I Confess I was just a little upset about MCC yesterday

Yesterday I wrote kind of a scathing article on Milwaukee Metropolitan Community Church. I guess, to say the least, I was a little upset with the way things are going there. Almost every day I check on Facebook and I check on You- Tube and I check on other websites I check on the LGB T community center, the Pride Fest's website and usually both the Milwaukee MCC Facebook page and also the Queer-church page and the MCC WordPress page. What got me upset was that none of these pages that MCC has up on the Internet has been updated for months at a time. One website was updated only in 2012, now that is just plain pitiful.

As I explained in the previous post I've had some health issues and I don't get out too much anymore most of the information I get is from the Internet and from talking to people on the phone and stuff like that. Thanks to the excellent work of the doctors my spinal surgery was a fabulous success. I still however have hip pain from what I'm told is bursitis and I am going to be scheduling an appointment with the doctor for a cortisone shot which hopefully will help tremendously with alleviating the pain.

Anyway back to the subject of MCC. When I did go to MCC I was quite active in the church. For about eight years I was a Deacon but I gave that up because of all the infighting amongst the deacons in the church. I figured it just wasn't worth all the hassle. Prior to the church buying the building that they now hold services in I had known the Lou Broyles for quite a number years prior to that. I informed Lou that the Unitarian church that I attended from about the beginning of June when the kids graduated from school to the first week in September went on hiatus for the summer. That means there were no church services, so I decided to attend services at MCC during the summer until the time that the Unitarian Universalist church started back up in the fall. I became friends with Lou and he discovered that one of my interests was comparative religion. He asked me to join the church and participate in new member orientation process where I was able to explain the differences between the religion that they had left and MCC. Soon after that Lou decided that we needed deacons to carryout some of the common tasks of the church. My interest besides new member orientation was hospital visitation and jail and prison ministry. Now many of us were a little disappointed when Lou decided that he wanted to get back to his old flame down south and informed us that he wanted to move down there to be with him. Unfortunately while he was visiting down south he had a fatal heart attack and passed away. In the meantime MCC was left without a minister and had hired an interim minister until they could find someone full time.

Just after the new minister was hired I thought it might be a good idea to explain to the new minister about the church  and the people attending church and some of the inner workings of it so she could get a handle on how things would be going. That of course was her first mistake, not wanting to listen to the information I felt would help her new ministry. I really didn't care whether she used the information or not just that she would have it for future reference if she needed it. That to me was a fatal mistake. Soon after I left the church because of all the infighting I found out that she did away with all the deacons in the church and instituted committees. This is not what a leader does. You do not allow the employees to run the business without supervision because they will run it right into the ground. I had suggested that in order to keep people informed of what's going on in the church that they should probably get on Facebook so they can post information on sermons, meetings, classes and other things that would be going on with the church on a timely basis. Apparently shortly thereafter they found out that they could set up a Milwaukee MCC page on WordPress where they could set up of a blog about what was going on. It started out okay but all of a sudden they stopped posting on both of these places and unfortunately information was no longer forthcoming.

As many of you should know by now I am a very outspoken person. I became interested in journalism when I started high school and became the school's chief photographer also writing short captions describing some of the events that I had covered. In 1964 he moved here to Wisconsin where I pursued my interests in electronics and got a job with the General Electric Company as a service technician and customer relations person which I was very good at. Sometime in the late 1980s through a conversation with a fellow photographer I thought perhaps I might be gay and I finally came out. It was during this time that I finally met Terry and Jerry of the Wisconsin light and Michael Lisowski and Dan Fons who hosted the Queer Program. I became close friends with Terry and Jerry and also became one of their photographers and journalists for the newspaper up to the time it finally ceased publication. I suppose by now you're probably wondering what this has to do with MCC? Well I will tell you. My experience with sales and marketing and journalism taught me that to grow a business you need to tell people about what you're doing to grab their interest and to get them to purchase your product, in this case MCC. MCC's failure to get the word out is hurting them dearly. It's hard to keep a church going when you lose members and money to pay your bills. This is why I am pushing so hard to get them to start putting information up on both of their webpages so that they can attract more members and interest in the church and hopefully make it successful.

I always do things for a reason that is why I am writing this article here to force them whether they like it or not to do the right thing. Even though my views have changed I still care about MCC and would like to see it succeed, that's why I do what I do. And no I am not dissatisfied nor I am I that old fart that some people call me. Believe me I made a lot of mistakes in my 68 years and I just don't want to see history repeat itself and that's why I do what I do.
 TT FN  Gary

What's with Milwaukee Metropolitan community Church?

Back in 2008 I was doing security downtown and I was involved in assisting the police in a major homicide which later made the papers. Shortly after the homicide my neck kind of cracked in my left hand and left foot started going numb. I thought perhaps it was the cold weather as I would have to's stick my arm out of the window when it was cold out as I was entering the garage and as I passed certain points I had to hit the scanner to indicate that I checked areas within the different buildings. It kept on getting worse so I decided I would see the doctor to find out what was going on. After a bunch of tests they discovered that what happened was that I had a spinal cord injury and that I needed to have an operation in order to fix the problem otherwise I would've been totally disabled. Needless to say the operation was successful and I was off work for several months. It was at this time that I stopped going to MCC and concentrated on getting back on my feet so to speak. There were several reasons why I decided stop going to the church, not because I didn't like it but because of the infighting that was going on between the deacons. So I told the minister that I was not going to be coming anymore because of this kind of stuff. Later on I found out that she had done away with the deacons. Apparently it was her decision that the congregation would be the ones who would ultimately help to run the church as needed. They instituted committees such as the building and grounds committee the technology committee the music committee the welcoming committee etc. For all practical purposes the only thing left was for the minister to give sermons and that was just about it, everything else was done by the people in the congregation or decided upon by the board of directors as they deemed fit. I did however go to church from time to time but gradually stopped going I think perhaps from loss of interest.

There was a time when I suggested that they start a Facebook page so that they could post any announcements about what was happening at the church or any special events or anything else that was going on to keep people posted on the goings-on of the church. This I thought would be a good way of marketing the church, after all we all know that members tend to come and go and that we need to replenish those that have dropped out to keep the church going and to keep interest high. Unfortunately many of the people that belonged to the church did not seem to be very computer literate, either that or they never checked their computers and never use them. So once the webpage or should I say Facebook page was created they never really updated it and it stayed pretty much static for months and months at a time. This is not good because anybody who would visit the Facebook page by the church would eventually wonder if the church was even in operation. In order to maintain people's interests it is necessary that you keep on posting notices and other things and activities that the church was doing. It would also be a good idea to post the theme of any upcoming sermons that may be of interest to those who would be planning to go to church. I guess soon after that they discovered that they could put up a blog for free using WordPress.com {milmcc.org} witch they did but the page was left unfinished I assume either because of lack of knowledge or interest. This also after a while seem to be abandoned and no new information seemed to ever be posted there on any type of timely basis. Unfortunately they never put a telephone number to be able to contact anybody at the church. There was of course a church telephone (on the facebook { https://www.facebook.com/pages/Milwaukee-MCC/143495165714520} you had to hunt for it in the About area) number which when called was never answered by anyone and only contained a prerecorded message telling people to leave their name and number and at they would get back to them. The problem was that there was never anybody in the church during the week to pick up the phone and to find out who had called nor did they ever bothered to call anybody back leaving the impression to those seeking information that perhaps this also had been abandoned. The church could have used call forwarding to forward all calls made to the church's number so someone would be available anytime to answer any questions or relay information.It seems to me like they only kept the telephone line but never used it which to me is a very sad state of affairs. Another thing is that the facebook page is set up for announcements and NO comments are allowed.

I also get the distinct impression that if you don't go to the church and you don't give them any money or you don't attend anything they don't care about you which is really a shame considering how gay people are treated. Typical of institutional religion. This is not the way I would operate a church. I would encourage people to try to call the number and see what happens because all you are going to get is a prerecorded message and very likely never be called back. Their websites both milmcc.org and queerchurch.org have either a telephone number or a way of responding to anything this put up on the Internet or on Facebook. The only way you can contact them via queer church.org is to fill out a form and whether they will even look at that or answer it is questionable. I Really hate to say it but no wonder it is the way it is, it's a really sad state of affairs but such is life. Unless Milwaukee Metropolitan community Church changes the way they operate I don't see them lasting very much longer within our community. Would you really want to go to a church that didn't care about you? I know I don't.

I suppose if you're going to go to Pride Fest, go to the health and wellness area and ask them why they don't upgrade their websites why they don't tell anybody what's going on why don't they care about the gay community? Or is it just lip-service? We need answers and we want to know what's going on with MCC or are they just incredibly lazy? Inquiring minds would like to know.

Is Marriage all its cracked up to be?

Thoughts on gay marriage

I don't know about you but I really still don't understand what the big deal is about gay marriage. I know I'm probably going to get smashed on this one but I think I am right on a lot of it. First of all a mistake that I don't if I am really gay or not, I like women I do like some men but I'm not into the gay sex thing so maybe that makes me straight well I guess that's the way it is. I consider myself an ally to the gay community and will do my best to defend it. So with that said I just want to give my ideas of what I think about gay marriage.

The first thing out of the mouths of most gay people is that they consider themselves second-class citizens which couldn't be farther from the truth. Dummy, you are gay, get used to it, and you'll always be gay. And I for one do not want to be homogenized into the straight community. Of course I have straight friends, but who doesn't? So are we really second-class citizens? I don't think so. We are who we are and we cannot be changed no matter how hard we try, but why would we want to become straight in the first place? That I really don't understand. After all I enjoy being different and that's who I am, like it or not.

Has any gay person actually looked into marriage? Believe me it's not all it's cracked up to be. The problem is most people are going to say, well we need all of the government protections which to me is bull. It just seems to me that everyone is looking for all the freebies that the government will give you when you get married. It's sort of like the guy who comes up to you and says here is a gift for you, and you think to your self why is he giving me this gift? Certainly there has to be strings attached. Well guess what? There always are and marriage is no exception. After all you are signing a contract between yourself and your spouse and the government and the state. Yes I said the state, because they always have to have their fingers in there somewhere. So long as your marriage is on until we do part (as in die) than everything is hunky-dory. But oh boy if things don't go right and the marriage sours this is when things can get really sticky and not very much fun.

Now here's what happens so hang on to your seats. What usually happens when people get married is that they usually agree to buy a house to live in together usually as tenants in common. Along with that they buy furniture and all the accouterments necessary to run a house. They might keep their old car but then again they might trade it in for new one that both of them may own. What complicates the problem is that because we cannot physically have children and because many of us want to raise a child, we opt for adoption. Again if this is a long term relationship it is all fine and dandy. But what happens when things go sour and divorce is on the horizon? This is the part that most of us don't like because we have to hire a lawyer and file for divorce in court. All of this costs money, lots of it. Not so much if we were lucky enough to have a premarital contract and are smart enough to keep our possessions separate, then divorce could be relatively painless.  Besides the psychological consequences of the separating apart, that believe me is not painless and can cause long term grief. Fortunately in the gay community we don't wind up hating each other unlike what tends to happen with heterosexual divorce cases. And the worst part is when we throw a child into the mix this is where things can go terribly wrong. Hopefully psychologically we do not use a child as a pawn in the divorce proceedings. Both parents must be extremely careful not to bad mouth one or the other in front of the child because this can be detrimental to his or her psychological health long term.

For this reason I think, and this is my own personal opinion, that a living together arrangement (also known as a domestic partnership agreement) is the best solution along with a binding contract concerning finances and what belongs to whom. Of course you're going to have to go to a lawyer for things like power of attorney in case of death and also health care as necessary. In the long run if things don't work out you can always separate without all the underlying expenses that divorce would entail. So my question is, is marriage what it's really cracked up to be?

Point of view

Boy that last post was something. While I guess I was a little upset with what was going on in our community. I tried to give some comments to the LGBT community center However there were a couple of people in there who did not agree to what I had to say. I would get comments like he's an old fart and he doesn't like what we're doing. No it's not that at all. I've been in the gay community long enough to know that we have an awful lot of people who are apathetic and figure if they pay lip-service they can just turn around and go back to what we call business as usual. Am sorry but this not the way you run an organization. The reason that the LGBT community center got in so much trouble is because they did not have enough oversight of their executive director so she ran roughshod over them and brought them to the edge of bankruptcy. And if it wasn't for their action of taking her out of the organization, in other words firing her I don't think the LGBT Ctr. would be what it is today or even be existing. What they did instead was to set up a couple of the so-called community meetings where people were supposed to give their thoughts and ideas to the LGBT Ctr. so that they could improve their operations. Even though I wasn't able to make these meetings because of health reasons I did see or hear what was going on at those meetings. Granted there are things that are LGBT community needs such as project Q, breasts examinations for our lesbian population and other things like that, mainly because I think there's a lot of LGBT people who do not feel comfortable seeing doctors outside of of our own community I suppose it is because of a perceived prejudices within the straight community.

Now a bunch of times I brought up the problem of parking near the LGBT Ctr. mainly because it's atrocious and there really isn't any close parking for people who are mobility challenged. Bus routes do not come close to the building within the about perhaps two blocks which is about the closest that they come, automobile parking is pretty much the same in the closest garage which is kitty corner to the LGBT Ctr. does not provide adequate access. Entrance buy cars from the east side up a steep ramp and the exits are located either on the south side or the west side of the building which of course means that you have to walk all around the building to get to the LGBT Ctr. another problem that I pointed out was access to the building which at first was from the street side and not the alley side which had a incline for people to walk up but there again would be quite a challenge for somebody using a walker or a wheelchair, if not impossible.

Now my suggestion is that they look for a new building where everything can be on one floor that way mobility access would be very good. Also what they need is parking a right next to the building to allow people to get into the building with the least amount of hassle, in other words not have to feed it parking meter or run around the block several times trying to find adequate parking. Now I understand that I said that at this point in time this may be an impossibility for the LGBT Ctr. because of the financial strain that they are currently under so I guess I would not expect this to happen any time soon. But it is something to look forward to in the future.

Lastly I'm wondering if they're doing just lip service to what has been done as far as the community meetings are concerned. The choice of an executive director, as if that will ever happen (pardon the sarcasm) and if and when the bylaws will ever be changed so that the community as a whole has a say so in the operation of their community center. I guess I just wouldn't be saying a this if I didn't care for our community so don't get me wrong or take the wrong message because I definitely do care and I hope you do too.

Why waste my breath ?

That's right, why waste my breath ?  Try as I might to point out obvious problems within the LGBT community I get slammed. So why bother? Like many other people who once were active and eventually got screwed I guess I will join the ranks of the disillusioned and recruse myself from further participation in all things gay. Just wait, your time will come, believe me.

To all those self important narcissists, go screw yourself.

L GB T community center, what's up?

Last Thursday on January 26, 2011 the Milwaukee LGB T community center held a meeting to discuss its future. Now for health reasons I was not able to make the meeting but I still want to know exactly what went on at that meeting. I was assured that at the time that the minutes of the meeting would be published so that those people who could not make the meeting would know what went on. At that time I posted my concerns on Facebook and was told by a person who apparently volunteered to do advertising, marketing and promotion for the centerthat the minutes would soon be published. She indicated that the minutes would be published soon and another person that I know very well and emphatically told me to lay back and chill out. It's been over a week and nothing's happened. Being the impatient soul that I am I called the interim director who indicated also that the minutes would be published. Apparently he really didn't want to talk to me because conveniently in the middle of our conversation indicated to me that there was somebody else on the other line, a common tactic used by people on the phone when they don't want to talk to you or answer any more of your questions because you're delving a little bit too deep and making them very uncomfortable.

I still have questions however that remain unanswered, for instance when Maggie Cage was involved with the center and she demanded that Murrieta Cardenas from the cream city foundation, when she came to inquire about how some money was being spent told Maria to get out, which she did in tears. It wasn't until I and the Wisconsin Gazette inquired about this and other incidents including the $70,000 in debt that was revealed in 2011 auditthat she suddenly resigned her position and was reassigned to the mental health position. Later on as we all know she was fired and is no longer associated with the LGB T Ctr. Unnamed sources who desire not to be named and indicated that the debt has increased to over $100,000. Why the board didn't immediately call Maggie Cage on the floor for her actions is beyond me. As far as I am concerned the complete board is culpable for their actions including the acting interim director. For the LGB T Ctr. to survive a complete new board has to replace the old board. The old bylaws must be thrown out and new bylaws instituted replacing the ones that were not followed. Their self perpetuating board needs to be dissolved and a democratic form of leadership instituted. As a worst-case scenario I think the LG BT center may need to dissolve its corporate status and start over under a new name and a new location. Unfortunately this I think is the only way than LGB T Ctr. can survive.

I understand Diverse and Resilient's decision to cancel negotiations with the possible merger of the LGB T Ctr. I don't think that Diverse and Resilient could handle the monumental debt that it would incur. The fact is that certain fairly wealthy people within our community no longer want to contribute monetarily to the center. Because of the recession many of the grants that the center depended on have dried up also, and contrary to popular belief the rest of the gay and lesbian population don't have as much disposable income as people would like to believe. I really don't believe the fundraising activities that they are trying to institute will be enough to keep the center going.

I do understand that there are certain activities such as Project Q and the breast cancer program are important to our community. The problem is however that many of the other activities that the center supports are duplicated by other organizations. However I do believe that some of these other organizations will in turn suffer if the LGB T Ctr. goes belly up.

A similar situation happened with Action Wisconsinof  when they sturred  up a hornets nest concerning the marriage issue. At the time I was on their board and I told them that they needed to get domestic partnership first, and once they got that then and only then go after the marriage thing. But they wouldn't have it, it was all or nothing and unfortunately now we have nothing because the religious right changed the Wisconsin Constitution banning gay marriage and only making marriage between one man and one woman. Action Wisconsin in order to continue realized  that they had to change their name and location in order to continue operations, which they did. This is what I think would be the next and most logical step for the Milwaukee LGB T Ctr. to do. Believe me I take no pleasure in being a doomsayer but I think that this is the only way our LGB T Ctr. will ever survive. 

Milwaukee LGBT Center Money problems

Why am I not surprised that the LGBT Center has lost over $77,522 ? We do know that parking sucks even after 6PM, so what else has caused this gigantic loss? Could it be that the cost per Square Foot is too much? Or is it a combination of the two? Boys and Girls you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure this one out. Face it, it is a terrible location. Like I said in my blog a few stories down, welcome to the School of Hard Knocks. Just like the failed Visioning Project, its always a bunch of community leaders with gigantic egos who think they know whats best for the community. NOT

The truth is that the space is too expensive and the parking is lousy. We're in a recession, remember? Besides who wants to park two blocks away and deal with all the drunk and rowdy college kids? You have to walk at least a block or two from the nearest bus stop. Don't expect many disabled people to drop in either. This is just east of the entertainment district (lots of bars, performing arts center, Pabst theatre). Project Q may not care, but the rest of us do. Too bad "I Told you so."

Just today the county Exec wants to slash several million dollars from the budget. I think grants are going to be hard to come by unless the economy picks up. That is not going to happen any time soon, you can bank on that. Don't even get me started with Obama's jobs program.

Check my posts on September and October 2010 for more info.

Sage is so screwed, and the Finger Pointing begins

SAGE Milwaukee is so screwed
The SAGE Milwaukee web site is down and guess who owns it? You guessed it, the terminated executive director. He said an Angel ran it and I think I know who that is also. Its a shame that he worked his ass off to build it up and some idiot with a tremendous ego comes along and screws it all up. Congratulations, Board of Directors, you really screwed it up this time. Tell me this, why is it that various people who work their asses off to produce things for our community are eventually screwed by the very people they are trying to help? Taking into consideration the Peter principle or some people have reached their level of incompetence, many others, too many to mention and been horribly screwed over by some narcissistic egomaniacs who think that they know better than anyone else how to run our community, when in fact they don't.

I been around long enough to see organizations destroyed because of the actions of a few because they let their overinflated egos get the better of them. I've seen it with car clubs, I've seen that pride Fest, I've seen it at the Milwaukee Metropolitan community Church, I've seen it happen to LAMM, and now once again I'm seeing it happen at SAGE Milwaukee. And the thing I've noticed the most is the apathy within our community and the cowardliness of the gay press to cover any of it. If anyone thinks I enjoy this, I don't. It is however I believe my duty to expose the sayings and to bring it to the attention of our community, mainly because and I don't know why, I care about it. There are times when I wonder why I'm wasting my time, when I'd like to raise my hands in frustration and turnaround and walk away from everything. Truth be told I cannot do that and that is why I do what I do. Like it or not, somebody has to do it. It makes me mad as hell, and should you too.
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Salvation Army Kettle Time Again

http://www.hrc.org/issues/religion/13450.htm It's not even Thanksgiving and the Salvation Army is starting their Red Kettle Campaign. I don't think I have to remind anyone that this is a very homophobic organization. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, the Salvation Army's position statement on homosexuality has not changed one iota. Most of their scriptures stated in their position statement had been misinterpreted. The 1611 King James version of the Bible and the interlinear Greek English translation and Tanakh commonly known as the Jewish Bible or Torah believe that by our Jewish brethren to be the most accurate translation of the Bible does not contain the word homosexuality in any shape manner or form. Nowhere in the new testament is homosexuality mentioned. Most of the Old Testament talks about man's inhumanity to man in this story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Romans 1:26-27 actually talks about prostitution and not homosexuality or homosexual acts.

Some of the places that the red kettle campaign is located is the Bayshore Mall, Pick & Save (Bay Shore Mall management office telephone number is 332-8136, Chris Jaeter is the general Manager) and Stein's gardens and gifts. Needless to say if you are so moved it is my recommendation that we file complaints with these businesses demanding that they remove these red kettles from their premises. In the meantime stay tuned because there will be more to follow on this blog.

Some thoughts concerning Milwaukee MCC

Here some thoughts concerning Milwaukee MCC

Last Sunday because of my curiosity concerning the ministerial committees I wanted to see if anything changed. The two committees I was interested in were the Technology Committee and the Pastoral Committee. Needless to say I was vastly disappointed with the Technology committee for the following reasons.
The person or persons controlling the websites for the church insist upon using a web authoring tool that is extremely complicated and expensive. I believe this is to ensure that they will be the only ones capable of creating and updating the church's websites.
They have ownership of and control of the domains also assuring that no one will be able to access the websites.
There were several hearing-impaired individuals who are interested in making sermons accessible. Ideas concerning videos were summarily rejected.
In order for people to come back to the website time and time again (weekly) it needs to be changed and updated on a regular basis if that does not happen that is very unlikely that they will ever come back after the very first time. Nothing has changed on either one of the websites and some things should be completely eliminated or deleted from these websites in order for the church to move forwards.
I was also upset by the ministerial committee choosing music for weekly services. A good homilist chooses music appropriate to the homily or sermon. They do not allow anyone else to do this. This caused me to wonder how far in advance the minister prepares the sermons?
Concerning the communion I have several concerns. I understand that you may want to contemporize communion however some people believe that it has been watered down and lost its magic. The magic of communion is this trans-substantiation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. The act of consuming these two items represents a forgiveness of sins, nothing more and nothing less. Now if new people to the church are not familiar with this, then I think it should be part of the membership class. Although different churches do not use the traditional wafers the bread should always be the same. Authenticity is good but Hawaiian bread just doesn't cut it.
Unfortunately the Milwaukee Metropolitan community Church will never grow if things don't change. I realize that you have your own style of effecting change, however that has not happened given the amount of time you have been minister of this church. I think that you need to take a stronger leadership position and insist the stagnant leaders step down and allow fresh blood to replace and revitalize these committees. You must accept the fact that some people will be extremely upset when this happens and some may quit the church entirely. Sometimes change is not always pleasant but necessary. In some circles we call it getting rid of deadwood.
There are times when I take the Devils Advocate position to force people to think and do things they otherwise would not do. I hope that people get mad then perhaps good things will happen. And although I am not a member nor do I intend to rejoin, for some reason I care about the church. I have had many pleasant memories with the church.

There is a method to my madness and always a reason for what I do.

What were they thinking? Or were they?

I really hate to keep on harping about the issue but I just keep wondering what they were thinking of when the signed contract for the new LGB T Ctr. at 252 E. Highland St.? The only thing I can come up with was that they were just looking at the building in the interior and nothing else. No I can't say that the interior isn't fabulous because I really haven't seen it yet, but I am very concerned about parking and especially disabled access to the building, that being the lack of spaces for disabled parking and the appropriate and necessary sidewalk improvements. Not to mention parking in general for those people and especially groups who want to use the building.

I would strongly suggest you drive by the building and pull into what is called Market Street which happens to be a private alley which leads to a private parking garage and not public parking. And if you really want to amuse yourself as you're driving into Market Street carefully read the signs on the east side of the street. You will also note that there is a no parking sign by the City of Milwaukee facing in the wrong direction on the same side of the street. As you read this sign you will notice that there are surveillance cameras overlooking these parking spaces indicating that anyone who is not a tenant will be ticketed and towed. On the front of the building, on Highland Street again all parking in that area is metered parking. Let us not forget that directly across the street is the Milwaukee School of Engineering whose students during season tend to take up every available parking space. Kitty corner from the new LGB T Ctr. is the 1000 N. Water St. structure with eight floors of available parking, access is from the East but in order to exit you must exit from the West or you can walk down the steep incline or take eight stories worth of stairs to exit to the East. Monthly parking for this garage is approximately $100 per month and daily parking is usually about eight dollars a day if you enter before 8 AM and leave before 5 PM. All parking is automated with no attendance available.

The problem is, I have confronted to both Maggie Cage and the operations manager Dave Martin to the LGB T Ctr. and they are notoriously quiet about what is going on with the new facilities. Upon publishing the several articles such as this one I still get no response. Even the gay newspapers the Quest and the Wisconsin Gazette have failed to make any mentions concerning these problems with the new LGB T Ctr. Apparently they are only interested in politics, suicides and entertainment and not much else.

I'm afraid this is going to be one of those "I told you so" stories. Too bad everyone it is turning a deaf ear because unfortunately they have to learn the hard way, so I guess I have to say welcome to the School of Hard Knocks. It's really too bad too because they are past the point of no return and there is no way of getting out of their contract at this point in time. The idea was good but the planning sucks. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Such is life.

The reasons for my journalism

Contrary to popular belief I do not like to stir up controversy. As a journalist and semi-professional photographer ( now learning vidiography) I believe it is my duty when I am made aware of the goings on in our community that may be detrimental that those responsible be held responsible. Publicly exposing possible alleged wrong doing is necessary in order to maintain a healthy LGBT community.

It is unfortunate that the local gay media only concentrates on (besides our current political climate IE. domestic partner and DADT) only the Good News and buries its head in the sand on important issues concerning the egotistical and narcissistic proclivities of its leaders. We must remember that we elected or appointed them as spokesmen and mentors for the organizations they are responsible for. The problem is that Power sometimes goes to their heads and bad things can be the result. Truth be told, many people can not handle Power and that is the reason that we must hold them responsible for their actions.

A prime example comes to mind the New LGBT Center 252 E. Highland St. where there is almost no adequate parking (unless you want to pay a premium to a parking garage) not to mention Disabled Parking or ADA access (yes there is a ramp to the doorway but no marked vehicular space for access front or back) to the building. If my memory serves me right, if more than 30% of the interior of the building is remodeled the rest of it must also be made ADA compliant.

There is virtually no parking on the street nor any marked Disabled parking near the entrance. When MSOE in in session, forget it. Forget about Friday or Saturday evening when all the Bars a block away are loaded with people, not to mention the parking situation. No Gay person in his right mind will want to be there then. I aught to know as an assistant nighttime patrol supervisor I had to patrol that area and can relate first hand what goes on.

Things you didn't know about that new LGB T community center

As you know the LGBT community center is moving from court street. Some of you have gone to the hardhat party and have seen the interior of the building with work in progress. Unfortunately I was not able to go because of these spinal injury and because I was in the hospital getting a pacemaker. Now if you Google the address for the new LGBT Ctr. you can look at it from several angles. The new LGBT Ctr. will be located at 252 E. Highland Ave. directly across some Milwaukee school of engineering and kitty corner from one of those large major garages. The problem is I am very concerned about access to the building and A.D.A. compliance inside the building. Upon speaking with one of the representatives of the old LGBT Ctr. I was informed that instead of using the door on the Highland Avenue side they door around the corner would be used for entry and exit. I was also informed that the upstairs or I should say the second floor will be ADA compliant. According to the specifications when it a building is upgraded more than 35% that all of the building must be ADA compliant. Not just a portion of it.
For the past two years I was a assistant patrol supervisor patrolling four major garages in the downtown Milwaukee area specifically one West and South nearby or should I say kitty corner from the new LGBT Ctr. I can tell you specifically that there is no exit from this building other than from the South side of the building or the Westside from the Performing Arts Center and from the East a very steep ramp. To the east of the new center is the Milwaukee school of engineering parking lot. MSOE does not allow anyone except students to park in a parking lot and if you do you will get ticketed and towed. Most of the parking around MSOE is metered parking and there is very seldom a space available. I was informed that there would be parking on the side of the building apparently where the new entryway is located. I will we have to buzz to get into this one too? I Assume several of these spots will be for disabled parking. The street is basically a cul-de-sac and there is very little parking available.

I was informed that the center has negotiated private parking within one of the structures nearby the center. Exactly who is going to use these parking spaces is a good question. What I don't think anybody realizes is that these negotiated spaces will be used by people who run the center. This eliminates the cost of parking downtown and allows these people access to almost everything downtown (no more meters to plug remember?) because according to them it's all within walking distance. (surprise surprise)Most parking downtown cost no less than $100 per month, and don't even mention those god-awful parking meters something I don't think these people are going to have to pay for ever. This is one of the perks that you and I are going to be paying for through our donations, believe it or not. Where the funding is going to come from for these costly parking spaces is a very good question. And my question is should we be footing the bill for this parking through our donations?

The last thing I would like to point out is that parking in that area is a premium because it is within a block or so of at least 20 bars which are packed solid Friday and Saturday evenings. And I don't know of too many gay people who were going to want to be around during during that time when there are hundreds of rowdy college students in the area. Believe me I know because I had to kick a lot of them out of the garages and break up fights and other stuff like that at closing time. On summer nights the police would cordon off the area and he only way you could go was home. So there you have it, a place I would consider not a very good (think lousy) location with very limited parking and very few answers forthcoming.

Did you hear the LGBT center is moving?

Have you heard the LGBT center is moving?

I am sorry but I have a big problem with that. Actually I have several problems with it. First of all they are moving into an office building across the street from MSOE, 1000 N. Water St. with its attendant parking garage which I am afraid to say does not comply with accommodations for people who are disabled. Not only that but the parking lot east of the building cannot be used for parking because it is part of the Milwaukee school of engineering and they don't allow anyone to park there unless you are a student and have a valid MS O E. parking permit which I am sure none of us will be able to get. I spoke with Patrick Price and Maggie Cage on the telephone and he/she indicated that the first floor was going to be used for for LGB T. group's and project Q. the second floor which he indicated contains the mezzanine will be used by the Galano Club. And from what I can see looking at Google maps using their street view that the third floor will be used for offices for those running it the LGB T. Center.

One of my biggest problems number one is where the building is located, right smack dab in the middle of the entertainment district. You know the area where the performing arts Center is located and about 20 bars frequented by college types FRiday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. Needless to say parking is still a premium. Metered parking is available on the street and at night for free if you can find a parking place. And they indicated that they had negotiated parking spaces with a nearby condominium development. Unfortunately these parking spaces do not comply with the Americans with disabilities act because there are no parking places within a reasonable distance of the entrance to the new center. Once again this building is also on a slight decline, or incline whichever you prefer making it difficult for anyone in a wheelchair to access the front door of the building. The bottom casement of the front door is not even with the cement sidewalk and therefore making it difficult for someone in a wheelchair to enter the building.

Unless you are part of the aging LGB T. community these inconsistencies become a very big problem when it is very difficult for you to negotiate, walk or use a wheelchair to get around. As far as I can see there are no disabled parking spaces nearby. There are also no buses within a reasonable distance of this new center. For this reason many of us will probably never visit the new center. Now if you would like to take the two-hour hardhat tour of the building in June, please be my guest. Anyway I would strongly suggest that anyone should check this out and let our leaders know what you think. Now I know one of the arguments they are going to make is that they want to be accessible to the kids who use project Q., but I ask you how many of these kids live close to the LGBT. Center? Inquiring minds would like to know. Maybe it's time that we form our own LGB T. Tea Party. Just a thought.

Why we don't need to celebrate our relationships at pridefest

If we read in gay history we find that prior to stonewall in 1969 and in prior-years being gay was considered by most people to be an aberration and was unfortunately classified as a psychological problem necessitating institutionalization and some of the most horrific therapies. We were considered to be sexual deviants subject of police raids and incarceration. Then in 1969 something happened at the stonewall inn in New York City with a bunch of female impersonators decided they weren't going to take it anymore, and the riots began and the rest is history.
Years later after the American psychiatric Association dropped homosexuality from the DSM 4 book of diagnostic criteria did we finally decide to celebrate who we are throughout the United States with gay pride celebrations. Somewhere during this time many GL BT individuals and organizations also wanted to celebrate our love for one another and our desire as same-sex couples to protest the laws restricting us from our God-given right to marriage. As a way of publicly protesting many organizations including pridefest decided to hold mass wedding ceremonies as our way to bring our plight to light.

In the meantime many individuals and organizations were pushing within the political arena within many of our capital cities and governmental agencies to push for the right to marry. This in turn caused a backlash within the organized religious communities who collectively worked to ban gay marriage through constitutional amendments starting with Hawaii and continuing across the United States until almost every state banned gay marriage. Although many gay organizations are working to over turn constitutional amendments we still cannot legally marry or be recognized as married couple where we live.

Here in Wisconsin state's constitution has been amended to ban gay marriage. The state and its municipalities no longer recognize a gay marriage. Prior to the state constitution being amended many gay people participated in mass marriage ceremonies at pridefest. After the constitutional amendment was passed a celebration of Mass. marriages celebrated at pridefest dropped dramatically from well over 100 to less than 10. Each year the number had dropped off. As an ordained minister and Deacon for the MCC it has always been my belief that we do not need the government's blessing. If we need anything from the government we can either get it from domestic partnerships or through legal documentation from gay friendly lawyers. It has also been very strongly my belief that a celebration of our partnerships and or commitments are between us and God and not the government. Therefore I highly recommend that we seek out our favorite church to privately celebrate our commitment. We really don't need to do it during the carnival atmosphere of pridefest.

Pants on the floor or your head up your ass?

American Idol song of "Pants on the ground" has really become a hit, but why do some people (pardon my French) walk around with their heads up their asses? Is it just the way they are or are they just plain dumb as hell? Now I've heard arguments for and against questioning someone's credentials. In case of ministers there are two schools of thought. Older ministers especially those from the Bible Belt who were brought up at a very young age preaching the gospel tent meetings will quote the Bible specifically John chapter 15 verse 16 "yet not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain that whatsoever ye shall ask a the father in my name, he may give it you."To validate their credentials of ministry. They sincerely believe that God called them to preach and Shepherd the masses. As we approach the 21st century the call to ministry has changed. People nowadays are much better educated and no longer accept the biblical verses quoted by old-time preachers as validity for the call to preach or being the leader of the church or other religious organization. In order to provide the liturgy and to be ordained as clergy we now insist that that person meets certain educational requirements. Ordination only occurs after satisfactory completion of the curriculum in seminary.
Unfortunately in our society in this day and age there are many dishonest people. Therefore the requirements that a person completes a religious course in seminary has become mandatory. Any person claiming to be a minister would be required to produce some sort of the diploma or other proof of training before they can be ordained by their chosen faith or religious organization. Refusal to do so of course would be reason to refuse any application to any religious order organization.
And although there may be many sincere individuals who would like to become ministers in their chosen faith lack of education and psychological evaluation has become necessary in over to prevent any bad things from happening or anyone with a criminal or psychological impairment from being allowed to practice. I cite the current problems within the Catholic Church with many priests who have not been psychologically evaluated leading to rampant pedophilia within the church's clergy. Unfortunately some people are not psychologically qualified to serve as ministers or clergy. There are also other problems which can and do occur from the self proclaimed clergy concerning the monetary abuse of state and federal tax laws. Unfortunately there are people who abuse the process for their own inurement therefore violating the tax code.
I am not the only one who has challenged certain individuals credentials of ministry. Most of those I have asked have no problem providing proof. Others on the other hand have chosen to not produce evidence here pertain to their ordination or the corporate status of their church as a religious organization as defined by IR code 501(c)(3). It is my personal opinion that anyone who bocks at producing credentials of ministry or organizational information should be in my opinion suspect. Dealing with that organization would be at your own risk.

Rainbow Community Picnic

The rainbow community picnic


Saturday, July 18 was a beautiful day to have a picnic. This was a day the rainbow community picnic was held behind the community center at Washington Park. Placing the picnic area behind the community center allowed for easy access for those with disabilities. The area directly behind the center was paved along with a concrete walk parallel to the picnic area which itself was essentially flat. This year plastic lawn chairs were put out for people to sit in along with maybe about four canvas chairs. You know the ones that once you get into you have a heck of a time getting out of. I should know I own one of them, but I don't use it very often. Picnic a tables were set up in several rows with tents covering all of them in case mother nature should decide to sprinkle on us. The weather cooperated and the temperature was perfect with very little breeze. There were the usual hot dogs and hamburgers, sausages and brat worst and veggie burgers and every kind of salad you could think of and then some. Dessert consisted of pies and cakes and cookies of every description. Enough I believe to feed an army. Conservatively my estimate of the number of people was at least 75 and perhaps more. The youngest person there was one year old and the oldest was 94. Games were set up for the kids consisting of balls on strings that would be tossed onto a stand made of plastic tubing. My guess is that the person who was able to get the most balls onto the stand would be winner. So if you didn't go you missed a wonderful time great food and great people.

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Where were you Mr Witlowiak?

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/47533542.html

Where were you
Alderman Witkowiak ?

When two officers were shot yesterday in front of two gay bars on the south side. And don't tell me you were too busy to come down here along with the chief of police the mayor in the district attorney. Why is it so hard to show up in person rather than issuing a written statement which to us means nothing other than the fact that you don't care about what happens in this neighborhood.

Why isn't Mr. Witkowiak out there asking the common Council for additional resources for the addition of funds in his district which is impacted by an excessive amount of violence? In my opinion you are not doing the job you are elected to do and if it were up to me you would never be elected again. So let's stop sitting on our butts and get going and do something about what's happening. I talked to a person in your office who said that this was only an isolated incident and not to worry about it. What kind of response is that? It's obvious to me that you and the people your office don't care about what's going on in your district, and you should. Shame on you Mr. Witkowiak and shame on the people in your office and especially you at this important time for not showing up in person.

Please answer one more last question. Why does this chief of police and the mayor of Milwaukee have to be the ones that are doing the job that you should be doing? After all you're supposed to be a spokesman for this district.

Announcing pridefest celebration of our commitments

Things are changing at pridefest this year. Gone is the mass marriage ceremony instead in its place is a ceremony honoring our relationships. As we all are aware constitutional amendments were made several years ago preventing us from celebrating the institutional churches monopoly on marriage. And although we have made strides in various states throughout the union that are now recognizing gay marriage but we still have a long way to go. I personally don't believe in the institution of marriage, it is antiquated, it is restrictive and no longer relevant. Way back when I was on the board of Action Wisconsin I said that if we wanted marriage we must first get Domestic Partnerships and once we get our foot in the door then and only then do we go after the institution of marriage, because by then we will have gotten 99% of the benefits that marriage offers. We must also remember that marriage or the institution thereof is between ourselves and God and not between us and the government. Apparently most of us have forgotten that or ignored it at the worst. I know that many of you will disagree with my sentiments but unfortunately it is the truth.

I am extremely happy to present to you here Pridefests new celebration of our commitment which will be presented by the Universal Angelican Church presided by the Right Rev. Bishop Craig Berglund. I have included the YouTube announcement for your edification.