This Week in GLBT Alaska
From Alaska GLBT News (subscribe):
Anchorage
First Friday in Anchorage will be on the first SUNDAY this month because of the July 4th Parade and festivities.
- Ride the ICOAA Float in the July 4th Parade. Come to the staging area at 8th Avenue and H Street by 10:30 a.m.
- MCC July 4th Cook Out 7/4, 2-6 p.m. RSVP to Edie.
- MCC Sunday worship speaker this week is Ron Swartz 7/6, 2 p.m.
- The Bac'untry Bruthers All Night Dragtime Revue is playing at the Taproot Cafe on 7/8, 7 p.m.
- ICOAA General Meeting, Wed 7/9, 6 p.m. at Mad Myrna's.
Gay Ally Howard Bess Retires From Church, Stays Active in Community
UPDATE: The ABC News clip on Sarah Palin's support of removing Howard Bess' "Pastor, I Am Gay" from the Wasilla public library is at: Palmer Pastor's Gay-Positive Book was on Mayor Palin's Censor List
Palmer community activist Howard Bess celebrated his 50th year as an ordained American Baptist minister by retiring from his role as pastor of the Church of the Covenant.
Bess is the author of the book "Pastor, I Am Gay" and one of the founders of the Anchorage-based gay rights group Identity Inc. In Palmer, he encouraged the Mat-Su GLBTA community to hold their meetings at the church.
The Anchorage Daily News ran an interview of Howard Bess, including why he became involved in gay issues, the local response to his work on behalf of Alaska's GLBTA communities, and the wide variety of other social issues that are important to him.
"Rising Star" Director Peter DuBois Honed Skills at Juneau's Perseverance Theatre
Peter DuBois, the openly gay former artistic director of Alaska's innovative Perseverance Theatre Company and award-winning resident director at New York's acclaimed Public Theater, became the new Artistic Director of Boston's Huntington Theatre Company on July 1.
The San Francisco Bay Area Reporter calls DuBois "a rising star in the American theater" and compares his move to Boston with his move to Juneau:
Ben Bohen, his partner of 11 years, will keep their Brooklyn apartment as DuBois sets up another home in Boston for the Huntington job. They plan on commuting, but it won't be as difficult as when DuBois moved to Alaska to become artistic director of Juneau's Perseverance Theatre."Ben finally came out to visit for the month of December," said DuBois, "which is one of the hardest months to be there, and he said, 'OK, I'll make the leap.' We lived together there for four years before I got the call from the Public.""Even in Alaska, which is an incredibly conservative state, I actually was very consciously keeping myself out [as a gay man] because it's a part of my identity that I'm really proud of."
The Huntington Theatre Company's profile of DuBois includes his work in Juneau:
Before being recruited to the Public, DuBois was artistic director of Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska. A mid-sized regional company, Perseverance is hailed for distinctive artistic boldness, innovation, and a dedication to its community and its audience. There, DuBois directed revivals of Beckett, Shakespeare, and Chekhov, and introduced modern-day works by Paula Vogel, Suzan-Lori Parks, and others.
The Boston Globe adds:
In a bold move to the furthermost reaches of the United States, DuBois took over where Perseverance founder Molly Smith had left off. It was at Perseverance that he honed his institution-building skills, cutting debt and raising $2.5 million in capital and endowment campaigns to make Perseverance Alaska's largest producing arts organization. He also brokered a relationship with the University of Alaska Southeast in which Perseverance would assume responsibility for all theater education activities at the college, offering minors to its students.DuBois ran Perseverance from 1998 to 2003, beginning to make a reputation for himself as an up and coming American artist and institutional leader.
On WBUR, DuBois commented on his plans for the 2008-09 season:
"I've developed relationships at the Public and living in Europe and even in Alaska that are relationships that I plan to be bringing to the Huntington Theatre, and I think the programming is going to represent a really diverse range of what theater means."Congratulations, Peter!
This Week in GLBT Alaska
From Alaska GLBT News (subscribe)
Fairbanks
- IAA Raffle Drawing 6/27, 7 p.m. At the International "Big I" Bar.
- GLBT Bowling, Wednesdays 9 p.m. at the Arctic Bowl, all ages.
Juneau
- SEAGLA Social Fridays, 6-8 p.m. Imperial Bar and Billiards, 241 Front Street in Downtown Juneau.
- Extended hours for Free HIV Testing at various locations, for National HIV Testing Week, thru 6/28. Contact Lee Wagner, Southeast Outreach Specialist for Four A's. lwagner@alaskanaids.org
Homer
- Bac'untry Bruthers at Duggan's Pub 6/28 at 10 p.m.
Anchorage
- Pride Week! 6/21-6/29
- Pride Fest Film Festival at Out North, thru 6/28. 5, 7 & 9 p.m. $6.50 online, $7 at the door. Films and showtimes at www.outnorth.org.
- Mr/Ms/Miss Gay 2008-2009 Anchorage Pageant 6/27, 9 p.m. Mad Myrna's. $10.
- Lipstick la'Femme Review featuring Silva Stone 6/27-6/28, 10 p.m. at the Kodiak Bar & Grill. $5 cover
PrideFest, Saturday 6/28, Parade 11 a.m., Festival 12-6 p.m.
PrideFest 2008: OUT is IN - Alaska. Celebrating Diversity Parade WEST ALONG 9TH from E to L followed by the Festival on the Delaney Park Strip between K & L Streets.
- Pride Dance Party with Ever Ready at The Raven 6/28, 6-10 p.m. 708 E. 4th Avenue. No cover, 21 & over.
- Allie's 9th Annual Slave for a Date Auction 6/28, 9 p.m. Proceeds go to ACLU of Alaska Foundation. Mad Myrna's. $4 cover, 21 & over.
- Naughty Nurses-Dirty Doctors Party, 6/28 at 9 p.m. Out@Night (4600 Old Seward) no cover.
- AUUF Gay Pride Sunday 6/29, 10:45 a.m. Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. 3201 Turnagain St.
- MCC Pride Service 6/29, 2 p.m. St. Christopher's Episcopal Church (corner of Duben Ave. & Oklahoma St. in NE Anchorage)
- The Last Frontier Men's Club presents End of Pride BBQ 6/29, 4-6 p.m. Alaska Bear Co. behind Mad Myrna's (530 E 5th Ave) $5, all ages.
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