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Community sharply divided on tactics
Moscow Gays Survived Parade
By Not Getting Involved
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When rain, skinheads, cops, politicians, and the Russian orthodox church aborted Moscow's first-ever gay parade this past May, it was widely reported as a defeat for Moscow's gays.

But that's not exactly true. It was a defeat for gay rights, but it did not come as a blow to the majority of Moscow gays.

This was not an event widely supported by the gay community. Only 100 or so gays actually showed up, and many of them were foreigners who had come to attend a two day session on homophobia in Russia commemorating the 13th anniversary of the legalization of homosexuality. The gay march was to be the capstone event.

The marching gays were far outnumbered by skinheads, Russian Orthodox "christians," and cops. But if you go to one of the city's gay nightclubs, you'd swear half the city is gay. Why did so few of them materialize on the streets of Moscow to support their cause?

First of all, the gay community did not have a big investment in this spectacle. In fact, it was organized by a non-gay, whom many suspected was using the event to build his own reputation and career as an organizer.

Most gays had been cool-to-hostile to the idea of applying for a city hall permit to hold a gay parade in the first place, and had been relieved when Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov denied it.

Gay bookstore owner Ed Mishin, for example, told an interviewer ahead of the event that "the parade won't bring anything but unwanted attention to gays."

Most Moscow gays actually opposed it, he said. "We think there are other ways to fight homophobia in this society."

To those who favor confrontation as the best means for advancing the civil rights - of gays, people of color, women, whatever -- this sounds like a cop-out.

But would these confrontationists also suggest a parade in Tehran or Riyadh to advance the rights of Muslim gays in Iran or Saudi Arabia?

The overwhelming reason gays don't want to call attention to themselves in Moscow is essentially the same reason Muslim gays don't want to call attention to themselves: rampant homophobia. A gay parade would be counterproductive, Moscow gays contend, and would risk intensifying public antagonism against them and perhaps reviving laws banning homosexuality altogether. Or worse.

Confrontation works where there's widespread community support for the rights of the oppressed group - like the gays at Stonewall in NYC. It doesn't work when most of the community is complicit in the oppression.

There's also the matter of personal safety and survival - both physical and professional.

Russia is steeped in tradition, superstition, and religion. The Russian Orthodox Church, the Muslim religion, and even the tiny Russian protestant community are colored by the homophobia of the Old Testament.


When one of my ex-boyfriends, who had been "converted" from Orthodoxy to the Baptist protestant denomination, first arrived from Vladikafkaz in the Caucuses, he devoutly believed that -- although he couldn't change his sexuality -- he was nevertheless doomed to "everlasting hell" for "lying with men" in contravention of the Old Testament laws.

Russia is governed more by tradition than anything else, and there is no accepted tradition of being gay, although Tatanya Mamonovna, a Soviet exiled women's rights advocate now living in America, insists that at least two of Russia's greatest rulers -- Peter the Great and Catherine the Great -- were bisexual.

Even so, homosexuality was forbidden throughout the czarist era and remained outlawed until Yeltsin legalized it in 1993. Nobody knows how many thousands or tens of thousands of gays were executed or died in Stalin's labor camps.

Although homosexuality is now legal, a strong social taboo remains. Gay Russians live in constant fear that family, friends, neighbors, or colleagues might discover they're gay. Outing could cost them their jobs, their place in the university, and perhaps even their families and homes. That is another reason so few showed up for the parade. They couldn't afford the luxury of being publicly identified.

"I know many people whose bosses found out, and they were fired," says my roommate, the former Baptist convert.
Some -- especially those in the provinces and in some former Soviet republics -- are thrown out by their families and become homeless nomads in Moscow, seeking work or more likely a "sponsor," an older man who, in return for sex, will take them in and support them.

I myself must keep my own gay identity under wraps. I am writing this column under a pseudonym. I teach at a public school, a professional academy, and a university, and if I were unveiled as gay at any of them, I would unquestionably lose my position - and perhaps ultimately my visa.

The prevailing attitude of even the most broadminded and liberal Muscovite seems to be, "I'm not against homosexuals, but let them keep to their clubs and quit trying to impose themselves into the lives of ordinary people. Let them do what they want - privately. But not on the streets of Moscow!"

My relatively open-minded student Anton has a four-year-old son whom he doesn't want exposed to "this unnatural way of life. I don't have anything against gays," he says, "but they should stay in their clubs. They have no business having a parade on the streets of Moscow. It's immoral."

There's also the matter of personal safety.

On two different nights a couple of weeks before the gay parade, groups of skinheads and Russian Orthodox Church members united to converge on two Moscow clubs, one of which, "The Three Monkeys," was gay; but the other was simply staging a special evening for lesbians.

Bussed-in babushkas and their priest, armed with Orthodox icons, joined forces with a small army of skinheads to harass and intimidate the two locales.

The special event for lesbians had to be cancelled, and several gays were injured at the Three Monkeys.
A year or two ago, my ex-boyfriend Dima from Nizhniy Novgorod was exiting "Chance" gay club after a night of drinking and dancing when he was set on and beaten by a band of skinheads. He avoided a repetition of the same fate as he was approaching a gay club about the time of the gay parade only by insisting that he wasn't going to the club, that he lived in the neighborhood.

Even more intimidating than the Russian Orthodox Church are the Muslims, who represent a significant percentage of the Russian population and whose prescribed punishment for homosexuality - as recurrent headlines attest -- is beheading.
The chief Muslim authority in the Nizhniy Novgorod region urged Muslims to "stone gays if and when they march"; and the head Muslim honcho for all of Russia declared that all "normal people, both Muslims and Russian Orthodox," should beat gay people if they come out to march.

And that 's exactly what happened when a handful of gay activists defied the parade ban and came out on that rainy Saturday afternoon to demonstrate for gay rights. One of the beating victims turned out to be a lawmaker of the German Bundestag, Volker Beck, whom a young ultranationalist boasted of punching in the face "because I'm a normal Russian guy."
He was "just combining work and pleasure," he told the Moscow Times: beating faggots while hanging out with his pals.

The plan for the unapproved march was to lay flowers at the tomb of the unknown soldier just outside the Kremlin wall, then to march up Tverskaya Blvd., Moscow's main drag, to the statue of Moscow founder Igor Dolgoruky for a ceremony.

When police locked the gates leading to the tomb site, the flowers were instead laid at the gate. Anti-gay protesters stomped and crushed the flowers and pelted gays with eggs and tomatoes, shouting "Death to fags," and "fags out of Russia."
In a speech at the base of the Dolgoruky monument, Russian lawmaker Nikolai Kuryanovich, of the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, excoriated the "gay mafia" as "fit for rotting America or dying Europe."

After going on to defend the use of the nazi salute and remind that homosexuality was once a crime in Russia, he led the anti-gay protestors in a chant of "Gays and lesbians to Kolyma," the notorious Soviet labor camp.

In a homophobic tirade the following week, Mayor Luzhkov bragged that the evil homosexuals: "got thrashed."
The tomb of the unknown soldier "may not be a church," he declared, "but it is a state and national altar," and gays' attempt to place flowers at its eternal flame was the "desecration of a holy place."

"They broke through" the barriers, "and of course they got thrashed."

I personally chickened out of making a statement with my body out of fear both for my physical safety and of getting arrested and ultimately kicked out of Russia. This would not be a good career move, I reasoned.

Even if I had wanted to turn my body into a bulletin board for gay rights, I wouldn't have been able to. I didn't find out where the event was taking place until I saw the cops beating heads on TV. Gay sites had purposely held off on giving the information till an hour or two before the march to try to protect the participants. It obviously didn't work.

Some lay the blame for the debacle directly at Luzhkov's homophobic feet, pointing out that the less populous and more provincial Ekaterinburg has had a gay parade for the past two years without incident.

But others point out that Luzhkov does not lead his electorate. He follows. And when he denied the permit you can be sure that he knew that that's what the overwhelming number of his Muscovites wanted. He is homophobic because the population is homophobic.

There's one humorous footnote to the unhappy event: Gays standing at the sidelines under rainbow-colored umbrellas were not accosted. The anti's haven't yet caught on that the six-colored rainbow is the symbol of gay liberation.


Note: The author, Dieter Hall, is an ex-pat former American journalist and author now teaching in a Moscow university. He is writing this column under an assumed name.


Copyright 2006 by GLINN Media Corporation, Key West, FL. This column is free to use. This weekly column is available for syndication. Email dan@gaydata.com for more information. Online usage requires the entire column be used including this copyright notice.

NEWS RELEASE - 20 June 2006 -
Media Contact: Kevin G. Boyer, (773) 907-2006, kevin.boyer@gaygameschicago.org

MAYOR DALEY ANNOUNCES GATORADE & ESPN WILL SPONSOR GAY GAMES CHICAGO 2006

ERASURE'S ANDY BELL TO PERFORM AT 15 JULY OPENING CEREMONY AT SOLDIER FIELD

CHICAGO - The City of Chicago announced today that British pop superstar Andy Bell of Erasure would perform at the July 15 Opening Ceremony for the 2006 Gay Games and that two of the world's most recognized brands - Gatorade and ESPN - had joined as major sponsors which now number more than 300 corporations and agencies signing to support the international event.

The announcement was made at the Mayor's annual Pride Reception, before more than 500 representatives of the lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender (LGBT) community at the Chicago Cultural Center.

* Chicago-based QTG (Quaker/Tropicana/Gatorade) joins as a Global Gay Games Sponsor. Gatorade will be the Official Sports Drink of the 2006 Gay Games and will provide sideline hydration at all Gay Games sports. Tropicana and Quaker will be feeding the athletes and volunteers nutritious and wholesome breakfasts and snacks throughout the week.

* Erasure's Andy Bell will perform at the July 15 Opening Ceremony at Chicago's historic Soldier Field. Bell is just the latest star in the incredible lineup for the Gay Games VII Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Chicago organizers have previously announced performers include Cyndi Lauper, Margaret Cho, Megan Mullally, Jody Watley, Greg Louganis, M People's Heather Small, Kristine W, Star Trek's George Takei, Holly Near, Tony Award-winning Avenue Q, and dozens more talented performers and legends. Tickets are available online at Tickets.GayGamesChicago.org.

* ESPN, the leading international multimedia sports entertainment company, also joins in support of the Opening Ceremony, becoming the official sponsor of the Opening Ceremony Fireworks. The spectacular display will be visible throughout the Chicagoland area and will be videotaped by cameras aboard the MetLife blimp that will fly overhead. "ESPN respects the values that are intrinsic to athletic competition, and we are pleased to be a sponsor of this year's Gay Games," said John Skipper, ESPN Executive Vice President, Content.

About QTG (Quaker-Tropicana-Gatorade)
QTG (Quaker Tropicana Gatorade) is a division of PepsiCo, one of the world's largest consumer beverage and packaged goods companies. QTG brands rank among some of the most highly regarded and recognizable consumer products including: Quaker Oatmeal, Tropicana Pure Premium not-from-concentrate juices; Gatorade Thirst Quencher and Propel Fitness Water; Cap'n Crunch and Life ready-to-eat cereals; Rice-A-Roni and Near East side dishes; and Aunt Jemima pancake mixes and syrups.

About Gatorade®
Gatorade® Thirst Quencher, the nation's leading sports drink, is backed by 40 years of research. Gatorade is scientifically formulated and athletically proven to quench thirst, replace fluids and electrolytes and provide carbohydrate energy to enhance athletic performance. Gatorade is the official sports drink of the NFL, NBA, WNBA, AVP, NHL, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, and numerous professional, collegiate and amateur teams and events throughout the world. For more information, please visit www.gatorade.com.

About Andy Bell
Legendary U.K. synth pop pioneers Erasure, comprised of vocalist Andy Bell and keyboard wizard Vince Clarke, is among the most successful pop duos ever, selling more than 20 million albums and charting some of the most memorable hits of the last twenty years. The group got its start when Bell responded to a 1985 blind ad in a British music weekly seeking a singer that had been placed by Clarke, a founding member of the influential electronic groups Depeche Mode and Yaz. One of the first openly gay stars in pop, Bell's gender-bending performances, brilliant theatricality and soaring falsetto vocals have earned Erasure a special place in the heart and soul of its devoted fans. Bell recently released his first-ever solo CD, Electric Blue, which was soon followed by the release of Erasure's critically-acclaimed Union Street, its first-ever entirely acoustic album. Erasure has just completed a sold out tour of the U.K. and U.S. and plans to release and tour a new album next spring.

About ESPN®
ESPN, Inc. is the world's leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring a portfolio of over 50 multimedia sports assets. The company is comprised of seven domestic television networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPNU, ESPN Today), ESPN and ESPN2 HD simulcast services, ESPN Regional Television, ESPN International (networks, syndication, radio, web sites), ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Enterprises, ESPN Zones (sports-themed restaurants), and other growing new businesses including ESPN360 (Broadband), Mobile ESPN, ESPN on Demand, ESPN Interactive and ESPN PPV. Based in Bristol, Ct., ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN.

About Gay Games VII
Gay Games VII Sports and Cultural Festival will take place 15-22 July 2006. Over 12,000 athletes from more than 70 countries will compete in 30 sports ranging from softball to dancesport, swimming to tennis. The weeklong event will include band, cheerleading and color guard performances, chorus, an ancillary arts festival, and a series of community-organized social events and parties. The opening ceremony is scheduled for 15 July at Soldier Field, the lakefront home stadium of American-style football's Chicago Bears. Closing ceremony will be 22 July at Wrigley Field, the home of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, located in the heart of Chicago's largest LGBT neighborhood. Tickets are available at Tickets.GayGamesChicago.org.

Global sponsors of Gay Games VII include Lexiva; Logo; PlanetOut/Gay.com; Walgreens; Centaur Entertainment; Fleishman Hillard International Communications; Orbitz; McKnight Kurland Baccelli; The New York Times; Olivia Cruises & Resorts; Windy City Media Group; Absolut Vodka; American Airlines; Athletico; Chicago Free Press; Chicago Sun-Times; Ernst & Young; GLAAD; Genre; Human Rights Campaign; Lambda Legal Defense; QTG-Quaker/Tropicana/Gatorade; Sydney New Mardi Gras; Mate Magazine; Pink Magazine; RCN; Roosevelt University; and more than 270 additional business sponsors.

About The Gay Games
The Gay Games was conceived by Dr. Tom Waddell, an Olympic decathlete, and was first held in San Francisco in 1982 with 1,350 participants. Subsequent Gay Games have been held in San Francisco (1986; 3,500 participants), Vancouver (1990; 7,300 participants), New York (1994; 12,500 participants), Amsterdam (1998; 13,000 participants), and Sydney (2002; 11,000 participants).

The Federation of Gay Games is the international governing body that perpetuates the quadrennial Gay Games and promotes the event's founding principles of Participation, Inclusion, and Personal Best(tm). For more information, visit www.GayGames.org.

Chicago Games, Inc. is the host of Gay Games VII and is led by experienced civic leaders from Chicago's business, sports and non-profit sectors. For information about how to sponsor or participate in Gay Games VII in Chicago, visit www.GayGamesChicago.org, e-mail info@GayGamesChicago.org, or phone (773) 907-2006.

###

"Gay Games", "Federation of Gay Games", the interlocking circles device, and the phrase "Participation, Inclusion and Personal Best" are trademarks of the Federation of Gay Games, Inc. Trademarks are registered in the USA, Canada, Benelux, the UK, and Australia.

Chicago Games, Inc - 4753 N. Broadway, Suite 602, Chicago, IL 60640, USA 773.907.2006 - GayGamesChicago.org - info@GayGamesChicago.org

Images of Chicago and the Gay Games VII logo are available for download at: /www.gaygameschicago.org/images/downloads/

Mad TV

Was the short-lived Q Television Network a victim of bungled management? Or was it merely a front for a much larger fraud?

BY DAN CULLINANE

Flashy, splashy, and loaded with marquee names like Steve Kmetko, Sandra Bernhard, Jack E. Jett, Reichen Lehmkuhl, and Honey Labrador, Q Television Network rose to prominence in the summer of 2005 with live original programming targeting the gay and lesbian population, broadcast in approximately 100 cities. Viewed as more original and cutting-edge than either Logo or here!, QTN was a scrappy underdog headed for top-dog status.

"It was exciting to be a part of an independent gay network," recalls Jack E Jett, the host of QTN’s Queer Edge. "After having worked in entertainment for 25 years, I felt like was being allowed to be a part of GLBT history."

But on May 3, 2006, less than a year after the launch, the staff received an e-mail terminating their employment due to the network’s inability to pay salaries. For the next two weeks, behind-the-scenes attempts to revive QTN continued, but the May 3 memo proved to be the last word. The story of QTN is a story of incompetence, greed, and possible criminal fraud, resulting in what some are calling the "gay Enron." At the center of it is a man named Frank Olsen, a former Seattle bar owner with a shady past whom one associate referred to as "the Jabba the Hutt of gay media."

A Sense of Community

In the autumn of 2005, the future looked bright.

"We were doing something cool, something special," recalls a QTN staff member who asked not to be named for this story. "We had a sense of community. We were all in one building, and each show would hand off to the next."

Drag queens mingled with go-go boys and porn stars as wild-eyed news staffers dodged through them with tapes for the live news feed, and sweet granny-types arrived for the knitting program taped in the rented studio next door. It was like "backstage at a gay Ed Sullivan Show," the staffer says, laughing. "The only thing missing was a dancing bear, and in our case it would have been a fat hairy guy in a jockstrap."

But according to sources inside QTN, mismanagement was rampant from the beginning. Decisions were made no more than 24 hours in advance to broadcast live from pride events or Halloween events, resulting in producers’ paying double or even triple to rent equipment and live trucks. Scores of attractive 20-somethings chattered busily on headsets as they were shuffled from job to job within the network, in search of something they could not screw up.

"People were promoted up," Jett says. "They were hired to produce, and they were unable to produce, so they were made executives. There were people on the payroll who I never had any idea what they did."

One QTN investor, who also asked not to be named, laughs as he talks about two of the network’s executives, vice president Scott Withers and senior executive vice president Alexis Fish: "Scott Withers was a store manager at Blockbuster before Frank Olsen hired him, and Alexis Fish ran errands on The Apprentice." He pauses to check a memo on salaries. "Withers was making $29,300 a month, and Fish was making $11,300 a month."

Olsen kept spending, and why not? The money was pouring in. From 2004 until the beginning of 2006, over 350 billion shares in Triangle Multi-Media ("QBID") were on the market as penny stocks. Little is known about exactly how much money was generated, since financial statements for Triangle Multi-Media have never been released; the stock’s rapid dilution and infinitesimal share price (an average of $0.0003 per share throughout its life span) make calculations difficult. However, at the very beginning of the ride Triangle Multi-Media stated it had nine billion outstanding shares; the stock would go on to reach a high-water mark at $0.03. Any way the math is done, there was an amazing amount of money at stake -- some estimate $100 million or more.

When an audit due on November 22 failed to materialize, investors grew nervous. While most people inside the walls of QTN were unaware of what was happening, Frank Olsen’s past was catching up with him.

A Shady Character

On investor message boards, word of Olsen's felony-theft conviction in Washington state in 1986 was making the rounds, along with copies of his arrest report and conviction record. At the QTN studios, producers were hearing from vendors and it was clear that something was going wrong. A memo dated December 2005 detailed over $2.5 million in unpaid bills.

In December, Firestone - the production and uplink facility in Dallas which QTN had used prior to their move to Burbank - filed a $3 million lawsuit against Frank Olsen and QTN alleging fraud and breach of contract. According to the suit, Olsen had contracted with Firestone to use their production facilities for a raft of new shows, in exchange for Firestone’s assistance in securing distribution for the network. Payment to Firestone was to be in the form of 500 million shares of QTN stock, which would have granted them 50% ownership in the company. The suit alleges that once Firestone had secured the promised distribution for QTN, Olsen packed up operations and moved out of Texas without warning.

A week after the Firestone suit landed, Rodney Omanoff, an entertainment consultant hired by Olsen in April 2005, filed a $5 million lawsuit against QTN for nonpayment.

Nonetheless, Olsen steamrolled ahead, bringing on Sandra Bernhard as a cohost for Jack E. Jett at a salary of $20,000 a month, and spending a reported $100,000 to broadcast live from the Sundance Film Festival in late January.

On February 1, 2006, QTN failed to make payroll. It was a Wednesday afternoon, and Frank Olsen gathered the staff and told them there had been a mix-up at the bank, and that they would be paid on Monday, February 5. On Friday, February 3, Scott Withers told staff that production was halted. When Monday came they were told not to come to work. Vice president of sales and marketing Carol Hinnant, who initially agreed to talk on record for this story but who failed to return repeated phone calls, issued a statement saying that the network was on "hiatus" until February 13, but that staff was still being paid.

In actuality, on the 13th, a skeleton crew of 20 (out of over 100 former employees) was brought back in, given back pay, and assigned the arduous task of pulling together five hours of live programming.

On the 15th, QTN missed payroll again.

"We were close to walking out," a QTN staffer recalls, "but we were told by Scott Withers and Alexis Fish that this guy Lloyd was going to push Frank out and take over. We had no idea who Lloyd was, and Frank was nowhere to be seen and no one could get him on the phone. We were told if we walked out we would screw the channel, so we worked five days without getting paid."

An Attempted Turn-Around

On Monday, February 27, in a chummy press release full of excited burbling about the future, QTN announced that Lloyd Fan had been named interim president, while Frank Olsen remained chairman and CEO.

On March 7, a much more tersely worded press release noted that Olsen and all officers and board of directors had resigned, and that Fan was now chairman and CEO. A week later Carol Hinnant was promoted to president.

"Lloyd Fan had been an investor all along," says the QTN staff member. "He's given them several million dollars, and all of a sudden they can’t make payroll, and he says, "Hey, what about all the money I gave you?" So he comes in and tries to recoup his investment before the network goes under."

Fan's first order of business was to quell investor anxiety that was approaching hysteria. He adopted a strategy of transparency and released the long-overdue 2005 financial records of QTN, which revealed total revenue of $9,000 against expenses of $7 million. This did little to allay investor concerns.

His next step was to release the financial statements of QTN's parent company, Triangle Multi-Media, which hopefully would explain where some of the money had gone. This was where things went finally wrong.

Few records had been kept to explain where all of the investor money had gone, and those that were found pointed in a disturbing direction. According to two independent sources, expenses uncovered so far have reportedly included:

"100 82" plasma-screen TVs purchased at a cost of $20,000 apiece. Fan and Hinnant were able to locate five of them. The rest have vanished, although delivery records revealed that two had been delivered to Scott Withers' house and two had been delivered to Alexis Fish's.

"Titles to three cars that had been given to young men who were not employed by QTN.

"A 1099 report detailing payments of $1 million to Frank Olsen's boyfriend, for unnamed services.

On April 5, 2006, QTN issued its last press release, announcing the failure to release financial statements of Triangle Multi-Media. The last line of the press release reads, "Despite the challenges presented by the continuing investigation into the financial situation, Mr. Fan remains optimistic about the viability of the network."

A Grim Legacy

That optimism is now gone, and Lloyd Fan has returned to Taiwan. The question that remains is, did QTN fall victim to bad management and the gluttony of an aging gay man who used it to pay for a playground filled with young sex workers? Or was it just the latest scheme by Frank Olsen and his partners to bilk investors out of millions?

QTN's balance sheets for the six months after the fiscal year ending in June 2005 reveal an additional $8 million in expenses, giving the network a $15 million operating deficit by the time 2005 was over. But compared to the potential amount of money that was sunk into the company as investors clambered over penny stocks -- and even to the $31 million declared on QTN’s balance sheet in loans from Triangle Multi-Media and other unnamed sources -- millions upon millions of dollars are still unaccounted for. Was Frank Olsen's extravagance an elaborate front to paint a picture of mismanagement in order to obscure a larger fraud?

"I don't care what kind of village idiot you are," says a QTV staff member, "you don't see that you are $2 million in the hole and then rent three condos in Sundance and fly people there. I don't know how he conned people into this, but he would always talk about the betterment of the gay community and then turn around and steal all this money."

"In my opinion Frank knew how much he could make," says an investor. "He has been doing this since 1999. He won't get away with it. People will follow him. He will be hounded. I know people who can't pay their mortgage because of him."

"I’m relieved to know it’s finally over," says Reichen Lehmkuhl, who struggled to the end to keep The Reichen Show alive, but the news of its demise filled him with "utter sadness." "I lost my job," he says. "I lost my show. I lost something I had been working toward with my heart and soul for over a year."

"It was very sad," concurs Jack E. Jett. "I so wanted to see the concept of independent gay television become a reality, and I wanted to be a part of it. On the other hand, the network had become the Terry Schiavo of gay television, and it was just lingering and leaving so many people in limbo."

QTN terminated its signal on May 25.

Gay video game player survey



Lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered and even straight video game players asked to participate in first academically approved study



by Alexander Sliwinski
June 08, 2006


The first study ever of GLBT gamers or "gaymers" was approved by the institutional review board of the University of Illinois and was activated this week for participation at www.gaymersurvey.org. It will be open to participation for 8 weeks.

The study is the brainchild of Jason Rockwood, a recent graduate and a self-confessed non-gamer, who says the last game he really played was "Duck Hunt" on the Nintendo Entertainment System during the 1980s.

As a social scientist, Rockwood rekindled his interest in gaming after taking the class "Videogames: Issues, Content and Policy," taught by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Assistant Professor Dmitri Williams of the Speech Communication Department. Williams, who teaches on the topic of video games, is supervising Rockwood during this study. Rockwood originally completed a limited study on the same subject for the class, and he realized there was a real hunger by those who took the study to give as much information as possible.

"People had talked about being gay and being a gamer, but nobody had asked them to unify those two elements and people were excited about that," Rockwood said in an interview with In Newsweekly. "Some people were hesitant though, because they didn't want to be stereotyped having games that were developed to be ridiculous toward the community. They wanted both sides to be taken seriously and if there was stereotypical content it would trivialize both identities of being gay and a gamer."

The survey is long at 91 questions and takes approximately 30 - 45 minutes to complete. The questions are mostly multiple choice, covering a variety of topics from general gaming habits, sexual identity, online gaming to recent purchases. An initial concern of those within the industry who received advanced copies of the survey was regarding its length.

Rockwood explained that this was an initial issue he had as well. One-third of the survey was cut to make sure people completed the survey, and he believes that those taking it won't mind the length because the study explores new territory.

"A lot of surveys in academia today, they are refinements of many, many years of survey work that have occurred. Just being the first one out there looking for these answers, there are a lot of questions we want to know and we are asking questions that we don't have the answers to. If the survey is too long, nobody will take it and that wouldn't be good for anyone."

This study breaks new ground, not only because it is the first academically approved study regarding GLBT gamers, but it is the first study of any gamer group. There are no real studies of female gamers or gamers of color.


Within the industry IGN's GamerMetrics, says it provides "insight into the gamer audience" tracking the 30 million unique monthly users of the IGN.com family of sites. IGN Entertainment, a division of Fox Interactive Media, is the number one destination for gamers online. However GamerMetrics does not know the demographics of these users. GamerMetrics can only provide what their users are doing on the IGN sites, but is unaware of specific demographics and what various audiences are interested in.

Sheri Graner Ray, game designer and author of "Gender Inclusive Game Design," has spoken in many conferences about women's issues within the industry. She has seen a review copy of the questionnaire, and she says she has concerns about it.

"It's got a definite bias. I had to learn to run focus groups and surveys back when I was at Her Interactive. Writing unbiased questions is really tough, particularly when it's a subject you have a lot of passion about," she wrote to In Newsweekly.

For example, Ray points to Question 43, which asks, "In your opinion, how hostile is the gaming community to gay and lesbian gamers?"

She says, "This is a loaded question. You are assuming the reader believes the gaming community is hostile and are asking them to measure the degree."

Ray compared her issues with the survey with those she has had to face in surveying women, "We women who game are a rarified group and not typically representative of the 'norm.' So when we survey ourselves, it's not terribly useful information. But we don't seem to be able to find a suitable pool of women to survey! Given the chance, I'd love to work with a university or other organization to produce a survey that would provide the best possible information for everyone!"

Even with her reservations regarding the survey she says, "I seriously hope the discussion with GLBT gamers continues. It's the only way we can continue to identify and remove the barriers to access which are currently in our titles that keep the GLBT audience out. If we want to truly see this industry grow to its full potential, we must continue to remove these barriers in our designs, our marketing and our workplace!"

Rockwood says, "The main purpose of the survey was to be a census. Before we can ask more intelligent questions we need to know who we are dealing with. First we need to prove that homosexual gamers even exist. Yeah it sounds ridiculous, but that's where you have to start on something like this. This survey is an attempt to quantify the existence of an invisible minority."

Doug Lowenstein of The ESA (Electronic Software Association), the lobbying group for the industry, which produces the E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) show every year could not provide comment on the survey after numerous requests.

Jason Della Rocca, executive director of the International Game Developers Association, says, "On the whole, the game industry lacks the advanced tools we need to more fully understand the diversity, and desires, of our audience. This is a hit driven business, and any knowledge that can help us better determine what might succeed is worthy of attention."

Currently the video game industry is under attack from numerous state governments. Most recently Minnesota passed a law, which was signed by Governor Tim Pawlenty last week, that would fine minors $25 for purchasing M (mature) or AO (Adults Only) rated titles.

Prof. Williams says, "Computer and electronic games are obviously quite popular, but, despite what you hear from politicians and pundits, are surprisingly understudied. Surveys like this one will help us understand better who plays games, what they play, why they play, and what they get out of the experience. With data in hand, we can move from assumptions, guesswork and stereotypes and into facts and understanding."

Jeb Havens, who speaks on GLBT issues within the industry and is lead designer at 1st Playable working on the "Marvel Trading Card Game" for the Nintendo DS, says, "I think it will be extremely useful to start building a more detailed and realistic image of the gaming community. It seems that whenever someone looks at which people are really gaming and how they are gaming, rather than just assuming they already know the answer, it's always surprising."

Rockwood says he has his own concerns regarding the survey and the feedback he has received. He says that some gay gamers have told him that they are glad that this survey will bring attention to the demographic but they are seriously concerned that the first generation of LGBT games or games that will have out LGBT characters will be subjected to the same stereotyping and patronizing that women were subjected to when they were first recognized in the market with titles like "Barbie Horse Adventure" and the Mary Kate and Ashley games. It is his hope that this survey will give designers some clear information that will assist them in making more informed designs that are more inclusive of players of different genders and sexuality.

He also hopes the survey will create discussion on another concern he received from the original survey.

"Gay gamers experience a double edged sword of prejudice," he said. "The mainstream gay culture and media is not supportive of video games. Then you have the video game culture that is not supportive of gay culture. So you have these people stuck in the middle who have this double edged prejudice. I'm hoping this survey would shed some light on how or why people go through such a process."

As academics and industry professionals show their reservations, concerns and support regarding the study, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and even straight video game players are ready to take the survey and begin contributing information.

Paul S. Kollist of the "Fraggots Clan," one of the few GLBT first person shooter clans that exist said that he really enjoyed reading over the advanced copy and that his straight friend who looked it over thought it was excellent as well.

"A very revealing survey about the new generation of gamers and gaymers alike!" he said. "An excellently put together survey, with mind provoking questions on sexuality and its ties with the gaming world."

Another person that received an advanced copy was Sara Andrews, who became the lightning rod for LGBT issues within the video game industry a few months ago when she was warned about advertising for a "GLBT-friendly" guild in "World of Warcraft."

"I think it's really awesome that such a survey has been created and approved!" Andrews said. "Perhaps this will give game developers a better chance to see some of the issues that we face and that are important to us as gamers. I would love to have the opportunity to take part in the survey whenever it begins!"

Rockwood hopes that the survey can grow from this baseline point and become a valuable resource for the industry and academics alike, "It's my desire to continue my research at the graduate level. I'm looking for a program that allows the study of emerging technologies and cultural convergence from a humanistic perspective. The ideal program for my studies would be NYU's Department of Culture and Communication and MIT's Department of Comparative Media Studies."

In Newsweekly will report on the results of the survey this fall and follow developments. You can participate in the survey at www.gaymersurvey.org

Contact: Mikealvear@mac.com


HX, NY BLADE & FAB FIRST GAY PAPERS TO PROVIDE READERS WITH ONLINE DATING SERVICE






Pioneering Attempt To Recapture
Print Classified Revenue Through Newspaper-Branded Dating Sites




New York - - 22 February, 2006 - - HX, the New York Blade and Toronto FAB are the first gay publications to launch fee-based online dating services through their websites.

Through a partnership with Advanced Membership Services (the folks who run the popular M4M-USA.com site) readers and non-readers alike can post pictures, profiles and send email to potential suitors through each publication's website.

"We've seen our revenue from print personal ads shrink to almost nothing because of the web," said Matthew Blank, publisher of HX and the NY Blade. "We believe we can recapture much of it by providing a truly local dating site."

Michael Schwarz, publisher of FAB, agrees. "Over the years we've developed an emotional connection with our readers in a way that national sites haven't. A FAB-branded dating site gives users a trusted alternative to other options."

Newspapers in the innovative partnership provide marketing, advertising and publicity while AMS provides the technology, infrastructure and management of services. These include Make A Date areas (for men looking for a date) and Open Invitation tm incentive (members looking for a date to accompany them to a specific event) and First Datetm (sponsor-donated prizes, i.e. dinner for two, that members can win and use on their first dates).

In addition to membership fees, participating newspapers can maximize revenue by selling annual sponsorships and charge advertisers higher CPMs as traffic to their sites grow exponentially.

Steven Polakoff, president of AMS believes every newspaper should have an online dating component. "Why turn your readers over to non- gay specific sites like yahoo.com when you can give them better dating opportunities through your own site? Most readers believe that people with interests similar to theirs read the same paper and like to do the same things."

The cash-free partnership is available to all gay newspapers and magazines and will eventually include M4M Mobile, a service that allows members to use their cell phones to cruise online and telephone-based Speed Dating software allowing a single member to meet and chat with 20-30 other date seekers within a 90-minute period.

Note: HX Media LLC publishes HX Magazine and The New York Blade.



AMS operates M4M-USA.com, the leader in using new technology to help men meet other men. Widely acknowledged as the most innovative cruising site in the country, the company serves 33 cities worldwide.



Contact:
Michael Alvear
mikealvear@mac.com
404-444-8324

www.M4M-USA.com.

022006

Open Letter to the GLBT Media

It is becoming more problematic to be both Gay and Catholic. On the one hand you have a Church that condemns GLBT people at the drop of hat. On the other hand you have certain parts of the GLBT Community who think it is not ethical for GLBT people to be Catholic.

The recent Vatican Instruction on Gay Priests was not a doctrinal statement about the moral status of homosexuality, but rather a prudential judgment about who should be admitted to seminaries. Prudential judgments are by definition open to question. However, rhetorically the Vatican can punch, and has been known to use its elbows and the occasional low blow in the clinches. Certainly one cannot read this document and arrive at any other conclusion than it is a mean spirited, and a homophobic document.

A recent article by syndicated gay columnist pretty much sums up the other side of this coin. We should out any clerics we can, that way we will force them to support gay rights or be seen as hypocrites. In striking out at the Vatican I think it is important not strike out at GLBT Catholics in the process. The syndicated columnist engaged in what borders on an irrational attack on gay priests. Such an attack also denies the ability of GLBT Catholics to trust their own moral experience when it comes to assenting or dissenting as matter of conscience on current Church's positions.

My issue is not with the syndicated columnist. I think he has every right to express his opinion in an uncensored manner; rather my concern is with balance. None of the Gay Media that ran this syndicated journalist column made room for a GLBT Catholic response in their letters to the editor, however, other members of the gay media and straight media did print our response. My point is not to attack the syndicated columnist who wrote the article, but to raise the issue of fairness and balance in the Gay Media when dealing with the issue GLBT Catholics. Many GLBT Catholics stay in the Church because of their deep love for their parish communities, and do challenge homophobia in the Church through debate. The debate, is taking place, and gay Catholics betray no disloyalty or impiety to either the Church or the GLBT Community by participating, and remaining with in the Church. Sincerely Yours,

Joe Murray
US Convener
Rainbow Sash Movement
312-266-0182

021706

NEWS FROM Contact: Michael Lever, 818.535.5245
West Coast Singers: www.westcoastsingers.org
Chorus of the Lesbian/Gay Community of Los Angeles
Karlan Judd, Artistic Director For Immediate Release

West Coast Singers presents
FRONT ROW, CENTER!
Saturday, March 4, 2006, 6:30 p.m.

LOS ANGELES - On Saturday, March 4, at 6:30 p.m., West Coast Singers (WCS) presents FRONT ROW, CENTER!, a benefit concert for the chorus that includes an elegant silent auction. This will be an evening filled with classy and fun theater music. The event will take place at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in Barnsdall Art Park, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, near the intersection of Hollywood Blvd. and Vermont Ave.


From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., VIP ticket holders will have the opportunity to meet and mingle with our special guest artists, Broadway and television stars Jane Lanier and Valarie Pettiford, and our emcee, Momma, the gay community's premier drag diva hostess. The silent auction and concert begin at 6:30 p.m., with an exciting treasure trove of auction items that will go to the highest bidder! Past auctions have included weekend getaways, walk-on television roles, and dinners for two at great L.A. restaurants. The evening also includes a hosted Absolut bar.

General admission tickets are $25. VIP tickets-which include the meet-and-greet reception, a catered buffet from Food Fetish, preferred seating, a gift bag, and a sneak preview of the silent auction items, as well as the chance to bid first-are $50. All tickets can be ordered online at www.westcoastsingers.org or by calling 800.439.4WCS (4927). A map and directions to the theatre are also available on the West Coast Singers website. Parking is free.
Premier sponsor: Absolut.
Barnsdall Gallery Theatre is a facility of the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.


About West Coast Singers (www.westcoastsingers.org)
As part of its mission, West Coast Singers seeks to educate and facilitate mutual respect between the gay and lesbian community and the community at large, as well as entertain audiences with fantastic music. Now celebrating its 23rd season, West Coast Singers was founded in 1983 and is considered to be one of the nation's premier mixed-voice, lesbian-and-gay choruses. West Coast Singers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

About Jane Lanier

Jane Lanier last appeared on Broadway starring in Fosse, for which she received a Drama Desk Award Nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Her other Broadway credits include Jerome Robbins' Broadway, for which she received a Tony Award Nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical; Guys and Dolls and Anything Goes, both directed by Jerry Zaks; Sweet Charity, directed by Bob Fosse; and On Your Toes, directed by George Abbott. On film she danced with John Travolta in Michael and was a lead in the independent film Mercy. She was seen on TV in The Shield and Diagnosis Murder, and had a recurring role as Susan Dominick on Murder One. Some of her favorite roles in regional theatre include Kate in The Wild Party, Jane in The World Goes 'Round, Cassie in A Chorus Line, Gladys in Pajama Game, Charity in Sweet Charity, Ivy in On the Town, and Claudine in Can-Can. At the Interact Theatre Co. in Los Angeles she has been seen in Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens; as Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, Petra in A Little Night Music, Mary in Second-Story Man, Wendy in Splitsville, Beth in Tangents, Woman in Hills Like White Elephants, and Bessie in Counsellor-at-Law, for which she received L.A. Drama Critics Circle, Drama-Logue, and Ovation Awards. She toured with Diana Riggs in Colette and with Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney in Sugar Babies.

Her choreography credits include The Wild Party at the Blank Theatre Co.; Smokey Joe's Cafe at 5th Ave Theatre in Seattle; Kiss Me Kate at Musical Theatre West; A Kid's Life at Wadsworth Theatre; Guys and Dolls, A Little Night Music, and The Music Man at Interact Theatre Co.; Ernest in Love at Fremont Theatre; Some Like It Hot, Pajama Game, and On the Town at Hamilton Academy; Night Fever; HBO's Dream On; the ABC mini-series Summer Stories; several Los Angeles S.T.A.G.E. benefits; the 2003 Actor's Fund Benefit; and many national commercials. Directing credits include The Smell of the Kill; The Swan; Yesterday, Quicksand; and Interact's Funny Valentine.


About Valarie Pettiford

Radiant, Queens-born, triple-threat Valarie Pettiford has illuminated stage, screen, and television.

She was principal dancer under the legendary Bob Fosse in his final productions Dancin' and Big Deal. For Big Deal, she was also dance captain. She was later Tony-nominated and Outer Critics Award-nominated for her starring role in the retrospective Fosse. Her Broadway/touring resume sparkles with highlights such as Sophisticated Ladies, Chicago (London West End), West Side Story, Grind, and The Wild Party. In movies, she's shone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club and Like Mike, and played Mariah Carey's jazz-singer mom in a thunder-stealing turn in Glitter. On television she has enjoyed a multitude of credits, including the daytime drama One Life to Live, the hit sitcom Frasier, and the acclaimed dramatic series The West Wing and The District, as well as her current prime-time residency on UPN's Half & Half, playing Big Dee Dee Thorne, for which she is a two-time NAACP Image Award nominee.

Ms. Pettiford earned NAACP, Vancouver Readers Sun, and Roby Award honors for her portrayal of Julie in Showboat. She regularly graces venues from the Kennedy Center to the Geffen Playhouse, Actors Theater of Louisville, and Yale Repertory. Ms. Pettiford also lends her talents to any number of charitable benefit performances. Now a Los Angeles resident, she was a marvel of versatility in her one-woman show, Finding My Voice, at Pepperdine University.

Her latest endeavor is her stunning debut CD, Hear My Soul, which is filled with some of the finest compositions of all time. It's an overview of not only the distinguished alto's career but also her life.


About Momma

Fashion, fun, and frolic are what you experience when you are in the presence of Momma, one of the world's most popular drag idols. "People are the reason I'm a drag queen. Without a soul to tickle, I'm just a sour pickle," she says. Her fashion sense and comic timing are requested time and again in both the gay and straight communities. Momma can be seen daily on OutoftheCloset.tv's Out on the Streets with Momma, Momma's Dream House, and The Born-A-Gayns. She toured with Placido Domingo in the Opera Il Pagliacci, and she was the first drag personality hired by the Disney Company to host the Evita Sing-Along. She also has appeared twice on Will & Grace.

Momma has hosted some of the most glamorous events in L.A. She has graced the stages of Dragstrip, Makeup, Outfest, Los Angeles Opera, Bad Boys Pool Parties, Sky Bar, Drag-a-licious, the Nike "Made to Move" campaign, the Red Dress Ball, L.A. Shanti, Dragville, Little Black Dress Event, the Trevor Project, Aid for AIDS, Trannie Shack, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Club FAB, Project Angel Food, and numerous other events to help people with AIDS and breast cancer.

####
021606

CONTACT :

Catherine R. Laporte

Tel:  (516) 593-5045

E: catzmusicmgt@aol.com

www.taborah.com

                            FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

TABORAH BRINGS ON HER SIX-OCTAVE VOCALS DURING

 LIGALY'S 5th ANNUAL MARDI GRAS  CELEBRATION

with FRANCE JOLI and The New MIX 102.7 FM PARTY CREW!

 

Long Island, New York, February 9, 2006– Singer/Songwriter Six octave dance floor Diva, Taborah returns to Long Island to perform her smash Billboard Club Dance hit "I AM" (the rising) and her soon to be released new single , All I Gave To You '06 when she joins France Joli and The New Mix 102.7 Party Crew during the 5th Annual Mardi Gras shin-dig, sponsored by Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth (LIGALY) on Saturday, March 4th at 7:00 PM at the Westlake Inn in Patchogue, Long Island . The 5th Annual Mardi Gras will be celebrated in true New York fashion with a night of dancing, open bar, fantastic eats, silent auction, stellar recording artist performances and special performances by the reining LIGALY Idol and the LIGALY Pride Dancers. One can also expect beads galore! Capping the celebration will be the crowning of the 2006 Mardi Gras King and Queen! The event is the first major fundraiser of the year for the not for profit organization and helps to provide much needed programs for area GBLT teens.

 

Catz Entertainment recording artist, and BMI songwriter, Taborah

 

Taborah, a Long Island native has been busy in the studio writing new songs and recording her follow up single, to her smash dance flor hit of 2005.  Her latest penned dance song, "All I Gave To You '06" which is sure to delight her fans promises remixes from the country's top DJ's. Taborah's first USA single, "I AM" (the rising) is quickly becoming a Pride Anthem with its inspirational lyrics and base drum beats. The club floor favorite rose to the top 5 on the Billboard Dance Club charts where it remained on the charts for 16 weeks and went on to became the reining tip-off song for the WNBA New York Liberty. Taborah, no stranger to topping the record charts, received a FIMI Award, Italy 's equivalent to the US Grammy Award and previously rose to the top of the Billboard, Hit Parade and Musica e Dische charts with number one pop-dance hit songs in the 90's under the name Blackwood. Says Taborah, "I am thrilled to come back home to Taborah portrait Long Island to perform and support LIGALY and the great work they do. I am delighted that so many have been inspired by the lyrics to my song, I AM (the rising); it was a fun song to write and I enjoy performing it as well. I encourage everyone to come out and support LIGALY while having a fantastic time. I look forward to seeing everyone!" To Hear Taborah #5 Billboard hit, "I AM" (the rising), click here!  For more information regarding Taborah, visit her website at www.taborah.com

 

Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth (LIGALY)

 

The recent recipient of HRC's Community Service Award, Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth (LIGALY) is GLBT owned and operated, and is the only agency on Long Island solely dedicated to serving the needs of Long Island 's gay community. (LIGALY) provides services for Nassau and Suffolk counties, as well as New York City youth. The organization offers education, advocacy, and social support services to the area's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) youth, young adults, and their families. Located in Bayshore, Long Island , the LIGALY Center supports over 2000 GLBT teens and their families each month, and reaches over 10,000 GLBT's on Long Island with their monthly newsletter.

 

The 5th Annual Mardi Gras is not to be missed! The Westlake Inn is located at 322 West Main Street in Patchogue, Long Island.  For more information on how to obtain tickets or to find out about LIGALY programs, contact www.ligaly.org.

-end-

 
 021506

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Uncounted Cost of Don't Ask Don't Tell; those who left in silence
AMERICAN VETERANS FOR EQUAL RIGHTS

www.aver.us

Contact: Denny Meyer, AVER PAO, publicaffairs@aver.us,

(P) (347) 239-9201

The recently released report, by a Blue Ribbon Commission of the University of California regarding the cost of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, nearly doubling the estimated cost of DADT discharges from America's armed forces, still does not count the loss of those gay troops who left in silence by not reenlisting. Many of these service members were senior NCOs who could no longer live in silence with freedom to be themselves just outside the base gates.

It is difficult to estimate the cost of the years of lost training, leadership, and experience that these senior enlisted service members took with them when they left the armed forces in silence, because their numbers are unknown. Add to that the cost of recruiting and training new personnel and then nurturing and awaiting their maturation and promotion through years of service.

The GAO report of 2005 estimated the cost of Don't Ask Don't Tell discharges at some 200 million dollars over the previous ten years. The UC report of this week nearly doubles that estimate when the troop replacement costs are counted. These estimates only count the costs of discharging and replacing those who were caught, those whose identity as gay was revealed. The many thousands of other gay and lesbian American volunteers who reluctantly and silently left rather than complete their patriotic careers are left uncounted. Those senior NCOs loved serving our nation; but could not continue leading their troops while having to hide their pride in who they are.

Denny Meyer

AVER Public Affairs


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