News Briefs SEPTEMBER 11-ONE YEAR LATER

The world changed on September 11, 2001. The terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., and the crash in Pennsylvania of the plane bound for the capital (an event aided by gay hero Mark Bingham) instantly made life in America seem darker, more dangerous. One year later, we mark the disasters with these recollections, in words and in art, from individuals with Houston roots.

Sammy Buck, a former Houstonian:

Being a gay Jew, I of course write musicals. On September 11-no joke-I said, "This is just like the second act of Into the Woods," because in that show, a giant comes down from the sky and destroys the land, and the reactions of the characters were very similar to how we processed the terrorist attacks: a mass exodus on foot, feeling that life will never be the same again; asking ourselves how could this happen and who is to blame, realizing we have to unite as a community, as New Yorkers. Ironically, Into the Woods is enjoying a successful Broadway revival this season. When the characters at the end come on stage with brooms to clean up the destruction, I was profoundly moved.

Allen White, who lives in Houston and New York City:

I still have visions of the Mrs. Field's cookie store in the underground mall. Pretty trivial, huh? I wanted my son to take photos of a shot from the observation deck of a view that we missed the last time we were there. We won't have that chance now. I had no idea how much I really depended on the towers as a point of reference for the various places I went downtown. Even today, getting out of some subway stops, I look up to get my bearings only to see empty sky.

Jason Robert Bell, an artist from Houston who now lives in Brooklyn:

I woke up at 8 and I wondered when I would hear from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Center about the studio space that my girlfriend Gaby and I had applied for in the World Trade Center. We had worked for weeks on a detailed proposal, for their WTC studio program. The project was to create a vast scale model of the city, using the fantastic views from the 91st floor of their WTC studio spaces. We knew that the proposal was good, and really thought we had a good chance.

I surfaced at Union Square just after 9. Everything seemed the same as any early fall clear, clean day-what my grandmother would call "California weather." Everyone was wandering around on the streets, looking up as if there was a giant car wreck in the sky, [and] I was running late for work-the first thought that crossed my mind was that whatever happened would be an excuse for being late. Then I turned the corner and saw the first tower on fire-a small fire on a few of the floors near the top. And I thought, Well, super, there goes the studio space! I started asking people what had happened. A guy standing next to me said that a plane had crashed into the building: "I think some sort of small plane, a single engine, or a biplane or something"

I walked over a block and got a better view in front of building I work in. I went up to the floor I work on, and it was completely empty. I found the only person there, my all-work-and-no-play boss. He was listening to the radio coverage on NPR, which was not really coming in right. We heard that the second tower was hit. I grabbed the office's digital camera and went back outside. The streets were now filledŠ.

The first tower became a giant pillar of smoke. Everyone was kind of standing there like zombies. Lots of people were taking pictures. After I had taken a few, it just seemed wrong.ŠWhen the second tower fell, people started screaming. There was hope before that.

After I saw the news about the Pentagon, I wanted to try to get back to Brooklyn. Another guy I work with who also lives there left with me. We had to walk for about an hour to the Manhattan Bridge (right next to the Brooklyn Bridge). Everyone was really happy to still be alive, and once we got across the bridge, we (I at least) felt home free. A church that is on the Brooklyn side was handing out water to everyone. I was really thirsty and drank a few cups.

The trains were running in Brooklyn, and I got on the one to my girlfriend's place. As the train went up onto the elevated track, I got a good view of the towers of smoke. I realized that it was just like "the Tower" from the tarot. I quickly did a drawing of that idea, The Tower(s)-Pride, Folly, Wrath.

I got to my girlfriend's place, and she was just getting there herself (she worked in Brooklyn at the time). We went into her apartment and watched the news. Basically, no one knew what really had happened, but everyone knew that this was the real thing. The next thing I knew, it was around 7 p.m., and we realized that we were hungry. The wind had changed. The night air had a strong acid-like smell that I and everyone on the streets of Park Slope knew was the smell of death. The Air Force jets were circling above.

We went to the closest place to eat, a Middle Eastern place that we had been to a few times before. The guy who owns it gave everybody free Cokes and baklava and told us all that he loved America. I wondered if I loved America, a third-generation bohemian, the son of a left-wing lesbian activist. Growing up in Texas, I had always been made to feel as "the other." This did not change that.

The September 11 photos taken by Jason Bell can be viewed at www.tetragrammatron.com/WTC.zip

Deborah Bell, who lives in Houston and is Jason's mother:

Please do not just refer to it as nine-eleven, 9/11, 911 or Nine One One. We need to call it what it was, and we need to remember that horrors such as this happen almost every day in other places. Truthfully, I might feel differently if my son had been harmed. . . . I think we all have profound memories of that day wherever we were. I know my concern about my son and his safety was paramount to me. I was almost sick from relief when I knew he was OK.

His near miss was that he and his girlfriend had sent in a presentation to be considered for a studio on the 91st floor in one of the towers. If the attack had happened six months beyond the day it did, the story could very well be different. So his presentation was part of the debris and rubble.

On September 11, the Houston Lesbian & Gay Community Center (803 Hawthorne) will remain open from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. so that individuals may visit and write messages in a remembrance book, which will be sent to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York. At 7 p.m., Interfaith Ministries and Houston Museum District institutions will host September 11: Remembering Together, a free program at the Menil Collection (1515 Sul Ross), followed by a candlelight procession to the Rothko Chapel.

EMPOWER FOCUSES ON BUSINESS, COMMUNITY

A seminar of GLBT supportive businesses and a roundtable workshop of local organizations will highlight Empower 2002, the corporate-and-community expo on Saturday and Sunday, September 21 and 22. Organized by the Greater Houston GLBT Chamber of Commerce, the annual event will take place at the George R. Brown Convention Center downtown.

Booths presented by businesses and nonprofit organizations once again will be the main feature at Empower. New entertainment features of this year's event include a climbing wall and canine agility demonstrations. Mayor Lee P. Brown is a confirmed speaker. Performers on the main stage include singer Marsha Carlton and Sean Welling's Planet Funk Dancers.

For the first time, there is a $3 admission fee for Empower.

On Saturday, September 21, 3-6 p.m., the chamber's corporate networking group will host a business-to-business conference. Topics will include diversity in the workplace and target marketing to GLBT consumers. Hewitt Associates will host a job fair and seminars for individuals seeking employment.

The Houston Lesbian & Gay Community Center will host a roundtable discussion for local GLBT organizations at 1 p.m.

On Sunday, September 22, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Empower will feature speakers, entertainment, and fashion shows throughout the afternoon. Other attractions include a home-and-garden venue, art exhibitions, a health fair, and a children's area.

MEN'S GATHERING PREPS FOR BLACKEXPLO 2002

The Men's Gathering, the discussion and support group, is organizing Blackexplo 2002, a weekend of seminars and social events on October 4-6. "The purpose is to bring together black gay men together to experience a weekend of learning, networking, fellowship, fun," publicity chairman Torelan Winbush explains. The nightclub Incognito will host a welcome reception on Friday at 7 p.m. Saturday workshops and a vendor fair will take place at the Courtyard by Marriott on the West Loop. Exclamation Dance Company will perform at 8 p.m., and a party will follow at Incognito. On Sunday, a 2 p.m. picnic at Tom Bass Park will conclude the weekend. For details, log onto www.themensgathering.dream2.org

LEGAL SEMINAR ON SEPT. 25 CONCERNS ALTERNATIVE FAMILIES

Rhonda R. Rivera, known in legal circles as the "mother of sexual orientation law" will be the keynote speaker at an innovative seminar on Wednesday, September 25. Alternative Law Family Day will offer practical advice to attorney on addressing legal issues that affect individuals in nontraditional families.

The Stonewall Law Association of Greater Houston will present the 8 a.m.-5 p.m. event at the South Texas College of Law Fred Parks Library. Fees range from $25 to $100 per person.

Rivera wrote the first major law review article on the subject of sexual-orientation law in 1979. Retired from the Ohio State University College of Law, she now lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Other speakers will include Lee Taft of the Lambda Legal Education and Defense Fund office in Dallas.

The seminar is designed for attorneys, but the event is open to the general public. For details, contact Stonewall Law president Jerry Simoneaux at 713/227-1717 or e-mail president@slagh.org.

RUN FOR IT

On September 9, members of the Bering Memorial United Methodist Church running club will be among the 2,500 expected jocks signing up at the 2003 HP Houston Marathon kick-off party. Registration for January 19 race will be held in the Memorial Park Picnic Loop area, south of Memorial Drive. The Bering club started last year, training every Saturday from August until marathon day. Friends of runners donated dollars per mile for the Bering Support Network. Road warriors interested in the club may contact Troy Plummer at 713/526-1017 or e-mail TroyP@clearsail.net.

DATEBOOK

September 8. Team Houston/Gay Games VI meeting. Houston Lesbian & Gay Community Center (803 Hawthorne). 2 p.m.

September 14. The First Semi-Annual Rainbow Donkey and Elephant Rummage Sale and Barbecue, hosted by the Houston Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus to raise funds for an array of organizations. Community Center. 8 a.m.-6 p.m.