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June 10: Maurice Sendak, Writer and Illustrator

b. June 10, 1928

"Inside all of us is a Wild Thing."

Hailed as the Picasso of children’s literature, Maurice Sendak has captured the imagination of readers young and old for more than 40 years. A prolific author and illustrator, he has published over 100 works of children's fiction.

Sendak has received numerous awards, including the prestigious Caldecott Medal, the National Book Award and the National Medal of Arts. PBS describes him as “one of the most consistently inventive and challenging voices in children’s literature. His books and productions are among the best-loved, imaginative works of their time.”

Born in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish immigrants, Sendak was plagued with illness in his early childhood. He spent most of his time indoors where he occupied himself with books. Having discovered his creative voice at a young age, Sendak found a perfect outlet in drawing and illustration. At the age of 12, after seeing Disney’s "Fantasia," the awestruck Sendak decided to become an illustrator.

Sendak is best known for his book "Where the Wild Things Are" (1963). Over 10 million copies have been sold worldwide. In 2009, it was adapted into a critically acclaimed film directed by Spike Jonze.

Sendak’s work has often generated controversy, despite his celebrated career as an illustrator. Over the years, his children’s book, "In the Night Kitchen" (1970) has been censored in several states due to illustrations deemed inappropriate. "Where the Wild Things Are" has been condemned by conservatives who claim the book involves witchcraft and supernatural elements. "I thought my career was over,” recalls Sendak. "The kids saved me. They loved the books because they are not afraid of life."

In addition to writing and illustrating, Sendak has created award-winning set designs for dance, opera and theater, including Mozart’s "The Magic Flute," Prokofiev’s "Love for Three Oranges" and Tchaikovsky’s ballet "The Nutcracker." In the 1970’s, he donated nearly 10,000 works of art, photographs, manuscripts and books to the Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia.

For decades, Sendak hid his sexuality from the public, fearing it would ruin his career. "All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never knew." In a 2008 interview with The New York Times, Sendak opened up about his private life and revealed his 50-year relationship with Eugene Glynn, who passed away in 2007.

In 2009, filmmakers Lance Bangs and Spike Jonze teamed up to produce "Tell Them What You Want," a documentary about the life of Maurice Sendak.

June 28: Sunil Babu Pant, Nepalese Politician

"People in general do not wish to discriminate against their fellow neighbors."

Sunil Babu Pant is the first openly gay politician in Nepal. His 2008 election to the national legislature followed years of activism on behalf of the Nepalese GLBT community.

Trained as a computer engineer, Pant received a scholarship to study in Belarus. It was there that he first heard the word "homosexual" and identified as a gay man. It was also where he was first exposed to entrenched homophobia, inspiring him to fight for equality in his home country.

In 2002, Pant founded the Blue Diamond Society. The group consists of more than 20 organizations and 120,000 members representing the interests of the country’s GLBT and HIV/AIDS communities. Leaders and members of the society have continued their advocacy in the face of threats of arrest and violence.

The Blue Diamond Society was party to a 2007 case that led Nepal’s highest court to declare that GLBT individuals were “natural persons” who deserve protection and civil rights. The court also ordered the establishment of a commission to study same-sex marriage as well as the addition of a third gender option on official government documents.

Pant was elected to Nepal’s Constituent Assembly as a member of Nepal’s Communist Party United. His legislative goals include equal justice and economic rights. He serves on a committee charged with rewriting Nepal’s constitution. In spite of his many accomplishments, Pant insists that his work is far from complete: "With our progress, however, is the awareness that so many more need to be served."

In 2005, Pant and the Blue Diamond Society were awarded the Utopia Award, Asia’s leading GLBT honor. In 2007, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission bestowed the group with its Felippa de Souza Award.

Pant, who lives in Nepal's capital city, Kathmandu, recently founded Pink Mountain, a company that offers GLBT-geared travel packages to Nepal.

May 29th, Bishop Gene Robinson

b. May 29, 1947

“It’s not so much a dream as a calling from God.”

In 2003, The Rt. Rev.V. Gene Robinson was elected bishop of the diocese of New Hampshire, making him the first openly gay Episcopal bishop. His ordination caused a global rift within the Episcopal Church and led to international debate about the inclusion of gay clergy in church hierarchy. In the weeks leading up to his consecration, Robinson received hate mail and death threats, triggering the FBI to place him under 24-hour protection.

Gene Robinson grew up outside Lexington, Kentucky. The son of poor tobacco sharecroppers, he was raised without running water or indoor plumbing. He recalls his childhood as rustic and religious, with Sunday school and services at a small Disciples of Christ congregation.

Robinson earned his bachelor’s degree in American studies from the University of the South and his Master of Divinity from the Episcopal General Theological Seminary in New York. He was ordained a priest in 1973.

Despite doubts about his sexual orientation, Robinson married in 1972. He and his wife moved to New Hampshire where they raised two daughters. Robinson worked as youth ministries coordinator for the seven dioceses of New England and cofounded the national Episcopal Youth Event. Robinson divorced his wife and came out in the mid-1980’s.

Robinson is the coauthor of three AIDS education curricula. In Uganda, he helped set up a national peer counseling program for AIDS educators working with religious institutions.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force honored Robinson with a Leadership Award in 2004. In 2007, he received the Flag Bearer Award from Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) for leadership and inclusion in faith communities.

In 2008, Bishop Robinson and Mark Andrew, partners for more than 19 years, exchanged vows in a civil union ceremony in New Hampshire.

Bibliography
“Episcopalians Approve Gay Bishop.” CNN. August 6, 2003
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/08/05/bishop
“Gene Robinson Biography.” Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. June 20, 2008
http://www.nhepiscopal.org/bishop/bishop.html
Monroe, Rev. Irene. “Perspective: Gene Robinson.” Windy City Times. June 11, 2008
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=18580
Steele, Bruce C. “Robinson Redux.” The Advocate. July 17, 2007
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_989/ai_n20525035
Articles
Burns, John F. “Cast Out, but at the Center of the Storm.” The New York Times. August 3, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/weekinreview/03burns.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Costello, Andrew. “Let God Love Gene Robinson.” GQ. June, 2008
http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_6948
Goodstein, Laurie. “Episcopalians are Reaching Point of Revolt.” The New York Times. December 17, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/us/17episcopal.html
Goodstein, Laurie. “Gay Bishop Plans His Civil Union Rite.” The New York Times. April 25, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/us/25bishop.html
Keizer, Garret. “Turning away from Jesus: Gay Rights and the War for the Episcopal Church.” Harper’s Magazine. June, 2008
http://harpers.org/archive/2008/06/0082061
Lawton, Kim. “Interview: Bishop Gene Robinson.” PBS. May 2, 2008
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week1135/interview.html
Millard, Rosie. “Interview: The Rev. Gene Robinson.” The Sunday Times. July 27, 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4405816.ece
Books
In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God (2008)
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=In+the+Eye+of+the+Storm%3A+Swept+to+the+Center+by+God&x=7&y=16
Films
For the Bible Tells Me So (2007)
http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Tells-Me-So/dp/B000YHQNCI
Other Resources
Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire Website
http://www.nhepiscopal.org/

May 29th: Melissa Etheridge, Singer

b. May 29, 1961

“What do they know about this love anyway?”

Melissa Etheridge is a Grammy and Academy Award-winning singer and songwriter. She came out at the 1993 Triangle Ball, the Clinton administration’s inaugural gala for gays and lesbians, when she exclaimed, “Gee, I’m really excited to be here, and I’m really proud to have been a lesbian all my life!”

She was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, and studied at The Berklee School of Music in Boston. Etheridge moved to Los Angeles and evolved from a bluesy sound to her renowned rock/alternative style.

Etheridge shot to stardom with her trademark blues-rock hit “Come to My Window,” for which she received a Grammy Award in 1994 for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. With its powerful lyrics, the song became an anthem for gay rights.

In 2004, Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the 2005 Grammy Awards, she gave one of her most memorable performances with Janis Joplin’s hit, “Piece of My Heart.” She exposed her head, left bald from chemotherapy.

Etheridge’s songs have not only entertained, but have helped heal in times of tragedy. Her songbook includes “Scarecrow,” a tribute to Matthew Shepard; “Tuesday Morning,” dedicated to the memory of Mark Bingham, a hero of 9/11; “Four Days,” about those devastated by Hurricane Katrina; and “I Run for Life,” an anthem for breast cancer survivors.

Julie Cypher, Etheridge’s long-term ex-partner, gave birth to their two children. After their breakup, Etheridge exchanged vows with actress Tammy Lynn Michaels. In 2006, Michaels had twins.

In 2006, Etheridge received the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Stephen F. Kolzak Award, which honors openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender media professionals who have made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for the community. “I Need to Wake Up,” featured in the film “An Inconvenient Truth,” won an Academy Award for Best Original Song (2007).

21 May: Frank Kameny, Gay Pioneer

The momentum is there, and that's not going to be stopped. It's moved from hopes of a grass-roots movement, to the actuality of a grass-roots movement. And it's taken 40 years to do it.

b. May 21, 1925

In 1957, the Army Map Service in Washington, D.C. dismissed astronomer Frank Kameny. Though a WWII veteran with an M.A. and Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University, Kameny was discharged because he was gay. Rather than accept a common practice of the times, Kameny fought for his rights. He successfully challenged anti-gay policies of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the US Department of Defense and the US Civil Service Commission.

Kameny sued the Army Map Service and lost his case. On appeal he lost again, and after the Supreme Court denied his petition to direct the case to be reconsidered, Kameny realized his objectives would require a broader movement. In 1961, Kameny co-founded the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C with Gay Pioneer Jack Nichols.

Kameny was the first to bring open activism to the gay rights movement. The D.C. Mattachine Society contacted public officials to attempt to change policy. They published a newsletter, The Gazette, and campaigned to overturn security clearance denials, employment restrictions and dismissals of gay men from the Federal workforce. In 1963, Kameny began a movement to repeal sodomy laws and challenge the APA's classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder.

On April 17, 1965, Kameny led the first public picket for gay rights at the White House. With support from the Daughters of Bilitis, the Mattachine Society extended its protest to the Pentagon and the Civil Service Commission. He helped launch the first organized gay and lesbian demonstrations for equality. These seminal demonstrations by activists from New York, Philadelphia and Washingon D.C. were held annually each July 4th at Independence Hall from 1965 to 1969 and were called annual reminders. They paved the way for the Stonewall Riots in 1969.

Inspired by Stokely Carmichael's "Black is Beautiful," Kameny dubbed the phrase "Gay is Good" as a slogan for the movement. He led the fight for gay rights into the 1970s and ran for Congress in 1971 on an equal rights platform. The APA removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in 1973 and the Civil Service Commission lifted its ban on homosexuality in 1975, an action President Bill Clinton formalized many years later.

In 2000, Equality Forum with WHYY/PBS produced the documentary film "Gay Pioneers" about Frank Kameny and other early activists. In 2006, the Library of Congress incorporated over 70,000 letters, documents and memorabilia from Frank Kameny into its permanent collection. The Washington, D.C. City Council honored Frank Kameny in 2007, hailing him as a "true freedom fighter."

Out in Sport: Basketball Exec Rick Welts Steps Out of the Closet

Gay men and women exist in every field of human activity, but in some fields are less visible than in others, In male team sports in particular, the culture is hostile to openly gay sexuality, so the pressures are strong to remain closeted. The closet, though, has costs of its own, as Rick Welts, executive director of the Phoenix Suns basketball team learnt twice. First, on the death of his long-term partner, he was forced to carry his grief alone and in silence. Later, he lost a second partner who tired of sharing the closet with him.

Now, he has come out publicly as described in a story from the New York Times. This is an extract:

Although he had opened up to his supportive parents and to his younger, only sibling, Nancy, Mr. Welts feared that if he made his homosexuality public, it would impede his rising sports career.

“It wasn’t talked about,” he said. “It wasn’t a comfortable subject. And it wasn’t my imagination. I was there.”

But this privacy came at great cost. In March 1994, his longtime partner, Arnie, died from complications related to AIDS, and Mr. Welts compartmentalized his grief, taking only a day or two off from work. His secretary explained to others that a good friend of his had died. Although she and Arnie had talked many times over the years, she and her boss had never discussed who, exactly, Arnie was.
Around 7:30 on the morning after Arnie’s death, Mr. Welts’s home telephone rang. “It was Stern,” he recalled. “And I totally lost it on the phone. You know. Uncle Dave. Comforting.”
Even then, homosexuality was never discussed — directly.
For weeks, Mr. Welts walked around the office, numb, unable to mourn his partner fully, or to share the anxiety of the weeklong wait for the results of an H.I.V. test, which came back negative.
Sometime later, he began opening the envelopes of checks written in Arnie’s memory to the University of Washington, and here was one for $10,000, from David and Dianne Stern, of Scarsdale, N.Y. In thanking Mr. Stern, Mr. Welts said they “did the guy thing,” communicating only through asides and silent stipulations.
“This was a loss that Rick had to suffer entirely on his own,” Mr. Stern said, reiterating that he was following Mr. Welts’s lead. “It’s just an indication of how screwed up all this is.”
When Mr. Welts left the N.B.A. in 1999, he was the league’s admired No. 3 man: executive vice president, chief marketing officer and president of N.B.A. Properties. By 2002, he was the president of the Suns who still kept his sexuality private — a decision that at times seemed wise, as when, in 2007, the former N.B.A. player John Amaechi announced that he was gay, prompting the former N.B.A. star Tim Hardaway to say that, as a rule, he hated gay people.
But again Mr. Welts paid a price. Two years ago, a 14-year relationship ended badly, in part because his partner finally rejected the shadow life that Mr. Welts required. “My high profile in this community, and my need to have him be invisible,” Mr. Welts said, with clear regret. “That ultimately became something we couldn’t overcome.”

- NYTimes.com.

April 22nd: John Waters. Actor and Filmmaker

b. April 22, 1946

“To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about.”

John Waters is an award-winning screenwriter and director known for his obsession with the seedy side of life. Affectionately dubbed by critics “The Pope of Trash” and “The King of Sleaze,” Waters’s work includes a string of independent cult classics, blockbuster movies and Broadway shows.

Waters grew up in the 1950’s in Lutherville, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. During the 1970’s and early 1980’s, he began making films with local actors and a production team called the Dreamlanders. With the Dreamlanders, Waters created the Trash Trilogy: “Pink Flamingos,” “Female Trouble” and “Desperate Living.” Many of his movies are set in the 50’s and 60’s in Baltimore.

Waters introduced “Odorama” in his film “Polyester” (1981), which costarred Divine and Tab Hunter. Scratch and sniff cards with numbered spots were distributed with each ticket. When a number flashed on the screen, viewers were prompted to scratch the appropriate spot and smell the aroma.

While his earlier projects defined his style, it was “Hairspray” (1988) that brought Waters mainstream success. The film was adapted into a Broadway musical (2002), grossing over $200 million and winning eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical in 2003. His film “Cry-Baby” (1990) became a hit Broadway show, receiving four Tony Award nominations in 2008.

A remake of “Hairspray” (2007) was a box office bonanza. The movie, featuring John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and Queen Latifah, was the third highest grossing musical film in American cinema history.

Waters is an advocate of GLBT civil rights. In 2004, he received the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Stephen F. Kolzak Award for his work combating homophobia. In 2008, he received a New York Leadership Award from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Bibliography
“John Waters.” Dreamland News. May 29, 2008
http://www.dreamlandnews.com/history/index.shtml
“John Waters Stays True to His Roots.” CBS News. July 22, 2007
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/22/sunday/main3086208.shtml
Lewis, John. “John Waters Inc.” Baltimore Magazine. June 2007
http://www.baltimoremagazine.net/article.asp?t=1&m=1&c=32&s=392&ai=56772
McCauley, Mary Creole. “Jumping for Joy as ‘Cry-Baby’ Gets Four Tony Awards.” May 14, 2008
http://xml.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bal-to.tonys14may14,1,7010402.story
“New York Leadership Awards 2008.” National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. May 27, 2008
http://www.thetaskforce.org/TF_in_news/08_0411/stories/13_nyla.pdf

Films
Pink Flamingos (1972)
Female Trouble (1974)
Desperate Living (1977)
Polyester (1981)
Cry Baby (Director's Cut) (1990)
Serial Mom (1994)
A Dirty Shame (2004)
John Waters: This Filthy World (2006)
Hairspray (2007)

Shows
Hairspray (2002)

Cry-Baby (2008)

March 24th: Margarethe Cammermeyer, Military Officer

b. March 24, 1943

"I wear my uniform at every inappropriate moment to remind people of gays and lesbians who have to serve in silence in the military."

In 1992, Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer became the highest-ranking military officer discharged on the basis of sexual orientation. Cammermeyer was dismissed as chief nurse of the Washington State National Guard after disclosing she was a lesbian during a routine security clearance interview. She challenged the U.S. military’s ban on homosexuals in federal court. In 1994, she was reinstated as chief nurse, making her one of the few openly gay or lesbian members of the military.

Cammermeyer was born in Oslo, Norway, during the Nazi occupation. Her parents sheltered Norwegian resistance forces. Cammermeyer credits her parents’ courage as her inspiration for defending civil liberties.

In 1951, Cammermeyer’s family moved to the U.S. She became a citizen in 1961 and joined the U.S. Army Student Nurse Program. After receiving her B.S. in nursing from the University of Maryland in 1963, Cammermeyer reported for active duty.

At her request, in 1967, Cammermeyer was deployed to Vietnam where she served as head nurse of a neurosurgical intensive care unit. She calls this time in her life “the most extraordinary experience any military nurse could have been a part of.” Cammermeyer was honored with the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service. In 1985, she was named Nurse of the Year by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In 1964, Cammermeyer married a fellow soldier and had four sons. The couple divorced after 15 years. In 1989, Cammermeyer met her life partner, Diane Divelbess.

Cammermeyer’s autobiography, “Serving in Silence” (1994), received critical acclaim. The book was turned into a made-for-TV movie, executive produced by Barbra Streisand and starring Glenn Close. The film generated more than 25 million viewers and received three Emmy Awards and the Peabody Award. It was one of the first television movies about a gay person.

Cammermeyer retired in 1997 after 31 years of service. She serves on the Military Advisory Council for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and is an outspoken advocate for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Bibliography
Bateman, Geoffrey W. “Cammermeyer, Margarethe (b. 1942)” GLBTQ: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, & Queer Culture. 2004
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/cammermeyer_m.html
Cammermeyer, Margarethe. “Biography.” June 6, 2008
http://www.cammermeyer.com/bio.htm
“Colonel Grethe Cammermeyer Biography.” HRC-Atlanta. 1998
http://www.hrc-atlanta.org/98Dinner/grethebio.htm
Quindlen, Anna. “Public & Private; With Extreme Prejudice.” The New York Times. June 24, 1992
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7DD1F3DF937A15755C0A964958260
Van Biema, David. “Military Ins and Outs.” Time. June 13, 1994
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,980890,00.html
Articles
Egan, Timothy. “Lesbian in Uphill Race for Congress.” The New York Times. July 22, 1998 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400E5DA1639F931A15754C0A96E958260&scp=12&sq=margarethe%20cammermeyer&st=cse
Mathews, Linda. “She Asks, She Tells.” The New York Times. May 15, 1996
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E1D61239F935A25756C0A960958260&sec=&spon=&&scp=14&sq=margarethe%20cammermeyer&st=cse
Schmitt, Eric. “Pentagon Ordered to Reinstate Nurse Forced Out as a Lesbian.” The New York Times. June 2, 1994 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00E3D6103BF931A35755C0A962958260&sec=&spon=&&scp=10&sq=margarethe%20cammermeyer&st=cse
Books
Serving in Silence (1994)
http://www.amazon.com/Serving-Silence-Margarethe-Cammer-Meyer/dp/B000R9H0KM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216846572&sr=1-2

Other Resources
Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story (1995)
http://www.amazon.com/Serving-Silence-Colonel-Margarethe-Cammermeyer/dp/B000GI3S00/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1216847124&sr=8-2
Websites
Official Margarethe Cammermeyer Website
http://www.cammermeyer.com

22 March: Stephen Sondheim, Broadway Composer and Lyricist

Theatrical lyricist and composer

b. March 22, 1930

"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."

Stephen Sondheim is hailed by The New York Times as the greatest artist in American musical theater. His most famous scores include “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “Sweeney Todd,” and “Into the Woods,” for which he wrote both lyrics and music, and “West Side Story” and “Gypsy," for which he wrote the lyrics.

Sondheim was born in New York City, a son of wealthy dress manufacturers. As a result of his parents’ divorce, he grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and on a farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Sondheim had the good fortune of befriending Jimmy Hammerstein, son of the well-known lyricist and playwright Oscar Hammerstein II. Entering into an informal apprenticeship with his friend’s father, Sondheim found in Oscar Hammerstein an inspiring mentor as well as a surrogate dad.

At prep school in Pennsylvania, Sondheim wrote a comic musical about the students and faculty. Expecting accolades, Sondheim proudly showed his musical to Hammerstein, who told him it was the worst work he had ever seen, and then offered his help. Sondheim claimed he learned more in that afternoon than in his entire formal education.

Sondheim graduated magna cum laude from Williams College in Massachusetts in 1950 and went on to study composition with composer Milton Babbitt. He found initial success with “West Side Story” (1957), for which he wrote the lyrics. The unexpected rhymes and clever use of language that became Sondheim’s signature helped “West Side Story” win the 1958 Tony Award for Best Musical. In 1961, the musical was adapted for film and won 10 Academy Awards.

Sondheim’s groundbreaking musicals often tackle unconventional topics—like the Victorian murder-revenge story “Sweeney Todd” (1979) and the anti-fairy-tale “Into the Woods” (1986)—or have innovative structures like the nonlinear and plotless “Company” (1970) and the characterless “Pacific Overtures” (1976). Broadway performers such as Chita Rivera, Bernadette Peters, Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Patti LuPone, Nathan Lane and Whoopi Goldberg have starred in his musicals.

Sondheim has won an Academy Award, a Pulitzer Prize, and seven Grammy Awards. A winner of more Tony Awards than any other composer, he was honored with a Tony Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.

Recordings, DVD

Gypsy: A Musical Fable (1959 )

West Side Story (Full Screen Edition) (1960)

Company (1970)

Follies in Concert

A Little Night Music (1973)

Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979 )

Assassins (1991 Original Off-Broadway Cast)

Other Resources

Broadway: The American Musical (2004)

Websites

Sondheim.com

In the Navy:Official Disapproval,Sensitivity in Bereavement.

In the Catholic Church, many people will know that in spite of official disapproval from on high, and outright hostility by some individuals in the church, very often parishes on the ground can be truly welcoming and accepting, with acceptance and full inclusion from both parishioners and parish priests. That was certainly my experience at Holy Trinity Parish, Braamfontein, Johannesburg -and is the experience of many others at countless parishes around the world.

A story from Chicago Sun Times demonstrates that this disconnect between official disapproval and practical warmth on the ground also applies in other formally homophobic institutions, in this instance the US marines. In spite of the policy of DADT which was still in force last June, and notwithstanding the vicious persecution that some gay servicemen experienced under that policy, the widowed husband of one Marine, John Fliszar, found exceptional co-operation from the Naval Academy officials when he approached them for help in executing the dead man's wish to have his ashes interred in the Naval Academy.

I enjoyed imagining the confused expressions of these officials when they were first approached by the widowed husband, Mark Ketterson:

The memorial coordinator asked about his relationship to the deceased. Ketterson said that John Fliszar was his husband.
“They were always polite, but there was this moment of hesitation,” Ketterson recalled. “They said they’re going to need something in writing from a blood relative. They asked, ‘Are you listed on the death certificate?’ ‘Do you have a marriage license?’ ”

But here's the point: he was, and they did. Thereafter, Ketterson was treated exactly like any other grieving military widow, with courtesy, consideration and respect.

Ketterson sent a copy of the marriage license. That changed everything.

“I was respected,” he said. “From that moment on, I was next of kin. They were amazing.”

The USNA alumni association sent Ketterson a letter expressing condolence for the loss of his husband.

The USNA says Fliszar’s interment followed standard operating procedure.
“His next of kin was treated with the same dignity and respect afforded to the next of kin of all USNA grads who desire interment at the Columbarium,” said Jennifer Erickson, a spokesperson for the academy. “We didn’t do anything differently.”
Shipmate magazine, the publication of the USNA’s alumni association, ran Fliszar’s obituary. It noted his two Purple Hearts for “having been shot down from the sky twice in military missions.” It noted “for the rest of his life he would joke about his ‘government issued ankle.’ ” It noted “his burly but warmly gentle manner.” It noted he was “survived by his husband, Mark Thomas Ketterson.”

There's no doubt about it: that little piece of paper, confirming legal marriage, makes a big difference, in so many ways. What of surviving partners of other servicemen and women who are unable to produce those marriage certificates - because local law doesn't allow it?

While the public generally approved of the official end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’’ in the U.S. military, the details still need to be worked out. The thorny issue isn’t ending the costly and counterproductive practice of forcing gays out of military services — that cost $40 million a year to enforce and deprived the armed services of thousands of qualified personnel. A bigger challenge is the question of entitlements: Who is a survivor? Who gets military benefits?
A marriage certificate was the key that let the USNA know how to treat Ketterson in relation to his husband’s service. Gays in the military and gay marriage are thought of as separate issues, but without legal gay marriage, or at least civil unions, how can the military know who gets the folded flag?
Such practical concerns were far from Ketterson’s mind when he and Fliszar got married after dating for six years — “because I loved him and he asked me,” Ketterson said, adding that the USNA alumni he’s heard from have made grieving more bearable.

February 02, Alice Walker, Writer and Feminist

b. February 9, 1944

“The truest and most enduring impulse I have is simply to write.”

Alice Walker is an award-winning writer, activist and self-proclaimed “Womanist”—a term she coined in her book “In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens” (1974) to describe black feminists. The voices she brings to life in her novels, short stories and poems helped educate and inspire readers.

Walker was raised in Eatonton, Georgia, during segregation. She was the youngest of eight children born to poor sharecroppers.

Walker received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in 1965. She moved back to the South to pursue civil rights work and met Mel Leventhal. Walker and Leventhal, a Jewish civil rights lawyer, were the first interracial couple to be legally married in Mississippi. Walker had her only child during the marriage. The couple divorced in 1976.

Walker began teaching at Wellesley College in 1972. Her course, dedicated to the study of African-American women writers, was the first of its kind.

Her most famous novel, “The Color Purple” (1983), won a National Book Award and made Walker the first African-American woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In 1985, the novel was made into a movie directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover. The film earned 11 Oscar nominations. In 2005, “The Color Purple” was adapted as a Broadway musical, with Winfrey as the lead financial backer.

Walker’s awards include a Guggenheim Foundation Grant, an American Book Award, a Lillian Smith Award and an O’Henry Award. She was inducted into the Georgia Writer’s Hall of Fame and the California Hall of Fame. In 1997, Walker was named Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association.

Bibliography

“The Color Purple (1985).” The Internet Movie Database. June 18, 2008
Danielle, Chris. Living By Grace: The Biographical Website About Author Alice Walker. April 1999
Whitted, Qiana. “Alice Walker (b. 1944).” New Georgia Encyclopedia. May 12, 2008

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