Signs Of Equality From Iowa 2 Vermont & A Silent Summit City; Fort Wayne: Room For Dreams & Desires To Play Down Town; Remembering Bea Arthur

As marriage equality has been proven victorious in a recent decision by the Iowa State Supreme Court and an major majority vote by the Vermont legislature which overturned a veto by the Governor, another religious right hate group the National Organization for Marriage started to rear its head and put out a commercial citing old cases which have long since been proven inaccurate to stifle the conversation. They also began a campaign Two Million For Marriage (2M4M), which sent Rachel Maddow over the edge of her desk trying to hold back the laughter). Above is a video by Rob Tish which combats the misconceptions presented by NOM's advert.

Meanwhile in the Summit City, a small group gathered on the north side of Fort Wayne @ IPFW on the 17th to commemorate the National Day of Silence with a rally in the afternoon. On the 18th Fort Wayne PRIDE Committee held its 1st all ages PROM. On the 2nd of May United Sexualities of IPFW will be hosting "A Touch Of Pink" Dance Party @ Walb Ballroom starting at 8p with a general admission of $3 and free for IPFW students.

Random Observations: Driving Along Our Three Rivers

I was driving to my secret source for cheap cigarettes this evening and almost hit a jack rabbit that decided to bolt between the Court House and the City County Building. Every time you think Fort Wayne is a bustling metropolitan area you are reminded that no matter how big we get we are still a small farm community town at heart. Even though we have a thriving downtown area that is both dedicated and ready for future expansion to make the Downtown area truly a source of arts, entertainment, culture and diverse expressions, it is also within a fifteen minute bike ride of most of the urban areas of town. Now we just need to make it more accommodating to non vehicular traffic flow as that would improve both the access to and enjoyment by more citizens as a whole.

One of the things I noticed is that the capillary streets like Calhoun between Washington and Jefferson Boulevards should probably have a police officer directing traffic in all lanes as this is the major wrap around for traffic wanting to leave the Embassy Theatre, Grand Wayne Center, and Harrison Square, and head west instead of east. If they simply cut off this one block stretch of Calhoun to southbound traffic as people are leaving these venues and then allowed all three lanes to be used as a wrap around it would reduce congestion after these well attended events.

Room For Dreams But Nowhere To Rest Your Sore Feet

The other recommendations I would give is that as we are becoming more of a pedestrian - non automotive based economy in the Downtown area having a few courtesy officers on duty for out-of-towners and people not familiar with downtown to help guide people to their next destination would be the next appropriate step in improving the Downtown area. We need to establish crossing guards at key side street intersections as people return to their vehicles, which are typically parked a couple of blocks away from the venue they attended.

One of the more refreshing things I saw was that people were just hanging around by the hundreds outside the Grand Wayne and the Embassy Theatre, after the events had ended. We need to do more to install benches and flowers, plants, and fruit trees, along our main thoroughfares and direct arterial streets.

I do agree with City Council President Tom Smith, we need to reestablish a sit down diner or two in the direct area; however we also need to consider, adding City certified street vendor at these locations to provide a quick beverage or sandwich as people linger and enjoy a strangers company or make new friends and reacquaint with olde ones. If the goal is to get people to not just come to the Downtown area but make our inner urban area a lifestyle choice and actually play downtown, we need to be more accommodating to allow people the leisure of staying downtown for several hours after an event and not just saying, "Thanks for coming and spending sixty dollars for a twenty dollar show, now go home where it is safe." by our lack of post event hospitality and recreation opportunities.

Refreshing News; Reminders Of The Little Things

Last week when I was leaving this same secret location I noticed we had a new taxi company in town. The Yellow Taxi Cab Company Phone: 260-422-1010 headquartered off of East Pontiac Street was started approximately 9 months ago which is about the same time that the recession we are currently in hit full swing. So there is yet another sign that no matter how crappy the economy is getting Fort Wayne's entrepreneurial spirit is alive, well, and kicking ass. The reason I bring this up is one thing we seriously lack at most of our entertainment venues, especially the three previously mentioned, is a dedicated taxi lane. Having a dedicated taxi lane and disabled person drop off area and escort service (perfect job duty for the previously mentioned courtesy officers) would better serve guests and people who didn't want to drive to an event personally. On a green note and taxis, the Mayor of Seattle has ordered all taxis in the city to be high mileage hybrids by 2013.


Thank you for being a friend. Traveled down the road and back again. Your heart is true your a pal and a confidant....

As most have heard or read by now the incomparable Bea Arthur, who weaved her way into the fabric of American social political commentary and back in April 2005 graced the stage of the Scottish Rite Theatre with Billy Goldenberg to perform her show "Just Between Friends", has finally greeted her last curtain call at the age of 86.

She was introduced to America on the small screen back in the 1970's as Maude in All In The Family where she challenged America by discussing the issues surrounding abortion and sexuality. Again she would change the hearts and minds of another generation of gay men young and old everywhere as part of the Golden Girls cast for seven years. If you ever witnessed a group of gay bois try to assign each other to their role of Blanche, Rose, Sophia, and Dorothy, you begin to understand the impact one voice and a woman with strong character can have on the hearts and minds of a generation.

Bea Arthur is within her own lifetime a legacy and in her own right a saint. No worries there is one slice of chocolate cheesecake left at the banquet table for you Dorothy.


Star Wars Holiday Special - Cantina Song

TTDINdFORT:March-May: Learn2PaintDEggsDwayUkrainiansDo; WhyDIDtheybuildDaFORThere?; BaDRAGdiva?;30mealsin3hours; 1day2learn3instruments4$160;&MUCHMORE

PLEASE NOTE: This post has been updated so many times I had to break out all the colours from the box.
As every gay boi knows it's all in the details!! Yes this is Wednesdays post and yes it is running late, sorry, I had to verify two bits of information and one source cite.

FORT WAYNE PRIDE COMMITTEE at the end of this month is hosting a So You Think You Can Drag? contest @ After Dark Night Club, 1601 South Harrison Street, approximately 5 blocks South of The Grand Wayne Center, pass by Powers Hamburgers, go under the viaduct and hang left.

To volunteer as a Mentor or sign up to take part in the competition contact Chad Pratt aka Paige Turner via the FWPC MySpace or website. Each Contestant will be connected with your new Drag Mentor who "will meet with you and teach you the tricks of the trade" after which "you will be responsible for getting yourself ready from head to toe without the assistance of your mentor and perform" for the review of the Judges and enjoyment of the crowd during the Contest on the 28th @ After Dark. There will be a Drag King and a Drag Queen winner announced that will each receive a guaranteed performance the last weekend of July @ Pride Fest 2009 , paid entry to Mr. or Miss Pride, and a booking with Tula @ AFTER DARK.

UPDATE: Fort Wayne Pride Committee will also be hosting their first ever all ages GSA PROM (previously hosted by IPFW's Equal Rights Education Network) on the 18th of April @ 7:30P above Columbia Street West in the The Columbia Club Banquet Hall the entrance is on Harrison one block south of Superior. Admission for this event is $6 a person/ $10 couple. Come dance the night away in a safe place!

In other local Queer Community dramatic cause, there have been rumors floating around town that, also toward the end of this month, UP THE STAIRS COMMUNITY CENTER will be closing, due to loosing its primary donor, and hence not being able to pay the bills. However according to another source, they are still holding their Spring Euchre Tourney this Saturday beginning @ 7P. The buy in is $4 but you must call 260-422-2450 or email to register for the Tournament. There is more information on their website if you really want to participate.

EDITOR: Previous F6 post on UTSCC [click here] & for posts in regard to FWPRIDE [click here] please.

Now onto the rest of the things going on in The Community @ Large that are personally way more interesting. Tonight the 5th of March from 6-8P The Botanical Conservatory is hosting a course on Large Scale Urban Gardening with Ephraim Smiley. Since I didn't find out about it until after the deadline passed, I couldn't tell you all about it until now but hopefully there will be resources available from this class for dissemination by the general public later. First lets get the basic calendar stuff out off the way that I still have to add to the official F6 Calendar

MARCH! My lion has a limp wrist and the flock of sheep got pissed and left, lol!

7th and 21st Saturdays 11A & 2P @ Botanical Conservatory
ECO ENERGY: The world needs clean power and with a little creativity we can find energy in some of the most unlikely places. Of course there is solar, wind and wave energy, but there is also energy to be found in lemons, cow burps and even the money in your pocket.
8th Sunday DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME: switch clocks ahead one hour @ 2A
13th Monday FWPR Amazing Race Registration begins. 4 Person Team (2 any age, 50+, & 8-12)
=NOTE= Volunteers Needed 3 hr shifts, set up/tear down, and facilitate challenges.
17th Saint Patrick's Day
21st Sabbath of Ostara/Old Lady's Day Spring Equinox
UPDATED: 21st Sat 9:30A 6th District City Council Community Meeting Host: Glynn Hines
==>==>==> Link's Wonder Land 1711 East Creighton Ave (1 block west of No. Anthony Bvd.)
21st 9A-1P Community Bike Summit @ Allen Co. Public Library Main Branch
25th Solemnity of the Annunciation (Mary Conceiving Jesus In Her Womb By God)
25th Wed 11:30A-1P Tax Protest Revolt @ Statehouse (Indianapolis)
26th Thur 12N-1P @ Botanical Conservatory Clean Green Energy
Glenn Johnson, COO of Nature's Fuel, will discuss the future of clean and natural energy production. He will also detail the progress being made at the company’s Atwood, Indiana, plant and the potential of their new facility being built in Huntington. The company claims it can turn 200,000 tons of landfill waste into zero sulfur bio-oil and green electricity, with less total emissions per year than one harvest on a 300 acre farm with a small amount of solid residue that Cornell University says is better for farm soil than today’s fertilizers?

New Reoccurring Weekly and/or Monthly Events

= Weekly @ McMillen Ice Arena Thur 9-11A Coffee Club (21+only);
Fri 7-9P Cosmic Skating Night; Sun 2:30-4:30P Public Skate;
Rates: $5, Adults; $4, Seniors (55+); $3.50,Youth (5-17);
Free for Child under 5 & Spectators, $2.50 Skate Rental
+ Third Week Allen Co. Libertarian Party Business Meeting Day and Location To Be Announced
+ Third Monday 6:45P Bookworms: @ Franke Park Nature Lodge
Nature Literature Book Club, Non political literary discussion on social concerns & environment
+ Third Thursday 6-8P @ Botanical Conservatory
Thursday Night Unplugged Addmission: Adults $5; Children age 3-17 $3; 2 and under Free
March: Dan Dickerson; April: Dead In Denver & Dressed For The Weather; May: Swing Billies

Why did they build a Fort here at the three rivers?

If you have pondered this question in the past, on Tuesdays between the 7th of April and 12th of May @ Botanical Conservatory you will be provide better insight into the events between the late 1600’s through the War of 1812 by local Historian Matt Jones with an overview of the Native/Settler conflicts in the pre-settlement and Early American periods. Registration deadline 31 March Fee $26.

Green Eggs? Sam got nothing on this Ham!

The Ukranian form of egg dying for Easter, and Icon writing in general, is world renowned for its detail and naturally clean long lasting bases and descriptive tales. On Holy Saturday the 11th of April at 10A & 1:30P Catharine Green, a Pysanky Artist from Indianapolis will be Instructing a class on this ancient form of religious/cultural art. Everyone attending the class will also take home their own tool kit, including a kistka stylus, beeswax, and 6 dyes, in order to continue practicing and creating new egg designs at home. Registration Fee: $37 Conservatory Member Fee: $31 Deadline: 3rd April.

APRIL showers wilted the flowers, when We came across the fresh water jelly fish!
Please remember to Wrap It Up but throw the condom in the bin not down the drain.

2nd-Thur 6-8p @ Botanical Conservatory Registration deadline: March 27 Fee: $5
How Green Is My Water? Guide: Matt Jones, Water Resource Education Specialist, ACPWQ.
===>learn how to keep our water clean, building your own rain barrel, create a rain garden.
12th Sun Solemn Octave of the Resurrection aka Easter
14th Tues Lindenwood Opens
18th Sat @ FWPR
1. Children's Zoo Opens
2. City Amazing Race
(see 13th March also)
19th - Divine Mercy Sunday
19th Sun 12N-5P Save Maumee
Earth Day Project & River Clean Up @ Pemberton Dike North Anthony Blvd.
25th Sat 12N+ GREEN FEST @Southwest Conservation Club
5703 Bluffton Road

MAY Don't forget to cook for your Mother this time around,please.

1st Fri SABBATH OF BELTANE
8th & 9th Fri & Sat 10A-5P @ Salomon Farm 817 W. DuPont Rd.
Natural Fiber Arts Celebration Free Admission & Parking
15th Fri 5P - 17th Sun 10A Libertarian Party of Indiana & Kentucky
Joint Convention Location TBA Later Clarksville, Indiana

As most can assert the way to a man's heart, especially mine, is through his stomach. Now not only can you be assured that he will have plenty to munch on but that it is healthy and nutritious too. There will be no more of "Honey, I'm way to tired to make dinner. Can you just reheat some left overs from last week for the kids and me?" because after taking this 30 Days of Delicious Cooking course taught by Ambia Cooper on Monday the 11th of May from 6-8P @ FWPR Community Center, 233 W. Main St. you and your family will learn to assemble and freeze nutritious meals for every meal all month long in just two hours!

The course includes the “The Freezer Cooking Manual: A Month of Meals Made Easy,” by fellow Hoosiers Nanci Slagle and Tara Wohlenhaus. Registration deadline: 4th May Fee: $28

Lend Me Your Ear & I'll Play You A Song, I'll Try To Stay In Tune.....

On the 16th of May you and/or your children ages 9 and older can learn to play up to 3 instruments and fill your lives with music at the FWPR Community Center on West Main Street. You have the choice of learning from 9A-12N for $63 the rustic beauty of this three string instrument which can be plucked, strummed, or bowed (videos) has been with us since the late 18th Century, the Mountain Dulcimer, is the perfect first instrument for a novice musician that is very easy to play; or from from 12:30-2:30P, you can learn the Harmonica, which was introduced to North America in 1862 - during the beginning of the Civil War. You will learn how to read harmonica music, play the instrument and translate any song into harmonica tablature for $40 (Adult w/Child $70); and then there is the Ukulele, which Portuguese sailors have been played for decades, from 3-5P for $56. You will receive your own instrument(s), music, and materials to take home. You will learn to play at least 10 songs (7 for the Ukulele). No prior musical training is necessary to attend The Workshops which can be taken individually or together for 160 dollars as an all day excursion into Folk Music and Culture. Registration deadline is the 8th of May.

EDITOR: The Mountain Dulcimer isn't the Hammered Dulcimer, which regained its popularity in the 1990s because of the late Rich Mullins, a Catholic recording artist (video), who used the instrument in his writing.

REFERENCE: Emma Downs and Steve Penhollow, whom are both regular coloumnist @ The Journal Gazette also co author a blog called Get a Load of This. In there 8th of March post FOUR STRING SHREDDER they covered the story of the Ukulele a little bit better than I could in this limited entry and also introduced their readership to Jake Shimabukuro who caught the attention of classical cellist Yo Yo Ma and performed @ C2G Ministries on Baker Street near Ewing Street on Sunday the 8th of March:

Yo-Yo Ma asked him to contribute to his CD "Songs of Joy"

Shimabukuro: "When I was a kid, people often asked me who I'd play with if I could play with any musician in the world. And I'd say, as a joke, Yo-Yo Ma. It was so far fetched. Naturally, people would laugh and say, 'You are a ukulele player. I'm sure Yo-Yo Ma is going to want to play with a ukulele player.'"

He is the sort of ukulele player who so thoroughly impresses people with his playing that they ask him to compose music for full orchestra (and he had) wrote the score for the movie "Hula Girl" and he is currently working on the soundtrack for another film that he declines to name.

Shimabukuro: The ukulele should be like that.' I'd always kind of strive for that. I want to make my concerts so fun and exciting that people walk out when it's over giving each other high fives.

The video is from Corporate Country Sucks [website] [youtube], a Public Access Show based in Chicago.

Think About It!: So right here you have one example of one kid changing the world around him by taking up an instrument, that everyone disregards as a novelty item from back in the day, and nobody uses anymore, to an authentic modern expression of art, celebration of life, and a new international career. Think About It!

FORT WAYNE PARKS & RECREATION [WEBSITE]

This Weekend, Local GLBT Groups Are Hosting Democratic Federal & Statewide Campaign Events & Libertarians On Equality Issues & GLBT Persons (UPDATED)

God-des and She performs 8:30p.m. this Saturday Upstairs @ Columbia Street West

Hip Hop, R&B, Soul Artists Goddes and She (MySpace) from Brooklyn, New York (pic @ right with Jay Brannan), are the special guest headliners for a two day Democrat Making Change Happen campaign event by Fort Wayne PRIDE Committee, HRC Fort Wayne Chapter, and cross sponsored by Reality Magazine. Joining Goddes and She will be The Campaign For Change, and openly gay State Representative Greg Harris of Illinois, along with many other politicians or their staff to answer your questions.

Here is the official video for their hit song LICK IT, aka DO THAT PUSSY RIGHT:



Here are the complete details for Making Change Happen
Location: Columbia Street West Banquet Hall
135 West Columbia St. Ft. Wayne IN 46802
There will be a cash bar. Doors Open 7p; Performance 8:30p Enter off of Harrison Street.
Tickets: Ages 15 and up $15 non-HRC members, $10 HRC members, $5 students w/valid ID.
RSVP please to Linda Bentz via email or phone. All proceeds go directly to HRC.
The fun continues 2p Sunday @ Allen Co. Democrat Party HQ @ 1920 Bluffton Rd, w/dessert.

We all know that life isn’t the way it should be for people who are GLBT. We also know that real change is possible - that it can be better. So now what?

We begin by electing fair-minded, equality candidates to office - from Barack Obama, Jill Long-Thompson, and Michael Montagano, right through to locals Kevin Knuth and Maria Parra - all of whom have reached out to us, fight for us, and who genuinely care about us as human beings. These people have consistently put their beliefs in action, and now it’s time for us to do the same.

~Linda Bentz, HRC FW Lead, (Reality Magazine, volume 2, issue 9, page 3)

Please Notice: in the article/press release excerpt above she listed only Democrats which is not a complete list of candidates for equality up for election this November, just the ones HRC FW & FW PRIDE want to support. That, in my honest opinion, is a violation of their Non Profit status with the State of Indiana.

How Libertarians Handle Equality Issues & Assure The Rights Of GLBT Persons

The problem with the above scenario, which repeats almost every election cycle in some regard, comes into play because, while Libertarians are pro equality, we operate under a different paradigm based on the individual's merit versus a collective privilege. Even though we strive to reach the same goals, it seems like die hard Republicans or Democrats can't handle the philosophical differences/challenges of just treating all persons as individuals, with the self evident truth that they were created equally and entitled to a free life with full liberty and the ability to pursue their own happiness with whomever or however many persons they choose to share it with in common bonds. The Libertarian Party Platform specifically reads in regards to marriage equality,

"government does not have the authority to
define, license or restrict personal relationships."

This self evident truth, of all persons being created equal, was declared by our Founding Fathers in The Declaration of Independence, which is also encased in the very beginning of the United States Code under Organic Laws of the United States, and just needs to be properly interpreted by The Supreme Court, and applied into law by The United States Congress, and enforced by the Executor of the Constitution and Commander In Chief.

The problem wont be solved by new laws but by first cleaning up and throwing out the unconstitutional laws that already exist. Then we can worry about adding new laws to the books. If we don't clean up the books soon, we might find ourselves having to write a new constitution though. That is a process that no one wants to go through and I don't think we have the courage to do so either.

Wouldn't it be better to preserve this nation rather than watch it die slowly and outside of our control?

Take a moment and think about it before you decide which candidate is just the lesser of two evils. Take a moment a think about what a third party candidate can bring to the legislative table and the marketplace of ideas. Diversity for one is for all equality!

RESOURCES: To visit LP of Allen Co. website or blog; or the LP of Indiana website; or the LP National website. To find out more info about OUTright the GLBT Caucus's website or blog. Here is the most current list of all LP Candidates up for election for voters to choose locally.

Take A Moment If You Dont Mind?

Take more than a moment and pray for our nation, our fellow citizens, and our leaders, in this time of crisis and chaos. As we have passed the Sabbath of Mabon and the Solemn Triumph of the Cross, and approach the Festival Rosh HaShanah, may we give thanks for the bounty we have been bestowed previously; and have enough humility to ask for mercy. Don't forget to also ask for wisdom, that we make the right decisions. On the 4th of November, make sure your decisions will secure the blessings of liberty for our posterity forever and ever. AMEN!

Reminder: The deadline to register to vote is the 6th of October.

UPDATE: FW PRIDE! And just to prove how open I am to all of your comments...

Apparently what I said would happen at Fort Wayne PRIDE during my reviewing and rating poorly the annual event a month before it was to take place, did happen to some degree several times. As reports trickle back through the grapevine and people leave random comments somewhere I receive a notice about them through other people who contribute silently to the information on this forum.

There were a string of comments on a local Yahoo! Group as a few of their younger members expressed similar sentiments such as, "I was just wondering if some of you thought the same as I did. Was last years pride much better? I mean not bashing anyone or anything. It just seems as if it was very well decorated last year, the stage was better for the shows, and it felt like the vendors were not cramped into so little of a space."

Also, I finally received permission to post this analysis letter as an update in reference to the PRIDE scandal "I caused". I received this from a good friend and trusted advisor he wrote me back within the last week or so and said that I could share it. Bear with me folks the drama is hardly over with yet.

"we will only become real people,
when we deal with the real issues."
written by Mark W. Stevens | artwork by Joe Phillips

I understand that your style is 'sarcastic' or caustic and that it is a style and not aimed at anyone in particular.

I also understand that Nikki is overprotective of her position and her 'baby'.

I also understand that the gay sheep of Fort Wayne are fucking incompetent when it comes to working together in public or in private.

That said:

You need to stop trying to pretend that you are unbiased when you write about things that you are passionate about. You aren't. You never will be. You are an opinionated person who doesn't want to feel that your bad feelings will shape the way that people feel about you. This is your 'blinder' in your writing and you need to learn to quit hiding from your own biases and simply own them without asking for permission or forgiveness for saying what you think. It just makes you look weak.

I understand that you do not want to alienate people or make them feel hostile or upset with you or with your writing, but at the same time you must see that the topics about which you write are controversial and inflammatory and arouse great passion in others. That is, in my opinion, your intention. It is the nature of the subjects you touch on. You come off as wishy washy or bland when you censor yourself so offhandedly, and it shows that you do not really trust your audience to intelligently read what you write and to be as forthcoming as you wish them to be. You concede to them that these are only your opinions as if you want them to believe that either your opinion is not important or that it carries no weight. Yet I know that you know better. This seems rather hypocritical and turns people against you before they have the opportunity to really hear you out. Quit asking if it makes sense as if you believe that it does not. Instead ask 'Do you agree' and 'How would you say that', either of which implies that you have owned your opinion and wish to have a dialogue and to learn the listeners opinion as well. Trust your own writing to be as powerful as your opinion. Don't undersell or oversell it, just put it out there where it can be seen and evaluated for what it is... an opinion.

As to Nikki's and her co-board person's replies:

I do not agree with most of what was written about the purposes of the Fort Wayne PRIDE events. I believe that the event is aimed at only one audience at this time and that is the young white gay person who wants to believe that they are doing something vital in the community without taking any real risks or making any real effort. It is a product of the me generation and as such it has as much substance as a glam rock love ballad... sickly sweet and sentimental, and as forgettable as yesterdays obituaries. Until a need for real and positive action, and a true desire for affirmative action meets the awareness of the real heart of the gay community in Fort Wayne, there will be no true unity and there will be no real community. This was proven by the shallow and unreal expectations and pomp of the UTSCC, and is still supported by all of those who broke and ran before the shit hit the fan there.

Unfortunately I must include myself in the cut and run crowd who did not have the balls to stand up to the board and to Mary when she could have been stopped. I must also say that I am not willing to put the effort into trying to make the PRIDE committee see the error of its ways at this time. Maybe I never will be. I know that at one time I had an opportunity placed before me that might have given me a voice in the community that could have made a difference, and I choked. Afterward nothing I could have done would have had any more affect than to make others believe that I was bitter and angry... which was true enough without being aired as dirty laundry. I am beginning to realize that I am beyond redemption because I did not make a stand when I was attacked and my voice has been taken from me.

Back to the issue at hand.

The Fort Wayne PRIDE Committee is trying very hard to do something important and I applaud their effort. But they have been just as infected as the rest of us with the idea that we must work very hard to be as low-key as possible and not offend anyone that they consider to be their people. Unfortunately they still believe that the celebration of who we are will convince people that we count for something. That is very idealistic, even for me. They want to believe that we can change people by just offering to temper our community with 'normality' and ignoring the negativity from the homophobic and bigoted crowds who control our laws and our lives. When they begin to see that there is more to this fight than feeling good about ourselves, there will be progress. I am counting on that.

What it all comes down to is this: We must own our opinions and our biases. We must move forward diligently and without fear of the reprisals that WILL come. We must be able to defend our opinions to ourselves and to those willing to hear us out, but not be upset when those who will not hear or who fall into their self-righteousness refuse to acknowledge that there can be a meeting of minds even among those who disagree. We must learn where our voice is and where it can be heard in a progressive environment. We must, and I stress this above all else that I say, WE MUST believe that someday we will make the difference in the mind of that one person who can change their world... ourselves.


EDITOR"S PREFERENCE:
F6 L<3VZ THE WORK OF JOE PHILLIPS & YOU CAN SHOW HIM SOME L<3VN 2!!

Now for some other stuff going on in the Community

Sorry this post is running behind ... I was called out on a pastoral every time I tried to write it.

For those whom don't wish to attend Fort Wayne PRIDE Festival this Friday 7p-12m $3 and Saturday 12n-12m $5 at Head Waters Park there are tons and I do mean TONS of other things going on this weekend around our three rivers.

Tuesday marked the beginning of the Allen County Fair at the Carroll Road Complex (about 2 miles north of DuPont and Lima Road/State Road 3 and then left or west 2 miles on Carroll). The fair grounds are on the north or right hand side of the road. Sunday is a Fair free day and the rides are all a dollar, for those with big families; otherwise, admission is $5 dollars per person per day and certain events do cost extra but there is still plenty of fun and inquisitive things for people of all ages to learn and explore during the Fair.

If you can leave the kids with a babysitter this Saturday, the DownTown Improvement District along with Comcast is hosting Island Fest, from 4p-12m, admission is $5, on the Columbia Street Landing, between Harrison and Calhoun Streets, one block south of Superior Boulevard, with free parking in the City County Building Parking Garage. Come down with your friends for live music, sand volleyball, and island-inspired food and drinks from Columbia Street West, Club Soda and Hartley’s. If you miss this event the DID will be hosting a Mardi Gras celebration event the 9th of August from 6p-12m also with a $5 admission.

Also this Saturday, There is an Open House and Art Show from 7-9p at Home Grown Bead and Candle Shoppe @ 125 West Wayne which will feature original abstract and raw work by Abbie Griswold.

Shakespeare From The Heart, a local volunteer theatre troupe, does The Bard the way he intended: out in the Park and off the cuff. You should come check out this years performance selection, Taming of the Shrew. SFTH show times are this Friday 25th and Saturday 26th of July, and next Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd of August, 7p @ IPFW outside of Walb Student Union. For those of you in Kendalville, we'll have a performance on Sunday, 27th of July, 2p in Floral Hall. Please come and support your local talent, local charities, and all the hard work these people have put in to this year's play! Donations are gratefully accepted and go directly to benefit other local charities.

F6 CALENDAR: Highlighting Other and Ongoing Events:

THURSDAY

Late Nights @ The Fort Wayne Museum of Art
Thursdays from 5p-9p. Admission Is Free

FRIDAY

Free Music Fest, Every Friday 7-10p @ The Bean
1008 N. Wells, north over the Superior Street Bridge across from the Public Safety Officers Memorial and next to Cloud 9. Come on by for some organic fair trade food and coffee or a just to celebrate our Community's musicians. And yes, The Bean is located @ the former Hide~n~Seek's Gay Leather and Levi Bar and they have changed it into a beautiful baby blue and white cafe and gathering place. I want to applaud them for keeping some of the old bar archietecture and design, it is a phenomenal tribute to the continued "Community Building" that this location will hopefully always provide.

Critical Mass Bike Ride 6:30p @ Lawton Park, meet by the gazebo.
(north of 4th Street @ Clinton across from the Skate Park)
The News Sentinel did a cover story on CMFW last month.
Event happens the last Friday of the month, no matter what the weather

F6 LINKS PAGE: To find out more about Local Cycling and our Bike Trails System visit our Links Page


SATURDAY

BARR STREET MARKET

• presented by YLNI and The History Center and WMEE 97.3FM
  
• northeast corner of Wayne and Barr Streets (Old City Hall Complex)
  
• Saturdays from 12th June to end of September from 9a-1p

ARCH's South Side Farmers Market

• @ 3300 Warsaw Street
• Saturdays from 3rd May to 22nd November from 7a-1p

F6 LINKS PAGE:
There are 2 Community Festivals over next weekend:

Harlan Days

• @ Harlan Community Park
  
• 31st July-2nd August 5-10:30 Th&F; 6:15a-11p Sat;
• Admission varies for certain events only
  
• 6 minutes north of exit 25 of I-469 @ SR 37
  
• (aka Crescent/Stellhorn) hang a left between Spencerville Road and School Street to get to the park.

Huntertown's Heritage Days Festival
(right click into new tab
1st link, for town website;
2nd link, for festival schedule)

• 1st-2nd August 5-10p F; 7a-10p St
• Most events are free especially in the main tent;
• Continuous running events include a Verizon Fios Van, Food Court, Historical Display in School till 8:00 Sat. Silent Auction till 6:00 Sat. in school, Moonwalk
  
• There may be a small charge for some games/events/food, hosted by other groups;
  

Local Queer Community Calendar Update

*This post has been updated*
The next two weeks or so are going to be very busy for the local GLBTIQAS Community as we prepare for our annual family reunion, aka PRIDE FEST, at the end of this month. I want to take a moment and wish Bil Browning and Jerame Davis, along with all the other Indiana and Inter/National writers and editors, that have made The BILERICO Project the successful avenue of information and queer thought that it is, Happy One Year Anniversary!!

In just a few hours (10 p.m.) contestants will be gathering at After Dark Night Club on Harrison Street, five blocks south of the Grand Wayne Center, to begin finding out who will be the IDOL of Fort Wayne PRIDE Fest 2008. But that is not all.... There are still two other events for PRIDE this week and the Human Rights Campaign's Fort Wayne Chapter has two events going on in the next two weeks as well. Here is a breakdown of the local GLBT Calendar as far as we know or have information for the rest of the month.

• Wed. 9th PRIDE IDOL @ ADNC 10p.m.
  
• no door cover charge
  
• Thurs. 10th Obama for President PRIDE
• Question and Answer Session 7:00p.m.
• @ Allen Co. Public Library Pontiac Branch @ 2215 South Hanna St. (north of Creighton)
  
• Sat. 12th FLOW Poetry and Art Slam Benefit @ UTSCC 7p.m. sugg. donation $5
  
• Sat. 12th Mr. PRIDE Pageant @ ADNC 10p.m. door cover $4or 5 (manager not sure)
  
• Mon. 14th PRIDE IDOL for MINORS @ The PINT & SLICE @ 7p.m. sharp
• Mon. 14th PFLAG FW Chapter Monthly Meeting @ Plymouth (West Berry) 7p.m.
• Tues. 15th HRCFW Volunteer Mobilization Meeting (open post in a new tab)
• @ Allen Co Public Library Main Trunk Business & Technology Room 6:30p.m.
• Wed 16th FW PRIDE VOLUNTEER MEETING 6p.m.
  
• Allen County Public Library Main Branch Meeting Room C
  
• Sat. 19th FW Area Bears Breakfast @ Golden Corral on Maysville Road 9:30a.m.
• Fri. 25th PRIDE Fest @ Head Waters Park East 7p.m.-12mdnght admit $3
• Sat. 26th PRIDE Fest @ Head Waters Park East 12noon-12mdnght admit $5
• Sun. 27th Open Door Chapel PRIDE Picnic @ Rockhill Park Pavilion 12 noon
• Rockhill Park is located on Catalpa between West Jefferson and Taylor east of Freeman
  
• Hot Dogs provided please bring covered dish and beverages (no alcohol) to share
  

EDITOR'S NOTES: YOU CAN READ OTHER POSTS ON F6 ABOUT FW PRIDE 2008 HERE, HERE & HERE AND THE HRCFW VOLUNTEER MEETING. YOU MAY ALSO WISH TO PERUSE F6's LINKS PAGE FOR INFO ON GAY FORT WAYNE OR IN GENERAL GAY & LESBIAN RESOURCES ALSO.

As F6 approaches its 200th post in the next two weeks....We need to review and do some updates.

It is time to do some tidying up around here, clean up some loose ends, get the three blogs that technically make up F6 streamlined a little better. Some of that has been going on behind the scenes over the last couple of weeks and plans have been in the works since May. However as anybody who operates a venue that serves a broad segment of the population across the electronic two lane highway is aware, sometimes you just have to stop for a couple of days to a week and do a full sweep. In order to get both the full priorities of this forum in place and functioning which will assure that the next few hundred posts are less painful then the last two hundred, I will not be actively posting until next Saturday although I do have the post for Wednesday already written out, sort of.

So what is different so far?

Font and Text Colours: The Font unless GOOGLE screws something up will always be Georgia. While I have been playing with the colour scheme of the blog we are pretty much settled on a basic format. From the Sunday after Easter to the Eve of All All Saints/Samhain the blog background will be the beige that you see today. From All Saints to Easter it will be that dismal Grey that you originally saw last year.

The basic colours of the blog are Orange, Hunter Green, and Navy Blue. Orange is primarily for links, it stands out. Hunter Green is for My Direct Editorial or Commentary and Navy Blue is for articles and sub headers within the blog. Now occasionally Hunter Green and Navy Blue will interchange within a given field of text to make a particular point stand out, but that is the only time. I have tried to be consistent on that recently but even I get a little sidetracked on which colours go where, when dealing with older posts or something I am really passionate about, pardon me for that.

Comments are no longer on moderation: One of the primary reasons F6's Comments were on moderation is so that I could see them. Judging by my site meter almost all of my traffic comes well after the fact of me publishing a particular post, because I have a tendency to publish ahead of the popular culture curve. So in order to keep up with who posted what to where, it was easier to track by simply putting the comments on moderation. Under the sixth links section to the left entitled "What y'all bitch at me for? Keep doing it please!" You will find the five most recent comments on F6.

F6's Links Page and Feeds or Jump Page: Are so far cleaned up and have been streamlined... I still need to clean up the colours on the Feeds and Jump Page. The Links Page has been cleaned up with the links on the left side now having their own separate posts, though still with the pictures as links for now, until readers have time to get used to the change.

Some of the new Links include: Throwing A Party Across Three Rivers and Pedalling Your Paws Across Three Rivers and these can always be directly accessed either by going to the LINKS PAGE and clicking on the Category Fort Wayne, Indiana or by going down the left side of this main page to the tenth links section under the "Room For Dreams" banner and picking which particular set of links you want to view.

So what is going to be new?

Cleaning up of the old posts: First of all, I am going to have to go back and sift all of the last hundred and ninety eight posts. As the blog has transitioned I want to go back and make sure that there is uniformity while I still have a feasible chance to do so. Second there are at least three posts that could be deleted under the Administration of the Blog because they no longer apply to the application and operation of F6. I am still wrestling with that one though, I don't like the idea of destroying part of the blogs history and development but the post themselves will never again be applicable to the blog. However if I did remove those three posts and two others it would postpone by a week the two hundred mark that precipitated this review process initially.

What are your thoughts on that?
Please leave your comments below.

New Content; New Contributors: I have asked a local political cartoonist Christopher Bennett to step back into his once infamous role as the author of Topher Time. He has agreed to provide F6 with two (sometimes multiple panel) cartoons a month. Needless to say this will be interesting, as always I will not edit his work for space or content. Y'all are in for an adventure as he puts pencil to paper once again. I am currently in conversation with three other local authors who wish to contribute content occasionally and one international author whom is originally from the Fort Wayne area who wants to share his memories of Gay Fort Wayne with you all.

Over all I think that is pretty fucking cool that over the last eleven months that F6 version 2.0 has become an internationally reviewed source of local queer social and political perspective!

Anyway that is enough for now I have two major awesome updates:

A week ago I posted regarding FORT WAYNE PRIDE FEST; which will happen @ Head Waters Park East the last weekend of this month. Recently there was another post on the FWPC MySpace regarding the PRIDE IDOL karaoke contest for those under the legal drinking age. The under twenty one portion of the PRIDE IDOL contest will happen @ The Pint & Slice on Calhoun at the 14th of July 7p.m. sharp. The Committee is still in need of volunteers and you can fill out an application (pdf) online or contact Nikki via email nikki@fortwaynepride.org. As previously mentioned in the last post, the Mr. Pride Pageant is on the 12th of July and the adult PRIDE IDOL contest is on 9th of July. Both events start around 10 p.m. @ After Dark Night Club on South Harrison Street five blocks south of The Grand Wayne Center past Powers and under the viaduct.

I also have a three part post on Gays In The Military which I was going to break it up between Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but I decided that was just a little annoying, even for me. So I am going to take care of the one update part of that post series here and save the rest for the post two Saturdays from now, as originally scheduled.

Brazilian soldier released after arrest for coming out
22 June 2008 Gay News Watch

The Brazilian Army has released a soldier arrested on the set of a nationwide TV show just before going on-air with his military boyfriend. Sgt. Fernando de Alcantara Figueiredo spent eight days in an Army prison in Brasilia after appearing on the cover of the magazine Epoca, going public about being gay and his relationship with Laci Marino de Araujo. Army officials claimed Figueiredo was arrested for desertion after he traveled to Sao Paulo to appear on a program for Rede TV! hosted by an ex-girlfriend of Rolling Stones rocker Mick Jagger. They also said he violated Army regulations about appearing in public with an altered military uniform; the magazine cover pictured both men in uniform. Figueiredo claimed his trip was on his own time and was needed to receive medical treatment. His release followed high profile criticism of the arrest from human rights groups and gay activists inside and outside Latin America's largest country.

F6 EDITOR'S COURTESY: 3 days later this story was updated again via MADE IN BRAZIL:

Gay ex-sergeant sues Brazilian military over arrest

A Brazilian Army sergeant who came out last month on the cover of nationwide magazine filed a lawsuit yesterday against the military command in the southeast of the country. Former Sgt. Fernando Alcântara de Figueiredo wants to prove that his arrest and that of his partner by the Army were a result of homophobia, that they were physically and verbally abused, and that the Army denied proper medical health to his partner. According to Figueiredo, the lawsuit was filed in the state of São Paulo because that is where he and his partner were arrested. The Army will be tried based on law 10.948/2001, the first law against homophobia in the state which was used as a precedent back in 2003 when two gay men sued Frei Caneca Mall for discrimination after kissing in public. Figueiredo left the Army on June 27, after being arrested twice. His partner Laci Marinho de Araújo is still in jail.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The above articles are in conclusion towards two previous post covering the story about particular Gays In The Military which can be found here and here. F6 also has an extensive LINKS PAGE regarding this topic and many others for your perusal.

I will see you all next Saturday ..... Blessings Along The Journey!