his stu-
dents, and villains, starting with
the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The film’s excitement doesn’t
stem from visual style — for the
most part, it’s a string of inter-
views and zooms into photos.
However, it’s extremely well-
edited and digs into its subject
matter with gusto. One might
wish for more nuance, but the
questions “The Art of the Steal”
raises, about whether art can
resist becoming a tool of rich
elites and if museums can be
something greater than tourist
traps, are vital.
At 87, Alain Resnais is no
longer reinventing film narra-
tive the way his early work did,
but “Wild Grass” (screened on
Sep. 25) is experimental in its
own casual manner. Marguerite
(Sabine Azema), a dentist and
amateur pilot, comes into con-
tact with Georges (Andre Dusol-
lier), who finds her stolen wal-
let. Narrative seems to take a
back seat to playing with form.
To satisfy both optimists and
pessimists, the film offers alter-
nate endings. It could be used
as advertising for cinematogra-
phers shopping for colored gels.
1 - 14 OCT 2009
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 OCT 1 from p.10
and discussed by artists from the gay per-
formance, film, visual, and literary arts.
All screenings are at 92Ytribeca, 200
Hudson St., btwn. Vestry & Desbro-
sses Sts., and cost $12 at 92YTribeca.
org/film. On Oct. 1, 7:30 p.m., director
John Cameron Mitchell presents Doug-
las Hickox’s “Entertaining Mr. Sloane,”
TRUST NORDISK APS/ IFC FILMS
described as “the unsung black comedy
gem of Swinging ’60s-era British film.”
The film, about a young libidinous lodger
fought over by a wacky middle-aged broth-
er and sister, is closely adapted from Joe
Orton’s 1964 hit play. On Nov. 5, 7:30 p.m.,
artist Angela Dufresne presents Apichat-
pong Weerasethakul’s 2004 “Tropical Mal-
Several scenes are notable for ady,” an hallucinogenic tale of two men in
their neon green and blue tints. a passionate relationship facing the con-
(In fact, Marguerite keeps sev- fusion and terror of an unknown menace
eral colored light tubes in her lurking deep within the jungle shadows.
apartment.) Even exteriors look On Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m., New Yorker writer
unnaturally yellow and soft. Hilton Als presents Sidney Lumet’s 1966
For some reason, cops seem “The Group,” based on the Mary McCa-
to bring out the eccentric in rthy novel about depression-era Vassar
Resnais; one scene featuring grads, as they enter adulthood on the eve
them is a cluster of zoom shots of World War II. Candice Bergen, in her
and quick edits, while anoth- first major role, plays a snooty lesbian.
er depicts a boisterous party ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
entirely through silhouette and
sound.
The film honors its novelis-
tic origins by relying heavily on
voice-over. It risks glamorizing THEATER
FRI.OCT.2
obsessive behavior — Georges Gays Are At It
winds up calling and writing let- Again
ters to Marguerite compulsively A senator faces re-election, some voters
— but it remains on the right have had it up to here, and voter initiatives
side of the edge between charm- are being challenged. After a teenager is
ing and creepy most of the time. murder, “time” is the word of the day, but no
Ultimately, “Wild Grass” shows one agrees who much is left. Center Voices
the kind of light, offhanded hosts a staged-reading of “The Homosexual
touch only a virtuoso could pull Agenda,” a new play by Robb Leigh Davis.
off. LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th
It must have been a weak St., 7 p.m. Admission is $10.
year if the Venice Film Festival ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
jury gave its top prize to director
Samuel Maov’s “Lebanon” (Oct. Faith & Family
1, 9:30 p.m.; Oct. 2, 3 p.m.). As America marks another anniver-
In a feat of historical irony, sary of the 9/11 attacks of 2001, Carla
this Israeli war film, set almost Blank directs a production of Pakistani-
entirely inside a tank, most American playwright Wajahat Ali’s “The
resembles the German World Domestic Crusaders,” described as an
War II drama “Das Boot.” On the authentic, revelatory, no-holds barred
morning of Israel’s 1982 inva- depiction of a contemporary immigrant
sion of Lebanon, a small tank Muslim family, in which humor, tensions,
crosses into the country, but and sparks fly across three generations.
their mission soon goes awry. Nuyorican Poets Café, 236 E. Third
“Lebanon” really suffers from St., btwn. Aves. B & C. Thu.-Sat., 7
comparisons with two recent p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m., through Oct. 11.
films that cover similar ground, Tickets are $15 at nuyorican.org or 212-
Katherine Bigelow’s “The Hurt 465-3167, or $20 at the door.
䉴 NY FILM FEST, continued on p.20 䉴 14 DAYS, continued on p.20
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 1 – 14 OCT 2009 19

Groovy Situations
One man’s musings on the allure of soul BOYS NIGHT
L
BY DAVID KENNERLEY

ast year, powerhouse perform-

er Colman Domingo displayed
impressive range tackling mul-
tiple roles in the brashly exuberant
OCTOBER
at 7PM
6
musical “Passing Strange.” In the

G !
recent Encores Summer Stars pro-
duction of “The Wiz,” his outrageous
take on the title role kept audiences

EART- PO U N D I N
rollicking. And in the Logo network’s
“The Big Gay Sketch Show,” he mim-
ics a host of diverse celebrities such “H dance and go
rgeous dancers!”
—Time O
ut New Y
ork
as Oprah, Tyra, RuPaul, and Morgan
(that would be Freeman, not Fairch-
ild).
Splendid
All ideal training for “A Boy and His
Soul,” Domingo’s sweetly incandes-

Photo by Joan Marcus

cent new solo show that recounts his
formative years in West Philly during
the 1970s soul music explosion. As he
picks through stacks of old LPs in his
parents’ basement, he finds his own
heartbeat among the smooth grooves.
He portrays 11 tightly-drawn charac-
ters including his mom, the love of his
life; his step dad, “the con-negro-seur
of soul music” ; his cigarette-suck-
CAROL ROSEGG

ing tomboy sister; his mega-macho

older brother; and his drag queen of a
cousin, named Siferdean. His purring
impersonation of “The Quiet Storm”
radio disc jockey is spot-on, both
funny and chilling.
But be forewarned — while the tow-
ering dynamo sporadically bursts into
song and shakes what his mamma
gave him, this is not a musical. Rath-
er, it’s a poetic rumination with an
awesome old-school R&B soundtrack,
starting with TSOP (The Sound of
Philadelphia), then sampling luscious
chunks of James Brown, Isley Broth-
ers, Ohio Players, Aretha Franklin,
Smokey Robinson, Teddy Pender -
grass, and scads more.
At one point, Domingo begs the
audience to join him in crooning “Bet-
cha By Golly, Wow” by the Stylistics.
He even reads liner notes from a Mar-
vin Gaye album, urging people of all
sexual persuasions to embrace the
connective spirit of his music. “Love
is love,” it says. Later, disco makes
an appearance, ushered in by Donna
Summer and, naturally, “The Hustle.”
One particularly poignant story
recalls his sister taking the nine-year-
old Domingo to his first concert. It was
Earth, Wind & Fire, and he was as
entranced by the shimmering, skin-
tight L ycra costumes (“All you could
see was lights, glitter, and crotch!”) as
he was by the music. The obligatory
scenes where he comes out to each
family member don’t feel obligatory
at all. In fact, each was accepting and
supportive in their own fashion, not
Colman Domingo in a rare moment of his own singing in
“A Boy and His Soul.”
A BOY AND HIS SOUL
The Vineyard Theatre
108 E. 15th St. , east of Union Sq.
Tue. at 7 p.m.; Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m.
Sat.-Sun. at 3 p.m.
Through Oct.18
$55; vineyardtheatre.org
Or 212-353-0303
ented.
einv
Ballroom. R
the expected reaction considering his
AND PAS
HA CE
YA
aturing AN N DAN
circumstances.
If the convention-busting “Pass- Fe INK YOU CA
ing Strange” was a musical for people
V ’s S O YOU TH
who hated musicals, perhaps “A Boy from T
and His Soul” is a solo show for peo-
ple who hate solo shows. Domingo TICKETS ARE ONLY $69*
himself has admitted to not being a
fan, and even the Vineyard Theatre’s POST-SHOW RECEPTION AT VLADA
artistic director, Douglas Aibel, tends 331 W. 51st St., 2nd Floor
to distain the form. It’s the transport- FEATURING 1 Complimentary Cocktail*
ing force of the music that makes this
show different. For Tickets:
Under the focused direction of Tony Visit BroadwayOffers.com or
Kelly, Domingo presents his story
Call 212-947-8844 and Mention code BFBOY97
endearingly, with little of the smug
self-indulgence that tends to subsume or take this ad to the
your garden-variety one-man show. 
Longacre Theatre, 220 West 48th Street
My main complaint is that Domingo
*Present your ticket stub purchased with code BFBOY97 at Vlada immediately
doesn’t sing more, though I suppose
after the show to get your complimentary drink voucher. Must be 21 and over
that might detract from his thesis of
with valid ID. Offer subject to availability and prior sale. All sales are final.
being transformed by the music of
No refunds or exchanges. Offer may be modified or revoked at any time
without notice.
䉴 SOUL, continued on p.24

20/ Film
Yes, We Can, Maybe
This time, Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno assess their pranks themselves
BY STEVE ERICKSON
T
he first film about the
prankster/ activist Yes
Men was directed by a
group of filmmakers who were
obviously sympathetic to their
project, but weren’t active partic-
ipants in it. “The Yes Men Fix the
World” is the second documenta-
ry devoted to the group’s antics,
but the first directed by Yes Men
duo Andy Bichlbaum and Mike
Bonanno, though a co-director is
also credited. Onscreen, the film
states that it’s “written, directed,
and produced by the Yes Men.”
It attempts a self-critique but
can’t help feeling somewhat self-
serving. After one prank involv-
ing Dow Chemical’s responsi-
bility for cleaning up Bhopal,
India, some news reports claim
that the Yes Men raised false
hopes among Bhopal residents.
The Yes Men travel there to find
out whether this is the case. Not
surprisingly, given who direct-
ed the film, the Indians they
talk to have no problem with
them and direct all their anger
toward Dow. “The Yes Men Fix
the World” rests on the fine,
sometimes uncomfortable line
between activism and self-pro-
motional branding.
As “The Yes Men Fix the
World” begins, Andy prepares
to appear on BBC News as a
spokesman for Dow. He declares
that the company will liqui-
date the $12 billion-value of its
Union Carbide subsidiary to pay
for a real cleanup of the Bhopal
chemical explosion. The prank is
quickly revealed, but not before
Dow’s stock value declines by
$3 billion. The Yes Men imper-
sonate Halliburton executives
at another conference, demon-
strating bouncing “Survivaballs,”
䉴 NY FILM FEST, from p.18
Locker” and Ari Folman’s “Waltz
With Bashir.” Like the former,
it’s essentially a machine to pro-
duce tension. It’s effective but
feels mighty secondhand. Also,
it’s uninterested in larger his-
torical and political questions.
“Lebanon” is concerned with
what it feels like to fight a bat-
tle, not the reasons why they’re
Andy Bichlbaum demonstrates the Survivaball costume the Yes Men say Halliburton is creating
as a response to global warming.
purported to be sustainable
living systems for weathering
global warming. At an Exxon
gathering, they propose mak-
ing fuel from the bodies of vic-
tims of climate change. The pair
fail to get the kind of reaction for
which they hope — the objects
of their pranks are either blasé
or disgusted, but seem no more
enlightened. They next turn to
creating a spoof edition of the
New York Times, offering all their
hopes for a better future in print.
“The Yes Men Fix the World”
takes on subjects addressed in
other documentaries and books.
Canadian writer Naomi Klein is
first on their list of inspirations
in the end credits; in turn, she
has endorsed the film. Its depic-
tion of government corruption
and corporate opportunism in
New Orleans bears out the con-
tentions of her book “The Shock
Doctrine,” which examines how
disasters become profitable. At
fought. But this “apolitical”
stance conceals a subtle con-
servatism, evident in its treat-
ment of Arabs as menaces —
even when they’re supposedly
fighting on the Israeli side — or
victims. “Waltz With Bashir”
focused on an Israeli soldier’s
inner turmoil but still managed
a level of empathy for the Other,
a nuance missing from “Leba-
non.”
longer clips from some of these
interviews, it’s hard to escape
the thought that they’ve wasted
an opportunity for real dialogue
with people on the opposite end
of the political spectrum. Cut-
ting together a 30-second clip of
economists mouthing identical
platitudes about the free market
is a cheap shot, even though it’s
funny. If any of these subjects
said something intelligent, it got
left in the editing room.
“The Yes Men Fix the World”
is honest about the limits of the
kind of activism the pranksters
SHADOW DISTRIBUTION
engage in. Their work recalls
everyone from the Yippies to
Sacha Baron Cohen, Jon Stew-
art, and Stephen Colbert, as
well as the apolitical gross-out
antics of the “Jackass” crew.
(The Yes Men’s grotesquerie is
more cerebral, as when they
THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD suggested McDonald’s offer
Directed by Andy Bichlbaum, cheaper hamburgers containing
Mike Bonanno & Kurt Engfehr human feces.)
Shadow Distribution The film has two main tasks
Opens Oct. 7 — giving the audience a laugh
Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St. and making a political point.
filmforum.org The Yes Men use humor to
reflect a measure of optimism.
87 minutes, “The Yes Men Fix the In the end, they nurture uto-
World” is necessarily less com- pian hopes, but they never lose
prehensive than other critiques sight of the difficulties at hand.
of modern capitalism such as “The Yes Men Fix the World”
the Canadian documentary “The remains poised between a
Corporation” or Adam Curtis’ desire to change the world and
BBC programs. The film’s chief a recognition that impersonat-
villains are free-market guru Mil- ing Exxon executives is unlikely
ton Friedman, and, beyond him, to do it, even if it generates a
unregulated capitalism. few laughs. While it urges the
“The Yes Men Fix the World” audience to become activists,
tackles complex economic issues, the film acknowledges that
and due to its limited running sweeping changes may only be
time, can’t help dumbing them achievable within the pages of
down. The Yes Men interviewed a “dream paper” edition of “The
about a dozen conservative econ- New York Times.” It may reveal
omists and edited their discus- more about the difficulties of
sions down to a comic parade of
soundbites. While they later use
progressive activism than it
intends.
9.14 PICTURES
The main gallery at the Barnes Foundation as seen in Don Argott’s “The Art of the Steal.”
1 - 14 OCT 2009
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 14 DAYS, from p.18
MUSIC
SAT.OCT.3
Genre-Bustin’
Toshi Reagon calls to mind classic
R&B artists, like Stevie Wonder or Prince,
and old school rock groups like Led Zep-
pelin. Her art is taking any style, updating
it, and making it her own with remarkable
east. Her band, Big Lovely, includes Judith
Casselberry, Fred Cash, Catherine Russell,
Adam Widoff, and Robert Burke. Joe’s
Pub, 425 Lafayette St., inside the Pub-
lic Theater, below Cooper Sq. Oct 3,
9 p.m.; Oct. 4, 7 p.m. Tickets are $22 at
joespub.com or 212-967-7555. For a table
reservation, with a $12 food/ drink mini-
mum, call 212-539-8778.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
GALLERY
Open Your Golden
Gates
“San Francisco: The Making of a
Queer Mecca” is an exhibit of early
photography by the longtime chronicler
of gay life Rink Foto, plus a collection
of rarely seen photos by the late Harvey
Milk, who was a Castro Street camera
shop owner prior to his success in poli-
tics. The exhibit, curated by Julia Haas
with the assistance of art historian and
queer studies scholar Jonathan David
Katz, draws on just a fraction of Foto’s
nearly half-million images. Like Cartier-
Bresson, Foto has a gift for being there
at the right moment, to catch both the
action and the image rich enough, dense
enough, and strange enough to tell a
complex story without words. Leslie/
Lohman Gallery, 26 Wooster St.,
btwn. Grand & Canal Sts, Tue.-Sat.,
noon-6 p.m., through Oct. 24.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
POETRY
SUN.OCT.4
Electric Immediacy
Join Tom Healy and his partner Fred
Hochberg in celebration of the publication
of Healy’s new book of poetry, “What the
Right Hand Knows.” Frank Bidart has writ-
ten of the work, “The electric immediacy
of these poems is an assault on silence,
a gunshot fired across the bow of gen-
teel decorous well-mannered lying and
silence.” Norwood, 241 W. 14th St., 5-8
p.m. RSVP required to rsvp@heyday.us.
䉴 OCT 4, continued on p.22
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 1 – 14 OCT 2009 21
■ FILM

Shirts and Skins RENT FORT GREENE

Four gay actors explain the very hard work
behind all that nudity …find youtopia.
BY GARY M. KRAMER

“E
ating Out 3: All You Can Eat”
reunites Rebekah Kochan
(Tiffani from the first two
“Eating Out” films) and Mink Stole from Kaleb, Apt. 4102
the second, but more importantly, it
Has more vintage records
introduces audiences to a quartet of sexy in his spacious closets
queer guys who are sometimes — but than he does clothing.
not always — like the characters they
play on screen.
The plot has Casey (Daniel Skelton), Liam, Apt. 3404
who is crushed on Zack (Chris Salva-
tore), posing online as Tiffani’s ex Ryan Loves the spectacular
(Michael Walker), a stripper, to help Zack views of Manhattan.
get over his ex, Lionel (John C. Stallings).
Needless to say, comedy, sex and nudity
— in the form of a raunchy threesome
involving Casey, Zack and Ryan, ensue. Fiona, Apt. 3201
Gay City News chatted with the boys
Scoots out of the park-
about making the film, getting naked on ing garage and onto the
screen, and being openly gay. streets of Brooklyn.

GARY M. KRAMER: Chris, your char-

acter describes himself as being “too sex-
ARIZTICAL ENTERTAINMENT

Noah, Apt. 2715

ual.” That it’s his “fatal flaw.” Are you too
sexual? Is this your fatal flaw?
CHRIS SALVATORE: I think it is,
actually! I think that was the one thing
that connected for me with the charac-
ter. I think I’m a lot like Zack in that way.
But I don’t know if it’s a fatal flaw.
GMK: What drew you to the film? Was
it doing the full frontal nudity and three-
way sex scenes?
CS: I am an exhibitionist. I am really
comfortable being naked. It was fun.
You work yourself up and are nervous,
but I was also excited. What piqued my
interest is that even though it’s a com-
edy, Zack is the ingénue. He’s not crack-
ing jokes, he’s an innocent bystander.
I’m funny because people laugh at me,
not with me. Zack is a dramatic role. I
read the script and at first, I was think-
ing, “This is kind of crazy,” especially for
a first feature. But I want to seize every
opportunity. I had to go for it. Doing that
scene repeatedly — Daniel counted, it
was up in the 30s — there is nothing
sexy about it. It was late in the day so
we were wiped out, and licking Michael’s
stomach and kissing Daniel 30 times,
I wanted to move on. If it was real life, I
wouldn’t have performed that way.
GMK: Your first scene in the film you
are objectified by a slow motion shot. Is it
flattering, or do you get self-conscious?
CS: It’s funny, growing up, I was picked
on in school as the ugly duckling — really
skinny, braces, big ears, and very shy. I’m
still shy. I don’t know where the exhibi-
Spends hours in his
gourmet kitchen.
Chris Salvatore (top) as Zack and John C. Stallings as
Zack’s ex, Lionel. Niki, Apt. 2301
Shops the local bou-
“EATING OUT 3: ALL YOU CAN EAT
tiques with Coco, who‘s
Directed by Glenn Gaylord
always by her side.
Ariztical Entertainment
Opens Oct. 9
Quad Cinema, 34 W. 13th St.
Quadcinema.com
Chloe, Apt. 1703
tionist comes from. I was really picked on Enjoys waking up early
and bullied and called gay names. I grew to work out at the state-
into myself, but I still have this humble of-the-art fitness center.
little kid. I am self-conscious, even though
people tell me I’m attractive, or a gay sex
symbol. It’s weird for me.
GMK: How close are you to Casey —
are you a clueless gay?
DANIEL SKELTON: [Laughs.] I’m not
clueless, but I do have a lot in common
with Casey, and that’s what I like about
the character — he’s easy to relate to. Brand New Brooklyn Rentals
He’s a young gay guy finding himself, in
that sense, yes.
Great Move-in Specials!
GMK: You are the only cast mem- Rents Starting at $1,786*
ber who doesn’t get naked. Are you, like
Casey says, afraid to take your shirt off
in public?
866-297-2132 Call for Details!
DS: I started modeling at 16. I’m not www.avalonyoutopia.com
䉴
* Rents subject to change.
SHIRTS & SKINS, continued on p.23

22/ Film
Beyond Toronto’s Headlines
In thin gay field, Tom Ford’s Isherwood adaptation packs erotic charge
BY STEVE ERICKSON
I
t’s become a common cliché
to say that the Toronto Film
Festival, held this year from
September 10-19, contains
many mini-festivals within it.
This year, it showed about 25
documentaries, and it would be
interesting to know if there are
patrons who attend, but see
nothing but docs — or Canadi-
an films, for that matter.
Watching news coverage in
Toronto of the festival was a
jarring experience. A program
of several hundred films was
reduced to a dozen American
titles. Never mind the “Wave-
lengths” programs of avant-
garde film; Matt Damon and
Megan Fox walking the red car-
pet was far more important.
On a few occasions, the festi-
val of glitz intruded on my own
viewing, as when I attended
a screening of Tom Ford’s “A
Single Man” that drew several
hundred more people than the
theater could hold.
But if the festival happily
allows itself to be used as an
Oscar -bait launching pad, it
also enables one to follow the
career of a director like Sri Lan-
ka’s Vimukthi Jayasundara,
who will be honored by the
Academy when hell freezes over.
For all the festival’s eclecti-
cism, however, LGBT -themed
films were pretty thin on the
ground this year.
In the past, I’ve suspected
Chinese director Lou Ye of
using explicit sex to cover up
his weaknesses as a filmmaker.
However, the style of “Spring
Fever” perfectly matches its
mood. Banned in his homeland
— it’s officially a Hong Kong/
French co-production — it
kicks off with the most graphic
gay sex scene I’ve ever seen in a
Chinese film. A bookstore owner
pursues tormented relation-
ships with both a man and a
woman; his girlfriend discovers
this when she hires a detective
to follow him.
Ye makes the provincial city of
Nanjing look as gray and rainy
as Seattle. Shot on standard-
definition video, “Spring Fever”
revels in murk and grunge. Even
scenes set outdoors in daytime
“Spring Fever,” banned in director Lou Ye’s homeland, kicks off with the most graphic gay sex
scene I’ve ever seen in a Chinese film.
look as though they were filmed
at daybreak or dusk. The film
reveals a world you won’t see in
Zhang Yimou’s officially sanc-
tioned films — clubs presenting
punk bands and drag perform-
ers, factories making counter-
feit goods. I don’t know enough
to tell whether it’s an accu-
rate depiction of underground
China, but it’s a compelling one.
Its style covers up Ye’s melodra-
matic excesses, whose gloom
recalls Fassbinder’s “Fox and
His Friends.”
If you enjoy the notion of
spending 100 minutes watching
two unpleasant people scream
at each other, Canadian direc-
tor Xavier Dolan’s “I Killed My
Mother” may be your cup of tea.
The rest of us should approach
it with more trepidation. It fol-
lows 16-year-old Hubert (Dolan)
as he spars with his mother
Chantale (Anne Dorval); the
two can’t take a ride to school
together without a battle break-
ing out.
Although Hubert is gay, his
sexuality isn’t the story’s focus.
It treats his relationship with
his boyfriend Antonin casu-
ally, and while his mother isn’t
happy to discover that he’s gay,
it’s not the reason they loathe
each other.
To be fair, “I Killed My Moth-
er” picks up after the open-
ing reel, becoming more com-
plex. Of course, it could hardly
grow cruder. The film is rarely
funny, nor does it strike emo-
tional truths very often. There
are a handful of exceptions
— Hubert’s speed-fueled rant
about how much he really loves
1 - 14 OCT 2009
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
Falconer (Colin Firth). Beset by 䉴 OCT 4, from p.20
grinding grief over his partner’s
COMEDY
recent death, Falconer engages
in mundane tasks like teaching Audience Faves
Aldous Huxley to bored college Steve Hofstetter headlines an eve-
students. ning of Brad Loekle’s “Electro Shock
Fashion designer -turned- Therapy Comedy Hour” that also fea-
director Tom Ford set himself tures Scout Durwood, Jessimae, and
a difficult task in choosing to Kate McKinnon. Therapy Bar, 348 W.
adapt Christopher Isherwood’s 52nd St., 10 p.m. No cover, no minimum,
classic novel. From the open- $6 cosmos all night long.
(STRAND RELEASING)
ing scenes — images of men ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
swimming nude, followed by
George kissing his dead part-
ner beside a wrecked car — it’s
apparent that Ford has created
a truly cinematic adaptation. He BENEFIT
MON.OCT.5
uses devices like extreme close- A Place at the
his mother, and her furious ups and shallow focus to bring Table
attack on a snide principal who George’s fantasy life into the pic- Actor, writer, and dramatist Charles
thinks Hubert’s problems stem ture, mixing dreary reality with Busch hosts an evening of cocktails and
from the fact that she’s a single reveries and flashbacks. With- food tastings that will feature a solo per-
mother. out any explicit sex, the film still formance by Rufus Wainwright, all to ben-
As a director, Dolan shows manages an erotic charge rare efit the Ali Forney Center, which provides
promise, alternating a drab look in a gay film with an eye on the needed housing and social services to
with bursts of color. As a writer, mainstream. LGBTQ homeless youth across New York
he’s hopelessly callow. Now 20, Some of the most intrigu- City. The evening with honor City Council
he admits to writing this script ing entries at TIFF this year Speaker Christine Quinn and Brooklyn
at 17. It shows. weren’t “gay films,” but films Councilman Lew Fidler, who chairs the
Entering the Toronto Film that ground homosexual experi- Youth Services Committee and has been
Festival without a US distribu- ences in a larger context. Yorgos instrumental in targeting city dollars to the
tor, “A Single Man” proved to be Lanthinos’ “Dogtooth” depicts previously unserved queer homeless youth
one of its most popular films, same-sex incest as the natural population. Chelsea Art Museum, 556
and was sold to the Weinstein product of a repressive family. W. 22nd St., 7-9:30 p.m. Tickets begin at
Company after all-night negoti- Adopting an Orwellian allegorical $150 at aliforneycenter.org.
ations. Perhaps it has benefited approach, the film showcases a ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
from the way “Mad Men” has family ruled over by a tyrannical
made the early ’60s hip again; it father who allows his children no
shares a fetishistic attention to
costume and production design
with the TV show.
outside input. His most devas-
tating blow is controlling their
vocabulary; for them, dandeli- DANCE
TUE.OCT.6
Set over the course of a sin- ons are “zombies,” and oral sex The Pointe of It All
gle day in 1962, it follows the For one night only, Eryc Taylor Dance,
life of English professor George 䉴 TORONTO, continued on p.23 a New York-based company devoted
to innovative and theatrical choreogra-
phy on pointe, presents four world pre-
mieres. The Ailey Citigroup Theater,
Joan Weil Center for Dance, 405 W.
55th St., 8 p.m. Tickets are $25; $20 for
students; $35 with post-show reception
at smarttix.com. For complete informa-
tion on the evening, visit eryctaylor.com.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
WED.OCT.7
(REGENT RELEASING/ HERE MEDIA)
COMMUNITY
Speaking Out
Against Hate
Early this summer, Leslie Mora and
Carmella Etienne, two transgendered
women who live in Queens, were
Xavier Dolan and Anne Dorval in Dolan’s “I Killed My Mother.” 䉴 OCT 7, continued on p.24
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
䉴 SHIRTS & SKINS, from p.21
extremely comfortable with my body, but
I’m used to the whole thing. Every cast-
ing call makes you take your shirt off. It’s
not a big deal.
GMK: Why do you think gay guys have
such trouble with dating, body image,
and self-worth?
DS: I think that a lot of people are
self-conscious — look at our culture and
magazine covers. There’s such a pressure
to look and act a certain way. It’s easy for
people to fall into that trap. There are so
many times I feel self-conscious, about
how I look and what other people think.
What I like about the film is the message
that there are ways to look past physical
aspects to find thing more special to find
a more emotional connection.
GMK: How was it to film the three-
some with Chris and Michael?
DS: Very difficult because it was hot
and crowded, but it was fun because
Chris and Michael and I have become
great friends. We laughed through it.
䉴 TORONTO, from p.22
is called “licking the keyboard.”
“Face,” made in Taiwan and France
by openly gay director Tsai Ming-liang, is
one of the festival’s most intriguing films.
1 – 14 OCT 2009
GMK: Was it tough for you, as a gay
actor, to play straight? How did you
research that?
MICHAEL WALKER: For me, I grew
up Mormon, so I spent the first 22 years
of my life researching this role. This
character is me before I came out. I grew
up trying to clothe myself in masculinity
and I developed that. That’s what I saw
in him.
GMK: Did you have to practice strip-
ping for your role? How did you work
your stripper magic?
MW: [Laughs]. I was a professional
Latin ballroom dancer for five years.
I competed all over. I wish I could have
done more than a few seconds moving
my torso.
GMK: What about the nudity and the
three-way sex scene?
MW: A lot of the actors dropped out
because of the nudity. I am proud of
the opportunity and happy that I did it.
I’m not an exhibitionist — I’m the oppo-
site. The way I was raised, it was the
hardest part of doing the film. It was
To be honest, it’s not an easy film to like.
Tsai treats each shot — they generally
last about five minutes, including a bout
of outdoor sex between two men — as
an individual entity, rather than a com-
ponent of a linear narrative. He draws
required of the role, and it was some-
thing I accepted. It’s not something
I love to do. I see it as a character I
played. This isn’t me. I don’t see it as a
reflection on my new morality. I’m still
extremely conservative sexually, even
though I may have gotten naked in the
film. I’m monogamous, and wouldn’t
have an open relationship. I don’t think
anybody takes those scenes a… they
are comic and over the top. I played it
funny and comedic.
GMK: You play the villain of the piece.
Are you a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of
guy?
JOHN C. STALLINGS: In my life,
no, never. Playing the villain is fun,
because it’s not who I am at all.
But there’s a part in all of us want-
ing to play an asshole and get away
with it. I mustered up who I could
revolve this around — I had someone
in mind — but I’m actually a hopeful
romantic who wants to get married
some day.
equally from Buster Keaton and Michel-
angelo Antonioni, rewarding the specta-
tor’s patience with a sense of humor.
However, the film flirts openly with
tedium and confusion; at least on a
first viewing, it’s hard not to feel some
23
GMK: Have you ever filmed your
lovemaking, or checked yourself out in
the mirror while someone services you
like Lionel does?
JCS: No. I pride myself on having
some privacy that way. I like to have
that experience with a person and recall
it only in mind. I’d never do that. It’s so
superficial and conceited. Being a male
model you’d think I’d be like that, but
I’m not.
GMK: Did you feel comfortable doing
nudity and sex scenes?
JCS: I was naked with my ass hang-
ing out for the whole crew — and I
hope they enjoyed it. I let myself be
that character. Lionel is an exhibi-
tionist. I don’t run around my house
naked, but I’m not a prude.
GMK: You have a memorable mas-
turbation scene in the film. Where’s
the strangest place you’ve ever shot a
load?
JCS: Wow! Where’s yours? [Conversa-
tion goes off the record.]
ambivalence toward it. My mixed reac-
tion brought to mind my initial response
to David Lynch’s “Inland Empire,” a film
I now consider one of the decade’s best.
I can’t wait to see “Face” again and find
out if it grows with repeat viewings.

24/ Theater
Getting Even
American legend comes to surprising life; Holocaust used as weak gimmick
LIZZIE BORDEN
The Living Theatre
21 Clinton St., btwn. Houston &
Stanton Sts.
Thu.-Sat. at 8 p.m.; Fri.-Sat.
at 10:30 p.m.
Through Oct. 17
$25; lizziebordentheshow.com
Or 212-352-3101
BY CHRISTOPHER BYRNE
A
chamber rock musi-
cal about the legend
of Lizzie Borden might
seem off-putting on the surface,
but this is an entertaining and
exciting show that, while in need
of more development, is exciting
and engaging.
The show retells the legend
of the Massachusetts girl who
“took an axe and gave her moth-
er 40 whacks.” It imagines Lizzie
growing up in an oppressive
home where she may have been
molested, and, with her sister,
freeing herself from this horrible
situation, albeit with a famous
murder. T im Maner’s book,
what there is of it, imagines
Lizzie in a lesbian relationship
with her next door neighbor, her
sister escaping from the house
only to come back when Lizzie
is accused, and a maid, Bridget
Sullivan, more or less bribed to
keep quiet.
The center of the play is the
music by Steven Cheslik-DeMey-
er and Alan Stevens Hewitt, with
lyrics by DeMeyer and Maner.
The songs cover a range of rock
idioms, and even a hauntingly
beautiful setting of the “watch-
men for the morning” psalm.
The music is sophisticated and
interesting, rich in character and
authentic emotion. The lyrics,
which do a lot of the storytelling
work, are clever and incisive.
Having the whole story told by
䉴 SOUL, from p.19
the masters. He doesn’t want
to usurp the power, just sim-
ply har ness it and share it.
For Domingo, the funky strains
of the 70s are at once healing
and revealing. He even equates
them to “the sound of my
mother’s love.”
Rachel Hauck’s set, a base-
ment containing a jumble of
Marie-France Arcilla as Alice Russell, Lizzie Borden’s lover, Jenny Fellner as Lizzie, and Carrie Cimma as the maid, Bridget in “Lizzie Borden.
the four women is intriguing, and
the cast is outstanding. Marie-
France Arcilla as Alice Russell
has a beautiful voice, and balanc-
es the rock with the inherently
melodramatic nature of the piece
beautifully. Lisa Birnbaum as
Lizzie’s sister Emma comes alive
in her songs “Sweet Little Sister”
and “Emma’s Return.” Carrie
Cimma totally rocks the show as
Bridget. Her character is a bit of
a stereotype — the worldly-wise
Irish maid — but she has a galva-
nizing presence that’s irresistible.
Jenny Fellner as Lizzie Borden
is terrific going from the meek
daughter to the axe-wielding
avenger.
The show could use a bit more
in the book scenes, and it clearly
owes a debt to “Spring Awaken-
ing,” in the style of both its score
and the performances. Still, it’s
original and exciting and, despite
the grim subject matter, surpris-
ingly endearing. Having given
themselves a unique challenge,
the creative team and the cast
have demonstrated that they
most certainly can hack it.
memories –– which take the
form of a hi-fi system with a
turntable and eight-track play-
er, an artificial Christmas tree
(white), a damaged disco ball,
and stacks of records –– offers
the perfect backdrop. Even the
large red platform that serves
as the stage is supported by
pillars of records.
Without a doubt, there are
those who will find Domingo’s
“T
he Retributionists,”
which has closed, is an
unfortunate little play
that has not so much been ripped
from the headlines as snipped
from them. Daniel Goldfarb has
used a report of arsenic poisoning
among German POWs in 1946 to
spin out a noirish tale of a team
of underground Jewish activists
who intend to get even with the
Germans for what they did to the
Jews during the Holocaust.
Yet, rather than write anything
substantive, Goldfarb wastes his
time — and the audience’s — with
a turgid, immature, and almost
insufferably tedious tale of a love
triangle gone wrong. Fundamen-
tal plausibility is an essential ele-
ment of any thriller, but Goldfarb
gives us none of that.
The plot centers on Anika, a
Jewish refugee in Paris who, with
Dov, another exile, hatches a plot
to plant a bomb in Germany. Jas-
cha, in love with Anika, finds her
in Paris and tries to rekindle his
relationship with her. When Dov’s
bomb plot goes wrong, Anika
turns to Plan B, this time manip-
nostalgia-steeped meanderings
too precious, and his insights a
tad trite — his mother offered
aphorisms like “Go far away
from this neighborhood, but
don’t forget where you come
from” and “Keep a song in your
heart, and you will always find
your way.” But if you allow
yourself to be seduced, you’ll
agree these are wise words
indeed.
CARL SKUTSCH
ulating Jascha to do what no Jew
in their right mind would — go
to Germany and infiltrate a bak-
ery in order to poison the bread.
While Jascha, besotted with love
and the promise that Anika will
marry him, is there, she instead
marries Dov.
Goldfarb’s clumsy dialogue,
insipid characterizations, and
manipulations of his own create
a sodden evening that is unreliev-
edly dull. Leigh Silverman’s slug-
gish direction didn’t do much to
help, and the major actors were
consistently unconvincing. Mar-
garita Levieva, in particular, as
Anika gave dead line readings
and a false and mannered per-
formance. Adam Rothenberg,
who has been good in many other
plays, was flat, lacking any spark.
Adam Driver as Dov had neither
the power nor the depth to make
the character convincing. To be
fair, they had little to work with —
but they did nothing with it.
This is a sub-par soap opera
that uses the Holocaust as its
marketing gimmick. Don’t be
sorry you missed it.
On its own terms, “A
Boy and His Soul” conveys
Domingo’s love of soul, how it
enriched his hard-knock child-
hood and helped him find his
groove. Yet what makes this
endeavor truly triumphant is
that we are right there with
him, with every tattered album
he pulls from the pile. He helps
us locate the soul within our-
selves, as well.
1 - 14 OCT 2009
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 OCT 7, from p.22
attacked in separate hate crimes in that
borough. Also, this year, a conviction in
the upstate killing of Lateisha Green, a
young African-American woman, was
the first hate crime prosecution in New
York State for an attack on a trans-
gendered person. Mora, Etienne, and
members of Green’s family will talk
about their experiences as victims of
hate-motivated violence, and Michael
Silverman, who heads the Transgender
Legal Defense and Education Fund, and
Andy Mora, senior media strategist at
the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation, or GLAAD, will address
efforts to add transgender protections
to state and federal law and to educate
the public. Brooklyn Law School,
Forchelli Conference Center, 205
State St., btwn. Court & Adams
Sts., 7 p.m. Dinner, refreshments
served. Free.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
COMMUNITY
FRI.OCT.9
Poly-Saturated
Pride
Polyamorous NYC hosts its ninth
annual Poly Pride Weekend, the largest
such celebration in the nation. Because
this weekend is also the National
Equality March in Washington, Poly
Pride this year is scaled back to just
two events, to allow participants to
make it to DC by Sunday. On Oct. 9 at 8
p.m. (late arrivals will not be admitted;
doors open at 7:30), the Super Massive
Cuddle Party — a drug- and alcohol-
free, structured, safe workshop on
boundaries, communication, intimacy,
where you can experiment with what
makes you feel safe and feel good
—will be held at the LGBT Commu-
nity Center, 208 W. 13th St. Tickets
for the Cuddle Party range from $20 for
singles to $62 for quads at poly-nyc.
com (or $30 to $90 at the door). On Oct.
10, from noon-6 p.m., bring a lunch
and join the Poly Pride Picnic at Central
Park’s Great Hill, enter at Central Park
W. & W. 106th St. In addition to rally
speakers, enjoy the music of Houston
Bernard, Sanjay Merchant, Sean360x,
Chris Moschetti, Matt Klauser, Raven
Schecter Trio, Dani Tersini, and Larkin
Grimm, as well as the comedy of Kelli
Dunham.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
䉴 OCT 9, continued on p.25
1 - 14 OCT 2009
14 DAYS Seeing Funny from Alaska
14 NIGHTS Bob Smith’s first novel imagines a northern wilderness suddenly overcrowded
䉴 OCT 9, from p.24
DANCE
Community. Chaos.
Revolt.
Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama premieres
“The Corral,” a dance-theater piece for six
dancers exploring themes of homeland and
patriotism. The work is based on “El Cor-
ralito,” the 2001 social-political uprising
in Argentina when the government froze
all bank accounts, essentially robbing the
entire nation overnight. The word “Corralito”
translates to corral, a holding pen for farm
animals. Merce Cunningham Studio, 55
Bethune St. at Washington St., 11th fl.
Oct. 9, 9 p.m.; Oct. 10-11, 8 p.m. Tickets
are $18; $15 for students at the door.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ son Kunker, a lowly TV writer’s
FILM
SUN.OCT.11
Quentin Crisp
Crosses the
Hudson
Chillfest, the mostly gay and lesbian film
series of Jersey City, returns for its fifth sea-
son, with a screening of Rickard Laxton’s “An
Englishman In New York,” in which John
Hurt stars as Quentin Crisp in a biopic about
the final years of the famed gay wit. Hurts
co-stars include Cynthia Nixon, Swoosie
Kurtz, and Denis O’Hare. LITM, 140 New-
ark Ave, 1/2 block from the Grove
Street PATH station in Downtown JC, 4
p.m., doors open at 3:30. Tickets are $5 at
chillfest.org or $8 at the door. LITM offers a
full bar and dinner menu.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ made you write a gay novel set
CABARET
On the Radio
Justin Bond is back at Joe’s Pub this
fall with several new shows. Bond appears
on Oct. 11, 9:30 p.m., with “A Little Night
Music from Rock’s High Priestesses of Sor-
cery!,” and on October 31, 9:30 p.m., with
“Scary, Mary!: A Halloween Extravaganza!”
425 Lafayette St., adjacent to the Public
Theater, below Cooper Sq. Tickets are
$20 at joespub.com. To reserve a table, with
a food/ drink minimum, call 212-539-8778.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ azine about gays in Alaska,
BENEFIT
MON.OCT.12
Keeping Schools
Safe.
PFLAG NYC, Parents, Families and
䉴 OCT 12, continued on p.28
BY COURT STROUD
W
hile most of us day-
dream about an excit-
ing life, comedian and
author Bob Smith lives one. As
the first openly gay standup to
appear on the “Tonight Show,”
as well as the first to have
his own HBO special, he has
become a legend among the out-
and-proud funny set.
This month, Smith’s critically
acclaimed debut novel, “Selfish
& Perverse,” hits bookstores in
a new paperback edition. The
sexy, smart –– and hilarious
–– story revolves around Nel-
assistant and would-be novelist
from LA who meets and falls for
outdoorsy Alaskan Roy Brigg, a
part-time salmon catcher and
full-time archaeology student.
The attraction is mutual, and
the two head north together.
But when pansexual Holly-
wood heartthrob Dylan Fabziak
shows up at the couple’s remote
fishing village to research a
movie role, things get intense for
all three men, and Nelson finds
himself questioning his ideas
about love, art, and trust.
The comic talked with Gay
City News about the inspira-
tions for his book, as well as his
current and upcoming projects.
C O U R T S T R O U D : W h at
in the 49th state?
BOB SMITH: I went up there
once to do a benefit. On that trip
I met Brad, a gay fisherman. We
spent one night together, not
sleeping, but having coffee and
talking.
C S : You wr ote the book
because of a shared cup of java?
BS: No, but I kept in touch
with Brad. When I was asked
to write an article for Out mag-
he said, “You can’t just go to
Anchorage. You have to go out
to the bush. Why don’t you
come out fishing with me?” He
really didn’t expect me to say
yes. I took 60 pages of notes
and probably 200 photos, so
when I figured out I wanted to
write a novel, I had lots of mate-
rial to work with.
Comedian and novelist Bob Smith in Alaska.
CS: If Brad’s the inspiration
for Roy, who’s the model for Nel-
son?
BS: It’s definitely me, but I’m
partly Roy, partly Dylan, too.
The part of me that isn’t Nel-
son is that I’ve never had writ-
er’s block or drifted around for
years. Once I turned 28, I had
all these friends dying of AIDS,
and I decided to be a stand-
up comic. I thought I’d bet-
ter do what I want with my life
because I may not be around in
ten years.
CS: Who is Dylan based on?
BS: Super ficially, Robert
Downey, Jr. He’s got the drive
that all artists need –– not even
to succeed, but to just stay
afloat. He’s comically exagger-
ated, but I respect how driven
he is to do a good job. I’m sen-
sitive because if you want to be
an artist in America, some think
you’re shirking your responsi-
bilities, whereas I think being
an artist takes more guts than
being a businessman –– and
more entrepreneurial skills.
CS: You scatter detailed ref-
erences to Alaska’s flora and
fauna on almost every page.
Did you have to conduct a lot of
research?
BS: I’m a birdwatcher. And I
became curious about plants in
Alaska. I did do a lot of research
on Native Alaskan culture, read-
ing five or six books. Everything
has a soul, according to Yup’ik
beliefs. People used to take drift-
wood and flip it over because it
became uncomfortable sitting
in the same position, which I
say in the book is “cosmic and
comic” at the same time.
CS: That’s one of my favor-
ite passages. You were raised
a strict Roman Catholic, but
what’s your personal philoso-
phy now?
BS: I can feel spiritual in a
really beautiful church of any
faith, but immediately feel that
way in spectacular nature. I’m
more pagan than monotheistic.
I can’t say I have any pinned
down religious beliefs, but the
mystery of it all doesn’t scare
me.
CS: You write that the secret
to telling the perfect lie “is to
always tailor your lies to other
people’s flaws.” How did you
come up with that insight?
BS: I have a friend, Mark, who
is a total whore. I was in a bad
mood and blew off dinner with
him. It was a Monday night. I
felt so awful and thought, “What
can I say?” Then I thought,
“Oh, I’ll say I met some guy and
tricked out.” It worked like a
charm. He fell for it completely.
CS: What are you working on
now?
Books /25
SELFISH & PERVERSE
By Bob Smith
Alyson Books
$15.95; 370 pages
BS: The acclaimed theater
director and choreographer
Jerry Mitchell read “Selfish and
Perverse,” loved it, and thinks
it could be a play. My partner,
Michael Zam, is adapting the
book.
My next novel is a time travel
story. A 46 year-old gay man
time travels back to 1986 and
teams up with himself to pre-
vent his sister’s suicide and
stop George Bush from becom-
ing president. I wanted to write
about my sister’s suicide, so
again this novel is autobio-
graphical, but obviously it’s fic-
tion, too.
CS: What’s the book’s title?
BS: “Remembrance of Things
Forgotten” or “Remembrances
of Things I Forgot.” I’m not com-
paring myself to Proust. It’s
actually making fun of myself.
CS: One last question: In the
documentary, “Laughing Mat-
ters,” you discuss having a neu-
rological disorder. How has it
affected your writing?
BS: It hasn’t –– it’s affected
my muscles but not my brain.
And I’m still feeling funny. To
me comedy is not ignoring that
bad things happen in your life;
it’s the intervals when nothing
bad is happening. I’ve had down
moments, but I really don’t live
my life feeling depressed every
day. I’m lucky.
26
■ IN THE NOH
Fire Lit in Pines
Enchanted, picaresque life; Fonda’s generosity; Met death
BY DAVID NOH
B
en Hodges is a Renais-
sance kind of guy who
is producing the Third
Annual Fire Island Pines Lit-
erary Weekend (October 9-11,
themadisonfi.com). “I have
long been interested in bring-
ing more cultural events to Fire
Island because I believe there
is a less than possibly tapped
audience for them,” he told
me, “and Andrew Kirtzman,
the owner of the Madison Fire
Island Pines, where the event
is being held, is of a like mind
with me.” Kirtzman, a veteran
reporter from the Daily News,
NY1, and WCBS, just authored
the book “Betrayal: The Life and
Lies of Bernie Madoff.”
Hodges said, “Last year over
120 people attended our fes-
tival, and this year’s theme is
centered around my publication
‘The Play That Changed My Life:
America’s Foremost Playwrights
on the Plays That Influenced
Them’ [Applause Books], which
I edited. Christopher Durang,
Michael Rupert, Seth Rudetsky,
and myself are going to be on a
panel, and all three of them will
be performing several numbers,
like Durang’s ‘Not a Gay Goes
By,’ which event is open to the
public.”
Hodges was approached by
Howard Sherman, executive
director of the Theatre Wing,
about doing a book like a book
he’d once read called “The Movie
That Changed My Life.”: “He and
I bandied about the names and
came up with our wish lists. I’m
particularly proud of including
two people that I really wanted,
Sarah Ruhl, one of our up-and-
coming playwrights, and Doug
Wright.
“Interesting revelations
include John Patrick Shan-
ley watching from the wings a
production of ‘Cyrano de Berg-
erac’ at Cardinal Spellman High
School, from which he was later
expelled, L ynn Nottage being
blown away by a children’s
show that had talking lima
beans, when she was a kid in
Brooklyn, called ‘Succotash on
Ice,’ A.R. Gurney going back-
stage to meet Katharine Cornell,
Horton Foote being blown away
by Eva le Gallienne.”
The tireless Hodges came
to New York originally to be an
actor, segued from that into
directing and producing, and is
now in law school, all the bet-
ter to implement his theatrical
dreams. He produced the The-
ater World Awards from 2002-
2007 and continues to edit
the invaluable Theater World
annual volumes, inheriting the
tasks from editor John Willis,
who was in his early 80s “and
in physical and mental decline.
He really was a one man-band
both with the annual book and
awards, both 65 years old this
year. John, by the way, is now in
good shape at 93, and lives with
me — and the largest archive
of theatre information from the
20th century in private hands
— on Riverside Drive. I am his
caretaker.”
A
f emale Candide if ever
t h e r e w a s , a c t r e s s/
dancer/ director/ act-
ing coach Sondra Lee herself
admitted she’s led an “enchant-
ed life,” which she evokes in her
enchanting memoir, “I’ve Slept
with Everybody.” (The book was
published by Bear Manor Media,
an outfit that, so rare these
days, actually welcomes theat-
rical subjects, as other current
titles about Agnes Moorehead,
Shirley Booth, Jean Seberg,
and Alan Reed attest.) Though
Lee has indeed had a myriad
of lovers, ranging from Marlon
Brando (who took her virginity)
to the Baron Philippe de Roth-
schild, she explained her book’s
title to me in her ravishing, art-
filled Upper West Side penthouse
aerie: “Artists, especially when
they’re younger and starting out,
1 – 14 OCT 2009
take care of each other. They eat,
cook, laugh, study, rehearse,
drink, and sleep together like a
roomful of puppies.”
“Take me away to a magi-
cal time!” I begged her, which
she immediately did, limning
an artistically percolating Man-
hattan before real estate ruined
it, and a Europe in which all
doors were open to new discov-
ery for a young, green Ameri-
can. A “poor, chubby girl from
Newark,” Lee met Brando when
he was appearing and fighting
with Tallulah Bankhead in “The
Eagle Has Two Heads”: “We went
sightseeing in Washington, DC
together. He never made a pass
at me –– he was just adorable.
I said I’d really love to study in
New York, and he called my
mother and convinced her to let
me leave, that he would take care
of me. We lived on separate floors
at the Park Savoy, which had a
communal kitchen on each floor.
I didn’t realize that it was prob-
ably loaded with his girlfriends.
“That was the beginning, and
things did happen, and that
was rather shocking to me, but
he said that’s okay, and I would
think about it in maybe a month
or two, and he was right. So
began an affair that lasted many
years and many stages. I knew
him closely until the day he died.
All of his women liked each other
–– there was no bitchiness. He
was a very unusual man and
lover, not Mr. Macho at all. It was
like the comfort of being with
another woman, that kind of
quiet and his amazing humor.”
Discovered by redoubtable
genius Jerome Robbins for his
“High Button Shoes,” Lee went
Sondra Lee’s photo of Marlon Brando and his friend Wally Cox.
on to work with some of the big-
gest, most difficult stars in the
business, all of whom she got
along with. “I loved Ginger Rog-
ers [in “Hello, Dolly!”]. She wasn’t
difficult –– she wasn’t smart
enough to be difficult. And Betty
Grable was nice and had the
best legs in the business, but
she was an idiot. Ginger would
tell the audience, ‘Wait a minute,
I forgot my line,’ and go into the
wings and get them, while we
all cringed. But she’d go back
onstage and say, ‘I’ve got it now,’
and the audience applaud-
ed her, they thought she was
great.”
“Mary Martin [in “Peter Pan”]
was someone you never really
got to know, but she was sort of
positive and did a lot of needle-
work. She was a good egg, and
I think she swallowed whatever
she was fed because of my per-
sonal success as Tiger Lily.” Lee
was introduced by her charac-
ter’s name to a child years later,
and the moppet just stared at
her and screamed, “What hap-
pened?” Lee, who has proudly
never been “lifted” and bemoans
all the work actresses think they
need to undergo, loves to tell
that story on herself.
Lee said, “There was just one
diva I couldn’t understand and
that was Miss Channing. She’s
a theater legend, but I never
really got in there. I think at the
time of ‘Hello, Dolly!,’ she had
only one person in her life and
that was Charles, her husband,
who turned out to be the miss of
all time. I have great respect for
her and know there are people
who are devoted fans, but I just
don’t know who she is, and I’m
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
usually very perceptive.” Lee
writes about Channing’s Christ-
mas gifts to the company after
“Dolly!” the smash of all time,
had opened. Everyone had been
asked to give their initials, so
avid hopes of engraved silver
somethings ran through their
minds. When they eagerly tore
open the Neiman Marcus boxes,
the women discovered “the big-
gest pair of bloomers you ever
saw, while the men got ties with
their initials painted on them.
Bibi Osterwald’s read ‘B.O.’
I went to Carol and said, ‘I’m
going to keep these forever.’ ‘Oh,
that’sh nishe!’ I have them still ––
they used to hang, framed in my
bathroom, until someone broke
the glass. She may be a great
artist for some people, but then
the theater is a place for true
monstreuses. Elaine Stritch is a
maniacal, mean-spirited person,
but she’s a good actress and
always has been, and belongs in
the theater.”
Lee keeps busy, teaching at
the Actors’ Studio and coaching
film performers, like Jane Fonda,
whom she described as “a terrific
person who does her homework.
I coached her on a movie, and
the director never knew that I
did this. She flew me out to the
Coast, and we’d work it out in
her hotel room. Before she went
to shoot the movie, she gave me
a letter and said, ‘Don’t open it
until you’re on your way.’ When I
was up in the air, I opened it and
a check for an extra $10,000
floated to the floor. She didn’t
know this, but I was desperately
in need of that extra money, as I
was going through my divorce.
She’s that kind of person.”
T
he boos are still ringing in
my ears from the Metro-
politan Opera’s opening
night “Tosca” (September 21).
In these cash-strapped times,
why replace a beloved opulent
production with a minimal-
ist Eurotrash effort with sets
that look like they were com-
posed of stacked corrugated
cardboard with aberrant Deco
décor at odds with the Empire
costumes? Why cheapen Scar-
pia’s character by having him
embrace a Virgin Mary statue
and then be fellated by a floozy
䉴 IN THE NOH, continued on p.28
1 - 14 OCT 2009

Dance /27
Ori Flomin’s Found Innocence
Media memories saturate “Toronto” with joi de vivre
BY BRIAN MCCORMICK ORI FLOMIN/ URSULA EAGLY/ MINA NISHIMURA
“Toronto”/ “Fields of Ida”/ “Timmy’s Idea”

W
hen we were little children, Dance Theater Workshop
creativity wasn’t something 219 W. 19th St.
to be evaluated; it was simply Oct. 8–10 at 7:30 p.m.
what we did to express our imagination. Pre-show coffee & conversation:
Free of judgment and epistemological Oct. 8 at 6:30 p.m.
hierarchies, our inventions were a source $15; dtw.org
of fun. It’s no wonder that many artists 212-924-0077
look back to this time in their lives for
inspiration, or find some potential rekin- jection on the back wall of the theater. Two
dled through the expressive capacities long panels of opaque white fabric will be
of their offspring. “Toronto,” a charm- used as sculptural screens on which the
ing new trio by Ori Flomin, draws sus- media memories will be displayed.

JULIETA CERVANTES
tenance from both ends of this contin- The live dancers — whose performance
uum, and is held aloft mightily by long- history together goes back to the early
term close personal friendships among ’90s when they first met while dancing
the performers. with Kevin Wynn — mimic and expand
The initial idea for “Toronto” came on the poses and routines of the celluloid- Ori Flomin, Antonio Ramos, and Colleen Thomas conjure childhood moves in “Toronto.”
when the choreographer’s father found transfer Flomin siblings. They roll across
old super-8 home movies of Flomin’s the floor, move in clutches of back and Eagly’s solo “Fields of Ida” evokes the emotion.
early childhood. The footage, which has forth, twist and spin, toward and away post-apocalyptic landscape described in It’s particularly heartening in these
been transferred to DVD and is integrat- from each other; they shimmy, hop, kara- Norse mythology, where destruction and times to know our institutions are sup-
ed into the dance, shows the young per- te punch, hold hands, and rise, and the regeneration co-exist. “Timmy’s Idea,” by porting the work of local artists. Now
formance artist and his brother and sis- reality of their enjoyment is evident in Tokyo-born New Yorker Nishimura, uses is not the time to succumb to absurd
ter playing dress-up, watching TV with every move. text and movement to exaggerate com- notions of our own cultural inferiority —
their parents, and, naturally, dancing. Their glee reaches a crescendo dur- monplace ideas of time, thought, and we are the world.
Using these documented memories ing a mini-marathon dress-up routine.
of family jaunts and bringing in long- Using the white fabric panels as various
time friends Antonio Ramos and Col- adornments—toga, sarong, cape, turban,
leen Thomas to perform, Flomin cre-
ates a dance that translates a sense of
youthful innocence and camaraderie.
scarf, shawl, head wrap—the trio tries on
a series of characters with a simple hand
off and a quick stylized adjustment. They
JOIN THE
The dancer-choreographer asked his
son to improvise on stage, videotaped
it, and incorporated the nine-year-old’s
shift without ideology from Roman to
woman, superman to Sikh, aviator to
drag queen.
WEDDING
unlearned movement qualities into the
choreography. The boy’s non-technical
arm phrases and low center of gravity
Flomin, who has been working for the
past several years as rehearsal director
for Stephen Petronio Company, is glad
PARTY!
jumping come less easily to the trained to have the opportunity to show his own
bodies of the adult performers, but the work in New York again.
transpositions produce an interesting “I’ve been going to a school in Salz- A DOUBLE-WEDDING GIVEAWAY CONTEST!
affectation — of bodies discovering the burg for seven years now, making a Starting June 12, Gay City News readers may enter to win:
playfulness of gravity’s tug at the knees, piece on the students there,” the chore-
and of other essential kinetic forces. ographer told Gay City News. “Last year • round-trip tickets to Key West
“Toronto” features sound design by they invited me to make a piece for their
dance veteran James Lo, punctuated by 15th anniversary — on 120 students. I • 5-day 4-night honeymoon
theme music and other tidbits from clas- was given a month in the theater. It was • wedding bands
sic ’60s and ’70s family TV shows includ- insane, but amazing.”
ing “The Muppet Show,” “The Six Mil- Thankfully, Dance Theater Workshop Two lucky couples will be drawn on Valentine’s Day,
lion Dollar Man,” “The Love Boat,” and “I
Dream of Jeannie.” For the video instal-
is just as insane, but also amazing, hav-
ing commissioned “Toronto” as well as
February 14, 2010. Visit GayCityNews.com to participate!
SPONSORS:
lation, Carlos Moore, Flomin’s significant new works by Ursula Eagly and Mina
other, created 3D video shapes, which will Nishimura for this special three-artist
eventually morph into a single large pro- program. • American Airlines
• Diamonds International
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28/ Opera
Anatomy of a Failure
Neither Eurotrash nor modernist smash, Bondy’s “Tosca” simply doesn’t work
BY ELI JACOBSON
P
eter Gelb had a lot riding
on the new production of
“Tosca” that opened the
Metropolitan Opera season on
September 21. It was the open-
ing salvo in his regime’s first sea-
son, and was planned entirely
by himself, setting the tone for
his vision of the Met. Gelb’s chal-
lenge was to top the beloved
1985 Franco Zeffirelli production
that represented the conservative
yet lavish tastes that previously
reigned. The charismatic Finn-
ish diva Karita Mattila would
unveil her Floria Tosca for the
first time outside her native
country in a new production by
Swiss director Luc Bondy. We
were promised a leaner, meaner
“Tosca” in the guise of a Hitch-
cock thriller set to music.
Yet on opening night the pro-
duction and it creators were
booed — not once but three
times — by both the well-heeled
opening night gala crowd and
the hoi-polloi who viewed the
free video relay in Lincoln Cen-
ter Plaza. Immediately the
recriminations, self-justifica-
tions, and PR damage control
furiously fired back and forth.
Zeffirelli in two New York Times
interviews decried Bondy as a
“third-rate” director, and Bondy
wickedly shot back that he may
be a third-rate director but that
Zeffirelli was Luchino Visconti’s
“assistant.” Gelb took aim at the
conservative element in the Met
audience resistant to any change:
“It’s a new Met, get used to it.”
Meanwhile, Bondy’s production
was described as “Eurotrash” in
some quarters, while Le Monde
reviewer Renaud Machart took
aim at ignorant American audi-
䉴 IN THE NOH, from p.26
while awaiting Tosca in his lair?
(something that was “shocking”
back in the 1970s). This was
followed by more stupid effects,
like Tosca’s wiping the mur -
dered Scarpia’s blood on her
dress and then settling back
to fan herself languidly after
her exertions when she should
have been hightailing it out of
there. And was that a dummy
ences who worship false ideas
of “tradition” based on capitalist
decadence and literary naiveté.
Unlike Zeffirelli, I actually saw
this production — three times,
including the open dress. It is
neither real Eurotrash nor a
brilliant modernist update — it
is simply a failure and a missed
opportunity. The failure is basi-
cally the result of a supremely
talented star soprano, a director,
and a designer set to work on a
piece for which they are intellec-
tually, aesthetically, and temper-
amentally unsuited. The result
is a dull hodge-podge of uncon-
vincing effects in an unattractive
package.
Puccini’s melodramatic aes-
thetic stymied the sophisticated
Bondy, who seemed torn between
unglamorous psychological real-
ism and out and out trash sen-
sationalism, and so consistently
missed the mark. Stripping away
tradition, he could only replace
it with puerile shock tactics or
pointless action. At the end
of Act II, Bondy’s Tosca stabs
Scarpia in the groin as he pre-
pares to mount her on the sofa,
grabbing the safe-conduct out
of his dead hands. Instead of
surrounding his corpse with
candles and crucifix as depict-
ed in the music, Mattila wan-
dered about the room in shock,
climbed up on the windowsill,
and looked down (to jump down
or kill herself?). Then finding
the Attavanti’s fan (how did it get
there?), Tosca plotzes on the sofa
fanning herself, unconcerned
about saving her lover from the
firing squad or being discovered
by Spoletta at the scene of the
crime. Puccini and his librettists
created a scene that worked;
Bondy, attempting to “fix” this,
or a wired double representing
Tosca’s final death leap that
haplessly got stuck in midair as
the curtain descended?
All might have been for -
given had this been brilliantly
performed, but Karita Mattila
was unable to overcome being
essentially miscast in the very
Italianate title role, and, as with
her misbegotten Manon Les-
caut, brought to it an earthy
vulgarity more in tune with
misses the point.
The eleventh hour Scarpia
replacement, Georgian baritone
George Gagnidze was saddled
with the worst business. Impos-
ing vocally and physically, Gag-
nidze was asked to portray Scar-
pia as a gross, garden-variety sex
maniac rather than an elegant
sadist with a veneer of piety. He
mauled an effigy of the virgin
at the end of Act I’s “Te Deum,”
cavorted with three hookers at
the top of Act II, and crawled on
the floor and sniffed Tosca’s hair
before being dispatched. Mat-
tila was asked to slash the por-
trait of the Attavanti in Act I, and
Tosca’s final jump is an effect
out of a carnival fun-house ride.
Tenor Marcelo Alvarez as Cavar-
adossi was given barely anything
to do but stand and sing, which
he did well and thus emerged
unscathed.
Bondy seemed to want it both
ways — to update the opera and
to maintain the original period
specified in the libretto; he ends
up in a postmodern nowhere-
land. Richard Peduzzi’s sets
are all dingy, damp, and darkly
lit. The costumes by Milena
Canonero maintain Empire
silhouettes streamlined into a
modern simplicity of decora-
tion and line. Act I presents
the Church of Sant’Andea della
Valle as a cavernous unfinished
brick shell with folding chairs,
water on the floor, and metal
scaffolding. The murky dark-
ness during a summer after-
noon in Rome further enhances
the resemblance to an under-
ground sewer. Act II’s Palazzo
Farnese is a 20th century —
1930s fascist — bureaucrat’s
office with institutional mustard
and brown painted walls and
a Janacek heroine. The Brits
have another word for this kind
of emoting — “very suburban.”
Marcelo Alvarez proved likewise
taste-challenged, giving his two
arias torturously slow, indul-
gent renderings, with the first
one’s final note held so long it
was completely stepped on by
castmate Paul Plishka.
Audience-wise, the glam-
our quotient was low, reflecting
the recession, with drab gowns
1960s furnishings from your
Aunt Marge’s rec room; Tosca
fends off Scarpia while seated
in a vintage La-Z-Boy rocker.
The Castel Sant’Angelo seems
to consist of one high brick wall
with stairs and parapet far stage
right, resembling a dam or sew-
age treatment plant.
Mattila is one of a succession
of non-Italianate Toscas in Met
history. The heroines of Puccini
have always eluded her — her
Musetta and Manon Lescaut
being distinct low points in a
triumphant Met career. Her
Roman diva is full of energy and
bright thrusting tone, but the
struggle with an uncongenial
role turns the voice shrill and
white in Act II and her acting
a series of disjointed dramatic
effects. On September 24, Mat-
tila settled down and stopped
forcing; a lyrical “Vissi D’Arte”
with pure high notes and a
more human characterization
emerged. She may continue to
improve, but this will never be
one of her great roles. James
Levine’s slow, dramatically dis-
engaged conducting likely exac-
erbated her vocal problems;
replacement Joseph Colaneri
conducted with more attack and
speed.
It was obvious at the dress
rehearsal that much of this pro-
duction was not working, yet
what is shocking is how little
changed from dress rehearsal to
opening night. The next Zeffirelli
production on the Gelb hit list
— his 1998 “La Traviata” is to
be replaced next season by the
Willy Decker Regie production
from Salzburg, but without the
original superstar that made it
work — Anna Netrebko. Fasten
your seatbelts, New York.
and a dearth of real celebrities
(Martha Stewart! Mark Morris!
Christine Baranski! Mischa Bar-
ton?!). It was a far cry from the
days of Jude Law, David Bowie,
and Iman swanning in, and Tim
Robbins being told he couldn’t
take his drink into the house.
Contact David Noh at Inthe-
noh@aol.com and check out his
new blog at http://nohway.
wordpress.com/.
1 - 14 OCT 2009
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 OCT 12, from p.25
Friends of Lesbians and Gays, holds its
annual fall awards dinner, this year
celebrating the expansion of its Safe
Schools Program that sent teams to
speak with more than 1,000 middle and
high school students citywide and made
presentations to teachers, counselors,
and administrators in schools with more
than 10,000 students. The Right Rever-
end. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal bishop
of New Hampshire, is the evening’s fea-
tured speaker, and legendary cabaret
singer Barbara Cook will present a daz-
zling program of entertainment. Tribeca
Rooftop, 2 Desbrosses St. at Hudson
St., just below Canal St., 6 p.m. Tickets
begin at $250 at pflagnyc.org.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
BOOKS
The Queer
Italian American
Experience
Authors Michael Carosone, Peter
Covino, Mary Cappello, and Carl Capo-
torto read from their work and discuss
writing about their life experiences.
Barnes and Noble, 2289 Broadway
at 82nd St., 7 p.m. Free. More informa-
tion at 212-362-8835.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
COMMUNITY
TUE.OCT.13
Responding to Hate
Queens Pride House hosts a forum
on two recent violent attacks on trans-
gendered women of color, one in Jack-
son Heights and the other in St. Albans.
The new transgender services provider
directory (online at transgenderlegal.
org/media/uploads/doc_178.pdf) put
together by NYAGRA, the New York
Association for Gender Rights Advocacy,
and the Transgender Legal Defense and
Education Fund, will be distributed at
the forum. 76-11 37th Ave. at 76th St.,
Suite 206, 7-9 p.m.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
COMEDY
Don’t Tell Me,
Don’t Tell Me
Punchline Magazine celebrates its
fourth anniversary with a very special
panel of comics — including Lewis
Black, Janeane Garofalo, Christian
Finnegan, Pete Dominick, and Ted Alex-
andro. Comix, 353 W. 14th St., 7:30
䉴 OCT 13, continued on p.30
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 1 – 14 OCT 2009 29

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30/ History
䉴 TURING, from p.10
Brown have issued this state-
ment without the e-petition?
The answer is quite clearly no.
Labour has had twelve years in
power. Ample time to apologise.
But, curiously, no apology has
come forth, until now.
“If Gordon Brown really cared
about gay men rather than
about saving his miserable
political skin in the face of a
potential electoral defeat for
Labour that will make Dunkirk
Turing was given a stark
choice — imprisonment or a
chemical castration via estrogen
hormone injections.
look like a Sunday School out-
ing, then he would set up com-
pensation schemes for those
gay men who were victims of
state persecution. Many are
still alive. Many more have
died. I grew up in a provincial
city where I got to know many
of these men. I feel their pain. I
feel my pain. They were angry,
but not angry enough. I am
still angry. Furious. Outraged.
Disgusted. Twelve measly,
miserable, weasel-worded lines
to wash away 50 years of pain.
䉴 SOUTH CAROLINA, from p.15
damages for breach of con-
tract in favor of the two higher
amounts. Fortis then appealed,
and the State Supreme Court
agreed to bypass the interme-
diate courts and take the case
directly. The major issue was
the $15 million punitive dam-
ages award.
Fortis contended that the
amount was unconstitutionally
large, and the State Supreme
Court agreed. In recent years,
the US Supreme Court has
struck down some very large
punitive damage awards on
the theory of excessive pun-
ishment, and the South Caro-
lina courts have followed suit,
using analysis focused on how
egregious the defendant’s con-
duct is, the ratio of punitive to
actual damages, and a com-
parison to damage awards in
similar cases.
Reviewing these factors,
It’s not enough. Not anything
like enough,” McKenna con-
cluded.
Turing’s persecution came
at the height of anti-gay Cold
War hysteria provoked by the
defection to Moscow of the dip-
lomats Guy Burgess, a notori-
ous homosexual, and Donald
Maclean, and in the climate
of the day homosexuality was
virtually equated with trea-
son in the minds of the police.
(For more on what is known as
The Great Purge of the early
1950s, which ensnared some
5,000 British gay men, see this
reporter’s September 6-12,
2007 article, “Free the Bug-
gers,” a link to which appears
in the online version of this
story.)
In a way, Turing, who had
never made a secret of his
same-sex orientation, was a
victim of his own candor. In
January 1952, Turing — who
had received an OBE, or Order
of the British Empire, for his
war work and been made a Fel-
Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal,
writing for the court, read the
riot act to the insurer, finding
“ample support in the record to
establish that Fortis’ conduct
was reprehensible.” Toal noted
Chief Justice Toal found
“ample support in the record to
establish that Fortis’ conduct was
reprehensible.”
that the young man’s actual
har m was economic rather
than physical, but pointed out
that the case “is unique in that
Mitchell’s economic harm –– the
termination of his health insur-
ance policy –– exposed him to
great risk of physical danger.”
The court found that Fortis
“was deliberately indifferent to
low of the Royal Society for his
mathematical achievements
— picked up an unemployed
19-year -old, Arnold Murray,
outside a cinema in Man-
chester and began a brief rela-
tionship with him. Turing took
a liking to Murray because
of their shared interest in the
sciences, but after a few meet-
ings, it was clear that their
relationship would never go
anywhere. Murray was steal-
ing money from Turing, and
Turing broke off the relation-
ship, asking the younger man
never to return to his home.
When Murray and an accom-
plice broke into his house, Tur-
ing reported the crime to the
police. During the investigation,
Turing off-handedly acknowl-
edged a sexual relationship
with Murray. Homosexual acts
were illegal in the United King-
dom at that time, and so both
were charged with gross inde-
cency under Section 11 of the
Criminal Law Amendment Act
of 1885, the same crime that
Oscar Wilde had been convict-
ed of more than 50 years earlier
(the law remained on the books
until 1967).
Turing was given a stark
choice — imprisonment or pro-
bation conditional on his agree-
ment to undergo hor monal
treatment designed to reduce
libido, a form of aversion ther-
apy. He accepted chemical
its contractual obligations and
to Mitchell’s health and well
being.”
Financially vulnerable,
Mitchell was able to get treat-
ment from a free clinic, but the
only way he could get cover -
age restored was to have Fortis
do it, since any other company
would disqualify him based on
his pre-existing condition.
The court pointed out that
Fortis had persisted in its
“repeated acts of deliberate
indifference” for “nearly twen-
ty months” until it was sued.
castration via estrogen hor -
mone injections, as a result of
which he became impotent and
his breasts grew larger. More
damaging, however, were the
effects on his nervous system.
The treatment caused waves of
depression and despair. After
his conviction, Turing also had
his security clearance removed
and his working consulting for
Britain’s intelligence service
ended.
A year after his coercive and
barbaric chemical castration
began, Turing killed himself by
eating a poisoned apple he had
laced with cyanide. Urban leg-
end has it that the Apple Com-
puter logo of an apple with a
bite taken out of it is a tribute
to Turing, the father of com-
puters, although the company
has officially denied this.
For more on Alan Turing, see
the articles on him in the GLBTQ
encyclopedia online http://
www.glbtq.com/social-scienc-
es/turing_a,2.html and on Wiki-
pedia at http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Alan_Turing. David
Leavitt’s biography, “The Man
Who Knew Too Much: Alan Tur-
ing and the Invention of the Com-
puter” (Norton, 2007), provides
a complete account from a queer
point of view of Turing’s persecu-
tion. Doug Ireland can be reached
through his blog, DIRELAND, at
http://direland.typepad.com/.
The court termed the insurer’s
assertion that Mitchell made
a material misrepresentation
on his insurance application
“intentional deceit,” since
even Stephens’ initial recom-
mendation for rescinding the
policy acknowledged there
was no direct evidence in the
files to show that the young
man’s HIV infection predated
his policy application, mere-
ly the handwritten note by a
medical assistant.
Toal wrote that “the jury
was justified in drawing a neg-
ative inference” from the fact
that Fortis’ lawyers kept Ste-
phens from testifying at the
trial. “Fortis’ refusal to con-
duct a further investigation
suggests that it was aware
of its own wrongdoing,” the
judge continued, finding that
numerous actions it took in
the wake of rescinding Mitch-
䉴 SOUTH CAROLINA, continued on p.31
1 - 14 OCT 2009
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 JUMP, from p.28
p.m. Tickets are $15 at comixny.com or
$20 at the door, plus there’s a two item
food/ drink minimum.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
READING
THU.OCT.15
Short & Sweet
Kathleen Warnock’s Drunken! Careen-
ing! Writers program welcomes Jacob M.
Appel, whose short fiction won the Boston
Review Short Fiction Competition, the North
American Review’s Kurt Vonnegut Prize, and
the Missouri Review’s Editor’s Prize; Cheryl
Burke, whose work has appeared in “Word
Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken
Word Revolution” and “Reactions 5: New
Poetry”; and Lisa Ferber, who has read her
short stories at Sunday Salon, Dirty Laun-
dry, Barbes, and Mad Hatters Ball. KGB
Bar, 85 E. Fourth St., btwn. Bowery &
Second Ave., 7 p.m. Free.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
TELEVISION
Our Lives On Screen
In the Life, the LGBT television news
magazine, launches its 18th season with
a cocktail party, honoring two LGBT
champions — Julian Bond, the chairman
of the NAACP, and actress Patricia Clark-
son. Rubin Museum of Art, 150 W,
17th St., 7-9 p.m. Tickets begin at $175
at inthelifetv.org.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
CABARET
FRI.OCT.16
A Starry, Starry
Weekend
The Town Hall presents its fifth annu-
al “Broadway Cabaret Festival.” On Oct.
16, 8 p.m., Marc Kudisch, Robert Cucci-
oli, Stephen Bogardus, Lee Roy Reams,
Carleton Carpenter, Stephanie J. Block,
Julia Murney, and Jim Caruso present
“A Tribute to David Merrick.” On Oct.
17, 8 p.m., Linda Eder presents her new
show, “Linda Eder: All of Me,” backed
by a seven-piece orchestra led by Billy
Stein. On Oct. 18, 3 p.m., “Broadway
Originals” features Michael Rupert,
Stephen Bogardus, Barbara Walsh,
Chip Zien, and Jonathan Kaplan—the
five original Broadway stars of William
Finn’s “Falsettos.” 123 W. 43rd St. Tick-
ets are $50-$55 per show at Ticketmas-
ter.com or 212-307-4100, or visit www.
the-townhall-nyc.org.
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
䉴 DOMA, from p.14
case and that the Supreme Court’s major-
ity opinion in the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas
case avoided the equal protection issue
when it overturned the nation’s sodomy
laws.
It is possible that GLAD can find support
in DOMA’s legislative history for the argument
that animus played a significant role.
As a result, District Judge Joseph L.
Touro, who is hearing the GLAD case,
arguably is bound by 1st Circuit prec-
edent to use the rational basis test in
deciding DOJ’s motion to dismiss. The
argument about national uniformity is
just the sort of argument that usually
wins a rational basis case, given that a
law is presumed constitutional unless no
reasonable explanation can be articulated
to justify it.
It is possible that GLAD can, in its
responding brief, find support in the leg-
islative history of DOMA for the argument
that animus played a significant role in
its enactment. Or it could persuade the
court that Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s
discussion of equal protection in her
concurring opinion in the Lawrence sod-
omy ruling shows that gay rights cases
merit “more searching scrutiny,” which
requires a trial rather than merely grant-
ing DOJ’s motion to dismiss.
Both GLAD and the government cer-
tainly anticipated that this case would
go to the appellate level in any event, so
Touro might conclude that in light of
the 1st Circuit precedent, consideration
of the issue of the appropriate level of
scrutiny is best handled at the court of
appeals.
One interesting component of DOJ’s
䉴 SOUTH CAROLINA, from p.30
ell’s policy bear out that conclusion.
Toal concluded that punitive dam-
ages were clearly justified, the only
question being whether $15 million
was too much. Looking to US Supreme
Court precedent that punitive dam-
ages of more than ten times the actual
damages are likely excessive, Toal cal-
culated that $15 million was almost
14 times the actual damages of 1.1
million in lifetime care costs. Reduc-
ing the award to $10 million dollars
would bring the ratio down to about
>Ê˜œÜ
9.2 to 1, clearly within the permissible
range. Given how reprehensible Fortis’
conduct was, the South Carolina court
was comfortable with a ratio close to
the outer limit that the US Supreme
Court considers reasonable.
The view of the US Supreme Court is
1 – 14 OCT 2009 31
brief is a footnote that disavows any
argument for DOMA based on promoting
“responsible procreation and child-rear-
ing.” The footnote acknowledges, “Since
the enactment of DOMA, many leading
medical, psychological, and social wel-
fare organizations have issued policies
opposing restrictions on lesbian and gay
parenting upon concluding, based on
numerous studies, that children raised
by gay and lesbian parents are as likely
to be well-adjusted as children raised
by heterosexual parents.” This footnote
is clearly the result of meetings that gay
rights groups held with DOJ attorneys
after the uproar over the administration’s
June brief in the Smelt case.
Is this new DOJ brief so weak in
defending DOMA that it is giving up
the game in hopes that the court will
strike it down, saving the administra-
tion the effort and political capital to get
it repealed by Congress? I don’t think
so. In fact, in retreating from the more
outrageous approach of the earlier brief,
this brief actually lands on a rationale for Gay,
DOMA that, at least on its face, is plau-
sible and non-discriminatory. Str8,
But I would argue, given the historical Bi,
context, that this sudden, rather belated Curious?
concern with uniformity in administering
marriage-related benefit programs that in
many cases were decades old, was clearly
sparked by a desire to exclude same-sex
couples from eligibility, just in case gay
marriage became legal anywhere. In ratio-
nal basis cases, however, it is unusual for
the court to look behind the face of the
statute at such arguments.
relevant because Fortis had objected to
the federal constitutionality of the dam-
age award throughout the case, pre-
serving its right to seek review by that
court. Given the South Carolina court’s
reduction of the punitive damages,
however, US review is far less likely
than it might otherwise have been.
The Obama administration’s health-
care reform proposal would do away
with pre-existing condition exclusions,
so health insurers would no longer be
able to act as Fortis did. Given the com-
pany’s behavior, it is ironic that critics
of a “public option” are warning that /ÀÞʈÌÊÀiiÊUÊ
government death panels made up of
unfeeling bureaucrats would be deny-
ing critical benefits, especially for older
646-731-6657
patients. In fact, this case is Exhibit
A for why reform of the existing sys-
tem, and the behavior it allows private
insurers to engage in, is essential. 1800GayLive.com MC 7002 Ent only 18+ *Limited Free Trial Photography by Kevin E. McPherson
32 1 – 14 OCT 2009 WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM