Thoughts From a Mouthy Saint: The "Joy" that's only one click away

www.BellevillePride.Org
by: Colby Kluthe, MetroEast NEWS

As I prepare my spirit for the year ahead, I usually try to start by reconnecting with where I have been, and take a breath before building up the momentum to keep walking.  Its not unlike the walk to the nearest store.  It's only 3 blocks away, but in Tower Grove- its a 1/2 mile block and uphill.  And for me, I much prefer to walk an alleyway than a sidewalk.  It's the "hidden" gem in any city.  "Where Real meets the Road" if I may imply.  -Thats another story for another time.

 I am willing to imagine that over the past year I have "liked" or "shared" or "stumbled","Tweeted" & Blogged more than 1000 links.   And more than any link I have ever shared, one I have to set apart as perhaps the best kept secret in our global community.  They have become old friends and deserve a formal introduction.  They were on hand in 2009 broadcasting about our pride celebrations in Belleville, (MP3 DOWNLOAD)so I gladly give them a nod and wish them all the best in 2012!

Joy 94.9FM Radio is a non-profit broadcast radio station in Melbourne, Vic. Australia.  Joy94 took to the airwaves in 1993, and today broadcasts and webcasts to a global audience.   For a St. Louis native, if you can imagine National Public Radio from an LGBT perspective.   While I have heard several podcast stations and webcasters in the United States, nothing can be compared to the level of programing and perspectives available here.

JOY 94.9 is an independent voice for the diverse lesbian and gay communities listened to by 216,000 people in Melbourne and more online. Access podcasts, blogs and listen online to award winning music & talk, news & current affairs, arts & cultural programs. 

The station provides over 450 free Community Service Announcements on behalf of organisations that serve and support our community. The station is fuelled by the dedication of over 200 volunteers and only a handful of paid core staff. JOY 94.9 is proudly self-funded through on air sponsorship and most importantly membership.

Listen Live - JOY 94.9 - gay and lesbian radio for Melbourne, Australia and the world

joy.org.au

JOY 94.9 is a member of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia www.cbaa.org.au

Passages: Sasha Valentino -by Kate Sosin, Windy City Times

www.BellevillePride.Org
via Windy City Times

Passages: Sasha Valentino News update posted Dec. 27, 2011 by Kate Sosin, Windy City Times   (CHICAGO)

Sasha Valentino, a legendary Chicago-based female impersonation performer, passed away on Dec. 26 after a long battle with dementia. She was 40.
Valentino was a nationally-known pageant performer, whose titles were many and whose chosen family was extensive.
"Sasha Valentino was an icon and an inspiration to us all in the Trans world," said performer Angelique Munro.
Friends and family remember Valentino as a mentor and example to many, who regularly adopted "children" into her ever-growing family and encouraged them in their goals.
In her own work, Valentino won numerous honors for her performances. She was crowned Miss Black Universe in 1996, Miss Universo Latina, Miss Sweetheart International and Miss Liberty International.
In total, friends estimate that she carried over 40 titles.
(READ MORE)


Original Story

Sherwood Forest Camp Provides Opportunity for Youth

www.BellevillePride.Org
via Daniel McCree Foundation

SHERWOOD FOREST CAMP

Did you know that families pay just $50 for their child to attend camp, regardless of the length of the session? Siblings cost only $25. However, the actual cost of camp is nearly $150 per camper, PER DAY. The difference is covered by your generous contributions. We thank you for making camp possible for hundreds of St. Louis children each summer!

The Daniel McCree Foundation supports this important organzation as both Alumni and Volunteer efforts.  You too can support them, and the opportunities they make possible for our youth in need.

Holiday Dinner at LGBT Center

www.BellevillePride.org
via SAGE METRO ST.LOUIS
 
Holiday Dinner at LGBT Center

(ST. LOUIS)
You are invited to the 1st Holiday Dinner at The LGBT Center of St. Louis. This day is designed for people who need a place to spend Christmas Day. It's family time here at the Center.
The Center will be open from 9 am to 9 pm with a Holiday Dinner being served at 3 p.m. (Please bring a side dish)

Location: 4337 Manchester Ave., Saint Louis, MO 63108

RSVP by calling the LGBT Center of St. Louis 314.472.5428.

MetroEast NEWS welcomes Aaron Phillip Ruiz

www.BellevillePride.org
by: Colby Kluthe -MetroEast NEWS


(BELLEVILLE)

MetroEast NEWS is currently undergoing an expansion in preparation for the new year, and will be adding additional writers and potentially photo contributors.  This is a necessary step to improve our reach and coverage throughout the Southern Illinois region.

We are happy to announce Aaron Phillip Ruiz will be joining us in 2012 as a contributing writer.  Ruiz is a resident of Swansea, Illinois and has attended Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville.  Aaron has also served as the Co-Editor of the McKendree Montage at McKendree University in Lebanon, IL.  Look for his first articles in the coming weeks and in our January issue. 

2012 EQIL Gala is set for Saturday, February 11

www.BellevillePride.Org
on behalf of Equality Illinois

The 2012 EQIL Gala is set for Saturday, February 11, 2012 at the Hilton Chicago. Please join us for a spectacular evening! Tickets are available now. For general information about this spectacular event, please click here.

Holiday announcements from MEPSI

www.BellevillePride.org
via Metro East Pride of Southwestern Illinois (MEPSI)

(BELLEVILLE)
Metro East Pride of Southwestern Illinois will be offering pictures with our Sexy Santa or Ms. Claus at Club Escapade's Christmas Party. Proceeds to go towards our annual PrideFest, June 16th.  Location is at Club Escapade 133 W. Main Street 62220   www.MetroEastPride.com

HOLIDAY FOOD DRIVE
MetroEast Pride of Southwestern Illinois is proud to announce that it will be collecting non-perishable food items throughout the holiday season to benefit The Food Pantry at Bethany Place. Please visit one of our drop box locations: Wagner Buick GMC in Belleville, Club-Escapade Belleville, The Tan Company in Shiloh or The LGBT Center of St. Louis (FINAL PICKUP DEC 19TH).

Thoughts From a Mouthy Saint: The G "Live"

www.BellevillePride.Org
by: Colby Kluthe, MetroEast NEWS

Thoughts From a Mouthy Saint:  The G "Live"


The God Show was a title of writing Danny completed in 2005, which speaks to the variance between who we think ourselves to be, and the reality of who we are or fear we have become.
I think each of us have a perception of ourselves, and for the most part it must be comprised of how we "hope" others see us.   For me, I seem to anchor myself upon just how often I neglect to be our best version of who I know myself to be.  Afterall, its too easy to miss the mark.  The sounds and rhythms all have to be in synch.

For me at least that journey has lead me to both desperate places, as well as those places and feelings you want to hold on to and remember forever, as what you think you know could actually be true.  Could it actually be as fantastic as it's been made out?

The short answer of course is Yes, absolutely~ just not like you think.

The reality is we have to make just as many bad choices as good ones, and once we have fallen far enough, we somehow fall forward like a Radio Jesus.  Which brings me to my last and certainly most important point.  Our community must also wrestle with the reality of the substance of GHB , and the price we are paying for our adventures with it.  As someone who has admittedly had my rounds at the theme parks, I can think of no other substance that has so routinely sent our brothers and sisters in tow to nearby hospitals, some with extended stay packages.   We must consider carefully the cost if we do not stand up for ourselves and others in this regard.

"Marsupials may contract a virus. Rest assured; you'll find your way. Keep your thrill: take your pill. Aztec dreams and cortizone creams. Cornish maze peeled from Dutch haze among cloudy skys and stipend lies. Education grants and hollow rants. Young Mister Peyton belongs in Clayton. Great Danes around bamboo canes. Choose on taste and lose your haste." - Daniel McCree (June 12,2005)

Lily to Lily. . .Lost in the Moss and Fog of Love’s Austere and Lonely Offices. . .Monet as Inspiration Once Removed

Lily to Lily. . .Lost in the Moss and Fog of Love’s Austere and Lonely Offices. . .Monet as Inspiration Once Removed

by: Tess Farnham 
 Posted on November 28, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

Speaking indifferently to him, who’d driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well. . . what did I know, what did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices? –Robert Hayden, “Those Winter Sundays”

I was first introduced to Robert Hayden’s poem, “Those Winter Sundays” while doing double duty as single mother and non-traditional student.  Those days were frantic and full,  and as such, I could relate to both protagonist and anti-hero in this poem.

Always that inexhaustible ache to make a home for us somehow, but also the tug on my guts that too much time was slipping away; meanwhile, I wished there were four of me: one to study, one to write and make art, one to work, and one to nurture and be a safe harbor for my kids.
Better make that five. . . because I almost forgot the me who needed to collapse and just scream from the insanity of it all. (yes, there is mental illness in this recipe too, surprise!)

Pffttt. . .and I totally forgot to mention sex up there, didn’t I?  So much for those frills and fancy matters!

There was never enough skin or bones on me, it seemed, to excel at any of those things.  Mostly I felt like we were just getting by on what little we had to work with.

I had such dreams then too.  I was going to get a wonderful job, write a screenplay (yeah right), get the house with the picket fence; I WOULD make a home for us on my own.  I wasn’t getting help from their dad; he didn’t have the means to do it.

I was angry about that then.

Now that anger has evaporated into clouds of anguish that won’t stop raining these days. . and here I sit, swimming through the muck of it all. . .because idiot that is me, I lost them in the water somehow. I lost the truest loves of my life.

And at the moment, I am sick with treading against the tide. . . and the dam breaking. . .and I just can’t reach out for fear of taking everyone else down with me. ..I don’t even know how to reach myself anymore. Except to take it a day at a time, I guess.
And be thankful that my parents can still be there for me at the hardest times too.

This is the price you pay for making such a leap at eighteen. . .wanting to fill that gap of unhappiness with husband love and children, that ache, that undeniable ache to fall down a well of love and security.

Ironically here I was the day I first found that poem as I find myself now, so full of the same kind of longing. . .and falling so very short of my desperate expectations.

I remember too how Hayden’s last couplet made me stop and reconsider all the words I had wasted complaining as a child, but even more than that I realized the importance of pauses to just let go in the moment and be thankful.

Now it makes me wish we all had the maturity to embrace this kind of wisdom while we are young and still a little bit hungry.

Those Winter Sundays

–Robert Hayden

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I’d wake and hear the cold
splintering, breaking.  The rooms were warm, he’d call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,

 who’d driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love’s austere and lonely offices?

********************

Once again I feel the same flood of complex emotions encapsulated as I read “Monet‘s Waterlilies.”   So much ache and push pull at taking it all in.

 And again, those last lines really hit in a place where it hurts and soothes simultaneously.

 ”Here is the aura of that world each of us has lost/Here is the shadow of its joy.”

Today as the news from Selma and Saigon
poisons the air like fallout,
I come again to see
the serene, great picture that I love.
Here space and time exist in light
the eye like the eye of faith believes.
The seen, the known
dissolve in iridescence, become
illusive flesh of light
that was not, was, forever is.
O light beheld as through refracting tears.
Here is the aura of that world
each of us has lost.
Here is the shadow of its joy.

Laffy Taffy for the Holidays: Putting the Crack back in Christmas

 

www.BellevillePride.Org

Laffy Taffy for the Holidays: Putting the Crack back in Christmas
by: Tess Farnham- MetroEast NEWS
 

Rep. Barney Frank Announces Retirement

Rep. Barney Frank Announces Retirement

Daniel McCree.Org Newsletter: Celebrating the life of Ray Henry Ulrich

Remembering and Celebrating the Life of Ray Henry Ulrich

As Clair Janz mentioned, we are going to have a celebration of Ray's life. 

The Koken Art Factory has opened up their doors to us on December 10th. Please spread the word. Brenda and I are putting together some of his favorite songs to perform that night.

 

Ray was a friend of Daniel's and supporter of the Daniel McCree Foundation. We shall join with family and friends in the celebration of this important spirit from our vine.  He shall be missed.

To read his contributions to the foundation, (CLICK HERE)  

A story from RAY ~ a grape on the grapevine
by Daniel McCree Foundation on Friday, March 5, 2010 at 7:09pm

Daniel McCree.Org Newsletter: Celebrating the life of Ray Henry Ulrich: Remembering and Celebrating the Life of Ray Henry Ulrich As Clair Janz mentioned, we are going to have a celebration of Ray 's life. The ...

2 MEPSI Board Vacancies in 2012 (BELLEVILLE)

www.BellevillePride.Org
via MEPSI   
(BELLEVILLE)

MetroEast Pride of Southwestern Illinois announces community wide elections for two open MEPSI Board (member at large) seats. If you are interested in becoming more involved in the LGBT community, send us a brief bio and a descriptive graph of why you'd like to serve!
Please email metroeastpride@gmail.com if interested.

www.MetroEastPride.com 

Illinois Teen Sentenced for Gay Bashing

www.BellevillePride.Org

BellevillePride~ MetroEast News

Illinois Teen Sentenced for Gay Bashing 
unfinishedlivesblog.com

Yorkville, Illinois- An 18-year-old man was sentenced by an Illinois court to two years in prison for his role in a violent attack upon a gay man. Marquitte West was found guilty of hate crime.

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Transgender Day of Remembrance
via VITAL VOICE MAGAZINE

(ALTON)
Each November 20th, Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is observed by the Trans and allied community around the world who gather in memory of those lost to violence and hate during the previous year.
(READ MORE)

Aint That Right, Bus Driver?

www.BellevillePride.Org

Aint That Right, Bus Driver?

by: Tess Farnham MetroEast NEWS 

 

November 4, 2011

 

On the bus ride through the rain and cold tonight, all the way from the Central West End to Southtown, I found myself locking smiles and bumping fists with this woman who was keeping herself amused by leaning into the aisle, over and over again and shouting through toothlessness:





“Aint that right, bus driver?”

And each time, without the slightest bit of hesitation, the driver would reply rather matter of factly from behind the fourth of the way wall of plexiglass that separated herself from the rest of us: ”That’s right.”

And each time afterwards, the woman would wrap her arms around her own waist and
roll back in the seat laughing, seemingly pleased with herself for having elicited one more positive response from the person in charge.

In response to that bit of repetitive interaction. . .for the whole twenty-minute ride home, between spasms of laughter and fidgeting, I could feel that oddly familiar sensation moving through my skin, sensation that can only be described as being caught between the wish for someone to make it stop and waiting for it to start all over again. This went on until I pulled the bell cord for my corner…though at times she would mix things up with the obsessive repetition of news flashes and singsong bits of wisdom:

“Everybody thinks Popeye was strong, but really he was a sissy,”

“Read my lips; catch my drift,”

and “Stare too long, you’re doing it wrong.”

At one point, she stopped to unwrap a very large sandwich and fondle it in anticipation, all the while casting her weary eyes down at its wrapper like a prized catch, the bag emblazoned with the name of the priciest gourmet grocer in the Cental West End , most likely anticipating the moment when the rain would let up just long enough for her to leave the bus and enjoy it.

But for now, she had found a warm place to find refuge from it all, no doubt thanks to the means of strangers, the first one with money enough for that sandwich, the second letting go of a transfer pass that paid for the ride. . . followed by the brown-eyed girl behind the wheel. kindly and obligingly saying those same two words over and over again. That’s right.

A loaf of bread, a jug of vitamin water and thou. . .

It was so very wet and cold on the walk to my place and I could feel the rain pelting my pant leg as I gripped the handle of the umbrella to brace against the elements. In a matter of minutes, I could see the stop on the street running perpendicular to my own ride. As I approached it, I realized I would have to raise my umbrella enough to clear the height of a man for whom I could not yield the right of way without taking someone else’s eye out.

And aside from the sound of his laughter as I passed, accompanied by that of the wind and rain, all I could hear in my head was the echo of the broken record lady.

“Read my lips; catch my drift.”

Now safely inside and sitting in front of my laptop…bowl of soup on the table. .. tea. ..and jammies. ..
I still have a very playful earworm that is slowly eating its way through to my teeth. 

 

Aint that right, bus driver?

That’s right.



TessiluStudio Holiday Gift Give-away: Two Fine Starving Art Prints Can Be Yours Including (whee!) Postage, a $36.00 value :

Southern Illinois AIDS Walk 2011 Dec 1, 2011

www.BellevillePride.Org

(CARBONDALE)

Southern Illinois AIDS Walk 2011
Thurs. Dec. 1, 2011 6PM SIUC Student Health Center

The Southern Illinois AIDS Walk has moved, and will be held at 6pm on Thursday, December 1 at the Student Health Center located on the SIU Carbondale campus. Volunteers will begin set-up at 3pm, and a health fair and registration will begin at 4:30pm. The event will end by 7:45pm.

Volunteer meetings will be held at 7:30pm at the SIUC Newman Center, 715 S. Washington Street, on the following dates: Thursday, Sept. 8; Monday, Oct. 3; Monday Oct. 24; Thursday, Nov. 17 and Wednesday, Nov. 30. Pizza and soft drinks will be provided at all meetings.

Volunteers are needed to help attract corporate sponsors, $50 t-shirt sponsors, and to motivate Southern Illinois to participate in the walk (the SIUC campus, high schools and community colleges throughout Southern Illinois, and communities throughout Southern Illinois).

Proceeds benefit the Southern Illinois AIDS Holiday Project, which serves 150 low-income households impacted by HIV / AIDS in the 19 southern-most counties of Illinois.

For more information, contact AIDS Walk founder Wally Paynter at 812-480-0204 or wallypaynter@aol.com, or AIDS Walk Chair Scott Ramsey at sramsey@siu.edu.

Please use this site to register or join a team, register yourself as an individual walker, sponsor a walker or make a general donation to the cause.

2010 AIDS Walk photo courtesy of Southern Illinoisan and staff photographer Alan Rogers.

Jaye Westermann Named To TransHaven’s Staff

www.BellevillePride.Org

Jaye Westermann Named To TransHaven’s Staff

10/30/2011
(ST. LOUIS)
TransHaven is pleased to announce that Jaye Westermann of Saint Louis, Missouri has been named Project Coordinator. Jaye will be reporting as staff personnel and has accepted the volunteer and uncompensated position.

Jaye is a graduate of Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville and is employed by Planned Parenthood as a Clinical Instructor, Jaye identifies as Intersex and GenderQueer. Among Jaye’s primary duties will be to represent us in advocacy’s reflecting the Intersex and GenderQueer Communities and represent TransHaven as our laison to those Communities. We welcome Jaye to our Team, who will share in reflection of our diverse outreach to the entire Community.

TransHaven: Advocates for Trans Equality, the Homeless / Shelterless, the Disabled, Anti-Violence initiatives, and cross-sectional advocacy’s for all that are LGBTIQA

www.transhaven.org

Court rules transgender Illinoisans can update their birth certificates without genital surgery.

www.BellevillePride.Org

via Claire Louise Swinford

Court rules transgender Illinoisans can update their birth certificates without genital surgery.

lexiecannes.wordpress.com

THE GUERRILLA ANGEL REPORT -- A ruling from a Cook County (IL) Circuit Court judge has made it easier to obtain a gender change on one's birth certificate, but it is far from being certain for ever...

Contest carries extra weight for local choir

(ARCHIVED STORY)

Contest carries extra weight for local choir

Via St. Louis Post Dispatch

ST. LOUIS • The sound was good. Really good. But choir director Jerry Smith wanted to try something different.

He moved the altos away from the sopranos to the opposite side of the risers, sandwiching the tenors and basses.

Smith seemed to like the change. So did the choir members.

"Let's record it this time," Smith said.

The balance and blend of sound needed to be as close to perfect as possible for the choir of Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis. Winning a contest that would designate the group as the best gospel choir in the country is on the line. And with it comes additional pressure: being the first choir at the national level representing a predominately gay and lesbian congregation.

The choir won regionals last month in St. Louis. It will perform for the national title Friday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles.





Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/article_8cc50d1b-5163-5e22-bd70-3d2c6984da18.html#ixzz1bxkzKccp




23 Oct. 2011 -- ST. LOUIS -- Soloist Adria Nichol Webb (center) leads the choir at the Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis during Sunday morning services at the church in St. Louis Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011. The choir recently qualified to represent the St. Louis region at the national gospel choir competition "How Sweet The Sound" at the Staples Center in Los Angeles Oct. 28. Photo by Sid Hastings for the Post-Dispatch

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/article_8cc50d1b-5163-5e22-bd70-3d2c6984da18.html#ixzz1bxlBlzu0