Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 45, Ed. 1 Friday, March 26, 2010 Page: 4 of 40
forty pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
texasnews
'Not living your life is the worst thing'
WORDS OF HOPE | Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson told an overflow crowd at Cathedral of Hope on
Wednesday that he came to them with words of hope and with a challenge. (John Wright/Dallas Voice)
Bishop Gene Robinson challenges
overflow crowd at Cathedral to
become disciples, not just admirers
JOHN WRIGHT I News Editor
wright@dallasvoice.com
Gene Robinson preached from the pulpit
Wednesday night, March 24, for what he said
was the first time since his ascent to bishop al-
most seven years ago.
But Robinson didn't do it in his home diocese
of New Hampshire, and he didn't even do it in
an Episcopal church.
Robinson delivered a sermon to an overflow
crowd in the main sanctuary of Dallas' Cathedral
of Hope UCC, known as the world's largest gay
church.
Robinson, who became the Episcopal Church's
first openly gay bishop in 2004, called the visit an
"unspeakable honor" given the Cathedral's rep-
utation around the world.
"You are a beacon of light to so many," Robin-
son told the standing-room-only gathering.
"Harvey Milk said, 'You gotta give 'em hope.' So,
I come to the Cathedral of Hope with a word of
hope, but also a challenge.
"For far too long the Bible has been held
hostage by those who would use it as a weapon
to beat us up," he said. "And you know what?
They can't have the Bible anymore. Well, they can
have it, but they can't have it just by themselves
— it's our book, too. That scripture was meant to
liberate you and me as much as anybody."
Robinson compared LGBT Christians to the
lame beggar healed by Peter in the Book of Acts.
I ROBINSON, Page 10
Recession, Grindr possible factors in syphilis spike
Number of newly contracted cases
in North Texas has almost doubled
in two years, statistics show
JOHN WRIGHT I News Editor
wright@dallasvoice.com
A bad economy and the proliferation of new
cruising venues such as the Grindr application for
Apple's iPhone may be among factors fueling a re-
cent spike in syphilis infections in North Texas, ac-
cording to Ruben Ramirez^ community health
programs manager at Resource Center Dallas.
Final data on new HIV / AIDS cases in North
Texas in 2009 remained unavailable this week due
to a change in federal surveillance guidelines, ac-
cording to a spokeswoman for the Texas Depart-
ment of State Health Services.
Howeve%statistics from DSHS show that the
number of newly contracted syphilis cases has al-
most doubled in the last two years in Dallas and
Tarrant counties — going from 240 in 2007 to 478
in 2009.
Ramirez, who oversees Resource Center's.
Stomp Out Syphilis Program, said he believes part
of the increase is due to better screening and edu-
cation. But he added that there also may be other
factors.
"The question is, is it the economy? Because if
we're looking for something that's impacting folks
on a wider scale, what else is there?" Ramirez said.
"Some people are selling their services, if you will,
to make the bills. More people are idle, and so it
gives them a lot of down time to go online and
seek sex partners."
People seeking sex partners online also have a
steadily increasing number of venues in which to
do it, Ramirez added. In addition to Web sites,
GPS-based applications like Grindr — which re-
portedly is adding 2,000 new users per day world-
wide — allow people to search for potential sex
partners based on how far away they are.
"If you do look at the number of social network-
ing sites where sex is concerned, they're peaking,"
Ramirez said. "Sexual partners are more accessible
by accessing online venues or just your download-
able app on your smart phone."
Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County
Health and Human Services, agreed that the social
networking craze — including "sexting" among
young people — likely is contributing to the
spread of syphilis and other STDs.
"People are connecting with people, and they
really don't know their status," Thompson said.
"What happens is, people are making quick
I SYPHILIS, Page 8
instantTEA
DallasVoice.com/Instant-Tea
Early morning curtain time
for controversial play for
security reasons
An excerpt from the gay-themed Ter-
rence McNally play "Corpus Christi" will be
presented at Tarleton State University at 8
a.m. on Sat-
urday, March
27.
The pro-
duction,
originally set
for after-
noon, has
been
rescheduled
for security
reasons, and
only friends,
family and
invited
guests will
be admitted.
The contro-
versy began J- Otte
several weeks
ago when members of the community in
Stephenville heard gay student John Jor-
dan Otte has chosen the play as a project
for his directing class.
Local preachers denounced the play
from the pulpit. Letters to the editor of The
Stephenville Empire Tribune claimed blas-
phemy. Callers flooded the school adminis-
tration with complaints. None of those who
complained claimed to have ever actually
seen or read the play.
Otte said that he chose "Corpus Christi"
because of its theme of tolerance, and he
called McNally a hero of his.
Although the time has changed, the play
was always scheduled to be presented in
the small 95-seat theater and was never
advertised to the public.
The administration has defended the
play's presentation on free speech and aca-
demic freedom grounds.
— David Taffet
GLAAD issues call to action
demanding that Israel
Luna's'Trannies' be pulled
from Tribeca
A while back we reported that gay Dallas
filmmaker Israel Luna's "Ticked-Off Trannies
with Knives!" had been selected for the
Tribeca Film Festival.
On Thursday came word that GLAAD
has issued a Call to Action demanding that
the film be pulled from the festival. Why?
You can read it for yourself at GLAAD.org.
I've also left a message with Luna to get
his take. My guess is he'll be thrilled to have
the free publicity.
You can read more about the film and
Luna's response to the controiversy that
had already been brewing on Page 18 in
this issue of Dallas Voice.
—John Wright
4 dallasvoice.com ■ 03.26.1 o
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Nash, Tammye. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 45, Ed. 1 Friday, March 26, 2010, newspaper, March 26, 2010; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth239109/m1/4/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.