Gay music icons
Looking back over five decades
page 25
On stage
Actor's Theatre brings back ‘Hedwig’
page 25
Words
Which ones are offensive?
page 13
Noted. Notable . Noteworthy. LGBT News & Views
Specia.1 Section: Mlusic
Volume 22 . Number 06 www.q-notes.com July 28.2007
Candidates tackle gay issues in forum on LOGO
Melissa Etheridge and Joe Solmonese to setye
as co-panelists
by Brad Luna .
LOS ANGELES — Gay-targeted cable network LOGO and the
Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF) have announced
they will co-present an historic televised forum on issues of
importance to the LGBT community with the leading 2008
Democratic presidential candidates. Among those expected to
attend are Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, John Edwards, Mike
Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson.
The forum will take place Aug. 9 at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET in
Los Angeles before a-studio audience. It will be broadcast live,
without commerci^ interruption, exclusively on LOGO’S 24/7
cable television channel, as well as through live streaming video
at www.logoonhne.com.
LOGO is a division of Viacom’s MTV Networks and HRCF is
the educational arm of the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights
organization.
. This event, which marks the first time in history the major
presidential candidates will address a live LGBT television audi
ence, is part of MTV Networks’ award-winning pro-social
efforts and dedication to engaging its audiences on the issues
that are most important and relevant to them.
The event also continues HRCF’s efforts to educate and
bring awareness to issues of equality and fairness that continue
to affect the lives of LGBT Americans.
The candidates will appear sequentially and engage in con
versation with co-panehsts Mehssa Etheridge, performer and
advocate, and Joe Solmonese, HRCF president. The panehsts plan
to cover a range of issues including relation
ship recognition, marriage equality, work
place fairness, the mihtary, hate crimes,
HIV/AIDS and other important issues.
“We’re honored to give the presidential
candidates an historic opportunity to share
their views directly with tihe LGBT audi
ence,” said Brian Graden, president.
Entertainment, MTV Networks Music
Group, and president, LOGO. “This
forum continues MTV Networks’
tradition of engaging vital
niche audiences with voting
and the electoral process.”
“In the 2008 presi-'
dential election, issues of
concern to the LGBT community
have already been at the forefront
of the national conversation,” said
Solmonese. “From the repeal of
‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ to the recent.
signing of a civil unions bill in
New Hampshire, there is no doubt that voters will demand '
answers to important questions affecting our community”
The forum will include significant online components at
www.logoonline.com and www.hrc.org, including online ques
tion submission. The LGBT vote is considered a decisive elec
toral force and according to exit poll data make up approxi
mately four percent of the voting population. Los Angeles was
chosen as the site for the event because of the state’s early pri
mary election, on Feb. 5,2008. The event will take place at
Hillary Clinton (I), Christopher Dodd (2), John Edwards
(3), Mike Gravel (4), Dennis Kucinich (5), Barack Obama
(6) and Bill Richardson (7) will appear on LOGO in a
forum focusing on gay issues.
Studio City, Calif., at HD Vision
Studios. This event represents the first live
event airing on LOGO. >
Alabama RY park bars people with HIV
Owner bans two-year-old with HIV
from pool and other areas
by Paul Cates and Allison Neal
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) recently sent
a letter to the owner of the Wales West RV
park in Silverhill, Ala., demanding that it
stop discriminating against people with
HIV by barring them from using the swim
ming pool, showers and other common
areas of the park without a letter from
a doctor.
“This kind of ignorance and preju
dice is unacceptable at this point in the
HIV epidemic,” said Olivia Turner,
executive director of the ACLU of
Alabama. “After more than two
decades of studying the disease, we
know that you can’t catch HIV by
swimming next to someone with the
disease or using a public shower.”
According to media reports, Dick and
Silvia Glover’s two-year-old foster son Caleb
was banned from the pool and other com
mon areas of the RV park by its owner Ken
Zadnichek after Silvia mentioned to a desk
clerk that the boy had HIV. Although Caleb
had been looking forward to taking a ride
on the park’s two train rides, the couple had
no choice but to leave the park.
“Mr. Zadnichek should be ashamed of
himself for picking on a defenseless two-,
year-old,” said Christine Sun, a staff attor
ney with the ACLU’s AIDS Project. “Mr.
Zadnichek claims that he was merely trying
to protect other campers, but he had noth
ing to protect other campers against.
Ignorance about the disease is no excuse
for prejudice.”
Despite the fact that Dick and Silvia Glover’s two-year- jjjg
o\d foster son Caleb w« liking forward to the train ^^LU explains
nde, the owners of Wales West RV park banned the ,
child from use of the facility because he is HIV positive. discrimination
against people with HIV is illegal under
the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
and demands that the park owner send
written assurances to the ACLU that the
park will no longer discriminate against
people with HIV.
The letter also notes that the ADA pro-.
hibits businesses from imposing eligibility
requirements, such as requiring a doctor’s
note, that screen out people with disabili
ties. The letter quotes information from
the Alabama Department of Public Health
making it clear that,“[y]ou do not get HIV
from an HIV-infected person by working
together, playing sports, shaking hands,
hugging, closed-mouth kissing, sharing
drinking glasses, eating utensils or towels,
using the same wash water or toilet,
swimming in the same pool, or coming in
contact with their sneezes, coughs, tears
or sweat.” >
GOP showing support for gays
page 20
Major strides with Dems at helm
page 21
The Big Screen:‘Haifspray’
page 33