Late
‘70’s ~ Hosted a weekly Saturday night gay
men’s potluck dinner as a bar alternative.
Early
80’s ~ Sued the Twin Cities Reader. They refused
personal ads from gay men and lesbians. I won, the
settlement benefited the Minnesota AIDS Project, and
me.
photo Bill Phelps
1986
~ Began Patrick’s Cabaret, arguably the most queer
friendly performing space in town.
1988
~ Went to my first Radical Faerie Gathering. I have
been involved with the Northwoods Radical Faeries ever
since.
Early
‘90’s ~ Agitated to pressure MAP to put a
sign with their name on it in front of their building
on Park Avenue. There is a sign there now.
Reverse
Head Shot (Extreme piercing or surgical disc
repair?)
photo Kel Keller
Early
‘90’s ~ Confronted the downtown YMCA about
their homophobic attitudes and behaviors.
1990
~ Pressured KTCA to include people with HIV on their
call in panel after the program Art & AIDS.
1991
~ Filed a discrimination suit against my employer, the
Science Museum of Minnesota, for discrimination based
on marital status and sexual preference.
1992
~ Received a grant from the Minnesota AIDS Funding Consortium
to create performance art as an openly gay HIV+ man
as a strategy for shaping public policy.
Mid
‘90’s ~ Sat on Ryan White funding panels.
Late
1990s ~ Gave the keynote speech to a national convention
of dance educators in Minneapolis. The topic was how
homophobia keeps getting in the way of success in the
field.
Queer
cultural work, some highlights ~
1980
~ Part of the first ever showcase of gay and lesbian artists
in Minnesota.
1981
~ Presented my first solo dance performance dealing with gay
identity.
1992
~ The first artist to receive a Bush Artist Fellowship for openly
gay work.
2002
~ Created a video for the National Coming Out Day Lunch, at
the committee’s request, to lampoon coming out.
Photo Warwick Green
Queer
performance ~
I
have created the following performances reflecting my
life as an out gay man and/or living with HIV:
The
Naked Truth
I
Left the Space Bare
Losing
my Foundations
Faith,
Hope and Ambivalence
Queer
Thinking, solo performance art monologue
Illuminations,
solo improvisation/performance art
Too
Soon Lost, monologue with film
A
Faerie Home Companion, solo performance art
Death
of Romance, solo performance art
Working
with other queer artists I have created ~
posiT.V.
with Eric Gupton
Nebel
& Neblina with Ric Oquita
Forever
Hold Your Piece with Djola Branner
Unsafe,
Unsuited with Keith Hennessy and Ishmael Houston Jones.
Survival
Symptoms, performance art with David Lindahl
Performance
of Ritual with Northwoods Radical Faeries
