Give Bush the Boot! A Leather Life look at this year’s elections

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #242, September 3, 2004)

We interrupt this leather column to bring you an important emergency announcement. It’s time to Give Bush the Boot! I hope this phrase becomes a rallying cry throughout the leather community as Election Day draws near.

In 2000 I wrote some humorous columns looking at the last presidential-election campaign season from a leatherman’s point of view. Now it’s four years later and time to elect another President of the United States. This time I’m not laughing. I’m infuriated. So this column features me as a leather Paul Revere. My proclamation: The country has been hijacked, and in November we have a chance to get it back. To arms! To arms! Or, more accurately for the current situation: To the polls! To the polls!

I am not a terribly political person, although I am a consistent voter at election time. But prior to this year I had never attended a precinct caucus. Prior to this year I had never made a contribution to a presidential election campaign. This year I have done both. If there ever was a time to become politically active, this is the year. And the most important way to be politically active, and one of the easiest as well, is to vote.

Chuck Renslow, founder and Executive Producer of the International Mr. Leather contest, got a 30-second ovation when he proclaimed from the stage of this year’s contest: “We must defeat George Bush!” Here are some excerpts from that speech:

“When it comes to helping one another in times of crisis, our community has set the standards. We developed them by necessity, as we fought AIDS that devastated our community—without any government help. We learned to unify. We built our own institutions, with our own money. We learned to fight for our lives. And we learned compassion.

“Four years ago, George Bush told us that he was a compassionate conservative. The horrors of 9/11 notwithstanding, as we approach another election we’ve seen a fistful of conservativism, but compassion barely drips from his lips. Through the politics of fear, the politics of hate, using blame and division, this administration has one purpose: to impose George Bush and his views of democracy on the rest of the world.

“We are under attack, my friends. At stake is our very lives. As gay men and lesbians, our lives are meaningless to [this administration]—even moreso as leathermen and leatherwomen. The man proposed constitutional amendments to divide gays and lesbians from the rest of the nation.

“George Bush doesn’t know us. He has no idea how we banded together to fight AIDS for the common good. He has no idea how much energy we put into electing officials who aren’t afraid to say “gay” instead of “homosexual.” And apparently, he has no idea that he wasn’t elected with a mandate. He wasn’t even elected!

“Tonight I stand here to tell you that once again you must fight, and once again you must fight for your very lives. For the future of what it means to be gay in the United States of America, and as a result in the entire world, you have a duty to defeat George Bush. Much more, you have a duty to go back to your communities and convince more people how vital and important it is to defeat George Bush. In this election, the leather community must spread the word to the entire gay community, to the lesbian community, to the transgender community, to the bisexuals, and to every corner of the straight community. It’s time to unify, and it’s time, for the common good, to defeat George Bush!”

Well said, Mr. Renslow, and thank you for saying it. But it goes further—the presidency, while important, is only one part of the picture this election year.

Right now in this country the political landscape appears to be split almost right down the middle. Republicans have a president in power who actually lost the popular vote, a slight margin of control in the House of Representatives and a very slight margin of control in the Senate. (In Minnesota, Republicans control the governor’s office and the state House of Representatives). To echo Mr. Renslow, the Republicans have been acting and governing as if they had a lot more public support than they actually do.

This year, in addition to the presidency, every single seat in the United States House of Representatives is up for election, as are 34 seats in the United States Senate. Without a change to a significant Democratic majority in both the House and Senate it will be much more difficult for a newly-elected President Kerry to clean up the mess that’s been made of the country and the world in the last four years. So voting is especially important this year in this area, too.

And then there’s the matter of appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts. We can all be grateful that Bush has not had a chance to make any Supreme Court appointments so far, because the other federal court judges he has appointed have been almost uniformly far to the right, politically speaking, which makes them disasters for groups like women, minorities—and us.

In the next four years, however, Supreme Court justice appointments will very likely be necessary. Whoever is president therefore will make decisions that will continue to affect our lives for years after he has left office. We cannot afford to let George Bush make those appointments. On the other hand, the more I hear of Kerry the more I like him, and at this point I would definitely trust him to make those appointments.

Then, closer to home, there’s the matter of elections for state legislature seats and, in some states, executive offices. They too are extremely important, considering the current economic and political climate.

It’s time for a change, and what’s really needed is a big change. When the two sides of the political equation are seemingly so evenly matched, every vote becomes that much more important because each vote has the potential to break the deadlock, shift the balance and make the two sides not so evenly matched. If we don’t like the direction in which the country has been going, we must speak loudly and clearly with our votes to offer a real mandate for doing things differently.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the country’s future, the world’s future, and your and my future all depend on the outcome of this election. It’s also not an exaggeration to say that Lavender readers, and other people like us, potentially represent a significant voting bloc. Between the supposed 10% of the population that’s GLBT, and the seemingly-increasing percentage of the population getting in touch with their inner kinkster, we represent a lot of potential power—but only if we actually use it!

So—please—vote to Give Bush the Boot! Get registered to vote if you aren’t already. (Now would not be too soon to register.) If you’re going to be traveling on election day, make arrangements for an absentee ballot. None of this is difficult, and it’s worth the effort. For information on voting, registration and absentee ballots in Minnesota visit < www.sos.state.mn.us/election/faq.htm>.

A postscript: if you are a member of the GLBT or kink communities who for some inexplicable reason supports Bush and his cronies (it’s amazing, but there are a few)—please examine your motives and priorities here. An an example, perhaps you feel you have benefited from the current administration’s economic policies—but is that worth giving up civil liberties? If you admire Bush because you think he’s “tough on terrorists”—in some right-wing corners, members of the GLBT and kink communities are seen as equally terrifying and threatening. What happens if you and people like you are the next target in the “war on terror”? When you consider the chilling possibilities you might find yourself reconsidering who you support.

Hey, Mr. Producer! (I’m Talking to You, Sir!

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #241, August 20, 2004)

What do you get when you cross a leatherman and a show-tune queen? You get your humble columnist. Sometimes I view the world through leather-colored glasses and sometimes through the lens of musical theater. When I combine these two ways of seeing the world, things can get interesting.

I’ve seen (or been part of) some really good leather fantasies over the years. (Just to remind you, the word “fantasy” in a leather context connotes an erotic skit—see last issue’s column). But I’d like to see the concept taken to the next level. I’m talking about more than skits here—I’m talking about a full-blown leather musical revue.

This stage production I’m proposing was inspired by “Fantasy,” the Omaha-based festival of fantasies that was created and produced for several years by Dustin Logan and Bob Ewing. “Fantasy” was a revolutionary idea for its time: an evening of fantasy performances for the sole purpose of entertainment, not as part of a competition.

“Fantasy” was thoroughly enjoyable, and I miss it. Hence the desire to not only bring it back, but to take the concept and make it big, and accessible to a broader audience as well. I have had this idea for a long time. For now it’s just a closet (you should pardon the expression) musical revue, but I dream that one day I’ll actually see it on stage. Read, and fantasize along with me.

The show starts with a big opening number in which the cast of characters invites the audience into their somewhat dark but fascinating world. What follows touches on as many different fetishes and scenes as can be crammed into an evening in the theater.

After the opening the show dives right into “It’s Raining Men,” a watersports number for the yellow-hankie crowd—simulated, of course (wink wink).

“Electrician Blues,” performed to the classic naughty blues song of the same name, includes both TENS-unit and violet-wand play (on a dim or dark stage to enhance the spectacle). The same performer later sings “Dentist Blues,” as made famous by Bette Midler: “You thrill me/When you drill me/And I don’t need no Novocaine today!”

“The Teddy Bear Picnic” is sung and danced sweetly and innocently by a stage full of hunky, furry bears. Here’s a sample of the lyric: “Beneath the trees where nobody sees/They’ll hide and seek as long as they please/’Cause that’s the way the teddy bears have their picnic.”

A tango number: A spotlight shines on the bare back of a man wearing black leather pants and a harness. He starts to slowly revolve to face the audience, and we see that it’s—Dan Chouinard! (His accordion is attached to the harness.) Chouinard plays “Kiss of Fire” (including the lyrics “If I’m a slave, then it’s a slave I want to be!”) while a couple performs a combination of tango and fireplay. (Chouinard and the dancers are brought back later for Tom Lehrer’s “The Masochism Tango.”)

A comic number: “I Want To Be Happy (But I Won’t Be Happy/’Til I Make You Happy Too),” from No, No, Nanette!, sung by an eager-to-please top to a jaded bottom. Following this is a non-comic dance interlude to the same song, featuring something I’ve always wanted to see onstage: an all-male synchronized dance line in full black leather and boots with taps on them. (Which leather company will get all the publicity that will come from supplying the leathers for the dance line?)

Whipmaster Robert Dante shows off his amazing whipping skill and technique, including his famous black-light whipping.

“Treat Me Rough,” originally a mapcap comic number from “Girl Crazy” by the Gershwins, is reworked with slight changes to the lyrics to be a sensual, sultry number in the style of 1930s Berlin.

A gay-male version of the 1964 hit by the Shangri-las, “Leader of the Pack,” is sung and dramatized by a male doo-wop group in black leather.

Another amazing dance number: synchronized flogging, combining flogging with tap dancing or Irish or American clog dancing (clogging while flogging!). Then the lights go down for something I recently saw at a run: flaming floggers, a combination of flogging and fireplay.

No revue is complete without a tear-jerker. In this case it’s Al Jolson’s classic “Sonny Boy,” reworked for the continuing age of AIDS (including a safe-sex message, of course).

Sung by either a boy or a slave, Cole Porter’s “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” includes the formerly-censored lines following “My Daddy, he treats it so well”: “He treats it, and treats it, and then he repeats it.”

And finally, the big finish (known in the trade as the “eleven-o’clock number”): “Leatherella,” in which our hero wants to go to the run but is forced by his Wicked Daddy and Stepbrothers to stay at home—after polishing all their leathers and boots. Fairy GodDaddy appears and produces a complete leather outfit and a Harley to go to the run. After meeting the Handsome Titleholder, Leatherella is forced to make a quick getaway on the Harley, which at the stroke of midnight turns into a unicycle (or a Segway—whichever would get more laughs). Next day the Handsome Titleholder comes calling with the boot that Leatherella left behind. You can figure out the rest.

Where to find the people to make this dream a reality? To quote a Stephen Sondheim lyric from Follies (with added leather emphasis): “Hey Mr. Producer/I’m talking to you, SIR!” You don’t suppose there are any theater producers in the leather community, do you? Or directors, choreographers, actors, dancers, technicians, set designers, costume designers, etc.? Or any angels/backers out there to finance it?

I can see it now—it opens in the Twin Cities and goes on to play Chicago (with an excerpt as the opening number at IML), Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York before becoming a Las Vegas perennial at the newly-opened Caesar’s Dungeon (built just for the show).

For now, it’s just my fantasy. Could it be a reality someday? To paraphrase Bloody Mary in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific: “You got to have a fantasy/If you no have a fantasy/How you gonna have a fantasy come true?”

Fantasy Land

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #240, August 6, 2004)

Fantasy is to the leather community what community theater is to the masses. A leather fantasy is a skit built around leather/BDSM themes and usually, but not always, performed as part of a leather contest. It is the leather community’s theater. I have seen some that were splendid, many that fell short of the mark, and more than a few that were utterly embarrassing. Generally, what made them embarrassing was that they were done with no regard for basic acting, stagecraft and storytelling practices.

My colleague, Robert Davolt, recently wrote an essay (Myth #48 in his “Myths & Mysteries of Leather” series) that was critical of the entire concept of fantasies. While I can’t argue with what he wrote (Argue with Robert Davolt? Are you kidding?), I submit that a little community education could go a long way toward raising the entertainment level of leather fantasies.

Prepare to be educated. Here are some helpful tips for those contemplating the presentation of a fantasy.

It’s theater. This is the time to dust off your high-school or college or community theater knowledge. You didn’t get the theater gene? Then get someone who’s theatrically literate to help you. You need to know at least the elementary rules of stagecraft to present a fantasy that works.

This time it’s all about you. Keep the focus on you, the contestant. I once saw a fantasy in which a gentleman was escorted to a barber’s chair, where his body disappeared under a barber’s cape and his face disappeared under lather. Then the barber exhibited his shaving, bondage and flogging skills. If I were judging I would have given the barber high marks—but it wasn’t his fantasy. The contestant was the invisible guy in the chair who didn’t really do anything. Moral: Keep the best lines for yourself.

Faces are more interesting than backs. There are few fantasies worse than five minutes of uninterrupted flogging during which nothing else happens. The only way to make a more deadly fantasy is to have both flogger and floggee keep their backs to the audience for the entire five minutes. If you must do a flogging fantasy, consider positioning yourself and your co-stars in such a way that the audience can see your faces and your facial expressions.

It’s supposed to be entertaining. Five minutes of unremitting flogging is not entertaining. Think of television—quick cuts for attention-span-challenged viewers. On stage it isn’t possible to be quite that manic, but one rule of thumb I’ve heard (thank you, J.D. Laufman) is this: Something—the music, the lighting, an entrance, an exit, a prop—should change every fifteen seconds.

Say it with music. Use music to support and enhance the fantasy’s action. Consider changing or varying the music throughout the fantasy rather than having one song or one droning rhythm track the whole time you’re onstage. And please, please be sure the soundtrack tape or CD is of good recording quality and has smooth edits and transitions between selections. If you don’t know how to make a good mix, find someone who does and let them help you.

Try not to say it with words. Microphones for spoken dialogue during fantasies can be a production headache, and voiceovers on the music tape or CD often turn to indecipherable mush. And what about those in the audience who are hearing-challenged or non-English-speakers? If no one can understand what is being said, the point of the fantasy can be lost. Consider instead telling the story without words. If you absolutely must use words, do the necessary planning and testing to make sure they will be understood. (See one contestant’s success story below.)

The biggest prop wins. I have seen it time and again—the elegant minimalist fantasy loses out to the ham-fisted one because the latter includes a 10-foot rope spider web, a 12-foot condom or a 15-foot gallows. (This is known in the trade as a “wow factor.”) But big props have to be designed, constructed and transported to the theater or bar where the fantasy is being performed. They cause all kinds of headaches for the contest production staff who have to move them onstage for the fantasy and offstage again afterward. Contestants who have to ship big props for long distances are at a disadvantage compared to contestants who are relatively close to where the contest is being held. Consider building props that look big but are lightweight, collapsible and portable.

Or consider using other “wow factors” like good storytelling and presentation. At this year’s Mr./Ms Olympus Leather Contest, contestant (and writer) Toni Pizanie’s fantasy consisted of standing on stage and reading a piece she had written—the story of how she came to be on that stage that evening. No big props, no throbbing music, nothing changing every fifteen seconds. Just words—but she was charming, spoke clearly and had a good story to tell. And she had that audience in the palm of her hand. (It helped that she also had a good sound system at her disposal.)

Use simple lighting. Find out what kind of stage lighting flexibility will be available—you may be limited to “on” or “off.” (If you’re lucky you’ll have a spotlight to work with.) The time to discover this information is while you’re planning your fantasy, not when you get to the theater or bar to present it.

The contest production staffers are your friends. Treat them nicely—their efforts are going to make you look good onstage (or not). Make their job as easy as possible, and your job will be easier, too.

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Rehearse before you get to the venue and, if possible, rehearse on the stage where you will be performing the fantasy. Don’t think that not rehearsing will make the fantasy look “spontaneous”—not rehearsing will more than likely make it look amateurish.

Prepare for the unexpected. No lights? No sound? Missed entrance? The show must go on, so make contingency plans. This also applies to other people appearing in the fantasy who become ill, props that are lost in shipping, soundtrack tapes that are mysteriously erased—have understudies and alternative props available and carry duplicates of soundtrack tapes or CDs. If you ship props or costumes, plan ahead so that you ship them with plenty of time to spare.

It’s not a scene, it’s a fantasy. It’s not about you getting off onstage, it’s about you entertaining the audience (and, if you’re lucky, getting them off). Keep your priorities in perspective here.

Finally: Know what reaction you’re trying to inspire. International Ms Leather 1995 Pat Baillie once explained to me the effects a good fantasy can have on an audience: it can “make ’em hard” (or, based on gender, “wet”), “make ’em laugh, or make ’em think.” You get extra points for doing two of the above; come up with a fantasy that does all three and you stand a good chance of winning the category, if not the contest.

Leather Lens: Minnesota Leather Pride 2004

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #239, July 23, 2004)

With presentations spread over a ten-day period, this year’s Minnesota Leather Pride celebration was the most ambitious ever. Months of planning paid off with a series of well organized and well attended events. Here are a few scenes from the celebration.

Friday evening, June 18: The official kick-off to Minnesota Leather Pride 2004 was a trampling demonstration, featuring the trampling talents of Sharina Nicole and slave michael, at the Minneapolis Eagle. (Sharina and michael also gave a trampling workshop on Tuesday, June 22 during which this photo/these photos were taken.)

Saturday evening, June 19: A Floggapalooza, featuring four simultaneous flogging scenes, was held at the Minneapolis Eagle.

Sunday afternoon, June 20: It was Father’s Day, so it was appropriate that the ever-amazing Amanda Wildefyre, right, presented a “CBT for Daddy’s Day” workshop. (“CBT” stands for cock-and-ball torture.) To Amanda’s left is one of her two willing victims, David Coral (aka Jazz Thomas)—who, that afternoon, also learned how to mount and dismount a trapeze.

Tuesday evening, June 22: Trampling isn’t just for spike heels. Here, at the aforementioned trampling workshop, Mr. Minneapolis Eagle 2004 Carl Byrd tries trampling David Coral (aka Jazz Thomas).

Tuesday evening, June 22: David Coral (aka Jazz Thomas), who was having a busy week, presented a body-punching workshop using International Mr. Leather 2003 John Pendal as the punching bag. (Pendal later returned the favor.)

Sunday morning, June 27: A gentle rain did not stop the Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride Parade—or the 75-foot leather pride flag—from making its annual trek up Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis.

Sunday morning, June 27: Cleo Dubois, left, and Fakir Musafar, right, are shown here watching the Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride parade. The duo had a busy week as presenters and participants in this year’s Minnesota Leather Pride. On Wednesday evening, June 23, they were part of a “Leather Spirituality” roundtable discussion at The Town House in St. Paul. On Thursday, June 24 they presented a workshop on “The Magic of Temporary Piercing” and followed it up with “Spirit+Flesh,” an all-day workshop/body ritual on Saturday, June 26

Sunday afternoon, June 27: This year Minnesota Leather Pride had an official booth, complete with cage, at the Pride Festival in Loring Park.

Life After the Leather Contest

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #238, July 9, 2004)

It happens every year about this time. There are over 50 contestants for the International Mr. Leather (IML) contest on Memorial Day weekend in Chicago. One of those contestants is chosen as the new IML. Many of the other contestants go home from the weekend asking themselves varying versions of the same questions: Why didn’t I win? What did I do wrong? What could I have done better? What could I do better next time?

Actually, these questions are part of the aftermath of every leather contest everywhere, all through the year. The person asking them could be either the winner of a local or regional contest who is considering what is necessary to get ready for the next level of competition, or one of the contestants who didn’t win.

There are many who are only too willing to step into the void created by these questions and dispense advice either to someone who has lost a leather contest or to someone who just won one and is advancing to the next level of competition. Usually the advice they dispense is on the order of “You’re perfect, now just change everything about yourself and you’ll be even more perfect.” They then proceed to tell the person to “go on a diet, change your hairstyle, buy all new leather, spend 60 hours a week at the gym, take steroids, get plastic surgery, and get rid of your partner because you’ll be more tempting if it’s known you are single, and therefore available.” Incredible as it may sound, I am not exaggerating here.

The point of leather contests is not to find a Henry Higgins top so that one can play an Eliza Doolittle bottom. A contest can be the occasion for “Extreme Leather Makeover,” but only if that’s what the contestant wants to do. On the other hand, I have known people (including myself) who have felt they wanted to make some more moderate changes, and entering a contest or winning a contest and advancing in competition was as good an excuse as any to make them. With motivation like that, there’s a good chance that positive changes will occur, and that the changes will last even after the competition is over.

If you absolutely insist on asking someone for a critique of your performance during a contest and suggestions for possible improvements—ask the judges. For two reasons, they are in the best position to give you realistic feedback about how you did: They’re the ones who scored you, and they were there during the whole contest including any private interviews. Anyone who was not a judge and was therefore not present during all segments of the contest can only guess at the thought processes the judges went through to arrive at their scores. Be aware that the judges aren’t obligated to provide this service, but if you ask nicely they may. Be grateful for any feedback they offer, and thank them for taking the time to offer it.

Instead of, or in addition to, asking someone else what improvements could be made to become a stronger competitor, I challenge people to spend some time looking back at their contest experience and think about questions like these: When during the contest weekend did I feel most comfortable? What during the weekend made me feel uncomfortable or unsure of myself? What do I think I did really well? What do I think I could have done better? Which of the other contestants impressed me—made me think to myself, “That was really good. I wish I could do that. I want what they have”?

Don’t just think about these questions—write them down, and then write down your answers to them. Those answers will point out to you both your strengths and the areas in which you want to improve. Take pride in your strengths, make plans for making the improvements you want to make, and then follow those plans.

Perhaps you know you will be advancing in competition, perhaps you’re just thinking about entering another contest sometime, or perhaps you’ll never compete again. It doesn’t matter—you can still benefit from the insight gained by the above exercise.

Now, about that issue of competing in the future: IML competitors have already won titles in other contests; now that the IML competition is over they can turn their attentions to serving their communities until it’s time for them to step aside and turn the title over to their successors.

But what about people who, although they have competed, have never won a contest and therefore have no title? Well, during your contest preparation you probably did some thinking about what you would do with a title if you won. Would you have volunteered for a cause you believe is important? Would you have raised money for charity, helped to plan leather events, started a leather-related web page? Whatever it might have been, you are hereby cordially invited to do it anyway.

If you want to, you can find ways to contribute to your community whether you have a title or not. Don’t wait for a title to supposedly confer legitimacy and credibility on your efforts—get involved now. Your community will be a better place, and you’ll feel good because you’re helping to make it that way.

As a bonus: if you compete in some future leather contest, anything you do now will certainly look good on your application. Or you might find, as did your humble columnist, that you become so involved in serving the community that you never get around to entering another contest.

Sex, Drugs and Hard Bodies: Tony Mills at the Saloon

(Article published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #237, June 25, 2004)

Dr. Tony Mills, a medical doctor treating patients living with HIV, is a long-term HIV survivor himself. He’s International Mr. Leather 1998 and a model for Colt Studios.

With credentials like that, it was no surprise that on Thursday, June 10, about 100 people packed the dance floor of The Saloon in Minneapolis to hear Dr. Mills discuss “Sex, Drugs and Hard Bodies.” A light dinner was served before Mills’ presentation.

Dr. Mills is Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at the UCLA School of Medicine and is also in private practice (<www.TonyMillsMD.com>). During his year as International Mr. Leather Dr. Mills was asked by HX, a magazine for gay men in New York City, to write an article on men’s health issues.

That led to his first men’s health presentation before an audience, which occurred at New York City’s Splash bar. Now, several years and many presentations later, Mills was in Minneapolis to deliver his take on the health issues concerning men today.

Mills started by talking about “Sex,” sharing with the audience the latest information on sexually-transmitted diseases including AIDS/HIV, gonorrhea, Chlamydia, syphilis and drug-resistant staph.

The next segment of Mills’ presentation, “Drugs,” dealt with ketamine (‘K” or “Special K”), GHB, crystal meth and other popular but problematic party substances. The “Hard Bodies” portion of the discussion dealt with the use of testosterone and anabolic steroids.

Other topics of discussion included poppers, erectile-dysfunction remedies such as Viagra/Levitra/Cialis, and the need for people living with HIV to be aware of cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary health issues.

Bill Burleson, representing the HIM Program of the Red Door Clinic, noted that Dr. Mills had given another presentation earlier in the day for health professionals. Burleson said he was impressed with Dr. Mills’ “client-centered” approach to AIDS/HIV and other health issues.

Another compliment for Dr. Mills came from medical student Mark Dunham: ‘I wish we had such good presentations in medical school.”

Also on hand for the evening were representatives of the organizations that made the presentation happen: pharmaceutical manufacturer Abbott Laboratories (which has also underwritten other talks by Dr. Mills) and area men’s health groups Project Positive (Clinic 42/Abbott-Northwestern Hospital), HIM Program (Red Door Clinic, Minneapolis), Pride Alive/Minnesota AIDS Project, Pillsbury House Communities, Minneapolis Urban League, Minnesota Soul Essence and the Minnesota Department of Health.

PHOTO: Dr. Tony Mills, right, with Kevin Sitter, a representative of Project Positive/Clinic 42, Abbott Northwestern Hospital.

Lambda Legal Publishes Little Black Book; What To Do If You’re Arrested While Cruising

(Article published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #237, June 25, 2004)

Spring is almost here. For some men, that means the outdoor cruising season will soon begin.

Unfortunately, whether outdoors or indoors, cruising for man-to-man sex in public or semi-public places carries with it the danger of police harassment.

Little Black Book, a new one-page publication by Lambda Legal, tells men who have sex with men what to do—and what not to do—if they are harassed or arrested while cruising.

The publication is part of a major national campaign by Lambda Legal to fight police harassment and other harms men face when cruising for sex.

Plans call for Little Black Book and its Spanish-language companion, El Librito Privado, to be distributed both in print and online through links on high-traffic websites catering to men who have sex with men.

According to Michael Adams, Director of Education and Public Affairs at Lambda Legal, “There have been many cases where police have entrapped men or intimidated them into giving up their rights.”

This happens in part because many gay men taken into police custody do not know their basic civil rights, and therefore allow them to be trampled upon by prosecutors or the police.

In some cases, according to Adams, police and local prosecutors inappropriately use laws, such as sodomy laws, that have been struck down and are no longer on the books.

Besides being a good primer on those basic civil rights, Little Black Book debunks many longstanding cruising myths.

For example, men who leave their driver’s license at home or in the car when they cruise might want to reconsider that habit. The publication notes that if you’re arrested, “Providing your ID (driver’s license, green card, passport) may decrease your chances of spending time in jail, especially if you don’t have a criminal record.”

Another example in Little Black Book might come as news to many men: “A cop doesn’t have to tell you he’s a cop, even if you ask.” Even if the undercover officer is hitting on you (rather than you unwittingly hitting on a cop), the publication notes that entrapment is difficult to prove.

Lambda Legal represented the plaintiffs in Lawrence and Garner v. Texas and scored a major victory when, as a result of that case, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all laws banning consensual sex by adults in private, including oral and anal sex.

However, there are still many other laws on the books that can be used against men busted while cruising, such as laws against sex in public, laws against adultery or prostitution, or laws against criminal transmission of HIV.

The stakes can be high for men arrested while cruising. The publication notes that a conviction, or even simply being arrested, can result in a fine, jail time, forfeiting property, having to register as a “sex offender,” and can have consequences affecting military or immigration status, employment, licensing or child custody.

Many men panic when they are arrested. According to Little Black Book, that’s one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Other things to avoid are “trying to get it over with quickly by ‘confessing,’ trying to talk your way out of the problem, or trying to deal with the police on your own.”

Lambda Legal instead advises men who are arrested while cruising to remain calm and provide identification but to answer no questions without a lawyer. And not just any lawyer—”Your lawyer should be a criminal defense attorney, who understands the law and the courts where the arrest occurred.”

The full text of Little Black Book and El Librito Privado can be viewed and downloaded as a PDF file at Lambda Legal’s website (<www.lambdalegal.org>). The publication is being distributed to LGBT community centers, HIV/AIDS organizations that do safer sex programming, community-based health organizations and gay and lesbian national hotlines.

Plans call for banner ads linking to Little Black Book on the websites of various non-profit groups serving the LGBT and HIV communities. In addition, links to the publication will be placed on the home pages of high-traffic websites including Badpuppy, Cruising For Sex and Kinky Personals.

Yahoo groups that will post a link to Little Black Book on their homepages include Best Gay Sex Spots, Best Gay Sex Places, New York City PozQueers and Mano a Mano.

Lambda Legal is the oldest and largest non-profit legal organization devoted to advancing civil rights for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, the transgendered and people with HIV or AIDS. Founded in 1973, the organization is headquartered in New York City and maintains four regional offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas.

Lambda Legal Offers Help Desk

One popular community service provided by Lambda Legal is a Help Desk. During certain hours Lambda Legal staff respond directly to callers seeking legal information and assistance with sexual orientation- and HIV/AIDS-related discrimination. The organization says it receives many Help Desk calls from men looking for legal assistance after being arrested or harassed by the police while cruising.

To the extent that the organization’s resources and priorities allow, Lambda Legal takes on legal representation of callers whose situations present significant litigation issues. For many others, Lambda Legal provides leads to other organizations and practical information that might help them address their problems.

Minnesotans can call the Help Desk at Lambda Legal’s Midwestern Regional Office in Chicago at 312-663-4413. Hours (Central Time, subject to change) are Tuesdays 1-3:30 P.M., Wednesdays 2-4:30 P.M. and Thursdays 10:30 A.M.-1 P.M.

Spanish Help Desk assistance is available Wednesdays 10 A.M.-noon by calling the South Central Regional Office in Dallas at 214-219-8585.

Lambda Legal says it greatly prefers to offer Help Desk assistance by telephone. If this is impossible, however, individuals can send an e-mail to <legalhelpdesk@lambdalegal.org>. It is very important to include in the e-mail the city and state where the incident occurred, so that the organization can refer to the laws of the correct jurisdiction.