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NJ Raises Standards ◊ queerVIEWs: Transgender Movement @ Crossroads ◊ Queer Travel with Cardwell ◊ Talking Back ◊ TTT: Rittenhouse/Headhouse
HughE: Rachel Zoe - Lady Bunny
And queerNEWS from around the world
QUEERtimes: The Region's Fastest Growing LGBTQ Newsletter | |
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01.18.08 / v.1 - i.34
It's on the Qt! |
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Use the IN THIS ISSUE links above to navigate
QUEERtimes newsletter
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queerNEWS
in Review |
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Local
International
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More
queerNEWS in Review below in the lower right column
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Philadelphia's Premier LGBT Professional Network Gathers @ KNOCK
Knock Restaurant and Bar
will host
6:00 -8:30 PM
Wednesday
January 23rd
Admission: $5
Complimentary appetizers from their new menu.
Door prizes.
Bring Business Cards.
Meet & Network with New Members.
Discover KNOCK, the straight-friendly restaurant and bar in the heart of the gayborhood!
Just tell your friends to meet you @ KNOCK
225 South 12th St. at Locust
Philadelphia
215.925.1166 | |
Publishers Thom Cardwell James Duggan
Editor James Duggan
Editor-at-Large Thom Cardwell
Music Editor
Robert Drake Photographer HughE Dillon
Copyright 2008
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Do you...
...have something you want to say? - ...have a question you want answered? - ...have news you want to report? - ...have an announcement you want noticed? - Then email it to info@QUEERtimes.net
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Help Fight
Discrimination in PA
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Did you know that in 75% of the State of Pennsylvania you could be fired just because you're queer?
Help ADD Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender people to the state's anti-discrimination law
Call your PA Legislator and tell them to pass HB 1400 and SB 761.
The Fight For Queer Civil Rights is NOT over!
CALL YOUR LEGISLATOR TODAY!
Find Your PA Legislator
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Review past issues of the QUEERtimes Newsletter at www.QUEERtimes.net
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New Jersey Raises Standards for Hate Crimes and Safe Schools Laws
By: Adam Thompson |
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With only 10 dissenting votes, the New Jersey Legislature has made the state's hate crimes and anti-bullying laws two of the strongest in the country. S2975 is notable for its unequivocal inclusion of transgender people in the state's hate crimes law, becoming the 12th state to do so, and for stronger anti-bullying measures in its safe schools law.
The measure was hailed by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force which compared the state-level progress with Congress's refusal in 2007 to include transgender people in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. In addition to adding transgender to the state's hate crimes law, the New Jersey measure requires at least two hours of training on hate crimes for all new police officers, requires schools to post and distribute their anti-bullying policies, creates a commission to study bullying in the state's schools and to make recommendations to a future legislature, and provides judges with additional penalty options for defendants convicted of hate crimes, such as anti-hate sensitivity training.
Legislation to strengthen hate crimes laws and include transgender people in anti-discrimination laws are being pursued in several states across the country, including Utah and Oklahoma. Scottsdale, Arizona, also made news by extending workplace protections to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and trangender city employees. Of course, these laws are greeted with heavy resistance from conservative groups. Conservatives in California tried but failed to gather signatures to launch a ballot initiative to block a new new law extending anti-discrimination protections to public-school students based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.

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queerVOICE - Another Queer View
James Duggan |
This week I'm bringing another queer view to Qt. I hope you enjoy it. The transgender community is near and dear to my heart. Qt encourages you all to take the time to understand the issues of our transgender community and reflect on the strength of courage they provide in our ongoing struggle for queer civil rights for all! Qt also applauds the State of New Jersey in passing a hate crimes bill that includes the transgender community. Now we look to the legislators of Pennsylvania to do something similar.

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queerVIEWs
Transgender Movement at a Crossroads
Richard J Rosendall ©2008 |
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Recent developments in the transgender movement suggest an internal conflict between methods proven successful and misdirected anger that only gets in the way.
On the winning side of the ledger are accomplishments at the state and local level. For example, in the past few weeks, both houses of the New Jersey state legislature overwhelmingly passed a bill to add gender identity and expression to the state's hate crime law and strengthen school anti-bullying policies. This victory is thanks to the efforts of Garden State Equality and Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey. This illustrates the fact that, as with the fight for marriage equality, the main action currently is in the states, and that is where the bulk of resources need to be directed even as we continue our education efforts nationally.
On the self-defeating side of the ledger is a December letter from Meredith Bacon, board chair of the National Center for Transgender Equality. Speaking for herself, she offered an over-the-top denunciation of the Human Rights Campaign: "NCTE will not work with HRC in the foreseeable future, until the current HRC leadership is completely purged ..." She elaborated, "Not only is Joe Solmonese not to be trusted but neither are the second rank of HRC staff or its Board of Directors or Board of Governors. All of them would have to resign or be fired before we could even contemplate anything like cooperation. In short, NCTE is neither forgiving nor forgetting what HRC and Barney Frank have done to all of us."
To underscore her complete divorce from reality, Bacon also stated, "As long as HRC is controlled by and is dependent upon white, rich, professional gay men, such collaboration may never occur. Getting stabbed in the back is a useful experience only once in a very great while." This combines a tired and gratuitous leftist attack against leading funders of the gay rights movement with a repetition of the lie that disagreement over strategy is a betrayal.
Bacon made an interesting claim: "NCTE and the trans community do not need HRC because the United ENDA coalition has cemented our collaborative relationship with the Task Force, PFLAG, Lambda Legal and 300 other LGBT organizations." This ignores the failure of the United ENDA coalition to sway more than a handful of votes in Congress, as well as the evidence that the gay rank and file strongly disagrees with its all-or-nothing stance. In the left's ideological echo chamber, it is considered self-evident that Barney Frank's successful legislative strategy is somehow the failed one. Earth to United ENDA: Think again. Sen. Ted Kennedy has announced that he will proceed in the Senate with the version of ENDA passed by the House. If that is a sign of failure, let's have more of it.
Unfortunately, Bacon has plenty of company, as shown by the withdrawal of the Massachusetts chapter of the Transgender American Veterans Association from the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition on Jan. 11 after MTPC announced a pledge of $25,000 from HRC. The anti-HRC zealots scornfully reject the civil rights tradition of passing the best achievable bill while continuing to work for further advances.
Disparaging incrementalism and "white, rich, professional gay men" are non-starters. Transgender activists in many states have shown what works: Organizing, educating and focusing on the reality of people's lives. Stories touch people in a way that theory does not. Most Americans believe, at least in the abstract, that all citizens deserve equality under the law. The challenge is to get more Americans to recognize transgenders as their neighbors instead of as an abstracted and demonized "other." This crucial task is undermined by those transgenders (by no means all) who walk around with chips on their shoulders. If you want to insist that your anger is more than justified, I cannot quarrel with you. But unless that anger is channeled productively, it is no more liberating than that of rioters burning down their own neighborhood.
The potential power of a positive approach is suggested by the headway that Sen. Barack Obama has made as a presidential candidate with his embrace of an inspiring message that transcends the politics of racial guilt-mongering. Is that approach guaranteed to yield quick success? Of course not. Transgenders have a long, hard slog ahead. But centering your message on the arc of history bending toward justice is a damn sight more appealing than insulting your allies both in the LGBT community and in Congress.
Meredith Bacon wrote one thing I agree with, concerning the mixture of insider and outsider strategies: "Both of these strategies are valid and may be complementary as long as we all accept that we are working toward the same goals. Our needs are too important for mutually destructive animosity." She might consider taking her own advice.
Richard J. Rosendall is a freelance author based in Washington, DC. His work has appeared on Salon.com and FrontPageMagazine.com. He is a contributor to Independent Gay Forum and Liberty Education Forum.
Copyright © 2008 by Richard J. Rosendall. All rights reserved.
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Mark your Calendars
April 28 to May 4
Check out this year's full schedule of events on
@ www.EqualityForum.org

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Thom's World of Queer Travel
A Qt Exclusive
Thom Cardwell ©2008 |
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Travel Out
There is no time like the present to begin planning a getaway vacation out of the country. More and more countries and leading cities in the Western world have aggressively promoted to the international queer traveler, hoping to lure the lucrative niche market to their shores.
Some destinations have clearly become queer-friendlier while others are models of tolerance and acceptance of the queer lifestyle, with some places moving way beyond the latest queer travel campaign, as is the case of Toronto and Quebec, Canada, with the legalization of same-sex marriages. Curacao in the Caribbean and our neighbor to the north, Canada is way ahead of us in terms of the granting and acceptance of queer civil rights, including the controversial issue of same-sex marriages that is already legalized.
The province of Quebec is no exception with its European influences and its French heritage, encouraging a free-wheeling and queer friendliness that is genuine and widespread. Of course, Quebec City itself is charmingly quaint and enchantingly seductive for international queer travelers who enjoy its bars, clubs, restaurants, hotels and shops.
For more information, visit www.bonjourquebec.com/gay
Australian
It is no secret that the gay Aussie community has become fairly integrated into the mainstream lifestyle of the average Australian citizen. The land downunder has become dramatically more tolerant of and sensitive to the needs of the queer community. Home of the Gay Games in 2002 in Sydney, Australia's "queer capital," the sense of celebration continues to propel the events and activities that return annually to the nation's leading queer destinations such as Melbourne, Tasmania, Western Australia, Alice Springs, Queensland, and including Mardi Gras.
The Australian Tourist Commission has many queer-specific publications that are available free of charge, such as Gay Australia Guide, that is both entertaining and informative, and, supported in part by Qantas.
For more information, visit www.Australia.com/Gay
Scotland
In the land where the kilt, the equivalent of the male skirt, is a centuries-old clothing style with a strong clan tradition, Scotland has become more queer-friendly with their current "then loosen up at the corner pub" campaign that has been used to outreach to the international gay male traveler. Nowadays there is a vibrant and visible queer community in the country's major cities like Edinburgh with its own gayborhood or, in Scottish style,"the homo zone," that has the "pink triangle," area that is part Chelsea, the Castro and Soho, all rolled into one, in the city's trendy New Town. The Scottish Tourist Authority is offering a free official vacation planner to Scotland.
For more information, visit www.ToScotland.com
Curacao
Queer-friendly accommodations are growing in Curacao on an island in the Southern Caribbean where gay-owned and operated male-only accommodations will be a long time in coming (perhaps a decade or more).
But the good news is that some of the island's world-class, deluxe resort accommodations have been catering to international queer travelers, particularly, the Dutch, for some time, and are now anxious to attract visitors from all of North America. With the privately created, owned and operated Hotel Kura Hulanda by Dutch visionary entrepreneur Jacob Gelt Dekker, the most unique property of anywhere in the entire Caribbean is one more reason to discover this island gem of paradise.
For more information, visit www.curacao-tourism.com
Toronto
The Toronto Tourism Convention & Visitors Association offers a complimentary guide to Queer Toronto, Canada's largest city and the home to the biggest gay and lesbian community. More than 4 million people live in the fifth largest city in North America and enjoy the city of Toronto where Showtime's Queer as Folk is filmed in the gay and lesbian village, located in the downtown area. Pride Toronto takes annually on the last weekend in June and Inside Out Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival showcases everything from big Hollywood blockbusters to homegrown cutting-edge shorts by queer Canadian filmmakers.
For more information, visit www.torontotourism.com

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The Straight-Friendly
Restaurant and Bar
In the Heart of the Gayborhood
225 South 12th Street @ Locust Street, Philadelphia 215.925.1166
Just tell your friends to meet you at KNOCK

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Back Talk on the Qt |
Dear Editor,
As a gay man who has been "out" since 1962 I have seen many changes in the societal acceptance of our community. But as an individualist I strongly object to the notion that members of a group as heterogeneous as ours have that much in common. Over the years I have met plenty of men and women who could never be described as "brothers" or "sisters", who are hostile to each other, and are as diverse as any other group. This notion of brotherhood, to me, is as silly as saying that all heterosexuals have something in common because of their sexuality.
I feel that what's more important is a sense of one's individuality and the fact that we are not defined by our sexuality. Too many people have nothing else to be proud of other than their sexual orientation.
Although your motives are good and respectable I feel you and the other proponents of a "queer" community are doing its individual members a disservice.
R. Miller
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Thom's Tables Tips
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Off Rittenhouse
It's about time that we had another new venue off of fashionable Rittenhouse Square. Vango Lounge & Sky Bar, 116 S. 18th St., recently opened to enthusiastic response with their festive cocktails and reasonably-priced Japanese Continental menu, offered seven days a week.
Vango's interior design is definitely distinctive, like no other place in the city, with the European-imported fiber-optic chandelier, the unique wall paper, made out of real vodka bottles jutting out from every wall crevice, to compliment the New York City inspired ambiance.
The menu offers a variety of starters ($4-9), small plates ($5-14), large plates, perfect for sharing ($17-36), sushi plates ($5-21) and desserts ($6-8), featuring Filet Negimaki, Seared Bacon Scallops, Ishiyaki Eel and Braised Short Ribs.
The club side of the be-and-be-seen newest venue will feature Vango Blue Monday with the new wave, house, & electro of Carl Michael & Dev 79; Vango Red Tuesday with the hip hop, reggaeton, & Latin flare of DJ Frosty and Rahsaan; Vango Green Wednesday with hot house legend Lee Jones; Vango Turquoise Thursday with DJ Manolo; Vango Black Friday with DJ Yanni; Vango's All Colors Saturday with DJ Niko; & the not-so-pure Vango White Sunday with Deep C, Christian James, & DJ Niko.
For more information, call 215.568.1020
On Headhouse
Sonam, 223 South St., Philadelphia, is the latest new restaurant on welcoming Headhouse Square, a quiet oasis off of the hustle-and-bustle of South Street.
Chef/owner Ben Byruch, formerly of Pod, Trust and the Desmond Hotel in Malvern, pursued his culinary education at the Art Institute of Philadelphia.
Redefining global fusion and offering a new spin on the small-plate trend, Sonam is putting its stamp on the city's culinary world by serving "global dim sum" a la a Chinese restaurant style, merging International cuisine into unique bites.
The modern and inviting 50-seat BYOB projects warm earth tones with red accents, punctuated with bouquets of bamboo and angular displays, designed by residential interior designer Naomi Stein. (Sonam is her first foray into commercial restaurant design.) An adjacent lounge area allows for private parties of up to 10 guests.
Highlights of the fusion menu include hamachi nachos, with flour tortilla chips, yellow tail, avocado puree, and pico de gallo oil; smores constructed from goat cheese marshmallows, fig reduction, and wheat crackers; buffalo falafel with gorgonzola tzatziki and celery batonets; and an Italian egg roll with roast pork, broccoli rabe, roasted yellow peppers, sharp provolone, and sundried sweet chili sauce.
Not to mention Sonam's own twist on the classic Philly cheesesteak, cheese steak terrine, cheese steak mousse, shaved filet, fried onion, mushrooms, sharp provolone whiz, fire-roasted tomato ketchup, and hot pepper duxelle.
For more information, call 215.922.3092; www.sonambyob.com
Thom's Table also appears on aroundphilly.com
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Quick Takes on the Qt
HughE Dillon- photographer ©2008 |
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^ Bravo has announced a new program entitled The Rachel Zoe Project. The show will feature the escapades of the stylist, her husband Rodger and her fashion team Taylor and Brad and their hectic business. The show will feature Zoe trying to balance her many fashion business ventures on top of the constant demand of being a stylist to the stars. Zoe's current A-list roster includes Demi Moore, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Garner, and Liv Tyler. Here's a shot HughE took of her at New York's Fashion Week Spring 08 last September.
^ In two short weeks New York City will be hosting Fashion Week Fall 2008 and your QT photographer HughE Dillon will be covering the events and bringing you stories and pictures of the events. Here's a shot I took of Lady Bunny at New York's Fashion Week Spring 08 last September.

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queerNEWS in Review (continued) |
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QUEERtimes is published by BUCKmonkey, LLC, for the Greater Philadelphia Region's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning people and our loyal Hetero supporters. Expressed opinions are that of the author and do not represent the thoughts, feelings and /or opinions of any person, organization, company, staff member, or any of our advertisers. QUEERtimes, queerVIEW, queerARTS, queerVOICE, queerMUSIC, queerVIEW, queerNEWS, BackTalk, Thom's Table, Thome's World, fueled by BUCKmonkey, "It's On the QT" and the qt Logo are Trademarks of BUCKmonkey, LLC.
Copyright BUCKmonkey - QUEERtimes 2008 All Rights Reserved
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Copyright 2008 - QUEERtimes - BUCKmonkey, LLC
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