Chris Hassett: Queer Activist, Teacher Tells Stories in Music (tags)
San Diego Queer folksinger Chris Hassett released his most recent CD, "This I Promise You," last May. It's a collection of 11 songs, mostly quiet and understated but with country, rock, pop and jazz influences reflecting Hassett's broad musical tastes. Zenger's Newsmagazine interviewed Hassett in late June and discussed the album, as well as gossiping about musicians ranging from Willard Robison to Lady Gaga.
Will Johnson: Occupy Activist Says Movement's Alive & Well (tags)
According to Occupy San Diego activist Will Johnson, the movement is alive and well. It may no longer be running law-defying occupations in prominent public places, but it's still working out ways to challenge the vast and increasing inequality in the distribution of wealth and income in the U.S.
Singer Justin Utley: Gay Ex-Mormon Tells His Story in Music (tags)
Justin Utley grew up Mormon in a suburb of Salt Lake City. He was raised to believe he was one of the "Chosen People" — until he started realizing that his emotional, romantic and sexual interests lay with men and not women. On the advice of the church, he spent four years in so-called "reparative therapy" trying to "cure" himself of being Gay. Then he decided to be who he was created to be and not what his repressive church wanted him to be, and in two full-length CD's and his inspirational single "Stand for Something" he's set his struggle to powerful, intense music.
John Brooks: Occupy Inspires Neophyte to Run for Congress (tags)
John Brooks was a retired agent for the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife until he saw the Occupy San Diego protests on TV and was inspired to run for Congress as an alternative Democrat. Though he ran afoul of the San Diego Democrats for Equality's endorsement process, he's recently been endorsed by Progressive Democrats of America and his real views on Queer rights and women's choice are far more progressive than the Democrats for Equality's questionnaire made them sound.
Will Rodriguez-Kennedy: Queer Republican Leader Becomes Democrat (tags)
In a dramatic scene at the February 23 meeting of San Diego Democrats for Equality, former San Diego County Log Cabin Republican Club president Will Rodriguez-Kennedy re-enacted his decision to switch parties and become a Democrat. His reason: he's not only tired of Republican Queer-bashing, he's put off by the hypocrisy of openly Queer San Diego Mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio, who has pandered to anti-Queer prejudices to get endorsements from the San Diego County Republican Central Committee and has taken money from donors to the anti-Queer Proposition 8.
Marriage Equality Activists Face Trial March 28 (tags)
The Equality 9 — nine members of the San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality (S.A.M.E.) who sat in at the San Diego county clerk's office August 19, 2010 to protest the delay in implementing the federal court decision that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional, are facing trial in San Diego County Superior Court March 28. They are asking for people to show up at 8 a.m. for a pre-trial march and rally and to contact San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith to urge him to drop the charges.
Photos of the Occupy San Diego three-month anniversary march January 7 downtown and an interview with Occupy activist and former hunger striker John Kenney on his ideas for the future of the movement.
Sean Wherley: Activist Comedian Laughs Out Proud (tags)
Veteran activist and political staffer Sean Wherley found another outlet a year ago when he took up stand-up comedy and started the Laugh Out Proud shows the second Thursday of every month at Martinis Above Fourth in Hillcrest, San Diego. His monthly shows present Queer and Queer-friendly comedians from San Diego and L.A. — and they're funny!
Nico D'Amico-Barbour: Canvass for a Cause Organizer on Marriage Equality, Occupation-print (tags)
Nico D'Amico Barbour, regional director of Canvass for a Cause -- an organization founded in San Diego two years ago to advocate for marriage equality which has since expanded to Los Angeles -- shows an entrepreneurial spirit and an almost born-again commitment to activism that's more commonly associated with the Right than the Left these days.
Nico D'Amico-Barbour: Canvass for a Cause Organizer on Marriage Equality, Occupation (tags)
Nico D'Amico-Barbour, regional field director for the marriage equality organization Canvass for a Cause, discusses marriage rights, the Occupy movement and other progressive issues in this audio interview, scheduled for print publication in the December 2011 issue of Zenger's Newsmagazine.
CHRIS TINA BRUCE: Transgender Bodybuilder Competes in San Diego Oct. 29 (tags)
Transgender bodybuilder Chris Tina Bruce is scheduled to compete in her first contest in 20 years — and her first as a woman — this Saturday, October 29 at the Scottish Rite Events Center in San Diego. In this interview for Zenger's Newsmagazine, Bruce discusses her history, how she came out as Transgender and how her professional worlds have accepted her — or not.
Keith Brown Interviews Mark Conlan on ?Big Brother? HIV Test Program (tags)
Two audio links to information about the viciously intrusive, Big Brother-ish "Lead the Way" HIV antibody testing program being pushed by Dr. Susan Little, head of the Antiviral Research Center at UC San Diego (whose previous HIV test program broke the confidentiality of ALL the people tested in it). One is Zenger's Newsmagazine editor/publisher Mark Gabrish Conlan reading his editorial "Big Brother Is Testing You," with cut-in quotes from Dr. Little herself; and the other is an interview with Mark Gabrish Conlan by Keith Brown of the "Gay Spirit" radio program in Hartford, Connecticut that also contains new information about "Lead the Way."
PATRICK McMAHON: Gay Adoptee Recalls His Search for His Birth Parents (tags)
Who am I? Who are my parents? Where did I come from? When, where and how was I born? Most of us take the answers to these questions for granted. But it?s not so easy if you were adopted. Then, as Patrick McMahon n? Shields found out in 1990, the authentic record of his birth was treated as if it were a state secret whose revelation would jeopardize national security. He details the story of his two-year search for his true origins in his new self-published book "Becoming Patrick," an extraordinarily well-written combination of self-discovery memoir, suspense thriller, soap opera and wrenching reunion story.
Parker Jaques: Bisexual, Binary and Proud! (tags)
Parker Jaques isn't the usual sort of interviewee who gets featured in a Queer publication. That's why I wanted to interview him for the cover story in the September 2011 Zenger's Newsmagazine. He doesn't have a traumatic, breast-beating coming-out story to tell. He wasn't Queer-bashed in school because his mother encouraged him to fight back if anyone tried it. He's proud of his identity not only as a Bisexual but as a gender-identified male, and he has such withering contempt for people (like the August 2011 Zenger's cover person, Red) who call themselves "non-binary" -- neither male nor female -- that once we started discussing that subject it was hard to get him to talk about anything else. That's why I call him "Bisexual, Binary and Proud!"
RED: "Non-Binary" Person Rejects Male/Female Gender Duality (tags)
Red, who works at San Diego's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center, identifies themselves as non-binary: that is, neither male nor female but somewhere in a "cloud" of genders that rejects the idea that there are only two human gender identities, male and female. They gave an interview for the August 2011 Zenger's Newsmagazine in which they (you refer to a non-binary person as "they," "them" or "theirs" even if you're only referencing one individual) explained these new, unfamiliar concepts of gender that are beyond the experience of most people, including most Transgender people. Red and Zenger's editor/publisher Mark Gabrish Conlan discussed how both gender identity and sexual orientation are far more complex and fluid than either the straight or the Queer mainstream is willing to acknowledge.
Dennis Wymbs: Retired Teacher Becomes Leather Artist (tags)
San Diego North County teacher turned leather artist Dennis Wymbs is showing his art through July 31 at Pleasures & Treasures, 2525 University Avenue in North Park. Wymbs creates stunning work in a wide variety of media, including leather sculptures, metal engraving, masks and painting. His work is sensual and reflects his background as a Gay man and a Leatherman, but without hurling his or its sexuality in our faces. The store where he's exhibiting can be reached at (619) 822-4280 or online at http://pleasuresandtreasures.biz
National Leaders Council Fellow Doug White Promotes May 18 Fundraiser (tags)
The San Diego chapter of the New Leaders Council (NLC) is hosting a fundraiser at Urbn Coal-Fired Pizza, 3085 University Avenue in North Park, Wednesday, May 18, 6 to 8 p.m., to raise money for people to attend NLC?s national workshops. The people who go learn skills in political entrepreneurship, mentoring and professional advancement so they can become civic leaders in elective office, their communities and their workplaces. Doug White, an NLC fellow (that?s what they call their workshop graduates) and recently elected chair of the youth caucus of the San Diego Democratic Club, did an interview with Zenger?s Newsmagazine in which he talked about NLC, his own background and the prospects for a humane solution to California?s state budget crisis.
KURT WENDELBORG: Not Your Typical Mr. San Diego Leather (tags)
Kurt Wendelborg may look like a typical Leather community titleholder — he’s tall, thin, in excellent shape physically and commandingly butch in his overall appearance and demeanor — but he really isn’t. Most of the Mr. San Diego Leather winners have been people who’ve lived in San Diego and been involved in community activities for years; Kurt had lived in San Diego less than a year when he ran for the title and won. Most of the title winners have been “tops,” playing the dominant role in scenes; Kurt not only is a “bottom” but proudly boasted about it from the stage at Rich’s during the March 19 contest. Offstage, Kurt is personable and easygoing but also passionate and dedicated about serving his community and his fellow human beings. He eagerly agreed to a Zenger’s interview and talked about the role of the title contests in the Leather community, his ambitions as a community leader and how he hopes being Mr. San Diego Leather 2011 will help him grow both personally and as a member of the Leather community.
Michael Sol: Queer Leatherman Explores Intimacy and Sadism (tags)
Michael Sol, Leatherman extraordinaire and candidate for Mr. Los Angeles Leather this weekend (March 26-27), is giving a demonstration of the Japanese rope bondage art, shibari, at the Joyce Beers Community Center, Vermont Street between Terra and Aladdin Restaurants in Hillcrest, Friday, April 1 at 7 p.m. at an event sponsored by the San Diego League of Gentlemen. In this interview, published in the April 2011 issue of Zenger's Newsmagazine, Sol talks extensively about his interests in Leather and so-called "edge play," and the distinction he draws between romantic intimacy and power exchanges. He also discusses the thin line between exercise and martial art, and between consensual S/M and the kinds of torture practiced on unwilling victims in places like Abu Ghraib.
Curtis Dixon: The Art of the Leather Bootblack (tags)
The Leather community has a lot of folkways non-Leather people are often baffled by, and one of them is the importance of the bootblack. Curtis Dixon has been bootblacking for almost a quarter of a century and has won several major honors in the craft. In this interview, celebrating the upcoming San Diego Leather Pride events in March as well as the California Leather SIR/boy contest in San Diego in May, Curtis talks about what bootblacking means to the Leather community as a whole and its importance to him personally
Gioffre & Rader: Real-Life Gay Couple Do Video Together (tags)
Though the passage of Proposition 8 in November 2008 put a damper on their original business plan to market themselves as specialist in wedding videos for Gay and Lesbian couples, videographers and real-life husband and husband Gary Rader and Anthony Gioffre are going ahead with their company, Golden Lodestar Productions, and even marketing themselves as specialists in commitment ceremonies. They also do other kinds of video production and are frequently seen with their gear at local pro-Queer demonstrations and other political events they’re documenting for historical purposes.
Mera Szendro Bok’s New Media Rights Hosts Drumbeat-San Diego Feb. 5 (tags)
Drumbeat San Diego, part of a nationwide mobilization of independent media activists for skills-building, networking and activism, will be held Saturday, February 5, 1:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Queen Bee’s Arts and Cultural Center, 3925 Ohio Street in North Park. Zenger’s Newsmagazine recently interviewed Mera Szendro Bok, director of New Media Rights, whose organization is one of the key players building the local event. She talked about Drumbeat, about the media rights landscape in general, and how individuals can fight to keep the Internet free and open and prevent it from becoming yet another transmission belt communicating only the anti-progressive, anti-human “free market” message of all other corporate media.
Joshua Napier: Singer, Songwriter, Queer Activist Brings Passion to His Music (tags)
The first thing you’ll notice when you hear Joshua Napier sing is the sheer emotion and passion he projects with his music. Napier sings with an edgy intensity that makes you identify with him and his songs. What’s more, though he’s a political activist and writes topical songs, he has the knack of the best activist songwriters of combining the personal with the political and creating pieces that reflect his beliefs instead of hitting you over the head with them. Napier is equally passionate off-stage. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised by a single mother, he was out as Gay in high school. One of the reasons he came to San Diego was to find an activist community with which he could work. Active as the membership chair of the San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality (S.A.M.E.), he recently left that group’s board to join the board of Activist San Diego (ASD) because he wanted to work with a group that isn’t just focused on Queer issues. Catch him wherever you can — at fundraisers, coffeehouse gigs or the “Redfest” event of politically aware music he’s planning for this summer.
Darnelle Williams: San Diego Urban Pride Reaches Beyond African-American Queers (tags)
A Zenger’s Newsmagazine interview with Darnelle Williams, activities chair for San Diego Urban Pride. Originally called Ebony Pride and aimed particularly at African-American Queer men and women, the group recently relaunched with a new name and a broader mission including social events and raising money for health and other community issues.
Fernando Lopez: Marriage Equality Activist Looks to the Future (tags)
San Diego marriage equality activist Fernando Lopez discusses his own relationship history, his involvement with Marriage Equality USA, the heartbreak of the Proposition 8 defeat and his own critique of the No on 8 strategy, the current Perry v. Schwarzenegger case and his outlook for the future of same-sex marriage in the U.S. A longer version of the interview published in the February-March 2010 issue of Zenger's Newsmagazine.
Michelle Jackson: Sign-Language Interpreter, First Female San Diego Leatherboys President (tags)
Michelle Jackson knew she was going to be interested in languages from the age of five,when her father took her across the border from San Diego to Tijuana and she heard Spanish for the first time. In college she studied American Sign Language (ASL) and ultimately made her living as an interpreter for the deaf community. It was a job she took to interpret at a San Diego Leatherfest that led her to the Leather/kink/BDSM community — and she's become an energetic activist in it, serving as Ms. San Diego Leather 2005 and recently being elected the first female president of the San Diego Leatherboys.
Walter G. Meyer: Queer Youth Novel “Rounding Third” Is About More than Baseball (tags)
Queer author Walter G.Meyer has written a remarkable first novel, “Rounding Third.” At base it's a story of two middle American Gay teens who meet each other on the high-school baseball team in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. But it’s also an intensely moving, often heart-rending tale of the terror under which Queer youth still grow up as well as the often surprising sources of support they find as they struggle with their identities. And, lest readers think this is a problem that we’ve grown beyond as a society, Meyer inserts modern communications technology — the Internet, cell phones, texting and iPods — to make sure readers know these are live issues in 2010 and not dimly remembered horrors of the 1950’s or 1970’s.
Steve Hadley: Council Candidate's Odyssey from Pulpit to Politics (tags)
San Diego City Council candidate Steve Hadley is considered an underdog because he doesn't have the party connections, name recognition or donor base of his opponents. But he's got a lot of assets; as the chief of staff for the Councilmember he's running to replace, Donna Frye, he's got her support and that of the community organizers and activists he's worked with as part of her office. He's also got a compelling personal story; he grew up in the Seventh Day Adventist church, pushed the church towards greater acceptance of equality for women and Queers, then left the ministry to study law and work in politics.
Béla Dornon: Queer Photographer Seeks to Document California’s Same-Sex Marriages (tags)
Photographer Béla Dornon calls them the “142 Days” — from June 15, 2008, when the California Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriages to be legally recognized took effect, to November 4, 2008, when the passage of Proposition 8 took that right away again. He’s responded to his anger by starting a project to document every same-sex marriage that took place in California during that time, exhibit as many images of happy same-sex couples as he legally can, and thereby counter the Right-wing hate propaganda used to pass measures like Proposition 8.
Behind the Scenes at San Diego’s Gay Fraternity (tags)
KEVIN KAO, EZRA EVANGELISTA and ARTHUR HUANG probably wouldn’t have joined any other fraternity, but Delta Lambda Phi was different. Not only was it founded 22 years ago specifically for Gay, Bisexual and “Progressive” (Queer-friendly) men, but its members get along and have fun with each other without drinking or hazing.
David Crowe, part 2: The Politics of Belief in “HIV/AIDS” (tags)
A second portion of the extended interview with Canadian alternative AIDS activist David Crowe, published in the August and September 2009 issues of Zenger’s Newsmagazine. In the first part, Crowe discussed the reasons neither HIV nor any other single microorganism can be the cause of the 30 previously known diseases lumped together under the “AIDS” label, and why the so-called “AIDS tests” (actually tests for antibody reactions to the nine proteins presumed to make up HIV) are useless in determining one’s present or future health. In this installment, Crowe discusses the politics behind the belief in “HIV/AIDS” and why this fundamentally silly pseudo-scientific theory continues to command belief throughout the world.
David Crowe: Canadian Activist Organizes Alternative AIDS Conference (tags)
David Crowe, head of Rethinking AIDS and the Alberta Reappraising AIDS Society in Canada, has been active for over a decade in the alternative AIDS movement, which challenges conventional wisdom and its claim that the cause of AIDS is a single virus and highly toxic antiviral medications are the only legitimate way to treat it. In the first part of a two-part interview, he discusses why HIV antibody test results are ambiguous, HIV has never been proven to exist as a virus and the dangers of the meds. He's organizing an international conference in Oakland in early November where scientists and activists will discuss these ideas and their implications.
Mike Little, San Diego Leatherman, on IML, Community Service (tags)
San Diego Leatherman Mike Little ran for the 2009 International Mr. Leather title in Chicago in May and describes it as one of the most emotionally exhilarating experiences of his life. In this issue for the July 2009 Zenger's Newsmagazine, Little talks about his IML experience, his ideals and goals, and his extensive community service. He also stresses that Leather isn’t just about kink or sex; it’s a 24/7 commitment to goals of trust, honor, service and respect.
Darrel Wood, Jr.: Queer Little Rock ’n’ Roller (tags)
Darrel Wood, Jr. is a 17-year-old high school senior in the conservative San Diego suburb of Santee, but the openly Queer rock musician has already been on two CD's with a former band and is about to release a new one by his current group, The Elephant Project. He's also headlining at the North Park Arts Festival in San Diego Sunday, May 17. In this interview, to which his mother accompanied him and also participated, he discusses his musical influences and the role of his sexuality in his life.
Kamala Devi: "Bliss Coach" Lives and Teaches the Love of More than One (tags)
What if you can't love just one person? What if you can only be completely expressive of your romantic and sexual potential, and fulfill your own and your partners' needs, with more than one relationship partner? San Diego-based "bliss coach" Kamala Devi not only lives in "polyamory" -- a multiple-partner romantic and sexual lifestyle -- but she works with other people who want to adopt a polyamorous lifestyle and handle the problems it can raise.
Dana Rea: A Transgender Odyssey (tags)
Once upon a time, DANA REA was an apparently successful young male stockbroker — but inside that body was the soul of a woman. Her journey to wholeness took her through seven marriages, depression and panic attacks, victimization by Mexican scam artists, homelessness in San Diego, recovery and plans to start a Trans-oriented magazine.
Michael Shelton: Gay Therapist's Provocative Book on Relationships (tags)
Michael Shelton, Gay therapist and author from Philadelphia, recently published the book "Boy Crazy: Why Monogamy Is So Hard for Gay Men and What You Can Do About It." But what makes him different from almost everyone else who's written about this is he doesn't claim to have all the answers; instead, he says each couple has to work out their own way of making their relationship work, which may or may not include sexual exclusivity.
Stephen Whitburn: Progressive San Diego City Council Candidate (tags)
Zenger’s-endorsed District 3 City Council candidate STEPHEN WHITBURN is the real deal: an experienced journalist and progressive who’s seen more of the world than San Diego and knows from government in other cities what works and what doesn’t. Don’t be fooled by an opponent who offers nothing but charm, geography and experience at taking orders.
San Diego's Compass Theatre Presents "Q Plays" (tags)
On Sunday, September 7, Compass Theatre (formerly 6th @ Penn) at 3704 Sixth Avenue in Hillcrest is formally launching its new season of “off-night” productions — performed Sunday evening through Wednesday instead of the “on-nights” of Thursday through Sunday afternoon — called Q Plays. These are five widely varied scripts that have one thing in common: all revolve around Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and/or Transgender characters. Hairdresser on Fire runs from September 7 through October 8. Performances are 7 p.m. Sundays and 7:30 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. To order tickets, or for more information, call (619) 688-9210 or visit www.compasstheatre.com
Chris Bricker: Organizing for Prop. 7 (tags)
San Diego activist Chris Bricker organizes for Proposition 7, on the ballot this November 4, to force utilities to purchase 50 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025. He talks about the reasons he signed on the campaign — and why utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison are pumping millions of dollars into phony "grass-roots" campaigns to defeat it.
Tony and Ashley Weeks: Transgender Couple Relate Their Experiences (tags)
Male-to-female Transgender person ASHLEY WEEKS and her female-to-male husband TONY talk about their struggles with gender identity and the love they’ve found in being themselves.
Eric Bidwell: "Revolutionary" Mayor for the Rest of Us (tags)
Zenger's Newsmagazine is proud to endorse 25-year-old "revolutionary" candidate Eric Bidwell for Mayor of San Diego.
Sandy Lareau: Informing and Entertaining the Modern Witch (tags)
This May 1 — Beltane in the Pagan holiday calendar — will see the debut of Modern Witch, a quarterly magazine aimed at witches, wiccans and Pagans. In this interview from the May 2008 Zenger's Newsmagazine, publisher Sandy Lareau tells her Wiccan coming-out story and talks about her plans for the magazine and the commitment her community has for protecting the environment.
Mike Copass: Progressive Democrat Takes On Pro-War Incumbent (tags)
Though San Diego Congressmember Susan Davis voted against the original authorization for the war in Iraq, since then she's been a faithful supporter of funding the war and last year crossed party lines to vote for the open-ended, three-year commitment to the occupation pushed by the Bush administration. Mike Copass, scientist and legal consultant, is mounting a grass-roots primary campaign against her with the support of Progressive Democrats of America, who helped Donna Edwards mount a similar challenge in Maryland to a pro-war Democrat.
Veterans for Peace President on Activism and IIraq (tags)
Gil Fried, president of the San Diego chapter of Veterans for Peace, explains the purposes of his organization and the national group of which it's a part; how he drifted away from activism after Viet Nam until Bush's antics in Iraq brought him back; and the "Enough!" vigils he and others in conservative San Diego County suburbs are holding every week against the war.
Daniel Watman: Activist Bridges Cultural, Sexual Borders (tags)
Bisexual activist DANIEL WATMAN doesn’t believe in walls — whether they’re the artificial “borders” between countries or the psychological borders between straight and Gay people. His involvements in the Border Meetup Group and the Bisexual Forum are bringing people together in new and unusual ways.
First Openly Gay Young Democrats President Interviewed (tags)
David Hardt, recently elected president of the national Young Democrats and the first openly Gay man to hold that position, came to San Diego December 6 for a Young Stonewall Democrats' fundraiser and did this interview with Zenger's Newsmagazine. He discussed the future of the Democratic party and the Queer presence within it.
SDSU Queer Leaders Castro, Tjarks Speak (tags)
An interview with the leaders of the San Diego State University Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Student Union (LGBTSU), president Isaac Castro and secretary and acting vice-president Nikki Tjarks, discussing recent hate incidents and the university administration's lack of support for the Queer community on campus.
Former Christian Music Star Performs at Palm Springs Queer Pride (tags)
Blayne Bell lost his lucrative career in Christian music and broadcasting when his former partner "outed" him to the dean at Abilene Christian University in 2001. He's gone from making up to $200,000 per year to working at a Starbucks in Palm Springs, but as an openly Gay man he's happier than he's ever been. He's performing at the Palm Springs LGBT Pride event Saturday, November 3.