Sold-out UW-M drag show raises money for non-profits
Mistress of Ceremonies Isis Jamacia set the tone for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Drag Show: “Hello ladies, gentlemen, and gender-variant friends!” she greeted the crowd.
Jamacia, aka Warren Scherer, is program coordinator at the UW-M Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center. Jamacia has seen the show grow during her five-year reign to become the center’s largest annual event.
This year all 640 seats were taken, and at least 100 more people clamored around
the edges of the ballroom and spilled out into the hallways.
The Feb. 27 event embodied fun – and all for a good cause.
Last year’s performance brought in $1,700 for the for-youth, by-youth Project Q program of the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center.
This year Jamacia tried to increase donations from the crowd by inviting audience
members to deposit bills into the hands of performers – or into two large buckets anchored at the end of the catwalk.
Lt. governor convenes conference on LGBT youth
Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton joins co-hosts GSA for Safe Schools and Diverse & Resilient in convening an inaugural statewide conference on LGBT youth March 5 at the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh.
Titled “Engaged and Empowered: the Lieutenant Governor’s Conference on LGBT Youth,” the conference will equip participants with tools and training to ensure that LGBT youth in Wisconsin thrive in their schools and communities. Workshop topics address bullying in schools, resolving health disparities, building safe and inclusive classrooms, integrating LGBT issues into the curriculum and counseling and advocacy.
K-12 teachers, counselors, administrators, social workers, parents, middle and high school students, health care professionals, law enforcement personnel and other youth service providers in schools and communities are encouraged to find more information and pre-register at GSA for Safe Schools’ Web site, www.gsaforsafeschools.org.
CDC to present findings on soaring youth HIV rate in Milwaukee
Officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will return to Milwaukee March 2 to present findings from their investigation into the soaring rate of HIV infection among Wisconsin youth.
The presentation begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center, and is open to the public.
The investigation was launched last fall after public health workers in the state detected an alarming trend: While other demographic groups in Wisconsin saw their HIV-infection rates stabilize or decline from 2001 to 2008, the rate among men ages 13 to 19 who have sex with men rose by 143 percent.
In the Milwaukee metro area, new cases among young African-American MSMs tripled during the seven-year period.
Read more...ARCW to honor Mayor, Pabst, others for AIDS leadership
The AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin will present its top leadership award to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett at its annual Make A Promise Dinner Gala April 17 at the Midwest Airlines Center.
“For 25 years Mayor Barrett has been a steadfast leader in the fight against AIDS,” ARCW president Doug Nelson said. “In the state Legislature he led efforts to prohibit discrimination against people with HIV, in Congress he was a leading voice to lift the ban on federal funding of needle exchange and as mayor he has protected HIV funding in the city budget even during the toughest of fiscal times.”
Read more...Opinion
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