Photo: Courtesy
The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center’s Hard Hat Party on June 27 drew 108 guests and raised $15,700 toward the renovation of the center’s new home in the Blatz Boiler House, 252 E. Highland Ave. The party featured a tour of the new space as well as a raffle.
Responding to an increase in the rate of HIV transmission among young African-American gay and bisexual men in Milwaukee, city health commissioner Bevan K. Baker has created a partnership between the city and the organization Diverse and Resilient to address the root causes of the problem.
In Milwaukee, new HIV infections among young black men who have sex with men tripled between 2001 and 2008, compared with a 143-percent increase among young non-black males.
PrideFest postal stamp
In support of the LGBT community and PrideFest, the U.S. Postal Service has created the first-ever pictorial cancellation mark to commemorate the state’s largest LGBT event.
Helaman Iquique at his home in Milwaukee.
On the morning of Jan. 22, 2009, Helaman Iquique left his home in West Milwaukee, headed for his job at a plumbing supply company. He said goodbye to his partner of 10 years and their dogs, Bibi and Boogie.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will give $1.7 million to Diverse and Resilient to coordinate a grassroots HIV-prevention campaign targeting gay and bisexual black men in Milwaukee. The grant it is believed to be the largest ever awarded by the government to an LGBT organization in Wisconsin, said D&R executive director Gary Hollander.
The CDC estimates that up to 40 percent of gay and bisexual African-American men in Milwaukee are HIV-infected. The transmission rate among young black men in the city tripled between 2001 and 2008, compared with a 143-percent increase among young non-black males. During the same period, the HIV-transmission rate for other demographic groups leveled off or fell.
If elected governor, Republican Scott Walker would oppose the state’s domestic partner registry as well as benefits for the same-sex partners of state workers, he told the Milwaukee Press Club.
Appearing at the club’s June 11 Newsmaker Luncheon, Walker said he objected to the way Gov. Jim Doyle inserted the measure creating the registry into the state budget in order to get legislative approval. Doyle also used the maneuver to extend employee benefits to the same-sex partners of state workers, including those in the University of Wisconsin System.
At a May 11 meeting, students called on Marquette University president Fr. Robert A. Wild (left) to resign. – Photo: Dan Zaitz
Marquette students and faculty have stepped up their effort to get university officials to apologize to lesbian scholar Jodi O’Brien and reinstate their offer to make her dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
The historic building complex where the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center is moving is on the National Register of Historic Places. – Photo: Jeramey Jannene
The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center’s relocation will enable improvements in both services and programming, said executive director Maggi Cage.
Graphic: Jason Smith
Milwaukee’s gay bar owners are bracing for a potential downturn in business when a statewide indoor smoking ban takes effect July 5. But they’re also looking at the bright side.
Marquette University has reached an undisclosed settlement with Jodi O’Brien after rescinding an offer to make her dean of the university’s College of Arts and Sciences.
O’Brien, the openly lesbian head of Seattle University’s sociology department, had signed a contract for the position before Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki and other Roman Catholic leaders complained that her academic writings on sexuality and marriage were inconsistent with the school’s religious mission. University president Fr. Robert A. Wild subsequently rescinded the offer, setting off a wave of protests by students, condemnation from faculty members and a firestorm of controversy throughout higher education.
Photo: Courtesy Names Project
From June 8 to June 20, Milwaukee area residents and visitors will be able to see a portion of the AIDS Memorial Quilt for the first time in more than four years. The AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Art Museum have joined forces to co-sponsor the NAMES Project AIDS Quilt exhibition, with the support of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation Johnson and Pabst LGBT Humanity Fund.
They remember her cheerfulness, her chattiness and her irrepressible sense of humor.
But most of all, the friends and family of Dana (Chanel) Larkin remember her infectious smile and generous nature.
