Deadline Change – 2009 Parade Grand Marshall Nominations
UPDATE - Submission Deadline Changed to January 25th, 2009
January, 6 2009
Dear friends of Pride,
We are planning on bringing you a fun filled and exciting parade this year. But we need you to help us pick the person who will kick it all off!
The Grand Marshal of the 2009 Pride Parade and Festival will be selected this January. We hope you will chose to nominate someone who inspires a sense of pride in each of us.
Past winners have been political advocates, gay youth, and even local politicians.
Perhaps you know of someone that should be recognized with this award? If you do, then we invite you to nominate them for this award.
Any member or ally of the community may nominate someone to receive the award. There are two ways to be nominated. You may mail it to us via the US Postal Service or deliver it in person at our regularly scheduled meeting on January 13, 2009 at 6:00 PM.
Although not required, it is recommended that you include a brief narrative (500 words or less) of why you feel the person you are nominating should be the 2009 Parade Grand Marshal. A copy of your unaltered, nomination will be mailed to our Dues Paying members who will then vote to select the winner.
Nominations must be received in our mailbox no later than January 13th. If you are mailing in your nomination from outside Kanawha County we recommend that you mail it in no later than Friday, January 9, 2009. This will allow time for the mail to process your letter. Please Mail your ballot to:
Rainbow Pride of West Virginia
Attn: Grand Marshal Nomination
Post Office Box 2624
Charleston, WV 25326
The Pride office is located at 501 Elizabeth Street in Charleston. If you need directions to our office you may call (304)345-9938 and someone will return your call and provide directions to you.
Once the nominations are collected, Rainbow Pride of West Virginia Volunteers and staff will prepare and mail the ballots to the dues paying members
Voting and Announcements will be announced at a future date
Thank you for your support of the community, and we look forward to your nomination!
Sincerely,
Charlie Rouse,
President
Rainbow Pride of West Virginia
Obama Press Secretary Gibbs’ Answer to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
Change.gov is the website for the Obama Transition team. It has been taking questions from average citizens and allowing others to vote those questions up or down based on popularity. If there was ever a time that LGBT citizens can get involved in the planning processes of an upcoming administration, now is it.
When asked if Obama will repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, incoming Press Secretary Gibbs gives a clear and emboldned response.
“Yes”
Obama Appoints Openly Gay Man to Head Export Import Bank
The Human Rights Campaign reports that Obama has selected Fred Hochberg, an openly gay man, to head the Export-Import Bank.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is the official export credit agency of the United States. Ex-Im Bank’s mission is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets.
Hochberg, who served as head of the Small Business Administration in the Clinton Administration, will succeed James H. Lambright as chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank.
HRC President Joe Solmonese released the following statement.
The chair of the Export-Import Bank of the United States is an important position in President-elect Obama’s economic team. Fred is one of the most highly qualified and experienced public servants in our community and the fact that President-elect Obama has tapped him for such an important economic position speaks well for the LGBT community.
What Really Matters
What Really Matters
In 2009 West Virginia remains last in many things. In my travels outside of West Virginia I have to challenge the stereotype of the uneducated hillbilly. People think we are at the lower end of the gene pool. They don’t know why we continue to live in a state with little opportunity for individual financial advancement, and they really don’t understand why we appear to be racially, and socially intolerant of people. I have had many friends of mine remark that when they actually visit our beautiful state they never knew people could be so nice and welcoming.
We have to create a welcoming community in West Virginia. We have to create it to bring jobs, people, and money in to this state. We need to create a welcoming community so many of us don’t have to choose to make the gay exodus to the east coast, west coast, or the nearby urban centers of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Many people ask me why I stick to helping with a pride celebration in little Charleston, West Virginia. Some of them say it is under attended, some of them question its validity, and some of them can’t get over the fact that we goofed and had to crown three drag queens last year in order to create peace in the drag community. I continue to tell them that GLBT Pride is needed to remind the people of West Virginia that we are here and we aren’t leaving. I try to remind those with doubt or non constructive criticism that hiding in a closet, or pouting at home about the denial of their rights will get us nowhere.
Some people are still complaining about a drag pageant that happened over eight months ago. Some have even gone off to pout, start other organizations, or just refuse to come to the table and join groups already in existence. Meanwhile, a lesbian couple in the southern part of the state is being told by a Circuit Court Judge, elected by the people, that they are unfit parents. That court is going to take away a foster child they have practically raised from the cradle.
We (including myself) should thoughtfully consider what really matters.
I will pledge to you that in 2009 we are going to do our level best to make the Miss Pride of West Virginia Pageant a success(with only one person walking out with a huge tiara.) However, I want people to know that we have a full array of events that will attract different groups within the GLBT community. We have people that need our help, support, and influence. Pride should help us reach those people or at least create an environment where the free flow of information about our community and ideas to improve it are shared. We are all more powerful than we truly think.
Further, I invite you to a meeting at the office. The meeting calendar can be found at http://pridewv.org/events.htm . You can email us at rainbowpridewva@yahoo.com if you are interested in getting involved. We plan a 10 day celebration on a shoestring budget and with very few volunteers. We can use all the help we can get. All voices are heard in our meeting, and if the feedback is constructive, and it comes from a person committed to helping make change they want to see; then we might just try it out. However, you can’t be heard, and we can’t help make change if you don’t come to the table.
Come be a part of change, and come help us make the changes that really matter.
Makin’ Trax
The Rainbow Mafia strikes again. This time hitting Trax on Washington St in downtown Charleston. A well attended evening filled with retro tunes and a mixed crowd. Below you’ll find a few snapshots of a few in attendance.
Samara Brookes
Jocelyn Rae Karmichael
Bush signs Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008
As we anxiously await the inauguration of a more LGBT friendly President, our current president appears to have come through for our community…albeit after eight years of hate-mongering.
The HRC reports that Bush signed the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, which protects gay partners who inherit retirement benfits by correcting the Pension Protection Act of 2006. ”PPA made it possible for employers to allow any nonspouse beneficiary of an employee’s retirement plan—including an employee’s same-sex partner—to roll inherited retirement benefits directly to an individual retirement account (IRA) and avoid immediate taxation.
WRERA requires that all employers provide this rollover opportunity to nonspouse beneficiaries.”
“This is progress toward eliminating the more than 1,000 inequities that our families face under federal law,” continued Solmonese. “U.S. employers should make the rollover provision available as quickly as possible—before the 2010 deadline—and LGBT workers should ensure their partners and children are designated as beneficiaries.”
Baby Steps.
Opinion – We Can Disagree Without Being Disagreeable
As I am sure many of us are now aware, Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, will deliver a prayer at Obama’s inauguration. This has understandably angered many in the LGBT community due to his role in garnering support for Proposition 8 in California.
Melissa Etheridge, who is performing at the Inauguration, had this to say about meeting Rick Warren.
For the very first time, there will be a group representing the interests of LGBT Americans participating in the Inaugural Parade.
The Inauguration will also involve Reverend Joseph Lowery, who will be delivering the official benediction at the Inauguration. Reverend Lowery is a giant of the civil rights movement who boasts a proudly progressive record on LGBT issues. He has been a leader in the struggle for civil rights for all Americans, gay or straight.
I went through a few mental states regarding this decision. First, I felt betrayed. How could a man that I worked so hard for even consider Warren for this task. Then, I started going back to speeches that Obama made…particularly ones that included calls for unity.Suddenly, it clicked for me. His entire campaign revolved around getting your hands dirty, leaving comfort zones and working hard for what you believe in and the end result WILL lead to justice.
Looking back now, it rings more true for me than ever. During the campaign, canvassing door to door (which is difficult for me), showing up for parades, rallies, phone banking. All things I would have never considered doing had I not been surrounded by such a richly diverse group of volunteers; white, black, rich, poor, men, women, gay, striaght. I had never seen so many walks of life coming together for a common goal, let alone in Charleston, West Virginia.
In six months of volunteering, I met at least a couple of Obama supporters who made comments about gay people, not realizing they were sweating in the August heat right next to one or that there were at least 3 to 4 others in that group working just as hard as they were. That day, they got an education that our cause is just and we’re willing to work for it; that we deserve respect because we work just as hard as they do, in all aspects of life.
Over the course of six months, we DID change minds. People who were evangelicals did come around to the fact that we at the very least deserve respect even if they did disagree with us. For me, was the beauty of the Obama election campaign. I was consistently forced to respect other opinions because we were all in it together.
I realize this all may sound corny and you may think I’m sitting around with bongos around a campfire but it’s true. This is the United States of America. We are a melting pot and its what I love most about this country.
Absolutism does no one any good… we’ve had that for eight years. What drew me, and keeps me, so close to Obama is the prospect that shades of grey are more important than the individual battles. By coming together in some fashion..the end result will always lead to justice.