Milwaukee – It’s almost here! Those of you making floats have one month left before you roll them up 2nd St. in front of the adoring crowds and critiquing eyes of the Milwaukee Pride Parade judges. The chosen judges are as follows:
Andrew Debaker from NEW Pride. (Northeast Wisconsin Pride) - Andrew is the Co-Chair of the committee in charge of creating and putting on one of the best Pride events in Northeastern Wisconsin. For more information about Andrew you can contact him through
Marilynn Mee from 96.5 WKLH Classic Rock - Marilynn Mee has been a staple of the Radio Industry in Milwaukee for Many Years. She hosts the Mid-day radio show on WKLH on a daily basis and is an active supporter of the Wisconsin Humane Society. For more information about Marilynn you can read a full biography and email her by using this webpage http://www.wklh.com/MarilynnMee.asp.
A Mystery Judge from Madison Pride! - Madison Pride is an annual festival held in Madison Wisconsin. Last year they threw one of the best Pride parties in South Central Wisconsin. The event is slated to take place July 19th and 20th. For more information on Madison Pride and just who exactly is coming to judge you can reach the Madison Pride Board at
It’s Countdown Time!
The date for the 2008 Milwaukee Pride Parade is Sunday June 8th, with step-off time at 2PM sharp. The location is South 2nd street from Greenfield Ave to Seeboth Ave. If you have any other questions or for an up to date listing of sponsors and unit entries please visit the Pride Parade website at www.prideparademke.org.
Now, Where to stay?
The Milwaukee Pride Parade is also happy to announce a partnership with the Hampton Inn Milwaukee-Airport. Through this partnership the Milwaukee Pride Parade has been able to negotiate a special room rate for the thousands of people who travel to Milwaukee for the Pride Weekend. Specially priced rooms will start at $89.00 per night with complimentary shuttle service to and from the Pride Parade and other Pride events. For more information on room rates you can contact Matthew J Landgraf who is the general manager of the Hampton Inn - Milwaukee Airport. You can contact him by phone at 414-762-4240 or via email at
PrideFest 2008
SSBL opens 2008 softball season May 3
The Saturday Softball League (SSBL) opens its 12 week 2008 softball season on Saturday, May 3 at Wick Field at 50th Street and Vliet Avenue at 11am. Beginning May 10, all games will be played at Sijan Field in Bay View.
This year’s team roster consists of nearly a dozen teams divided into competitive C and recreational D divisions. What’s the difference? “There are criteria to establish C or D level. C players have more advanced skills and experience. They play a more competitive game. D players may have less experience but enjoy playing for the recreation. Both levels are intended to promote sportsmanship and athleticism as well as just have fun,” SSBL commissioner Brian Reinkober said.
This year, all teams will play against each other. As always, SSBL promotes a policy of inclusion for all interested players. Teams are composed of a diverse mix of men and women. Non-LGBT players are always welcome. SSBL allows a 50/50 LGBT to non-LGBT player ratio to encourage diversity.
Players may join teams at any time. Anyone interested, regardless of playing skill, should contact the team of their choice for more information. Player’s fee for the season is $30.
Gay softball in Milwaukee officially began in 1977. Gay Softball Worlds Series (GSWS) took place here in 1979 and 1985. This year, the international Dairyland Classic will set a new precedent with the inclusion of a softball team from Great Britain. The DLC 2008 logo now displays a third flag of participating countries in addition to those of Canada and the United States. The tournament takes place August 14-17.
SSBL teams will likely participate in the Northstar Classic Tournament in Minneapolis over Memorial Day weekend. SSBL is also hoping to send teams to Canadian tournaments in Toronto and Montreal.
This year the Fluid Aardvarks traveling team consisting of qualifying players from SSBL will play in the 2008 NAGAAA World Series in Seattle. All World Series team members are required to help SSBL raise funds by working 10 games as concession volunteers at Miller Park during Brewers’ home stands. Last year SSBL sent 18 players to the Gay Softball World Series in Phoenix, Arizona. That team took second place in the D Division.
GSWS 2009 Update
SSBL Milwaukee won the bid to host the 2009 Gay Softball World Series August 31 through September 5, 2009. Volunteers are already being sought to provide support for this historic event.
GSWS Opening Ceremonies are planned to be at Summerfest grounds; Closing Celebrations at the new Harley Davidson Museum. SSBL recently confirmed the GSWS traditional charity fund raiser, NAGAAA Talent Night, will be held at the Pabst Theater. All proceeds from Talent Night will be donated to a local charity.
The GSWS impact on the SSBL, the Milwaukee LGBT community and the city itself will be huge. Thousands of team members, fans and friends will converge on the city for what promises to be a historic event featuring national name talent to open and close the series as well as street parties, special events and, most of all, spectacular softball.
Men’s Voices Announces Showstoppers
Milwaukee- Men’s Voices Milwaukee is pleased to announce its Spring concert, “Showstoppers, Sponsored by Jack H. Smith of Shorewest Realtors” on Saturday, June 21 at 8PM, Men’s Voices will perform its biannual choral concert at the Helen Zelazio Center at UWM under the direction of maestro John Schaefer.
The concert will be a collection of some of the best songs written by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Steven Sondheim; rarely performed in Milwaukee.
Men’s Voices will sing big hits from Sweeny Todd, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, Evita, and many other of Broadway’s most touching shows.
Tickets are $15.00 and available by calling the Zelazio Centre at 414-425-7921 or from choral members. There will also be a silent auction conducted.
ARCW Medical Center Expands Services in Kenosha
Kenosha - As a way to help more HIV patients reach undetectable viral levels, the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin (ARCW) Medical Center now offers mental health services to people living with HIV in Kenosha. The integration of mental health care furthers the ARCW commitment to ensuring everyone living with HIV has access to the care and treatment they need to live a long and health life and comes soon after the clinic tripled its week hours of operation.
“The ARCW Medical Center has set an ambitious goal of helping all HIV patients reach an undetectable viral load,” said ARCW Kenosha Clinic Director and nurse practitioner Sharon O’Dwyer. “This is the most important quality-of-care goal in HIV treatment because it indicates that people living with HIV are controlling the production of the virus in their body as effectively as possible.”
Achieving an undetectable viral load is evidence HIV medications and medical care are allowing people with HIV to regain their health and live long and health lives. This previously hard to attain goal is now a reality for many HIV patients at the ARCW Medical Center and is the result of successful individualized care and treatment plans each HIV patient has at the clinic.
An extremely important component of quality heath care and helping HIV patients reduce their viral load is access to mental health care. Because many people living with HIV are also experiencing depression, anxiety, alcohol or other drug dependency or post-traumatic stress, access to mental health services is vital to help HIV patients adhere to complicated treatment regimens.
“Effective mental health care can promote healthy behaviors that increase the lifespan of people living with HIV while working to reduce behaviors that put people at risk for transmitting HIV,” ARCW mental health therapist Dr. Nadia Damm said. “By offering mental health services here in Kenosha, ARCW is making this effective component of HIV care and treatment more accessible to people living with HIV in the Kenosha area.”
In addition to medical and mental health care, people living with HIV in and around Kenosha can access several key services such as access to a food pantry, legal services, housing support, dental care and social work case management.
To learn more about ARCW services, please call 262-657-6644 or go to www.arcw.org.
The ARCW Medical Center, with a clinic in Kenosha, is the largest provider of HIV medical care in Wisconsin. The ARCW Medical Center provides HIV medical care to more gay men, women and people of color than any other clinic in the state. ARCW is Wisconsin’s largest and most comprehensive AIDS service organization with nine statewide locations providing medical, dental and mental health care, legal services, food pantries, housing services and social work case management to more than 3,000 people living with HIV.
Join the Midwest's Largest LGBT Dance Party!
Milwaukee - For the third consecutive year, PUMP! Milwaukee will be hosting the PUMP! Showcase at PrideFest's Dance Pavilion. In addition to DJs, VJs, and other club performers, the PUMP! Boys are looking for talented dancers and flaggers to help bring the energy up at the Midwest's Largest LGBT Dance Party!
Do you think you have a talent for shaking your groove thang? Does dancing in front of thousands of adoring fans turn you on? Do you consider yourself pretty talented with flags, poi balls, or glowsticks on a rope? Do you have some other hidden talent that would be perfect for the Dance Pavilion Stage?
Performing at the Dance Pavilion can be quite a rush! We're looking for talented boys and girls to make this year's Dance Pavilion better than ever- if you think you have a talent that we can use, please email PUMP! At
FAIR WISCONSIN MOVES FORWARD
Glenn Carlson, interim Executive Director of Fair Wisconsin since November, had the word "interim" removed from his title by the boards of directors of Fair Wisconsin and the Fair Wisconsin Education Fund, at their meetings held in Milwaukee on March 15th. The move is just one of many actions the advocacy group has made recently to protect the civil liberties of Wisconsin's gay and lesbian citizens and their families.
"The boards and I felt that the executive director recruiting process, which we had just started, was going to be a major distraction from the important plans that Fair Wisconsin developed for 2008," explained Carlson.
Carlson stepped down last November as board president of the Fair Wisconsin Education Fund to become interim Executive Director. Carlson served as board treasurer of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force until 2006 and, prior to moving to Wisconsin in 1997, served for seven years as board treasurer of the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, the largest LGBT social service agency in the world. He is a retired CPA and a former partner at both Price Waterhouse and Arthur Andersen.
Continuing with Carlson on the senior leadership team are Bill Conway, Deputy Executive Director and Fair Wisconsin's lobbyist, and Mike Tate, Political Adviser. Conway previously served as Deputy Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing in the Thompson Administration. Tate was the campaign manager of the Fair Wisconsin campaign in 2006.
"Our goal is to end discrimination permanently," Carlson said. "Our group has the strategy, tools and passion to do that through education, political action and hard work. Not only is time on our side in this historic battle, but the good people of Wisconsin are seeing the light when it comes to the unintended consequences of writing discrimination into our constitution."
The new executive director urges those who want to get involved in the crusade to combat injustice to visit his group's website at www.fairwisconsin.com.
An Evening with Jerry Grillo - Performance will Benefit SAGE/Milwaukee
MGAC will present "An Evening With Jerry Grillo--Songs Made Famous By Women" on Friday, May 30th at 8pm as a benefit for Sage. Tickets are $15. Mr. Grillo is a jazz and big band singer with a theatre background. To find out more about his career, see www.jerrygrillo.com
The show consists of songs made famous by some of the most revered show business women that the gay community has always loved in concerts and movies. The accompianist is Russ Long from Chicago who is among the finest cabaret pianists in the country. He and Jerry collaborated on the CD which accompanies this show entitled, "Under The Influence." To find out more about this talented pianist, see www.iloveapiano.net
SAGE/Milwaukee is a local organization that is committed to advancing the quality of life for seniors who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. This is the second benefit that Mr. Grillo has done for this organization.
Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, 703 South 2nd Street, 8:00PM. Tickets $15.00. For more info please call SAGE/Milwaukee, 414-224-0517 or stop in their office at 1845 N. Farwell Avenue, Suite 220.
Fund Created for UWM Libraries LGBT Collection
Milwaukee - Joseph Pabst, an advocate, activist, and philanthropist in the Milwaukee LGBT community, has created a fund to support the acquisition, processing, and preservation of materials for the UWM Libraries LGBT Collection and to promote the collection to UWM students, faculty, and the general public.
Pabst said the endowment - officially, the UWM Libraries LGBT OUTreach History Fund established by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Johnson and Pabst LGBT Humanity Fund - supports an important objective.
“The UWM Libraries have the largest LGBT collection in Wisconsin,” Pabst said. “It’s a breathtaking collection that documents Milwaukee’s gay community from its beginnings. People in the community need to know about it and support it.”
Michael Doylen, Head of the UWM Libraries Archives, noted that Wisconsin has a rich LGBT history, but it is neither well documented nor widely known.
“For the last several years, the UWM Libraries have worked with organizations and individuals from the Milwaukee community to ensure that the record of our local history is preserved and made accessible to everyone,” Doylen said. “Joe Pabst's generous gift to establish the LGBT OUTreach History Fund gives us the financial resources to carry this mission forward. We're deeply grateful.”
Pabst established the fund in memory of his partner, Robert Johnson, an attorney, avid reader, and vocal advocate of LGBT issues. He said he hopes that others will contribute to the endowment.
This is not the first time Pabst has been involved in supporting the collection. This past fall, he offered a $1,500 challenge grant to preserve the audio recordings of /Gay Perspective/, an early 70’s radio program produced by the Gay Peoples Union. That challenge was met early this year.
Once preserved, those recordings will be digitized and included in a Web-based collection of print and manuscript materials documenting the history of the Gay Peoples Union, the first gay rights organization in Milwaukee. The recordings will be available on-site in the UWM Archives
and accessible to anyone with a computer.
To view the UWM Libraries LGBT collection, please contact Michael Doylen, Archives, (414) 229-6980
or Max Yela, Special Collections, (414) 229-4345,
Although a minimum of $40,000 is required to establish an endowment at UWM, the Libraries invite others to augment the LGBT OUTreach History Fund with donations of any size. For more information, please contact Susan Modder at (414) 229-2811
Mr. Gay USofA
Green Bay - As many of you are aware, Miss Gay WI USofA is entering its 20th year in pageantry and female impersonation in the state. It is with great pleasure that USofA pageants has added Mr. Gay USofA to the family this year.
Wisconsin’s long history with USofA pageants has entitled us to bring Mr. Gay WI USofA to the state, and we are very excited to be part of such a wonderful family.
The first Mr. Gay WI USofA contest has been scheduled for Saturday, May 10th, 2008 at The Shelter Club, in Green Bay. Contestants will be competing not only for the bragging rights of being the first Mr. Gay WI USofA, but for the opportunity to represent Wisconsin at the national competition in San Antonio, Texas, September 18th and 19th. Contestants will compete in personal interview, talent, and club wear. More information, can be found at www.USofA.org, or www.WI-USofA.com
New LGBT Business Group Forming
Milwaukee- LGBT professionals, business owners and their allies are invited to a meeting to learn more about QShare Business Network -a project of the Cream City Foundation (CCF) on Wednesday May 21, 5:30-7:30pm at Bella Café.
QShare is based of a model used in New York by Cream City Foundation sister organization, Stonewall Foundation. The object is to create a network for business owners and professionals that includes business networking, social and educational events, along with giving back to the community.
QShare fees go to a pool of funds where QShare Business Network members get to select an LGBT organization or project to fund together at the end of the year. In addition, QShare will create member-only networking, social and educational events.
The name of the project comes from “Quarter Share” where 75% of fees go to the grant making pool and 25% of fees go to the administration of the project, including the member gatherings.
“We will have events at least quarterly. Imagine business speed dating, referral networks and directories and sponsoring LGBT projects,” says Denise Cawley, principal Circore Creative and QShare Business Network Chair.
The infrastructure is handled by CCF, which means all fees are 100% tax deductible, and members can concentrate on what they care about. The fact that there is a built in "activity" to give back, gives the group value right off the bat.
“I am delighted to chair this group. Business owners and professionals don’t have time to run another group. That is the advantage QShare Business Network has over previous groups we tried to start. There is no non-profit status to achieve, no infrastructure to put in place and we have a purpose for meeting – networking and giving,” says Ms. Cawley.
RSVP for the May 21 event by contacting Maria Cadenas at 414.225.0244 or at
for Qshare Business Network.
FrontPage 
