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queerVOICE
Gittings Trust vs.Trocadero (Right vs Wrong)
James Duggan
copyright 2009
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This
week my usual column is being replaced by a brief introduction to the controversy that has recently ensued over the appearance of anti-queer reggae singer Buju Banton at his planned concert for the Trocadero Theater in Philadelphia
tomorrow night.
It is followed by a press release, issued by The Gittings Trust, yesterday
to the media, and inviting them along with the public to attend a press conference, 11am, today, in front of the Trocadero, 1003 arch St., in Chinatown.
I find It is very unfortunate that the owner of the Trocadero, Joanna Pang, has decided to place profit over civility and justice. Her decision to facilitate a concert for an artist who calls for the murder of queers in song
is reprehensible. Any good she has developed with our community over the years is now unfortunately suspect.
In a recent conversation I had with Pang, she stressed that she has no control over the content of the promoter's shows but simply rents the property out. Are there no limits? Does she have no concern as to what is
happening in her theater? I suspect not.
As to why she will not cancel Baton's concert, she claims that she has a contract with the local promoter, Jamaican Dave, for seven concerts throughout the year and that it would cost too much money to cancel the September 12 concert.
I have suggested to both Jamaican Dave and Joanna Pang that perhaps they should cancel Baton's concert and schedule another concert with other performers at a later date. Jamaican Dave would get his concert dates and
Pang would be a hero to the community and save face.
I'm still waiting, along with The Gittings Trust, and others, for their
decision. Comments: james@QUEERtimes.net
___________________________ TROCADERO REFUSES TO CANCEL CONCERT BY ANTI-GAY SINGER; THE GITTINGS TRUST CALLS FOR PROTEST ON SEPTEMBER 12 AMONG OTHER ACTIONS.
Philadelphia, PA. - Owner Joanne Pang of the
Trocadero Theater, 1003 Arch St.,
has chosen to refuse to respond to requests from The Gittings Trust, a newly
formed LGBT nonpartisan political action committee, to cancel this weekend's
concert by Buju Banton, a reggae singer whose songs include lyrics that promote the brutal and violent murder of gay and lesbian
people. If the concert takes place as scheduled, Trust organizers will call for
a peaceful protest rally against the singer's hate speech on Saturday,
September 12, at 7 p.m., in front of the theater in the city's Chinatown neighborhood.
AEG Live, originally the national promoter, canceled Banton's national concert
tour, due to overwhelming pressure excreted by LGBT organizations nationwide,
according to AEG Live spokesperson Michael Roth. However, Jamaican Dave
Productions, a local promoter, then came to a separate agreement with the
Trocadero to go ahead with Banton's concert in Philadelphia.
Through his music, Banton promotes a culture of violence against LGBT people,
singing in his most notorious song "Boom, Bye Bye." Translated from reggae to Standard English, "Get an automatic or an
Uzi instead/Shoot them now/When Buju Banton arrives/Faggots have to run/Or get
a bullet in the head/Bang-bang in a faggot's head/Homeboys don't condone nasty
men/They must die." The song also advocates that LGBT people should have
acid poured on them and that we should be burned alive.
Banton claims that he wrote this song when he was a teenager and that he is not
homophobic. Yet he refuses to stop performing the song saying that, "If my
audience says they want 'Boom Bye Bye,' they get 'Boom Bye Bye' and that's my
song, you know." (He was actually filmed performing this song in a 2008 concert
in Miami.)
Reports are that royalties are still being generated by this inflammatory song
and it has remained a powerful anthem in Jamaica's
dance club scene where there is a sustained culture of violence against LGBT
people, something that is not only tolerated but sometimes celebrated on
the Caribbean Island.
"While we clearly support one's right to free speech this is not such an
exercise, rather it is a blatant example of hate speech being directed at a
group of American citizens. A just and civil society can neither accept nor
tolerate such hate speech, especially one that calls for the murder of a person
simply on the basis of who they are," said James Duggan, a spokesperson
and board member for The Gittings Trust.
While Duggan acknowledged that the Trocadero has hosted many LGBT events, he
emphasized that "they now have chosen to profit off of those who would call in
song for our murder, something that clearly can't be accepted, excused or
tolerated by anyone."
Duggan said that unless the Trocadero agrees to cancel the Banton concert
immediately that The Gittings Trust will be forced to call for a complete
boycott of this property for any and all LGBT events in the future. The
political action committee also demands that Trocadero management provide
assurances that they will no longer book any anti-LGBT performers or hate speech
performers in the future.
If this concert does proceed and the song "Boom, Bye, Bye," is performed,
Duggan asserted that The Gittings Trust plans to file a hate crimes complaint
with the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations and will seek full
prosecution under the law.
The Gittings Trust has also notified Stephen Glassman,
Chairperson of the PA Human Relations Commission, in Harrisburg, who immediately assured the LGBT
political action committee that his office would be closely monitoring this
situation over the weekend.
"We at The Gittings Trust call upon all people of good will to stand with us
and put a stop to the hate and to join us in calling on the Trocadero to cancel
this concert," said John DiPietro, Vice President, The Gittings Trust.
Editor's note: James Duggan and Thom Cardwell are Founding Board members of the Gittings Trust.
CALL
TO ACTION:
Contact the following companies and demand that
they make a promise to our community to end support and facilitation of
individuals who advocate the killing of queers.
1003 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA
19107 215.922.6888
trocadero@thetroc.com
- Jamaican
Dave Productions
myspace.com/jdpevents
federal1261@yahoo.com
David
Russell, CEO
3701 Wilshire Blvd Fl 7 Los Angeles, CA 90010
213.381.2000
Irving
Azoff, CEO
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What It Looks Like From Here
Thom Cardwell
copyright 2009 |
It's no secret that I love the arts. And Philadelphia has a long
tradition and history of creation, development and support for the arts,
nurturing and expanding its own brand of the "creative economy" long before it
became a popular concept or trendy buzzword.
Nowadays it seems that the city is teeming with arts and cultural events and
emerging institutions and organizations to support it despite the current
economic challenges.
 Always unique and thriving is the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival Philly Fringe,
taking place now though September 19, in a wide range of venues and locations.
This year already marks the 13th edition
of a genuinely unique and special citywide arts experience that really should
never be missed.
During my handful of years attending Live Arts, I can easily say that I saw
amazing artistic expression of all kinds that I'd not had the pleasure of
seeing elsewhere, then there's always been the  thrilling, delightful, discovery
of the talents and creativity of local arts and groups who you encounter at the
festival. I personally came to appreciate the works of Melaine Stewart Dance Theatre, Pig Iron
Theater Company and SCRAP Performance Group, to mention just
a few. No, you don't always have to rush off to New York, London or San Francisco
to see new talent and new work. Some of it's right here in the City of Brotherly Love and
Sisterly Affection.
On the other hand, the purpose of Live Arts to bring artists from around the
world to Philadelphia.
This year one of the festival's U. S. Premiere's is Poland's
Michel Zadara who is directing his
nation's literary giant, Witold Gombrowicz's "Operetta" that gets
a "reinvention" (Zadara's word) through the employment of "music, fashion,
dancing, chaos and a cast of 22 dominate this wild fable about the ideological
battles that defined 20th century Poland."
 Or you'll have returning performers like "groundbreaking monologist" Mike Daisey returns for his second act
of this year's Festival with the World Premiere of "The Last Cargo Cult," "the true-life
story of his time on a remote South Pacific island whose inhabitants worship
America.
There he lived with the cult, hunted feral pigs beneath the erupting volcano of
Mount Yasur, and learned of the
islanders' stories of belief, faith, and sympathetic magic."
 There's always lots of quality dance presented at Live Arts, from Headlong Dance Theater's World Premiere
of "more" to the U. S. premiere of "above, under, inbetween,"
choreographed by Viennese choreographer Willi
Dorner performed by a roster of Austrian dancers with Philadelphia dance
artist Megan Bridge.
Aside from performances, there are other types of activities offered at Live
Arts such as a panel discussion on September 12 at  1pm, featuring Whit MacLaughlin, director and artistic director of New Paradise
Laboratories, will participate in the panel Social Media and the Arts: a conversation on art,
social media, and participation with a focus on the digital network and how we
communicate "the bits of information" about ourselves and our relationships.
PNC Financial Services Group is the presenting sponsor of the 2009 Philadelphia
Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe. The support is part of PNC Arts Alive, a five-year, $5 million
investment from The PNC Foundation, to help area residents gain access to the
arts, and help arts organizations expand and engage audiences.
For more information
and tickets, call 215.413.1318; box offices at the various venues; or
visit livearts-fringe.org
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Thom's Table on the Qt!
Thom Cardwell
copyright 2009
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 Meritage, 500 South 20th Street at Lombard,
Philadelphia, has recently reopened after having experienced a major makeover--changing
the menu, pricing, wine list, pricing, decor and even new executive chef Anne Coll.
"The overall concept of the restaurant, originally, was French-American and the
décor resembled that," explained Michele
DiPietro, Meritage's co-owner with Irene
Landy. "We've decided to give that classic feel a new twist for today's
palette and today's economy."
Coll, formerly of Susanna Foo and Le Bec Fin created a new budget-conscious menu divided into three categories: snacks, small plates and large plates,
ranging in price from $2 to $21. "Her vision for the Meritage menu blends
traditional French techniques with strong Asian flavor profiles, a combination
evident in items like the grilled Kobe-stuffed grape leaves with Vietnamese
vinaigrette," said DiPietro.
Coll will incorporate organic produce,
cheeses and meats from local farms, such as the Eberly Farms Chicken Liver
pate with spiced plums and crostini that is brand new to Meritage's menu.
Some other highlights will include: spiced wonton chips with a Chinese eggplant
caviar, Jersey corn and crab custard with herb oil, frisee salad with poached
egg, crispy braised pork belly, fingerlings and a citrus vinaigrette, herb
crusted lamb chops with a spicy chopped salad of cucumber, tomato, herbs, red
pepper and hearts of palm, and brined and roasted Giannone chicken with brussel
sprouts, Chinese sausage hash, star anise sauce.
Meritage now features "50 under 50"
for their wine list of 25 reds and 25 whites to compliment Coll's dinner menu.
The restaurant's interior also underwent
a facelift, with a new color scheme of two yellows,
Tuscan sunrise and Tuscan sunset, hardwoods in the dining room, chairs and butcher
block tabletops, and art gracing the walls and honoring women artists as,
DiPietro noted, "a tribute to the restaurant's female owners and chef."
For more information, call 215.985.1922; or visit meritagephiladelphia.com
 This month Distrito,
3945 Chestnut Street, in University City, Philadelphia,
and recently honored as "Best New
Restaurant 2009" by Philadelphia
Magazine, will be debuting a new "Cantina" menu of all items under $10 on the restaurant's first floor.
"Distrito is the most exciting and fun restaurant in our family," says
superstar chef/owner Jose Garces, "and
our Cantina Menu makes it even more
accessible to area students who prefer to hang out with friends over cocktails
and snacks, rather than indulging in a full meal."
Highlights of the Cantina menu will
include: traditional guacamole, available in two sizes; a variety of enchiladas,
such as enchilada de cangrejo with jumbo lump crab, poblano peppers, roasted
corn and salsa verde; mission-style quesadillas, available with fillings that
range from queso mixto to grilled chicken to skirt steak; tacos al carbon,
stuffed with hanger steak, pulled pork, portabella or tongue, among others; and
Distrito's famed esquites, sweet corn with queso fresco, chipotle and lime.
Distrito's mixologists will offer the
Cantina Margarita; Evil Ways,
grape vodka and lime; Jugando Tea, sweet tea, vodka and passion fruit; and an
assortment of Shooters, including the Bazooka, Red Bull and tequila, and the
White Widow, tequila, melon liquor and horchata, and a variety of Mexican beers
and microbrew draughts.
For more information, call 215.222.1657; or visit distritorestaurant.com
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What They Said:
copyrighted 2009 |
 Queer magazine editor Ariel Foxman
is sitting on top of the world, at "InStyle" (The Advocate, June/July 2009)
where in a dwindling print media world, his best-selling fashion magazine has
increased in sales by 7% in newsstand sales in 2008. The Harvard-educated
editor has already amassed an impressive career at only 35, with stints at The
New Yorker, Details and, at the age of 29, assumed being the editor in chief
for Cargo, the now-defunct men's shopping magazine. A staunch believer in the
power of positive thinking, Foxman has the right attitude as much about being
openly gay in the workplace as he does about overseeing all 16 international
editions of "InStyle." "Being
gay has been something I've been fortunate to be able to take for granted," he
said, "I think the visibility of out gay men in the realm of celebrity and
fashion has allowed me to sort of slide into this position without much
hoopla."
____________________________________
 So, do remember glorious Christine Baranski from the 1990s sitcom,
"Cybill"? She played the ridiculously wealthy, wise, witty (she got most of the best lines in the show),
hard-drinking, stylish (she introduced Judith Lieber handbags to the masses,
resulting in all those knockoffs sold by street vendors, from New York City to
London) "best gal pal" of our wonderful but always-needing-help-and-advice,
Cybill Shepard? Well, she's returning to the small screen, in "The Good Wife,"
starring opposite girl-boss Julianna Margulies in a brand new CBS sitcom,
premiering on September 22. Baranski will look as stylish as ever but this time
she'll trade comic barbs, playing lawyer Diane Lockhart. Talking to the editors
of New York
(August 31-September 7, 2009), Baranski said of her character, "There are so many roles for women that are
cringe-worthy. When you're young, you're the slut or the victim of a serial
killer, and then as you get older, you can be the obnoxious mother-in-law or
overbearing mother, or some kind of washed-up alcoholic. There are so many
roles where women are handicapped human beings, and here's a woman who's one of
Chicago's top
litigators, she's a partner at a law firm, she's well-dressed, she's in
control. There's nothing pathetic or funny about her."
____________________________________
 The editors of The Advocate (August 2009) definitely got it right when they
titled their profile with Dan Choi, the latest casualty of the United
States Military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," an "Officer and a Gentlemen." The
charismatic Choi comes out loud and clear when he speaks whether it's in front
of the television cameras with MSNBC's anchor/host, Rachel Maddow or CNN's Don
Lemon or to print columnists like Liberation Publications' Sean Kennedy that
the 28-year-old Asian-American is blessed with "oratorical gifts and undeniable
stage presence." A graduate of the U. S. Military at West
Point, an Iragi War veteran, an Arabic language specialist, confounder
of Knights Out, an organization of gay students and fellow alumni from his alma
mater, Choi is poised for bigger and better things. Already called by some, "a
modern-day Harvey Milk," Choi has been pressured by many quarters to consider
running for public office. His high profile public exposure gave Choi "a bully
pulpit, something most discharged gay soldiers hadn't had," explained Nathaniel
Frank, author of "Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and
Weakens America.
"Politics, I don't know," responds Choi, "I'm
going through a lot of stuff right now, and that's really torturous of you to
plant those ideas in my head. Speaking out publicly is basically the same thing
as holding office, so I'm doing it anyway." But Choi definitely maintains
a focused keen eye of service to his country. He admits to considering other
options than politician. He'd like to be considered for a position as an
analyst in the Middle East Bureau of the State Department or something else,
"close to his heart," working to develop and improve the Veterans Affairs
Office.
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Thom's World
Thom Cardwell
copyright 2009
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 Philadelphia's only
gay-owned and operated boutique hotel, Alexander Inn, 301 South 12th Street at Spruce, in the heart
of the city's "gayborhood," recently announced its "winter guest stimulus plan" for all newly renovated rooms, being
offered at $99 and $129, price variance is based upon room type, from November
1, 2009 through February 28, 2010.
Following on the success of Alexander Inn's $1 per night room rate that caught
the attention of everyone from CNN
to The New York Times, the
consistently top-rated property from sources like "Best of Citysearch" and "National
Geographic Traveler Magazine," owner Mel
Heifetz decided literally "to put money back into the pockets of all of the
guests at the INN during these hard economic times" with this new winter
discount promotion.
"We have always been on the side of corporate and leisure travelers in offering a quality product at a very fair
price. We offer daily rates that never go up when local demand is high
during special events or citywide conventions," Heifetz said, "This promotion
represents anywhere from $23 to $46 into the pockets of the guests on a daily
basis."
Civic-minded and somewhat altruistic,
Heifetz said that his guests will then, in turn, spend the money saved on
accommodations on art exhibits, show tickets, restaurants, retail and other
city establishments and businesses.
The Alexander Inn offers 48 guest rooms, three standard room types and four
deluxe room types, all with private baths, contemporary decor, complimentary
buffet breakfast, 24-hour fitness center, complimentary WIFI, in-room safes,
Sicilian Red Orange bath amenities, 24-hour staffed front desk, nearby
discounted parking, among other amenities and services.
Despite the expense that the Inn has gone into
with all room renovations just completed,
the winter discount promotion is being offered to guests.
"Not only is it somewhat unbelievable that we're NOT raising rates following a
complete renovation; but that we have lowered our already remarkably
competitive rates," emphasized innkeeper John
Cochie, "Again, it's part of our commitment of ensuring great guest
experiences."
For more
information, call 877.253.9466; or visit alexanderinn.com
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Carlotta takes on QOTA to Benefit Action Aids
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QOTA (Queers on the Avenue) is a monthly night out on East Passyunk Avenue
in South Philly for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender neighbors, friends
and allies.
This
month QOTA will be held on Tuesday, September 15th, from 6-9 p.m. at Paradiso Restaurant & Wine Bar, located at 1627 East Passyunk Ave between Tasker
and Morris. Drink specials and light fare will be provided. Philadelphia's own Carlotta Tendant will be
making an apperence.
A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit Action Aids.
Go
out - have fun - and help support this good cause!
Spread the word to all of your South Philly friends who want a night out in the
hood and anyone else interested in checking out this fabulous neighborhood.
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Events on the Qt! |
September 8 (Tuesday)
Official Queer Fundraiser for Joe Sestak for U.S. SenateClick HERE to view and download official invitation and contribution form.
September 15 (Tuesday)QOTA @ Paradiso with CarlottaClick HERE to view the QOTA facebook page.
Always remember to check out the book reading events @
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