GLBT NewsGreater Cincinnati

Serving the Cincinnati LGBT Community since 1996GLBT NewsQQ

http://wwwhttp://wwwhttp://wwwhttp://wwwhttp://www.g.g.g.g.glbtnelbtnelbtnelbtnelbtnewscincinnawscincinnawscincinnawscincinnawscincinnati.comti.comti.comti.comti.com

GLBT News—Page 1May, 2014 Print Edition

Youth, have a bullying Problem—Call the Trevor Project, 1-866-4-U-TREVOR

The Old Geek......Page 2Tedd Good...Page 2Other Views.....Page 2

HRC...Page 3Mother Goose....Page 4Chris Seelbach....Page 4

Jack Wolking....Page 5Brother Michael.....Page 6Gay Chamber ....Page7

IN THIS ISSUE

Photo by Michael X. Chanak

Unconstitutional to not recognize out-of-state same sex marriages

See Knox, Page 3, Col 3

Four PRIDE events in area this JuneCincinnati “jumps gun” holds May event

By Scott KnoxAttorney at Law

Judge Timothy Black issueda well-reasoned Order inHenry v. Himes, the caseholding that it’s uncon-stitutional for Ohio to continueto fail to recognize lawful

same-sex marriages from otherjurisdictions. Here’s myfavorite quote: “The record before theCourt, which includes thejudicially-noticed record inObergefell, is staggeringlydevoid of any legitimate

justification for the State’songoing arbitrary discrim-ination on the basis of sexualorientation, and, therefore,Ohio’s marriage recognitionbans are facially uncon-stitutional and unenforceable

June is Gay PRIDE Month and parades and festivalswill be under way anywhere you look. But, if you arein the Greater Cincinnati area PRIDE will be celebratedin May, We are going to focus on events in Cincinnati, India-napolis, Dayton, Columbus and Lexington.

Cincinnati, May 31 Cincinnati Parade Saturday, May 31, 2 p.m.. —Downtown Cincinnati. It’s Cincinnati PRIDE’s 40th Anniversary, and theychallenge you to embody the anniversary as your theme.Those that do so will be automatically entered into afloat contest and awarded according to: People's Choice Best Business Entry Best Non-Profit/Group EntryParade Grand Marshals Crystal Loomis is an activist for social justice. Herclose friends call her the "Mayor of Queertown." Shehas been active in the local scene for five years and herwork is consistent with the nickname. Ron Clemons has been an active member of theLGBTQ community for over 32 yrs. He is an out andvery proud Gay man and has tried to use his life expe-riences to assist others in facing their day to day chal-lenges. He has an undergraduate degree from Miami

University and a master's degree from the Univer-sity of Cincinnati The parade will run the following route: Staging/starting area at 7th St. & Culvert St, from there pa-rade participants will travel west on 7th St, turn south(left) on Vine St, turn east (left) on 5th at FountainSquare, turn south (right) at Walnut St, turn east (left)at Freedom Way, turn south (right) on Joe NuxhallWay (Main St) at Great American Ball Park, turneast (left) on Mehring Way. Walkers (no vehicle entries) will go into Yeatman’sCove and enter Sawyer Point under the arches ofthe Purple People Bridge.Vehicles will stay on Mehring Way to Pete Rose Wayand continue to their designated location after theparade The Festival will be at Sawyer Point and Yeatman'sCove, 705 East Pete Rose Way. Entertainment had not been finalized as we wentto press.

Indianapolis Circle City In PRIDE in Indianapolis June 7-14Indy’s first PRIDE Parade featured one float, an an-tique truck, a few drag queens, some antique carsand a handful of walking groups. The parade lasted

See PRIDE, Page 7, Col. 1

The Court.....Page 8PFLAG....Page 8

This Newspaper is supported entirely by income from our Advertisers. Editorials/Opinions are the opinions of the writer or organization and thepublisher assumes responsibility only for Editorials, Opinions or Commentary written by the publisher or editor(s). Views expressed inOrganizational or Independent columns or in Letters to the Editor are those of the organizations or writers. This Newspaper is distributed FREE at Advertisers' locations, through community organizations and other outlets. The publisher assumes noresponsibility for content, accuracy or validity of Advertising.

Contents © GLBT News, 2014

“Always be yourself,” from Billy Elliot

Vol. 18; May 2014—Print Edition (PE)

Publisher/Editor—Worley Rodehaver; Associate Editor—Michael X. Chanak Transportation—Joe Wilks

Sales—Karen Halaszyn—513-979-4295

“Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease, only love can do that.” Martin Luther King

This publication is dedicated to those

PaulDelph

MatthewShepard

It is our goal to record the positive contributions GLBT people make to their community and the localcommunity at large. While AIDS and Hate CRIMES are certainly not positive things, we seek to draw thepositive from the negative. We hold up Paul Delph and Matthew Shepard and their families as models ofhow human beings should or could react to each other and how families should support loved ones whoselives are not in the box right wing religious zealots want them in. Delph, a multi-talented Cincinnatian, diedof AIDS in 1996. His mother shut down her business to care for him. Shepard died in 1998, victim of a hateCrime and his mother worked for years to get passed a national Hate Crimes Bill, which is now law.

who have or have died from AIDS or Hate Crimes

MAP ublications, 1727 Highland, Cincinnati, OH 45202, 513-241-7539

GLBT News, Worley Rodehaver and , Michael X. Chanak are on Facebook

GLBT News is published weekly in Cincinnati, Ohio.

e.mail—map@ella.netweb—http:/www.glbtnewscincinnati.com

Our Our Our Our Our WWWWWeeeeebsite is dedicabsite is dedicabsite is dedicabsite is dedicabsite is dedicated to Gen Critel,ted to Gen Critel,ted to Gen Critel,ted to Gen Critel,ted to Gen Critel, its de its de its de its de its devvvvveloperelopereloperelopereloper

May, 2014

Recieve GLBT News via e.mail. Send your e.mail address to MAP@ella.net

Page 2–GLBT News PE

The OldGeezer

By Worley Rodehaver

The Trevor Project(866) 488-7386Talbert House(513) 281-2273

(513) 281-CAREAmerican Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Media/Resource GuidesThe Word

WVQC-FM 95.7, Every SaturdayGLBTQ Music/News

Every Woman, 1pm - 3 pmAlternating Currents

3pm - 5pmCNKY Scene

The Listings GuideGreater Cincinnati GLBT News

175 locations monthlyElectronic edition, weekly

Rainbow CincinnatiBack2Stonewall

Business OrganizationsGreater Cincinnati Gay Chamber of Commerce

Local PRIDE OrganizationsCincincinnati PRIDE, NKy PRIDECincinnati Police GLBT Liaison

Angela Vanceangela.vance@cincinnati-oh.gov

HIV SupportCaracole - HIV Housing - Case Management

Planned Parenthood SW OhioSenior Support

National Resource Center on LGBT AgingAARP GLBT Seniors

SAGE - Elder AdvocacyParents & Youth Support & Students

PFLAG CincinnatiGLSEN Cincinnati

Cincinnati Youth GroupUC GLBT Center

Therapeutic Foster CareLighthouse Youth Services

UC GLBTQ Support GroupsMusic & Film

Muse - Women's ChoirCincinnati Men's Chorus

Queen City Rainbow Bandcnky Film Fest

Political/Anti-BullyingEquality Ohio

Equality CincinnatiHRC CincinnatiNOW Cincinnati

BRAVO - Anti-Violence ProjectTransgender Information

TransOhioCrossport - Cincinnati's Gender Support

Midwest Trans* and Queer Wellness InitiativeWomens Information

Cincinnati's Tuesday Nite Women's GroupWomen Helping WomenOhio Lesbian Archives

NOW Cincinnati ChapterWOF - Women Out Front

Lesbian EventsSubstance Issues

Queen City Group - AAAL-ANON

Mental Health America - SW OhioGateways, A Recovery Center

Evening Entertainment & MoreGay Bar Maps

Queen City Poetry SlamGay Literature Group - Greater Cincy

And more...Cincinnati Front Runners

Rivercity SoftballTri-State Prime Timers

Imperial Sovereign Queen City CourtScorpius Cincinnati

TriState LeatherThe River BearsCincinnati Sons

UC Law - Out & AlliesUC LGBTQ Center

NKU Common GroundRainbow Alliance of Cincinnati State

InformationGLBT News had an Information Page severalyears ago. This updated info was obtained fromThe Center. If you see soething that does notexist or something that should exist but isn’there e.mail GLBT News at MAP@ella.net.That includes phone/e.mail addresses.

Real politic 101By Tedd Good

Other Views

If my latest columns seem tobe obsessed with Russian Tsar

President Obama and the EUfail miserably handling theUkraine Crisis. They want touse the failure as a means ofinstalling their type of leader

Hi Worley. Please note that AlternatingCurrents and Every Womanradio programs are no longeron the air. When MediaBridges lost its City fundinglast year, it had to close. Sinceit held the license for WVQC,the station and all showsended as well. Both Every Woman andAlternating Currents wereon air every Saturday fordecades and offered Cin-cinnatians and NorthernKentucky Women’s com-munities, GLBTQ and GLBTfriendly communities andlisteners news, interviews andmusic, not heard oncommercial radio. Thanks for supporting thesemedia outlets for so long andmaking information aboutboth shows available throughGLBTQ News.

Cheryl Eagleson513-260-7045

Putin in 2016

Putin I , it is in part because I

rights need be afraid – veryafraid. He has become a globalfascist leader because the TeaParty GOP sings his praises asthe type of leader USA oughtto have. I am talking about acheering section of folks likeLimbaugh, Palin , Hannity ,Giuliani et.als. They see TsarPutin being a strong decisiveleader who is fanaticallynationalistic and the willingtool of the oligarchs andOrthodox Church. These cheerleaders havebecome Tsar Putin’s fifthcolumn in USA hoping

next electioncycle. ForbesMagazine is al-ready setting upthis scenario. Meanwhileback in Ukraineand Russia ,Crimean min-orities in the

LGBT , Jewish , And Tatarcommunities are expressing fearand loathing of their newRussian masters. While theyacknowledge that the Ukrainiangovernment may have some neofascists , they are scared of theefficient Russian Police State.Kiev’s threadbare incompetenceand attempts to buy ofcommunity leaders is far easierto deal with. Tsar Putin has become moreovert about his intentions. Heis now registering Jews inCrimea as potential subversives.In Eastern Ukrainian Citiesoccupied by Russian separatists, the local Juntas are alsorequiring Jews to register aswell. He is also enforcing newregulations constricting publicprotests for all Russians and theregistration of foreign basedorganizations doing business aspotential subversives. Essentially he is expandingthe restrictions against theLGBT community to all

Russian subjects ( they haveceased to be real citizens ) .That’s just how gradualismworks. Whoever becomes thenew hero of the Tea Party forthe 2016 GOP presidentialnomination must be seen asthe one who has the mostPutin potential. Be afraid. Bevery afraid. NEVER AGAIN !!

Off the Air

am openly Gay andpart Ukrainian. As he emer-ges as the firstGlobal leader ofa Fascist move-ment since Hitlerand Mussolini ,anyone who caresabout human

PRIDE I have observed and/or par-ticipated in PRIDE for manyyears. Since 1996, as publisherof GLBT News,I have had theprivilege of re-porting PRIDEactivities. I am proud ofour continuallygrowing Cincin-nati PRIDE andI send “best wishes”for this year’s activities. I am also proud of KarenHalaszyn, a straight ally whohas been selling Ads and other-wise supporting this publica-tion for many years. And, I want to say how proudI am of my volunteer writersand photographers. I have had many over theyears and I can’t name them allbut I do want to salute MichaelX. Chanak who serves as a vol-unteer associate editor and col-umnist. Michael sometimes disagrees

with some of our content but heis a real “media” person andsays “so be it.” You will find columns of ourpresent volunteer writers in this

issue except forthe Rev. JoySimpson who wasbusy doing herfaith jobs whencolumns were duein April. Thanks to youall. This year I re-

minded our columnists that thisis our PRIDE Edition, mostwrote about PRIDE directly orindirectly. Expanding on the topic ofPRIDE. I am proud we haveattorneys on our side here in theCincy. One of them, our friend ScottKnox, has a story beginning onPage 1. I feel that when thereis somebody who knows much,much more than I do about atopic, I invite them to write astory about it. Best in PRIDE!

513-542-7800

GLBT News—Page 3May, 2014 PE

Ten years ago we celebratedPRIDE under a cloud ofdiscrimination and hate

one of the most progressivecities in our region. The HumanRights Campaign rates cities ontheir inclusiveness to LGBTresidents and visitors, which ispublished annually in theMunicipal Equality Index

challenge our community todebunk that myth. ClaimPRIDE in who you are andhow you express yourself, butdo it as a Cincinnatian first. The world will only hear thedetails of our success if we tellthem that we are truly a greatplace to live, work and raise afamily. During our celebrationsPRIDE means many things tomany people, one meaning weall share though is simply ourPRIDE in our hometown,Cincinnati. The Human Rights Camp-aign is America’s largest civilrights organization working toachieve Lesbian, Gay,Bisexual and Transgenderequality. By inspiring andengaging all Americans, HRCand the HRC Foundation striveto end discrimination againstLGBT citizens and realize anation that achieves funda-mental fairness and equalityfor all.

HometownProud

Human

Rigths

Campaign

By Steve Newsome

mongering as Cin-cinnati became oneof the most anti-LGBT cities in thecountry with an or-dinance known asArticle XII. The ordinancepermitted employersand landlords toactively discriminate againstanyone thought to be Gay orLesbian. Hundreds turned outin protest at City Hall and agroup of dedicated citizenstook to the ballot box to defendour rights and our city. Later that year Article XIIwas repealed and Cincin-natians could once again livetheir lives without fear ofeviction or termination. Weknew, however, that we had toprevent this from happeningagain. We banded together andformed several groups thatwould eventually become theGreater Cincinnati HumanRights Campaign. Today as we look back on thegreat successes and milestonesin our movement recently weshould take great PRIDE incalling ourselves Cincin-natians. Today, thanks in large partto the advocacy of many andthe exemplary leadershipshown by city CouncilmemberChris Seelbach, Cincinnati is

(MEI). In2013 Cin-c i n n a t iearned animpressive90 percento v e r a l lr a t i n g ,second inour region

only to Columbus, Ohio. As welook to the future we canproudly announce that weanticipate a full 100 percentrating in 2014; the highestanticipated score in our region,even surpassing Columbus. This comes as votes seemto be near from city council ona domestic partnership registryand as the City Managerprepares to offer health benefitsfor necessary medical pro-cedures and recovery to ourcity’s Transgender employees.Our 100 percent rating alsocouldn’t have been achievedwithout the extraordinarydisplay of leadership from ourCincinnati Public Schools,which late last year passed anenumerated anti-bullyingpolicy with help from ourpartners at GLSEN and theYWCA. We often hear from friends,transplants, and national pressthat Cincinnati appears, attimes, backward or confused.During PRIDE this year we

under any circumstances.” Now *that* pretty much saysit all. The Judge “stayed” theenforcement of his order (forcouples other than those whowere plaintiffs in the Henrycase in front of him) until thematter is decided on appeal bythe Sixth Circuit Court ofAppeals. This makes sense toavoid driving bureaucratscrazy across the state, trying tofigure out if married couplesare really married. This affects

a broad range of rights,including ERISA payouts tospouses, dower rights on deedsfor real estate, inheritancerights, Social Security survivorbenefits, and lots of otherrights. Myriad agencies andbusinesses need to know forsure if you’re married or not.The good news is that JudgeBlack wrote a very well-supported Order, so I’mhopeful it’ll be upheld. Butfor right now, your rights as amarried couple in Ohio are thesame as they were before JudgeBlack ruled. Once it’s upheld,you’ll have all the rights (andresponsibilities) of any othermarried couple if you weremarried in another jurisdiction.His Order does not say Ohiohas to allow same-sexmarriages to be performedhere, just that Ohio needs torecognize out-of-state validmarriages. But a new lawsuitwas filed on April 30 seekingan order requiring Ohio to

allow same-sex marriages to beperformed, so this, too, willlikely change. Our governorand Attorney General DeWinehave pledged to fight againstour rights to the end, though,so there will be delays of theinevitable decision grantingequal rights pending appeals. In November if EdFitzgerald is elected Gov-ernor and David PepperAttorney General, we mayget our rights sooner, as bothare advocates for equalrights. This case makes a hugedifference already to thelitigants. I’m proud to havereferred clients to the attorneysthat filed the Henry case.Brittani Henry and her wifeBrittni Rogers are a wonderfulcouple who both want to be onthe birth certificate for thechild they’ll be raisingtogether. The assumptionunder Ohio law is that if youare married and give birth, yourspouse is the father. They want

to be treated equally. That’shardly a radical idea. And itallows their child to be coveredby both parents for SocialSecurity purposes, which hasnot been the case even after theWindsor case, as SocialSecurity determines thevalidity of marriage under theresidential state’s laws, not thelaws of the state where thecouple marries. This helpsprovide stability for theirfamily. Our laws generally havebeen drafted for exactly thatpurpose: to stabilize families.It has always struck me that‘the Brittani’s’ and othersimilar couples are not tryingto rob a bank. They’re tryingto do what our societygenerally wants them to do:form a stable family. I applaud Judge Black forhelping them in that endeavor.

Knox, from Page 1

Page 4–GLBT News May, 2014 PE

Mother Says

By Michael Chanak

GooseChris

SeelbachCincinnatiCity Council

As we celebrate another yearof PRIDE, it struck me thatexactly 10 years ago we were

While Gary has maintained alow profile since the repeal, hedeserves substantial credit forthe campaign’s success. Whilemany of us served on thecampaign committee, volun-teered countless hours, went

Force, the Human RightsCampaign. (By no means is this listcomplete, thousands of people wereinstrumental in the repeal).3) An Aggressive FieldCampaign: Under the leader-ship of campaign managerJustin Turner, the campaignknocked on thousands ofdoors, not afraid to use theword “Gay” in order to havethoughtful, meaningful conver-sations with people abouttreating Gay and Lesbians withrespect and fairness. Throughthese doorstep conversations,many hearts and minds werechanged. This model of door-to-door campaigning, pre-Barack Obama, was revolu-tionary for 2004. Many tho-ught the only way to win wasto pour substantial money intoTV, radio and mail. While thecampaign did have a paidmedia element, most of theenergy was focused on thepersonal conversations be-tween voters and those com-mitted to restoring fairness. Through these threecombined elements, we madehistory, restored fairness andcreated the opportunity tomake Cincinnati a place whereall people feel welcome,regardless of their sexualorientation. As the LGBTmovement continues toprogress and we soon reach atime when all laws havechanged and equality under thelaw is fully realized, I hope wealways remember those whopaved the way, those who stoodup even when it was hard, evenwhen it was unpopular.

Mother Goose thought shewas clever. Heck, I did itbefore, last fall for Pride Night

with the web site: www.cincin-natipride.org. So, unlike fallfor Pride Night at Kings Island,I have two requests out-standing, both men I have

Camp PRIDE ‘14

at KingsIsland. Itwas a smalls i m p l ething, didn’tcost moneyand I fig-ured wouldbring easyp l e a z yvisibility forgood projects. This birdcomes from the era of sendingfaxes, snail mails, and Goddessforbid putting posters up withwheat paste. I leave all the hitcounting, threads, and tweetsand retweets to the youngin’s.Recall, I’m a fan thing of theG (rowlr, rindr), and a fewother “dating” apps. All I didwas add to my “Mother Goose”profile that Cincinnati GayPRIDE is May 31 - Saturday

never met - aguy 19 fromAkron andanother fromMiddletown,age 33, whowant me to“host them”for the Prideweekend sothey can visit

our fine city. Um...I didn’t tellthem I lived in a trailer? Mightbe worth a laugh….maybe weneed a “PRIDE Hostel” next year? Oh, a peck on the use ofmodern technology, the Goosegets that stuff - but has anyonenoticed that in spite of those“communication advances”how many events don’t havecomplete information, evenkey information is oftenmissing to the very day of theevent, sometimes after it hasstarted. Alas, the Gooserecalls a time when because wecouldn’t immediately com-municate to folks, we had to be“ahead of schedule.” Here’s an example: I am toldof a certain “political action”north of Columbus, Ohiorecently against our belovedattorney general, MikeDeWine. Of course, 500hundred said they would“attend” with 35 showing up.But, somehow, I got a ticklethat as people showed up to anempty field, the organizerrealized “they must have had

the wrong address.” Better yet,the AG was in a hospital inCincinnati at the time.Effective, not. I still love youfor trying - just do your“homework” before rushing toFB, you know? All is not all doom and gloom- just don’t write the Goose andask “Are there x folks on thepride committee.” (You knowthe drill, insert, women,blacks, transgender folks etc.) First off, if you want toparticipate, then participate. Idon’t and won’t spend time onadvising others on howcommittee members self-identify. Really? Speaking ofvolunteering, by the time thisprints, the Cincinnati PRIDECommittee is down to one lastpublic meeting on May 12(details on PRIDE site). In themeantime, drop a line to DavidWhite, the Volunteer coor-dinator: volunteer@-cincinnatipride.org. Some of the old timers,might remember the InterfaithService during PRIDE Week -this year, Thursday May 29, 7p.m. at Temple Sholom at 3100Longmeadow Lane (off Ridgein Amberly Village) Cincinnati. My PRIDE sun hat is off toHeidi Atwood, MichaelWilson, Alison Keller from theCincinnati PRIDE Committee.Heidi is serving as thecoordinator to the event withthe Interfaith planning group,with Michael and Alison - alsofrom the PRIDE Committeehandling media and com-munications. I’ll see youthere...

Celebrating areal PRIDE

in the heart ofthe campaignto repeal ArticleXII (which ap-peared on theballot in No-v e m b e r2004). It wasthe year when13 states, in-cluding Ohio, wrote discrim-ination into their constitutionswhen voters overwhelminglypassed anti-Gay marriagemeasures. And the year GeorgeW. Bush won re-election bysuccessfully using his oppo-sition to Gay Marriage to driveevangelicals to the ballot box. It wasn’t exactly an easy yearto repeal Article XII, whichprohibited Cincinnati fromprotecting Gay and Lesbianpeople from housing andworkplace discrimination. Yet, the repeal of Article XIIbecame the only successfulGay Rights Initiative in thecountry that year. In the 10 years since, I’veoften been asked how weovercame the odds and re-stored fairness. As we celebratePRIDE 2014 and the 10th yearanniversary of the repeal;here’s my insight on how wewon:1) Leadership: One of theheroes of the Cincinnati LGBTmovement is Gary Wright.

door-to-door,raised money,it was Gary’seffective andp e r s i s t e n tleadership thatheld the cam-paign together,u l t i m a t e l yleading to it’s

historic success.2) A Broad, Diverse Coalitionof Supporters: The tirelessefforts of so many broughttogether a coalition of peoplefrom different backgrounds,religions and political views.Faith leaders, including theCatholic Archdiocese, RabbiRobert Barr, the Rev. HalPorter and others across almostevery denomination. AfricanAmerican leaders, includingCoretta Scott King, PastorDamon Lynch Jr. and MarianSpencer. Business leaders,including Procter & Gamble,Jack Rouse and Scott Knox.Political/Media leaders, in-cluding Mayor Charlie Luken,Vice-Mayor Alicia Reece,David Crowley, and theCincinnati Enquirer. Grassroots leaders, including SarahReece, Justin Turner, RyanSpaeth Dolan, Sherry Wright,Terry Penrod, Ted Jackson, andJenny O’Donnell. Nationalorganizations, including theNational Gay & Lesbian Task

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GLBT News—Page 5May, 2014 PE

JackWolking

There’s absolutely noquestion most people dreadthis time of year - filing taxes

plan you’ve contemplated; puttought into a kitchen or bathrenovation? This will give youa “leg up” . Maintenanceprojects such as a new roof,new driveway or walkway andreplacement windows all standto provide huge benefits - fromboth an aesthetic and financialperspective - immediately andlonger-term. Even paint anddecor can put a new spin on afamiliar look and boost yourmood - and real estate value -at the same time! As always, we’re here foryou. Should you’ve a topic youwish to see addressed orquestions in need of an answer,please feel free to reach useither at Jack@TheWolking-Team.com or 513-527-3800.You may also like us onFacebook or LinkedIn. HappySpring!Jack WolkingSales Vice-PresidentComey & Shepherd, LLC.D - 513.527.3800

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Meetings on 2 Tuesdaysnd

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Getting a Tax Refund? ConsiderInvesting it in yourself throughReal Estate!

and for some, theneed to makeanother round ofpayments to thegovernment fortaxes. For others, arefund is comingtheir way and thatalmost feels like“found money”.The only distinction is thatUncle Sam has been holdingthese funds and is returningthem to you - without anyinterest. For most people, theimmediate thought is “What doI want to splurge on?” Othersview it as an opportunity toinvest in themselves, their livesand the future. Here are a couple ofpossibilities, depending uponyour scenario:Don’t Own Your Home?Consider buying! According tothe IRS, the average refund for2013 returns was in excess$3,000. That amount can go along way towards a downpayment; here’s an example: Ifyou’re buying a $150,000home using FHA financing, thedown payment requirement is3.5 percent - which translatesinto $5,250.00. The refundgoes a long way towardssatisfying the down paymentrequirement AND FHA stillallows for “gift funds” from arelative to be used for downpayment purposes. If youchoose the conventionalfinancing route, you’ll need atleast five percent down - or$7,500 for the same pricepoint, $15,000 for 10 percentdown and at 20 percent($30,000) you eliminatecompletely the MortgageInsurance Premium. Thehigher the down payment, thelower the interest rate. Gofigure! Factor into account thereality that your tax refund the

year following your purchasewill most likely be evengreater, as you now have thebenefit of a new write-off forinterest paid on the mortgage!You now have the benefit of

equity gainedthrough home-ownership and theability to deductthe interest you payon your mortgage.It’s a win-win allthe way around! Already OwnYour Home? Con-sider this a perfect

opportunity to make theimprovements and renovationsyou’ve desired, without havingto dig as deeply into yourpocket! I know of very fewpeople - clients and friends -who do not have an ongoinglist of projects or plans to maketheir home more to their tastes- and improve it for the market.Always looking ahead! Consider the landscaping

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Page 6–GLBT News PE May, 2014

10:00 a.m.

Have you noticed thenumber of advocates and

pitchfork, red horns and longpointed red tail. He definitelylooked the part. One night,during one of the services at thestorefront, the man stormedinto the church and shouted,“I’m the Devil, and I’ve cometo get you all.”

“Oh Mr. Devil, I-I-I don’tknow these people. I-I-I don’teven like going here. I’ve beenon YOUR side all the time!”

While, hopefully,this story brings a chuckle, Ialso hope you don’t miss themeaning behind the story. Ithas become posh to be Gay.Straight people love to mentionthat they have Gay friends.Many employers, after learningthat you are Gay or Lesbianwill go through their well-rehearsed speech explaininghow that their company hashad a “long standing” policy ofacceptance, inclusion, andaffirmation of the “GayLifestyle”. It almost becomescomical as they inform you that“some of my best friends areGay”. Oh really? And while straights are doingthis tap dance on the tightropeof political correctness, manywithin the GLBT Community

have been astute enough tonote the opportunity for fameand recognition that the presenttime affords. Recently I waswatching the local news as itreported a court ruling that wasin favor of the community andhad been well publicized. Asthe reporter gave the story Isaw some that I knew standingbehind her. Suddenly, out ofthe crowd, two hands appearedpushing to the side two of thosestanding behind the reporter.This was done by a “leader” ofthe community as he made surehe got his face time. Have younoticed the politicians? Theyhave waited to see how thecurrents flow, but now thatpolls show the public isfavoring Marriage Equality,here comes every politicianfrom county dog catcher tosenator, all saying, “I’ve beenon YOUR side all the time”.

Leaders of theparade

Brother Michael Childs BSCD

Jubilee Cincinnati

movementlately? They’rec o m i n gf r o meverywhere!It remindsme of astory of aman thatwanted to harass a littlestorefront congregation, so hewent out to a costume store andbought a “devil’s outfit”, with

Needless tosay, peoplebegan scre-aming andshouting, alltrying toescape thewrath of thePrince of Hell.There was one

rather portly fellow who hadmade it to a nearby windowand trying to climb out, hefound that he was stuck in the

window. He finallywiggled himself out ofthe opening, back into thechurch, only to findhimself face to face with“Satan”.

supporters of the GLBT

many want to be the nextHarvey Milk? I swear, I’mwaiting for someone with abull-horn to appear screaming,“I’m here to recruit you”. Allthe other things that I havementioned one could expect tohappen with any event thatwould make the news. Yet inthe midst of all this, one itemhas developed. So many arefighting to be the next leaderof the community. I like todescribe it as if there was aparade and everyone wants tolead the parade. Consequently, everyonebecomes the “grand marshal”and that’s all there is to theparade. No one is there tofollow. They are all there to beseen as the leader. “Give memy face time. Put me on theevening news. Call me a leaderand an activist. Make sure I amrecognized in the clubs.” Yetwhere were these so-called

leaders when the handful ofreal leaders stood in the coldand driving snow, or heat of thesummer, protesting against thesame companies that todaywelcome the community withopen arms, but in those dayswould not give the proverbialtime of day to anyone Gay?Where were those “leaders”when the real leaders werebeing bullied and harassed inschool because word had gotout that they were Gay? Wherewere those “leaders” when thereal leaders were having theirjobs being threatened becauseof what their employer called“a deviant lifestyle”? Wherewere those politicians the daythat members of the com-munity asked for non-discrimination policies to bepassed, only to have thepolitician promise to followthrough, but do nothing? Andeven more recently, where are And have you noticed how

those “leaders” when thereal leaders are havingtheir employment andcareers as an educatorbeing challenged be-cause of their sexualpreferences. You’ll find those“leaders”, those poli-ticians, those “activists”all fighting for that firstspot in the parade. Allwaving to the crowd,saying, “I’ve been onYOUR side all the time”.Really?

Scott E. KnoxATTORNEY AT LAW

General Practice including: Probate—Wills/Powers of Attorney Disability (Social Security/SSI/Disability

Insurance) Lesbian/Gay/Transgender Legal Issues HIV Legal Issues

Honored as one of Lawyers Weekly USA’s Attorneys of the Year for 2002

13 E. Court St., Suite 300, Cincinnati, OH 45202Tel: 513-241-3800 FAX: 513-241-4032

e.mail: sknox@choice.net

GLBT News—Page 7May, 2014 PE

Cotrell

By Michael CotrellChamber president

Join the Gay Chamber ofGreater Cincinnati every 3rd

Monday for our Business

Join the GayChamber

B r i e f sF u n d r a i s e r .One of ourboard mem-bers or volun-teers will bebehind the barat Below ZeroLounge to helpraise funds forthe Gay

Chamber. We “bartend” from6 p.m.-9 p.m. and all the tipswe raise goes into our fund!Now you may ask what will wedo with the funds? We havelots of community events thatneed money and our job as theGay Chamber is to support ourcommunity. The money weraise during these BusinessBriefs Fundraisers will go tosupport these communityevents, events like Tri-StateLeather competition, CNKY

approximately 15 minutes. They have rechristened the parade after theIndy PRIDE Bag Lady alter-ego of Gary Brackett — the person whostarted it all! The parade is an All Ages Event • Free and Open to the Public • Startsat 10 a.m.. This year, the Cadillac Barbie IN PRIDE Parade is poisedto be the biggest yet, with more than 100 units mixed between walkinggroups, vehicles, and floats. The Festival will be in the American Legion Mall, St. Clair to Michi-gan between Meridian and Pennsylvania. It is also an All Ages Event •Suggested $5 Donation • Gates open at 10 a.m.Activities continue throughout the following week. Check their website.

Dayton The Parade begins on the corner of Second Street and St Clair Streets.Step off begins at Noon ending at Courthouse Square to the welcom-ing. The festival at Courthouse square will kick into high gear as the Pa-rade participants arrive and once again feature a mass wedding of couplesas they did last year. They plan to continue this tradition until marriageequality is legal in The State of Ohio. Entertainment will continuethroughout the day ending at 5:30 p.m. Yet the day is not over. At 8 p.m. the Dayton Gay Men’s Chorus willpresent “I Am Harvey Milk” at the Victoria Theatre with music and lyr-ics by Tony Award-nominated composer Andrew Lippa. “I am HarveyMilk” weaves the story of Harvey Milk’s life from boyhood to his rise asthe first openly Gay man to hold public office in California to his assas-sination.

Columbus, Ohio The Festival will be Friday June 20, from 4 p.m.-11p.m. and Satur-day: June 21, from 11a.m.-8 p.m. in Goodale Park The Parade will be Saturday, June 21, Step-off at 11 a.m. It movesfrom Downtown Columbus along High Street to Goodale ParkStonewall Columbus PRIDE Brunch is Sunday, June 22 from 11 a.m.. –1 p.m. Honored guest will be George Takei, Stonewall Columbus PRIDE2014 Grand Marshal. Featured Entertainer will be The Richard Lopez Trio. The event willbe at The Columbus Athenaeum, 32 North 4th Street.

Lexington, Kentucky The Lexington PRIDE Festival is the region’s up and coming premierefestival for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, queer and ques-tioning community and its allies. This family-friendly event is sched-uled for June 28th in the downtown courthouse plaza in Lexington, Ken-tucky. This is the fifth year they’ll be in this high-profile and vibrantvenue for the event.

PRIDE—from Page 1

See Chamber, Page 8, Col.3

Page 8–GLBT News May, 2014 PE

PFLAG ofG r e a t e rC i n c i n n a t imeets every 2nd

Tuesday at theMt. AuburnPresbyter ianChurch at 7 p.m. We have asocial timefrom 7-730where snacks

ISQCCBEBy BrooklynSteele-Tate

The summer is fastapproaching and we are readyfor some warm weather! TheISQCCBE is ready to keepthings moving right along andwe got some great eventsplanned for you! May 2 and 9 we are atShooters for our weekly Fridayshows and it is always a goodtime. Showtime is at 11:30p.m. May 11 we are at OnBroadway for our monthlyFamily and Friends Dinner.Dinner starts at 6 p.m. andRandy always prepares a feastfor the masses. All the moneyraised during our Family andFriends Dinner benefits the

Film Festival, PRIDE, GLSENYouth Summit and Prom etc. We want to make sure theseevents are successful and weencourage you to be a part. May 19 is our next BusinessBriefs Fundraiser and is afundraiser for PRIDE 2014.There are several things goingon this night! 1. We will be

LGBT Center of Cincinnati.Dinner is just $5.00. May 16 our Decade EmperorSam Clemons and our DecadeEmpress Ginger Snap will behosting a show at Shooters.This year marks the 10th yearanniversary of their step-downand we appreciate all the workthey do for the ISQCCBE andfor the ICK. May 18 is our nextprelim for Miss Drag You Outat The Cabaret. Miss Drag YouOut is for biological femaleswho want to see what it is like

Cotrell

to be on stage. We pair themup with a mentor who helpsthem get all gussied up andhelp us raise money for theYWCA Breast CancerAwareness. Finally May 30 our RoyalFamily will be hitting the stageat Shooters. Showtime is 11:30 p.m.Save the date for a couple ofgreat events: June 15 is our Mr.Mister contest held at TheCabaret. This contest is for ourbiological females who want toexperience their male side. June

27 we will be at Old Street for theMiss Porkopolis pageant. If you are interested in eithercontest please e.mail us atisqccbe@yahoo.com and wewill send you all theinformation. July 18 we are joining forceswith the American Foundationfor Suicide Prevention –Cincinnati Chapter to raisemoney and awareness forsuicide prevention. Its our 3rd

Annual Suicide is a DRAG!More info to come!

Summer is near

raising money for PRIDE.PRIDE is a free event forCincinnati and to keep it free– we need your help. Come outto Below Zero Lounge andhave a drink and drop somedollars in the tip bucket. 2. Thisis a time to meet the GrandMarshals for the PRIDEParade. Crystal Loomis andRon Clemons are two hugesupporters of our community

and this is YOUR chance tomeet them. 3. It’s The Listingslaunch. The Listings is a freepublication that advertisesbusinesses and resources forour community. We will havethe booklets ready to takehome on May 19. So join usMay 19 at Below Zero for ourBusiness Briefs Fundraiser –benefit for PRIDE 2014 and letsraise some money!!

and drinks are provided. At7:30 we meet in the “big” circle

for introductions and an-nouncements. We have aprogram each month geared tothe needs of the group and talkon subjects such as home-lessness, gender identity, jobinformation, school inform-ation etc.PFLAG of Greater Cincinnatihelps to educate an ill-informed public on a variety ofissues, support our childrenand our families in the comingout process and to advocate forthose who do not have a voice.All our meetings are

confidential and we welcomeeveryone. PFLAG hasinformation that is free to takeand we have a library with anassortment of books dealingwith many subjects.At our May meeting JacStringer will be speaking onTransgender issues and lingoso that we can better com-municate and educate. Please consider joining usfor this informational programand see how you can helpeducate your community.

PFLAG educates

Chamber—from Page 7