MARCH 20 - APRIL 2, 2009 VOLUME EIGH

EIGHT,
GH
G HT,
T, IISSUE
SSUE 6

YOUR FREE ■ OBAMA V. HOMOPHOBIA ■ DA PLEDGES PROBE ■ SCHOOL’S OUT FOREVER

WEEKLY US signs on to universal Morgenthau to look into New Yorkers struggle

NEWSPAPER decriminalization drive P.2 prostitution busts
P.8
with growing up at 30
P.17
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
NEWS
TM

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

■ CRIME ■ YOUTH

Guilty A Unique
Verdict in Collaboration
Brooklyn for LGBT
Gay Man’s Life Skills
BY PAUL SCHINDLER
Murder
T
wo years ago, Lyssette
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE Horne, 24, was “bump-
ing from job to job,”

F
ollowing a roughly earning minimum wage, and
three-day trial and four migrating from one apartment
days of deliberation, where friends let her crash to
a Brooklyn jury found Omar the next. Then, on a visit to
Willock guilty of second-degree the Callen-Lorde Community
murder in the 2007 stabbing Health Center, a Chelsea clinic
death of Roberto Duncanson, serving the LGBT community,
a 20-year-old gay man. she picked up a flyer from the
“Justice was served,” was Reciprocity Foundation.
the only comment from How- The foundation, established
in 2004, works with youth
P. 6 14-22, many of them home-
less, most of them LGBT, to
■ EDITORIAL provide them with “experiential
learning” useful in preparing
Obama’s early for the workplace, explained
challenges Adam Bucko, its founder and
■ 10 managing director. Reciproc-
—————————————— ity’s programs, which served
■ VICTIM’S CLIMB about 400 youth over the past
Years later, Dwan year, help participants develop
résumés and portfolios, and
Prince not fully healed afford them access to network-
■4
ing opportunities and intern-
——————————————
ships with business leaders,
■ ROMAN GIANT particularly in creative fields
Valentino still and emerging green industries.
roars red That was precisely the sort of
■ 18 education and support Horne
GAY CITY NEWS

—————————————— was looking for.

■ FONDA’S RETURN “I didn’t really know what
On stage in Moisés I wanted to do,” she said. “I
LYSSETTE HORNE, PHOTOGRAPHER & CHEF, FOUND DIRECTION FROM RECIPROCITY FOUNDATION knew what I like to do. I just
Kaufman play
■ 20 didn’t have any direction.”
Horne left her family home

Giving Youth
in Brooklyn at 17, after she
came out.
“I wasn’t necessarily kicked
out, but I left because the situ-
ation was really bad,” she said.
Leapfrogging “I was abused growing up, so

CYNTHIA NIXON
A Shot Disadvantages
the Goal
I thought it was best to leave.”
She is now “really working on
having a better relationship”
with her family.
Horne became interested in
photography as a kid, when
15 © GAY CITY NEWS 2009 • COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED P. 6
2/ Human Rights
US Joins Global Gay Effort
Obama supports effort for UN declaration decriminalizing homosexuality
BY DOUG IRELAND
I
n its first significant pro-
gay initiative, the Obama
administration has
informed the French govern-
ment that it will sign the dec-
laration made to the United
Nations General Assembly by
some 66 nations in favor of the
universal decriminalization of
homosexuality.
The Bush administration
had refused to endorse the
declaration, which was read
from the podium of the General
Assembly this past December
18. (See this reporter’s Decem-
ber 24, 2008-January 5, 2009
article “An Historic Day at the
U.N.,” a link to which appears
on the online version of this
story at gaycitynews.com.)
The news broke in the US in
an Associated Press dispatch
that moved on the AP wire on
the evening of March 17, citing
a high State Department offi-
cial who requested anonymity
because Congress was still in
the process of being informed.
But the father of the declara-
tion, Professor Louis-Georges
Tin, founder and president of
the Paris-based Internation-
al Day Against Homophobia
(IDAHO), told Gay City News
by telephone from Paris that he
had been informed of the US
decision several days previous-
ly by French Foreign Ministry
officials.
“We are, of course, extremely
pleased and delighted that the
Obama administration has
decided to sign and endorse
the declaration,” Tin said. “Now
what we need is for Washington
to actively use its influence with
its allies, friends, and partners
to get those governments which
have not yet endorsed the dec-
laration to sign it. For example,
the Pacific nations could easily
be brought on board as signa-
tories if the Obama administra-
tion asked them to do so.”
On March 18, US State
Department spokesman Rob-
ert Wood told reporters that the
Obama administration had for-
mally endorsed the declaration.
“The United States is an
outspoken defender of human
rights and critic of human
rights abuses around the
world,” Wood told assembled
journalists at a press confer-
ence, adding, “As such, we join
with other supporters of this
statement, and we will contin-
ue to remind countries of the
importance of respecting the
human rights of all people in all
Professor Louis-Georges Tin, who launched
the decriminalization effort in 2006,
received advance notice of the US decision
to endorse the push.
appropriate international fora.”
The idea for a statement of
principle by the United Nations
in support of decriminalizing
homosexuality globally was
the brainchild of Tin, and the
campaign for such a declara-
tion was launched in November
2006, when IDAHO unveiled
a list of hundreds of VIPs who
supported it, including five
Nobel Prize winners, ten Pulit-
zer Prize winners, two former
French prime ministers, and
six Academy Award winners
(see this reporter’s November
21-27, 2006 article “Bold Move
for UN Action,” a link to which
appears on the online version of
this story at gaycitynews.com).
Last May, after a year-long
lobbying campaign by IDAHO
and an alliance of French LGBT
groups spanning the political
spectrum from right to left, the
French government promised to
use its six-month term last year
in the rotating presidency of the
European Union to push for “a
European initiative calling for
the universal decriminalization
of homosexuality,” according to
a statement released by Min-
ister Of Human Rights Rama
Yade (see this reporter’s May
22-28, 2008 article “France
Fights for Decriminalization”
a link to which appears on the
online version of this story at
gaycitynews.com).
Eventually, all 27 mem-
ber countries of the European
Union were among the 66
nations that signed the declara-
tion, recognizing and support-
ing LGBT Rights and entitled
“Statement on Sexual Orienta-
tion and Gender Identity.”
While the declaration was
not submitted to the UN Gen-
eral Assembly for a vote, that is
the ultimate goal of the working
group of nations.
The Obama administra-
tion’s decision to reverse the
Bush administration position
and endorse the UN declara-
tion is all the more notewor-
thy because the principal US
national LGBT groups, like
the Human Rights Campaign
and the National Gay and Les-
bian Task Force, have generally
refused to take up international
LGBT issues, claiming their
“mission” is limited to domestic
concerns. Though they criti-
cized the Bush administration’s
intransigence on the declara-
tion in December, neither HRC
nor NGLTF lobbied the Obama
administration to support the
statement.
France is continuing to
campaign for support for the
declaration by convening an
international conference on
homophobia to be held on May
15, in deliberate proximity to
the International Day Against
Homophobia, which is cel-
ebrated each year on May 17,
the anniversary of the date in
1993 when the World Health
Organization (WHO) removed
homosexuality from its list of
mental disorders.
The international confer -
ence on homophobia is being
convened by French Human
Rights Minister Yade, who
has promised to pay the travel
expenses of some 400 people
from around the globe or secure
travel funding from the nations
represented at the meeting,
Tin told this reporter.
Last fall, as Gay City News
reported, it was feared that
Yade would be sacked by
French President Nicolas
Sarkozy over a domestic
political issue. Sarkozy had
wanted Yade to head his con-
servative UMP party’s list
of candidates for the Euro-
pean Parliament in the Paris
region, but Yade had angered
Sarkozy when she refused,
because doing so would inevi-
tably lead to her election and
she would have been required
to give up her ministry in
order to serve in the EuroPar-
liament at Strasbourg.
Now, the photogenic Yade,
who is of African descent, is
the most popular minister in
Sarkozy’s government, accord-
ing to the most recent opin-
ion polls, and her post seems
secure for the moment. This
means that this proactively
LGBT-friendly minister will be
able to help lead the next stage
in the campaign for the UN dec-
laration, which will begin when
Sweden, an historically gay-
friendly nation, assumes the
rotating European Union presi-
dency in June.
At that time, Tin told Gay
City News, work will begin on
crafting a formal resolution for
global decriminalization that
will be presented for a vote to
the UN General Assembly, and
on recruiting commitments to
vote in its favor from member
countries.
IDAHO is an all-volunteer
organization with virtually no
budget, and so the success of
the UN decriminalization decla-
ration since IDAHO first intro-
duced the notion and launched
the campaign for it more than
two years ago is that much
more remarkable.
Tin and IDAHO are already
planning to launch a new
international declaration, this
time in favor of transgender
rights. Entitled “Reject Trans-
phobia, Respect Gender Iden-
tity,” the statement will be an
appeal addressed to the United
Nations, the WHO, and gov-
ernments around the world,
and will be unveiled at a Paris
press conference several days
before this year’s annual May
17 IDAHO events.
This new statement will
include a call for the WHO to
stop considering transpeople
as mentally disordered; for
the UN’s human rights bodies
to examine the human rights
abuses faced by transpeople
around the world; and for gov-
ernments to adopt the Yog-
yakarta Principles in favor of
LGBT rights and to insure that
all transpeople benefit from
health care, including the right
to gender reassignment if they
wish it, and the right to adapt
their civil status to their pre-
ferred gender.
“Of course it will be harder
to get support for transpeo-
ple than it was for universal
decriminalization of homosexu-
ality,” Tin told Gay City News,
“but that is precisely why we
must embrace this cause and
these people, who are globally
victims of so much discrimina-
tion.”
An online petition in support
of the new declaration on trans-
gender rights will be launched
on the IDAHO website, at ida-
homophobia.net/, in English
and French, on May 17.
Doug Ireland can be reached
through his blog, DIRELAND, at
http://direland.typepad.com/ .
20 MAR - 2 APR 2009
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 JUMP, from p.2
FRI.MAR.20
BOOKS
Encyclopedias
& Other Gay
Concerns
Alistair McCartney, author of “The
End of the World Book, “ Paul Lisicky,
author of “Lawnboy” and “Famous
Builder,” and comedian Mike Albo,
whose second novel, written with Vir-
ginia Heffernan, is “The Underminer:
The Best Friend Who Casually Destroys
Your Life,” appear at Teachers & Writ-
ers Collaborative, 520 Eighth Ave.,
btwn. 36th & 37th Sts., 20th fl., 7 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
MEDIA
Getting Bi Right
The latest installment of Sistah Pres-
ents the Bisexuality Series is “Bisexuals
in the Media.” With the big wave of
bisexuality in the media, are bisexuals
portrayed in a positive or negative light?
Do you have a favorite bisexual char-
acter you enjoy watching on TV or at
the movies? Refreshments are served.
LGBT Community Center, 208 W.
13th St., 6-9 p.m. Suggested donation
is $5. for more information, visit http://
thewaysofasistah.vpweb.com.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
COMMUNITY
Women For Peace
As part of the At Home With the
Archives series, Alice O’Malley, Estelle
Coleman, and Laura Boswell talk about
the Seneca Peace Encampment Herstory
Project, which explores the tradition of
women’s peace activism here and around
the world. The DVD “Remnants of Sene-
ca, 1982-2006” will be screened. Lesbian
Herstory Archives, 484 14th St., btwn.
Eighth Ave. & Prospect Park W., Park
Slope, 7-9 p.m. Free. For more informa-
tion visit lesbianherstoryarchives.org.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
COMEDY
Can We Laugh?
Comedian Judy Gold hates one-per-
son shows, which is why she’s doing
her second one: “Judy Gold is Mommy
Queerest!” Her last show, “25 Ques-
tions for a Jewish Mother,” was a criti-
cal success and left no stone unturned
about her life as a comic lesbian mom
of two. Joe’s Pub at the Public
Theater, 425 Lafayette St., below
Cooper Sq., 8 p.m. Tickets are $18 at
joespub.com or 212-967-7555.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
MUSIC
The Hits Keep
Parading
“Our Hit Parade” is a live top-ten
countdown show created by Tony
䉴 MAR 20, continued on p.6
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 20 MAR – 2 APR 2009 3
4/ Crime
Victim Still Lives With His Assault
Four years later, Dwan Prince struggles to find housing adequate for his disability
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE
R
oughly four years after
Steven Pomie nearly
beat him to death on
a street in Brooklyn’s Browns-
ville section, Dwan Prince still
lives with that assault.
The 31-year-old Prince for
the most part is able to walk to
medical appointments for the
partial paralysis that resulted
from the attack or for his AIDS
diagnosis, but there are a few
days each month when he
needs his electric wheelchair.
“Usually I use the chair
when my knee starts getting a
lot of pain,” Prince said.
The paralysis affects the
entire left side of his body and
the muscles on that side have
contracted, shortening his left
leg and reducing his use of his
left arm. Now he walks “up
and down,” Prince said, refer-
ring to the bobbing motion he
makes when he takes a stride.
He divides his time between
the single room occupan-
cy hotel he lives in on West
137th Street, Harlem United,
an AIDS group, and the Gay
Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC),
traveling by bus from one to
the other for meals, meetings,
and to meet friends.
“Harlem United is like a
family,” he said. “GMHC really
can’t help me, because I’m not
really a client there.”
A current struggle is getting
the city’s HIV/AIDS Services
Administration (HASA), an
agency not known for its effec-
tiveness in serving its 31,000
Leibovitz Money Woes Not Tied to Sontag Estate
Photographer hocks $15mm in assets, but not to pay inheritance tax
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE
W
hen the New York
Times reported in
late February that
Annie Leibovitz had used “town
houses she owns in Greenwich
Village, a country house,” and
“the rights to all of her photo-
graphs” as collateral for a $15.5
million loan, some in the gay
blogosphere speculated that
the noted photographer was
forced to borrow the cash to
pay the taxes on an estate left
to her by Susan Sontag, the
author and Leibovitz’s longtime
partner.
The only problem with that
theory — Sontag left her entire
Dwan Prince, a 2005 assault victim, hopes to find an apartment that will accommodate the
wheelchair he needs to use on occasion.
clients with AIDS, to move
him from his small room in
the SRO to a larger space that
can accommodate him and his
wheelchair.
“The HASA center is not
making any effort to move me
out of there,” Prince said. The
HASA press office declined
comment saying it was legally
barred from discussing any
client.
Prince also finds the SRO
environment unpleasant, as
he believes some other tenants
are drug users.
“I don’t like being around
people like that, doing drugs,”
Prince said. When he com-
plained, the agency’s response
$3.8 million estate to her son,
David R. Sontag, according to
filings in the Manhattan Sur-
rogate’s Court. The bill on that
estate to Leibovitz was zero.
The earliest post found by
Gay City News that tied the
Leibovitz borrowing to the Son-
tag estate came on afterellen.
com. That item was picked up
by US News & World Report,
the San Francisco Gay & Les-
bian Examiner, advocate.
com, and salon.com. It quick-
ly became the conventional
wisdom on the web. And it is
clearly wrong.
Even if Sontag had left her
estate to Leibovitz, the photog-
rapher would not have had to
“I’m hoping to get an apart-
ment so I can start working
out by myself,” he said.
Complicating his search
for a home, Prince is legally
barred from living in hous-
ing that is funded by the US
Department of Housing and
Urban Development because
he is a registered sex offender.
When he was 17 and liv-
ing in Massachusetts, Prince
had sex with a 15-year -old
boy and a 14-year -old boy.
While 38 states have so called
Romeo and Juliet laws that
treat adolescents having sex
with other adolescents less
harshly than adults who have
sex with children, Massachu-
GAY CITY NEWS
setts does not have such law.
Prince served 11 months in
jail and now faces a lifetime
of registering in any state he
lives in. He did not register
when he moved to New York
was to slip a mimeographed and he believes he came to
sheet of paper under his door the attention of authorities
that listed the addresses and here when his name was men-
phone numbers of local real tioned in press reports during
estate brokers. Pomie’s 2006 trial.
“I called those places up,” Prince may have to face his
Prince said. “Most of them attacker in a Brooklyn court-
don’t accept HASA or they say room again. Pomie was con-
they have nothing available... victed on two counts of first-
The only thing that is going on degree assault, one as a hate
is filling out applications.” crime that charged Pomie
In a folder jammed with attacked Prince because he
documents, Prince carries a was gay. He was sentenced to
copy of the “Warrior Workout,” up to 25 years in prison with
which he clipped out of Men’s the requirement that he serve
Health magazine. The work- six-sevenths of that time,
out requires no weights or or just over 21 years, before
equipment, but it does require being eligible for parole.
more space than he currently Last year, a state appellate
has in the SRO. court reversed that convic-
borrow $15 million to pay the federal tax liens, mortgages on
taxes on those assets. In 2004, four properties, and lawsuits
the year Sontag died, the first from Briese USA, a lighting
$1.5 million of any estate company, and a stylist over
would have been exempt from unpaid bills.
federal estate taxes, leaving a Leibovitz has also been the
bill on just $2.3 million. plaintiff or defendant in recent
“She was borrowing large state and federal lawsuits
sums,” said Morton New- related to construction on her
burgh, a partner at Silverstein, Greenwich Village properties,
Langer, Newburgh & McElyea, as well as suit brought by a
LLP, a law firm. “You wouldn’t California man who charged
have to borrow that sum for an Leibovitz promised him a job
estate of that size.” and then reneged.
Leibovitz’s money problems This is not to say that the law
appear to stem from plain old treats gay and lesbian couples
financial mismanagement and equally when it comes to taxes.
expensive litigation. It doesn’t.
The Times noted that Lei- “A married couple can trans-
bovitz was carrying state and fer an unlimited amount to
20 MAR - 2 APR 2009
tion, ordered a new trial for
Pomie, and said he could only
be tried on lesser charges of
second-degree assault and
second-degree assault as a
hate crime.
The Brooklyn district attor-
ney has appealed that ruling
and is waiting on a decision
from the Court of Appeals, the
state’s highest court.
At his 2006 sentencing,
Deborah A. Dowling, the trial
judge, said that sentences can
be intended to punish, reha-
bilitate, or isolate a defendant
from society.
“Based upon everything
that I’ve heard, Mr. Pomie
does need to be isolated,”
Dowling said.
While being held in jail dur-
ing the trial, Pomie and two
other men were arrested for
an altercation with a correc-
tions officer, and Pomie had a
second drug possession arrest
in jail. Prior to the Prince case,
Pomie had one conviction on a
violent felony charge.
Since being returned to
Rikers Island from an upstate
prison for a possible second
trial in New York City, Pomie
was arrested once on assault,
harassment, and menacing
charges.
Prince said he has forgiven
Pomie and wrote a letter to the
Brooklyn district attorney say-
ing so.
“God says in the Bible to for-
give and not hold a grudge or
anger,” Prince said. “I do not
hold any grudge or anger for
Steven.”
one another and have no gift
or estate tax,” Newburgh said.
“That is the discrimination...
against lesbian and gay couples
because they cannot marry.”
An unmarried couple or any
two people can avoid gift and
estate taxes only by transfer-
ring assets in an irrevocable
trust. In other words, they have
to give their assets away.
“The only way to avoid estate
tax is to irrevocably give up the
asset,” Newburgh said.
There are other steps that
unmarried couples can take
to reduce or eliminate some
taxes, but under current law
married couples are singularly
privileged.
20 MAR - 2 APR 2009 Health/5
AIDS Advocates Grade City, State
At Harlem rally, Housing Works, others issue harsh verdicts on government efforts
BY PAUL SCHINDLER tions that are prevented and variability in the SRO popula-
because HIV-positive people tion, with upticks and down-

A
t a March 11 rally in stay healthy longer when they ticks that make characteriz-
Harlem organized have adequate shelter — will ing a clear trend line difficult.
by Housing Works, pay for the initiative. Quinn In January 2008, the num-
the AIDS services organiza- has pledged to explore other ber of HASA clients in SROs
tion, that drew a crowd of avenues for dealing with home- was 924. That figure grew to
hundreds, advocates for New lessness among New Yorkers 1,027 in January 2009, but
Yorkers living with HIV issued living with HIV, but advocates was back down to 985 by Feb-
report cards to both the city clearly are not yet satisfied. ruary. Out of 32,000 HASA
and the state on their handling The protesters also faulted clients, more than 20,000
of the ongoing epidemic. the City Council for eliminat- receive ongoing rental assis-
The grades were not good. ing $2 million in funding for tance, and in 2007 and 2008
Housing Works, in tandem HIV legal services last year. almost 7,000 apartment
with the Harlem United Com- At press time, Quinn’s office requests were approved for
munity AIDS Center, Bailey had not responded to a request such support.
House, which provides housing for comment. HRA also disputes the

GAY CITY NEWS

and social support services to
people living with HIV, and the
Campaign to End AIDS (C2EA),
a nationwide umbrella organi-
zation, displayed large yellow
and red posters spelling out the
grade in each of more than a
dozen categories.
The review was particu-
larly hard on the city, which
received a D, a D-, and three
Fs. Some of the issues identi-
fied by the advocates have been
long-standing points of dispute
between them and city officials.
One grade slammed City
Council Speaker Christine
Quinn, an out lesbian who
Hundreds gathered outside the Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building on West 125th
Street to demand more action against AIDS.
represents Chelsea and Hell’s
Kitchen, for her refusal to sup-
port a proposal called HASA
for All, which would extend
the benefits of the city agency
that expedites services and
provides housing access for
people with AIDS (the HIV/
AIDS Services Administration)
to anyone who tests positive
for HIV. Housing Works has
for the past two years argued
The city’s Human Resources
Administration (HRA) and the
health department did take on
the Housing Works critique.
The city got a failing grade for
Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s
that ensuring that people who plan to eliminate case man-
have the virus are housed will agement services for people
reduce transmission, a con- with HIV/AIDS living in public
cept that Quinn told Gay City supportive housing, and a D-
News is “very radical.” because the number of people
Both sides agree that the living in single-room occupan-
proposal would cost at least cy (SROs) had grown last year,
$50 million a year to imple- indicating to advocates that
ment, though the AIDS advo- the efforts to provide perma-
cates have presented academ- nent housing were faltering.
ic findings that the reduced Data from HRA, however,
treatment costs — from infec- suggest a month-to-month
Housing Works contention
that eliminating casework-
ers specifically focused on
the supportive housing pro-
gram — a change it noted was
necessitated by the lack of
state money — will result in
reduced quality of service for
that population, arguing that
HASA’s general caseworker
staff is prepared to provide as
much support as is necessary.
HRA provided a letter sent
to all affected HASA clients,
which spelled out the changes
in procedures.
䉴 AIDS, continued on p.10

NEWS BRIEFS By ANDY HUMM

“Jersey Four”
Defendant
Pleads Guilty
Just two weeks after protest-
ers gathered outside the Man-
hattan district attorney’s office
demanding that a Newark lesbian
not be re-tried for a 2006 assault
of a man in the West Village, the
woman, Renata Hill, agreed to
plead guilty in exchange for a
three-year sentence.
Hill was one of seven women
charged with assault in con-
nection with a 2006 fight with
Dwayne Buckle near the IFC The-
ater at Sixth Avenue and Waverly
Place. Three of the seven made
plea deals, and four went to trial
in 2007, amidst media coverage
that described them as “a pack of
marauding lesbians.” Though they
argued they were defending them-
selves against Buckle’s attack, all
four were convicted on various
charges.
Hill was sentenced to up to
eight years in prison, but in 2008 an
appeals court ordered a new trial.
With time served already, Hill’s
three-year sentence could mean
she will spend just months more
in prison. She must surrender at a
Bedford Hills prison on April 30.
Pope Lies
About Condoms
Pope Benedict XVI, on a trip
to Africa, told reporters that the
AIDS pandemic “cannot be over-
come through the distribution of
condoms, which even aggravates
the problem.” This anti-science,
anti-public health stance is noth-
ing new from the Vatican, but it
has stirred up AIDS leaders.
Rebecca Rhodes of the Treat-
ment Action Campaign in South
Africa told the UK Guardian, “His
opposition to condoms conveys
that religious dogma is more
important to him than the lives of
Africans,” on a continent where
three-quarters of all AIDS deaths
occurred in 2007.
Joshua Love, director of the
Global HIV/AIDS Ministry of Met-
ropolitan Community Churches,
who has documented the impact
of HIV/AIDS on marginalized pop-
ulations, said in a release, “Using
religion to turn people away from
the use of condoms is unconscio-
nable, serving to further marginal-
ize them.”
The New York Times also
weighed in with an editorial criti-
cizing the pope on this one. The
Vatican has responded to all the
criticism by digging in its heels.
UN AIDS calls condoms “the
single most efficient, available
technology to reduce the sexual
transmission of AIDS.”
Seeking the
Wisdom of
Solomon
Equality California, one of
the lead groups in the failed
campaign to fight off Prop 8 last
year, is trying to remake itself by
bringing in Marc Solomon, the
executive director of MassEqual-
ity, the Massachusetts group that
preserved a court decision open-
ing marriage to gay couples from
facing a referendum.
Solomon will lead the effort to
restore marriage rights in a state
where gay couples can still get
civil unions. A court challenge to
Prop 8 was heard in early March
and is widely expected to fail,
though the high court seems
inclined to validate the 18,000
same-sex marriages already per-
formed there.
Boston’s Bay Windows report-
ed that Solomon “brings to his
new job significant experience in
running a grassroots campaign,”
activity that was often seen as
being discouraged by the top-
down No on 8 campaign last fall
in California. He is also one of the
architects of the “6x12” campaign
to win same-sex marriage rights
in all six New England states by
2012. At present, Massachusetts
and Connecticut allow gay cou-
ples to marry.
California LGBT leaders are
divided over how to undo Prop 8.
A new Field Poll found 48 percent
of voters still favor the amend-
ment, 47 percent are opposed,
and five percent are undecided.
It addition to Solomon, Equal-
ity California has hired Andrea
Shorter, who led And Marriage
for All in Northern California,
to take on the role of statewide
coalition coordinator, where she
will “work to strengthen connec-
tions between LGBT groups and
communities of color and differ-
ent religious groups,” the San
Francisco Chronicle reported.
“There is a lot of interest in
terms of another ballot initia-
tive,” she told the newspaper.
“The poll may inform us how to
mount the best campaign.”
Each side spent more than
$40 million on the Prop 8 battle,
the most expensive state ballot
battle in US history.
Rick Jacobs of the Courage
Campaign, a progressive coali-
tion that fought the gay marriage
ban, said, “We are building our
army and the infrastructure to
reverse Prop 8. No one did that
in the last election.” He also told
the newspaper that “the move-
ment understands that we will
have to win at the ballot box as
soon as it is politically feasible.”
LA Weekly reported, how-
ever, that Jacobs “is concerned
that longtime power brokers
such as Equality California may
push for a new ballot measure
in 2010.” He told the newspaper,
“It’s one of my greatest fears,”
saying that they need to build a
grassroots infrastructure first.
“The right time for us to go on
the ballot is when we’re ready,
not when the ballot is ready.”
Rally on Day
Prop 8 Case is
Decided
The California Supreme Court
will announce a day early when
they are going to rule on the valid-
ity of Prop 8 and the 18,000 same-
sex marriages already licensed in
California. Robin Tyler, one of the
plaintiffs challenging the refer-
endum, has joined with Chicago
gay activist Andy Thayer to called
for a “Day of Decision”—actions
nationwide to react to the deci-
sion on the night of the day it
comes down.
The decision must be issued
by June 3.
For more information, go to
DayofDecision.org.
Gay Rights
Advance in WV
A new version of a bill to ban
discrimination on the basis of sex-
ual orientation passed the Senate
Judiciary Committee in West Vir-
ginia. A similar bill passed the full
Senate 32-0 last year, but died in
the House. Like most human rights
law, it contains a religious exemp-
tion, but this one also exempts
nonprofits that object to homosex-
uality, specifically the Boy Scouts.
Marriage, Trans
Rights Advance
in NH
The New Hampshire House
Judiciary Committee voted 10-10
on two bills, one to open mar-
䉴 BRIEFS, continued on p.7
6 20 MAR – 2 APR 2009
䉴 continued from cover
she was able to borrow a
friend’s expensive, but largely
neglected, camera. Interested
primarily in portrait photog-
raphy, through Reciprocity,
she has met professionals at
several major magazines, and
even participated in a “mock
interview” at Martha Stewart
Living.
“It felt crazy,” she recalled.
“It was really inspiring. And
a little nerve-wracking. I
thought, ‘If I’m doing this, it’s
really possible for me.’ And I
actually did well.”
As she continues to develop
her skills and portfolio as a
photographer — she eagerly
agreed to take shots for this
story — Horne also developed
another interest into a market-
able skill. She currently works
as a chef and manager of a
Manhattan vegan restaurant.
Hor ne and Bucko were
together at a March 5 network-
ing event that Reciprocity co-
hosted with Green Chimneys,
an organization that houses
LGBT youth in a variety of
settings across the city. The
event, which featured a panel
of media professionals who
spoke to several dozen young
people affiliated with Reciproc-
ity, Green Chimneys, or both,
was held at Green Chimney’s
Gramercy residence on East
■ CRIME
Guilty Verdict in Brooklyn
Murder conviction for Omar Willock in 2007 Roberto Duncanson stabbing
䉴 continued from cover
ard Jackson, the prosecutor in
the case, following the March
18 verdict.
The trial began on March
9, and the jury started delib-
erating on March 12. The 12
jurors spent the morning of
March 13 listening to trial tes-
timony. A verdict appeared to
be in doubt at several points
in the deliberations, with the
jury repeatedly sending notes
to Neil J. Firetog, the trial
judge, saying they could not
reach a verdict.
“The status from the get-
go until Tuesday afternoon
was nine to three in favor of
conviction,” said Beriah Wall,
one of the jurors. “It wasn’t
until Tuesday afternoon that
the foreperson really came
around... At that point, it was
ten to two.”
The prosecution relied pri-
marily on two witnesses —
Belinda Toon, who knew the
18-year-old Willock, but did
not see him stab Duncanson,
and Jeimar Brown, who saw
a man stab Duncanson, but
never identified Willock as
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
Green Chimneys as a regular
part of its structured offerings.
Exposing Green Chimneys
14 DAYS
residents to adults in the work
world, separate from the social
workers who engage them on
a daily basis, is an important
14 NIGHTS
䉴 MARCH 20, from p.2
goal. The agency, for example,
holds its board meetings in nominee and Obie-winner Kenny
the residence so youth can Mellman (Kiki & Herb), carnal chan-
see adult professionals in their teuse Bridget Everett (“At Least It’s
work settings. Pink” at Ars Nova), pop song opera
Asked whether young peo- impresario Neal Medlyn (“Neal Med-
ple, many of them with his- lyn’s Unpronounceable Symbol” at
tories of being homeless, and P.S. 122), producer and MTV camera-
all of them from lower-income man Brendan Kennedy, and writers
families, are ever intimidated Ada Calhoun and Peter Schjeldahl.
by meeting and socializing The show is inspired by the radio and
LYSSETTE HORNE
LYSSETTE HORNE
with successful profession- then TV musical sketch series “Your
als in high-prestige indus- Hit Parade,” which ran 1935 to 1959.
tries like the magazine busi- Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater,
ness, Nolan responded, “I 425 Lafayette St., below Cooper
Shakia Lassiter is working to finish up a Ronald Killens arrived at the Gramercy think sometimes we lowball Sq., 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 at joes-
two-year cosmetology program by the end residence a month ago, eager to learn more the youth. They often get a lot pub.com or 212-967-7555.
of the year. about writing and cooking. more out of it than we think. ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
I just spoke to our life skills
22nd Street. Gramercy houses networking event held on coordinator, and he checked DANCE
about 25 LGBT young people, March 5. with the kids after the panel Transformation &
16-20, who live in a supervised Theresa Nolan, a division tonight and they all respond- Retreat
setting with structured pro- director at Green Chimneys, ed very positively. They were Writing in Gay City News, Elizabeth
grams designed to help them explained, “Our major goal all very excited.” Zimmer said of Ivy Baldwin that the
finish high school and develop is to prepare youth for self- Darrel Carter, who turns “fusion of low and high, of elegant and
life skills needed to find per- sufficiency in their lives. Not 19 in March, can certainly be comic, is Baldwin’s secret weapon and
manent employment and move just minimum wage jobs. We counted among that group. A the source of her great charm.” Ivy Brown
into apartments of their own. want them to really thrive, and former Gramercy resident who Dance presents the world premiere of
Reciprocity and Green we think these sorts of events before that lived in a group “Bear Crown,” which investigates the
Chimneys frequently collabo- plant some seeds.” home in Westchester after cause and effect of great transformation
rate, with Reciprocity hosting Reciprocity’s career devel- “problems” came up in his — personal, cultural, emotional — and
workshops in the Gramercy opment programs, she said, family home in Queens, Carter the inevitable deterioration of what is
residence and the two orga- work well together with the often deemed powerful, beautiful, and
nizations hosting the annual life skills efforts mounted by 䉴 LIFE SKILLS, continued on p.7 grand. All this to the accompaniment of
cannons, harmonicas, sounds of warping
metal, and Bonnie Tyler ballads. Dance
Theater Workshop, 219 W. 19th St.
Mar. 20-21, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 at
dancetheaterworkshop.org or 212-924-
0077; $15 at the box office.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
Names, Many
that man. crime,” Wall said. “The twin expressionless as the jury Names
Wall said one juror, a retired was obfuscation as far as we foreperson read the verdict. He Choreographer Anneke Hansen pres-
Army sergeant, put the case were concerned.” declined to comment, as did ents the world premiere of “we should
together for the reluctant The jury saw a videotape Benjamin Heinrich, Omar’s call it many things,” a sextet that explores
jurors. taken on St. Marks Avenue in attorney. the contrast between subtle and dramatic
“He was truly patient and Brooklyn’s Crown Heights sec- As observers waited for a movement palettes, with the dancers
tenacious in connecting the tion early in the morning on verdict on March 17, Omar’s tangling gently, supporting, lifting, aban-
dots,” Wall said. “Neither of May 12, 2007 in which Toon father approached Sterling- doning, and returning to one another. The
the witnesses were totally identified herself and Omar. Palmer and the two held a piece was created in close collaboration
credible, especially Belinda... At one point, she can be seen quiet, 30-minute-long con- with composer Emily Scott. University
We really had to, step A, step trying to keep him from run- versation about their shared Settlement, 184 Eldridge St. at Riving-
B, run through the narrative ning down the sidewalk after religious views. They agreed ton St. Mar. 20-21, 8 p.m. Tickets are $15
numbers of times.” Duncanson. that they would pray for each at theatermania.com or 212-352-3101.
The defense argued that “It seemed like the way other’s families. ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
Toon had mistaken Omar for Belinda, in the video, tried to Omar had faced two counts
his identical twin, Omari, and hold back Omar really sug- of second-degree murder, one Gay ’90s Reprise
wanted to introduce testimo- gested that she knew exactly as a hate crime that charged White road Dance Media presents
ny from a Manhattan police who he was,” Wall said. “If he killed Duncanson because “I Want My 90s!!!,” a new piece cre-
detective that Omari was he was just anybody, she he was gay. Firetog dismissed ated by Marisa Gruneberg, in which
wanted in a stabbing while wouldn’t have done that.” the hate crime count. seven dancers resurrect an electric ’90s
Omar was in jail for the Dun- As the verdict was read, In his closing statement, landscape of pop, clubbing, fast living,
canson killing. Firetog would Karen Sterling-Palmer, Dun- Jackson cited Omar’s repeat- mall-ratting, hip hop, addiction, grunge,
not allow it, saying that evi- canson’s mother, leaned back ed use of “faggot” as the moti- casual sex, unisex, democratic cigar
dence was not relevant. in her seat with tears well- vation for the killing. sex, burgeoning Internet culture, Y2K-
Wall said the jury “had some ing up in her eyes. Her family Omar will be sentenced on ing, and total fun—all set to the music
wind of that” and that the and friends as well as Dun- May 5 and faces a minimum by Patrik Phalen you know you want
defense “muddied” the case canson’s friends sat through sentence of 15-years-to-life to hear! The evening includes graphic
for the jurors, but that ques- the hearings and trial. She and a maximum of 25-years- nudity. Triskelion Arts, 118 N. 11th
tions about Willock’s identical declined to comment following to-life. The hate crime count St. at Berry St., Williamsburg. Tick-
twin ultimately did not sway the verdict. would have increased the ets are $15; $13 for students & seniors
them. Omar’s father attended minimum to 20-years-to-life. at 718-599-3577.
“Omari was eliminated pre-trial hearings and the The average time served for ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
because the detective said entire trial often with friends second-degree murder in New
he was not a suspect in this and family. He sat alone and York is just under 25 years. 䉴 7 DAYS, continued on p.9
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 20 MAR – 2 APR 2009 7

䉴 LIFE SKILLS, from p.6
is a budding musician who has found
tremendous support from Reciproc-
ity’s programs. He described a work-
shop he attended right after learning
of the organization: “A media person
came in and said, ‘Here’s the blue-
print of what you do. Résumés, inter-
views, internships, promote yourself.
You’re going into the business world,
here’s what you need to know.’”
One lesson Carter, who is finish-
ing up a GED program to get his high
school diploma, learned was to follow
up on business contacts he’s made at
networking events.
“You get business cards,” he said.
“Email them, email them constant,
not just once or twice.”
Shakia Lassiter, 20, has lived at
Gramercy for two years, and said
she has built some of the same skills
Carter’s learned in the structured
programs at Green Chimneys. She
too had “difficulties” with her fam-
ily, who live in Philadelphia, and she
spent several years trying to navigate
New York before discovering Green
Chimneys.
Interested in the fashion and cos-
metology fields, she is now enrolled in
a two-year cosmetology school on the
East Side that should have her getting
her license by the end of this year.
“It’s wonderful,” she said of the
programs at Gramercy. “It’s a very
nice program that can benefit you.
Basically what I got out of it is how to
go about doing what I want to do.”
The successes these youth are
creating for themselves, however, do
not fully mask the hard knocks that
life has delivered to many of them at
a very early age. Ronald Killens, 18,
whose parents were drug addicts
and whose grandmother died 15
years ago, has since spent time in
50 different foster homes. Killens is
still adjusting to the procedures for
scheduling time with social workers
and other Green Chimneys staff.
“You can’t get what you need at the
moment,” Killens said. “It’s more of a
waiting process.”
Still, he admitted to being “con-
tent, at the moment.”
With interests in writing, Killens
is working on an autobiography —
sometimes using free time for “three
or four days straight” to write, before
the demands of high school home-
work intervene. He also thinks about
the possibility of writing detective fic-
tion and also screenplays.
An avid fan of the food network,
Killens would also like to explore
cooking as a career, and hopes to
find an internship in the food indus-
try.
Having lived in every bor -
ough except Staten Island, Killens
expressed relief at having now found
a place that feels comfortable: “It’s
beautiful. I love this area. This down-
town area is very, very, like very safe.”

NEWS BRIEFS By ANDY HUMM

䉴 BRIEFS, from p.5
riage to same-sex couples, and
the other to ban discrimination
based on gender identity and
expression. The tie vote allow
the bills to go the House floor.
The committee chair, David
Cote, opposed the marriage
bill, saying that the 2007 civil
union law was enough and that
the state is not “ready to take
that final step,” the Concord
Monitor reported.
“I am firmly convinced that
the state has absolutely no role
or right to become involved in
the solemnization part of mar-
riage,” said Representative
Gary Richardson, a Hopkinton
Democrat, in an emotional
speech in committee. “I also
believe that those of us who
have religious beliefs should
not in any way interfere with
the civil side of the relation-
ship.”
Two Arrested in
Murder of Gay
Man in Jamaica
Two men have been arrest-
ed in the stabbing death of
Dane Harris, a gay man whose
decomposing remains were
found February 26 in Havendale,
St. Andrew, in Jamaica. Police
were questioning Dwayne Gor-
don, 23, and Andy Williams in the
murder, and Gordon confessed
that, on February 23, he and Wil-
liams committed the crime, the
Jamaica Star reported.
Gordon is alleging that Har-
ris made “sexual advances”
toward him, he told Williams
about it, and they plotted to
meet and beat him.
No Sex Please,
We’re Gambling
Snick’s, the oldest gay bar in Las
Vegas, has lost its gaming license
for six months after it was alleged
that some patrons were having sex
on the premises. The Gaming Con-
trol Board decision said that the fail-
ure of the bar’s employees to stop
the sex “constitutes an unsuitable
method of operation” and “reflects
poorly on the reputation of gaming
in the state of Nevada.”
The bar has 15 slot machines.
An attorney for the owner said he
wasn’t aware of the sexual activity
taking place. The complaint against
Snick’s was based on “observations
by an undercover Control Board
agent” last spring, the Associated
Press reported.
䉴 BRIEFS, continued on p.13

VISIT US MARCH 21 - 22 AT THE GLBT EXPO

originalglbtexpo.com
8/ Crime
DA Pledges Prostitution Bust Probe
Morgenthau agrees to investigate arrests of 30 gay men, may dismiss five cases
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE
A
ctivists who met with
Robert Morgenthau
report that the district
attorney said he would inves-
tigate the 2008 prostitution
arrests of at least 30 gay and
bisexual men in at least six
Manhattan porn shops, and
may dismiss the cases against
five of the men who are contest-
ing the charges.
“The first thing Morgenthau
said was, ‘We are going to inves-
tigate all these cases,’” said
Joey Nelson, coordinator for
the Queer Justice League and a
member of the Coalition to Stop
the Arrests. “That was the first
thing out of his mouth.”
The March 6 meeting lasted
roughly an hour, and included
coalition members, elected offi-
cials or their representatives,
community groups, and Leroy
Frazer, the executive assistant
district attorney for governmen-
tal affairs and community rela-
tions.
“They were going to go back
■ LEGAL
Guv Promotes Two Lesbians Judges
Former Lambda Legal head goes to Manhattan-based appeals court
BY PAUL SCHINDLER
I
n the history of the New
York State court system,
there has never been an
openly gay or lesbian member of
the Appellate Division, the inter-
mediate level bench just below
the Court of Appeals.
Now there will be two.
Governor David A. Paterson
on March 5 announced four
appointments to vacant posi-
tions in three of the state’s four
Appellate Departments. Two of
the four appointees are open-
ly lesbian judges in the state
Supreme Court system, the trial
court level within the judiciary.
In the Manhattan-based First
Department, Paterson named
Judge Rosalyn Richter, who has
served as a New York Supreme
Court justice since 2003, after
three years as an acting jus-
tice. Between 1987 and 2000,
Richter held a variety of judi-
cial posts within the criminal,
community, and administrative
trial court systems in Manhat-
tan and the Bronx.
From 1983 until 1987, Rich-
ter worked in the Brooklyn dis-
trict attorney’s office, and prior
and start looking at all the indi-
vidual cases,” said Robert Pinter,
also a coalition member and one
of the men who was arrested last
year. “They really seemed genu-
inely concerned that something
wrong was happening here.”
The arrests, which were later
cited in lawsuits seeking to
close the shops brought by the
city against five of the six busi-
nesses, are widely seen as false
arrests in the gay community.
“They weren’t trying to cover
things up or hide,” Pinter said.
“Morgenthau himself brought
up that he has prosecuted police
over 300 times in his career.”
Morgenthau’s office could
quickly dismiss the charges
against the five men who plead-
ed not guilty, but Pinter and
Nelson said no promises were
made.
“He said that those would be
easier to act on, but there was
no promise of automatic dis-
missal,” Nelson said. “He said
they would investigate those
cases and that those would be
the first that they would inves-
Judge Rosalyn Richter, a Manhattan State Supreme Court since 2003, assumes her new post
on First Department Appellate Division bench on March 19.
to that was the executive direc-
tor of what was then known
as Lambda Legal Defense and
Education Fund, the LGBT legal
rights organization.
Richter teaches at New York
Law School, and is a 1976
graduate of Barnard College
and a 1979 JD from Brooklyn
Law School. At New York Law
School, Richter has taught
courses on domestic violence
and the law and, with Gay
20 MAR - 2 APR 2009
tigate.” “He called it homophobic... He
Morgenthau’s office may said it was a set-up.”
already be doing that. At court Duane, who is openly gay,
dates, the district attorney’s represents Chelsea where some
office has repeatedly adjourned of the arrests happened. State
the cases saying they are not Assemblywoman Deborah
ready, leading defense attor- Glick, an out lesbian who repre-
neys to speculate that the pros- sents the West Village, was also
ecution is letting the time limit praised by activists.
it has to bring the cases to trial “[Duane] was really forceful,
run out so the cases will have to and Deborah Glick chimed in a
J. B. NICHOLAS
be dismissed. really forceful way,” Pinter said.
Activists asked that Morgen- “They were just very outspo-
thau reopen the other cases ken.”
in which some of the men are Manhattan District Attorney Robert Mor- Other attendees included
known to have pleaded guilty to genthau met with gay activists and elected Assemblyman Dick Gottfried,
disorderly conduct and received officials on March 6, and committed to who represents Chelsea, Bren-
minor sentences. Those dis- investigating a recent rash of questionable dan Fay, a coalition member,
positions should be vacated, prostitution arrests. and staff from the New York City
the charges dismissed, and the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence
cases sealed, activists said. have been arrested should be Project (AVP).
Morgenthau cannot do that contacting the district attorney’s Activists had a February
on his own, though he might office to ask if their cases can be 11 meeting, organized by City
not oppose such motions. Those vacated.” Council Speaker Christine
men convicted would have to The meeting was convened by Quinn, an out lesbian who rep-
ask that their pleas be vacated. State Senator Thomas K. Duane resents Chelsea, with senior
“Those cases would have to who, activists said, was an effec- police officials who said they had
be brought forward by the indi- tive advocate. paused in their efforts.
viduals,” Nelson said. “At this “I thought Tom Duane was “The message, at least in the
point, we should be doing an all- very, very strong in putting out DA’s office, was heard really
points bulletin that people who the lay of the land,” Nelson said. loud and clear,” Pinter said.
Side townhouse. Court justices who, since then,
Typically, property divisions have recognized legal same-sex
between unmarried tenants- marriages — one from Canada,
in-common are based on the the other from Massachusetts
relative financial contributions — for purposes of considering a
of each, but in this case, after divorce petition.
making allowances for the ini- In the Albany-based Third
tial money down each woman Department, the governor
contributed, Richter ruled that appointed Elizabeth A. Garry,
the remaining proceeds be split who has been a Supreme Court
evenly. justice in the Sixth Judicial
“The parties were involved in District since her election in
a committed relationship, had 2006. Prior to that, Garry was
COURTEY: JANET WEINBERG
a religious wedding ceremony, the town justice of New Berlin,
and entered into a domestic which is about halfway between
partnership in New York City,” Albany and Syracuse, begin-
she wrote in a decision that drew ning in 2001.
fire from at least one Republi- Garry is a 1984 graduate of
can in the State Assembly. “In Alfred University in Western
terms of how they lived their New York and a 1990 graduate
lives, they essentially consid- of Albany Law School. The press
City News legal correspondent ered themselves married and release from Paterson’s office
Arthur S. Leonard, on sexuality operated as a couple... They highlighted the fact that Garry
and the law. held themselves out as, and lives with her same-sex life part-
In the area of LGBT law, were, in all respects, a family.” ner, stepson, and adopted son.
Richter gained attention with Subsequent to that ruling, Curiously, the release omit-
a 2007 ruling that applied a an Appellate Division decision ted mention of Richter’s part-
principle based in marriage law from Western New York estab- ner, Janet Weinberg, who is
— equal division of property — lished a statewide precedent the senior managing director
to a dispute between former that marriages of same-sex for development and legislative
lesbian partners who had split couples legally performed in funding at Gay Men’s Health
up and were selling their four- other jurisdictions deserve rec- Crisis, and earlier held a senior
story, eight-room and four - ognition in this state. Richter is position at the LGBT Commu-
and-a-half bath Upper West one of two Manhattan Supreme nity Center in Manhattan.
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS Split
䉴
Decision Likely in Cal.
Argument suggests both Prop 8 and marriages already performed survive
14 DAYS, from p.6
SAT.MAR.21
COMMUNITY
Women, Art &
Change
The Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for
Feminist Art celebrates its second anni-
versary with “SPEAK OUT! Women’s
Visions For the Nation: What’s it Going
to Take?,” an event that features a key-
note address by C. Nicole Mason of
the Women of Color Policy Network at
the NYU Wagner School, titled “Now
is the Time: Activating Women Lead-
ers for Collective Change”; an audi-
ence speak-out moderated by GRITtv
host Laura Flanders, including Ana
L. Oliveira of the New York Women’s
Foundation and Ai-jen Poo of Domes-
tic Workers United; a performance
by award-winning musical artist Toni
Blackman; and closing remarks by Liz
J. Abzug of The Bella Abzug Leader-
ship Institute. Brooklyn Museum of
Art, 200 Eastern Pkwy, just beyond
Grand Army Plaza, 2-4 p.m. A recep-
tion will follow until 5:30.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ preserve the marital status
GALLERY
Darkness at the
Edges
Daryl-Ann Saunders and Jill Water-
man curate “night moves exploring the
horizon,” an exhibition of photographs
by: John Dowell, Mark Jaremko, Lance
Keimig, Toby Keller, Maria Passarotti,
Saunders, Lynn Saville, and Barbara
Yoshida. Safe-T-Gallery, 111 Front
St., btwn. Washington & Adams
Sts., suite 214, DUMBO. Wed.-Sat.,
noon-6 p.m. through Apr. 11. More
information at safetgallery.com or-718
782-5920.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ Proposition 8 was an “amend-
DANCE
Harkness’ Final
Bow
Jeremy Nelson and Luis Lara Mal-
vacías close out the 92 Street Y’s Hark-
ness Dance Festival with “Sooner Than
You Think,” in which they perform both
solo and as a duo in overlapping fash-
ion, set against an intriguing installa-
tion environment created by Malvacías
and video designs by collaborator David
Tirosh. Ailey Citigroup Theater, Joan
Weill Center for Dance, 55th St. at
Ninth Ave. Mar. 21, 8 p.m.; Mar. 22,
2 p.m. Tickets are $20; $10 for students
at 92y.org or 212-415-5500.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ing the groundwork to justify a
NIGHTLIFE
A Thousand
Gowns, A Million
Laughs
The Imperial Court of New York
hosts the 23rd annual “Night of a Thou-
sand Gowns,” a gala full of majestic
personages, in evening gowns or white
tie and tails, and royal splendor times-
䉴 MAR 21, continued on p.13
■ LEGAL
BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD
T
he seven-member Cali-
fornia Supreme Court,
which voted 4-3 last
May that same-sex couples had
a right to marry under the State
Constitution, heard arguments
on March 5 about whether
the slim majority of the voters
who approved Proposition 8 on
November 4 had validly amend-
ed the Constitution and elimi-
nated that right to marry.
In an unusual three-hour
argument, during which only
one of the six lawyers before
the court spoke in favor of Prop
8’s validity, the justices, who
are constitutionally obliged to
issue a decision within 90 days,
appeared to signal through
their questions and comments
that a compromise ruling is in
prospect — under which Prop
8 is upheld, but is interpreted
to apply only prospectively.
Such a split decision would
and rights of same-sex cou-
ples who married in California
prior to its passage. The tone
and atmosphere of the argu-
ment, broadcast live, sug-
gested little support for the
challengers’ position on the
measure’s validity.
Chief Justice Ronald George,
who wrote the majority opinion
for the court in last May’s mar-
riage case, signaled early by
his questioning that he viewed
the current case as presenting
an entirely different question,
focused narrowly on whether
ment” or a “revision.”
An amendment can be enact-
ed through a voter initiative.
A revision requires that either
the Legislature or a constitu-
tional convention propose the
measure to be placed before the
voters. If Prop 8 is a revision, it
was not validly put before the
voters.
Justice Joyce Kennard, who
concurred in the marriage rul-
ing last year, took pains to state
repeatedly her agreement with
George that this case presented
a different question than last
year’s. She appeared to be lay-
vote to uphold Prop 8 despite
her support for the right to
same-sex marriage.
Challengers to Prop 8 con-
tend that it should be con-
sidered a revision because it
alters the fundamental guar-
antee of equal protection of the
law by carving out a distinct
group —lesbians and gay men
— whose defining character-
istic, their sexual orientation,
20 MAR – 2 APR 2009
was identified by the California
Supreme Court as a “suspect
classification,” and depriving
them of what the court had
labeled a “fundamental right,”
the right to marry.
The state has a high burden
to meet in justifying disparate
public policies that are based
on suspect classifications.
Opponents of Prop 8 argued
that the unprecedented inter-
section of fundamental right
and suspect classification took
Prop 8 out of the ordinary cat-
egory of a mere amendment
to the California Constitution,
and involved a more basic revi-
sion to its terms.
Attor ney General Jerry
Brown, represented by Chris-
topher Krueger from his staff,
differed from the other chal-
lengers regarding their amend-
ment versus revision argument,
but contended that nonethe-
less Prop 8 was an improper
amendment, outside of the
power of the people through the
initiative process.
Krueger asserted that Prop 8
denies a right based in Article
1, Section 1 of the California
Constitution — where “inalien-
able rights” are enumerated —
to a group defined by a suspect
classification. In effect, Brown
argued that there are limits to
what can be altered by an ini-
tiative amendment — based on
a concept of “inalienable rights”
that derive from natural law
principles predating California’s
adoption of its Constitution.
Defending Prop 8 was Pep-
perdine University Law School
Dean Kenneth Starr, a former
federal judge and the special
prosecutor in the Whitewater
investigation that bedeviled
President Bill Clinton. Starr’s
argument was that the Califor-
nia Constitution establishes a
regime of popular sovereignty,
limited only by the federal Con-
stitution regarding what sub-
stantive rights can be added or
deleted through the initiative
amendment process.
Placing his own narrow read-
ing on the court’s prior cases
that took up the issue of revi-
sion versus amendment, he
argued that those cases unani-
mously supported the argu-
ment that in order to be a revi-
sion, a proposed amendment
must make a change in the
actual structure of the govern-
ment.
A modification of an existing
constitutional right, no mat-
ter how weighty, Starr argued,
was entirely within the author-
ity of the people of California to
amend or repeal. His primary
California Chief Justice Ronald George was one of two members of the Supreme Court who
supported last year’s marriage equality ruling but appeared dubious that the court challenges
to Prop 8 were valid.
exhibit for this was the propo-
sition that overruled the high
court and reinstated the death
penalty in that state.
Assuming for the moment
that the three dissenters in last
year’s marriage case would vote
to uphold Prop 8, the key issue
in this challenge was whether
the four -vote majority from
the marriage case — George,
Kennard, Carlos Moreno, and
Kathryn Mickle Werdegar —
would hold together or fracture
over the issue of popular sover-
eignty, the right of the people of
California to reverse a substan-
tive constitutional decision of
the court.
It seemed likely from their
comments that George and
Kennard would have difficul-
ty voting to reject the results
of the popular initiative vote,
narrow as the majority was.
George as much as threw up
his hands and said the court
was stuck with the constitu-
tional amendment process that
they have, and that the plain-
tiffs’ argument was really that
the amendment process should
be narrower — which in his
view presented a political rather
than a legal question.
Both Moreno and Werdegar
asked questions signaling their
sympathy toward arguments
made by the advocates against
Proposition 8, including Shan-
non Minter from National Cen-
ter for Lesbian Rights, Ray-
mond Marshall, representing a
coalition of leading civil rights
groups, Michael Maroko, repre-
senting a same-sex couple that
had married last summer, and
Therese Stewart, represent-
ing the plaintiff municipalities,
9
including San Francisco, where
she is the chief deputy city
attorney.
But from their fewer ques-
tions it seemed clear that Jus-
tices Marvin Baxter, Ming
Chin, and Carol Corrigan were
unlikely to vote to strike down
Proposition 8.
There seemed to be little sym-
pathy from the court for Starr’s
argument that upon enactment
of Prop 8, all the same-sex mar-
riages contracted prior to its
passage ceased to have any
legal meaning in California.
Kennard asked about the
federal Constitution’s provi-
sion forbidding the states from
impairing contractual obliga-
tions, suggesting that posed
a problem for invalidating the
marriages and the contractual
arrangements that may have
flowed from them.
Starr argued on this point
that the court should distin-
guish between what he called
“primary” and “secondary” ret-
roactivity, asserting that what
had been done was valid when it
was done, but that the language
of Prop 8 clearly communicated
that those marriages would no
longer be “valid or recognized”
after the measure was passed.
The problem he faced in
making this argument was the
long-established precedent in
California that a statute will
not be held to have any retro-
active effect unless its words
unequivocally communicate
that intention. Several jus-
tices noted that the proposi-
tion’s wording created ambi-
guity about its meaning only
䉴 CALIFORNIA, continued on p.13
10/ Editorial ■ LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
20 MAR - 2 APR 2009

PUBLISHER & CO-FOUNDER

Obama’s Early Challenges
JOHN W. SUTTER BY PAUL SCHINDLER
646.452.2500

O
JWSutter@communitymediallc.com n p a p e r, B a r a c k tion to overturn In two recent legal force.
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER & CO-FOUNDER Obama is the most Don’t Ask, Don’t administra- To be sure, the religious
TROY MASTERS LGBT -friendly presi- Tell. Two years tive rulings right understands this — and
646.452.2502 dent in US history. He sup- ago, T auscher made regarding a front page New York Times
troy@gaycitynews.com
ports a trans-inclusive federal picked up the employees of story on the issue surely
EDITOR IN-CHIEF & CO-FOUNDER employment nondiscrimina- torch from the San Fran- crystallized scrutiny in many
PAUL SCHINDLER
tion law, the overturning of Marty Meehan, cisco-based quarters. This is an opportu-
646.452.2503
editor@gaycitynews.com the anti-gay Don’t Ask, Don’t the retired Mas- US 9th Circuit nity — and also a challenge
Tell military policy, the repeal sachusetts Democrat who of Appeals, judges on that — for the new president.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Duncan Osborne of the Defense of Marriage Act, had passionately pushed the bench found that gay and We will be watching.
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS federal recognition of whatever issue for years. This week, lesbian court employees mar- We will also be keeping an
Christopher Byrne (Theater), Susie Day, partnership status each state Tauscher was named a senior ried legally in California were eye on how the White House
Doug Ireland (International), confers on same-sex couples, State Department official, eligible for spousal benefits, and the Commerce Depart-
Brian McCormick (Dance)
Dean P. Wrzeszcz including marriage, and a and advocates for ending the despite the prohibition on fed- ment respond to calls for
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
national AIDS strategy. gay military ban might rightly eral recognition of such mar- ensuring the integrity of
Betsy Andrews, Seth J. Bookey, And yet gay advocates wonder where the initiative riages in the 1996 Defense of information gay and lesbian
Anthony M.Brown, Kelly Jean Cogswell, remain watchful, some even will come from now. Marriage Act. married couples provide on
Dean Daderko, Tate Dougherty, Andres Duque,
Michael Ehrhardt, Steve Erickson, Nick Feitel, wary. Anti-gay Pastor Rick But three pressing issues In one of the rulings, the the 2010 Census. In a recent
Jim Fouratt, Joe Fyfe, Deborah Garwood, Warren’s role in the inaugura- — one of which the new presi- judge found that the rights press statement, a Census
Erasmo Guerra, Emily Harney, Andrey Henkin, tion, recalling the turn ex-gay dent has already successfully available under federal law spokesperson said that any
Frank Holiday, Andy Humm, James Jorden,
Brendan Keane, David Kennerley, Gary M. Kramer, gospel singer Donnie McClur- addressed — offer Obama the merely set a floor; the court same-sex couple who indicat-
Arthur S. Leonard, Rachael Liberman, kin took in the campaign, opportunity to send a clear was free to supplement those ed they were married would
Michael T. Luongo, Lawrence D. Mass,
Winnie McCroy, Eileen McDermott,
raises worries about the signal that he is committed to benefits in accordance with be re-classified as unmarried
Gregory Montreuil, Ioannis Mookas, Carrie Moyer, new president’s willingness levelling the playing field for California law (assuming the same-sex partners. LGBT
Stephen Mueller, Christopher Murray, to stand up to the religious LGBT Americans. State Supreme Court upholds leaders note that the presi-
David Noh, Wayne Northcross, Lori Ortiz,
Pauline Park, Sheila Pepe, John Reed, right, including those in the This week, the State the validity of the marriages dent and Commerce and
Nathan Riley, Andrew Robinson, Gerard Robinson, black church, on our behalf. Department announced that entered into prior to Prop 8). Census officials can change
Chris Schmidt, Sarah D. Schulman, Obama’s enthusiasm for con- it was signing on to an effort The other judge flat-out found that procedure administra-
Jason Victor Serinus, Linda Shapiro,
David Shengold, Gus Solomons Jr., David Spiher, tinued funding of faith-based led by France to present the DOMA unconstitutional in tively, without going to Con-
Drew B. Straub, Stefen Styrsky, Jerry Tallmer, initiatives, even with what he United Nations with a decla- this case. gress.
Stefanos Tsigrimanis, Kathleen Warnock,
Benjamin Weinthal, Lee Ann Westover,
promises will be clear anti- ration calling for the universal The federal Office of Per - In r esponse to a query
James Withers, Kai Wright, Susan Yung discrimination protections, is decriminalization of homo- sonnel Management (OPM) fr om Gay City News, the
troubling in this regard. sexuality, which remains ille- responded to the 9th Circuit Commerce Department on
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Mark Hasselberger, Jamie Paakkonen There is also concern that gal in 86 members states. In rulings by citing DOMA and March 19 confirmed that it
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING
our issues, even if embraced too many of those states, sod- ordering that the spousal was “review[ing] a number of
FRANCESCO REGINI by the new administration, will omy and other manifestations benefits not be provided. its policies and that review is
646.452.2496 remain back-burner priorities of a gay or lesbian identity are Yet, this very week, the being carried out to ensure
francesco@gaycitynews.com given the massive economic in fact punished — in some president appointed John that the agency delivers a
ADVERTISING MANAGERS problems the nation faces. cases, with death. Berry, an openly gay man, count that is accurate.”
COLIN GREGORY How long will the answer to Obama admirably reversed to head OPM. Berry clearly We couldn’t agree more
646.452.2468
colin@gaycitynews.com
our questions be “We have too course from the Know-Noth- faces an imperative to review with that goal. And, as with
ALLISON GREAKER
much on our plate right now”? ingism of the Bush admin- his agency’s initial response universal decriminalization
646.452.2485 Several weeks ago, advo- istration on this important to the 9th Circuit. Obama is of homosexuality and federal
allison@gaycitynews.com cates organized a press call global human rights issue. committed to overtur ning spousal benefits for legally
JASON SHERWOOD featuring California Demo- Two other questions cur - DOMA, a goal that will likely married same-sex couples,
646.452.2471
jsherwood@gaycitynews.com cratic Congresswoman Ellen rently on the table might take some time. But the 9th the Census question provides
DALE KANZLER
Tauscher, just days before prove trickier for Obama to Circuit rulings offer a chance Obama the chance to prove
646.452.2484 she reintroduced legisla- navigate. to begin chipping away at its himself our champion.
dale@gaycitynews.com
JASON SPARKS
646.452.2505
jsparks@gaycitynews.com 䉴 AIDS, from p.5 ment also provided a fact Pataki administration. In On the same day as the
sheet pointing to a three times the early days of the Spitzer Harlem rally, the Campaign
FERN WALLACH
646.452.2483 Charles King, Housing increase in city testing from administration, anyone liv- to End AIDS sponsored a
wallach@communitymediallc.com Wo r k s ’ p r e s i d e n t , a s k e d 2002 to 2008, an increase in ing in supportive housing Washington rally to issue
ACCOUNTING about the caseworker issue annual free condom distri- funded by the federal govern- a 50-day report card on the
DAVID JAFFE at the rally, termed the HRA butions from three million to ment had their rent capped at new Obama administration.
646-452-2477 plan “ridiculous,” stating that 41.5 million in the same peri- 30 percent of their income, in Most of the grades were mid-
david@gaycitynews.com HASA’s general caseworker od, and the decline in HIV- line with regulations at the US dling or incompletes, reflect-
NATIONAL DISPLAY ADVERTISING staff, already overburdened, is related deaths from 1,713 in Department of Housing and ing the fact that the admin-
Rivendell Media / 212.242.6863
really only equipped to facili- 2002 to 1,115 in 2007. Urban Development. istration has not yet laid out
Web master tate access to different types The report cards for the Other tenants, whose rent the National AIDS Strategy
Arturo Jimenez
Arturo@gaycitynews.com of benefits for clients, not to state had a few friendly grades is funded by the state and/ that it pledged in the cam-
Gay City News, The Newspaper Serving Gay and Lesbian NYC, is pub- provide more in-depth sup- — including an A+ for Gover- or city only, face the far more paign nor submitted a bud-
lishedby Community Media, LLC. Send all inquiries to: Gay City News,
145 Sixth Ave., First Fl., NYC 10013 Phone: 646.452.2500 Written port. nor David Paterson’s expan- draconian rental structure get for the President’s Emer-
permission of the publisher must be obtained before any of the contents
of this paper, in part or whole, can be reproduced or redistributed. All The health department sion and reform of Medicaid begun in late 2006. Assem- gency Plan for AIDS Relief
contents (c) 2009 Gay City News.
responded to Housing Work’s that puts more money into blywoman Deborah Glick (PEPFAR).
Subscriptions: 26 issues, $90.00
(c)2009 Gay City News. All rights reserved.
D on HIV prevention and edu- community-based care — but and State Senator Thomas K. C2EA, however, did give
Gay City News is a registered trademark cation by acknowledging that failed Albany for continuing Duane, both out gay Lower Obama an A for the appoint-
of Community Media, LLC. approximately $933,000 will to require some people with Manhattan Democrats, have ment of Jeffrey Crowley, an
John W. Sutter, President
Fax: 646.452.2501; be cut from community con- HIV/ AIDS in supportive pub- intr oduced legislation to openly gay senior research
E-mail: JWSutter@communitymediallc.com
tracts in this area in 2011 and lic housing to pay rents that ensure that all people liv- scholar at Georgetown Uni-
beyond, but noting that the leave them with only $330 to ing with AIDS in supportive versity’s Health Policy Insti-
total funding for such efforts live on each month. housing benefit from the more tute, as the new White House
will remain at roughly $14.6 This rent structure was generous federal 30-percent Director for the Of fice of
million annually. The depart- forced on the city late in the limit. AIDS Policy.
20 MAR - 2 APR 2009
■ A DYKE ABROAD
Spreading the Love in Health Care Reform
Y
ou want health care
reform, you better just
pack your bags and
move to France, or maybe
Sweden. You’ll have time to
learn the language, turn old
and gray, and maybe kick
the bucket before any real
refor m takes roots in the
States, despite the love-fest
at Obama’s recent forum on
healthcare.
Did you see that saccharine
nonsense? Democrat Charles
Rangel announcing how well
he works with counterpart
Republican Dave Camp on
the Ways and Means Commit-
tee, while Republican Senator
Chuck Grassley of Iowa sec-
onded Obama: “If you aren’t
ambitious on a major prob-
lem like this... it will never get
done.” Another Republican,
Representative Jo Ann Emer-
son of Missouri, added, “All of
us have to be willing to give a
little.”
Great. Put a refor m bill
on the agenda. Let’s call for
a vote. Get those 50 million
uninsured Americans plans
they can afford, new doctors
trained, hospitals repaired,
drug companies reined in, so
we’ll no longer be ashamed to
show our faces to our Cana-
dian neighbors who used to
spend their days smirking as
we snuck over the border to
■ RACE FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Drug Reform Risks Facing Cy Vance, Jr.
C
yrus R. Vance, Jr.,
whose candidacy to
succeed Manhat-
tan District Attorney Robert
Morgenthau is being qui-
etly pushed by the 89-year-
old incumbent, has already
assumed one of the responsi-
bilities of this office — setting
statewide criminal justice pol-
icy.
Vance, the son of Jimmy
Carter’s secretary of state, sat
on the Sentencing Commission
responsible for recommending
wholesale changes in New York
State criminal law, including
the infamous Rockefeller drug
laws. One towering issue fac-
ing the commission was soft-
ening the state’s harsh pen-
alties for non-violent crimes,
such as selling small amounts
of illegal drugs. Despite high
expectations, its report disap-
pointed drug reformers.
The Manhattan DA is first
buy our prescription meds
and bargain basement cigs.
Let’s research not just can-
cer and stem cells, but AIDS
— remember that? And car-
diac disease in women since
that’s mostly what’s killing
us. Let’s reinvigorate nurs-
ing, raise pay, and teach both
doctors and nurses to respect
all their patients, including
poor people, and women, and
queers.
Unfortunately, that jovial,
harmonious tone at the forum
was less due to a biparti-
san commitment to improv-
ing healthcare than to a joint
determination to take credit
for refor m while actually
watering it down as much as
hospital coffee.
The first problem is the
political sleazeballs who have
accepted $1 billion in lobbying
love from the insurance indus-
try and big Pharma just in the
last two years. Senate Republi-
can leader Mitch McConnell of
Kentucky, who told Obama he
was “among those interested in
seeing us address entitlement
reform,” pulled in $425,000
since ’05. That straight-shoot-
ing reformer McCain swal-
lowed $546,000. The head of
the Senate Finance Commit-
tee, Max Baucus, a Democrat
of Montana, ate up $413,000.
Barack Obama himself
among equals, exercising the
most influence on the the gov-
ernor, whether Republican or
Democrat. The governor’s staff
has usually included a former
assistant district attorney from
Morganthau’s office, and the
State District Attorney’s Asso-
ciation receives substantial
staff assistance from there as
well. Morgenthau has consis-
tently assigned staff to camp
out in Albany, lobbying and
advising the 61 other district
attorneys on what strategies to
follow. DAs make potent lobby-
ists. What Assembly member
or State Senator wants to vote
for a bill opposed by the local
district attorney? If there were
a rift with the DA, a legisla-
tor would be on the defensive,
open to the charge of being
“soft” on crime.
This is a circuitous way of
saying that the DAs have been
the greatest obstacle to Rock-
Perspective/11
BY KELLY JEAN COGSWELL
raised more than $2 million
from the insurance and phar-
maceutical sectors during his
record-breaking presidential
campaign. The donations were
all from individuals, and not
PACs, so I guess they won’t
have much influence. Obama’s
certainly acted “independent”
of LGBT people who dropped a
boatload of dough on his cam-
paign and got absolutely noth-
ing in return. But queers are
Snarking aside, the biggest problem
is that nobody knows how to
untangle the mess.
known for being suckers. Big
Pharma, not so much.
Besides corruption, there’s
the related problem of process.
Obama declared, “If we want to
translate these goals into poli-
cies, we need a process that is
as transparent and inclusive
as possible.” Couldn’t agree
more.
Too bad Obama’s committee
for “Healthcare Reform Dia-
logue” is pretty much restricted
to heavy-hitters in the health-
care and Pharma industry.
Worse, the meetings are held
in secret, so we don’t know
BY NATHAN RILEY
efeller drug law reform, and
the leader of the DAs has been
Robert Morganthau. The his-
tory of drug law reform efforts
has been one of reformers
proposing and district attor-
neys blocking or watering
down legislation. The nub of
the reform drive comes down
to one issue — giving judges
discretion over the sentences
by taking that authority away
from the DAs.
For mer Gover nor Eliot
Spitzer created the Sentenc-
ing Commission. He was a
former assistant in Morgan-
thau’s office and understood
the criminal justice issues bet-
ter than any recent governor.
But he ducked for cover rather
than make a decision.
The Sentencing Commis-
sion also punted. It concluded
“no one proposal captured all
of the benefits associated with
diversion without also present-
exactly why two labor unions,
the American Federation of
State, County and Munici-
pal Employees and the Ser-
vice Employees International
Union apparently walked out
of the last one. Perhaps they
want their money back, too,
after spending so much to get
Obama in the White House.
There’s window-dressing,
of course. Characters like
24-year old-firefighter Travis
Ulerick are allowed to hand
Obama a summary of all those
thousands of community
meetings held to discuss the
health care crisis so he can
use the moment to claim to be
responsive to “the concerned
citizens, like the folks on this
stage.”
Snarking aside, the biggest
problem is that even if our glo-
rious leaders had clean hands,
and were acting in good faith,
nobody knows how to untan-
gle the mess.
American health and care is
in as bad a shape as the econo-
ing elements that could jeopar-
dize public safety or prove too
costly or unworkable. While
this lack of consensus was ini-
tially cause for concern,” the
Commission reasoned that
there remain “several well-
reasoned proposals that could
prove to be beneficial.”
Vance praised the results,
saying in the commission’s
press release, that the report
provides “sound and bold rec-
ommendations. We hope our
work will be a road map.”
Drug reformers were dis-
gusted. Gabriel Sayegh of the
Drug Policy Alliance dismissed
the report: “The Commission
caved to the District Attor -
ney’s Association, which has
a vested interest in maintain-
ing this failed criminal justice
approach to drug policy and
addiction.” Robert Gangi of
the Correctional Association
struck a temperate note, but
my, and, as with the economy,
experts have equally few ideas
on how to set right something
intertwined with finance, cul-
ture, infrastructure, education
— hell, even the air we breathe
and food we eat. And if they
suddenly saw a burning bush
showing them essential chang-
es to make, they wouldn’t dare
implement the half.
The healthcare industry
can’t be attacked right now,
not just because they lobby
like mad, but because they’re
the only industry hiring as
unemployment goes through
the American roof. And who’s
going to take on Pharma when
they have almost the only
stocks holding most of their
value in the diving market?
All Obama’s tepid ideas that
the Republican fringe nonethe-
less calls “radical” or “socialist”
don’t amount to much more
than tinker and patch while
insurance premiums rise and
quality of care falls. There’s
little enough to fight over, lit-
tle to dispute, though we no
doubt will, mobilizing millions
before both sides claim victory
by offering a few more people
access to healthcare that won’t
be either cheap or good.
Check out Kelly Sans Culotte
at http://kellyatlarge.blogspot.
com/.
also found the report lacking.
It wasn’t “far-reaching enough
and it excluded certain catego-
ries of offenders from being eli-
gible for judicial diversion.”
The two state legislators
who sat on the Commis-
sion were unhappy, accord-
ing to the New York Times.
Eric Schneiderman, a state
senator who represents por-
tions of Upper Manhattan
and the Bronx, and Brooklyn
Assemblyman Joseph Lentol
“endorsed a plan that goes fur-
ther than the commission’s.”
The two Democrats agreed on
a bolder plan.
A fact sheet issued by
Assembly staff detailed these
disagreements: “The Com-
mission maintains mandatory
minimum prison sentences
for nonviolent offenders… The
Assembly proposes ending
䉴 DRUG REFORM, continued on p.27
12 20 MAR – 2 APR 2009 WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM

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14 DAYS NEWS BRIEFS By ANDY HUMM

䉴 BRIEFS, from p.7 ditched anti-gay op-ed colum- order on March 11 seeking to two of the judges of that court, school teacher Debra Taylor

14 NIGHTS
䉴 MAR 21, from p.9
a-thousand to benefit LIFEbeat, the
music industry’s fundraising arm
that fights AIDS, and the Sylvia’s
Place LGBT Homeless Youth Servic-
es of the Metropolitan Community
Church of New York. The evening’s
headliners include Michelle Wil-
liams, Lea DeLaria, Christopher Sie-
ber, John DeMarco, Lucas Silveria
of The Clicks, Billie Ray Martin and
DJ Chip Duckett. But the real stars
are the more than 160 Court mem-
bers from all walks of life who con-
tribute various talents and exper-
tise to each event they stage. The
evening includes dinner, a Viennese
dessert buffet, an open bar, danc-
ing, and a silent auction. Marriott
Marquis Hotel, 1535 Broadway
at 45th St., Times Sq., 6:30 p.m.-
midnight. Tickets are $300 at icny.
org.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
Are You a
Bicentennial Baby?
Women About celebrates its 33rd
anniversary with a dance, featuring hot
music and hundreds of women, that
offers free admission to all those born
in 1976. LGBT Community Center,
208 W. 13th St., 7 p.m.-midnight.
Tickets are $20 at 212-642-5257, or $25
at the door.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
Jim Carrey-
Ewan
McGregor
Romance on
Rocks
“I Love You Phillip Morris,”
the prison comedy between
inmates played by Jim Carrey
and Ewan McGregor, is in dan-
ger of going straight to video for
lack of a US distributor, though
producer Andrew Lazar told the
UK Times that “a deal will even-
tually be found.”
The reticence over distribu-
tion is said to be over a “graphic
sex scene” between the men
early in the film and “frequent
references to gay sex,” the paper
reported. Carrey plays a married
cop “who comes out of the clos-
et and then becomes a con man”
to fund his new life. In prison, he
meets the McGregor character,
falls in love, and then repeatedly
breaks out of prison to be with
✯ him after McGregor’s release. It
is based on a true story of Steven
Russell, who is now serving 100
years in prison for his escapes.
The New York Times reported
that the film “is currently being
re-edited in a last-ditch attempt
to find an American distributor.”
Times has New
Anti-Gay Voice
The New York Times, which
✯
nist William Kristol earlier this
year, has hired Ross G. Douthat,
29, a writer and editor at The
Atlantic, to replace him. While
Douthat describes himself as a
“squishy pro-lifer,” he is more
emphatic about same-sex mar-
riage.
“It degrades the institution
of marriage,” he told the Harvard
Crimson in 2000, when he was a
student there. “Homosexual and
heterosexual unions should not be
placed on the same level.”
Douthat’s Atlantic colleague,
out gay Andrew Sullivan, a big
gay marriage booster, wrote that
Douthat is “a boon to intelligent
conservatism. Ross is able to
make his case, especially on social
issues, with a clarity and nuance
almost totally lacking among the
theocons.”
Can Anti-Gay
School Board
Members
Read?
The American Civil Liber-
ties Union just won another
court case involving a local
school board trying to pre-
vent a Gay Straight Alliance
from meeting at their high
school, this time at Yulee
High School in Nassau
County, Kentucky. US Dis-
trict Court Judge Henry Lee
Adams issued a preliminary
force the district to “uphold
students’ right to equal
access,” the ACLU said in a
release.
The ACLU always wins
these cases, which makes
you wonder if the right-wing
school board members can
read, or why they are willing
to spend ever-scarcer school
funds on these lawsuits.
Psychologist
Silverstein
Honored
Charles Silverstein, the pio-
neering gay psychologist, has
been awarded the Presidential
Citation from the American Psy-
chological Association for his
many contributions to the profes-
sion, including his being one of
its first out members, his work
to remove homosexuality from
the Index of Mental Disorders in
1973, his founding the Journal
of Homosexuality, and his books,
including “The Joy of Gay Sex.”
Silverstein also founded Iden-
tity House and the Institute for
Human Identity for LGBT people.
Obama
Administration
Stops Partner
Benefits
Employees of the Ninth
Circuit won benefits for their
same-sex partners by order of
but President Barack Obama’s
Office of Personnel Manage-
ment told insurers “not to pro-
vide the benefits,” the New
York Times reported, citing the
Defense of Marriage Act.
Richard Socarides, an
out gay official in the Clinton
administration, told the news-
paper that the president “has
broad discretionary authority to
find ways to ameliorate some
of the more blatant examples
of discrimination,” such as the
denial of these partner ben-
efits.
Obama’s nominee to head
the Office of Personnel, M.
John Berry, has, like the presi-
dent, “endorsed the idea” of
providing domestic partner ben-
efits to gay federal employees,
and was officially named to his
post the same week his office’s
position was reported.
Laramie
Project Not OK
in OK
Moisés Kaufman’s “Lara-
mie Project,” about how the
Matthew Shepard murder
affected the people of the
Wyoming town, is popular
with many college and some
high school theater clubs,
though it raises conserva-
tive hackles in some areas. In
Grandfield, Oklahoma, high
was recently suspended for
using the play in class.
According to a release
from Oklahomans for Equality,
an LGBT lobby group, students
reported that the superinten-
dent came to their class “and
used hateful speech, saying
how much he disliked gays and
blaming them for AIDS.”
Stopped from teaching
the play, Taylor held “a mock
funeral” for it, and that got her
disciplined. Fearing dismissal,
she “accepted a resigna-
tion agreement.” The release
said, “Her students are stand-
ing behind the play and their
teacher.”
30 Years
for Beating
Bisexual Man
Jonathan Russell Gunter
was found guilty of first
degree aggravated robbery in
a July 2008 severe beating and
robbery of Jimmy Lee Dean, a
43-year-old bisexual man, an
attack that caused “signifi-
cant damage to his face,” the
Dallas Voice reported. A gay
witness to the attack testified
that Gunter and Bobby Jack
Singleton “had decided to rob
a gay man because it would be
easier.”
䉴 BRIEFS, continued on p.27

䉴 CALIFORNIA, from p.9 would apply to same-sex mar- trying out their doubts but ity would have to “defect” to
riages wherever and whenever will ultimately resolve them change the outcome, it looks

COMEDY
SUN.MAR.22
Three Women &
One Little “Lady”
Brad Loekle’s “Electro Shock Thera-
py Comedy Hour!” celebrates all that’s
feminine, whether with an innie or with
an outie. Headliner Jodi Wasserman
(Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend”) is
joined by Chris Doucette (DC’s Queerest
Comedian); Stacia Jensen and Susan
Preckel. Therapy, 348 W. 52nd St., 10
p.m. No cover charge, and $6 cosmos
all night.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
addressed in a statement “bur-
ied,” according to Kennard, in
the pamphlet explaining the
ballot question. That statement
suggested that the amendment
DEMANDING A FAIR COUNT
A group of LGBT rights advocates and
elected officials gathered on the steps of
City Hall on March 18 to demand that the
federal government honor 2010 census
responses from gay and lesbian couples
who identify themselves as married and
✯ their household members as a family.
“The fundamental point is that all peo-
ple in this country deserve to be counted
they were performed.
It is possible, of course, that
George and Kennard were
playing devil’s advocate in their
questioning. Perhaps they were
Defense of Marriage Act precluded count-
ing legally married same-sex couples as
married. “This is all about the numbers.
This not about lifestyle or anything else,”
spokeswoman Cynthia Endo told the
newspaper.
Gary Gates, a demographer at UCLA’s
Williams Institute, which focuses on sexu-
al orientation and public policy, countered
against Prop 8, but that result
seems unlikely, especially in
Kennard’s case.
Since only one member of
last year’s marriage major -
“The census should not be censored.
Period. End of discussion,” he said at the
City Hall press conference. “LGBT people
are not fairly counted in this country.”
De Blasio and City Councilwoman
Rosie Mendez, an out lesbian Lower
East Side Democrat, are planning to
introduce a Council resolution calling
on the president and the Commerce
like Proposition 8 will survive,
with perhaps only a slight clip-
ping of its wings in preserv-
ing those marriages that have
already taken place.
not to count LGBT people.”
Melissa Sklarz, a longtime transgen-
der rights advocate, explained the specific
need to count transgender and gender-
variant Americans. Recounting lobbying
that activists have done in Albany and
Washington, she said a frequent refrain
from legislators is, “Who are you and
where are you?” Adding language in gov-

GETAWAYS
TUE.MAR.24
Find Your Place in
the Sun
Center Share-a-Thon, presented
by Out Professionals, is a way to find
housemates to fill your summer home,
or find a full-, half-, or quarter-share in
a place you’ll enjoy. Admission is $40
if you’re looking for housemates; $15 if
you’re look to buy a share, or if you’re
a housemate with a share offeror who
paid the $40 fee. Register in advance
at gaycenter.org. LGBT Community
Center, 208 W. 13th St., Mar. 7, 11
a.m.-2 p.m.; Mar. 24, 6-9 p.m.; Apr.
16, 6-9 p.m.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ A March 8 story in the Press-Telegram
䉴 14 DAYS, continued on p.16
for who they are, as they are, and not to
have their government decide how they
will be counted, not have their government
define who they are,” said Democratic City
Councilman Bill de Blasio of Brooklyn. “It
is fundamental that our national census
respect each person’s choice about their
identity.”
De Blasio noted that under current
planning, Census officials will reclassify
same-sex couples who identify as mar-
ried as “unmarried, same-sex couples”
instead, and that same-sex couples with
children will not be counted as “families,”
and homes in which only one member of a
same-sex couple has a legal relationship to
a child will be regarded as a “single-parent
household.”
in Long Beach, California, quoted a Census
spokeswoman as explaining that the 1996
that view by pointing out that the issue is
not DOMA, but rather how it is implement-
ed in federal regulatory procedures. Being
counted in the Census, he noted, confers
no federal rights and benefits.
In response to a March 19 query from
Gay City News, the Commerce Depart-
ment signaled there may be room to
reevaluate the policy. Kevin Griffis, a
department spokesman, read a statement
that said, “As it prepares for 2010, the
Census Bureau has undertaken a review of
a number of its policies and that review is
being carried out to ensure that the agency
delivers a count that is accurate.”
Alan Van Capelle, executive director
of the Empire State Pride Agenda, insisted
that a change in practice could result from
an executive order or some other admin-
istrative directive from President Barack
Obama to the Commerce Department.
Department to implement the change in
Census practice for 2010. The resolution
will also press the federal government
to implement a specific count of LGBT
people in the host of other population
studies carried out in the intervening
period between the formal Census taken
every ten years.
Advocates acknowledge that the
2010 Census form has been finalized, so
a breakout of the LGBT population will not
be possible next year.
“If we are not counted,” Van Capelle
said, “we are unable to advocate for our
community in Washington, we are unable
to get the dollars that our community
deserves. It would be unacceptable to not
count people above the age of 65. It would
be unacceptable to not count people of
color in certain populations, in certain parts
of the country. It is equally unacceptable
ernment surveys to measure the number
of transgendered Americans, she said,
“won’t cost a nickel.”
De Blasio announced the support for
his Council resolution from a wide array of
elected officials, including Congresswom-
en Yvette Clarke and Nydia Velásquez,
Speaker Christine Quinn, Public Advocate
Betsy Gotbaum, and Councilmembers Leti-
tia James, Melinda Katz, Annabel Palma,
and David Yassky.
“We’ll ask every federal legislator in
New York State, but we haven’t talked
to them all yet,” de Blasio said. “We look
forward to hopefully winning the support
of them all.”
Matt Canter, a spokesman for Senator
Kirsten Gillibrand, said her “office is work-
ing with local officials on this, and she
would be supportive of this change.”
— By Paul Schindler
14/ Gallery 20 MAR - 2 APR 2009

Busting Up the Busts

Franz West’s ‘90s work is back, irreverent, engaging as ever
BY GREGORY MONTREUIL FRANZ WEST
“Works From the 1990s”
Zwirner & Wirth

I
n a show fresh and full of contra-
dictions, Franz West’s “Works from 32 E. 69th St.
the 1990s” confounds and sur - Tue.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Through Apr. 25
prises. Many of the works are from the
212-517-8677
artist’s inaugural 1996 David Zwirner
exhibition in New York.
Entering the gallery, one is sur - irreverence. “Passtuck Group (with
rounded by several white plaster Video for Usage Tips),” 1996, has two
sculptures but immediately drawn strangely shaped plaster objects with
to the back room, which is a playful iron handles next to a video monitor.
environment filled with color and pres- On the monitor, one can see people

JOSH NEFSKY/ZWIRNER & WIRTH

ence. A series of biomorphic lumpy
sculptures crafted from papier-mâché
rest atop pedestals. Roughly painted
and crudely formed, they have a kind
of portrait bust presence, but lacking
distinct shapes or features they could
be many things.
The pedestals are odd, too. One is
a TV on a stool, others are scuffed up
and badly painted, or half finished with
open sides. “Telefonskulpture I” (“Tele-
phone Sculpture I”), 1995, sits atop
a white cabinet with a door; inside, a
small grouping of liquor bottles and
glasses beckons. The freestanding
sculpture on top, painted in black and
white, could be a distorted telephone
receiver –– but maybe not. It could be
almost anything. Look harder!
Installation view in the back gallery of Franz West works from the 1990s.
All these pieces borrow format from
precious pedestal sculpture, but sub-
vert the idea through the everyday
materials used. The sculptures are
made of tin cans, newspaper, gauze,
buckets, lids, plaster, and goop in
haphazard painted patches. Yet these
awkward sculptures also have the
elegance of fragmented antiquities and
the goofiness of cartoon characters.
What is going on here?
picking up and manipulating the han-
dled objects in a multitude of ways.
Some cradle them like a child, oth-
ers swing them, and others ride them
like a hobby horse. All these objects
are making people move in active par-
ticipation. Unfortunately, the viewer
cannot manipulate the objects in this
Franz West, one of Europe’s liv- exhibition –– a real shame considering
ing legends, is casting his spell. He the artist’s intention.
has worked for decades pushing the With the interactive nature of these
boundaries of traditional sculptural and other works, West has turned the
forms into a viewer/user -friendly idea of “look but don’t touch” upside
realm that is tactile as well as visual, down, putting the viewer in the here
redefining art as a more social experi- and now. Be sure to watch for the
ence. small section in the video that shows
In the front room, his “Passtuck” the artist himself exuberantly playing
(“Adaptive”) sculptures give the clues with one of his “Adaptives.” The free-
one needs to make some sense of the dom and fun come through vividly.

The Inner Life of Dreamscapes

45 Greene Street offers rare chance to view six decades of Gian Berto Vanni
BY STEPHANIE BUHMANN GIAN BERTO VANNI awestruck by the evident pas-
Space Greene sion and lifelong commitment.

I
t is a thrilling yet perplex-
ing treat to discover an art-
ist’s comprehensive oeuvre
that, for no reason other than
a lack of public exposure, has
remained relatively unknown.
The work of the Italian art-
ist Gian Berto Vanni is such
a case. During a conversation
with the artist on the eve of
his current retrospective at
45 Greene Street, he stressed
that avoiding the New York
gallery system was a con-
scious choice based on several
bad experiences, such as his
work getting lost, and belated
45 Greene St., btwn. Broome &
Grand Sts.
Daily, 5-8 p.m.
Through Mar. 21
http://gvanni.com
cussing a wide-ranging body
of work created over an entire
lifetime without falling into the
trap of superficial generaliza-
tion. Approximately 70 works
are exhibited, gathered from
private collections as well as
the artist’s inventory, span-
ning the period from 1943 to
today. Included are a monu-
It is important to drop any
conventional expectation of a
white-cube viewing environ-
ment and embrace the diver-
sity that makes this particu-
lar display unpredictable and
enticing.
What unifies all the works,
no matter the period, is Van-
ni’s devotion to spatial con-
cerns. Most of his works are
purely abstract. They can be
gestural or employ geometric
as well as patterned elements
and detailed ornamentation
reminiscent of Klimt. Vanni’s
compositions are animated
COURTESY GIAN BERTO VANNI

payments and ones not made
at all.
Instead, he preferred to
handle the exhibition of his
work privately, hosting a
biannual open studio in Soho,
where he established himself
when he arrived in New York
in 1978. It is no exaggeration
to say that this new retrospec-
tive in Lower Manhattan, also
organized privately, is this
city’s long overdue opportuni-
ty to be introduced to Vanni’s
work.
The critic’s challenge is dis-
mental 55-foot canvas, paint-
ings from the 1950s and ‘60s
made in Europe, and works
from what Vanni calls his
“American Period.”
The work encompasses
many tendencies and loose
references, ranging from
Redon to Gorky and Matta,
and the show follows the artist
navigating different styles and
techniques. The exhibition is
installed on three floors, and
studying the works separately,
as well as in relation to each
other, one can’t help but be
by the exploration of coun-
terpoints and moments of
friction. Interestingly, he
cites Luigi Pirandello (1867-
1936) as his main artistic
influence. Pirandello wrote
plays based on the investi- Gian Berto’s Vanni’s “Metamorphosis,” 1984, is one of about 70 of the artist’s works on exhi-
gation of frictions between bition at 45 Greene Street through March 21.
rational truth and socially
accepted truth. ture. Nature is a predomi- Vanni was never associated
Vanni’s works are atmo- nant theme, but rather than with any art movements, but
spheric, and can appear as present reflections of nature he was exposed to two strong
dreamscapes, vast horizon as found in the world outside proponents of abstract art
lines, flames, blood streams, us, Vanni’s work speaks to during his formative years.
or aerial views of an unfa- the inner nature and interior
miliar planet’s surface struc- life we all experience. 䉴 DREAMSCAPES, continued on p.18
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
Cynthia Nixon is Mama or just Mrs. Cara in Lisa Loomer’s “Distracted,” directed by Mark Brokaw.
Nixon Loves
Obama
Theater veteran, “Sex in the City” star
returns to the stage in “Distracted”
BY JERRY TALLMER
A
tall and venerated personage
named Fritz Weaver was, with
his wife Rochelle Oliver, on the
way out of the Viand, an Upper West Side
coffee shop, when he stopped to have a
word with a good-looking blonde in a
booth near the door.
“Hello,” Weaver said. “I gave you your
Theatre World Award when you were
14 years old. Now how did I know to do
that?”
“Because you’re an actor! You know
your lines!” responded the woman, who
is quite something of an actor herself.
Her name is Cynthia Nixon, and she
did indeed win a Theatre World Award for
her performance as bratty Dinah Lord in
Philip Barry’s “The Philadelphia Story”
at Lincoln Center when she was 14. She
has since won a bundle of other awards,
including a Best Actress Tony for her
portrayal of the grieving young mother
in David Lindsay Adaire’s 2006 Pulit-
zer Prize “Rabbit Hole.” She appeared in
“Hurly Burly” at 17, and a decade later
was the loosely-moored wife of a closeted
Mormon gay man in “Angels in Amer-
ica.” She is also fairly famous as lawyer
Miranda Hobbes during the six-year run
of HBO’s “Sex and the City.”
At the moment she’s back on stage,
playing another grievously afflicted
mother — one, however, whose child,
nine-year-old Jesse, is only too much
alive. Indeed, he has been diagnosed
with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD),
and that is his mother’s problem and
ongoing headache as she bounces from
one doctor or shrink or form of treatment
to another, much to the scorn of the kid’s
average-good-guy father.
The play, at the Roundabout Compa-
ny’s Laura Pels Theatre, is Lisa Loomer’s
“Distracted,” directed by Mark Brokaw,
and Cynthia Nixon gives dimension and
believability (as always) to a character
merely called Mama or Mrs. Cara — no
first name.
As it happens, Ms. Nixon is a mother
herself — twice. Her daughter is 12-year-
old Samantha Mozes; her son, six-year-
20 MAR – 2 APR 2009 15
JOAN MARCUS
old Charles Ezekiel (Charlie) Mozes. Their
father is Danny Mozes, a teacher of Eng-
lish at Hunter College.
“In some ways,” she said, chin in hand,
there in the coffee shop once Weaver and
his wife had departed — “In some ways,
I’m very similar to this character” —
Mama in “Distracted.” “In some ways, I’m
very different.
“I’m not a person who explores all the
alternatives. I might ask for advice from
just one person. If there are too many
options, I get paralyzed. I pick one option
and do it quickly.”
She and Danny Mozes, who have
known each other since Hunter Junior
High, lived together for a dozen or more
years after graduation. They never mar-
ried. Nowadays she lives with ...
“There’s no good word for it,” Nixon
jumped in. “Girlfriend is fine.”
... named Chistine Marinoni. An edu-
cation activist. An organizer.
“She was a Hillary supporter, I was an
Obama supporter. Christine would say,
‘The one good thing about Obama is he
used to be an organizer in Chicago.’ She
and I met, as a matter of fact, shortly
before September 11, at a protest against
budget cuts for the schools. And she’s
now, for the past year and a half, a stay-
at-home for our kids.”
Nixon was born April 9, 1966, in
Manhattan, the daughter of Texas-bred
journalist (the late) Walter E. Nixon and
Chicago-born writer (for TV’s “To Tell
the Truth,” among other outlets) Anne
Nixon.
“I actually got into acting first through
films,” Nixon recalled. “My mother had
been an actress when young and knew
people in the business. One was a direc-
tor named Ed Levy, who’d been at Yale
Drama School. When I was 11, we ran
into him. He was trying to finance a film
he was making called ‘Mom, the Wolfman
and Me.’
“By the time he made it, I was too old,
but then I got into what were called after-
school specials. I did one with Butterfly
McQueen, another with Theresa Wright.
䉴 NIXON, continued on p.16
16/ Film
Troubles All Around
Steve McQueen’s debut film follows the misery
BY STEVE ERICKSON
S
teve McQueen isn’t
your typical debut film-
maker. He began as a
video artist, creating work like
the Buster Keaton-inspired
“Deadpan,” as well as an
uncompleted project of post-
age stamps commemorating
all the British soldiers killed
in the Iraq War.
“Hunger” is filled with a
pent-up energy, as if McQueen
had been waiting years for the
chance to shoot in 35mm. Set
almost entirely in a Northern
Ireland prison, it aestheticiz-
es jail without making it look
pretty. A few minutes into the
22-minute shot that serves as
its centerpiece, I noticed that
the characters’ plumes of cig-
arette smoke are almost the
same shade of blue as the wall
behind them. “Hunger” keeps
reproducing the same color
scheme, emphasizing the way
the institutionalized violence
of prison influences every
aspect of life within it.
For reasons that aren’t
immediately apparent, “Hun-
ger” begins with prison guard
Raymond Lohan (Stuart Gra-
ham) washing his bloody
knuckles, and follows him
around his daily duties in
Northern Ireland’s Maze Pris-
on. Young prisoner Davey Gil-
len (Brian Milligan) arrives in
jail for the first time. Insisting
that he’s a political prisoner,
not a common criminal, he
refuses to put on the prison
uniform. He gets tossed in a
shit-covered cell with fellow
IRA member Gerry Campbell
(Liam McMahon).
The prison offers IRA mem-
bers the chance to wear civil-
䉴 NIXON, from p.15
Then along came ‘Little Dar-
lings’ [1980], in which I played
a little hippie girl in summer
camp.
“Two years later I auditioned
for, and got, ‘The Philadelphia
Story.’ ”
She was 17 turning 18, a
freshman at Barnard, when
Mike Nichols employed her
simultaneously in Tom Stop-
pard’s “The Real Thing” and
Sam Shepard’s “Hurlyburly.”
The shows — “The Real Thing”
at the Plymouth, “Hurlyburly”
at the Barrymore — were only
two blocks apart, and she had
no problem chasing from one to
the other and still hitting all her
HUNGER
Directed by Steve McQueen
IFC Films
Opens Mar. 20
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at Waverly Pl.
ifccenter.com
ian clothes, but a riot breaks
out when they take the offer
seriously. In a lengthy scene,
Bobby Sands (Michael Fass-
bender) speaks with priest
Dominic Moran (Liam Cun-
ningham), telling the cleric
that he plans to start a hun-
ger strike. Although Moran
argues furiously with him,
Sands’ mind is already made
up.
First and foremost, “Hun-
ger” is concerned with the
way prison reduces people to
bodies. It shows the prison-
ers fighting back with the few
tools at hand — their urine
and feces. Rather than striv-
ing for dignity under difficult
circumstances, they refuse to
wash, shave, or cut their hair.
The prisoners look like mem-
bers of Pink Floyd or Jethro
Tull gone to seed. They cre-
ate mammoth fecal murals on
their cell walls and pour their
urine down the hallway.
The British police are happy
to respond to their dreams of
martyrdom by beating the hell
out of them. No wonder the
production company of Mel
Gibson, who brought us the
passion of an ultra-masoch-
istic Christ, signed on for the
film’s American release.
Like the last great film
about terrorism, Julia Lok-
tev’s “Day Night Day Night,”
“Hunger” feels oddly apoliti-
cal. It utilizes a few Margaret
Thatcher soundbites, but
cues.
She was also terrific in both
of them, as in all else she’s ever
done. Jerry Stiller and Anne
Meara were seated directly
behind this theatergoer at “Dis-
tracted” last week. Just before
the play began, Stiller leaned
forward and murmured to me,
“She saved my life at ‘Hurly-
burly.’”
What he meant, he further
murmured, was that he’d so
hated the character he had to
play — a loud, crass Hollywood
agent who drags a bedraggled
teenage runaway in as a sexual
present for two smoother, if no
less rotten Hollywood types —
that he blocked on learning his
lines.
we learn why the film pays so
much attention to him. While
visiting his senile mother in
a nursing home, he’s shot by
the IRA.
Up to that point, “Hunger”
has only shown violence com-
mitted by the British, but this
scene shows what they fear.
McQueen dwells on the image
of the guard’s mother cov-
ered in her son’s blood. With
BLAST! FILMS – HUNGER LTD.
scenes like these, there’s no
need for speech to explicitly
condemn the violence com-
mitted by the IRA.
There’s an enormous
Michael Fassbender is Bobby Sands in amount of ambition concealed
Steve McQueen’s debut film, “Hunger.” within “Hunger.” However,
much of its freshness stems
McQueen’s own perspec- from McQueen’s distance from
tive is harder to discern. One narrative cinema. He and co-
assumes that he respects the writer Enda Walsh have cre-
idea of Sands’ hunger strike; ated a script that follows no
after all, he made a film about logic but that demanded by
it that doesn’t overtly criticize this particular set of stories.
Sands. I can’t imagine many other
On the other hand, it’s pos- filmmakers creating a riveting
sible that he sympathizes with set piece out of 22 minutes of
the extremely articulate priest conversation, killing off Lohan
who tells Sands that he’s so abruptly, or leaving Gillen
indulging an elaborate death and Campbell behind halfway
wish in the guise of politics. through in order to focus on
There’s little discourse Sands.
about the morality of violence As a director, McQueen is
and the concept of “political equally original, often opt-
murder” from the film’s char- ing for close-ups from bizarre
acters. McQueen includes a angles. His final third alter-
few radio discussions about nates between the unpleas-
it, but they sound utterly dis- ant spectacle of Sands wast-
connected from the day-to- ing away and lyrical hallu-
day world of the prisoners and cinations. “Hunger” travels
their jailers. Sands and Moran through the depths of brutal-
both agree about the Irish ity and abjection to come out
Republican goal, if not the the other side and make an
methods used to achieve it. urgent case for respecting the
However, McQueen’s images Other.
speak louder than words. The
decision to begin “Hunger” by
following Lohan around ini-
In 20 years, perhaps an
American director will make
an equivalent film set in Abu
tially seems odd. Eventually, Ghraib or Guantanamo Bay.
“I thought Nichols was going alin would work for her or him,
to fire me. But then, as we were I’d certainly do it.”
about to go on, Cynthia [the There is a funny shock-effect
bedraggled runaway] whispered moment in “Distracted” when a
to me: ‘It’s all right, Jerry, it’s all Dr. Jinks suddenly jumps up,
right.’ — this 17-year-old kid breaks character — becomes
bucking me up! — and every- an actor playing Dr. Jinks —
thing instantly straightened and exclaims: “I got to stop. I
out.” got to stop. You think I would
The big crisis in “Distracted” even remember my fucking
is whether or not to medicate lines if it weren’t for Ritalin? No
nine-year-old Jesse (Matthew less be able to memorize four
Gumley) with the pacifying Rit- different parts?” — because the
alin that his Dad (Josh Stam- real, actual actor, Peter Benson,
berg) so vehemently opposes. and the make-believe actor do
“I have not been through any indeed carry four parts.
of that,” said Samantha and Dr. Jinks doesn’t really
Charlie’s mother. “I think as a need Ritalin. All he needs is
society we do over-medicate. a 17-year-old Cynthia Nixon
But if I had a child with ADD, whispering in his ear: “It’ll be all
I don’t know what I’d do. If Rit- right, Doc, it’ll be all right.”
20 MAR - 2 APR 2009
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 14 DAYS, from p.13
BOOKS
WED.MAR.25
Iconic Feminist on
Icon’s Family
Acclaimed author Germaine Greer,
one of the most significant feminist
voices of the 20th century, offers fas-
cinating theories into the family life of
a literary genius in the newly published
paperback edition of “Shakespeare’s
Wife.” Barnes & Noble Bookstore,
2289 Broadway at 82nd St., 7 p.m.
For more information, call 212-721-
5282.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
FILM
Babes Who Are
Bad
For the past dozen years, Marýa
Wethers has been a major con-
tributor to New York’s experimental
dance community in NYC as a per-
former, administrator, and currently
associate producer at Dance Theater
Workshop. She’s also a huge action
movie fan. In the latest installment
of “Kinetic Cinema,” Wethers shares
clips from some of her favorite Hol-
lywood action movies with a female
lead or a strong female character.
The scenes follow themes such as
hand-to-hand combat, weapons, and
car chases. These scenes go beyond
silly catfights and show some bad-
ass women kicking some serious
butt. Chez Bushwick, 304 Boerum
St. at White St., buzzer # 11, 7 p.m.
Admission is $10. For more informa-
tion, call 718-418-4405.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
CINEMA
THU.MAR.26
Celebrating Black
Womyn
Queer Black Cinema hosts the fourth
annual Fades of Black Womyn Film
Showcase, honoring pioneer directors
from all over the world exposing their
stories. This year festival honors
Black Hall of Fame Trinidadian Brit-
ish filmmaker Campbell X. The eve-
ning is a carnival-style showcase full
of dance, film, and music. Audience
members will have an opportunity to
showoff their dance moves and win
prizes in the Wheel of Dance contest
made up of flags from various Carib-
bean Islands. DJ Debbie performs.
The Brecht Forum, 451 West St.,
btwn. Bank & Bethune Sts., 7-10
p.m. Tickets are $10 at www.queer-
blackcinema.org/tickets.htm, or at the
door with an additional fee.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
䉴 MAR 26, continued on p.18
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
■ FILM
School’s Out Forever
Facing 30, the gang’s still full of BMOCs, geeks, and losers
BY GARY M. KRAMER
F
ive friends on the cusp of
30 — two gay and three
straight — battle post-
college life in “The New Twenty,”
an involving indie coming-of-age
drama. Directed and co-written
by Chris Mason Johnson, the
film traverses familiar territory
— a close-knit group of friends
all experience job angst, messy
romantic affairs, and what-is-
the-meaning-of-life concerns —
but this episodic drama is bet-
ter than the melodramatic soap
opera this description might
suggest.
One original conceit in this
ensemble piece is that the gay
characters are not the tradition-
al, urbane New York stereotypes
who populate most American
queer indie films.
Ben (Colin Fickes) is a
doughy, bearded gay guy who
is lonely and horny. He goes on
web chatlines looking for dates,
but potential hookups balk
when they learn what he looks
like. His romantic despair is
palpable, especially in compari-
son to his attractive straight pal
Andrew (Ryan Locke).
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Directed by Chris Mason Johnson
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Dubbed the group’s “Alpha
Dog,” Andrew is engaged to
Julie (Nicole Bilderback), and
they soon buy an apartment
together. At the gym, Andrew
encounters Louie (Terry Serpi-
co), a hothead venture capital-
ist who helps finance Andrew’s
business idea. Andrew offers
Julie’s gay brother, Tony
(Andrew Wei Lin), a job, but
when Tony overhears Louie call
him a “faggot,” he declines.
Tony’s life is complicated by
his relationship with Robert (Bill
Sage), a college professor who
discloses on their first date that
he is HIV-positive. Tony has
trouble adjusting to the news,
and much of his storyline has
him navigating this situation.
Perhaps the most emotional
scene in the film has Tony finally
being honest with Robert about
their relationship.
The weakest storyline has
Grill
Breakfast
Lunch &
Dinner
www.celestediner.com
20 MAR – 2 APR 2009
but viewers can fill in some
blanks.
Awkward silences often take
the place of communication
among the friends. Tony and
Felix sit on their roof drinking
beer but never quite discuss-
ing the elephant in the room
— Felix’s addiction. After Tony
turns down Andrew’s job offer,
the two men don’t speak, which
WOLFE RELEASING
makes things uncomfortable
for Julie, driving a wedge in her
relationship with her fiancé.
Johnson does an admirable
Bill Sage (partially obscured) as Robert and job of developing his characters
Andrew Wei Lin as Tony hug in “The New and having them grow over the
Twenty.” course of the film. As they talk
about selling out or slacking
Tony’s roommate Felix (Thomas off, being self-absorbed or self-
Sadoski), a drug addict, pressing loathing, they come across as
for a relationship with a woman real people, not caricatures.
he barely knows, Lucie (Cordelia The ensemble cast also helps
Reynolds), with whom he slept bring these characters to life.
while he was high. Ryan Locke is appropriately
The unifying factor in “The cocky as Andrew, and his self-
New Twenty” is the search for confidence is sexy and alluring.
intimacy. Ben, Andrew, Julie, Locke seems to know this, effec-
Tony, and Felix are all close to tively playing off it to inform his
one another, but that intimacy performance.
does not suffice — they all find As Julie, Nicole Bilderback
themselves craving closeness also has an appealing magne-
with strangers. The film never tism. Like Andrew, Julie is a
quite explores the whys of this, character who knows instinc-
17
tively where she stands, con-
fiding to Louie that at work she
meets the quota for a “hot Asian
chick.”
Unfortunately, both Ben and
Felix are roles that are under-
written. Both are boys who need
to grow up, but neither Colin
Fickes nor Thomas Sadoski is
given enough to do.
Tony, thankfully, is appro-
priately complex; Andrew Wei
Lin plays the role of the charac-
ter facing the most challenging
moral decisions with noticeable
élan.
Despite the film’s strong
points, its final act forces several
of the plot strands to converge.
During a bachelor party Ben and
Louie throw for Andrew, secrets
are revealed, a crisis arises, and
friendships are tested. Johnson
doesn’t tie up everything neatly,
but he clearly felt compelled to
rev up the drama at the film’s
conclusion. “The New Twenty”
might have been a more pow-
erful story if he had not. As the
decade-older Louie observes,
these 20-somethings turning 30
are acting like teenagers; they’ve
clearly been at their problems
for a while.
18
■ FILM
A Roman Colossus
Winter may be the season, but Valentino the lion still roars
BY GARY M. KRAMER
“V
alentino: The Last
Emperor” is an
engaging docu-
mentary about the celebrated
fashion designer celebrating
45 years in the industry. The
clothes are, as expected, abso-
lutely fabulous — sheer, gos-
samer evening gowns, simple
yet elegant, and often in the
designer’s striking, trade-
mark red. This splendid film
is worthwhile just to ogle the
dazzling dresses.
But there is drama as well,
which pivots on one big ques-
tion — will Valentino retire? —
even if viewers may now know
the answer.
This plot conceit is used to
set the film’s tone — as a por-
trait of the artist as an old mas-
ter. The esteemed designer is
first seen hard at work prepar-
ing his Paris collection. Put-
ting the finishing touches on
a gorgeous dress, with pleats,
sequins, and strips of fabric,
there is tension in the house
because Valentino needs to
come up with a “last-minute
miracle.”
These scenes of designing,
producing, and adjusting the
clothes are fascinating for fash-
ionistas as well as the uniniti-
ated. When Valentino has a
spat with someone who ques-
tions his decisions about the
number and placement of fab-
ric strips on a dress, it shows
him at his finest. He also
rightly expresses his dismay
when a hair designer wants
Guy Bourdin-style updos, and
Valentino asks for a chignon.
Such moments in “Valentino:
The Last Emperor” reinforce
a warning spoken in the film
that one must be “brave and
strong” to talk to Valentino.
Interviews and scenes with
Valentino and his partner,
Giancarlo Giammetti, provide
a glimpse into the designer’s
personal life. When the two
men return to the café they
met at decades before to tell
䉴 DREAMSCAPES, from p.14
After receiving a rather tra-
ditional art education at the
University of Rome’s School
of Art and Architecture in the
1940s, Vanni continued his
studies in 1949 in Amsterdam
at the atelier of the De Stijl
member Friedrich Vordem-
berge-Gildewart.
After receiving a Fulbright
grant, he went on to Yale,
where he studied under Josef
Albers.
Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti in a scene from Matt Tyrnaeur’s “Valentino: The Last
Emperor”
VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR
Directed by Matt Tyrnaeur
Acolyte Films
Mar. 18-31
Film Forum
209 W. Houston
filmforum.org
the story of how their lives
began together, Valentino
seems unable — or possibly
unwilling — to confirm what
Giammetti says happened. The
designer acknowledges, with
characteristic stubbornness,
“I only remember the things
I want to remember.” By the
time Giammetti describes the
patience needed to be friend,
lover, and employee to Valen-
tino, his long-suffering status
needs no further expression.
Although Valentino and
Giammetti fight, their rela-
tionship is one of incredible
strength and mutual support.
After the design of a runway
show causes a spat between
them, Giammetti knows he will
never get a proper apology. But,
in a telling moment, Valentino
does hand his partner the gift
of a bracelet as a way of making
amends, albeit silently.
Giammetti explains that
Valentino will “never tell [peo-
ple] how grateful he is.” Yet,
in a touching scene where the
designer receives the French
Legion of Honor, Vanlentino
publicly — and graciously —
thanks Giammetti. There is
obviously more to the men’s
Vanni’s work has noth-
ing of the strict geometricized
forms that characterize both
these teachers’ works — in
seeking influences in Vanni’s
early work, Paul Klee’s is the
most evident — but it reveals
his trust in abstraction as the
most potent visual language
to communicate feelings and
to depict places and experi-
ences.
The strong sense of energet-
ic eclecticism characterizing
Vanni’s oeuvre corresponds
20 MAR – 2 APR 2009
to his longevity and talent. An
amusing compliment from
Karl Lagerfeld at a celebration
serves as confirmation by Val-
entino’s peers of his greatness.
If his ego is large, apparently it
is warranted.
The film shows Valentino
mulling over the idea of retire-
ment, though he dodges some
of the questions that raises. He
ACOLYTE FILMS
reflects about having time to do
other things, but admits that
he is not good at anything else.
Yet, he obviously enjoys his
lavish lifestyle, which includes
impressive homes in both
relationship than the film Rome and outside Paris, which
shows, but what viewers are he shares with his six adorable
privy to is substantial enough. pugs, as well as his yacht and
At one point, when Valentino ski trips in Gstaad.
is having a difficult moment, Giammetti takes the lead in
he asks the camera crew to
stop filming so he and Giam-
metti can talk. While Valentino
planning the elaborate three-
day party in Rome celebrat-
ing Valentino’s 45 years in the
thinks he is above control, the business.. The Coliseum, lit up
camera keeps rolling, which in Valentino Red, will be the
seems to suggest otherwise. backdrop for fireworks, while
This theme has a more seri- other events will be staged at
ous echo later in the film when the Temple of Venus and the
we see Valentino relinquish Ara Pacis museum. While Val-
the controlling interest in his entino worries that the event
company and look toward an will be a circus, his bigger con-
uncertain future. cern is clearly about the pros-
The film deftly shows how — pect of having to look back,
if not why — designers like Val- with a measure of bittersweet-
entino are rare these days. The ness, at a glorious past.
changes in the fashion indus- In the film’s pièce de résis-
try, with the emphasis on the tance, viewers experience the
bottom line, do not have room excitement of the anniversary
for masters like Valentino, who bash, with fashion shows,
learned couture from design- celebrity guests, and beauti-
ers of the 1920s. How, the film ful, breathtaking flying danc-
asks, can Valentino change his ers. Museum walls of mount-
style after having freedom to ed dresses showcase the
do what he wants for so long? “restraint and exuberance” of
What is also suggested is that Valentino’s couture that made
there is no replacement for him a household name. There
Valentino, should he retire. is a remarkable sense of won-
“Valentino: The Last Emper- der to it all.
or” provides only a bit of back- “Valentino: The Last Emper-
ground into the designer’s start or” may have trimmed its sails
in the industry. He explains in revealing the designer as a
that he wanted to dress women person, but his true colors do,
back when he was 13 and saw indeed, emerge. But the stun-
movie stars. A beautifully edit- ning gowns so beautifully pre-
ed sequence showing how Val- sented reveal as much about
entino made his name dress- Valentino as anything he,
ing celebrities — from Jackie Giammetti, or anyone else on
O. to Julia Roberts — testifies camera could.
to the arc of his life, which ing the palaces of Mysore, the
has been rich in extensive deserts of Rajasthan in north-
travel and long periods spent west India, the shrines of Bali,
in different countries. Born in and the Egyptian royal tombs
Rome in 1927, he began his
voyage while in his 20s. For
most of the 1950s, he spent
of Luxor.
Vanni’s paintings might
serve as snapshots of what he
his time between Rome, Paris, has gathered here and abroad
and New York. Another con- — the noise, the silence, the
stant in his life has been the different light and colors spe-
Greek island of Kythira, where cific to each locale.
he bought a plot of land and In Vanni, we find these
built his own studio. elements internalized, pro-
His travels have also led cessed, and spun into their
him to southern India, includ- own microcosm.
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 MAR 26, from p.16
PERFORMANCE
Queens of
Burlesque
Dirty Martini presents the Globes
Invitational Championship of the World
to name the very first Gorgeous Lady
of Burlesque. Ostrich feather fans, be
alerted: one lucky burlesque queen will
stomp the competition and walk away
with a bonified trophy and bragging
rights. Mr. Murray Hill hosts an evening
that will include Miss Exotic World
2004 Martini, 2005 Michelle L’Amour,
and 2006 Julie Atlas Muz, plus Miss Jo
“Boobs” Weldon and Nasty Canasta.
Slipper Room, 167 Orchard St. at
Stanton St., 8 p.m.; show at 10 p.m.
Admission is $10.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
MUSIC
FRI.MAR.27
The Big Gay Sing!
Comedian Scott Nevins hosts an
evening of fun with the New York City
Gay Men’s Chorus featuring your favor-
ite “gay” songs, diva turns from surprise
guests, and the chance to interact with
the boys both on and off the choral ris-
ers. This sing-a-long evening includes
karaoke with glitter — all the show-
tunes you can sing, goodie bags, and
lyric sheets, plus ABBA, Chicago, Frank
Sinatra, Madonna, Kylie, Britney, Judy,
Barbra, and many more! The “Make You
a Star” segment will feature lucky audi-
ence members who will get complete
makeovers and star in a big production
number from “Grease!” Skirball Cen-
ter for Performing Arts, 566 LaGuar-
dia Pl. at Washington Sq. S., 8 p.m.
Tickets are $38-$63 at nycgmc.org.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
PERFORMANCE
Defying Gravity
Elizabeth Streb and her Action Fac-
tion take a closer look at the ordinary,
inanimate things around us in “Streb:
Catapult,” the company’s spring season.
David van Tieghem’s sinuous, evocative
soundtrack is the perfect accompani-
ment to STREB’s ongoing romantic
adventure with gravity. SLAM, the
Streb Lab for Action Mechanics,
51 N. First St., btwn. Kent & Wythe
Aves., Williamsburg. Fri., Sat., 7
p.m.; Sat., Sun., 3 p.m. through May
17. Tickets are $20; $10 for children at
streb.org or 212-352-3101.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
BENEFIT
SAT.MAR.28
Honoring Media
GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alli-
ance Against Defamation, hosts it
annual gala honoring achievements
in outstanding representations of the
LGBT community in the media. Come-
䉴 MAR 28, continued on p.20
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 20 MAR – 2 APR 2009 19

Lec\jjpfl
Ëi\Y`j\olX
c
20/ Theater
Theater in a Minor Key
“33 Variations” is thematically rich but theatrically challenged.
BY CHRISTOPHER BYRNE
T
he theme and varia-
tions is an established
musical structure in
which a composer takes a basic
melodic line and develops it
in other styles. In the case of
Beethoven’s “Diabelli Varia-
tions,” the composer took a
simple and relatively unsophis-
ticated waltz created by music
publisher and promoter Anton
Diabelli and created 33 varia-
tions for piano.
The result is a piece consid-
ered, at least by musicologist
Katherine Brandt, the central
character of Moisés Kaufman’s
new play “33 Variations,” one
of the most sophisticated and
brilliant of Beethoven’s works.
The genius of the work lies in
the complexity, breadth, and
musicality that Beethoven
derives from a basically simple
theme.
Kaufman’s play is in itself
a series of variations on sto-
ries that we have heard before
— strained mother/daughter
relationships, the drive to cre-
ate, the passionate seeking
of knowledge, and coming to
terms with one’s own death.
Plays such as “Wit,” “Well,”
“Amadeus,” and countless oth-
ers have offered their own vari-
ations on these themes. When
the play works, Kaufman’s
take on these themes can be
affecting, but too often it slips
into the maudlin and predict-
able, finding no new music in
the themes and rendering the
evening flat, tiresome, and dis-
appointing.
Katherine Brandt is a college
professor diagnosed with ALS
(Lou Gherig’s disease). Before
she dies, she wants to travel
to Bonn to get access to the
Beethoven library, where she
hopes to find the information
Lady Luck Takes a Walk
“Guys and Dolls” makes the Depression, well, depressing
BY CHRISTOPHER BYRNE
W
hatever “Guys and
Dolls” has been in
the many incarna-
tions that I’ve experienced it
over the years, I would never
have used the words “clinically
depressed.” I would now. The
dolls in this lavish but deeply
flawed production are more
the Neely O’Hara variety than
Broadway at its best.
33 VARIATIONS
Eugene O’Neill Theatre
230 W. 49th St.
Tue. at 7 p.m.; Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m.;
Wed. at 2 p.m.; Sun. at 3 p.m.
$67.00-$117.00; telecharge.com
Or 212-239-6200
Unlike the variations in
which Beethoven went deep-
ly into the original waltz and
developed even the most min-
ute elements into fully formed
and inspired original pieces,
Kaufman’s play never really
delves into the depth of his
characters. Many of Kather-
ine’s transitional moments are
JOAN MARCUS
declamatory and directed to the
audience. We never understand
except in the most superficial
Jane Fonda as Dr. Katherine, with Zach Gre- way what motivates Clara or
nier as Beethoven in the shadow. why nurse Mike simply follows
her to Germany.
she needs to complete a mono- As for Beethoven, he’s
graph on the “Diabelli Varia- painted in broad strokes that
tions.” show the conventional tor -
Her daughter, a somewhat tured genius in operation, while
lost set designer name Clara, Schindler is the long-suffering
has a tense but not deeply amanuensis. There’s nothing
emotional relationship with to make the thematic variations
her mother. Clara ends up in interesting in their own right,
a romance with her mother’s and the final realizations —
nurse, Mike, and when Kather- that Clara has to follow her own
ine’s illness rapidly progresses, path, that Beethoven was never
they decamp to Bonn to care for free to create until his worst
her, along with Katherine’s new fears were realized — are bro-
friend, the Beethoven archivist mides that belong on inspira-
Gertrude. tional posters or greeting cards.
Concurrently, we watch as As a director, Kaufman has
Beethoven, his devoted assis- orchestrated the movement of
tant Anton Schindler, and Dia- the play well, particularly with-
belli track the tormented, years- in Derek McLane’s spectacular
long process of Beethoven set that combines sheet music
completing the variations. The and a monochromatic archive
decline in Katherine’s health indicating, with a creative,
parallels Beethoven’s as he is unobtrusive, and powerful use
rendered deaf. The two sto- of projections, the monumental
rylines overlap only in Kather- amount of material Beethoven
ine’s hallucinations near the created.
end, and the entire undertaking Yet, the characters are never
is underscored by snippets of as dimensional. Jane Fonda,
the “Diabelli Variations” played who looks smashing and qui-
just off stage by Diane Walsh. etly controls the stage by virtue
GUYS AND DOLLS genius -- and an established
Nederlander Theatre part of the Great American
208 W. 41st St. Songbook. Jo Swerling’s and
Tue. at 7 p.m.; Abe Burrow’s book perfectly
Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m.; captures the patois and humor
Wed. at 2 p.m.; Sun. at 3 p.m. of the gaudy, bawdy, and taw-
$50-$125; ticketmaster.com dry stretch of New York called
Or 212-307-4100
“Runyonland,” after Damon
Runyon -- whose wry obser-
“Guys and Dolls” is about vations of the seamier side of
as close as one can get to a Gotham in the Great Depres-
perfect show. Frank Loess- sion form the basis for the
er’s score is musical comedy characters like Nathan Detroit,
of her star power alone, never
gives us much of Katherine’s
inner life. Katherine telegraphs
her internal conflict, and the
deterioration of her body cer-
tainly shows it, but we never
feel it.
Yes, Katherine is a largely
cold and analytical academ-
ic, but when do we see the
humanity beneath it? Fonda’s
performance is controlled and
contained, and while Katherine
would never engage in histrion-
ics, we aren’t let in sufficiently
to feel her struggle.
On the other hand, Zach
Grenier as Beethoven is all
drama and excess. Even so,
he gives the most focused
and developed performance
in the piece. Under the bom-
bast, there is a pounding inner
struggle and vulnerability that
is affecting. If Beethoven’s final
realizations are disappointing,
that’s the fault of the play and
not the performer.
Samantha Mathis is ade-
quate as Clara. She doesn’t
have far to go in the arc of the
character, but she has a nice
presence. Colin Hanks also
suffices, as Mike, in a virtually
thankless role whose function
is largely as a literary device to
reflect Clara and Katherine’s
perceptions of her.
Susan Kellerman as Ger-
trude, Don Amendolia as Dia-
belli, and Erik Steele as Schin-
dler turn in solid performanc-
es, but they are not asked to
do much.
Ironically, the most moving
moment in the evening is not
Kaufman’s but Beethoven’s.
The entire cast faces down-
stage and sings an excerpt
of the “Missa Solmenis.” It is
pure, honest, and profoundly
moving, and it shows how,
even in a small moment, the
power of true genius endures.
Sky Masterson, Miss Adelaide,
and Sarah Brown.
The stories of guys in eye-
hurting suits always trying to
make the next deal, the next
buck, and the dolls they love
and bicker with is a classic
American tale. From church
basements to Broadway, this
show has always been bank-
able.
䉴 DEPRESSION, continued on p.23
20 MAR - 2 APR 2009
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 MAR 28, from p.18
dian Kate Clinton emcees an evening
that includes special awards to Tyra
Banks, Suze Orman, and Phil Dona-
hue. Those appearing include John
Amaechi, Vanessa Williams, Trevor
Wright, Brad Rowe, Keith Olbermann,
Chris Noth, Heather Matarazzo, S.
Epatha Merkerson, T.R. Knight, Judith
Light, David Mixner, Cherry Jones, Tim
Gunn, Stockard Channing, Michelle
Clunie, Clay Aiken, and Jensen Atwood
and Darryl Stephens, the stars of TV’s
“Noah’s Arc.” Marriott Marquis,
1535 Broadway at 45th St., Times
Square. Cocktails at 5:30 p.m.; din-
ner at 7. Tickets are $400; $500 for
VIP admission to a 10:30 afterparty at
glaad.org.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
FILM
Synthesizing
Media
Forty-five years after filmmaker
Elaine Summers won rave reviews
from Jonas Mekas in the Village Voice
for “by far the most successful and
most ambitious attempt to use the
many possible combinations of film and
live action to create an aesthetic expe-
rience,” she is still hard at work on her
multi-disciplinary projects. As part of
the historic Judson Dance Theatre move-
ment, Summers merged medias, formal
aesthetics, and improvisation to create
“Intermedia,” which, in her words, is like
a rainbow, a phenomenon requiring two
elements to produce the third. A program
of Summer’s Intermedia work from the
1960s-’80s will be presented, including
Walking Dance For Any Number (1968),
Kinetic Athletic Frenzy (1969), “Illumi-
nated Workingman” (1975), and “Crow’s
Nest / Solitary Geography” (1980).
Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second
Ave. at Second St., 7 p.m. Tickets are
$9; $6 for members; and $7 for students
& seniors.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
All Kinds of
Service
Tabla Rasa Gallery hosts free
movies today, including “The Naked
Civil Servant” (1975), at 1 p.m., based on
Quentin Crisp’s autobiography, starring
John Hurt as Crisp, a flamboyant charac-
ter who publicly declared his homosexu-
ality during the brutally homophobic and
misogynistic England of the 1930s and
’40s — a time when sodomy was still an
offense punishable, and often punished,
by imprisonment. Jack Gold directed. At
3:15, Craig Gillespie’s “Lars and the Real
Girl” (2007) will be screened, a comedy
screenwritten by Nancy Oliver about a
shy, lonely, socially inept young man,
played by Ryan Gosling,who develops
a relationship with a life-sized, ana-
tomically-correct doll he orders on the
䉴 MAR 28, continued on p.22
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 20 MAR – 2 APR 2009 21
■ THEATER

One Night Only

Can’t-miss “Legends!” stars Lypskinka, Charles Busch, Whoopi
BY CHRISTOPHER BYRNE LEGENDS! ing of the play with male leads
Town Hall in Sag Harbor, and, he said,

W
hat could be more
fun than watching a
couple of divas have
at each other? Perhaps when
those divas are drag legends
Lypsinka and Charles Busch
— aided and abetted in their
revelry by Whoopi Goldberg
and Bryan Batt — in a one-
night-only performance of the
infamous James Kirkwood
play, “Legends!”
The play, in which a pair of
aging archenemies are forced
to work together to salvage
their flagging careers, has
never been done in New York.
Oh, they’ve tried. The pro-
duction starring Mary Martin
and Carol Channing toured
for a while, but was noted for
its backstage battling. Later,
Linda Evans and Joan Col-
lins tried to capitalize on their
“Dynasty” battles, but that
production also famously fell
123 W. 43rd St.
Mar. 23 at 8 p.m.
$60-$100; ticketmaster.com
Or 212-307-4100
$250 VIP seats at 800-996-5433
John Epperson, aka Lypskin-
ka, has completely rewritten
the play. The evening has the
same dramatic arc and num-
ber of scenes, he said, before
adding, “I don’t want people
who have seen or know the
original play to say, ‘I don’t
want to see that.’ It’s not what
they’re going to see.”
For one, the two leads are
being played by men. Epper-
son acknowledged that was
not an original concept. He
explained that Kirkwood’s
memoir “Diary of a Mad Play-
wright,” which kept the drama
swirling around this play alive
for so many years, informed
some of the rewriting: “The
Nichols seemed to think that
the casting was right.
“A lot of the audience reac-
tion to that evening stuck in
my mind,” Epperson said.
“When you think about the
things that happen in the play
and what the characters do
and you think of Mary Martin,
you’re kind of embarrassed.
But when there are two men
in the roles, you can get away
with a lot.
“I kept thinking about the
audience response, and I
thought, ‘What can I lose if I do
a rewrite of the play and send
it to the agent of the deceased
playwright?’”
Evidently he could lose
nothing, as the agent never
responded.
Epperson then sent it to
Whoopi Goldberg with the
idea of her doing the role of the
African-American housekeep-

apart.
And so, on March 23 at
Town Hall, New Yorkers will
finally get a chance to see this
play in a full staged reading.
first person [Kirkwood] gave
the play to was Mike Nichols,
and he said he wanted the two
women to be played by men.”
Epperson did a staged read-
TIMOTHY WHITE
er. Goldberg loved it, said she
would do it, and then in the
kind of magic that only hap-
Pictured: Charles Busch, Whoopi Goldberg, and Lypsinka will star in the first-ever New York
䉴 LEGENDS!, continued on p.22 City presentation of Pulitzer Prize-winner James Kirkwood’s “Legends!”

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■ THEATER
Coal Mine Gold Strike
A rarely seen D.H. Lawrence play gets dusted off and shines
BY DAVID KENNERLEY
T
here’s an intense, turn-
of-the-20th-century
drama now playing in
the theater district that fea-
tures a fraught, 30-year-old
woman suffocating from a
doomed marriage. So desper-
ate, it seems, that only a death
can free her. And, no, I’m not
referring to the Roundabout’s
revival of “Hedda Gabler.” That
ill-conceived production, with
a newly updated text, suffers
from an identity crisis, render-
ing it more soggy than searing.
Instead, I’m referring to “The
Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd,”
written by D. H. Lawrence in
1910, the latest gem to be
unearthed by the Mint Theater
Company.
D.H. Lawrence? Yes, the
convention-busting, bisexual
British author, whose infa-
mous “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”
caused such an outrage that it
was labeled pornographic and
banned in some countries,
actually wrote eight plays,
none of which he ever saw pro-
duced.
Apparently “The Widowing
of Mrs. Holroyd,” Lawrence’s
second play, was so unflinch-
ingly realistic, with its mun-
dane working class characters,
odd-sounding mining village
dialect, and frank depiction of
marital strife and death, that
nobody would produce it. The
play’s eccentric pacing, with a
largely ferocious Act I and II,
followed by a subdued, elegi-
ac final act, probably stymied
backers as well.
When the work was finally
staged in 1916, some called
it “repellently gruesome.”
No doubt the virile, shirtless
corpse splayed on the floor for
䉴 LEGENDS!, from p.21
pens in showbiz, the Kirkwood
estate’s agent was interested.
And so things began to move.
Epperson next approached
Charles Busch, whom Epper-
son said was the perfect choice
to do the show with him. He
even gave Busch the choice of
roles. Busch will play Sylvia
Glenn to Epperson’s Leatrice
Monsee and Goldberg’s Aretha.
In Epperson’s rewrite, the
character of the housekeeper
is significantly built up, and
much of the diva’s roles are
restored. He’s set the play in
2009, which means that a pay
phone becomes a cell, but it
also means that Bryan Batt
as the producer has a more
streamlined role than in the
Nick Cordileone, Eric Martin Brown, and Julia Coffey in the Mint Theatre production of D.H.
Lawrence’s “The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd.”
most of Act III had something
to do with it.
Strangely enough, these are
precisely the elements that
lend the play its appeal today.
And with a top-notch produc-
tion directed head-on by Stu-
art Howard, the work is an
uncompromising, poignant
piece of theater. By staying true
to its original spirit (no major
tinkering with the script here)
the play carries an uncanny
emotional heft.
The action takes place in
the kitchen/dining room of
the Holroyd’s modest house
— somewhere in the indus-
trial Midlands of England —
where rats are known to visit.
The authentic set, by Marion
Williams, exudes a homey yet
repressed aura at the same
time. In place of grass, a yard
of coal surrounds the house,
a reminder of their oppressive,
dreary lot in the pits. A hot
stove rules the room, and, as
in “Hedda,” signals that some-
original.
Epperson said that Gary
Beach, who played the role
originally was so hilarious that
Kirkwood expanded his scenes
— largely due to the fact that
Mary Martin, who was getting
her lines fed to her through
an earpiece that occasionally
picked up taxi signals, was less
and less able to carry her part.
“Since Mary Martin is not
in this production,” Epperson
observed wryly, “I cut the scene
and made it shorter.”
Still, even with the stars
attached and a new script,
Epperson could only get per-
mission for a one-night perfor-
mance. The reading, which will
have a full set and costumes,
though books will be in hand,
will benefit Friends In Deed, the
20 MAR – 2 APR 2009
THE WIDOWING OF MRS. HOLROYD
Mint Theatre
311 W. 43rd St., third fl.
Tue.-Thu. at 7 p.m.; Fri. at 8 p.m.;
Sat. at 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun. at 2 p.m.
Through Apr. 5
$55; minttheatre.org
Or 212-315-0231
Holroyd and children away
from her beast of husband,
Nick Cordileone is appealing, if
a tad too ingratiating.
One of the trickiest hurdles
for the cast is the Midlands
accent, and not all the actors
RICHARD TERMINE
were successful all the time,
making some stretches tough
going. Actually, the youngsters
(Dalton Harrod and Amanda
Roberts, on the night I attend-
ed) who played the Holroyds’
son and daughter fared better
body is going to get burned. than some of the adults.
That they do. As in many other works
Adding to the immediacy by Lawrence, relationships
is the superb sound design, between the sexes are strained,
by Jane Shaw. At one point, a if not downright poisonous. The
commotion I thought was next opposite sex is a murky rid-
door turned out to be part of dle best left unsolved. “I don’t
the play. understand you men,” Mrs.
As the titular wife who’s “had Holroyd snarls. Relationships
enough” of being treated like between the classes are equally
a slave, Julia Coffey is utter- problematic.
ly forceful, yet sympathetic. Is this a perfect play? Of
When her inebriated husband course not. After all, neglected
brings home two plump, thrill- plays are ignored for good rea-
seeking “trollops” (Sheila Sta- son. The clunky foreshadow-
sack and Pilar Witherspoon), ing and symbolism are heavy-
you can feel her throat tighten handed, some characters are
and the remaining soft spot in flat, and the whole endeavor
her heart turn to stone. seems to run out of steam, with
A bearded Eric Martin loose ends dangling, leaving us
Brown, who bears a passing hanging as well.
resemblance to the author him- And yet, if you were as non-
self, chillingly evokes Holroyd, plused about the current,
a mean drunk raging against mucked-up “Hedda Gabler”
his atrophied marriage and his revival as most theatergoers, do
low-class roots. “I’m not good yourself a favor and head to the
enough for her,” he cries. Mint Theater. And see how a
As the local electrician who period domestic drama should
sets his sights on whisking Mrs. be staged, pure and simple.
Crisis Center for Life-Threaten- When I spoke to him, the
ing Illness. Founded by Mike show was just about to go
Nichols and Cynthia O’Neal into rehearsals, so my desire
in 1991, the organization pro- for dish had to be postponed.
vides a variety of free programs For the curious, Epperson
supporting people with HIV/ has been blogging about the
AIDS, cancer, and other grave process on his site, Lypsinka.
illness, as well as running HIV com, and it’s fun reading.
prevention programs for teens Before I begin to sing “One
in city schools and programs Night Only” as exhortation to
for the families, friends, and you to buy tickets, I should
caregivers of those affected mention that representatives
(for more information, visit from the Kirkwood estate will
friendsindeed.org). be on hand on the 23rd, and if
Epperson said everyone they like what they see, there
involved in the benefit had may be more interest in a com-
donated their time, including mercial run. Yet, all Epperson
director Mark Waldrop, scenic would say is, “There are things
designer Ray Klausen, cos- swirling around, but mum’s
tume designer Favio Toblini, the world right now.”
lighting and sound designer So, I wouldn’t risk missing
Matt Berman, and choreogra- this. After all, you can always
pher Josh Rhodes. go back… and you would.
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 MAR 28, from p.20
Internet. 224 48th St., btwn. Second &
Third Aves., Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
The gallery’s hours are Thu.-Sat., 1-5
p.m. For more information, call 718-833-
9100.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
MUSIC
Rome in the 17th
Century
ARTEK will present virtuoso vocal
chamber music, including cantatas by Gia-
como Carissimi, Luigi Rossi, Alesssandro
Stradella, Marco Marazzoli, and Mario
Savioni, and additional instrumental music
by Luigi Rossi, Alessandro Melani, Lelio
Colista, and Stefano Landi. ARTEK’s sing-
ers — Jessica Tranzillo, soprano; Barbara
Hollinshead, mezzo-soprano; Drew Mint-
er, countertenor; Philip Anderson, tenor;
Michael Brown, tenor; and Peter Becker,
bass-baritone — will be accompanied
by strings, lutes, harp, and harpsichords.
Immanuel Lutheran Church, 122 E.
88th St., 8 p.m. Tickets are $20-$40; $10-
$30 for students & seniors at gemsyny.org
or 212-866-0468.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
NIGHTLIFE
Garage Tunes
DJ Carlos Sanchez returns for Dance
208’s spring edition of Paradise Garage
classics. The Garage was one of the most
famous and influential clubs the dance
world has known, where the likes of
Diana Ross, Keith Haring, Grace Jones,
and Madonna might be seen on any given
night dancing to the music of revered mix-
master DJ Larry Levan. “Heartbeat,” “Is
It All Over My Face?,” “Hot Shot,” “Don’t
Make Me Wait,” and “Instant Replay” are
just some of the songs made famous at
the Garage. LGBT Community Center,
208 W.. 13th St., 8 p.m.-1 a.m. Admission
is $8 at gaycenter.org; $10 at the door; $6
for Center members.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
MUSIC
SUN.MAR.29
Tea and Symphony
The Salon & Tea only is a classical
music event that mixes hot melodies,
sweet tea, taste treats, and the chance to
mingle with fellow music-lovers. Host and
cello diva Ilya presents a bi-monthly recital
with exceptional guest performers. LGBT
Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., 3
p.m. Suggested donation is $15. For more
information, visit xanga.com/musicsalon.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
SPIRITUALITY
Spa Day for the
Soul
The Jewish Community Center in
Manhattan hosts its third annual day
spa, bringing together spiritual teachers
from contemplative traditions for a day of
meditation, healing, and spiritual practice
for LGBTQ people and their allies. The
䉴 MAR 29, continued on p.24
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 20 MAR – 2 APR 2009 23

䉴 DEPRESSION, from p.20 posed to give us the atmosphere of

New York. It’s gratuitous.
It may be that director Des McAnuff As written, this show launches at a
just doesn’t get this show. He has his high point with “Fugue for Tinhorns,”
actors trying to play the roles more or and doesn’t let up until the final
less naturalistically, which is at odds reprise of “Guys and Dolls.” McAnuff
with the cartoonish nature of the book. doesn’t get this, and the book scenes
Particularly in the performance of Oli- fall flat.
ver Platt as Nathan, the desire to find To be fair, Trujillo does a fine job
a deep inner truth in the character with the choreography, and the sewer
deadens the flash, bravado, and abject ballet that leads into “Luck, Be a Lady”
terror of marriage that makes him so is the only exciting part of the show.
appealing. Platt never really catches He’s got some of the best male danc-
fire, and, when he’s not delivering ers on Broadway working for him, and
lines, seems to haunt the sidelines they’re working their hearts out.
with a hangdog look. Yes, it’s hard to There’s been no stinting on the
keep a floating crap game running, but money spent on this show. The period
Nathan has got to have flash. costumes by Paul Tazewell are excel-

Craig Bierko as Sky Masterson
takes one of the sexiest male leads
in musicals and makes him bland.
Lauren Graham has no edge as Miss
Adelaide, and Kate Jennings Grant as
Sarah, the uptight girl from the Save-
A-Soul Mission, seems to have anger
issues bordering on the bipolar.
Technically, the performances are
sloppy. Pitch problems plague each of
the four leads, with Graham being the
most egregious, unable to find the mel-
ody for “Sue Me” at the performance I
saw, and Jennings warbling all around
the final note of “If I Were a Bell,” until
she finally found it, but slipped down
almost half a tone.
Even Bierko, the most accomplished
musician of the group, couldn’t man-
age to hit the notes in “My Kind of
Day,” a beautiful bluesy verse that
leads into “I’ve Never Been in Love
Before,” arguably one of the most
Oliver Platt, Lauren Graham, Craig Bierko, and Kate Jennings Grant in “Guys and Dolls.”
stunning duets in all show music.
It’s not only the singing that misses.
Jennings has trouble landing a basic
slap — even facing upstage, using
what the director Alan Schneider
called “bargain basement technique.”
Graham lumbers her way through
“A Bushel and a Peck” and “Take Back
Your Mink,” as if choreographer Sergio
Trujillo had to decorate around her.
But Miss Adelaide is supposed to be
the headliner. Instead Graham makes
her seem like what Cole Porter would
have called “the laziest girl in town.”
She certainly invested almost nothing
in “A Person Could Develop a Cold,”
another usually can’t-miss number.
The secondary characters also lack
spark, though there are some strong
ANDY RYAN
moments. Tituss Burgess is mostly
forgettable as Nicely Nicely Johnson
until “Sit Down You’re Rocking the
Boat,” but even that classic, turned
into a full-on gospel extravaganza,
seems forced. We never get the sense
that Nicely is making his “testimony”
up as he goes along, only to finally get
swept up in his own fantasy. That’s the
comedy of that number and its charm;
for all his technical proficiency, Bur-
gess never really gives us the charac-
ter.
If that’s not enough, Damon Runyon
is a character. In an opening lifted
more or less from “City of Angels,” we
see Runyon starting to write his sto-
ries. It slows down the pace, as does
the opening dance number that’s sup-
lent. Robert Brill’s set is a riot of gird-
ers and oversized signs and neon that
are stunning, but the projections by
Dustin O’Neill reminded me of “The
Woman in White,” and often gave me
motion sickness.
Nothing, though, put the nail in
this for me as much as Bruce Cough-
lin’s new orchestrations. Darker, more
muted, and with a heavier emphasis
on low brass, it’s a rich sound, but like
so much else in this production, it is
heavy and overdone and drags the eve-
ning down -- by the fancy tie around
its throat, as Nicely puts it.
You would think that given the cur-
rent state of the economy and a desire
to escape reality for a couple of hours
probably all-too-common today —
movie grosses are way up — a revival
of “Guys and Dolls” would be just the
tonic theatergoers need. Sadly, this
roll of the dice comes up snake eyes.

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24
■ IN THE NOH
Ritzy-Fritzi-Glitzy Mitzi
Gaynor’s glow, Renee’s Rusalka, Rainbow time
BY DAVID NOH
I
t may be true that the cam-
era never lies, but, some-
how, movies never cap-
tured the real essence of Mitzi
Gaynor. She was a talented
triple threat actress-singer-
dancer, but eternally cast as
a perky All-American girl next
door with all the requisite
blandness that implies.
To meet her is to experi-
ence a juicy pistol of a woman
— bawdy, blisteringly honest,
and funny, much like Deb-
bie Reynolds, another screen
sweetheart masking a wonder-
fully rowdy personality.
When I mentioned this con-
trast to her, Gaynor laughed
it off: “That just shows what
good actresses we are, if we
can make you think how sweet
and lovely we are! Debbie is
divine. When my husband,
Jack [Bean], and I were dating
we used to have to go to those
fan magazine parties and Jack
would say, ‘Let’s find out if
Debbie’s going because if she’s
there we know were gonna
have fun. I love her, and we’re
not supposed to really like
each other, you know, because
we sort of did the same stuff,
but we do.”
You can get a major dose of
this star with the documenta-
ry DVD “Mitzi Gaynor — Raz-
zle Dazzle! The Special Years”
(City Lights), which has hilari-
ous interviews, as well as foot-
age from the lavish TV specials
she did in the ’70s, gowned
to the teeth by Bob Mackie
and surrounded by handle-
bar-mustached chorus boys
campily shimmying in Day-Glo
spandex.
The film “South Pacific” is
mentioned as the highpoint
of her career, and Gaynor told
me, “I think furious is the word
to describe Mary Martin, who
was pretty sure she was going
to play the lead. But then, she
was older than Rossano Brazzi
and she wasn’t a movie star,
and I was pretty hot at the
time and the right person for
it because I sang in Mary Mar-
tin’s keys. That meant a lot to
Rodgers and Hammerstein. I
had the right kind of civic light
opera voice.
“I couldn’t see Elizabeth
Taylor –– poor little Elizabeth
Taylor! I mean, my God, she
woulda have been queen of the
islands, for heaven’s sake. She
woulda been Cleopatra! You’re
playing a nice Navy nurse
from Arkansas and you look
like Elizabeth Taylor? Doris
Day was also considered and
Susan Hayward wanted it, but
Mitzi Gaynor, in the 1960s and ’70s, as seen in a new DVD documentary of her life from City Lights.
I seemed to have been the right
one.
“Also, don’t forget — I
screen-tested for it and all the
other actresses said, ‘I won’t!’
You never know — maybe
their agents screwed it up for
them, but I am forever grate-
ful. Listen, babe, if I hadn’t
done ‘South Pacific,’ you and
I would not be talking now —
that’s how important it was to
my life.
“To shoot it, we flew to the
Na Pali Coast from Honolulu
on Aloha Airlines, which was
made of spit, cardboard, string,
and bobby pins. Lydia [Mrs.
Brazzi] weighed 300 pounds
and they used to make her sit
in front of the plane because
if she sat in the tail, they
couldn’t get off the ground.
But we got lei’ed — you should
pardon the expression — and
were there in our jewelry, gir-
dles, bras and stockings, all
that crap you have on, and we
couldn’t wait to unfold and let
everything hang out.
“Lydia brought all these furs
with her because she thought
she was going to meet King
Kamehameha, because, of
course, you wear a chinchilla
wrap when you meet a king,
dontcha? And in the hotel at
4:30 a.m., you’d hear, ‘Rossa-
no, you international sonuva-
beetch!’ as we went on location.
“It was fun, because we
had three weeks of rehearsal
before we left the mainland,
but of course you never know
when you’re in sand up to your
cojones and they’d forgotten
to put tracks under the sand.
It’s hard to be a Navy nurse
on location in the girdle and
stockings. If a guy had to go to
the bathroom, he went behind
20 MAR – 2 APR 2009
a tree, but I had to be driven in
a truck 40 miles to the john. I
didn’t drink much water.”
“There’s No Business Like
Show Business” br ought
Gaynor in contact with legends
Ethel Mer man, whom she
adored, and Marilyn Monroe:
“That was unfortunate,
because Marilyn at the time
was creating Marilyn, and she
was in a nest of vipers –– all of
us real pros, people from the-
ater. Me, Ethel, Dan Dailey,
Donald O’Connor. Ethel used
to say, ‘All right, where’s the
blonde?’ And Marilyn would
be posing or thinking of her
lines, like ‘Yes, Mrs. Donahue,’
which took her forever to say,
and it would drive Ethel crazy.
It really drove us all kind of
nuts because she really didn’t
belong there, except for one
thing –– she walks away with
the movie. Phenomenal!
“I don’t think Marilyn gets
enough credit for what she did,
and anybody that ridicules
her or says she was a pain,
just look at what she brought
to what she did! Now I’m not
gonna tell you that I loved
her. I didn’t — I was jealous
and hated her because I was
younger and cuter and smart-
er, and my movies were bigger,
and I had a smaller waist, and
she had a bigger arse than I
did. Ha ha!”
Gaynor cited choreographer
Jack Cole as instrumental in
both her and Monroe’s careers.
At a recent tribute to him, she
used her considerable mimic
skills to do a hilarious cross-
eyed impression of him: “He
couldn’t turn because his
eye was funny. That’s why
you notice there are no rows
of chenées or piqué turns in
CITY LIGHTS
his work. But every woman
who ever worked with him fell
madly in love with him. He
had such humor and brought
out things in women that had
never been brought out before.
“His two best exponents
were Betty Grable and Mon-
roe. He saw Betty in a whole
different way — she wasn’t
just a cute little pinup girl, she
could really move and groove.
Ohmigod, what he did for
Marilyn! She loved every min-
ute of it. He invented her and
she knew it, too. She never did
anything musical without him,
including ‘Let’s Make Love,’ the
downfall of Yves Montand!”
Cole, Mackie, Orry-Kelly,
George Cukor, and Edmund
Goulding are just a few of
the talented gay men Gaynor
worked with: “My dear, that
old hackneyed saying, ‘Some
of my best friends are…’ Well,
I have very few civilians [het-
erosexuals] as friends because
they’re such crashing bores
— that’s the way I feel about
life. But why does everybody
have to say what everybody
is? Can’t people just be people
and enjoy each other? There’s
so little love in this world. Let
people alone and be happy
being what they want to be.
“For a serious moment,
David, I lost about 40 or
more of the kids, the danc-
ers I worked with. I can’t tell
you how many funerals I’ve
gone to, how many mothers
I’ve picked up at the airport.
I used to cook for so many of
my friends and take food out
to them. AIDS is such a tragic
thing, but love is all around us
–– we just have to take it.”
䉴 MITZI, continued on p.26
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 MAR 29, from p.22
day will include body work, such as yoga
and massage, meditation, and inspiring
speakers addressing the unique challeng-
es and opportunities of spiritual practice
as a member of the LGBTQ community.
JCC, 334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St.,
4 p.m. Admission is $35-$40 at www.jcc-
manhattan.org or 646-505-5708.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
MON.MAR.30
HUMAN RIGHTS
Honoring Global
Courage
The International Gay and Lesbian
Human Rights Commission hosts its annual
human rights award gala, “A Celebration of
Courage.” The event includes presentation
of the 2009 Felipa de Souza Award, named
for a 15th century nun persecuted in the
Portuguese Inquisition in Brazil, to Helem,
the first organization in the Arab world to
establish a gay and lesbian community
center. A special award will also be given
to Microsoft for its work promoting local
equality through LGBT-supportive work-
place policies around the world. Carson
Kressley, of “How to Look Good Naked”
and “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” will
host. Rosenthal Penthouse, NYU’s
Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Sq.
So., 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tickets are $50-$150
at iglhrc.org or 212-430-6054.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
BOOKS
So Funny, So Gay
A panel of comics and writers — Mike
Player, Bob Smith, Michele Balan, Jaffe
Cohen, Jason Dudley, and Danny McWil-
liams — will discuss what it’s like to be a
gay comic today. The evening will include
a reading from a new collection of essays
entitled “Out on the Edge: American’s Rebel
Comics.” Barnes & Noble Bookstore,
2289 Broadway at 82nd St., 7 p.m. Free.
For more information, call 212-721-5282.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
CABARET
Tonight Only
Scott Nevins’ “Curtain Call” presents
Kelly King, who just recorded her first solo
CD after touring the country opening for
Baby Face and Michael Bolton, Alysha
Umphress, and Marisela singing some of
the hottest tunes on Broadway. Nevins,
who is now touring and working on a TV
show in Los Angeles, is back in New York
for one-night only to host this special edition
of “Curtain Call.” Splash Bar, 50 W. 17th
St., 11:30 p.m. Admission is free until 10
p.m.; $5 after that. You must be 21.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
POETRY
TUE.MAR.31
Universal Appeal
Mark Doty, the 2008 winner of the
National Book Award for Poetry and the
䉴 MAR 31, continued on p.26
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 20 MAR – 2 APR 2009 25

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26/ Opera
Verdi Trumps Marx
Met redeems “Il trovatore” as great music drama
BY JAMES JORDEN
W
hat the Marx Broth-
ers mocked in “A
Night at the Opera,”
the Metropolitan Opera has now
redeemed as a night of great
music drama.
When the comic team lam-
pooned grand opera in their
1935 film, Giuseppe Verdi’s “Il
trovatore” was an easy target for
its over-the-top story of a royal
romance, civil war, a mysteri-
ous troubadour, and a revenge-
obsessed Gypsy. The libretto
bulges with scenes of mistaken
identity, jealous denunciation,
and anvil-whacking.
At the Met, director David
McVicar sets “Il trovatore” in the
era of the Spanish Peninsular
War of the early 19th century.
The bizarre plot coincidences
seem plausible in the context
of the guerrilla atrocities of this
notoriously bloody conflict. The
set by Charles Edwards rotates
to reveal bombed-out walls and
rickety scaffolding against a
backdrop inspired by the paint-
ings of Francisco de Goya. Even
the period costumes (by Brigitte
Reiffenstuel) look appropriately
threadbare and dusty.
One immense practical ben-
efit of this production is that
the action proceeds without the
long, attention-sapping breaks
for set changes that so handicap
many of the Met’s heavy natu-
䉴 MITZI, from p.24
In that department, Gaynor
was blessed for more than
50 years with husband Jack
Bean: “Ohmigod! He was a
guiding light — everybody
adored him, with the great-
est sense of humor, he under-
stood talent and all my friends
were his friends. A huge part of
my life –– he was my life. Yeah,
he’s with me all the time.
“I go to the cemetery at
least twice a month because
I have to tell him everything:
‘So, Daddy, then I did this and
then I did that, and it’s gonna
be like this.’ It’s good for me.
It’s over two years now [since
his death], but it seems like
yesterday. It does not get any
easier. I don’t know if you have
anybody that you love very
much, but treasure them,
because it’s hard to be alone.”
Mitzi Gaynor will appear at
Barnes & Noble, Lincoln Tri-
angle, 1972 Broadway at 66th
Street, at 5:30 pm, March 31,
to sign copies of the new 50th
IL TROVATORE
Metropolitan Opera
Lincoln Center
Mar. 20, Apr. 21 & 29 at 8 p.m.;
Apr. 25 at 8:30 p.m.;
May 2 at noon
$15-$275; metopera.org
ralistic productions from the
1990s. As I was leaving the the-
ater after curtain calls, I noticed
that “Trovatore” was letting
out at exactly the same time as
“South Pacific” across the plaza
— no mean feat for a company
that earlier this season present-
ed a four-hour-long version of
“Lucia di Lammermoor.
McVicar keeps the action as
grim as the backgrounds. Di
Luna’s soldiers are a shambling,
weary lot, and Azucena punc-
tuates her curses with cynical
chuckles. A few touches misfire.
For example, Leonora’s poison
takes effect far too quickly, leav-
ing Sondra Radvanosky lurch-
ing and flailing like Rosa Moline
on her way to the Chicago train.
In contrast to these grim visu-
als, Verdi’s music sounds all the
more lush. As the tormented
mother, Dolora Zajick’s monu-
mental mezzo-soprano roared
with rage, then dwindled to a
caressing whisper for the lullaby
“Ai nostri monti” (“Home to our
mountains”). Her performance
was immaculately musical,
every tiny marking observed,
without ever sounding pedantic
anniversary Blu-ray DVD
release of “South Pacific” as
well as her DVD documentary.
R
enee Fleming was a
gorgeous treat to both
eyes and ears as the
Metropolitan Opera’s “Rusal-
ka” (seen March 9), while
Stephanie Blythe’s Jezibaba
was the best operatic witch I’ve
ever seen.
At an elegant after -party
at Bar Boulud, hosted by
Ann Ziff, who loves her sarto-
rial feathers, most of the cast
was in attendance, as well as
Mercedes Bass and general
director Peter Gelb, who gave
a charming speech, extolling
“the sublime Renee” and men-
tioning how, although he may
be more known for his support
of radical new opera produc-
tions, he’s also quite able to
appreciate a traditional one,
like this “Rusalka,” done in
1993.
The guest in his box that
night was Otto Schenk, the
production’s original director,
Eventually, though, her
metallic tone sounded monot-
onous, and her over -driven
voice never quite settled on a
true pitch. She does seem to
be making an attempt at chest
KEN HOWARD/ METROPOLITAN OPERA
voice here and there, though as
yet many important low-lying
phrases fade below audibility.
As Count di Luna, Dmitri
Hvorostovsky might have leapt
off the cover of a romance novel,
but when he cranked up the
Marcelo Álvarez (Manrico), announced as volume, his lustrous baritone
recovering from bronchitis on February 20, sometimes turned harsh. He
suggested more emo poet than political is a great artist, superb in Rus-
firebrand. sian and Mozartian parts, and I
think his acting ability and mag-
or mannered. netism would be sufficient to
The sweet lyric voice of Mar- put over more character-driven
celo Álvarez (Manrico) suggested roles like Rigoletto and Iago. Di
more emo poet than political Luna, though, is almost com-
firebrand. Announced as recov- pletely about standing and sing-
ering from bronchitis at this ing beautifully in the highest
February 20 performance, the reaches of the baritone range,
tenor took a bel canto approach sadly the least interesting part
to the role. Crisply articulated of Hvorostovsky’s instrument.
ornamentation drove forward Neither soloists nor chorus
the “Di quella pira” in lieu of the ever seemed completely on
customary brute force. board with the micromanaged
Soprano Radvanosky threw conducting of Gianandrea Nose-
herself passionately into the role da, who emphasized precision
of the much-desired Leonora, at the cost of passion.
rolling around on the ground
ecstatically during her first James Jorden is the editor of
aria and literally climbing the parterre.com. After 12 years at
wall during the “Miserere.” Her
voice soared thrillingly in the
big moments, and her climactic
Gay City News and (before that)
LGNY, this is his final review
submitted to that most patient,
high notes rang out loud if not understanding, and observant
always clear. of all editors, Paul Schindler.
who tearfully thanked Gelb igrated, happens to work just
“for such a gift,” with Gelb fine with me. Coppola freed
thanking him in turn. I chat- the play from studio confines,
ted with the delightful young exuberantly shooting much
Kathleen Kim, who sang a of it outdoors, with a gentle
wood sprite, and is going into counterculture approach that
the role of Olympia in next worked perfectly in shaking off
season’s “Tales of Hoffman.” some 1947 dust.
She has a crystalline soprano,
which entrancingly harks back
to a more delicate, filigreed
Fred Astaire danced for the
final time onscreen and proved
that he could not only still do
sound of the past. that with élan, but also sell a
song as well as ever, in a spot-
E
ncores! is present- on Irish brogue. Don Francks,
ing “Finian’s Rainbow” despite a bad rug, made a
at City Center March manly, sexy Woody, but the
26-29. The score, by Burton cast stand-out was really Pet-
Lane and E.Y. Harburg, is pos- ula Clark, a perfect feisty col-
sibly my all-time favorite, with leen, with her fetching, melis-
its unending array of sublimely ma-prone signature brand
tuneful, witty songs, and the of white soul, which sparked
cast features Cheyenne Jack- up standards like “How Are
son, Philip Bosco, Kate Baldwin, Things in Glocca Morra?,”
Jim Norton, Jeremy Bob, Guy “Look to the Rainbow,” and,
Davis, Alina Faye, and Ruben especially, an ecstatically sexy
Santiago-Hudson. Warren Car- “Old Devil Moon.”
lyle directs and choreographs,
and Rob Berman conducts. Contact David Noh at Inthe-
Francis Ford Coppola noh@aol.com and check out his
directed the 1967 film version, new blog at http://nohway.
which, although critically den- wordpress.com/.
20 MAR - 2 APR 2009
14 DAYS
14 NIGHTS
䉴 MAR 31, from p.24
only American poet to have won Great
Britain’s T. S. Eliot Prize, will read as part of
the LGBT Community Center’s “Second
Tuesday Lecture Series.” His book “Fire to
Fire” won him the National Book Award
for Poetry last year, and his earlier memoir,
“Dog Years,” recalls the lives of his two
dogs, for which he cared after dealing with
the death of his lover from AIDS. The first
of his six books of poetry, “Turtle, Swan,”
was published in 1987. 208 W. 13th St.,
reception at 6 p.m.; reading at 7 p.m.
The suggested donation is $10.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
DESIGN
Digital Hearth
School of Visual Arts Professor
Loretta Lorance moderates a panel dis-
cussion exploring the “good, bad and
ugly” relationships between technol-
ogy and our homes. Panelists include
Tom Huhn, chair of the Art History and
BFA Visual and Critical Studies Depart-
ments at SVA; Lisa Moren, artist and
faculty member at the University of
Maryland Baltimore County; and Mark
Ihnat, humanities professor at Humber
College. SVA, 209 E. 23 St., third-
floor amphitheater, 7 p.m. Free and
open to the public.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
COMEDY
THU.APR.2
Seasonal Jollies
In Homo Comicus’ “Spring Baccha-
nal,” hosted by Michelle Bueteau, Clau-
dia Cogan, Jason Dudey, Marc Maietta,
Bob Smith, and Jodi Wasserman will
crack your face. Gotham Comedy Club,
208 W. 23rd St., 8:30 p.m. Admission is
$15, with a two-drink minimum. Reserva-
tions at 212-367-9000.
✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯
GALLERY
FRI.APR.3
Sweet Painted
Boys
Harvey Redding of the Leslie/ Lohman
Gay Art Foundation and Steven Levenberg
present “The Painted Boy Gay Erotic Art
Fair,” an art orgy featuring more than 60
artists and 2,000 erotic and affordable
works. The opening reception tonight
includes the unveiling of “Lover Man, Oh,
Where Can you Be,” a collection of works
from gay artists envisioning the man
of their dreams, produced in the Queer
Men’s Erotic Art Workshop Redding led.
The cocktail reception, from 7-10 p.m.
will include some of the city’s hottest gay
artists and the models who inspire them.
LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th
St. Exhibition hours are Apr. 4, 11 a.m.-
7 p.m.; Apr. 5 noon-6 p.m. Admission to
the cocktail 䉴
reception
JUMP,iscontinued
$35. on p.26
WWW.GAYCITYNEWS.COM 20 MAR – 2 APR 2009 27

NEWS BRIEFS By ANDY HUMM

䉴 BRIEFS, from p.13
Gunter, 32, was sentenced to
30 years. Singleton, 29, awaits
trial.
Idaho Rep:
Gays “Will Do
Away with the
Human Race”
Idaho State Representative Bert
Stephenson is trying to outdo Repre-
sentative Sally Kern of Oklahoma. On
February 25, Stephenson was asked
on a local radio show by Zeb Ball,
“Why do we have to accept the vile
filthy lifestyle of homosexuality and
have it treated as normal?” Stephen-
son responded, “Well, Zeb, because
that’s the thing that’s happening all
over this nation is we’re trying to
redefine the purpose of man being
here on earth… If those people want
that kind of lifestyle, we will do away
with the human race.”
Gay Republican
Mum on
Marriage
Jam DeMaio, an out gay
Republican San Diego City Coun-
cil member, refuses to answer
press questions about whether
or not he supports Proposition
8, a state constitutional amend-
ment banning same-sex mar-
riages.
“The city faces the greatest
financial crisis in its history —
that is Councilmember DeMaio’s
focus,” Erica Mendelson, a
spokeswoman, told San Diego
CityBeat in response to a query
about his stand.
Jess Durfee, out gay chair
of the city’s Democratic Party,
told the newspaper that if
DeMaio can’t say “he’s with us
or against us, “he should not be
showing up to LGBT events act-
ing like he wants to be embraced
by the gay community.”
Lambda: Being
Called Gay “Not
an Insult”
Lambda Legal Defense filed
a brief in federal court in New
York challenging the charge in
a lawsuit by Howard K. Stern, a
figure in the Anna Nicole Smith
case and not the radio jock,
that he was defamed for being
called gay in a book about her
death.
“Saying that someone is
gay is not an insult. Being iden-
tified as gay is neither bad nor
shameful —in life and under
the law,” said Thomas W. Ude,
Jr., a Lambda senior staff attor-
ney. “At its core, defamation is
about disgrace. Recognition of
this defamation claim would
demean gay men and lesbians
by giving credence to anti-
gay biases that New York has
repeatedly rejected.”
Beers, Expert
on Drugs, Older
People, Dies
Dr. Mark Beeers, whose
research on the side effects
of drug combinations given
to older people broke new
ground in the 1980s, has died
of complications of diabetes,
the New York Times reported.
He was 54 and divided his
time between Miami Beach
and Fire Island. Beers is sur-
vived by his husband, Stephen
K. Urice. The couple married
in 2008 in Montreal after a
32-year courtship.

䉴 DRUG REFORM, from p.11
mandatory minimum sentences and
freeing courts to sentence non-violent
offenders to probation, thereby ending
the last vestiges of the Rockefeller-era
drug laws.” The Commission’s judicial
diversion proposal “substitutes the illu-
sion of reform for real reform.”
The Commission Report seems head-
ed toward the circular file. The Demo-
cratic Assembly passed its bill, but
then the governor circulated a memo-
randum to top legislators that has
not been released to the public. This
secrecy makes reformers anxious. The
issue remains contentious but, as of
this week, it appears a new law will yet
be included in the state budget. The big
advantage for reformers is that budget
votes are party-line votes. The Senate
has a thin one-vote Democratic major-
ity, and the budget offers the best hope
for creating consensus. Real reform
might take place by the April 1 budget
deadline.
Still, tensions with the district attor-
neys remain. One participant in the
debate told me off the record, “The DAs
don’t even want to change the law. We
find out what they really think when
they draft a bill.”
Vance enthusiastically praised the
Gay,
Assembly bill that would, he said, “rem- Str8,
edy the social injustice of the current Bi,
Rockefeller drug laws” and that a move
Curious?
“from a punitive model to a treatment
model is both fair and will make us safer.”
He is supporting stronger measures than
the Commission recommended.
Vance is in the middle of this fight,
and if an unsatisfactory law results, it
could easily become an issue during the
Democratic primary campaign. Oppos-
ing Vance are Leslie Crocker Snyder, who
waged a hard, bitter campaign against
Morgenthau four years ago, and Rich-
ard M. Aborn, like Vance a former Mor-
genthau assistant, who is a leading gun
control advocate. Both have raised large
sums of money and oppose the Rock-
efeller drug laws.

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filmmaking 646-731-6658
on the
edge
Sponsors: The Phoenix, HBO, Bacardi Dragonberry, Crown & Anchor,
Art House, Mass. Cultural Council, Visitors Service Bureau

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