ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL SHIREY

BY PAUL SCHINDLER | Seven anti-gay attacks in 16 days. One a shocking close- range shooting of Mark Carson in the face, resulting in the 32-year-old man’s death. The West Village, the East Village, Madison Square Garden, Union Square, and Soho.

If there is any consolation in all this, it would seem to be the willingness of the city’s elected leadership to step up to condemn the hatred, support the victims, and mourn Carson.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly spoke unsparingly of their outrage at the murder. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, an out lesbian and a leading mayoral contender, was the driving force behind a May 20 march in remembrance of Carson that drew an estimated 1,500 participants. All four of her Democratic mayoral rivals also joined the gathering.

The gay community in New York has enjoyed equal marriage rights for nearly two years. As Quinn’s strong position in the mayoral race attests, we are rapping on the doors of some of the highest political offices. In New York’s entertainment and business worlds, high profile gay men and lesbians are increasingly commonplace players.

And still the hatred continues. It’s always ugly, sometimes brutal, and on the most tragic occasions lethal. One hard truth about all this is that even among our closest allies — indeed, even within our own community — there is a reluctance to adopt the unwavering zero tolerance for bigotry that we should expect toward any form of prejudice.

If you doubt that, think about the pass accorded to determined homophobes like Brooklyn State Assemblyman Dov Hikind. Consider the exalted position the Roman Catholic Archdiocese continues to hold in New York’s civic life. And remember how often, even in this “liberal” town, religious-based objections to LGBT equality are rationalized as simply a competing civil liberties claim.

When gay marriage first headed for the floor of the Assembly in 2007, Hikind told Capital New York political reporter Azi Paybarah, “If we authorize gay marriage in the State of New York, those who want to live and love incestuously will be five steps closer to achieving their goals as well.” When the issue was on the cusp of victory four years later, Hikind cloaked this nonsense in his Orthodox Jewish beliefs, telling his colleagues during debate on the bill, “Maybe we take the Torah, God forbid, and throw it in the garbage.”

To Hikind, gay couples are outside of God’s law. They are the Other. Hikind’s attitudes toward LGBT people are profoundly dehumanizing.

How do his fellow elected officials respond to him? The reaction to another outrageous episode of Hikind’s is instructive in this regard — and also discouraging. Earlier this year, for a costume party to celebrate Purim, Hikind dressed in blackface. Any easy call, right? Well, not necessarily for “progressive” Bill de Blasio, who — incredibly — told Paybarah, “In all the time I’ve known Dov, I’ve never found him to be prejudiced against anyone.” Hikind endorsed de Blasio for city public advocate in 2009 and has bragged he got him elected to the City Council in 2001.

Bill Thompson is the only African American in the Democratic mayoral field. His reaction to Hikind’s blackface? “For years, Assemblyman Dov Hikind has played a crucial role in bringing together leaders from the African-American, Jewish, and other communities to stand against racism and anti-Semitism,” the former city comptroller said in a written release, which called on Hikind to apologize “consistent with his record of service and commitment to our diverse city.”

Quinn, for her part, was unambiguous in condemning Hikind, but the candidate who nailed the issue was dark-horse hopeful Sal Albanese, a former Brooklyn City Council member, who said, “I strongly condemn Assemblyman Hikind’s tasteless attempt at humor and suggest my opponents stop begging for his endorsement.”

If de Blasio and Thompson have at times turned a blind eye toward bigots — especially in the Brooklyn political backyard they share — Quinn has on occasion shown her own measure of indifference. She explained her appearance at a 2008 Yankee Stadium Mass led by Pope Benedict XVI — who in 1987, as Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, declared a homosexual orientation to be “intrinsically disordered” — by saying, “To get to take my father to the pope was an extraordinarily special thing.”

That particular excuse, however, was unavailable last year when she was asked by Gay City News about her attendance at Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s annual Al Smith Dinner. The event is often billed as a fundraiser for disadvantaged children, but in fact the Catholic Archdiocese spends the money as it sees fit. Asked about a 2011 beneficiary that is “a non-sectarian organization founded in 1974 offering positive alternatives to abortion,” the pro-choice speaker offered a cringe-inducing response, saying, “What’s wrong with that? Choice doesn’t mean we’re for one choice. Choice means we’re for an array of choices and women getting to decide for themselves.”

Dolan, of course, does not merely tangle with supporters of abortion rights. He is also a faithful prosecutor of the Church’s hostile policies toward the LGBT community. In an April blog post about the Church’s posture toward gays, the cardinal wrote that his parents welcomed anyone into his childhood home, so long as they remembered to “wash your hands.” A group of gay activists with dirty hands who attempted to enter St. Patrick’s Cathedral the following Sunday were met with determined NYPD resistance.

No issue better crystallizes the unwillingness of progressive politicians in New York to confront religious bigotry squarely than the ongoing legal battle over the Department of Education’s policy barring religious congregations from renting space in schools. Prior to that policy, at least 50 churches — perhaps many more — held services in the schools, and some of them denied membership to gay and lesbian New Yorkers or had a stated mission of converting homosexuals to a heterosexual life. One such exclusionary congregation, the Bronx Household of Faith, took the city to court.

This year’s crop of Democratic mayoral contenders have not acquitted themselves well on this issue. De Blasio told Gay City News, “I do not want to see New Yorkers lose the church families they’ve come to rely on and contribute to in so many ways.” Even while conceding there should be a “line between church and state,” he argued that “common sense and fairness dictate” that the congregations be allowed to return.

City Comptroller John Liu, another “progressive” in the mayor’s race, took a similar position when asked last year, though he has tried to back away from it since.

Quinn is substantively on the right side of this issue, but in an election year, she has lost her nerve to stand firm. In 2012, she blocked a vote on a Council resolution urging the State Legislature to strike down the Department of Education policy. But as Gay City News goes to press, the Council is expected to take up the very same resolution on May 22. Describing a committee hearing at which he took a drubbing from otherwise progressive colleagues outraged he was standing in the way of congregations reclaiming their place in the schools, out gay Councilman Daniel Dromm told me the resolution is a shoe-in.

Politicians will always have their reasons for wavering on principle. The need to name bigotry and call it out wherever it rears its head, however, is too important to leave to those willing to let their self-interest cut in line ahead of our right to dignity. Anti-gay rhetoric and glib dismissal of our basic humanity can no longer be countenanced — at any time or in any place. In this election year, we better wise up quick to the fact that the job is up to us.

The post It’s Up to Us appeared first on gaycitynews.com.

Anthony Johnston and Geneva Carr in Joshua Conkel’s “I Wanna Destroy You.” | MATTHEW MURPHY

BY DAVID KENNERLEY | If you crossed “The Devil Wears Prada” with “The Rachel Zoe Project” (an early episode with the nerdy, bow-tied Brad Goreski), you might spawn something like “I Wanna Destroy You,” the wicked romantic comedy now playing on Theatre Row.

Written by Joshua Conkel (“MilkMilkLemonade”), the warped plot centers on Beau (Anthony Johnston), who is having a really bad day. His desperately needy boss, Cecile (Geneva Carr), a famous romance novelist who honed her skills at Vassar, treats him like a dog. It’s a stifling day in June, and the air conditioner in his dumpy Bushwick apartment is on the fritz.

His depressive, longtime boyfriend Mick (a scruffy Kieran Mulcare) announces he’s high-tailing it back to Kentucky. Beau makes a last-ditch marriage proposal and is rebuffed. (Mick agrees in principle with the right to tie the knot, but calls marriage a “bullshit straight people thing.”) The day this all goes down — June 24, 2011, to be exact — is an historic one. Marriage equality for New York State is being considered — and the Legislature’s decision is imminent.

Oh yeah, and it’s Beau’s 30th birthday. Shouldn’t he have a real career by now, instead of catering to the whims of a she-devil?

Pushed very hard indeed, personal assistant refuses to let big bad city destroy him

Complicating matters is that the self-absorbed “Cuntessa” is getting married to a pompous cad (Jamie Jackson) and is in Bridezilla mode. Her wedding planner happens to be Daphne (Kathy Searle), an estranged friend of Beau and Mick who’s not nearly as successful as she seems. She has a dutiful assistant of her own, the calmly caustic Jim (Preston Martin) who, when he’s not tapping away on Grindr, throws shade in every direction.

Under the guidance of Dan Horrigan, “I Wanna Destroy You” is crisply paced and offers keenly observed characterizations; however, not all of the actors have mastered their demanding roles. It’s not until the second act that they find their footing.

Johnston’s self-deprecating Beau is sweetly appealing, earning our sympathy for his usually pliant demeanor — even when he starts being as monstrous as his boss. Carr is hilarious as the shrill Cecile, who, hopped up on booze and pills, goes ballistic when she discovers Beau committed a costly act of rebellion.

Daphne’s preening assistant Jim is written as a smug, one-note character and Martin plays him as such, but it’s a splendid note indeed.

The set, by David L. Arsenault, morphs efficiently to evoke Beau’s tiny apartment (yep, there’s a sad futon festooned with dirty clothes), Cecile’s posh Upper East Side pad, a dress shop, a bookstore, and various eateries. The backdrop is a marvelous peeling collage of a murky New York cityscape turned upside down, framed by iron beams like those found in a subway station. Anthony Mattana’s music and sound design are top-notch as well.

Turns out this wry comedy has more than just hijinks on its mind. Conkel uses the setup to examine the vagaries of interpersonal relationships, gay stereotypes, and the marriage equality issue.

Beau is outraged how gays are portrayed as, or subscribe to, tired stereotypes like hairstylists (the “ultimate servile fag job”), wedding planners, or materialists.

“Here you are fucking planning other people’s weddings when you yourself aren’t allowed to get married,” he says to Jim, who sees nothing wrong with wanting to cultivate beauty.

Beau explains he is repulsed by the whole “gay sidekick” thing, noting that on TV those kind of characters are never crucial to any storyline. He accuses Daphne of being a “faginizer” who exploits gay men to assuage her loneliness, and scoffs at her choice of living in Chelsea, “where the queens look just like the jocks that used to beat them up.”

To be a success in the big city, we must destroy each other. Cecile’s motto: “Be a cunt or the world just walks all over you.” Nice guys are naive “dodo birds” doomed to become extinct.

They say that if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. “I Wanna Destroy You,” which sounds like a threat from the unforgiving city itself, suggests that if you cannot make it here, there are brighter alternatives.

I WANNA DESTROY YOU | At Hand Theatre Company | Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row | 410 W. 42nd St. | Through Jun. 1: Tue., Sun. at 7 p.m.; Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m.; Sat. at 2 p.m. | $18 at telecharge.com

The post Servile Disobedience appeared first on gaycitynews.com.

An impromptu memorial has sprung up at the site of Mark Carson’s murder on Eighth Street just off Sixth Avenue. | DONNA ACETO

BY ANDY HUMM | The point-blank shooting murder of a gay man this past weekend has galvanized concern in the LGBT community about a spate of anti-gay attacks in Manhattan that number at least seven since May 5.

Mark Carson, 32, a gay man out socializing with friends in the West Village, was shot in the face and killed just after midnight on the morning of May 18 by a gunman shouting anti-gay slurs. Apprehended nearby shortly after the shooting, Elliot Morales, 33, has been charged by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance with murder in the second degree as a hate crime, menacing in the second degree, and two weapons charges.

Less than 24 hours after the killing, hundreds turned out for a vigil at the site of the murder at 60 West Eighth Street just east of Sixth Avenue following a social media call from Adam Feldman, a writer for Time Out. On May 20, three days after the murder, elected officials and LGBT groups organized a march of more than 1,500 people from the LGBT Community Center on West 13th Street to a rally at the same site.

Elliot Morales charged with May 18 shooting of Mark Carson at close range after allegedly menacing Village bar

Just hours after that rally, Dan Contrarino, a club promoter, was attacked on Avenue D and East Fourth Street by an assailant shouting “faggot,” NightLifeGay.com reported. Contrarino posted on Facebook, “GAY BASHED LAST NITE…  back from small surgery…. CHEST XRAYS THIS AM…. suspect still at large… police n media waiting to interview me… U JUST WANNA CRY N MOVE ON…”

At 5 a.m. on May 21, a gay couple, Steven Dixon, 42, and Michael Coleman, 41, were attacked in Soho by men shouting anti-gay epithets and repeatedly punching Dixon, causing lacerations, swelling, and pain to his eye, the New York Post reported. Fabian Ortiz, 32 and Pedro Jimenez, 23, were arrested on charges of felonious assault as a hate crime.

Unlike these two attacks and four others since May 5, where violence erupted quickly, seemingly out of nowhere, Morales is alleged to have been carrying on in an abusive and menacing manner for some time prior to the Carson shooting. According to police, after urinating outside the Annisa bar and eatery on Barrow Street at West Fourth, he entered the establishment, spewing anti-gay slurs at the bartender, showing off a weapon, and threatening to kill him if he called 911. Morales and his friends then encountered Carson’s group on West Eighth Street, and Morales allegedly targeted anti-gay invective at them as well, including, “Look at you faggots, you look like gay wrestlers.”

Carson’s group moved on, but minutes later Morales — after his friends failed to dissuade him from another confrontation — allegedly came back at Carson’s group, saying to them, “You want to die tonight?” According to the district attorney’s complaint, Morales then asked Carson, “Are you with him?” and “Carson answered, ‘Yes,’ at which point the defendant shot Carson in the head with a silver pistol.” Carson was brought to Beth Israel Hospital and pronounced dead at 1:40 a.m.

Morales was confronted at 12:05 a.m. by police officer Henry Huot who ordered him to stop, “at which point the defendant drew a gun and turned toward Officer Huot, but the gun fell to the ground.” It contained three live rounds. Morales was arrested.

In recounting the murder, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said, “It’s clear that the victim here was killed only because and just because he was thought to be gay.” The Daily News reported that “the commissioner added that Carson in no way antagonized his killer.”

Morales’ sister told the New York Times her brother, who was in prison for ten years for robbery, had not been homophobic and “he doesn’t remember anything [about the murder]; he was under the influence, he was drinking.”

The defendant “laughed in hideous glee as he confessed, a prosecutor told the judge” at Morales’ arraignment, according to the Daily News.

Carson worked as a manager at the Ciao Bella gelato store in Grand Central Terminal and was “very good with people” and open about being gay, a colleague told the Times. He had once been a client at the Hetrick-Martin Institute for LGBT youth, according to Thomas Krever, the agency’s executive director. Carson’s brother, Michael Bumpars, said Mark was a “courageous” and “beautiful” person, the Daily News reported.

Carson had recently moved from Harlem to Brooklyn, according to the Times. His friend Kay Allen told the newspaper, “His spirit was too big for this city. He didn’t have a negative bone in his body.”

The post Anti-Gay Murder Follows Wave of Homophobic Assaults appeared first on gaycitynews.com.

The cast of “Gross Indecency.” | BASiC THEATRE PROJECT

BY DAVID KENNERLEY | In 2007, Bruce Robert Harris and Jack W. Batman hatched a plan to produce a theater festival dedicated to giving emerging gay playwrights a voice. A vital force in gay theater, the scrappy little festival emerged as a success on many levels. One of their productions was even nominated for a GLAAD Award.

After a hiatus of a couple of years due to scheduling glitches, GAYFEST NYC is back.

This year, out of about 50 entries received from around the US and beyond, GAYFEST NYC selected two original works and is also staging a revival of a provocative gay classic. The festival runs May 23 through June 16 at the Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex. Craig Wesley Divino is the associate producer.

Nurturing exceptional gay-themed plays for a worthy cause

When asked if we still need such a festival when gay characters populate plenty of plays both Off and On Broadway, Harris insisted we do.

“When we first formulated the festival, we were trying to find gay playwrights with something to say about gay culture,” he said. “Now we are moving into diversity just like the gay community. We want to spotlight issues that are relevant, perhaps with gay leitmotifs, but not necessarily full-on gay plays. We are not all living in the same bubble. We want theatergoers to pause and discover something fresh about a hidden corner of the community.”

“In a challenging economy, it can be difficult to raise money for not-for-profit [gay theater], unless you’re Terrence McNally,” added Batman. “There’s a great pool of untapped talent who just can’t get their plays up. We want to give them a shot at a first-class production.”

According to Batman, the fest has grown because of support not only from sponsors, foundations, and individual donors, but also from local theater professionals. “We have major Broadway set, lighting, costume, and wig designers helping us do our little shows,” he said.

“The quality of the scripts is getting better,” said Harris. “The cream always rises to the top. This year, the work is particularly beautiful — and dangerous.”

First up is “Moonlight & Love Songs,” by Scott C. Sickles, about a steamy, same-sex affair between a lonely, 45-year-old architect and a much younger college student. A staggering revelation causes their idyllic romance to self-destruct, sending shock waves throughout the community.

“The play deals with themes found in relationships today,” said Harris. “Older men dating younger men — very relevant and not often explored in theater. It’s got real truth to it.”

The other original play is “The Loves of Mr. Lincoln” by David Brendan Hopes, a Pulitzer-nominated poet. Lincoln loved not only his wife Mary, his children, and the United States of America, but also his lifelong confidante, Joshua Speed. Based on letters said to be between Lincoln and Speed, this historical drama promises stunning costumes and language.

“This work is haunting and brilliantly written,” raved Harris. “It’s one of those gorgeous, words-fall-off-the-page type of plays we always look for. We believe that plays should not just entertain but also enlighten. And this does that.”

Also on tap is “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde” by Moisés Kaufman. The fearless producers were so impressed with the high-octane staging by the BASiC Theatre Project, a New York-based company, that they wanted to give them more exposure. Directed by Zi Alikhan, this is the first revival since its Off Broadway premiere in 1997.

Why only two original shows? In defense of their limited slate of offerings, Harris explained that, when it came down to it, few plays met their exacting standards.

“We are trying to be discerning,” he explained. “We look at what’s going on in the world. We don’t want to stage anything that’s dated. Many playwrights create a work that’s cathartic for them, and that’s fine. But we also want what’s cathartic for audiences.”

Since the launch of GAYFEST NYC, Harris and Batman have made names for themselves in commercial theater, co-producing a string of hits including “Clybourne Park” (which won the Tony Award for Best Play), “Bonnie & Clyde,” and “Pippin.” They’re currently working to bring “Scottsboro Boys” to London and an immersive musical version of “Carrie” to LA.

“We like to live on the dangerous side,” Harris said of these works. “But they have been embraced and beloved. That’s our drug of choice — to find edgy, empowering plays. We use the same standards for not-for-profit as we do for our commercial work. Ideals and innovation are important. But we are also mindful of getting butts into seats.”

Giving exposure to new playwrights is only half the mission at GAYFEST NYC. From day one, all proceeds go directly to the Harvey Milk High School for LGBT youth. Harris and Batman have expanded the work they do with the school, holding fundraisers and providing scholarships (they’ve granted 40 and counting). They’ve added a playwriting class so kids can tell their stories and hired equity actors to bring the plays to life.  Some students even do internships at GAYFEST NYC for school credit.

What’s more, they’ve instituted a mentoring program where out professionals from various creative fields come to speak to the students. The underlying message, explained Batman, is, “You can be gay and still have a fabulous career ahead of you.”

“We are the only not-for-profit that gives financial aid to the Harvey Milk School,” said Harris, adding that GAYFEST NYC always welcomes support from any business, gay or straight. “It’s a big responsibility. We present the festival because we want to stay close to our roots, but also to benefit the future of the gay community. After all, when we get older, these kids are going to be running everything.”

GAYFEST NYC 2013 | Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex | 312 W. 36^th St. | $25 at  theatermania.com or 212-352-3101

MOONLIGHT & LOVE SONGS | The June Havoc Theatre| May 23-25, 28-31, Jun. 1 at 8 p.m. | Jun. 1 at 2 p.m.; May 26, Jun. 2 at 3 p.m.

THE LOVES OF MR. LINCOLN | The June Havoc Theatre | Jun. 6-8, 11-15 at 7:30 p.m.  | Jun. 15 at 2 p.m.; Jun. 9, 16 at 3 p.m.

GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE | Dorothy Strelsin Theatre | May 30-Jun. 1, 4-8, 11-15 at 8 p.m.;  Jun. 8, 15 at 2 p.m.; Jun. 2, 9, 16 at 3 p.m.

The post GAYFEST NYC Returns appeared first on gaycitynews.com.

Among those at the head of the march on May 20 were City Council candidate Yetta Kurland (center), Council Speaker Christine Quinn (to her right, one row back), and Glennda Testone, executive director of the LGBT Community Center (right end of banner). | DONNA ACETO

BY DUNCAN OSBORNE | Within 24 hours of a pipe bomb exploding in a West Village gay bar in 1990, Queer Nation, a newly formed activist group, organized a protest demanding that the police department and City Hall act. Estimates put the crowd at several hundred to more than 1,000.

Though still grappling with the AIDS epidemic, the community responded to additional reports of anti-gay attacks — called “The Second Epidemic” in a 1990 article in Outweek magazine — with more protests, self-defense classes, and patrols in the East and West Village.

This was the Queer Street bashing back by building its own institutions and criticizing the police and political leaders for their failure to protect a vulnerable population. This is how the community always responded in that era.

LGBT community, stunned by horrific murder, heeds calls from on top

When mainstream health groups were not meeting the needs of gay men, three members of the Gay Liberation Front founded the Gay Men’s Health Project Clinic, now called the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, in 1971. Launched in 1983, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center gave the community a home. The Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) was formed in 1990 to deliver political power.

In a decidedly different environment, Mark Carson, 32, was shot and killed in an alleged anti-gay hate crime in the West Village on May 18. Elliot Morales, 33, faces two weapons possession charges, a menacing charge, and one count of second-degree murder as a hate crime in the killing.

The Queer Street did not respond in 2013. The institutions the community built and elected officials the community put in office organized a May 20 march. The event drew 1,500 people, the police said. That response came with its own problems.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, an out lesbian who represents a district that includes Chelsea and the West Village, was a lead organizer. Quinn was aided by the Community Center and the New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP).

Quinn is also seeking the Democratic nomination for mayor. She did not reach out to the other candidates and ask them to stand with her and condemn this crime.

“Aside from speaking to Police Commissioner Kelly, people in the Department of Education, and my staff, the staff has been doing the work,” Quinn said at a May 20 press conference hours before the march. “We’ve been blasting it everywhere, we want everyone to come. Every time there has been a significant hate crime in this city, the City Council has responded.”

While the other candidates were at the head of the march with Quinn, she was accused of politicizing the event on the Facebook page dedicated to the march and by activists both on and off the record.

“I think Christine Quinn is shameless and would use any circumstance to promote her political agenda,” said Allen Roskoff, the president of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, a gay political group. “That’s been her entire history.”

At the end of the march, which went from the Community Center on West 13th Street to Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street where Carson was shot, organizers decided that no elected officials would speak at the rally. City Council staffers did distribute flyers that listed endorsers, including Quinn and nine other straight, gay, and lesbian officeholders, and 43 private organizations. None of the other mayoral candidates were on that list. The other side of the flyer listed five anti-hate crime efforts, with four naming Quinn as the initiator.

A few people voiced criticisms of the city. Some Quinn opponents, including openly gay Donny Moss, stood on the march route holding a sign reading, “We need a hospital, we don’t need condos.”

Quinn has been attacked for supporting the closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center in the West Village and its conversion to luxury housing. Louis Flores, a gay Quinn critic, has said that Carson might have survived if he could have been taken to St. Vincent’s, which was a few blocks from the shooting, as opposed to being transported to Beth Israel Medical Center, which is further uptown. Flores does not have data to support this claim.

Carson and a friend first encountered Morales at roughly midnight, according to the criminal complaint. Morales allegedly said, “Look at you faggots, you look like gay wrestlers.”

Minutes later, Morales came back and asked, “You want to die tonight? Are you with him?” When Carson said, “Yes,” Morales shot him in the head. Police arrested Morales at roughly 12:05 a.m. Carson was pronounced dead at Beth Israel at about 1:40 a.m.

The fact that no criticisms of the city or the police were voiced from the rally stage may show how successful the community has been since 1990, and that government now responds to us. It could also mean that ESPA, the Community Center, AVP, and other organizations are more likely to partner with government in 2013.

Collectively, many of the groups represented on the stage receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in City Council discretionary funds and some likely get millions in city contracts. If these groups criticize the city, it is done privately.

This trend is particularly pronounced in the silence that greets the city’s continued failure to address rising HIV infections among gay men and the praise, which may or may not be warranted, for the city’s response to the current meningitis outbreak among gay men.

Rally attendees were told of a single opportunity to get involved in later actions. AVP is beginning Community Safety Night events on May 24 that will do outreach in neighborhoods affected by anti-gay violence.

“The march and rally were put together from the top down by non-profits with help from politicians,” said William Dobbs, a longtime gay activist who praised the turnout at the event. “One of the really important lessons from the AIDS crisis is that activism is crucial and if homophobia is going to be confronted, it’s going to require grassroots activism like in AIDS.”

The post This Time, the Anger Was Institutionalized appeared first on gaycitynews.com.

Nick Porto addresses the May 20 rally, while partner Kevin Atkins looks on. | DONNA ACETO

BY ANDY HUMM | In the wake of the anti-gay murder of Mark Carson on May 18 and at least seven homophobic assaults across Manhattan this month, proposed initiatives to fight back have found their way into the mix along with plenty of heated rhetoric from LGBT leaders and elected officials that this “will not stand.”

At a West Village march and rally on May 20, ideas were put forward from the platform and discussed among participants in the crowd. And a new initiative to combat hate crimes has been ordered in the schools to take place before classes end for the summer in June.

It ain’t enough to chant “Hey hey, ho ho, homophobia’s got to go” and “Whose streets? Our streets!” as more than 1,500 did at Monday’s march, but a diverse turnout such as occurred does send a signal that the community is not going to slink away in fear in the face of these attacks.

Activists, government struggle to stem anti-gay crime wave

Florine Bumpars, Carson’s aunt, stirred the crowd by declaring, “We want justice served so that Mark’s death will not be in vain,” describing him as “a loving and caring person, truly loved by his mother, father, friends, and co-workers.”

Marjorie Hill, CEO of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, said, “We deserve to be out and proud on Staten Island,” likely still a tall order for those who want to walk the streets hand in hand — despite the emergence of the LGBT community there and the election of an out gay member of the Assembly, Matt Titone.

Ira Manhoff, an ACT UP veteran, wants to revive a variation of the Pink Panther community patrols that came out of Queer Nation in 1991, monitoring the East and West Village and the Ramble in Central Park after an rash of anti-gay assaults then.

Jay Kallio, a transgender man who has been an activist since 1972, attributed the current backlash to the fact that the community is “winning” the fight for equal rights. “The tragedy is that some of us are going to get hit,” he said. Indeed, Kallio called police about one bias attack he suffered on April 23 but didn’t both reporting a second one that happened this past week.

“I’m lucky to be alive,” he said. “I’m going to go out with friends more than I did before.”

For 15 years, Kallio was a member of the auxiliary police force where “I could be out there on my own behalf.” He urged others to follow suit.

Sharon Stapel, executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP), said “all options are on the table,” but hastened to rule out a return to the West Street Gang, immortalized by the late gay Doric Wilson in a 1977 play of that name about the true story of gay men who organized to bash gay-bashers in order to get them to stop.

“Look at how strong we are,” Stapel said. “We will not tolerate this kind of violence. You are saying you won’t take it either.”

This kind of rhetoric of community empowerment dominated the rally. Practical solutions were less in evidence.

AVP has scheduled Friday Community Safety Nights Out starting May 24 and running through LGBT Pride Month, when anti-gay violence often spikes.

A release from Speaker Christine Quinn’s office said, “AVP will conduct outreach in the affected neighborhoods to raise awareness and provide people with information and safety tips.”

The NYPD has committed to an increased police presence in the areas of the seven recent Manhattan attacks, including “setting up temporary headquarter command vehicles,” the speaker’s release said.

Quinn also announced a hate crimes public awareness campaign and a “Speak Out Against Hate Interfaith Weekend” at 50 houses of worship to take place in the near future. Some religious leaders spoke at the rally, though none were of the stripe who claim to condemn anti-gay violence even as they teach that homosexual activity is evil.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, called out by some in the crowd at the Monday rally for not being there, said the following day, “The NYPD, however, can only do a certain amount to protect New Yorkers from violence. We’ll do everything that we can and we’ll prosecute, to the fullest extent of the law, anyone who commits hate crimes. But all of us can do our part as well to end hate crimes and spread tolerance — as parents, as teachers, as friends, and as members of the community.”

Comptroller John Liu issued a statement that read, “The recent spate of anti-gay crimes tarnishes our city’s reputation as a beacon of diversity and tolerance — and we must fight back by working even harder to achieve equal rights and treatment for all.”

But New York City has passed essentially all the sexual orientation and gender identity protections possible under municipal law. The key issue is implementation and on that score, the city is often found wanting.

At a press conference on May 20,  hours before the West Village march, Quinn stood with Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott to announce an emergency “anti-hate crime initiative.” According to Quinn, every school is mandated to “take time out of their day and organize an event” before the end of the school year that teaches that “hate violence is unacceptable.”

“We are committed to doing what we can beyond Respect for All,” the current anti-bullying program in the schools, Walcott said. “We need to take it to the next level.”

However, details of that new program promised by the Department of Education in response to a follow-up question from Gay City News had not delivered as of press time the following evening.

Others spoke to the problems that continue on the ground in the schools.

City Councilman Daniel Dromm of Queens, an out gay former teacher, said, “I’m glad the Department of Education is doing this, but unless they tell everyone to use the words lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, the message is not clear to the students that homophobic remarks are wrong.”

Dromm also said that even today only a “handful” of LGBT teachers in the system are out to their students — a characterization Walcott disputed, noting that teachers are protected under the law no matter what their “sexual persuasion.” But teachers often shy away from being honest about their lives in ways that heterosexual teachers take for granted for fear of losing control of their classrooms and not being backed up by administrators.

Frank Jump, who teaches at PS 119, an elementary school in Brooklyn, said that while “it rarely comes up,” he will be out when a student presses him. Teaching since 1990, he was pictured on the front page of the New York Post after marrying his husband, Vincenzo Aiso, in 2004. “They wanted to fire me at my old job,” he said. “The principal called the district office and said, ‘One of my teachers went to Canada to get married. What should I do?’ The district rep said, ‘You should congratulate him.’”

In his current job, Jump feels supported by his principal. “But I live in a bubble,” he said. “We have a great school. I imagine it is very hard to come out for most teachers.”

And, he explained, “I don’t have time to become a full-time gay teacher. I teach by example. If the Board of Ed wants to hire me to be a spokesperson for gay teachers, fine.”

Homophobia, Jump said, “has to be targeted from Day One in schools — spoken about very publicly, as embracing us the way President Obama does. We are part of the fabric of the community and not just any thread. We hold the community together.”

Marie Baker of the Lesbian and Gay Teachers Association is a librarian at Bronx In-Tech Academy and said that in 1991, when she started in the schools, telling a colleague she was a lesbian was unthinkable. She now feels “the atmosphere is better,” at least in her school, and that increasing numbers of students are also out.

Randi Weingarten, the out lesbian former head of the United Federation of Teachers, issued a directive that gay and lesbian teachers would be supported by the union, and Baker said “a statement from the chancellor would be useful — to help students and teachers come out safely.”

She complained that in the school system’s anti-cyberbullying program, “there wasn’t a specific reference to gay kids in it.” Similarly, Jump said, the mandatory AIDS curricula is woefully lacking in gay content, despite the fact that isolated LGBT youth are at highest risk for HIV.

Thomas Krever, executive director at the Hetrick-Martin Institute for LGBT youth, told me at the rally that in the schools, “I tend to think there is more of a climate to broach the subject. Now the challenge for us as adults and young people is to come out” to make it safer.

The other challenge, of course, is following through on the expectations that marches and rallies like May 20’s create. Nick Porto, who survived a May 5 attack by Knick fans outside of Madison Square Garden, worries that the sense of urgency around his case is already fading. “We don’t know what’s going on,” he said, though AVP’s Stapel, standing nearby, chimed in, “We’re going to do everything we can to follow up.”

Two years ago, at the LGBT Pride March in June, the community exploded in joy at the passage of marriage equality. When Porto had the mike at the rally, he said, “Gay rights is a lot more than just marriage.”

The post What Is To Be Done? appeared first on gaycitynews.com.

GMHC board members Dr. Demetre Daskalakis and Dr. Frank Spinelli have taken lead roles in carrying out the group’s response to meningitis. | GMHC

BY DUNCAN OSBORNE | Roughly eight months after New York City’s health department reported a meningitis outbreak among gay and bisexual men and began a vaccination campaign, two gay health groups have combined to vaccinate roughly 30 percent of the 10,209 people vaccinated in that effort.

“It’s been a well-oiled machine,” said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, a board member at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), on May 14 as he was preparing for a vaccination session at the AIDS agency’s West 29th Street HIV testing center. “They come pretty much every two minutes.”

In addition to vaccinating roughly 700 men at the testing center, Daskalakis has vaccinated others at two sex clubs, bringing the total to 916, or nine percent of all the vaccinations delivered. Daskalakis is sometimes joined by Dr. Frank Spinelli, also a GMHC board member.

With city now targeting up to 100,000 men, some private insurers ducking mandate to pay

GMHC gets the vaccine for free from the health department and administers it free of charge. Some of the clients do not have insurance. Others were sent by private doctors who don’t want to buy vaccine and then battle with an insurance company to get reimbursed or risk having it expire before they use it.

“I can’t tell you how many have said, ‘My doctor told me to come here,’” Spinelli said.

Separately, the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center has vaccinated 2,139 people since October 1 of last year, or roughly 21 percent of the vaccinations delivered.

Callen-Lorde has given away some vaccine doses or billed Medicaid, private insurance, or a federal program that pays for drugs for people with AIDS. While private insurers are required under state law to pay for the vaccine, some companies still refuse.

“Commercial insurances vary, but we pass the cost on to the patient if they don’t pay,” wrote Jay Laudato, the agency’s executive director, in an email. “We explain this to these patients who are generally fine with the co-pay or full charge ($68).”

Providers do not have to report adult meningitis vaccinations, so the 10,209 is likely an undercount, but the two agencies are making a significant contribution to the vaccination effort.

There have been 22 meningitis cases in New York City gay and bisexual men since 2010, with 17 occurring since the start of 2012. Four were reported this year. Seven of the 22 men have died. A 23rd man who lived outside the city, but spent significant time here, was also infected.

While the health department initially said that it wanted to vaccinate 10,000 gay and bisexual men, it has now expanded that target to between 30,000 and 100,000 men.

The health department purchased 4,000 doses of vaccine in 2012, according to records Gay City News obtained under the state Freedom of Information Law. While the agency says it has sufficient vaccine supply to meet its new target, it would not say if it has bought more doses.

The health department has cobbled together a response by buying some vaccine and relying on private providers, such as Callen-Lorde, to purchase and deliver their own vaccine.

“There is ample supply of vaccine in New York City,” the department said in a statement. “For patients with health insurance, patients can visit their physician, and all government and commercial insurer plans cover meningitis vaccination in our target population. Patients without health insurance can visit [health department] clinics.”

Two other North American cities — Toronto and Chicago — that had comparable meningitis outbreaks among gay men responded by having their health departments buy all of the needed vaccine and administer the doses quickly. Neither city had new cases after their vaccine campaigns.

The city’s queer elected officials have been pressed into service to promote New York City’s vaccination campaign. Out members of the City Council and the State Senate and Assembly have all issued statements urging men to get vaccinated.

“I’m grateful for the work the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has done in this area and I’m grateful… that they’ve been very aggressive and creative and unorthodox in a good way,” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who represents Chelsea and the West Village, said at a May 20 press conference. “That said, the level of meningitis is extraordinarily high in the LGBT community and it’s something that we can’t say we’ve done enough until we’ve gotten it under control. Notwithstanding all of our collective efforts, we have not yet not gotten it under control, so more work is needed.”

At the behest of State Senator Brad Hoylman, whose district runs from the West Village to the Upper West Side, the state Department of Financial Services wrote to all insurers who operate in the state telling them they must pay for the vaccination.

The post Callen-Lorde, GMHC Deliver Nearly Third of Meningitis Vaccines appeared first on gaycitynews.com.

Large wooden beams cross over the top of the new Pavilion.

BY JOSEPH EHRMAN-DUPRE |  This summer, make way for the Pines. The internationally known gay mecca is about to reclaim its status as the premiere summer nightlife capital with the grand re-opening of the Pavilion, a Fire Island institution. Just in time, too — the Pavilion is turning 60 this summer.

But those who may have scanned this story in print first will have to be patient just a little longer. On May 22, one day after the story was published, the Pavilion’s developers announced that the expected Memorial Day Weekend opening has been postponed.

” The rebuilding of this iconic nightclub was a tremendous undertaking which has almost fully come to fruition,” wrote Matthew Blesso, one of the developers, in a press statement. “Our patron’s safety is our top priority, and we will not open the doors until we are certain the club is 100 percent ready to go.”

The opening “will not be far ahead,” he said, a pledge that may not be a bad way to amp up the anticipation for a Pines institution missing in action the past few seasons.

On November 14, 2011, the community lost this icon of gay nightlife and culture in a ferocious fire. The Pavilion at the Pines burned down to its foundation after more than a half century of parties, benefit galas, and frivolity. This summer, however, it’s back in what Blesso termed “a phoenix situation.”

In 2010, in the largest commercial land purchase in Fire Island history, 75 percent of the Pines’ commercial space was purchased by Blesso, Andrew Kirtzman, and Seth Weissman. Their goal was a thoroughgoing revitalization of the buildings and businesses surrounding the harbor, including restaurants, bars, a hotel, and, of course, the Pavilion.

Just in time for 60, the Pavilion shows off its facelift Memorial Day Weekend

“Blesso Properties began the time-sensitive process of dramatically repositioning the properties in preparation for the resort’s summer season,” the developers’ website says, and the pictures showcase that much was done to rejuvenate the outdated Canteen, a convenient quick food option, and the Hotel Ciel. Then, the fire struck and plans changed.

The Pavilion’s developer, Matthew Blesso.

Blesso Properties commissioned the design firm of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, global leaders in creating projects serving culturally diverse purposes — from the High Line to performance halls at Lincoln Center. Additionally, HWKN, another New York-based firm specializing in innovative, modern, convenience-oriented living and work spaces, was brought in to draw up and construct a dramatic, dynamic redesign of the famed Pavilion. The three partners have concocted an exciting, modern-yet-nostalgic space for all Pines vacationers, with an emphasis on sustainability, something Blesso said he strives for in all his projects.

The building, which greets ferry-going Pines revelers as they enter the harbor, has been re-imagined as a 7,000 square foot space with similar elements as the previous Pavilion, but with updated amenities. A dance club, the high-tea outdoor terrace, and even a crystal chandelier will take Pines regulars back to the glory days while the newly designed Welcome Bar will invite new guests in to join the fun. A shell-like geometric structure of large wooden beams crosses over the building.

Matthias Hollwich, co-founder of HWKN, described the exterior as “carved and rutted like a piece of driftwood washed ashore by the sea.” Constantino Papadakis, the Pavilion’s general manager, emphasized, “It’s really important not to make anything too modern out there. People really like the wood aesthetic, and it is very much in line with the architecture on the island.”

The beachy exterior gives way to modern facilities inside, however, with state-of-the-art sound and light systems elevating this nightclub experience — the develops promise — beyond anything yet seen on Fire Island.

“We had a devastating fire,” Papadakis said. “It took away the nightclub, which was really the heartbeat of the community. It changed the landscape out there. And then with Hurricane Sandy, it was a one-two punch. It was kind of a lost two years. Things were a little bit forlorn, a little on hold.”

The Pavilion’s re-opening gets things back on track, its developers say.

Striking a balance between old and new is not simply a matter of architectural design. The developers also aim to pitch the programming to appeal to visitors of all ages and past Pines experience.

Tony Fornabaio, the entertainment director of the new Pavilion.

“Tony Fornabaio’s coming out,” said Papadakis, referring to the gay nightlife impresario who has helped revitalize the club scene in Manhattan in recent years. Fornabaio hopes to transfer his success in nightclub ventures like XL at the Out NYC Hotel on 42nd Street and with weekly parties —Rockit and special events with Logo, for example — to his efforts at the Pavilion.

“He is a 25-plus year resident” of the Pines as well, Papadakis emphasized. “He gets it.”

His aim, Fornabaio told Next Magazine earlier this year, is “to recapture the unique sound the island used to have. Musically, the island has moved away from what it used to be. It’s become reliant on pop music. While there is nothing wrong with pop, it is our intention to bring back that memorable, soulful sound that Fire Island is known for.” His influences, he said, would range from disco and house to tribal and circuit sounds.

Blesso acknowledged what he and his partners recognized when they first bought the property three years ago — that the Pines must forge a 21st century identity.

“The population absolutely dipped in the past couple years” he said. “We are under no false pretenses. This is 2013, being gay is okay and it’s cool. You can vacation wherever you want as a gay couple.”

That means that the new Pavilion has to up the ante to make the Pines’ summer season the success its developers hope for. They emphasized that a top-tier hospitality experience is what visitors will encounter as a connective thread amongst the harborfront businesses, including the Botel, the Blue Whale Restaurant, and the Canteen. The owners hope visitors will feel like pampered guests, but also that a wider range of visitors will find themselves welcome.

“A lot of our programming is going to speak to everybody,” including drag shows on the pool deck, a morning party harkening back to the 1990s, and visual and performing arts exhibitions throughout the summer, Fornabaio explained. “It’s not just for circuit boys.”

Online innovations are also planned to provide the logistics for more visitors to be on the island at any given time. Pines Booker, an Airbnb-style program, will allow summer residents or time share operators to rent their homes and condos for a weekend or lengthier period of time. That would put the cost of a Pines getaway within reach of a large number of younger visitors who otherwise might not be able to experience it.

“The Pines Booker will be a real democratizing effort this year,” said Papadakis.

That effort, he said, will be supplemented by “The Pines Survival Guide,” an online guide containing essentials about the town’s history, traditions, and social opportunities — something of a Fire Island for Dummies. “You shouldn’t have to be in the know to visit the Pines as a vacation destination,” Papadakis said.

“We hope to make the people who have been out there for years proud,” Blesso said, by way of summing up the way he hopes to position the new Pavilion, “but we also hope to get a whole new population.”

Will your name be etched in the new Waterford Crystal chandelier in the Pavilion’s Welcome Bar?

Amidst the music and dance heaven Blesso promises for opening weekend, one lucky Pines vacationer will have a chance to be part of history. Waterford Crystal is donating a chandelier for the Welcome Bar area of the new Pavilion etched with the names of 24 significant players in the Pines scene over the years — DJ’s, homeowners, and others who have made their mark — plus one more name that may not yet be quite so famous.

“We asked people to submit their favorite Pines memory and have the winner’s name etched there as well,” Fornabaio said. Choosing just one name was apparently a tough job — the entries received, he said, ranged from humorous to serious, and many carried deep emotional resonance.

“All of these efforts are coming into place to celebrate 60 years and come back bigger and better than ever,” Blesso said.

He and his partners clearly hope their effort will prove to be about more than new sounds and new faces — but stand as well as a moment to reinvigorate and redefine the gay cultural experience as a whole.

Blesso, for one, is determined.

“This year, we’re bringing it back,” he said.

The post The Pines No Longer Barren appeared first on gaycitynews.com.

State Senator Liz Krueger, an East Side Democrat. | NEW YORK STATE SENATE

BY NATHAN RILEY | Draft provisions of a “tax and regulate” marijuana bill is being circulated by State Senator Liz Krueger, an East Side Democrat.

Washington State and Colorado enacted such laws last year in referendums that make the recreational use of cannabis legal. The voters in these two western states accepted the argument that legalization makes sense after weighing the risks of marijuana use against the benefits of increased revenue.

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance that is helping to draft the new bill, explained that popular acceptance of marijuana has followed a path similar to that of marriage equality — with support steadily growing since the 1990s. A 2011 Gallup Poll showed 50 percent of Americans supporting legalization. The strongest supporters are 18 to 29-year-olds. Seniors over 65 are the least supportive. Democrats and liberals poll the highest in favor of a new direction.

East Side state senator leads forum co-sponsored by many fellow Manhattan Democratic lawmakers

The two recent referendums confirmed these polling results, especially Colorado, where legalized marijuana outpolled President Barack Obama, who won the state, by 60,000 votes. Nadelmann said that the Colorado referendum returns suggest that legalization could become a factor in next year’s gubernatorial election.

Krueger opened a May 15 forum on marijuana policy at Baruch College by saying, “I did smoke and inhale marijuana 30 years ago, and I have no plans to do it again.” She emphasized that she does not advocate pot use and would no more encourage young people to indulge than do countries like the Netherlands and Portugal that have decriminalized the drug.

The Krueger proposal would allow the legal use of marijuana by those over 18. Sales would be supervised by the State Liquor Authority, and retail outlets for marijuana would be subjects to the same sorts of restrictions that currently apply to bars and liquor stores — including prohibitions on proximity to schools and churches. A $50 tax would be levied on an ounce of marijuana, and local governments would have the option to add an additional five percent surcharge or to forbid its sale.

Nadelmann stressed that marijuana legalization is not an invitation to “turn on and tune out,” and he acknowledged that a revival of the days of “wake and bake” — when 10 percent of high school students were daily users of marijuana — could doom the effort at reform. Under the Krueger bill, youngsters would face civil sanctions for using and selling marijuana.

Dr. Julie Holland, the former head of emergency medicine at Bellevue Hospital and author of popular books on pot and ecstasy, said that cannabis is a natural ingredient in plants and humans and its use as a medicine would be approved if the US government looked at the question rationally and without political considerations. The National Institute for Drug Abuse, a government agency, only supports research that will show the harms of marijuana. Holland acknowledged, however, that marijuana is associated with risk for some adolescents during the several years after 18 when their brains have fully grown and the synapses should be forming more efficient connections. For those youth susceptible to manic depression or schizophrenia, pot use can aggravate their problems during this period.

Joanne Naughton, a retired New York City police lieutenant and a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or LEAP, strongly backed the Krueger legislation. Prohibition, she said, is “a failed policy.” At the same time, she reminded those attending the Baruch forum that police departments are quasi-military organizations in which policies are set at the top and carried out down a chain of command. The mayor and police commissioner are the ones responsible for the staggering rates of stop and frisk arrests for minor marijuana possession, not the officers on the streets.

A draft memorandum from Krueger noted that the NYPD made 50,300 marijuana-related arrests in 2010— which constituted 14 percent of all arrests that year. Those arrested were almost all people of color who received a criminal record for a first-time non-violent crime. This policing cost the city $75 million. Colorado estimates it would earn up to $22 million in taxes from its new law, and New York has a population nearly four times its size.

Alfred Carrasquillo, a community organizer for drug reform, spent time in jail for marijuana possession and failing drug tests for weed. He told the Baruch audience about his life in the “system” from 14 to 18. He attributed his fate to one factor: “racism.”

The forum Krueger convened was co-sponsored by State Senator Brad Hoylman, Assemblymen Richard Gottfried, Brian Kavanagh, Micah Kellner, and Dan Quart, and City Councilmembers Dan Garodnick and Jessica Lapin. Krueger was the only elected official who attended, and there is not yet a formal draft of her legislation.

The post Liz Krueger Pressing for Pot Legalization appeared first on gaycitynews.com.

David W. Ross, the writer and star of “I Do,” directed by Glenn Gaylord. | GRAVITAS VENTURES

BY GARY M. KRAMER | In “I Do,” Jack (David W. Ross, who also wrote the screenplay) is a gay British photographer living in New York. He is single and a surrogate father to Tara (Jessica Tyler Brown), his late brother’s young daughter. Jack’s life hits a major speed bump when his visa expires. Suddenly threatened with deportation, he marries his best friend Ali (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), a lesbian, to get a green card. But things get complicated when he falls in love with Mano (Maurice Compte), an American-born Spaniard, and additional drama arises.

“I Do” scores points about gay rights as difficulties surrounding Jack’s marriage and his relationship with Mano force him to make some tough personal decisions. Gay City News recently spoke by telephone with Ross — who has been an American citizen for about 20 years — about his important immigration-themed melodrama.

Writer, actor David W. Ross tells passionate story about a Brit New Yorker’s immigration woes

The actor-writer explained that he spent nine years working on the script, which was prompted in part by the legalization of marriage equality in Massachusetts in late 2003. Even after nearly a decade, the Defense of Marriage Act’s bar on federal recognition of same-sex marriages means that bi-national gay and lesbian couples still do not enjoy the same immigration rights as married heterosexuals. Ross explained he wanted to explore “the notion of living in the shadows — not fully living your life and not making massive life decisions because your life could be taken away at any moment. These couples want to live a full life and just aren’t able to because of the laws.”

He added, “I found it fascinating and heartbreaking, and wanted to take audiences through the experience that bi-national queer couples in this country go through.”

To do this, Ross’ script has Jack struggling in a variety of his relationships. His wife Ali expresses concerns about their fake marriage, while his boyfriend Mano issues an ultimatum when he needs to return home to Spain for family reasons. Jack also has strong ties to Tara and his brother’s widow Maya (Alicia Witt), which he finds difficult to sever. Faced with a choice between love and family, he is, as Ross described it, “stripped down completely until he has a breakdown and a breakthrough.”

Jack’s options are all life-changing. If he leaves the country, however temporarily, the law prohibits him from easily re-entering America. So, he must choose which “family” is most valuable to him — his lover, his wife, or his niece.

Ross said he wanted to tell a story that would “affect and enrage viewers” —gay and straight — who may not be aware of the extent to which American law continues to discriminate against same-sex couples. Everyone knows gay couples can marry in New York; far fewer know that a gay man or lesbian still can’t get a green card for their immigrant spouse.

“I wanted to make DOMA the real antagonist in the film,” the actor-writer emphasized. In Jack breaking the law to marry Ali, Ross explained, he is not being a bad guy; he is in important respects protesting his lack of options for otherwise staying in the US as a gay man. He can have security in a marriage to Ali that he and Mano would never achieve.

“I’ve heard stories of what people are willing to do or offer — often money,” Ross said. “I’ve heard great experiences and horrible experiences.”

When Jack’s marriage to Ali gets rocky due to her anxiety about being discovered, his next best alternative is impregnating a woman willing to exchange marriage and a green card for her dream of having a baby.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” he remarked with a laugh.

Ross’ research included photographing anti-Prop 8 rallies, in his home state of California, and interviewing bi-national couples to understand their struggles. He spoke with lawyers who do pro bono work on immigration cases and learned that 40 percent of bi-national couples have kids together, a statistic that surprises him — and will, no doubt, many others.

Ross lamented the fact that some couples find they have to move to another country to stay together.

“It is not romantic to be in a long distance relationship,” he said. “It’s hard — and expensive. But there are brave couples out there fighting because they realize it is their right.”

Mano was specifically created as a character who could claim Spanish citizenship for several reasons, Ross explained. First, even though Spain is a very Catholic country, it recognizes same-sex marriage, so Jack and Mano have the option of living there in order to stay together. He also felt that American audiences would relate better to a Spanish character than one from France or Italy. Finally, Ross conceded, he finds Spanish men “really sexy.”

On that score, “I Do” was leaving nothing to chance, it would seem. Ross himself oozes plenty of sex appeal in the film — and not just because he plays many of his scenes naked from the waist up. He was apparently playing to type — during the interview, he interjected, “I’m actually shirtless right now!”

Ross followed that moment of titillating levity by getting serious again. The film, he pointed out, opens with Jack announcing in voice-over that he believes in fate, family, and truth and that actions have consequences.

“It was a meditation on what Jack wants,” Ross explained. “What he wants at the beginning of the film, he has lived through by the end, so he knows these things are true.”

Audiences will likely find this truth to be the powerful animating force in “I Do.”

David W. Ross will attend a post-screening Q&A for “I Do” on Friday, May 31. Check out quadcinema.com that day for details.

I DO | Directed by Glenn Gaylord | Gravitas Ventures | Opens May 31 | Quad Cinema | 34 W. 13^th St. | quadcinema.com

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