THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

U.S: Ian McKellen plays James Whale, the director of Frankenstein, in Gods and Monsters, based on a 1995 novel about the aging filmmaker's relationship with his male gardener. * The Pleasure Principle: Sex, Backlash, and the Struggle for Gay Freedom by Michael Bronski is in bookstores. * A vigil for Matthew Shepard takes place in Kalamazoo. It's organized by the Rev. Janice Springer after she heard someone from Kalamazoo on National Public Radio say 'all queers should be dead.' * Milkman by Phranc is in stores. * Namibia: For the first time, the Namibian gay community forms an organization called Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, and Transgender Association. * Philippines: Walter Dempster, an elderly Filipino gay man who claims he and five friends were used as sex slaves during World War II, demands reparations from the Japanese government.

1993

U.S.: In an interview with the Associated Press, the Rev. Joseph Totten-Reid, a pastor in the Metropolitan Community Church says: 'God would not create people with aberrant sexuality. My God is not that sick.' * Roxanne Quall, the newly elected mayor of Cincinnati, does a guest turn on a radio call-in show. One caller says she voted for Quall and then asks, 'Did I or did I not vote for a lesbian?' Quall refuses to respond. * Jeffrey Schmalz, newspaper reporter and editor for The New York Times, dies of AIDS at 39. * Playwright Marc Berman, whose plays include The Wolf Patrol, River Downs, and The Day Andy Warhol Was Shot, dies from AIDS at 39. * Britain: In a London courtroom, Boy George denies fathering the seven-year-old son of a U.S. woman: 'I have never penetrated a woman in my life, so it is unlikely to be me.'

1988

U.S.: The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Churches celebrates its 20th anniversary. * In Shenandoah, Iowa, school Superintendent Joseph Kirchoff cancels a high school drama class production of a play about AIDS, because it doesn't present sufficient negative information about homosexuality. 'The only negative aspect of homosexual relations presented throughout the whole play is that one man dies of AIDS,' explains Kirchoff. * The Woman's Cycling Network newsletter rejects an article by co-founder Alice Erickson, because she uses the word 'lesbian.' Susan Notorangelo, director of WCN, says the publication's editorial policy forbids the use of words like 'lesbian' and even 'heterosexual.' 'We're a sports-related topic,' says Notorangelo, 'Not a sex-related one.'

1983

U.S.: I.T. (In Touch for Men) celebrates its 10th year in print. * The National Council of Churches turns down a membership application from the gay-oriented United Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. * Entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., lends his support to the National AIDS Hotline. In televised ads, Davis says: 'Hi, my name is Sammy Davis Jr. I know you've heard about AIDS ... . Well, I'm here with some facts about AIDS that you may not have heard. For instance, it can not be spread through the air, or food or casual contact, and you can't catch it by touching or working with someone with AIDS or breathing the same air, or giving blood. The people who work with AIDS patients every day don't catch the disease from them. It just doesn't work that way. AIDS is limited to several highly specific groups. Now, of course, AIDS is mysterious and a cause for real concern. But research is underway and already producing results.' ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------