For. By. Committed to the Community.
Big Sky Tea Party cans chief
Sep 7th
The president of the Big Sky Tea Party Association has been removed from his position and booted from the party after coming under fire for a post he made on his Facebook profile that implied he condones violence against homosexuals.
Tim Ravndal was removed as president of the local chapter Sunday after the group’s board of directors learned of his volatile post on the online social networking site, according to Roger Nummerdor, the former president and a current board member of the group. Nummerdor also said Ravndal is no longer welcome in the party.
“He’s out,” he said.
Jim Walker, chairman of the Big Sky Tea Party Association board and an early founder of the anti-big–
government group locally, said in a release that as soon as the board learned of Ravndal’s inflammatory comment, they called an emergency meeting to address the situation.
“We are extremely disappointed by Mr. Ravndal’s commentary,” wrote Walker, who could not be reached for this story. “The discussion in that Facebook conversation is entirely outside the position of the Big Sky Tea Party. Even though Mr. Ravndal was having a personal conversation and made no reference to our group, we felt strongly that swift and decisive action was required as we cannot accept that sort of behavior from within our membership, let alone from an officer of the corporation.
Republican Runs Street People on Green Ticket
Sep 7th
The New York Times
By MARC LACEY Published: September 6, 2010
TEMPE, Ariz. — Benjamin Pearcy, a candidate for statewide office in Arizona, lists his campaign office as a Starbucks. The small business he refers to in his campaign statement is him strumming his guitar on the street. The internal debate he is having in advance of his coming televised debate is whether he ought to gel his hair into his trademark faux Mohawk.
Mr. Pearcy and other drifters and homeless people were recruited onto the Green Party ballot by a Republican political operative who freely admits that their candidacies may siphon some support from the Democrats. Arizona’s Democratic Party has filed a formal complaint with local, state and federal prosecutors in an effort to have the candidates removed from the ballot, and the Green Party has urged its supporters to steer clear of the rogue candidates.
“These are people who are not serious and who were recruited as part of a cynical manipulation of the process,” said Paul Eckstein, a lawyer representing the Democrats. “They don’t know Green from red.”
But Steve May, the Republican operative who signed up some of the candidates along Mill Avenue, a bohemian commercial strip next to Arizona State University, insists that a real political movement has been stirred up that has nothing to do with subterfuge.
“Did I recruit candidates? Yes,” said Mr. May, who is himself a candidate for the State Legislature, on the Republican ticket. “Are they fake candidates? No way.”
“Sometimes We Cock Our Heads to The Side So They Think We Have Secrets to Tell”
Sep 3rd
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A series inspired by words never said. It focuses on the dreams, desires, and feelings that we let go of in order to maintain a well-crafted persona and the transparency of secrets for those who take the time to look. Utilizing reclaimed materials and local personalities as inspiration, “Sometimes…” doesn’t analyze the words so much as the spaces between the words in a way that highlights nonverbal communication. As the age old adage goes: “It’s not what you say, it’s what you don’t say.”
Come hang out at SuTRA Midtown Yoga 2317 N 7th Street! Talented artists, nibbles & sips, live music, and great friends!
This event is free of charge.
Are Republicans ‘co-opting’ gay rights?
Sep 3rd
The Washington Post
Adam Serwer of the American Prospect is guest blogging on The Plum Line this week.
Pro-gay rights Republicans seem to be less of an oxymoron these days. Former Solicitor General Ted Olson is, along with Ted Boies, leading the fight in the courts against California’s ban on same-sex marriage and schooling Fox News on what fundamental rights are. Former RNC Chair Ken Mehlman has come out and begun raising money for the pro-equality group Americans for Equal Rights. Conservative commentator Ann Coulter, who once called Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards a “faggot,” is headlining a political convention for gay and lesbian conservatives, and Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Rep. Pete Sessions, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, will be appearing alongside other GOP elected officials at a dinner hosted by the Log Cabin Republicans. Even Glenn Beck has said he doesn’t think gay marriage is a “threat to the country.”
Not all of these cases indicate an instance in which Republicans have embraced gay rights or even marriage equality — Cornyn and Sessions for example, are merely attending the event — but it’s hard not to conclude, as Marc Ambinder writes, that “it’s becoming less of a stigma for bigwigs to associate with gays in the Republican Party.”
That, according to Sam Stein, has some Democrats worried. Stein quotes a “prominent Democratic consultant”:
JOIN ONE COMMUNITY AS WE CHEER ON THE MERCURY THIS SUNDAY
Aug 31st
ONE STEP AWAY FROM THE FINALS!
The Phoenix Mercury is one step away from returning to the WNBA Finals. Standing in their way is the top-seed in the West, the Seattle Storm. The two teams square off in Game 2 of the best-of-three Western Conference Finals Sunday, Sept. 5 at Noon at US Airways Center. Get lower-level seats for up to 60% off. Ticket prices are $8 or $17 depending on location. The sooner you buy, the better your seats will be. A trip to the WNBA Finals is on the line, so don’t miss this epic clash of the best in the West. Cheer on the Mercury as they try to DO IT AGAIN in 2010 and try to repeat as WNBA Champions.
Get your tickets for Sunday here: http://bit.ly/apEEMV PASSWORD: ONE
QTalk: AIDS Walk Phoenix and 5 K Run Chair, Kirk Baxter
Aug 29th
Kirk Baxter continues to be incredibly involved in our community, even as he turns the magical 50 years young! As if founding Body Positive many years ago wasn’t enough, he’s still the chair of the AIDS Walk today. In its third year since coming back in 2008, the Walk is looking to once again double its fundraising this year and they need your help to do it! Kirk talks about his own personal story and why the Walk is important to him.
AIDS Walk 2010 is Sunday, October 3rd and we give you all the details in the show. The Walk is on the very same weekend as Rainbows Festival, and it always makes for a enjoyable time downtown! We are challenging all of our listeners of QTalk Arizona to either participate in or donate to the Walk. How, you ask? Head over to www.aidswalkphoenix.org — it’s easy!
ONE Community sponsors QTalk radio and is a sponsor and participant of AIDS Walk Phoenix.
ARIZONA WOMEN IN TUNE ANNOUNCES NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR– LUCIK APRAHAMIAN
Aug 26th
Arizona Women in Tune, the state’s only lesbian chorale is proud to announce the selection of Lucik Aprahamian as Artistic Director, to begin their 18th performance season.
Aprahamian is in demand as a choral, orchestral and opera conductor. She is presently the choral director at St. Paul’s United 
Methodist Church, and joins Scottsdale Musical Arts as the co-conductor. She is also the co-artistic director of the Southern Arizona Opera.
Aprahamian received her master’s degree in conducting from the University of California at Santa Cruz and is a doctoral candidate in conducting at the University of Arizona. As part of her graduate work, Aprahamian was the assistant director of the UA Community Chorus. At the UA she was also the chorus-master for the Opera Theatre, directed the Honor Choir, and was a conductor the Opera Theatre Scenes.
“Arizona Women in Tune is poised to move to the next level of artistic excellence, and Lucik is the right person to lead us there”, said Gail Sattler, Board Chair.
AZWIT boasts an active membership of more than 50 lesbian and lesbian-friendly singers, and a rich history of performing socially relevant music. Potential singers do not audition; they attend a rehearsal and then discuss their musical goals with the Artistic Director. Rehearsals begin September 9th and are held each Thursday night, 6:45 to 9:15pm. The first performances of the new season, entitled“Winter Celebration, A Rebirth and Renewal of Spirit” will be December 11th and 12th. Rehearsals and performances are at Faith Lutheran Church, 805 E. Camelback Road.
AZWIT singers are diverse in age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical ability and economic and life experience.
For more information, please see our visit: www.azwit.com
Former G.O.P. Leader Says He Is Gay
Aug 26th
By MICHAEL LUO Published: August 25, 2010
Ken Mehlman, President George W. Bush’s campaign manager in 2004 and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, has revealed that he is gay and is working to advance the cause of same-sex marriage.
He confided his sexual orientation to family and friends in the last few months, he said in an interview Wednesday. He said it was a realization that he had come to over time. “At least for me, it wasn’t like there was a light-bulb moment,” said Mr. Mehlman, who is now a partner and head of global public affairs for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, a private equity firm. “The reality is, it’s taken me 43 years to come to terms with this part of my life.”
Over Time, a Gay Marriage Groundswell
Aug 24th
The New York Times
By ANDREW GELMAN, JEFFREY LAX and JUSTIN PHILLIPS Published: August 21, 2010
Gay marriage is not going away as a highly emotional, contested issue. Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that bans same-sex marriage, has seen to that, as it winds its way through the federal courts.
But perhaps the public has reached a turning point.
A CNN poll this month found that a narrow majority of Americans supported same-sex marriage — the first poll to find majority support. Other poll results did not go that far, but still, on average, showed that support for gay marriage had risen to 45 percent or more (with the rest either opposed or undecided).
