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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 2005)
jUMt OUt * October 7. 2005 DIVERSIONS berkshire snow presents .......................... ▼..................... Someday, they will call Dylan the Ferron of the ’601” From left, Mark Hollywood, Don Hood and Alycia Day are vying for titles on the Imperial Sovereign Rose Court. Courting votes clinton st. theater 2522 se clinton st., portland wed, oct 19 • Bpm S18/advance • S20/day of show ticketswest (800) 992-8499 • (503) 224-8499 www.ticketswest.com (subject to service charge) Two gay Portlanders are running for Imperial Sovereign Rose Court Emperor XXXII. Mark Hollywood has been involved with the court system since 1988 and has helped raise thousands of dollars that have been given back to the community by ISRC. He held the titles of Mr. Gay Portland in 1995 and Mr. Gay Oregon in 1998 and once produced a cable access show. He also sits on the board of direc tors for Sweethearts of Portland, a nonprofit devoted to raising funds for other charitable organizations. He is mnning on a platfonn seeking “unity within all the charities and organizations. We can all work together for the same cause, work with the youth, nurture and teach them.” Don Hood, who served in the U.S. Army for a decade, has lived in Portland for eight years and has been involved with ISRC for five years, serving on the board for a year. He was named Mr. Oregon State Leather in 1998, raising thou sands of dollars for AIDS charities. He later served on the board of Blackout Leather Productions. A talented tailor, he makes custom leather, bear and Gay Pride shirts, clothing and leather accouterment. His goal is “to bring together the three ele ments of our community: the drag, bear and leather communities. I would serve the commu nity in whatever way that the community would have me to do.” Alycia Day is running unopposed for Rose Empress XLVII. Voting takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 16 at Darcelle’s, 208 N.W. Third Ave. All residents of Multnomah, Clackamas, Washing ton and Columbia counties who are 21 and older are eligible to cast ballots. The new titleholders will be crowned 6 p.m. Oct. 22 during Coronation 2005: Carnivale from Rio to New Orleans at Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W. Bumside St. Tickets are $40. For a complete list of related events, visit www.rosecourt.us. —Jim Radosta She talks to angels As a child, Kermie Wohlenhaus had an angel collection, but she first observed an angel while in graduate schcxil. When asked by a friend for help, Wohlenhaus prayed for giiid- ance, kxiked up and saw an angel hovering over the friend. Wohlenhaus already had a masters in divini ty and was pursuing a Ph.D. in religion/ metaphysics, writing her dissertation on angels. She t<x>k the experience as a sij*i, leading to her current work in angelology. She is also ordained with the Metropolitan Community Church and New Awareness Ministries. After that first encounter, Wohlenhaus saw angels “everywhere, walking down the street, in malls...everywhere.” Psychically gifted from childhood, she took a series of classes to become a certified clairvoyant. In this program, she learned techniques to manage her gift and to contain her vulnerability to psychic experiences. She regularly does angel readings—putting people in touch with their angels—at Healing Waters &. Sacred Spaces. The shop is next door to MCC Portland, where her spouse, the Rev. Glenna Shepherd, presides as senior pastor. Because Wohlenhaus is a sensitive, she has learned to ground herself daily with a series of meditative exercises learned from the clair voyance training. Clairsenscient people are highly vulnerable to the emotions of those around them. Some drink or take tranquiliz- ing drugs to lessen their vulnerability. Wohlenhaus extols the value of meditation and practices it regularly. “I begin the cleansing process with my shower,” she says, “and put my protection on, like a shield, from my clairvoyance. When I do angel readings, I pray for opening so the angels can speak to me about the client.” When she is finished with a day of angel readings, “If I go out to dinner, 1 sit with my back against the wall.” She sees clairvoyance as a gift that must only be employed “to be of the highest or best service.” Wohlenhaus will discuss her cable access program, Kermie & the Angels, 7 n.m. Oct. 7 at MCC Portland, 2400 N.E. Broadway. Co producer Kimper Phillippo and recent guests will greet attendees, present excerpts from the show and answer questions. —Patricia L. MacAodha Savage lovers Never one to pretend the personal is sepa rate from the political, Dan Savage, nationally syndicated “Savage Love” columnist and author of The Kid and Skipping Towards Gomorrah, chronicles the highways and byways, literally and metaphorically, of gay marriage in his latest memoir, The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage and My Family. Savage is not too crazy about getting mar ried, nor is Terry, his blond, blessed-butttxzks, spendthrift housewife. Savage thinks marriage will jinx the relationship. Terry thinks marriage is “too straight.” To make matters worse, their usually adorable yet musically challenged adoptive son, D.J., is against the marriage as well. Confused by the mixed messages his peers and his peers’ parents give him about love, sex, divorce, mar riage and death, D.J. says he will not come if his dads get married. This may suit the likes of Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, tele vangelist Jerry Falwell and hard-right immoral- ist Gary Bauer, but it doe/ not sir tqo wejl with some people close to Savage, especially his very cool “mad clipping” mother, Judy. “It seems crazy to me that your [stepfather] and 1 could have our relationship blessed legal ly and by the church and you guys can’t. You’re being robbed of something by the dummies who voted for George W. Bush,” Judy says in The Commitment. Judy, of course, is right. As Savage repeated ly and rationally cites, all the arguments against same-sex marriage are hypocritical and erroneous. Read The Commitment and you will be armed against the next homophobe you meet. (Not that homophobes are too keen on rationality in the first place.) Rather than cave in to pressure of various sorts, Savage and his partner plan a huge 10th anniversary party to celebrate their love in front of friends and family. (Terry’s family is conspicuously absent from the narrative.) They see this is a more amicable alternative to mar riage or getting those “Property of...” tattoos Terry wants. But is it enough? For anyone up on “Savage Love,” the conclusion of The Commitment will not be a surprise. A thoughtful and incisive bxx>k (which could have used one more editorial read- through) by one of America’s most influential columnists, The Commitment may not blow you out of the room, but its engaging chronicle of one family’s plight against intolerance in the so-called “land of the free” should keep you in your chair reading. Savage will read 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9 at Powell’s, 1005 W. Bumside St. —John Esther Nationally syndicated columnist Dan Savage reads Oct. 9 at Powell’s. Fresh production keeps Hair from going gray With lyrics that celebrate the joys of sodomy, fellatio and cunnilingus, what’s not to like about the classic anti-war musical Hair! Written by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, this hippie outcry against the Vietnam War was a phenomenal success on Broadway in the late ’60s, later making it to the big screen courtesy of director Milos Forman. Now, Portland performing arts company Live on Stage presents a rendition that incorporates a live band, high school and adult performers, and video and still projections. John Oules, the gay founder of Live on Stage, helms the production. “Mainly we want it to*be an evening of fun,” he says. “The mes sages of acceptance, responsibility and hope are important, but we’re not going to hit you over the head with them. We want to give it a fresh feel. We don’t have to treat it like a dinosaur we’nj. resurrecting.’’............................... . , Quks /lames “Aquafuts” ap J “E;usy tp. Be
