Tim Miller on immigration woes

Miller, who appears this weekend in his one-man performance at the Laguna Art Museum, has for years been seeking immigration reform to allow gay partners immigration rights to the U.S.

He and his lover, Alistair McCartney, who's finishing his studies here, will be leaving the U.S. to avoid splitting themselves up.

We talk with Miller about his efforts on Subversity, a KUCI public affairs program that airs today from 4-5 p.m. on KUCI, 88.9 fm and is web-cast via kuci.org.

Call 949 824-5824 to chat with Miller or send e-mail to: subversity@kuci.org during the show.

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Press Release for his performance:

Tim Miller to Perform U.S. Swan Song  
at Laguna Art Museum

(Laguna Beach, CA -- January 6, 2003)   The internationally acclaimed 
performance artist Tim Miller will perform his latest work Body Blows at 
Laguna Art Museum on January 17 and 18, 2003. These performances will be 
among Miller's last in the United States before he and his Australian-British 
partner Alistair have to leave the US since gay people can't get married in 
the US and thus get a green card. Miller's creative work as a performer and 
writer explores the artistic, spiritual and political topography of his 
identity as a gay man. Tickets for each of the performances are $15. Hailed 
for his humor and passion, the internationally acclaimed performance artist 
Tim Miller has delighted, shocked, and emboldened audiences all over the 
world. Miller returns to Highways for the exciting premiere of his newest 
performance work BODY BLOWS.  Based on Miller's new book of the same name, 
BODY BLOWS explores the tangible body blows, both given and received, of the 
performers life and times as explored through his performances.  Miller says, 
"Blow means many things - including that queer bashers blow, as well as the 
sweet blowing breath of a lover tickling over the eyes. The blows on your 
body from a cop in Houston or San Francisco, in addition to the exquisite 
blow of two men's bodies coming together in love."  Miller's performances 
contain the put-up-your dukes and stand-your-ground attitude from these 
everyday blows that comprises being queer in America. In BODY BLOWS, Miller 
raises his voice to honor the Slings and Eros of outrageous queer fortune. 

Miller achieved notoriety as a member of the NEA Four, provocative 
performance artists who became the center of a loud debate over financing 
from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is regarded as one of the 
premier performance artists that specialize in autobiographical monologues. 
This is his second appearance at Laguna Art Museum, and it may be his last 
performance in the United States before Miller relocates permanently to 
Europe. 

Miller's performances have been presented all over North America and
Europe in such prestigious venues as Yale Repertory Theatre, the Institute
of Contemporary Art (London), the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), and the
Brooklyn Academy of Music.  He is the author of the books Shirts and Skin,
and Body Blows. His solo theater works have been published in the play
collections and O Solo Homo and Sharing the Delirium. 

Since 1990, Miller has taught performance in the theater department at
UCLA and the dance program at Cal State LA. He is a co-founder of the two
most influential performance spaces in the United States: Performance
Space 122 on Manhattan's Lower East Side and Highways Performance Space in
Santa Monica, California. 

Miller has received numerous grants from the National Endowment for the
Arts. In 1990, Miller was awarded a NEA Solo Performer Fellowship, which
was overturned under political pressure from the Bush White House because
of the gay themes of Miller's work. Miller and three other artists, the
so-called "NEA 4", successfully sued the federal government with the help
of the ACLU for violation of their First Amendment rights and won a
settlement in which the government paid them the amount of the de-funded
grants and all court costs.  Though the Supreme Court of the United States
decided in 1998 to overturn part of Miller's case and determined that
"standards of decency"  are constitutional criterion for federal funding
of the arts, Miller vows "to continue fighting for freedom of expression
for fierce diverse voices." 

For more information regarding the program, or to purchase tickets by phone, 
please call the Museum at 949.494.8971, extension 0. 

...

Laguna Art Museum is located at 307 Cliff Drive in Laguna Beach.  The Museum 
is open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., including Monday holidays. 
Admission to the Museum is free each Tuesday. For more information, please 
call between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at 949.494.8971, extension 0 or visit the Museum's website at 
www.lagunaartmuseum.org.

.....

...

Daniel C. Tsang
Host, Subversity, now Tuesdays, 4-5 p.m.
KUCI, 88.9 FM and Web-cast live via http://kuci.org 
Subversity: http://kuci.org/~dtsang; E-mail: subversity@kuci.org
Daniel Tsang, KUCI, PO Box 4362, Irvine CA 92616
UCI Tel: (949) 824-4978; UCI Fax: (949) 824-2700
UCI Office: 380 Main Library
Member, National Writers Union (http://www.nwu.org)
WWW News Resource Page: http://sun3.lib.uci.edu/~dtsang/netnews1.htm
AWARE: http://sun3.lib.uci.edu/~dtsang/aware2.htm
Personal Homepage: http://sun3.lib.uci.edu/~dtsang/