Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 22, No. 52, Ed. 1 Friday, May 12, 2006 Page: 1 of 80
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» VETERAN NIGHTCLUB MANAGER RESIGNS I » GROUP NAMES TRANSGENDER WOMAN GAY PERSON OF YEAR I » VIEWPOINTS 1 ADVICE i MUSIC I DINING
Dalla
CSCE
Jenni Beauchamp
hosts two minutes
of GLBT video news
weekdays on
DallasVoice.com
NATIONAL
A 3-judge
California federal
appeals panel has
sidestepped the
issue of gay mar-
riage. PAGE 15.
PRIDE WEDDINGS
Everything you
need to know
about hiring a
caterer, places to
get married and
honeymoon ideas.
VOLUME 22 I ISSUE 52
ESTABLISHED 1984
dallasvoice.com
_MAY I 12 I 2006
THE PREMIER SOURCE FOR GLBT DALLAS/FORT WORTH
Japanese
transgender
community
emerges
Sexual minorities enjoy
limited rights today
By Hiroko Tabuchi Associated Press
TOKYO — To most Japanese,
Takafumi Fujio — with cropped hair,
thick arms and deep voice — is a typ-
ical, middle-aged salaryman. But until
four years ago, when the food compa-
ny worker started on a range of hor-
monal treatments, he was a woman, a
housewife and mother of two.
Kanako Otsuji Aya Kamikawa
Fujio is one of an estimated 7,000 to
10,000 Japanese who believe they
were bom the wrong sex, a sexual
minority that has been largely hidden
from view in Japan.
But that is quickly changing.
Japan’s first sex-change operation
was perfonned in 1998, and its first
transsexual and gay politicians were
elected to public office in 2003. A
groundbreaking legal refonn allowing
some transsexuals to change their offi-
cially registered sex took effect the
See JAPAN on PAGE 21
PFLAG, inclusive churches protest
Dallas First Baptist’s gay workshop
Downtown church holds 1-day conference to counsel
members on how to minister to gay friends, relatives
By David Webb Staff Writer
Twenty people representing
Parents, Family and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays, the Turtle Creek
Chorale and five local inclusive
churches protested in front of the First
Baptist Church of Dallas on May 6
during a church-sponsored workshop
on homosexuality.
The group protested the downtown
church’s sponsorship of the event led
by the Rev. Tim Wilkins of Cross
Ministry, which is based in Wake
Forest, N.C, The workshop, “Walking
People Out of Flomosexuality,” was
described on a billboard as a one-day
conference “geared to help you better
understand homosexuality so you can
minister to a friend or family mem-
ber.”
Wilkins, who visited with the pro-
testers prior to the start of the confer-
ence, described himself as a fonner
homosexual who has abstained from
same-sex encounters for 25 years. Fie
said that he hoped to encourage partic-
ipants of the workshop to better under-
stand homosexuality and to
See PROTEST on PAGE 12
The Rev. Tim Wilkins, of Cross Ministry, talks
to protesters before the start of his workshop.
He calls himself a former homosexual.
‘AMOR ETERNO’
Mimi Casanova performs deceased Spanish singer
Rocio Durcal’s “Amor Eterno," which means eternal
love, at the Havana club on Mexican Mother’s Day
Wednesday during a fundraiser for Valiente. The
event raised $808. Casanova performs again at the
Ay K Rico club Sunday at 10:30 p.m.
Crystal meth epidemic tightens grip on Dallas'
gay community, spreads to other minority groups
Drug may be culprit behind
rising HIV-infection rates
By A.J. Mistretta Contributing Writer
Crystal. Speed. Crank. Tina. Chalk. Tweak.
Glass. Ice — nearly as many names as the devil
and just as manipulative.
Crystal methamphetamine is nothing new to
the GLBT community. But experts say it is mak-
ing inroads in major U.S. cities more rapidly than
any other drug.
And Dallas is no exception.
Sgt. A1 Sutton, officer in charge of the meth lab
unit in the Dallas Police Department Narcotics
Division, said local crystal meth use has climbed
significantly over the last two years.
He said what was once an almost exclusively
Caucasian drug is now spreading into minority
populations, just as its grip on the gay communi-
ty tightens.
“This is, or it soon will be, our next major drug
epidemic,” he said.
Psychological side effects of crystal meth include para-
noia, mood swings and memory loss. It can also cause
physical consequences, such as blood vessel and liver
damage and convulsions.
Users describe a crystal meth high as an
altered state of reality — a place where energy is
abundant, sex is incredible and self-image is next
to perfect.
Underneath the veil of deception, addicts face
everything from paranoia to stroke and even
death. Beyond the physical and mental toll crys-
tal meth is taking on an expanding pool of local
users, many medical professionals believe it’s the
primary culprit behind a rising HIV infection
rate, which has many in the GLBT community
very concerned.
Dr. Dhiren Patel, a private practice physician
in Oak Lawn who has treated patients at Parkland
Hospital, said from his perspective, meth use has
climbed faster in Dallas than any other drug in
terms of the number of addicts. He estimates
speed users currently account for as much as 25
percent of all addicts who come through local
emergency rooms, compared with just a handful
five years ago.
How rapidly users become addicted varies, but
all too often those who begin taking meth as a
weight loss aid or energy boost get hooked with-
out even knowing it, Patel said.
Hard numbers on the rate of addiction among
gay and non-gay populations are difficult to
come by. Yet it’s clear that the drug’s effects have
made it an instrument of choice among gay
See CRYSTAL METH on PAGE 26
WEEKEND WEATHER
INDEX
-JyC- FRI Mostly Sunny 85°
Local News 6
National News 15
Viewpoints 32
Life+Style 34
Starvoice 47
Calendar 49
Classifieds 62
-i^,SAT Partly Cloudy 63/87
■?5fSUN Chance of Thunderstorms 54/79
Mostly sunny on Friday with southwest winds up to 10 mph. Partly
cloudy on Saturday with a 30 percent change of showers and
thunderstorms Saturday night and 20 percent chance Sunday.
SPORTS
stepped on the gridiron
4 years ago. The Dallas
Rage player now leads
the National Women’s
Football Association in
receptions. PAGE 34.
FITNESS
Melvyn Miles flexes his
might at the Ronnie
Coleman Classic on
Saturday. The erotic fim
stud hopes to win the
open-middleweight divi-
sion. PAGE 35.
STAGE
The Off-Broadway hit
'Musical of Musicals:
The Musical’ hilariously
parodies the work of
composers Jerry Herman
and Stephen Sondheim.
PAGE 39.
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Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 22, No. 52, Ed. 1 Friday, May 12, 2006, newspaper, May 12, 2006; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth238908/m1/1/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.