TSA News August 2017 Volume 35 Issue 8

TSA Celebrity Dinner Will be Held on Sunday, Aug. 13

The 10th Annual TSA Celebrity Dinner, the region’s largest and most successful HIV charity benefit, will be held on Sunday, Aug. 13 at 6pm at the Evansville Airport Holiday Inn, 7101 Highway 41 North. Cost to attend is $40 a person. Tables of 8 guests and 1 server cost $320 and tables of 9 guests and 1 server cost $360. Checks can be sent to the TSA Celebrity Dinner, PO Box 2901, Evansville, IN 47728 OR purchase tickets online at Eventbrite.com and search for TSA Celebrity Dinner. Pictured above are Vanderburgh County Commis-sioner Ben Shoulders and Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke from last year’s dinner. We hope you can attend this fun evening of music, food, a silent and live auction. Contact Wally at 812-480-0204 or wallypaynter@aol.com with questions or to donate an auction item.

TSA Steering / Pridefest Volunteer Committee

Monday, Aug. 21, 5:30pm Central Library Browning Room B

Help TSA plan special events, educational

outreach projects and services, INCLUDING a June 2018 Pride Festival!

2pm Sundays

Volunteers Needed

AIDS Holiday Project Barnes & Noble Gift

Wrapping Chair

AIDS Holiday Project Barnes & Noble Dec. 17 Bookfair Chair

AIDS Holiday Project Church Liaison

AIDS Holiday Project Snowmen Sales Chair

TSA Instagram Coordinator

TSA Snapchat Coordinator

TSA Social Media Coordinator

TSA Twitter Coordinator

TSA Youtube Video Coordinator

TSA Pridefest 2018 Co-Chair

TSA Pridefest 2018 Committee Members

To volunteer, contact Wally Paynter at 812-480-0204, wallypaynter@aol.com or 3statealliance@gmail.com.

TSA LGBT Film Series

Saving Face Monday, Aug. 21, 6:30pm Central Library Browning Room B

200 SE Martin L. King Jr. Blvd.

Downtown Evansville

Cost: FREE Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%

Audience Score: 88%

TSAGL.org Facebook.com/TriStateAlliance

OpenDoorUUF.org

Hawes Sound Solutions 385 US Highway 231 South, Jasper, Indiana

812-827-2292

Help TSA Youth Group Earn Free Pizzas!

Donate pizza points from your large Casey’s pizza purchase to TSA. For every 10 pizzas, the TSA Youth Group will get a free pizza!

TSA Youth Group 501 John Street Suite 5 Evansville, IN 47713

Local Transgender Veteran Responds to Trump Tweet By Ashlyn Irons, tristatehomepages.com

Max Hedon is many things. A veteran, a person who is transgender, and a fighter. Even after his time was up in the army, he says when it comes to the President's push against people who are transgender in the military, there's one last battle left to fight. Life has its battles, Max Hedon, an army veteran knows that very well, but for him, he says the hardest battle was the one with himself. Hedon said,”I first came out as a lesbian when I was in the military, I thought that I just liked girls and that was it. After some solid deliberation and introspective in myself I realized I was actually transgender.” A journey to acceptance that proved harder once he enlisted. “I just got pushed to the side, I was ostracized, pushed to the side, and no one really tried to help me to see what was going on with that soldier,” Hedon said. A fight that Hedon, three years later, still says was worth fighting. “Serving in the military smoothed out my edges and I don't think i could have got that anywhere else,” said Hedon. Long after his time is up in the reserve, Hedon says one battle is still not won.

“Where already they were teetering on the brink of ac-ceptance and non-acceptance they're saying 'well, the President, the Commander in Chief who is in charge of this allegedly says these things are a distraction, its ex-pensive, we're not going to allow it,” said Hedon. But no matter what, Hedon says this soldier is still ready for battle when it comes to equality for people who are transgender. Hedon says the military did not front the bill for any of his surgeries during transition. Eyewitness News reached out to the Office of the Secretary of Defense who declined to comment on the tweet. A spokes-person told us to contact the white house.

Owensboro Pride Volunteer Meeting

Thursday, Aug. 31 6pm in the Meeting Room

At Mellow Mushroom 101 W. 2nd St., Owensboro Free Pizza & Soft Drinks

Can’t Attend? Join the Facebook

Group: TSA Owensboro Pride

Volunteers OR

Owensboro AIDS Volunteers

Southern IL AIDS Walk

Volunteer Meeting

Tuesday, Aug. 29 7pm in the Meeting Room at

Pagliai’s Pizza 509 S. Illinois Avenue, Carbondale

Free pizza & soft drinks

Can’t attend? Join the Facebook

Group: Southern IL AIDS Volunteers or LIKE the Southern Illinois AIDS Coalition

Volunteer for 2018

Pride Events!

In Owensboro, join the

Facebook group:

TSA Owensboro Pride Volunteers

In Evansville, join the

Facebook group:

Tri-State Alliance Volunteers

Guest Speaker: Wyatt Squires

Reporter, The Standard TSA Transgender Support Group Facilitator

RCIC Meeting Thursday, August 17

6:30pm St. Lucas UCC

33 West Virginia Street in Evansville Co-sponsored by Tri-State Alliance

People React to Trump’s Transgender Military Ban

By Chelsea Koerbler, 44news.wevv.com

People against Trump’s ban on people who are transgender from serving in the military say 140 characters is not the way to change a pol-icy. While those in favor say it may make sense. Politico reports the reason for Trump’s decision is because lawmakers were planning to pass a spending bill but conservative republicans did not want that bill to include money for gender reassignment surgery. With the treat of the bill failing, GOP leaders turned to Trump, who de-cided that people who are transgender would be banned from serving altogether. Tri-State Alliance president Wally Paynter is disappointed in President Trump’s decision to ban people who are transgender from serving in the military. “People that are transgender serve in every aspect of the armed forc-es,’ said Paynter. “People need to be judged on their abilities of who they are, not on preconceived notions of who they might be.” While many lawmakers, both republican and democrat have spoken out against Trump’s decision. Some say, once the policy is explained more in depth it will make more sense.

For Sale: Split, seasoned

FIREWOOD Free delivery within Evansville. Proceeds donated to

TSA Holiday Project. $95/pick-up load. Contact Bruce Wright

(812) 422-9155 OR anbrwright@twc.com 3statealliance@gmail.com

OR call 812-480-0204

TSA is Selling 3 Different Pride Shirts The Tri-State Alliance has 3 different pride shirts available for sale. Each shirt only costs $9, PLUS $4 if you want us to mail the shirt to you. You can check out the TSA Facebook page for the order forms, you can purchase one at one of our pride picnics, OR you can mail a check to TSA Pride T-shirts, PO Box 2901, Evansville, IN 47728. Please indicate the size of shirt you want (Small—4X) and which shirt(s) you want (Evansville Pride, I69 Pride, Owensboro Pride). Questions? Contact Wally at 812-480-0204 or wallypaynter@aolo.com.

JEFFREY BOWEN has performed from the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville to Flori-da to New York City. After college, he and comedian Craig Tornquist were an open-ing act for Jay Leno at Purdue University. He enjoys entertaining and acting and serves as Music/Vocal Director for The Children’s Museum’s Lilly Theater, Actors Theatre of Indiana, Theatre On The Square and other musical productions. Jeffrey also arranges show choir music through his company Music Arrangement Services, Inc. and is a graduate of Indiana State University. His first CD “Frivolous” featuring 10 origi-nal songs was released summer of 2015 and several videos may be found on YouTube. His original works also include many songs for competition show choir show as well as an Easter Cantata “The Story Of The Cross” performed in church-es around the south. Jeffrey is very excited to be performing for the TSA Celebrity Dinner on Sunday Aug. 13, and looks forward to future per-formances, recordings and working with other artists. Learn more at www.jeffreybowenmusic.com.

Harassment Intervention Training – August 10 Have you ever seen someone harassed and wondered what you could do? Then come to the “Bystander Training Work-shop” 6:00 to 8:00 PM on Thursday, August 10 in the Browning Rooms of the EVPL Central Library. Women in Faith, BRIDGE and the Evansville African American Museum are sponsoring this “Building Bridges Community Forum.” The workshop theme is “How to Safely Intervene and Document Public Harassment.” For more information call 812-431-3344.

The Tri-State Alliance thanks Ange Humphrey and WEHT Local Lifestyles for covering the TSA Celebrity Dinner on their 11am show on August 3. http://www.tristatehomepage.com/news/lifestyles/wally-paynter-talks-the-tsa-celebrity-dinner1/782406265

For tickets visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/d/in--evansville/tsa-celebrity-dinner/ OR go to Eventbrite.com and search TSA Celebrity Dinner

Obituary: Mark X. Hatfield 1949-2017 Beloved concert organist and church musician, choral director, teacher, and vocalist, Mark X. Hatfield died on Wednesday, July 19th, at 12:32pm after a medical compli-cation. Mark was born on June 26th, 1949 in Evansville, Indiana to George and Anna Hatfield, where he was a lifelong resident. Mark is best known for his profound work in classical and sacred music in a career that spanned six decades. Mark leaves an undeniable legacy and will be remembered by thousands for his work, his lively per-sonality, and his loving heart. Mark began his career in music at the very young age of 10, when he was appointed organist at St. Mary Catholic Church in downtown Ev-ansville. He had a particular gift for the pipe organ, made apparent when he first sat at the console of the organ at St. Mary. Mark attended Rex Mundi High School and studied under Dr. Oswald Ragatz at Indiana University. During his undergraduate study, Mark was diagnosed with cancer and later completed his degree in Organ Perfor-mance at the University of Evansville, studying with Robert Luther and Dr. Douglas Reed. A brilliant instructor, Mark has taught hundreds of students throughout the years in organ, piano, and voice. Mark served as adjunct faculty for the University of Evans-ville music school and was a featured teacher and conductor in a number of youth orchestras and choirs throughout the country. Although performing was a love of Mark's, working in sacred music was his true passion. Throughout his career, Mark was the Organist and Director of Music in many churches throughout the Evansville area. He was known as a force of creativity and inspiration and his church music programs were often the most respected in the city. As a concert performer, Mark has traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe, drawing capacity crowds at nearly all of his events. One of his proudest performances was playing for the Pope at the Vatican. His concert programs were met with overwhelming enthusiasm, not only the result of his outstanding musicality, but his warm and humorous demeanor with his audiences. He has also recorded a number of albums, including "Praise the Lord with Drums and Cymbals," recorded live in Los Angeles on the largest church organ in the United States. His music has been featured on a number of NPR programs, including "Pipe Dreams," and "Adventures in Good Music." Mark was also a featured Music Director in musical theater throughout the tri-state, conducting hundreds of performances on local stages. Mark worked for many decades with several pipe organ companies as a consultant and tonal finisher. In 1986, Mark made his mark on the choral scene in Evansville when he founded Evansville Choral Artists, a semi-professional group that welcomed many of the best singing artists in the area. Mark served as the Director of Music for Alexander Funeral Homes and Cemetery for over 40 years. He was a member of the Evansville Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, where he served as Dean and Sub Dean, the American Choral Directors Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor

Society. Mark has traveled extensively throughout the country. For many decades, he performed piano and piano/organ concerts with Dr. Eulalie Wilson of Evansville, and Dr. William Barnett, for-merly of Evansville. He could regularly be seen on his front porch playing his calliope to the de-light of festival goers and local residents. Mark was preceded in death by his mother, Anna "Tiny" Hatfield. He is survived by his father, George; his brother, Scott (Darleen); his sisters, Paula (Mark) Lattner, Lisa (Richard) Lant, Mary Beth Ennulat; and nieces and nephews. Unfortunately, what saved his life in his 20's, led to his medical complications later in life. Mark left this world peacefully as a harpist filled the room with music. A Mass of Christian Burial was held on Tuesday, July 25, 2017 at St. Mary Catholic Church, 613 Cherry Street in Evansville, offi-ciated by Fr. Stephen Lintzenich and Fr. Ted Tempel with burial in Rose Hill Cemetery in New-burgh.

Condolences may be offered at AlexanderNewburghChapel.com. Published in the Evansville Courier and Press on July 23, 2017. A memorial written by Dr. William Barnett will be published in the TSA Celebrity Dinner Program and in the September 2017 TSA newsletter, along with a list of memorial donations.