Not much has changed

By Antoine Craigwell

With the release of the state of HIV in America and the Black gay community two trite sayings come to mind: the more things seem to change, the more they stay the same; and a definition of madness is doing the same thing repeatedly with an expectation of a different result every time.

When the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) released the results of their 2006 to 2009 study on Aug 3, showing that the numbers of new HIV infections are approximately 50,000 per year, a general sense of “what’s new” seemed to greet the announcement. The news that these infections are concentrated among Black gay men, and more pointedly, that the numbers of those infected with the virus are disproportionately affecting young Black men between 13 and 29 who have sex with other men is on the rise was greeted with a nonchalant, “So what?”

Since the U.S. government’s acknowledgement of the HIV epidemic 30 years ago, the U.S. Department of Health has become like a lactating cow, with one of its agencies, the CDC, the perpetually filled udder’s teats being sucked voraciously by the multitude of agencies, organizations and assorted individuals.

Some committed HIV advocates and activists are ringing their hands and scratching their heads: wondering what more they could have done and what else to do. Others, who pretend to be concerned, because of the government’s free hand in doling out grants for HIV prevention programs, shrug their shoulders and grin. To them the report means that their grant applications would continue to be approved and money would continue to flow like milk from the teat. Together, for a variety of reasons, some simple and others complex and convoluted, both government and independent agencies have failed the Black gay community. Many Black gay men, who have survived the devastation of the 80s and 90s, look on these numbers with skepticism, reflecting that nothing much has changed for them. Younger Black gay men, on the other hand, shrug their shoulders.

The Numbers

This CDC report expanded the results of a study released in 2008 by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which had concluded that in New York City not only was HIV infection concentrated in the Black community, it was particularly endemic among Black men who have sex with other men, regardless if they identified as gay, and that the rates of infection were increasing among young Black men between 13 and 22. According to the report out of NYC, HIV infection was three times the national rate, at 72 new infections per 100,000 people as opposed to the national rate of 23 per 100,000 people.

The CDC estimates that 300,000 people are infected with HIV but have not been tested and do not know they are infected. Additional statistics also suggest that every day, at least 50 people become infected with HIV.

Published statements from those at the CDC demonstrate more of the same. Kevin Fenton, MD, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention said in the CDC statement that while there is encouragement on prevention efforts to help avoid overall increases in HIV infections in the US and the significant reductions in new infections from the peak in the mid-1980s, “we have plateaued at an unacceptably high level.”

“Without intensified HIV prevention efforts, we are likely to face an era of rising infection rates and higher health care costs for a preventable condition that already affects more than one million people in this country,” Fenton said.

Again, what’s new? Was there a redoubling of intervention efforts to prevent HIV infection? For years, there have been ways of doing business, with the overwhelming government bureaucracy ensuring that there is no change in how multi-year HIV grants are executed. Many organizations, to get access to CDC funding for HIV started programs purportedly for HIV prevention. With skillful grant writers and applications many received funds for HIV prevention, which they used either to support budgets reduced in other areas or enabled unscrupulous heads of non-profit agencies, with the collusion of sympathetic or terrified government grant administrators, to live extravagant lives with inflated salaries and generous expense accounts for nebulous conferences. One cudgel hanging over the heads of grant administrators is that if they question or deny an application, they risk being accused of subtle racism against the Black community and inherent homophobia toward the Black gay community. HIV funding has spawned its own cottage industry: from providing minimal services in communities for a short time which then becomes defunct for lack of funds, to grant writers specialized in how to tell a particular narrative in compliance with grant requirements, to conferences with the many associated costs, all paid for by funds earmarked for HIV prevention. For many organizations, it is as if the only requirement that they are complying with the stipulations of their grant is to have some event or activity labeled as HIV prevention or set up some ad hoc testing to serve as justification for their grant reporting. The CDC and the respective states disbursing funds would readily admit that they lack the manpower or resources to monitor and ensure that the grants being awarded were being executed as they should. As a consequence, much about CDC awarded grants and funds are not properly managed. Instead, there is gross waste and misappropriation of funds.

Yet, the numbers of those with the virus continue to rise. But when examined closely, the CDC’s numbers are in some way questionable: in 2008, along with more refined testing methods, they began using a new formula for measuring the numbers of those infected with the virus, which revealed that more people were infected than before. The question now is, how many of this 50,000 is based on new testing methods and how many are based on a pre-2008 formula?

National HIV/AIDS Strategy

After calls and demands for a national HIV/AIDS policy, in July 2010 President Obama issued a national HIV/AIDS strategy. Some of the same groups and organizations that called for the policy decried it, claiming it was limiting in scope and didn’t really offer or suggest much. As a policy document, for the first time it demonstrated a strategy for addressing HIV infection on a national scale. Among the recommendations, the strategy demanded that the mental health of young Black men needed addressing as a way of intervention and prevention of the HIV epidemic.  It recognized that for a variety of reasons, young Black men are susceptible and vulnerable, and needed mental health intervention at the level where they could get counseling. But, it didn’t call on mental health professionals and Medicaid to step up to deal with the number of mental health issues in the Black gay community, especially among young Black gay men, which contribute and lead to HIV infection. It is likely that the strategy is limited as the government is afraid of awakening and reopening wounds of oppression, racial discrimination, bigotry and economic dispossession in the Black community, which for centuries has been buried under layers of adaptive behaviors, and which has festered and suppurated for generations.

Failure of Black Gay Organizations

Many in the Black gay community would say very little is being done to provide actual HIV intervention and prevention.  But as things seem to change, really they remain the same. Many in the New York City Black gay community cannot forget the betrayal by many of the so-called leaders who allegedly betrayed the community through mismanagement and embezzlement of CDC, state and city funds for their own gains. This came to light with the spectacular collapse of People of Color in Crisis (POCC). Many in Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Philadelphia and communities with large Black and Black gay populations would recall the organizations that closed its doors because the management had misappropriated funds granted for development of HIV prevention programs. Instead, many would recall how the leaders of these failed organizations have morphed into other agencies and continued to perpetuate milking the system. Many would also recall the National AIDS Education & Services for Minorities (NAESM) led by Rudy Carn, which according to published reports, obtained funds from the city of Atlanta for a center and even though a house was eventually obtained, funds were misappropriated and the organization investigated by the city. Carn did a classic reinvention: he minimized his operations in Atlanta, moved to New York City and with the help of a two former POCC employees, one who is on his organization’s Board, tried to step into and claim a piece of the CDC, state and city HIV funding pie. Along with hosting a number of conferences at big name hotels, NASEM’s Brooklyn office on Atlantic Avenue is reported to have closed, and yet the organization, partnering with the Black Gay Research Group, is gearing up for another conference in New Orleans.

Yet, many in the NYC Black gay community have wondered what has NASEM and Carn done for the community and how much money have they been able to collect from federal, state and local governments supposedly for HIV prevention? Earlier this year, a prominent national Black HIV/AIDS organization purportedly hosted a conference in the Caribbean. Reports from some who attended claimed that except for one day of some quasi-serious discussions, it was like a vacation where the attendees sampled the delights of the available men on the beaches. Funding for this jaunt was obtained because the head of this organization is a friend of a vice president of a non-profit organization committed to the global fight against HIV/AIDS, from whom he was able, in two weeks, to get the required funds to pay for the entire vacation cum annual retreat. Also, in what is seen as duplication and a waste of desperately needed funds, two Black gay organizations each had conferences about the same time with almost identical agendas.

According to reports, when many in New York were celebrating gay pride and the recently passed same-sex marriage legislation, that the legendary Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD) was unable to pay its staff, yet were able to fund a float for the gay pride parade. There are many, who despite recognizing the admirable hard work and commitment of some of the GMAD staff, have wondered about the organization’s HIV prevention programs. Their Website is vague and sketchy, but it is common knowledge that GMAD continues to receive HIV prevention funds from the CDC, the state and city. Also questionable is how GMAD is able to get grants when there is no transparency of their accounts, similar to other non-profit organizations which post on their Website their financial statements. A search of IRS records does not show any 990 filings.

Looking at the membership of a number of state and national Black gay organizations, one is likely to find some of the same people on various boards. It is as if they have created a tightly woven network and look out for each other. Over the years, in these networks, it has become common that in the event one of their members becomes sloppy and is caught misappropriating or embezzling funds, he shuts down the troubled agency, is welcomed and encouraged to set up anew in another place under another name and is never held accountable. This was evident when the NY State Black Gay Network filed for bankruptcy and dissolved in 2009. The collapse revealed the close ties of leadership personnel and co-mingling of funds with POCC, which some claim is normal and usual inter agency relations. Audit reports, however, materially questioned disbursement of funds, the absence of transparency, and yet, no one saw these activities as conflicts of interest.

Not much has changed

By Antoine Craigwell

Continuing, this part examines the impact of HIV on the young Black gay community. Recently, the 2007 movie “Girl, Positive” featuring Jennie Garth as the teacher and Andrea Bowen as a student was on television. At one point, Garth said to Bowen, “HIV is no longer the death sentence it was.” But what emerged in the movie was an accurate representation of what is happening among young people.  Bowen echoed the feeling of many of her generation when she said, “Why should I take the [HIV] test, only to find out and live a life different from everyone else and have others look at me different as I’m looking at you?”

Many in their teens and 20s,  who obviously had not witnessed how the gay community was ravaged by HIV,  how it decimated many Black gay men, cutting them down in the prime of their lives; are oblivious and blasé about HIV. To many, the public service announcements and the specters of death and dying have lost their sting and relevance. Remarkably, the public images of young same-sex couples seems to have slowly reduced the levels of stigma, discrimination and homophobia, and a growing sense of acceptance, tolerance and “What’s the big deal, they’re people just like you and me” attitude among many that sexual preference or orientation is not an issue. Still persisting, however, many young people don’t want to take a test: they don’t want to know if they got the “monster”, as knowing would alter their outlook on life, especially their perception of their sense of invincibility and longevity, dreams of children and a long term partner for the future. One stigmatizing effect of being HIV positive that still persist is that many often feel as though they have been given a death sentence, the possibility of living a normal a life as possible has been removed, and for many, in an act of either revenge, anger or resignation, feel it is a license to have unprotected sex.

Advances in HIV treatment

With advances in HIV treatment, results have become more accurate and quickly available, compared to the time when a person had to wait 14 nail-biting and nervous days to know whether or not he or she had been infected. Additionally, improvements in HIV treatment medications are now one per day for those who are taking treatment for the first time with the increased likelihood of reducing the presence of the virus in the blood to undetectable, thereby re-opening more life possibilities, as opposed to the handful of pills many had to take, which while killing the virus, poisoned the person’s body and left him or her more ill than healthy.

While these advances have produced results, enabling those infected with the virus to live longer more productive lives, albeit with a lifelong disease, it is now more manageable, akin to someone living with diabetes. The flip side of these advances is that they have encouraged a false sense of complacency and security which has crept into the evolution of thinking about the effects of HIV and AIDS. Today, those who believe they have been exposed to the virus could go to the emergency room and take a pill, like a morning after pill, immediately and for a prescribed number of days to counter any possibility of infection.

These advances have spawned an attitude change of less concern about using protection and contracting HIV. Increasingly, many men who have sex with men are today eschewing condom use, preferring instead the pleasure derived from skin on skin contact. An examination of several gay sex sites would reveal the numbers who post in their profiles, while stating their HIV negative status, “Anything goes”, which means they are willing to engage in bareback, raw or unprotected sex. On the online sex sites, where once it was middle-age, elderly, and some young White men who advertised for unprotected sex, now there are increasing numbers of young Black men, in their late teens and early 20s whose profiles say they prefer unprotected sex.

A city for the HIV infected

Amazingly, another social component to HIV infection is that in cities such as New York provide programs, which include housing, cash payments and access to medications and healthcare, that many are choosing to contract HIV as a way of living off the system. Additionally, the prohibitive cost of combination HIV anti-retroviral treatment or HART can average more than $40,000 annually, which places it outside the affordability of many who may only be able to be treated by being enrolled in the state’s healthcare programs. In the meantime, those states without comprehensive healthcare coverage for their HIV infected citizens have seen in recent years a growing waiting list for the Ryan White Program or ADAP, which today is upward of 9,000.

One perception of a simple rite of passage today for someone who is gay is to become HIV positive. In the Black gay community, at least three in five are infected, with the chances of someone becoming positive increases. Among many, there is the belief that if one has unprotected sex with someone else and sero-converts to becoming HIV positive, all the infected person has to do is get tested, take a pill and go on treatment. Research suggests that those on treatment are less likely to engage in unprotected sex, but the reality is that many taking medication feel a greater sense of empowerment and invincibility, and as a consequence continue to engage in condom-less sex.  While those already on treatment know the routine, those uninfected often they think that becoming infected as the fad of the day do not know or understand the discipline involved in maintaining a regimen: taking pills at a certain time every day for life. Many are not only afraid, but are reluctant to allow themselves to be subject to such a regimen, which does not permit them to forget or miss a dose, or the consequences could be grave – the virus multiplying and possibly becoming resistant to that particular treatment.

What’s new to deal with this?

Ron Simmons, Ph.D., executive director of the Washington, DC-based Us Helping Us, suggests that there is a need and it is time for a paradigm shift in addressing the increasing numbers of HIV infection in the Black gay community. Simmons says that prevailing research points out that because of the concentration of the numbers of those infected in a community, anyone person has a greater chance of contracting the virus. He suggests on his FaceBook page: “I want us to be aware of the “paradigm shift” in HIV infection among Black gay men. Our comparative sexual risk behavior doesn’t correlate to our infection rate. Studies have found that Black gay men use condoms more than White or Latino gay men and have few[er] sex partners. The problem we face is structural and environment[al], i.e., sexual ecology. Because of the higher prevalence of HIV and STD’s in our sexual networks, we face greater odds of exposure to HIV even though we use condoms more. Addressing this problem will take many approaches, but it is important that we don’t think that the problem is because we are self-hating sluts who don’t care about HIV. That is what the media is going to imply and we have to let each other know the facts so we can decide what we must do about it.”

In what is seen as more of the same, as if to rekindle the fires of interest and commitment to fighting HIV, the CDC has unveiled a plan to launch “Testing Makes Us Stronger”, on Sept 27. The campaign is part of a five-year $45 million campaign initiated by the White House in 2009, and is intended to use social media and networks to increase awareness and encourage Black gay men to get tested.  One wonders, how much more effective this campaign would be and what happens beyond receiving a test result.

But, an independent film, “Slow” written and directed by Darius Clark Moore and produced by Moore, Rodney Parnther, and Mykwain Gainey while it acknowledges sex between two Black men, it seems to want to break the stereotype of Black gay men as people only concerned with having sex. The premise of the film, based on an assignation from an advert on a gay sex site, seems to follow what has become the norm in “hooking-up” with the fast paced insta-sex mental programming that goes with it, instead it departs from this expectation by suggesting slowing down and getting to know the person before having sex.

A play exploring crossing over from boyhood to manhood

By Antoine Craigwell

While the play “Tickets to Manhood” brings perceptions and definitions of manhood, maleness and masculinity in this new century into stark relief, it encourages those who witness its staging to consider  perspectives which makes it a must see.  Many would recall from history lessons or from personal experience the cultural and societal rituals when a boy crosses over to become a man. For many of these cultures, it is a sign that the young boy, adolescent or pubescent, is no longer expected to cling to his mother’s skirts and mix with the female members of the community, but to assume the role as a man. Circumcision rituals and religious ceremonies, still practiced in many cultures and ethnicities, marks the time young boys go away with the elders for a period of training and initiation to return as men. For those men struggling to understand themselves and those women trying to understand the men in their lives, the play invites the audience to ponder, reexamine and evaluate their views on masculinity and what it means to be a man.

Over a period of three Thursday to Saturday weekends, beginning with its opening on Jul 14, “Ticket to Manhood” is playing at the Dixon Place Experimental Theater at 161A Chrystie Street in NYC’s Lower Eastside. The play features five scenes, each exploring the factors influencing a man’s life, from his days as a boy to when he becomes an adult male. It is one of a slate of performances scheduled for the 20^th Anniversary of HOT!, the NYC Celebration of Queer Culture from Jun 24 to Aug 6, and the 25^th Anniversary of the Dixon.

A press statement about the play says that, James Scruggs, the play’s writer, producer, and actor as Walter, explores some conventional ways boys become men. The play looks at religion, imprisonment, gang violence, marriage and military service as some of the societal norms which form a rite of passage to shape boys into men. It also examines the choices boys make as they mature into men. The statement suggests that in many urban communities, prison and gang involvement as viable options are sometimes seen as choices equivalent to more socially accepted forms of transitioning from boyhood to manhood.

The play, directed by Mark Rayment, features Douglas Allen, Maximilian Balduzzi, Spencer Scott Barros, Gerard Joseph and Scruggs, each performing scenes of the experience of a man who through being forced by some present circumstance recounts his growing up with the presence and or absence of his father as a measurement of what type of man he has become and what he would have liked to be.  Prior to staging his play, Scruggs, a member of the Black LGBT writer’s workshop, Other Countries, which meets regularly at NYC’s LGBT Center, underwent several revisions and readings to arrive at his finished product.

According to the press statement, the five men, whose stage names in the play are Scott, Bernard, Ennio, Walter and Omen do not apologize for their choices. Scott, played by Barros, as a marine in a military vignette, joins the military to define his masculinity, goes off to war and returns as a trained killer and in retrospection he asks himself who he is. Each man, through his experience asks what made him a man, when the transformation occurred and what type of man is he.

“I began looking at classical rites of passage and noted that here in America, there is not one universally accepted introduction to manhood today. When the draft was active, there was the notion that boys went off to defend their nation and as a result, came back men. There is apparently a real need for some kind of transition experience,” says Scruggs, who in 2005 received a New Jersey State Council on the Arts fellowship.

During a Jul 16 performance, the audience of approximately 50 people sat transfixed in the small theater. Each actor executed his lines faultlessly and imbued his delivery with passion and emotion, as if undergoing some cathartic experience and it was clear that the all male cast had worked hard to master their parts. As monologues and with lots of shouting, the five actors delivered their lines, which came across as angry explosive rants, taking the audience on a raw emotional journey through their expressed feelings and thoughts.  On some occasions, the shouting and raised voices seemed to threaten and to obscure the actors’ message of introspection and examination of their contemporaneous construction of their respective masculinities.

In the final scene, when all five men came together in a group therapy session, which seemed to be a simulated enactment of a delayed rite of passage ceremony, along with the admissions of homosexuality by at least two, another two eventually confessed to being part of a court appointed program to lessen their sentences. Most telling during this session was the heated exchange between Omen,  played by Joseph, the young man who found meaning and belonging in a gang and as a drug runner, and Scott, played by Barros, who was in this instance the group facilitator. Scott tried to get Omen to reach into himself, get in touch with his feelings, and examine them, especially his resentment and anger toward his absent father and the role played in his life by the character Willie Songs, the drug and gang kingpin, who had become a surrogate father.

Today, with the absence of viable role models, examples from society to which boys could look and learn as they transition from boyhood to manhood, Scruggs says that boys are creating their own rites of passage. Urban youth, he says, all too often look almost romantically to prison experiences and gang involvement to affirm themselves as men.

“In these socially unacceptable forms of initiation, the rites are identical to ones that are acceptable. Boys are sequestered away from their families; they are broken down, indoctrinated and built up again in a new image as a member of this new group,” says Scruggs.

In this final scene, through the voice of Scott, Scruggs, says:

“There was a time when boys spent time with their father./All day./Learned the skills that their fathers had./There was a transference of information./From father to son./Just from spending quality time with each other./ The son received his notions of masculinity on a cellular level from being close to his father./He knew what it meant to be a man./Because he had his example, his father right there beside him./And when it came time for him to cross over from boyhood to manhood,/There was an event,/A ritual,/Involving the whole community/Boys went away with the elder men as boys,/And came back men./Today, many boys approach manhood unconsciously, and some get stuck in adolescence./Some males never leave adolescence behind./”Tickets to Manhood” asks the questions: “How do boys become men today[?]”/”is every adult male a man[?]”/”If you are an adult male, at what moment did you become a man[?]”/”If you are an adult male, do you consider yourself a man[?]”/”What makes you a man[?]”.”

Apathy and indifference – “It doesn’t matter”

By Antoine Craigwell

“Do you, ?  take ? to be your lawful wedded spouse?”  “I do” times two, is the standard question and answer at wedding ceremonies where two people verbally commit to each other. It is a refrain likely to be repeated by thousands of same-sex couples across the state anytime after Jul 24 when the new same-sex marriage law takes effect following its passage and signature into law by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. New York became the sixth state, along with Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Iowa, and the District of Columbia.  In a New York One television interview following the Heritage of Pride parade on Sunday, the governor, said, “I think you would see this message resonate across the country now.”

As a trend setter for the nation, it is expected that other states, dithering about minor issues, mostly religious in nature, would capitulate, thereby legalizing same-sex marriage and rendering any talk of a Constitutional Amendment to protect the institution of marriage moot. Many LGBT couples, who have been in long term relationships, whose states do not recognize same-sex relations, are expected to travel to New York from across the country to take advantage of the law, as a way of forcing their reluctant states into accepting their relationships and commitments.

While the law is seen as a triumph for the New York LGBT community and strengthens the resolve in the march toward same-sex rights across the country, there are palpable reasons why this achievement is tempered by caution. Despite New York’s public image of liberalism and progressiveness, largely attributed to downstate New York City, there are many New York residents who are acutely conservative and rabidly homophobic. The victory celebrated by the New York LGBT community, bolstered by support from national LGBT organizations, reflects a coordinated and determined effort to achieve an objective and flies in the face of many of the hatreds still present. But, just as those state politicians who voted against same-sex laws were voted out at the last elections, this time round, those who voted in favor, including Republicans who because of their religious conservatism and social hypocrisy, are likely to face some backlash from their respective constituents in upcoming elections.

But for many in the Black gay community, there is a sense of apathy and indifference toward the same-sex law. As a community, its feelings are rooted in the inherent homophobia led by religious precepts that are still present in Black families, and as some suggest, will take time to change or maybe not at all. Earlier this month, two Harlem pastors, as leaders of religious communities, demonstrated their homophobia against Harlem Pride’s picnic in Marcus Garvey Park in the heart of Harlem. There were also the unforgettable and hurtful words from Tracy Morgan, the Black comedian. One wonders how foolish he and the pastors must feel now. Yet, prior to its passage, many LGBT were still being attacked, assaulted and abused because of their orientation or perceptions of who they are and many young LGBT are still being cast out, rendered homeless by their parents and guardians. The many LGBT who were victims of recent violent assaults and killings underscore the persistence of hatred. With the passage of the law, there is a concern that many are being lulled into the false sense of security, as the law is one more round in the battery of laws against hate crimes, nondiscrimination, and prohibitions against bullying in schools in defense of the LGBT community. Many LGBT are tempted to think that they could openly display their same-gender affections outside of New York City’s West Village or other already accepted enclaves, on an equal footing, such as holding hands, snuggling, and kissing in public, as heterosexual couples. The question now for the LGBT community is, with their new found sense of empowerment, should they feel free, entitled and equal enough to flaunt their same-sex attractions in public, and should they steel themselves against what would inevitably be some backlash, the dying throes of homophobic heterosexuals or homosexuals in hiding?

For many in the Black and Black gay community, except primarily for those Black gay men and women with White partners who were progressive and forceful in working for the law, there is a general apathy and disinterest among others. Many Black gay men were not involved in activism and advocating for the passage of the law. Many saw it as a middle-and upper-middle class White activity, and not something for and to which they had a stake, or could see any tangible benefit. Many Black lesbians, who stood with their White counterparts in the forefront of the debate, saw the long term benefits of being able to marry their partner. But, many Black gay men were myopic and largely absent, not seeing the law as something to which they had any place, not their business.

Reflecting the view of many of his generation, Aulister Mark, an African-American intern at In The Life Media, Inc., a LGBT film and television company, regards passage of the same-sex marriage law with indifference, “It doesn’t matter to me that much.”

As a 21-year-old, he maintains that his stance is common among his peers. Coming from a single parent family and looking at many of those in his age group, he says that the construction, model and example of marriage is not as sound as it is made out to be. He says that many marriages are in divorce, separation, or for a variety of reasons, there are many single-parent households. And, while he doesn’t foresee marriage, as yet, for those like him who have grown up more accepting of the differences among people, there is less stigma and discrimination surrounding being gay, lesbian or transgender.

At the other end of the age spectrum, a 51-year-old African-American Harlem resident who owns and lives in his property, says he is in favor of the legal protections the same-sex marriage law affords, including survivability and passing on assets, health visitations, easier adoptions, and tax and other benefits that straight couples enjoy, which bring LGBT on an equal playing field with their heterosexual counterparts.

But, presenting another aspect which underlies Black gay men disinterest toward the same-sex marriage law, Bernard Tarver says that before Black gay men talk about same-sex marriage, they have to think of addressing and dealing with the obstacles to relationships. For many, there are still a lot of other issues, such as self esteem, being comfortable to be out, and being open about their sexual orientation in public. As a result of a number of issues, he says, Black gay men do not possess a long term vision for relationships. With this law, he says,  Black gay men now entering into relationships would able to see a path leading to something tangible and an opportunity to plan for the long term.

“Straight people have the luxury of a long range vision for their relationships. In the Black community, with many examples of people in long term relationships, this allows many people to reap benefits. Before, goals in relationships were always short term and breakable,” he says.

Supporting Tarver’s point of view, Herb Williams, chair of the New York City chapter of Adodi, an empowerment group for Black same-gender loving (SGL) men, says, “If a person wants to take advantage of this, one of the things which is a challenge in gay relationships in the Black community is that the lack of acceptance by a society that made it okay not to take relationships seriously.”

Williams believes that it is a gradual process for Black gay men to be able to walk in public, beyond the West Village, holding hands comfortably, and the law allows many to at least feel they have more freedom.

“This does not mean that Black families would be more accepting of their Black sons saying he is gay,” Williams says.

The young man from Jersey City who stood up at the panel discussion held last Thursday at the Casa Frela Gallery in Harlem voiced one palpable fear many Black gay men live with: that for Black gay men there is the sense of being condemned by a society and culture which values and places expectations on procreation and familial bonds, and in which many see their homosexuality as a curse, damned to live alone and into old age as isolated old men.

In New York, as in many other states, there are Black gay couples who have been together for several years. While for many their relationships and commitment to each other is known to their respective families and friends, some have taken the added step of being married in Canada, Vermont or Massachusetts, or as far away as The Netherlands or South Africa, but many prefer not to have their relationship made public. While many have established, through legal instruments for their joint assets, articles for survivability, they are loath to be out and proud about their committed relationship. There is some speculation among those Black gay men in long term committed relationships of the perceived fear of being known is related to the non-acceptance by the wider society, by others who would ridicule and condemn them as two Black men in a relationship similar to a heterosexual relationship, and further still, by some others who would set about destabilizing and destroying what they cannot understand.

With no viable example for comparison, the new same-sex law gives the Black gay community the tools to define the marriage construct according to their relationships, either using the existing heterosexual model or to create a separate and different model or paradigm suitable to their particular nature.

LGBT Summit on Wall Street, A First

By Antoine Craigwell

The recently concluded summit of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) financial industry representatives was like breaking through one more glass ceiling on the way to the top of the building that is society. The summit, billed by the organizers, Out On The Street, as the first LGBT Leadership summit on Wall Street, was attended by more than 160 men and women representing several different financial institutions on Wall Street on Wednesday, Mar 30 at Deutsche Bank’s offices on Wall Street.

As a first, the summit discussed the many ways in which being LGBT on Wall Street, seen as a hindrance to hiring, retention and career advancement, can be overcome with understanding and accepting managers, changes in a homophobic culture geared toward greater talent retention, the commercial viability of attracting clients and socially progressive companies, utilizing LGBT specific messages in recruitment, and recognizing global trends toward diversity and inclusion.

In his opening remarks Seth Waugh, CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas said that the diversity of the audience at the summit was like a rainbow. While promoting diversity in the workplace, acknowledging and giving equal rights to LGBT employees, he said that from a business perspective, it was commercially viable to do so.

Partnering with straight allies fosters the relationship between allowing for acceptance and diversity, and the commercial aspect of LGBT employees, Waugh said. It is not a high bar to define someone as an ally, someone who doesn’t discriminate against LGBT.

“This gives us the opportunity to show we care. We educate our LGBT employees about the issues they are likely to face. All types of diversity make better sense as we seek to recruit the best and the brightest; decisions, which are reflected in our client pool and creates a richer mosaic,” he said.

Out On The Street founder and principal of CODA, LLC, Todd Sears said that it is important to begin the dialog among senior producers in the financial industry. The banks and financial institutions, which make up Wall Street, he said, have an estimated 880,000 employees and collectively hold approximately $440 billion in capitalization.

“I was out in college and when I had my first job on Wall Street, my managing director called the guy next to me a faggot. I promptly went back into the closet and started looking for a new job. I found one and I let them know my sexual orientation and they were supportive. I was able to build with them and brought lots of LGBT clients to the company,” said Sears.

In her presentation, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Ph.D., placed the theme of the panel discussion “Wall Street as a workplace of choice: Culture” in perspective when she revealed the results of a 2010 study of LGBT out at work in comparison to their straight counterparts. Although the study’s results have been embargoed, Hewlett, as director of the Center for Work Life Policy, said that LGBT acceptance and comfort at being able to be themselves at work has a lot to do with the culture of the organization. Hewlett stated that increasing is the number of companies who see a commercial advantage to participating in the Center’s Hidden Brain Drain Task Force, which assists companies hold on to their LGBT talent, those who would otherwise leave because they are working in an uncomfortable environment.

Considering diverse work pools from a global perspective, companies are taking into account their employees’ sexual orientation by ensuring that they attract and retain the best talent. Hewlett said research revealed that LGBT are more educated and qualified than their heterosexual counterparts. In many ways, Hewlett’s data presentation was similar to the published results of the General Social Survey conducted by The Williams Institute. That survey suggested that 37 percent of lesbian and gay people (LG), and 46.6 percent of those who are bisexual (B) reported higher levels of education either with college or graduate degrees than 26 percent of their heterosexual counterparts. The Institute, a part of UCLA School of Law, said a combined 43.6 percent LG and B are out in the workplace and known among other employees.

But, in workplaces LGBT employees still have to contend with stigma, discrimination and racism. Many feel isolated and disengaged; they are disinterested in participating in company events, including bringing their partners to parties or outings. Many do not have photos on their desks or as screen savers, or have phone conversations with their partners while at work, as do many heterosexuals.

Close to 95-percent of those who attended the summit indicated by standing that they were out at work. Few, who remained seated, raised their hands to show that they are LGBT but not out at work and fewer still said they were straight.

“It says a lot that even at a LGBT event that there are some LGBT who do not feel comfortable to stand up and identify that they are gay or lesbian,” said Brian McNaught, a LGBT trainer and a moderator for one of the panel discussions.

When asked why someone at a branch or a desk should come out, Mark Stephanz, vice chairman of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said, “Hiding is tiring.  I came out three years ago because I couldn’t continue to expend the time, energy and brain function.”

Married with two children, Stephanz said he told his wife and the first person he told at work was his boss, “I felt it important to have that one-on-one conversation with my colleagues and clients. Then, I thought I was risking my career. Many think that coming out would be much worse that it turned out to be for me.”

But another panelist, Sonelius Kendrick-Smith, who is African-American, and a director and portfolio manager with Deutsche Bank and a member of his company’s Rainbow group, said that in one of his previous jobs, even though at the time he was already out to family and friends, he was concerned about coming out on the trading floor.

“At one of my previous jobs, I went to my boss, the head of the Fixed Income Department, and told her that I am gay and I didn’t want to go back into the closet. She assured me that the company will protect me. She said that she has two brothers who are gay and gave me her support. But the problems I had after coming out was more of some stupid stuff. Once I went to the bathroom. When I walked in, I met another man using a urinal and as soon as he saw me, he turned his back and tried to hide himself,” Kendrick-Smith said.

The definition of a straight ally is someone who is a little more than “pissed-off” who wants to make things better said Bonnie Howard, chief auditor, Global Control Head, Citigroup. Many straight people, who want to be allies often feel as though they would likely say the wrong thing.

Hewlett added that lesbians are more likely to have children and do not seem to receive the harsh treatment as men because that are seen as mothers who are gay. Data shows that isolation and backlash is more often directed toward men than women and that many gay men distrust their employers. And, compared to women, she said, a pattern among gay men has emerged of those who come out after they have been married.

But, McNaught, said that it’s important to have people in the top level management who are out or comfortable with LGBT issues, which makes it easier for employees to come out. Heterosexuals, he added, are not the enemy, management need to be authentic in their demonstrations of support for LGBT.

An openly gay member of the NY Stock Exchange, Walter Schubert, said that as the first person to come out on the trading floor, it took about a year for people to become comfortable with him.

“I’ve learned that homophobia is anti-feminism, where homosexual men are assumed by heterosexuals to be just like women, but being gay is not personal, it’s a public matter. A person’s behavior is private, but their orientation is public. It is important that employers and managers be available to talk,” said Schubert.

Many Wall Street companies have embraced a program where managers have symbols of a tent in their offices as a sign to LGBT employees that these offices are safe places to come for refuge.

A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because his company’s public relations department had not given permission to speak with the press, said that companies have to assure candidates when they are being hired that it’s okay to go to a multicultural or diversity group, “From the get-go, African-American LGBT are under enormous pressure, such as skin color, their sexual orientation and the number of projects they have to deal with. The challenges are there and everyone has to make the decision which battles they would deal with. I was fortunate that the racism was not that great and the homophobia was dealt with by an overt support system from my managers, which helped my confidence and productivity. Being comfortable, I was able to bring all my talents and skills to my job.”

As if demonstrating the strength and power of being LGBT, Maggie Stumpp, Ph.D., chief investment officer with QMA Associates who is transgender, manages an estimated $80 billion in assets and investments, said she had a picture on her desk of herself in drag. No one commented because they thought it was her sister. She decided to transition from male to female 10 years ago. At the time, she came into her office with a business plan on how to tell people about transitioning. On one occasion, her team was fired by a client when they found out she is transgender.

Introducing the panel discussion on driving innovation with strategic partnerships and investments, and quoting from a national transgender survey, Stumpp said that 47 percent of transgender lose their jobs, 16 percent are involved in the illicit drug trade, and 14 percent have incomes above $100,000. She added that 27 percent of all transgender have college degrees compared to 10 percent of the general population, and 20 percent have graduate degrees as opposed to 9 percent of the same general population.

NGOs worldwide call on world governments to keep their promises.

By Antoine Craigwell

In the middle of the working day, the middle of the week, and the beginning of the middle month in the year, marchers from NYC Bryant Park to the United Nations called on world leaders not to cut funds to HIV programs worldwide. A coalition of 22 community and faith-based agencies from the NY area marched in the week when the world commemorated 30 years since the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention identified HIV and AIDS. Despite the noonday heat more than 500 men and women – lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and straight; Black, White, Latino, Asian and Native Indian marched and chanted along the sidewalk with banners and placards emblazoned with slogans on their way to the United Nations.

Many uniformed NYPD officers carrying white plastic ties, used to restrain and detain people in place of handcuffs, escorted the marchers. Legal representatives wearing arm bands as legal observers mingled among the marchers to ensure that the police did not violate their rights. At one point, when the march had diverted from its route on 42^nd Street to pass in front of the offices of the European Union and NY Governor, it seemed as if an altercation between the police and the march organizers was about to erupt over their presence on the sidewalk instead of in the corralled area created by the police barricades on a section of the street. The police, after lots of hurried discussions among them, gave in and allowed the marchers to continue their protest and march.

The march and rally at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza across from the UN on Wednesday, Jun 8, was intended to urge global leaders and governmental representatives gathered for the quinquennium meeting of the Global Fund to evaluate state and institutional responses to the HIV and AIDS epidemic. The representatives met to examine strides made to combat the disease, to look at funding to fight the virus, especially in light of the financial crisis facing many countries, and to commit to at least $22 billion a year in funding for 15 years to end AIDS globally.

But the document, expected to be presented to the UN on Friday, Jun 10 and negotiated between the governments’ and NGO representatives, and decried by many as watered down from the original demands, declared that governments were prepared to commit to an estimated $18 billion to be spent on the more than 15 million people suffering from HIV/AIDS worldwide.

The protestors, including representatives from many African countries, hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, said that the amount is insufficient and called for money to be spent on AIDS treatment and not on wars.

“We’re demanding that 18 million people be brought to treatment by 2015,” said Alan Maleche, a member of the Kenyan Legal and Ethical Network on HIV/AIDS.

Maleche, a human rights lawyer and a part of the African Civil Society, said, “The problem is that governments are saying they don’t have enough money to provide treatment, but we are saying that they have the money, which they use for wars. Many governments signed documents to protect the rights of people and we’re here to ensure they keep their promises.”

Nonkosi Kuhumalo, national chairperson for Treatment Action Campaign from Johannesburg, South Africa, said “My view of the document is that in its current form with the political language, which doesn’t say much, is a step backward from where we were in 2001. The three million difference was political, arriving at the $15 billion was also difficult.”

Twenty-five year old Nabhumba Nuru, called “Princess” from Uganda, who was born with HIV and takes medication, said that she is one of five million people with the virus and that 124 thousand people contract HIV each year in Uganda. She came to the UN to make it clear to world leaders that there is need for more HIV medicines for people.

“In Uganda, the spending on HIV has flat lined; there is no increase in funding from the government and from donors there is discussion to ensure there are no cuts. While my country does not follow the World Health Organization’s guidelines for HIV, in the Ugandan budget much of the government expenditure is being used for the military and it should be used for HIV prevention and treatment programs.”

Obtaining drugs for HIV in Uganda, Nuru said is not as expensive, since its availability at a low cost through the US PEPFAR program makes up 90 percent of the country’s HIV budget.

One of the march organizers, Bobby Tolbert, a board member with Vocal-NY, said that on the day when annually the UN celebrates AIDS Day, “We’re appealing to them to make a recommitment to HIV/AIDS programs and to ensure the continued funding.”

A Jun 4 Economist article, “The 30 years War”, examining the history and effect of HIV and AIDS on the world, suggested that while war costs money, which at the moment is in short supply, 10 years ago, when countries’ economies were doing better and were able to give more, the global financial crisis which has hit many rich countries; has caused many to either cut their contributions or scale back the level of their commitment.

According to the article, the Global Fund, formed 10 years ago, about the time of the 20^th anniversary of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, was a response by a collection of rich countries to provide funds for the estimated 139 poor or underdeveloped countries severely impacted by and whose peoples have been severely devastated by the virus, tuberculosis and malaria. Despite the financial crisis’ effect on the Global Fund, rich donor countries such as the US, Great Britain, France, Canada and Scandinavia are still committed, with Spain, the Netherlands announcing cuts, Germany delaying payments, and Italy withdrawing from its promise altogether.

But, 29-year-old John Mathenge, a Kenyan sex worker and country coordinator of the Kenyan Sex Workers Alliance, said he came to the UN so that the voice of the male, female, and transgender sex workers could be heard. As a sex worker, as with the many sex workers who are barred from entry into the US, he detailed the difficulties he had to obtain an entry visa into the US. He said he appealed to the US embassy using the provisions of President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), initiated by former president George Bush.

Mathenge, who is a member of the Kikuyu tribe, said that among his people being gay could get him killed. He said he is HIV negative because for the 18 years since he was in the sex trade, he has consistently used protection, considering himself one of the lucky not to have contracted the virus. He added, “Many people think that sex workers are criminals, but we are the ones at the front of the HIV epidemic. I expect the G8 and European Union to put more money to fight HIV/AIDS and not for wars.”

LGBT social causes and concerns as undertone

By Antoine Craigwell

Chairs neatly arranged seemingly with military precision in the large main room of Manhattan’s Irving Plaza, a locale for progressive musical performances, and the tight security were the first signs that this year’s 7^th Annual OUT Music Awards was going to be different from the chaos and confusion which undermined the 2009 event held at Webster Hall. This 2011 awards show program was produced by the LGBT Academy of Recording Artists and organized by Deidre Meredith, its executive director.

As the floodlights illuminated the stage on May 23, harried section managers, assistants and volunteers scurried about in a frenzy to complete last minute tasks. From the vantage point of the well stocked and controlled bar at the rear of the room, gay and straight men, women, and transgenders – multi hued, a mixture of ethnicities and ages, slowly filled the chairs. In a room to the right of the stage, performers gathered for last minute rehearsals, costume adjustments, make-up touch ups, and instrument tunings; and just outside the door, in a cordoned off area, photographers and camera men jostled for plumb spots to get the best shots.

This award show was the seventh since it was started by Dan Martin and Michael Biello in their living room. At the 2009 awards they said that when they started it, then it was about men singing to men and women singing to women.

Tammy Peay, the comedienne made famous from her appearances on Laurence Pinckney’s Nubian Criuses, as the show’s MC, alternated her appearances on stage in various styles of black gowns. Using her wits and sharp, but realistic humor, she singlehandedly carried the entire night’s event, and kept the audience entertained in the small gaps between performances. Notwithstanding, Sekia Dorset, who is believed to have been the stage manager corralled the acts to appear on cue.

More than 45 minutes into the show, when it seemed as if the entire hall was pulsating with music, an intermission was announced. The audience, once held in thrall by the performers evacuated the hall as if glad for the break, if only to catch a breath from the intensity of the performances. A short time later, with her commanding voice and personality, Peay summoned everyone back for the second half. Those who felt that an intermission would break the spirit of the evening were disappointed.  Everyone returned as if they wanted more, and aided by the talented performers, the audience reentered into the spirit of the evening.

It seemed as if the organizers had taken gamble on the audience’s reaction when they placed Tona Brown and the Aida String Ensemble to perform a classical piece immediately after the intermission. A hush descended on the audience as notes from a classical piece washed over everyone. Aware that their performance was unusual, the musicians sawed their bows over strings, as if their lives depended on it, and even though there was sporadic applause, when the piece ended, the entire audience stood and cheered unabated for several minutes. Before going on stage as part of the ensemble, Jarvis, who started playing the viola since he was 14, remarked, “I’m openly gay and a classical musician. One doesn’t hear much talk about gay classical musicians.”

As the evening progressed, following Antoinette Montague jazz rendition, homage was paid to Paula “Stix” Hampton who appeared on stage to accept the OUT Music Living Legend Award. To gales of laughter from the audience and with mock belligerence, she said, “Y’all had to wait till I’m damn near 73 years before y’all come down here to honor me.”

The awards’ twenty different categories captured the diversity in the musical presentations and included “OUTstanding R&B Song”, “OUTstanding International Song”, and “The Biello-Martin Love Song of the Year”. Through the categories and the performances, it became clear that LGBT people are involved in as many different music genres, such as R&B, soul, jazz, country and western, gospel, and classical music. The internationally recognized performing artist, Melissa Ethridge, who was awarded the 2011 OUT Music Lifetime Achievement Award, appeared in a prerecorded video on a screen to deliver her acceptance.

Nhojj (pronounced en-hoj), who was the 2009 OUT Music Award R&B winner and won the 2011 award in the same category for “Gay Warrior Song” said, as he did in 2009, that the awards validates what he’s doing, that he is appreciated by people, and being nominated and winning is getting seen and heard in the LGBT community.

“In the LGBT community we need music which tells our own story out there,” he said.

The inspiration for “Gay Warrior” Nhojj said, was to give the LGBT community its own anthem to which they could rally and be militant. Its distinctive reggae beats, he added, strikes at the homophobia this type of music often contains, “I wanted to show that there are people from the Caribbean who are gay and proud. I wanted to create a song for LGBT people who like reggae.”

Nhojj who was born and grew up in Guyana said proceeds from the sale of “Gay Warrior” will go to the Guyana-based LGBT organization Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination. His most recent work included releasing a music video “Amazing Grace” which celebrates marriage equality, especially interracial relationships, and has been working on promoting it.

Adding his voice to the chorus of praise for the awards, DJ Baker, radio and television host for Da Doo Dirty Show, who presented Nhojj with his award, said that he was glad there is an OUT Music award so that gay hip hop artists could celebrate each other’s achievements.

Almost all the performers and award recipients seemed to be committed to social causes and concerns, with one major theme as an undertone to the awards, drawing attention to the number of homeless LGBT children and teens.

Accepting the Song Writer of the Year award, for her song “No Se Porque”, the Latin artist Silvia said, “This song was written for the children of Latin America. I’m from Argentina and it’s for the children who are neglected, abused and homeless.”

After a music video of Sylvester’s Mighty Real was shown, Tim Smith, the video’s producer accepted the Icon Award on behalf of the artist, “I know that Sylvester never felt it necessary to apologize for who he was, and he did this in the 70s, at a time when it wasn’t cool to talk about himself. He knew what it was like to be homeless as a 14-year old gay teen in Los Angeles.”

Smith said that Sylvester never liked talking about the time he spent living on the streets, and when at 18 he returned home, he went back to school. In his high school graduation photo he chose to make a statement about who was by wearing a gown with pearls.

Congressional Republicans obsessed with LGBT issues

By Antoine Craigwell

There is the saying in baseball, “three strikes and you’re out”. As an idiom, it has become part of the vernacular mirroring the game where an effort is considered exhausted after three tries. So it is with the Republicans in Congress who have held a total of three hearings, purportedly, to examine lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues as these impact the morality of the nation, and begs whether they have now exhausted their efforts to derail opposition to the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

According to the  Washington Blade article “Boehner suggests House marriage hearing is ‘legitimate’” by Chris Johnson, published on Apr 14, in a response to a question when asked about the use of tax-payer funds for the hearing, Boehner replied, “There are a lot of committees, a lot of hearings. As I made it clear from the beginning of this year, the committee process is important to this institution, and I think addressing any question – serious question – in American society is legitimate.”

Boehner didn’t address why the Republican controlled Congress felt that it needed to hold three separate hearings on LGBT issues: two hearings following the repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and the Administration’s decision not to defend any challenges to DOMA.

According to an earlier article by the Blade, when in February Eric Holder, the Attorney General, informed Congress that the President would no longer be defending DOMA; the Speaker hired an attorney, Paul Clement, to represent the Administration. Clement’s fee was capped at $500,000, which was a blended cost of $520 per hour, and which could be increased by mutual agreement. Boehner announced on Apr 18 that he planned to cut the Department of Justice (DOJ) budget to pay for defense of DOMA.

On Apr 19, Kat Long reported in an article in the New York Examiner that Boehner asked the DOJ in a letter to defray the cost of representation in the case of Windsor versus United States, “The burden of defending DOMA, and the resulting costs associated with any litigation that would have otherwise been born (sic) by DOJ, has fallen to the House. Obviously, DOJ’s decision results in DOJ no longer needing the funds it would have otherwise expended defending the constitutionality of DOMA.  It is my intent that those funds be diverted to the House for reimbursement of any costs incurred by and associated with the House, and not DOJ, defending DOMA.”

The Administration is not offering any defense of Section 3 of the Act, which is the same section before the courts in the Windsor case, and for which Boehner hired Clement. Long wrote  that Edie Windsor, 81, survives her partner, Thea Spyer, whom she married in Canada in 2007 and who died in 2009, and because their marriage was not recognized by the government, she had to pay an estimated $363,000 in estate taxes; costs, which Windsor said heterosexual married couples do not have to pay. Unconfirmed sources suggest that based on estimates from the 111^th Congress, which has an annual budget of $19 million, with 151 hearings, each cost an average $125,000.

The hearings, characterized as deliberately anti-gay, the Blade article quoted Michael Cole-Schwartz, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, as saying in response to Boehner’s remarks that the upcoming hearing will “no doubt showcase the [Republican] majority’s obsession with ensuring continued discrimination against same-sex couples.”

”They’re welcome to think that’s a legitimate way to spend their time but the vast majority of Americans will be scratching their heads wondering why House Republicans have held a third hearing in as many weeks to demonize LGBT people,” Cole-Schwartz said.

To bolster their cause, the Republicans, in the two out of three anti-gay witnesses they have called to testify, declared their intent on the outcome of the hearing. The two avowed opponents of marriage equality, according to Johnson, are Maggie Gallagher, chair of the National Organization for Marriage, who previously testified before Congress against same-sex marriage and has a history of anti-gay activism; and Edward Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, who as a former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia and a high-ranking legal adviser in the Justice Department for former President George W. Bush, wrote several anti-gay tracts. The sole opponent of the anti-gay crusade, Johnson said, is Rutgers University professor Carlos Ball, a gay law professor at Rutgers Law School, who said that he plans to argue in his testimony that Obama rightfully determined that DOMA is unconstitutional and that the president shouldn’t defend the law in court. Ball said it is unusual for an administration to decide not to defend the constitutionality of the statute, but it is by no means unprecedented.

“In my view, any administration has a constitutional obligation to make an independent judgment on the constitutionality of certain statutes, especially when there is no clear law on whether the statutes are constitutional or not. DOMA is a “constitutionally indefensible statute” because the states have traditionally enjoyed the prerogative of regulating marriage. What the plaintiffs in these DOMA lawsuits are saying is not that they have a federal constitutional right to marry – that’s not the issue. These couples are already married under the laws of their states. What they are arguing is that the federal government should not discriminate against their marriages when it comes to federal governments. The administration has concluded that it’s unconstitutional to treat differently, and I think they’re absolutely correct,” Ball said to Johnson.

Commenting on Johnson’s article, Scott Rose said that the Republican position on this matter is known, “they want to perpetuate the anti-gay discrimination. Where the use of tax money to hold this kangaroo “hearing” is especially objectionable is that much of that tax money comes from gay people and others who support their rights. The enlightened are being forced to pay for the bigoted to hold a kangaroo hearing over civil rights for gay people.”

But the Rolling Stone magazine article “The Crying Shame of John Boehner” published on Jan 5 by Matt Taibbi, cast shadows of compromised integrity over the Speaker, indicating that he relishes spending tax-payer money, “John Boehner is the ultimate Beltway hack, a man whose unmatched and self-serving skill at political survival has made him, after two decades in Washington, the hairy blue mold on the American congressional sandwich. He’s a lazy, double-talking shill for corporate interests,” and which examined Boehner’s position as Speaker of the House, who is as much a Washington insider accustomed to manipulating, bending and twisting others as long as he benefits financially. The article said that Boehner is desperately fighting to hold on to his position for fear of challenges from some of the Tea Party Republicans who are already unhappy with how he has handled several different issues.

“Others in Washington see Boehner not so much as a bloodless partisan but as a clueless yutz, one who rose to power through a combination of accidents and bureaucratic inertia,” said Taibbi in his article. “John Boehner is business as usual, a man devoted almost exclusively to ensuring his own political survival by tending faithfully to the corrupt and clanking Beltway machinery. Boehner just represents a certain type of hollowly driven, two-faced personality unique to the Beltway; he’s the kind of guy who would step over his mother to score a political point.”

In the interest of wasting tax-payers money, Taibbi reported Congressional sources as saying that Boehner likes to knock off early, and that seems to square with his record, which reveals a real passion — for the links: “He once went on 180 junkets in six years, most of them golf trips, and reportedly copped to playing 100 rounds a year at a time when he was collecting a six-figure salary, paid for by the U.S. taxpayer, to serve in Congress.”

Lawrence Graham-Brown at Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ

By Antoine Craigwell

Toward the back of the oblong white painted room, a four-inch high platform, measuring approximately five feet square stood empty, stark, bare, and seemingly out of place among the pieces of art work on the walls and on pedestals in the center.  A few minutes after the appointed hour, a costumed man emerged from a side door. With exaggerated strides he circled the white platform, sprinkling liquid from a bottle, reenacting an ancient African ritual of blessing, libations and honoring the ancestors. As if on cue, preceded by another in military fatigues holding aloft the Stars and Stripes and the flag of Africanism, the red, black and green, a man emerged from the side room wrapped mummy like in a white sheet. Wearing a headdress of white feathers, reminiscent of Marcus Garvey, he climbed on to the platform. Unwrapped by one of his assistants, the openly gay Jamaican-born artist Lawrence Graham-Brown, was revealed, except for a flimsy covering over his genitalia, nude – a potent symbol of stripping away all pretense and camouflage for the opening performance of his exhibition “Disconnecting, Reconnecting…Disconnected.”

“For these recent series of performances, a person has to begin from a place of honesty and clothes just seem to get in the way. One has to get a fresh start to arrive at the meat of any matter, especially the legacy of degradation to those who are gay, Black and poor; those who face other complex issues while trying to remain standing tall and which begins the healing, brings closure and understanding for people who like those of the same sex,” Graham-Brown said.

Graham-Brown’s first solo exhibition began with the opening reception at the Aljira Center for Contemporary Art in downtown Newark, on Friday, Mar 4 and continues until April 23. While his live performance was part of the exhibition that was filmed, put on a loop and shown, a panel discussion “Belonging in My Own Skin: Understanding Depression in Black Gay Men” slated for Friday, Mar 25, continues his vision of examining the underlying causes of the oppression of Black gay men. It is free and open to the public.

As an artist, Graham-Brown has morphed from a static artist into a multi-media performance artist whose sculpture, mostly of found objects and paintings, among other media, attempt to capture the struggles, suffering and oppression of the peoples of the African Diaspora, wherever they are located.

“I started painting and tried to understand my place in the world as a Black gay man in the United States. I used found objects, rather than the usual art media, to demonstrate other uses for it,” he said.

The exhibition, said Victor Davson, founder and executive director of the gallery, can spark discussion about what it means to be Black, Pan African, and of the African Diaspora. Graham-Brown addresses a sensitive issue, seeing the health of Black gay men as edgy and is something for which a platform has to be created for the entire African Diaspora.

“This is not a show that could have been done in Jamaica or even Guyana. I’m very proud to be part of getting the dialog going. As someone from the Caribbean there is a lot of trauma and shame connected to people of color in this country. This is a very courageous body of work and it is something we need to have a conversation about,” Davson said.

The curator for this exhibition, Dean Daderko said that Graham-Brown uses his work to challenge the racist and homophobic attitudes held in a broad variety of cultures.

“His work’s ritual and cathartic power draws public attention to the existence of popularly-held prejudices, and acts as a palliative gesture to dispel the trauma and shame to which people of color and queer people are routinely subjected,” Daderko said.

Daderko said that Graham-Brown had composed a new body of work consisting of televisions and antennae, and it was his job to choose from Graham-Brown’s repertoire works that best demonstrate the violence, humiliation and degradation contained in slavery.

As a Jamaican, the artist draws on stark images from his country of birth to show the effects of colonialism and religious influenced homophobia. As a naturalized American, he continues to show how Black people are consistently oppressed and hindered by the lustful intentions of those Whites who exert power and domination. His work has been presented by the Queens Museum of Art, El Museo del Barrio and the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance in New York; Real Artways in Hartford, CT; the 2008 Shanghai Biennial in China; in Duren, Germany; and at the National Gallery of Jamaica in Kingston, where he has participated in numerous exhibitions. His most recent exhibition was held in Jan 2011 in Trampoline, Brazil.

Graham-Brown recalls that when he worked in New York City, on his commute to and from home he read books on civil rights and history. He discovered that race was a central theme in America, along with the legacy of slavery, servitude, gender and sexuality. He realized that his Caribbean heritage and the historical realities in America were a powerful combination, giving rise to “Ras-Pan-Afro-Homo-Sapien”, his ultimate protest title.

“As a queer person, I felt I had an intense connection to his work, seeing the representation of another queer person speaking about his experience. And while I’m not familiar with the Caribbean context, I feel I can understand it through his work as a queer Jamaican. I think what he’s doing is incredibly brave, which is not popular, especially his openness about his homosexuality as a Jamaican,” Daderko said.

The Aljira exhibition features a number of new works which deal with inequities from being Black and gay, and intends to give hope to Black gay men as an affected community. Newark is the most appropriate place, Graham-Brown said, and living in New Jersey allows him to start the discussion. This exhibition demonstrates his work in painting, use of enamel, latex, his own blood, and acrylic in non-abstract forms.

The inspiration for his work comes from his understanding of Ras and Pan and it is who he is now, “My work is not hidden. My style is immediate, it comes at the viewer. It’s new media art and it’s based on my idea of the construct of the RasPanAfroHomoSapien. It contains respect for the living, the dead and the unborn,” he said.

Graham-Brown’s preparation for this his first solo exhibition in the U.S. began twenty years earlier as a self taught 21-year-old young man in his native country, painting and sculpting, and honing his skills using brassieres, panty hoses, fabric, textiles and  found objects to tell a story, carry a message.

“When I started painting, it was experimental art with female undergarments, using lots of mannequins. Then my themes were mostly based on gender and sexuality, but when I came to the U.S. I incorporated race. In Jamaica, expressions of race in my art were mostly subtle addressing classicism in the society,” he said.

His first ever solo show, focusing on homosexuality, was held at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus in Kingston, Jamaica, and although his work was on display for six weeks, its controversial nature elicited strong responses, including vandalism, attempts at destruction by students, and death threats, to the point that the police were called and items were confiscated.  Since no one liked his art and it wasn’t exactly commercial, he was nonetheless allowed to show at the Jamaican National Gallery and Tina Spiro, the owner of Chelsea Gallery in Kingston took a chance to show his work.

Prior to his forays into art, Graham-Brown had converted his home into a bed and breakfast, running one of the only same-sex accommodations in Jamaica. He advertised his B&B in Europe and in 1993, received an award from the Jamaican Tourist Board as the Best New B&B. Part of his success as an hotelier hinged on the relationships he had developed with several big chain hotels that sent to his establishment their gay guests who wanted an authentic Jamaican experience. Following the increase in homophobia, he gave up the B&B, migrated to Germany and then made his way to the U.S. Living in New Jersey, Graham-Brown trained as a chef at the Culinary Academy in Monmouth County and worked in hospitals, nursing homes and in school districts around the state.

“Lots of people are going to see the red, black and green and when they start focusing in on the material, they will see he’s addressing a sensitive issue,” said Davson.

As Harmonica Sunbeam,Dorian Bryant is an uncomplicated man

By Antoine Craigwell

Resplendent and radiant in a shimmering orange sequined floor length gown, she was like a shocking burst of sunlight. Even though it wasn’t the first time seeing Harmonica Sunbeam performing, in one of her many appearances far away from her stomping grounds, as the hostess at the 2010 Gay Caribbean Pageant in Brooklyn, and despite the seemingly rough environment, she maneuvered in impossibly high heels on the rickety stage, her enormously exaggerated hair, like a lion’s mane, occasionally eclipsing the banks of overhead lights. More than 300 people watched her announcing and commenting on the contestants with poise and aplomb.

Early on a chilly November evening, last year, at Manatus Restaurant on Bleeker Street, close to Christopher Street, where many Black gay men go as part of the ritualistic date; Dorian Bryant talked about his life and about his alter persona, Harmonica Sunbeam. At the bar in the very subdued lighting, bordering on gloom, Dorian sat on a bar stool, posture erect, legs crossed at the knees, and slowly stirring a cup of tea, pondering many things, his patience belied and hid the room filling energy and unstoppable force when he is transformed into Harmonica Sunbeam.

Dorian was born and grew up in the Vailsburg section of Newark, NJ. After attending Irvington High School, for one semester he went to St. John’s University. Last December, he obtained an associates degree in Liberal Arts from Hudson County Community College, and with the arrival of the new 2011 semester, is attending New Jersey City University for a bachelors in Community Health. His family, originally from New Jersey, now consists of a sister, with whom he is very close. His mother died when he was 16-years old from breast cancer, and eight years later his father died from kidney failure. After his mother’s death, he lived for a while with an aunt, but the desire for independence propelled him to move out.

As he spoke of his mother’s death, a tone of sadness crept into his voice, “It hurt when she died. I realized after, that she didn’t want to worry us. She felt that she would tell us when she thought it was appropriate.”

Recognizing his penchant for things health and medicine related, while in high school he wanted to become a pharmacist but was put off by chemistry, and later following his desire, focused on natural healing, becoming a massage therapist, for which he became licensed in New Jersey and practiced for five years.

Dorian said he didn’t tell his parents about his sexual orientation, “I wasn’t out and I guess they had their suspicions. While I didn’t hide myself, I didn’t go around telling everyone I’m gay; I was myself.” And, as with most gay kids, he was bullied in school, but when it came to it, he stood his ground, even to hitting out at some who threatened or practiced violence against him.

“I always said, people could say what they want as long as they didn’t touch me. I’ve never been bothered by people’s words,” he said.

When he started hanging out with other gay men and women he became more involved in the Ball scene and the Houses, including the time when he “walked” at Paris Dupree’s Ball at Tracks NYC, which was on West 19^th Street, in the “Butch Queen First Time Up In Drag” category and won; that he was drawn in by the adulation of his friends and the crowd at the Ball. That was the beginning of his indulging, creating, and developing Harmonica Sunbeam as his alter persona.

“This was sometime between 1988 and 1991. After the first Ball, I went back to being me. Then I went to a drag show and I thought, “I could do that.’ A few months later, I was a performer in a show. My friends came out to support me, and from then, time to time I’d do a show. The name and persona was born at that Ball,” said Dorian.

Dorian recalled that while in the 12^th grade, along with two of his friends they created drag names. His first his name was “Macadamia Serendipity” but soon changed it to “Tequila Sunrise” because he thought that the previous one would be too long for flyers promoting him.

At that time, he added, although his friends had names, they all really had no intention of using them, “I don’t remember exactly how it came to be,” he said, but when he walked more and more Balls, he knew that Harmonica Sunbeam would be her stage name, and with orange as her favorite color, it was only natural that she would appear as sunlight.

As the years went by, Dorian lived the gay life, working and doing drag occasionally; worked for 19 years at Radio City Music Hall in NYC in guest relations. He walked at the Paris Dupree Ball and when for the first time he was called Harmonica Sunbeam, it seemed to fit perfectly. And, as with any job or career, the more he embodied the alter persona, the more he improved it, “When I look back, I realize I’ve come a long way.”

People, Dorian said, have different perceptions of a man dressed as a woman.

“I wanted people to understand that when I dress in drag, that I didn’t want to be a woman or a transsexual. I just wanted to dress and perform,” he said.

On the other side of that perception, Dorian said that people often have a hard time separating him from his alter persona, “This is not something I do for fun. This is my job. While I enjoy what I do, I look at it as work and people have a hard time separating the two things; people often expect me to be and act like Harmonica all the time.”

Yet while there is a little bit of Dorian in Harmonica, when it’s time to spring into action, the character he has painstakingly developed takes over, and what Dorian wants to tell the world is not expressed through Harmonica. He admits that the things Harmonica would do and say, Dorian would not do. Through trial and error, being sensitive to the responses from various types of crowds, he knows what to perform and what he could get away with. From the beginning, making people laugh worked so well that he stuck with comedy as a part of Harmonica Sunbeam’s shtick.

With a wistful tinge in his voice, Dorian admitted that he was not seeing or involved with anyone, but cautions that he wants to find someone who appreciates him for who he is, “I’m just a gay man who has chosen drag as my profession, but it is not my whole life. I’d want a partner who appreciates and understands Harmonica, but loves Dorian.”

While Dorian is shy and reserved, Harmonica can be flirty, outgoing and social. As Dorian, it takes a while for him to open to strangers. Placing himself in the third person, Dorian, he said is more of a people watcher, “I sit and observe. I get my comedy routine from life,” providing the material for Harmonica. Dorian is humorous, which people don’t get to see unless they are close to him, but as Harmonica, the humor is an extension of Dorian, “I get it first as Dorian, then through to Harmonica.”

Bucking the entrepreneurial streak, Harmonica is Dorian’s occupation. The transformation from Dorian to Harmonica, as with any job in show business, has to be crafted carefully; taking between 45 minutes to an hour to apply make up, hair and gown. As a job, making appearances or performances, there is a minimum charge just for Harmonica to get ready, whether it’s to be on a stage for five minutes or 30 minutes. While Harmonica is lucrative for Dorian, though not enough to own an apartment on Fifth Avenue, but allowing him to take cruise; most of the money coming in from her performances go back into new gowns, wigs, make up, and shoes, “I can’t wear the same dress for three weeks or people would talk, so whatever money I make goes back into my craft.”

Harmonica recalled that her first performance in NYC was at the former Two Potato on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village and for 12 years was the host at Escualita’s, close to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Her list of accomplishments includes both film and television, including be a member of the Screen Actors Guild, “I pay my dues, so I get to vote for the awards,” and depending on who has invited him to attend the awards, he would go either as Dorian or as Harmonica.

For a brief moment Dorian shared his thoughts about the gay community: In the gay community, he said, people can be judgmental. Although Harmonica and Dorian get along with a lot of those who share similar talents, nonetheless, he said, it is filled with “a lot of shade” and insecurities. While some people see someone in drag not as sexual as they expect, there are others who like men who do drag, and want them to remain that way, “I’ve met people who want that and I get to find out about their intentions from their actions and their words.”

In New Jersey, Dorian said he would like to see more people unifying on important issues affecting the LGBT community, by becoming active on what’s important. On the issue of same-sex marriage, he said that while some people may not want it for themselves, it doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t support it for those who do.

“As the gay community, it bothers me how we’re still separated; we don’t accept each other as we should. As a public figure, I try to speak about it, especially as someone with a diverse following, to encourage others to appreciate what everyone brings to the table. Sometimes as gay people we limit ourselves to new and different things. But I see a lot of work ahead for the Black gay community. We can learn to love and respect ourselves before we could expect others to do the same,” he said.

On Jan 17, Harmonica along with four other stand-up drag comedians was part of a one night comedy show called “Dragtastic” on the CBS show, “Logo”. As a performer, Harmonica wants to move away from the club scene and hopes to be cast in a play or a cabaret, or playing in front of an audience of peers. As with every occupation, Dorian insists that he doesn’t want to do drag forever; instead he wants to have something to fall back on, “If I’m going to do drag long term, then it’d have to be more main stream and not clubs. That’s why I want to finish school so I have a plan “B”.” Beginning last September, Harmonica hosts a show every Sunday night at Splash in NYC, and on Tuesdays, for three years, has been hosting a strip show contest at the Cage in Hoboken, NJ.