Deaf Queer News » In the News

White House Proclaims June as Pride Month

DQRC — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:12:33 +0000

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release June 1, 2009

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009
- – - – - – -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.

LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country’s response to the HIV pandemic.

Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration — in both the White House and the Federal agencies — openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.

The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.

My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.

These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

BARACK OBAMA

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Presidential-Proclamation-LGBT-Pride-Month/

An Interview with Deaf Gay Model Martin Ritchie

DQRC — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:59:27 +0000

Martin Ritchie, left, was initially rejected by Janice Dickinson because his tummy wasnâ€™t too firm. But he returned, and is now a â€œnew modelâ€ on season four.

Deafinitely

By Daniel A. Kusner

Queer Texan Martin Ritchie hopes to impress Janice Dickinson. Heâ€™s got one advantage the other models donâ€™t â€” he canâ€™t hear her scream

Rejection canâ€™t stop Martin Ritchie from achieving his dreams. Neither can being hearing impaired nor being gay. Four years ago, the 20-year-old moved from Austin to Los Angeles to start a professional modeling career and serve as a positive role model for people with disabilities.

His mom still lives in Austin, and while he never went to college, Ritchie says if he wasnâ€™t modeling he would have tried to study dentistry at the University of Texas.

After he moved to Hollywood, he struggled with trying to get his modeling career off the ground and worked at an Abercrombie & Fitch store at local mall.

Then he was discovered by the Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency. But during his audition, Dickinson rejected him â€” because he had a â€œmuffin top,â€ which meant he needed to work on his abs.

He did. And on Tuesday, heâ€™s selected as one of the agencies â€œnew models,â€ who gets picked to live in a Hollywood mansion.

Since Ritchie works with an interpreter, Dallas Voice caught up with him via e-mail earlier this week.

The Interview:

Q: Were you born in Texas?
A: No, I was born in Lakeland, Fla. Although I feel like I was born in Austin. Austin represents the easy life weâ€™re all supposed to have â€” the beautiful view of Town Lake; so many people running and kayaking under the bridge â€¦

Q: Are you an expert at seducing a guy with your eyes?
A: Probably. People always came to me and say, â€œWow, you have Jane Seymourâ€™s eyes.â€

Q: How could they gay community improve how they interact with their deaf brothers and sisters?
A: Show some good affection, communicate with them all the time and share your emotional moments.

Q: Whatâ€™s your idea of an ideal date?
A: Just a simple romantic dinner.

Q: Whatâ€™s your idea of a date from hell?
A: Broken chairs and tables.

Q: Is sarcasm hard to pick up on?
A: Not really. But it depends on the person, you know?

Q: What can deaf gay guys do better than gay guys with perfect hearing?
A: Deaf gay guys know how to use eye contact, which is powerful because we all communicate through our eyes.

Q: Because you canâ€™t hear, are any of your other senses â€” sight, touch, taste â€” superior?
A: Absolutely! I am very sensitive with my taste and smell.

Q: Can you hear anything at all?
A: Yes, I can hear in my left ear.

Q: Were you born that way?
A: Yes. Although I felt like I was born hearing until I was a few weeks old. I really donâ€™t know.

Q: When Janice previously rejected you and told you to shape up, how did you react?
A: I thought, â€œOh, my gosh!â€ I decided to build up some muscle mass and, of course, Iâ€™ve had to change my attitude.

Q: How did improve your physique?
A: I worked on my arms and chest. However, Iâ€™m still struggling with my abs. But I have this wonderful trainer I work with, and heâ€™s going to completely transform me. So, you guys better watch out!

Q: Does Janice scare you?
A: Oh, not at all. Iâ€™ve dealt with many people. And comparing Janice to those people â€” she is such a sweetheart and a lady. Yes, she likes to open herself to others all the time. She showed us that she really cares about us in the house.

Q: If you could have perfect hearing for four hours, what would you want to do?
A: I would ask my date to go out with me to the beach during the sunset, where I can hear everything â€¦ peacefully. And I would just tell him to tell me something funny or some love stories.

Q: What modeling assignments have you landed?
A: Iâ€™ve modeled for Logan Milan, and I recently landed a job for Kentucky Jeans. My next goal is be gracing the Dolce & Gabbana billboards around the world.

Q: If Janice granted you an ultimate modeling wish â€” you could do anything you wanted â€” what would that assignment be like?
A: A permanent full-time model for Guess and Kenneth Cole.

——-

TUNE IN tonight, Tuesday, August 26, and watch Martin in the season four premiere of The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency show on the Oxygen channel.

This article originally appeared in the Dallas Voice and is reprinted with permission.

Hearing new voices

DQRC — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:55:56 +0000

Anthology of gay deaf writers illuminates intriguing queer subculture

By Kathi Wolfe

Jon A. Kastrup, a deaf gay man, has loved art since his youth in the 1970s. Yet, Kastrup became a mechanical engineer and a lawyer because he felt the need to prove himself in the hearing world. He later found happiness when he moved to San Francisco and became an artist. â€œWould I have been an artist if I were hearing?â€ Kastrup wrote in a recent essay, â€œI do not know. I could have stayed on as a lawyer â€¦ dealing with money-grubbing clients.

â€Kastrup is one of more than 85 deaf and hearing people who tell their stories in â€œEyes of Desire 2: A Deaf GLBT Reader,â€ a new anthology edited by Raymond Luczak, a gay deaf writer. Contributors to this wide-ranging collection include R.N. Taber, a British gay and partially deaf librarian; U.S. performance artist Terry Galloway, whoâ€™s finishing up her memoir â€œMean Little deaf Queer;â€ Kavo Sharma, a deaf Hindu lesbian, who writes about drug addiction and recovery; and â€œGrygon,â€ a hearing asexual who, according to the contributorâ€™s notes, â€œdraws inspiration for her art from the deaf and sexual communities.â€ (The essayists distinguish between being culturally â€œDeaf,â€ communicating by sign language, and others who are small-d â€œdeafâ€ who communicate through lip-reading.)

â€œDesireâ€ is an engaging portrait of a relatively unknown part of queer culture. The essays, poems and interviews in the anthology are a mosaic of the lives of gay and trans deaf people, who encounter prejudice based on their deafness and sexuality in the gay and hearing worlds.

As is so often the case with people who live at the intersections of identities, struggles for dignity and self-awareness are complex, involving various parts of the self. For example, â€œOceanâ€ is a Gallaudet University graduate and an ordained Wiccan high priestess.

â€œIâ€™ve been blessed to deal with the burden of being double marginalized as a member of both [the Deaf and Pagan] communities,â€ she writes, â€œas well as the beauty that comes in merging my identity with my spirituality.â€ Yet, â€œsexuality is one of those things that defy any kind â€¦ of labeling.â€

FINDING WAYS TO merge identities also comes up in an essay by the anthologyâ€™s editor, Luczak, who came out in 1984. Early on, he learned of an â€œold traditionâ€ from â€œBuzzyâ€ Contrerio, a member of the Capitol Metropolitan Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf.

â€œThey hosted â€˜eyeâ€™ parties back in the days when it wasnâ€™t as acceptable to be out,â€ Luczak writes. â€œThey never said the word â€˜gayâ€™ â€¦ but they pointed to their eyes discretely to indicate that a certain person â€¦ might be â€˜one of the family.â€™â€

â€œEyes of Desire: A Deaf Gay and Lesbian Reader,â€ an anthology edited by Luczak and published in 1993, was an invaluable first look at queer deaf life. Yet, as Luczak writes, this collection was compiled before the advent of â€œaccessible and affordable technologiesâ€ such as e-mail, when more people were hesitant to be open about their sexuality.

â€œEyes of Desire 2â€ offers an updated and more diverse view of this cultural subset. Transgender and intersex voices are included, there is more of an international perspective, and more of the contributors are comfortable with coming out.

This collection is an intriguing showcase of how the writers, often facing discrimination, seek to connect with others. Some of the best pieces in the book are those with a pointed sense of humor. Mel Whalenâ€™s essay is an amusing response to being asked, â€œWhat are the benefits of being deaf?â€ She skipped church as a child because â€œthey couldnâ€™t figure out how to make it accessible,â€ Whalen writes, â€œâ€¦ but I didnâ€™t miss the guilt â€¦ that so many religions install.â€

As with many anthologies, the writing is uneven. Some pieces such as Gallowayâ€™s or the excerpt from â€œReading Lips,â€ a play by Michael Conley, are of a high literary quality. In other essays, the writing is pedestrian, though the stories are worthy of attention. Despite this caveat, â€œEyes of Desire 2â€ is an intriguing compilation of seldom-heard voices.

Openly Deaf Gay Man Named New Director of the National Theater of the Deaf

DQRC — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 06:23:46 +0000

Aaron Kubey is the new executive director-president of the National Theatre of the Deaf, which has gone through financial crises, leadership changes and relocations in the past few years.

Kubey, a paralegal in a New York law firm, is currently artistic director of the New York Deaf Theatre.

Kubey takes over the position Nov. 5 at the 40-year-old organization, now based in West Hartford. He succeeds Paul L. Winters, who served as executive director for four years and has been a board member since 2001.

Kubey is a 1994 graduate of the Model Secondary School for the Deaf at Gallaudet University in Washington. He worked with NTD’s Los Angeles Little Theatre of the Deaf from 1995 to 1997.

He also worked with Deaf West in Los Angeles and the Centerlight Theatre in Chicago before joining the New York Deaf Theatre.

He participated in the Professional Theatre School in Chester in 1995 under the auspices of the National Theatre of the Deaf.

(( Source: The Hartford Courant / Frank Rizzo – Photo Credit: Theater Gay City News ))

Deaf, Gay and Angry

DQRC — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 02:26:48 +0000

“Deaf, Gay and Angry” was the title of a recent Style Weekly cover story featuring openly Deaf Gay blogger Ricky Taylor aka “Ridor”.

Read it at:

http://www.styleweekly.com/article.asp?idarticle=15192