Buy Gay Friendly. Check out the HRC Buyers Guide
Many of you were up at the crack of dawn last Friday standing in lines at Target and Wal-Mart or at your favorite mall to take advantage of holiday sales. Some of you were out buying big ticket items, and some of you were out buying small gifts for loved ones. Regardless of what you are putting under the tree this year; I am sure you can all agree that you should purchase it from companies that share and value your commitment to diversity.
Every year the Human Rights Campaign issues a buyers guide to help guide you to the choices you make in your daily living.
Companies with 500 or more employees are asked to participate in a survey and then rated on their diversity. This year HRC has coded the companies by color Green for companies you can rest assured are working to fulfilling equality in the workplace, Yellow for those who are improving their diversity, and Red for those companies that did not respond to the requests for a response or have a serious need to improve conditions for GLBT workers at their companies.
In addition to retail stores, the guide ranks banks, restaurants, hotels. I discovered that Pride has a banking relationship with a bank that has a perfect equality score, but I personally bank with a company that needs work. Rest assured I will be evaluating where I do my banking in 2009.
On an interesting note, Chase bank scored a perfect 100% on the equality index while Huntington and BB&T banks scored 75% and 48% respectively. Those are the three largest national and commercial banks in the Kanawha valley.
Take a look at the guide and make important purchases and day to day living matter. The guide can be found at http://www.hrc.org/buyersguide2009
Show Online Support for World AIDS Day
By now, we’ve all come to realize that HIV/AIDS does not discrimnate based on race, sex, religion, or sexual orientation . Being so easily preventable, awareness and education are the two major battles we must fight against this disease. Social Networking utilities such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace allow anyone to show support for World AIDS Day very easily, reaching and encouraging other friends to do the same…and it goes on and on and on. We’re going to cover how to quickly show your support for World AIDS Day the three aforementioned Social Networking SItes.
- Join the numerous HIV/AIDS support networks such as:
- Update your Status Message to include a link here or to World AIDS Campaign
- Change your facebook profile picture to the HIV Awareness Red Ribbon
Link
- Tweet about World AIDS Day by including #WAD08 in your posts. This allows trackers to follow all WAD supporters on Twitter.
- Example:JakartaToday: Today is World AIDS Day. HIV has reportedly infected about 33 million people globally, two million of whom are children under 15. #WAD08
- Change your Twitter UserIcon to one showing support for the cause:
Myspace
- Update your Status Message to include a link here or to World AIDS Campaign
- Change your facebook profile picture to the HIV Awareness Red Ribbon
Link
Where Are They NOW????????????
Jocelyn Rae, Akasha, Dominique
On Thanksgiving night at TRAX night club in Charleston, WV Miss Dominique Moore was back for a premier performance. She has been a performer since 1998 and currently holds no titles but has been 1st runner up for many pageants. She currently resides in Raleigh, NC where she has been for 4 years. She has been performing at Legends and the Metro on and off during the time that she has been in Raleigh, NC. She was visiting Charleston, WV for Thanksgiving and since she has always had a love for entertaining and for Charleston, she spoke with TRAX night club about performing for her Charleston audience. TRAX obliged her and the performance was one of true beauty, grace, and illusion. I would like to thank Dominique for her time and her openness to share where she has been with us and for the opportunity to catch up.
Dominique Moore
Other entertainers for the night were Akasha and Jocelyn Rae.
Akasha
Jocelyn Rae
Welcome to The Rainbow Report
Welcome to The Rainbow Report!
This is a new project for Rainbow Pride and we are excited for the opportunity to inform, educate and entertain the GLBT community of West Virginia and its allies. We are starting out slow and we are hoping to grow with more reporters. Right now our site is in real time. This means as we post articles they are viewable to you the reader!
Three reporters and the Chairman of Rainbow Pride of West Virginia make up the editorial board of The Rainbow Report. They are:
Charlie Rouse, Chairman of Rainbow Pride. He will be chiming in every week with his opinion and political news and events relevant to the West Virginia GLBT Community.
Dave web designer and blogger will be writing about online action for the GLBT community and on events of interest to the local community. David also works to design our parent site http://pridewv.org.
Caroline Starr, local lady about town, activist, mom, and sister in pride will be covering our Charleston Beat section and Lez B Friends. The Charleston Beat will focus on local events and be the society page for GLBT Charleston. Lez B Friends will focus on issues and information to the Lesbian Community of West Virginia.
Jeremy Elswick, A.K.A. Milla Rich, will be covering the state drag circuit. Our resident friend and diva will provide a colorful review of female impersonation in West Virginia.
Do you have a talent for writing? Would you like to submit a weekly, monthly or quarterly article to The Rainbow Report?
We are currently looking for people to write about the following regions and/ or topics:
Morgantown Beat
Wheeling Beat
Parkersburg Beat
Beckley, Bluefield and Southern WV
Central West Virginia (Fairmont, Clarksburg)
Eastern Panhandle (Charlestown, Martinsburg, Harpers Ferry)
If you would like to write for us or have an idea for a recurring article send us a email at rainbowpridewva@yahoo.com.
Miss West Virginia Continental Plus 2009
Host & Emcee :
MISS CONTINENTAL PLUS 2007
MISS TAJMA HALL
Honoring :
MISS WEST VIRGINIA
CONTINENTAL PLUS 2008
MISS BRIANNA NICOLE CARTIER
&
MISS CONTINENTAL PLUS 2008
MERCEDES
&
MISS CONTINENTAL PLUS 2005
MISS VICTORIA PARKER
&
MISS SHINING STAR CONTINENTAL PLUS 2008
MISS CHELSEA PEARL
&
Stonewall Host Cast – Miss Kentucky Continental
Miss Olivia Knowles
Also Featuring A Very Special Guest :
MISS CONTINENTAL
TULSI
Contestants had to be male — at least 225lb — 21yrs or more in order to compete in the competition.
Contestants from all over West Virginia and North America are eligible to compete in 5 categories:
- Group Discussion Interview
- White Presentation (Non Judged)
- Swimsuit
- Talent
- Evening Gown
- On Stage Question
Winner and 1st Alt from the pageant will go on to represent West Virginia at the National Miss Continental Plus Pageant in Chicago, Illinois April, 2009.
Contestant for the evening pagent were as follows:
1. Tanjlia Armani – Miami, FL
2. Daphine Douglas – Atlanta, GA
3.Roxxy Andrews – Orlando, FL
4. Bianca Baker – Yager, WV
5. Adriana Fuentes – Lexington, KY
The judges for the evenings pagent were as follows:
TANJLIA ARMANI - MIAMI, FL
BIANCA BAKER - YAGER, WV
ROXXXY ANDREWS - ORLANDO, FL
DAPHINE DOUGLAS - ATLANTA, GA
ADRIANA FUENTES - LEXINGTON, KY
Congratulations to Miss Roxxy Andrews on a well deserved victory as well as to the other beautiful ladies that graced the Stonewall stage for his pagent.
I would also like to thank the owners of the Stonewall for hosting this event.
1. ANTHONY (BRIDGET) CHARLESTON,WV
2. TULSI – (MISS CONTINENTAL) TORONTO CANADA
3. PRISCILLA DEVINE – (HEAD JUDGE) HUNTINGTON, WV
4. VICTORIA PARKER – (FORMER MISS CONTINENTAL PLUS) RALEIGH, NC
5. BOBBY PAULEY – CHARLESTON, WV
The Stonewall was looking its best on Friday during the Miss WV Continental Plus Pageant, with fresh flowers and dinning tables with white linens. The contestants where full of passion and love for the art and craft that is drag competition. Five contestants showed up for this wonderful competition, however only one could be crowned Miss WV Continental Plus 2009. The following contestant and outfits where just a glimpse into the event of the night, where the first alternate was Adriana Fuentes, second alternate was Tanjlia Armani and Miss Roxxy Andrews became our newly crowned Miss WV Continental Plus.
Equality For ALL!!
” I’m probably never gonna be able to walk down the street holding hands with my lover without the rest of the world giving us a look. I may never have the wedding that I once dreamed of and I may never have anymore children, or I may lose the one that I already have. And one day when I die, people will never give as much respect to my grieving lover as if she were my grieving husband.”
Equality and rights for all… thats what I wanted my first article to be about. Life may not always be fair and some people can be cruel, but with enough people fighting and enough people caring, in my opinion, things can and will change.
People think that we as lesbians don’t have as many problems as most gay men, but they are wrong. We fight for rights just as much as they do and in so cases not only get excluded from the hetrosexual community but we also get excluded from the homosexual community. We need to stand up and fight for our rights in all aspects of life. Equality for everyone is what I want regardless of how you classify yourself.. Gay, Straight, Bi, Lesbian, Butch, Femme, Bear, Queer, or Queen! Learn to love yourself and soon others can not get you down!
Thanksgiving at The Broadway!!
This past Sunday was Thanksgiving at the Broadway!! It was an awsomely fun time but I was quite hoping to see a few more faces. Dinner was at five o’ clock followed by a a six’o clock drag show with some of the best queens in town.
Dinner was great and was prepared by mostly locals in the community. Turkey, dressing and all the fixings were there along side some delectable home-made desserts. I felt right at home eating, drinking and sharing some laughs with old friends and new ones.
Michelle St. James, Donna Tinsley, Jasmine Carmichael, and Abigail St. James put on one of the best shows I’ve seen in a while. They also did shows at nine o’ clock and at eleven o’clock and even though I didn’t get to stay for the other two shows I know that the girls put on an excellent show.
All in all I had a great time Sunday night and hope some of the rest of you did as well!
Miss Huntington 2008-2009Ms Sara Dazie
As a new rising star in the Huntington area, we would like to congratulate Miss Sara Dazie on her win in the Miss Huntington pageant at the Polo Club. With a true showing of class and elegance she became a winner. We are certain to see wonderful things from her in the future.
Why We Do What We Do
Seth Distefano defended equal rights of GLBT individuals in employment and public accommodation In a recent op ed piece in the Charleston Gazette. Below is a response posted to the Gazette website about that opinion article.
“No sane society can reasonably declare homosexual unions as the equivalent of a traditional marriage. While a heterosexual marriage provides the cohesion and procreation that any successful society requires, a homosexual union provides neither: There is absolutely nothing cohesive about a “Gay Rights Parade”; procreation by homosexuals is biologically impossible. And yet, despite engaging in behavior that clearly defies natural design, we are expected to accept such conduct as somehow being normal. But is there such a thing as a normal aberration? No.
To speak of “the rights of homosexuals” is like speaking of the rights of a thief, or the rights of a murderer, or the rights of a terrorist. After all, just because one engages in aberrant behavior that undermines societal structure and integrity, he or she should still be afforded the same preferential treatment and rights given to other minority groups, right? What utter nonsense!”
Posted By: smarbap (9:14pm 11-18-2008) Charleston Gazette
That’s right! This person thinks that you are unnatural and an aberration. He thinks you are on par with Criminals even though laws in the US banning homosexual sex have been declared unconstitutional or overturned by the states.
The real problem is that this person probably is a neighbor, a relative, a co worker or someone you may meet on the street. He or she hides behind the anonymity of the internet to share his opinion. They do this because they do not feel like they could say this in the open. Maybe it is because they know deep down in their heart is that it is wrong to hate. That’s probably a big maybe, but we in the GLBT community have a great deal of work to do. We have to get a person like this to understand that our rights have nothing to do with religion but with legal recognition due any member of our society.
Pride tries to get the message out. Pride is designed to call attention to our cause. Our events seek to not only unite a fragmented GLBT community in West Virginia, but to provide awareness of our plight to people who may not know someone who is GLBT. Unfortunately just having pride and showing up at parades, festivals, and fundraisers is not enough.
We need you sometime before early January to contact your elected officials at the state level. We need you to tell them that you want to be included as a equal member in the growth and progress of West Virginia. Pro GLBT legislation can only improve West Virginia’s image on the national and international stage. It will challenge the stereotype that we are uneducated, uncaring bigots.
If any of you need help finding out whom your elected officials are please call your county clerk and provide them your address. They will be able to tell you all the information you need.
Keep pushing, keep helping, and keep being out and proud.
The Fight for Equal Rights in West Virginia
West Virginia Code states the following:
§5-11-2. Declaration of policy.
It is the public policy of the state of West Virginia to provide all of its citizens equal opportunity for employment, equal access to places of public accommodations, and equal opportunity in the sale, purchase, lease, rental and financing of housing accommodations or real property. Equal opportunity in the areas of employment and public accommodations is hereby declared to be a human right or civil right of all persons without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, blindness or disability. Equal opportunity in housing accommodations or real property is hereby declared to be a human right or civil right of all persons without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, blindness, disability or familial status.The denial of these rights to properly qualified persons by reason of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, blindness, disability or familial status is contrary to the principles of freedom and equality of opportunity and is destructive to a free and democratic society.
Which group is missing from this? Yea. Us.
As the religious ideologues in West Virginia gear up the fight against gay marriage citing the ‘family’, gays in West Virigina have real issues to worry about: the very real possibility of losing a job or denied housing (outside of Charleston) due to their. The rally against gay marriage in West Virginia is nothing more than a distraction.
We’ll win this fight but we need your help! Stay tuned for information on how to become involved in this important legislation.