Gary Van Horn, President of Delta Foundation announced that one of the speakers for this year’s Advocacy Rally will be Cleve Jones.

ADVOCACY RALLY ANNOUNCEMENT: Cleve Jones, a long time gay rights activist and friend of the late Harvey Milk will be joining us at Pittsburgh Pride’s First Adovocacy Rally on the steps of the City/County Building – Friday, June 4th at 6PM

The Advocacy Rally is a new addition to the Pride activities this year. Many are familiar with other aspects of Pride, such as the Pride in the Streets, street dance and party, Pride March, and PrideFest, a day long festival. These activities happen over the weekend of June 12-13, and the rally is being added as a kick-off event on the Friday starting the week-long Pride. During the week following the rally and culminating in PrideFest will be a series of events sponsored by various groups. Last year, this blog, in cooperation with Equality Advocates, STeel City Stonewall Democrats, and the Women’s Law Project sponsored an Advocacy training that was well attended, and a similar event will be planned this year as well.

More information about Pride: http://pittsburghpride.org/

If you are in London, check this out!

The evidence for same-sex desire has often been overlooked in the past, but museums and their collections can allow us to look back and see the diversity of human desire and gender throughout history.

‘Homosexuality’ as a way to describe a single category of behaviour is a modern European term, but same-sex desire is not a modern western invention (as has sometimes been claimed).

The British Museum has a large number of objects that provide evidence that desire between members of the same sex and fluid ideas of gender have always been aspects of human existence and experience, although they are culturally constructed in a variety of ways.

BRITISH MUSEUM GOES HOMO on HOMOVISION.TV – gay tv, london video news, gay interviews, gay clubbing, gay health, gay comment and gay views… on Gay London videos and news, gay interviews, gay clubbing, gay health, gay comment and gay views on HOMOVISION.TV.

From the linked website:

Simple gestures like hand holding, kissing, and cuddling, are ways that couples are romantic with each other. Society makes it very uncomfortable and at times potentially dangerous for same-sex couples to show their love publicly. The Same-Sex Hand Holding project seeks to put an end to this form of societal injustice and intolerance.

Gay, bi or straight, hold a partner or friends hand in public and show support for gay couples love and visibility. There are events every month throughout the world but anyone can show their support at any time!

Follow the link to find out more!

Queers United: Start ‘A Day in Hand’ Chapter in Your Area.

When we we stop looking for someone to save the day for Lesbians and Gays? When are we going to stop expecting someone to step in and do some magical thing that will supposedly make everything better for us? When are we going to stop spinning our wheels looking for actions from Obama that we just aren’t going to get?

One reason we keep losing when it comes to Marriage Equality is because it is probably the biggest battle left  for the far religious right. Without it, they perish. Without the ability to demonize gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender folks, they have nothing to stand on. Without their attempt to perpetuate the lies and misinformation about us, they can not succeed at holding a few passages in a +2000 year old compilation of ancient writings up as the only way to see the world. We, the GLBTQ community with our straight allies are pushing culture forward toward a new level of enlightenment- out of a dark age once again.

But the other reason we keep losing is because we seem hooked on this failed strategy that if someone with enough authority just says the right thing, it will make all the difference.

What will really make the difference? When every lesbian and gay person comes out of the closet and talks openly about their real life at work, in social settings, at church and with their families. A real difference will happen when enough people can see us and know us and know us well enough that  no matter how many lies and misinformation is out there, they will not be able to stand because the truth of our real lives will be too visible to be ignored.

What will make the difference? When we seek to treat every election as if it mattered to each and everyone of us, and we talked to everyone we know about it. Yesterday, before leaving work, I told my boss, I was off to vote, and why I was voting for the candidates for PA’s courts. Why the election mattered to me and my life.

What will make the difference? When we stop being a one track voting block, and care about the rights of others as much as we want our own rights.As long as the Trans communities can look around and point out how they are thrown under the bus or ejected for “us” when it better suits some of us. As long as we are not including the rights of the poor, the homeless, the racial minority, the [whatever groups is also being discriminated against] in our call for “Full Equality,” we will fall short of that goal. And as long as our allies are not educated enough by us that they realize that for us, full equality is like life and death, we will not get enough of them to the polls to be a voice with us for change.

The link below is to a petition to ask Obama to join the fight to overturn Prop 8 in California. Given the history we have with Obama, what do you think the chances are of that? Yet some think it is worth the time or the effort to ask, and ten I guess we get to be pissed off at Obama when he doesn’t come through , even though it was probably pretty clear even before the petition there was no chance of that at all. It may help express some of the frustration of yesterday’s loss in Maine, and  for that reason, go ahead and sign it. But really. Take the time to set a new course of action for our equality movement instead of doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

That new direction is one of real engagement, every day. Come out. Be out, and live out and proud. Let your families, and friends, and coworkers and others know why equality matters to you. Go and see your legislators. Sit down, face to face and tell them why legislation for GLBTQ rights matter to you, and that you expect them to vote in a way that betters the whole of our society. Broaden your viewpoint to consider where others are not being treated equal too, and work with them, instead of competing against them for change. And do this every single day.

Petition to Obama | Q1 Passes – Equality California.

I took a few video clips at Pittsburgh Pride/ Pride in the Streets and decided to get them published out to Youtube. Here are 2 clips of God-des and She.

There are 2 linked articles below. The first, from yesterday, is a report of what happened at Pride, while the 2nd is an earlier report about what the anti-gay crowd was hoping to achieve. I’m posting it for a few reasons. When I first read the boxturtlebulliten article last week, I wanted to write about it then, but also wanted more information before posting. I spoke to Clay at the Lesbian and Gay Community Center to see what more I could learn.  The boxturtlebulletin story portrays Charlotte gays as feeling afraid, and I wondered how people come to Pride anticipating that confrontation. Clay told me this happens every year, and for several years, the GLBTQ community there has been using a process called Partners in Peace (not entirely sure I have that correct) as a way to non-violently deal with the confrontation. He took my contact info to pass along to one of their volunteers who was in charge of this, but I didn’t hear back from her. Probably not surprising, given the amount of work there is to do the week before a Pride!

I wanted to hear from here to learn more about their non-violent process, and to see what steps they were taking to deal with an increased presence of anti-gay protestors who were hoping for a “flashpoint.” I’ll try and get a hold of her again this week, but it looks as if the anti-gay extremists failed in their attempt. They were unable to increase their numbers and follow through with their plans.

Here is my favorite quote from yesterday’s article:

“It’s about having fun,” said Pride committee member Su Cummings. “It’s not political. It’s about family and friends.”

This story, raises questions for me about just what do you believe based upon what you read. Burroway, writing in the BTB says this:

So as we can see, there is a direct line of theological and ministerial development from the Kansas City Prophets and Lou Engle, to the Toronto Blessing, and from there to the Brownsville Revival and Michael Brown. That line has become a complete circle, with Engle and Brown uniting for a showdown in Charlotte.

Yet, in Haight, writing yesterday for the Charlotte Observer, quotes Brown as saying:

“We are not here to have a confrontation…,” Michael Brown, director of the Charlotte-based Coalition of Conscience, told protesters who gathered at First Baptist Church before marching to the festival. “We are here to send the message that God has a better way.”

Did Brown’s message change because they couldn’t mass the numbers needed? He had predicted 1000 protestors and the estimate is that 500 were present?

One reason why blogs are critical to our GLBTQ movement for equality, is so that multiple voices enter the dialogue and add information for others to see the whole picture. On the other hand, if bloggers merely add to the hype and spin of various stories, then readers still lack a credible source of information.

Without knowing more, I tend to think that the protestors wanted a “flash Point and hoped to create a protest that had the same effect that Prop 8 had- it would allow anti-gay haters to feel they had won a victory, yet they didn’t have the numbers. Even with bringing in Lou Engle, they couldn’t mobilize enough hate. And, as Su Cummings put it, it is about family and friends.

10,000 celebrate gay pride uptown

Box Turtle Bulletin » Anti-Gay Extremists Predict “Flash Point” for Charlotte Pride.

While I don’t think any gay rights activist is out praising Obama for his actions surrounding GLBTQ issues, His proclamation has had a few interesting results. He isn’t the first president to do such a thing. Clinton did as well- but the time seems right for this action to have some legs and start to make a difference.

NASA headquarters issued a press release Monday declaring that the space-faring organization would participate in, and encourage celebration of, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month declared by President Obama.

“LGBT Pride Month is a reflection of NASA’s commitment to inclusiveness across the broad spectrum of our workforce,” said NASA’s Acting Administrator Christopher J. Scolese. ”NASA strives to be a model employer by ensuring it adheres to the principles of inclusion. These principles include fairness and respect for the many different backgrounds, perspectives and life experiences of our employees.

The radical right isn’t quite so happy about it.

John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, called NASA’s celebration of homosexuality “completely off-mission.”

“Promotions of specific sexual orientations over others clearly is outside of NASA’s mission and is being paid for by taxpayers’ dollars,” Stemberger told the Catholic News Agency. “NASA should be for advancing scientific space research objectives, not engaging in homosexual activism.”

Although Stemberger, and others really miss the point. Events like this neither promote any lifestyle over another nor are activist as their purpose. It is hard to see how “commitment to inclusiveness…” can be interpreted as promoting one sexual orientation over another. conservatives are supposedly the big supporters of a Free Market System(FMS) , and inclusion, fairness, and respect for different life experiences fits perfectly within a FMS economic model because employees who are happy at work, and work together in teams; those who feel appreciated and welcome; those not living in fear of being fired or treated badly, will naturally do a better job and help a company do better. Pride is very much at its core an economic thing.

The line that makes me chuckle most, is the one about “taxpayers’ dollars.” Guess what- Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered people pay taxes too! We are here, we are queer, we work, we pay taxes and you are just going to have to get used to it.

Family Advocates Baffled as NASA Celebrates Homosexual “Pride” Month.

So, the Pittsburgh parade isn’t quite this fabulous, but you get the idea. Pride really is about how we each see ourselves and what we are willing to let ourself experience and become.

YouTube – QAF 204 (pride parade).

Lesbian blogger Sue Kerr wrote an awesome summary and comment about last evening’s presentation that helped to kick off Pride Week.

I want to quote just one part following our recent dialogue about activism, but please check out her entire blog entry:

I’ll simply say that I agree with what Sue [Frietsche] had to say.  I need to find new ways to prompt people to take action.  However, I still believe the advocacy folks need to wrestle with some of the issues people have brought to the table and build those personal relationships with people who are expressing that they feel outside of the loop. Denying that the loop exists isn’t productive.  Broadening the loop is the key.

We truly need all voices within the GLBTQ community to be active participants in the advocacy process! I understood Sue Frietsche to say (paraphrased here):

…tell your story, or if you can’t tell your story have someone else tell your story…

I wouldn’t be surprised if sometimes those who feel most “out of the loop” are individuals who have experienced much discrimination, and are the exact voices needed in any meeting with a legislator. So to those folks and to everyone, we need you to play a role. You are wanted and welcome. Tomorrow night’s town hall forum and training is for you.

Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents :: Preliminary Thoughts on the ACLU Forum.

LGBT Business Roundtable/ Meet and Greet

Tuesday, June 9, 2009
7:00 -9:00pm

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender business professionals and their Allies within major Pittsburgh-based businesses will be hosting a meet and greet event at the GLCC for the community at 5808 Forward Avenue In Squirrel Hill on June 9th from 7:00 PM to 9:00PM .

The featured speaker at the event is Anthony C. Infanti. His topic will focus on sexual orientation and the law.

Anthony C. Infanti is a Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. His work focuses on sexual orientation and the law, paying particular attention to the application of the tax laws to lesbians and gay men. Professor Infanti is the author of Everyday Law for Gays and Lesbians (And Those Who Care About Them) (Paradigm Publishers 2007).

The Pittsburgh GLBT Corporate Roundtable’s mission is to assist and educate Pittsburgh-area workplaces in creating a safe and affirming work environment, where all employees are empowered to reach their full human and career potential, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

For more information about this event contact GLBT Roundtable members Christine Kaczkowski or  Scott Stegman 

COMMUNITY PRIDE ECUMENICAL SERVICE

Tuesday, June 9, 2009
7:30pm

ONEchurch Pittsburgh- Reverend Deryck Tines
937 Liberty Ave (downtown)

Special Ecumenical Service with Guest Speaker: Chuck Christen and music by ONEvoice choir

412/261-1692