Bent Alaska

What would you say - and how would you say it - if a reporter, coworker or neighbor who is not yet an ally asked why we need LGBT rights? What are the best ways to get across our message of equality and be understood?

A top gay media strategist is coming to Anchorage next weekend to teach the LGBT community how to speak to the public and the media to advance equal rights in Alaska.

Adam Bass, a Senior Media Strategist at GLAAD in Los Angeles, is coming to Anchorage to offer a media workshop for the LGBT community and allies. Community members, religious and organization leaders, and allies are invited to come to the workshop.

The event will be from 10am to 1pm on Saturday, September 11, at the conference room in the lower level of 1057 West Fireweed Lane.

The workshop will focus on how to tell our stories and build support through media advocacy. By ensuring that the stories of LGBT people are heard through the media, we will promote understanding, increase acceptance, and advance equality.

Participants will learn the ins and outs of communications strategy, talking points, media interviews, and the power of telling their story.

Communications work, like lobbying or door knocking, involves strategy that can move public opinion about issues to accomplish a goal. This advocacy workshop will give you the resources you need to speak up about equality, to move public opinion, and to help make equality in Anchorage a reality!

The workshop will be free of charge. For more information, please contact Adam Bass, Senior Media Strategist at GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

We can all be more media savvy to advance LGBT rights in Anchorage. Don't miss this excellent opportunity.

Alaska Pride Conference 2010

The 17th annual Alaska Pride Conference will be held on Saturday, October 9, 2010 from 8 am to 4:30 pm at Alaska Pacific University in the Carr-Gottstein Building. The conference organizers are calling for workshop proposals and vendor applications. The forms are available for download at Identity, Inc.

Workshop Proposals are due by Sept. 15, and Vendor Applications must be submitted and paid in full by Sept. 30.

They have a special deal with the WestMark Hotel downtown for those who live outside of Anchorage, and have secured a block of rooms for just $75 a night. To make your reservation, please call their reservations department toll free at (1-800-544-0970). Ask for the 17th Annual PRIDE Conference sleeping room rate and they will be happy to confirm your reservation over the phone.

The AK Pride Conference is held every year in Anchorage, on or near National Coming Out Day (Oct 11). The mission is to facilitate unity within the queer communities of Alaska and our Allies, to promote equality for all, and to provide education and fun.

If you have any questions, please contact Johnathan or visit the AK Pride Conference 2010 Facebook page.

Four A's 25th Anniversary

Did you know that 25 years ago this month the Four A's was formed as an all volunteer agency that took helpline calls from volunteers' living rooms about the new epidemic called AIDS?

For the next year, we will be celebrating and recognizing the incredible support we've received from the community for the past 25 years. This will include a marketing campaign taking a look at the past 25 years of HIV/AIDS in Alaska to illustrate how far we've come from those beginning days and culminate in a celebration event in February of 2011. Stay tuned for more as we kick off this 25th Anniversary Adventure!

"Did You Know" Fact:

The Alaska Department of Epidemiology announced the first three cases of AIDS in Alaska in August of 1983.

Watch for more 25th Anniversary "Did You Know" Facts in e-mails, our Facebook page and on our website throughout the year! Who knows, there might be a pop quiz...

Don't forget the Arctic Siren's Cabaret on Friday, September 3 at 7:30 p.m. at the Snow Goose Theater. Tickets are $15 and proceeds of this fantastic show will benefit the Four A's!

Repeal of DADT will improve military readiness: new ads

A gay active duty marine speaks out against the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy in the third weekly ad by MilitaryReadiness.org. Mission critical personnel are still being discharged under DADT, which puts all service members in danger. Watch the newest ad:

MilitaryReadiness.org has the facts on DADT and the repeal:

» Approximately 14,000 men and women have been abruptly fired because of DADT since 1993. Tens of thousands more have voluntarily left the military because of the unnecessary burden of serving under DADT.

» The DADT policy violates the core values of every branch of the U.S. military.

» Congress should act to repeal the DADT law immediately. The Defense Department will create a plan to successfully manage the implementation of the new policy.

» The DADT repeal amendment to NDAA is completely respectful of the study and process set up by the Pentagon to address implementation issues.

» The American people overwhelmingly want the DADT law repealed. A majority of conservatives, Republicans, Independents, weekly church-goers, and even Tea Partiers also support the repeal of the DADT law.

» At least 3 Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and 3 Secretaries of Defense now support repeal of the DADT law.

The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Lobby Day on Thursday, September 16, 2010 is hosted by Servicemembers United and the Servicemembers United Action Fund, the creators of MilitaryReadiness.org. The Lobby Day will focus on the DADT repeal amendment that will soon be debated by the full Senate. It's time to get this done!

Gay AK: Music, Dance, Free Food & Guest Bloggers

Gay AK is a semi-regular column with short news items and up-coming events for LGBT Alaska.

The good news: my right shoulder should be healed in a week or two. The bad news: I'm right handed. I can manage the FB page, but would really appreciate a few guest bloggers so the blog doesn't go silent. Any LGBT Alaskans with something to say? Here's your opportunity. Send a few paragraphs to Bent Alaska.

Arctic Siren's First Friday Cabaret at the Snow Goose is $15 a person to benefit the Four A's. Friday, Sept. 3 at 7:30 p.m. (Doors open at 6:45 p.m.)

Womyn's Dance, 10/9 at the Snow Goose. We're back with new music and a new sound system! Come alone, bring a friend, an ex, a blind date or a gaggle of lesbians, but come on out to the Snow Goose the Saturday night of the Pride Conference. Doors open at 7:30pm and we'll dance until around midnight.

Marcia Stuber has offered to throw an end-of-summer Women's Retreat weekend at her resort in Sterling. Her cabins sleep 2-4, and she slashed the rate to only $100 per night per cabin. Located about a 9-iron from the Kenai River, this promises to be a weekend full of fun, fishing, friendship, campfires, music, an all-around blast! Alaska Red Fish Lodge

The long awaited revealing of the Fairbanks HAUS oF FUSION: Join Beyonca Fusion on her ultimate coming out on the town party event with the revival of the long lost tradition of Follies of Dollies: the ReMix. Downtown at the 310 1st Ave Banquet Hall on Saturday, Sept 18. Doors open at 8, drag show at 9. This is partly a benefit to "honor & give love to our dear friend Richard Welch, a pioneering community member who has been instrumental in the "art of the night" for many years." $9 @ door, 21+ only.

NE2010 was "a RAGING success with over 100 attendees enjoying three full days of educational classes and workshops taught by 8 national presenters on the SM and Leather lifestyles. Attendees were spoiled with a bustling registration brunch, brown bag lunches sponsored by the ICOAA and an off the hook farewell Seven Course Sinners Dinner with 10 performers and awards." The Dirty Dick Award was given to it's 8th recipient: Sarha was proud to award it to the GLBT community of Alaska.

Every Sunday night, Kodiak Bar and Grill on 5th Street hosts a totally free BarBQ at 7 pm. Chicken, steaks, burgers, fish, (different meats, different weeks, it's just a surprise) but always very good. Baked potatoes with sour cream, butter, shredded cheese, chips and dip. Of course, you are free to purchase your beverage of choice. Music and dancing after the dinner.

Sara's News Roundup 8/29/10

Note: Please excuse the open links - my right shoulder sustained a minor injury, and I'm not up to linking seventeen titles left-handed. Blog posting will be light until my shoulder heals. If you're a GLBTQ Alaskan and have something to say about local or national news and events, I'm seeking guest posts and topic suggestions, and appreciate your help in keeping the blog active. Thanks. - Ed.

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Recent LGBT news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.

1) Disgrace: Obama's increasingly absurd gay marriage position

http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/77154/barack-obama-gay-marriage-disgrace

Washington, New Republic, August 23, 2010

2) Military surveys spouses on 'don't ask, don't tell'

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/08/23/DADT_Spouse_Survey_Revealed/

Washington, Washington Post, August 23, 2010

3) Jewish Films at TG Film Fest [Aug. 28, LA]

http://www.jewishjournal.com/oy_gay/item/jewish_films_at_tg_film_fest_20100816/

Los Angeles, Jewish Journal, August 16, 2010

4) Hospital Changes After Trans Woman Ridiculed