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April 28, 2000GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 11

on the airoff the press

Brooke Shields reveals her attraction to women

by John Graves

The tabloids were buzzing last week with reports about Suddenly Susan star Brooke Shields' recent interview in the Advocate in which the model-turned-actress reveals her attraction to other women.

"There are many women I find very attractive. I'm just starting to understand what I'm made of. I love women, you know? I love men," the ex-wife of tennis star Andre Agassi told the magazine. "But I have an appreciation for both sexes and for different reasons. But that's not acceptable in this world. When you say that, suddenly there's this big stigma."

Shields, who said that she was raised by a gay-friendly mom and two gay male nannies, said that she had always felt not only comfortable and welcome in the gay community, but "celebrated and protected and cared for."

"The acceptance I've felt from the gay community has given me a sense of freedom and a lot of support growing up,” she said.

Anderson writes sensitive story

Very gay-friendly actress Gillian Anderson wove a sensitive storyline about a lesbian therapist and her longtime partner into a recent episode of The X-Files she wrote and directed.

In most episodes, Anderson plays FBI agent Dana Scully, who investigates paranormal cases with her partner Fox Mulder (David Duchovny).

In another episode this season, the show included an older African-American gay male couple among the neighbors terrorized by a mysterious creature.

He won some of Ben Stein's money

Noted openly gay Village Voice columnist Michael Musto wrote about his experience as a contestant on Comedy Central's hit quiz show Win Ben Stein's Money in the April 15 TV Guide.

Musto, who beat the other two contestants only to lose to the show's host in the final best-of-ten round, told Stein he was going to donate his $450 in winnings to the "Michael Musto Foundation for Differently Challenged Fashion Victims."

Actually, Musto said he was joking and that he was donating his winnings to the Community Research Initiative on AIDS.

White House aide profiled

Openly gay White House aide Sean Maloney is profiled by former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers in the May issue of Vanity Fair magazine.

Maloney lives with his partner, designer Randy Flake, and their ten-year-old adopted son. The couple received a congratulatory letter from President Clinton when they completed the adoption procedures for the boy, who was the neglected child of a drug-addicted couple who had been living with AIDS.

In the article, Maloney, a staff secretary at the White House, said of his boss, "When the president talks about bridges left to cross in civil rights, he talks about sexual orientation. That wasn't a given for a Southern governor with a New Democratic agenda."

The magazine's May issue also features "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," an extensive article by Buzz Bissinger on the gay-bashing murder of Fort Campbell soldier Barry Winchell last year.

Catholic paper backs Reform unions

The National Catholic Reporter took a strong editorial position in support of the endorsement of same-sex unions by Reform Judaism.

"Men and women around the world are beginning to understand that institutional pronouncements on human sexuality, whatever their theological or philosophical guise, are often rooted in fantasy rather

Eclectic Irish duo moves to jazz for their newest CD

Michelle Tomko

Cincinnati-Maria Walsh and Carole Nelson make up the musical duet Zrazy, from Dublin, Ireland. They will perform in Cincinnati at the Greenwiche Jazz Club May 12-13.

Maria Walsh and Carole Nelson

During a tag-team phone interview with both women, Nelson commented about playing small jazz houses after being at the National Women's Music Festival in 1998 and 1999.

"Well, the difference is huge. I think that going onstage at something like the National Woman's Music Festival, the buzz is so high. The energy is just extraordinary. Doing a small club, you know we are kind of doing a grass roots thing and trying to make it work every city we go to."

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"It's a much more intimate feel. The audi-

ence enjoys that a lot," added Walsh. "I've often heard feedback like that: 'Oh, it's great to see up close.' You can make eye contact."

The eclectic twosome has mastered something that other modern female artists have often failed at: variety. In fact, one might be tempted to look to Forrest Gump for the best description of their recordings.

Their first two CDs, Give it All Up and Permanent Happiness, were electronic dance mix tunes. Their newest release Private Wars contains eight original jazz pieces, and also two standards. "We've been playing together for a long time. We began doing jazz. We were a covers band. Finally started writing original material at the beginning of 1990, and Zrazy formed in 1992," said Nelson. "It was just the two of us, and our manager at the time urged us to make it a live band," added Walsh. “But it became kind of à la The Commitments, with the band spitting up at the end. So it was back to the two of us. We just went fully into embracing technology."

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In both cases, however, the tracks are long-winded and slow out of the gate with slightly clichéd lyrics on human rights. But those listeners not suffering from attention deficit disorder can definitely latch on to an original sound.

than clear-sightedness," the paper said. "Religious institutions, above all, should be guided by reality. After all, God created it."

Gay priests' newsgroup causes a stir

The National Catholic Reporter has also been following the story of a furor around "saintsebastian," a private Internet newsgroup for gay priests and religious.

The controversy started when a homophobic, conservative Catholic group in the U.S. that calls itself the "Roman Catholic Faithful" claimed the newsgroup was pornographic and named several of its members, including South African Bishop Reginald Cawcutt.

Responding to the charges, Cawcutt told the paper, "I have been involved for some time in ministering to the gay and lesbian community and to people with AIDS. Someone in Australia invited me to join this Internet news group, which offered support to gay priests and religious. I had no problem in doing so. It serves an important purpose, helping a group which is marginalized and in pain, and I am still part of it. Discussions were not only about sexuality, but also about the normal things of a priest's life."

Lowell is coming to Cleveland

Openly gay interior designer and cable TV personality Christopher Lowell is coming to Cleveland with his road show Seven Layers of Interior Design on May 2. He will appear at Landerhaven in Mayfield Heights, followed by a cocktail reception at Chagrin Valley Country Club.

You can catch Lowell's TV show weekdays at noon and 3 pm on cable's Discovery channel. Goldberg, Streisand team up

Whoopi Goldberg and Barbra Streisand have joined forces to produce What Makes a Family, a cable film based on the true story of a lesbian's battle with her late partner's family for custody of the child the two women raised. According to the report in USA Today, Goldberg will have a supporting role in the film, which will air on cable's Lifetime channel in 2001.

Kisses all around

"I could kiss Callista [Flockhart] or I could kiss Peter McNichol. It's just that kind of show," actor James Le Gros quipped to the Philadelphia Inquirer on becoming the newest member of the Ally McBeal cast.

Cawcutt met with Archbishop Lawrence Ving Rhames as a drag-loving man

Henry of Cape Town and offered his resignation. "Archbishop Henry refused even to consider it," Cawcut said. "He said that if you reach out to people and it gets you into trouble, then so be it."

Such support was not the case in the U.S. where Bishop Joseph J. Gerry of Portland, Maine removed the priest who ran the newsgroup, Fr. James Harris, from his parish and sent him to a program to reflect on his future as a priest.

African-American actor Ving Rhames will star as a "drag-loving gay man" in the upcoming film Holiday Heart, according to Entertainment Weekly.

John Graves is the producer and host of Gaywaves, an LGBT public affairs show on Cleveland's WRUW 91.1 FM Fridays at 7 pm, and at http://radio.cwru.edu. Dave Haskell, Jim McGrattan and Kim Jones also contribute to this column.

A Vigil of Prayer and Reconciliation May 2-12 at Trinity

We are at a time in history when church and society are wrestling with the issue of sexuality and the full acceptance of gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. We invite all who care about justice to come to Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. Here you can worship, pray, be silent, and experience a welcoming and inclusive community of faith. There are a variety of opportunities for weekly worship, contemplation, education, service and witness. Please join us.

We are hosting a Vigil of Prayer and Reconciliation during the General Conference of the United Methodist Church. From Tuesday, May 2nd through Friday, May 12th, the Cathedral will be open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Morning Prayer will be said at 7:30 a.m., Eucharist at 12 Noon, Evensong at 5:45 p.m., and Compline at 9:00 p.m. Sunday services are at 8:00 and 10:30 a.m. The Labyrinth will be open for walking throughout the Vigil. For a detailed schedule, please visit our Cleveland Live Web Page.

Trinity Cathedral

The Episcopal Church

in downtown Cleveland East 22nd & Euclid Avenue

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216.771.3630 trinity44115@aol.com http://community.cleveland.com/cc/trinity