US House Passes Matthew Shepard Act
Just received word from the HRC that the US House has just passed Hate Crimes legislation, the Matthew Shepard Act. This legislation includes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people from bias-motivated hate violence.
As West Virginians, be aware of the following:
BOTH Representatives Nick Rahall and Allen Mollohan voted for Matthew Shepherd Hate Crimes Bill (HR 1913); Shelley Moore Capito voted with the Republican mainstream against the bill.
I repeat:
Shelley Moore Capito AGAINST the Matthew Shepard Act
This is far from over, we’re now awaiting a vote from the US Senate. Do your part.
IGNITION MOVIE NIGHT AT THE PROJECT SPACE
Ignition an Mpowment modeled program and service of Rainbow Pride of WV is hosting a movie night every Wednesday at 6pm in the project space located in the basement of Asbury United Methodist Church on 501 Elizabeth Street Charleston. Popcorn and Cokes are provided. All gay, bisexual, and questioning males ages 18 to 32 are encouraged to attend. Please come and have a fun night at the movies as Ignition tries to bring together peers for food, friendship, and community.
St. Albans teen speaks up for LGBT Students
Photograph - Chip Ellis.
It what seems like yet another reminder that younger generations can teach us a lot about ourseleves, a St. Albans High School student, Clayton Stover, petitioned the Kanawha County school board members to add sexual orientation to the school system’s cultural diversity policy.
We are humbled by such incredible courage to stand before such an audience, let alone live day to day in an environment as brutal as high school, while advocating for justice for ALL people…including those who are so easily maligned verbally and physically assaulted.
31st District House Delegate Carrie Webster also sent a letter to the Kanawha County Board of Education offering support of this addition.
School board general counsel Jim Withrow said the school system is already revamping its diversity policy. About four months ago, a group of teachers suggested the school board include sexual orientation in the policy, he said.
Board members could vote on the revisions as early as next month, he said.
Thank you Clayton for your courage to speak up. We are inspired.
Southern WV Pride
Rainbow Pride of West Virginia has a new regional partner in Southern WV Pride, headquartered out of the Bluefield – Princeton area. The organization aims to unite GLBT people in the southern part of the state and, through their outreach efforts, to create a safe place to socialize and get information. They plan to encourage political and social involvement and to act as a voice for the GLBT community in the local news media. Southern WV Pride hopes to give its members a feeling of belonging to the larger GLBT community in West Virginia and to organize social events with the goal of fostering a sense of pride and solidarity.
Click here to visit Southern WV Pride on the web or look them up on myspace
Gay Families Invited to White House Easter Event
The Huffington Post reports that the “White House officials said that tickets for Monday’s Easter Egg Roll event were distributed to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender organizations, but did not specify how many or to which ones. Representatives from Family Equality Council, Human Rights Campaign, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and other groups confirmed they were invited and encouraged to have their members participate.”
“The Obama administration actually reached out to us as an organization, and said we want gay families there, and they are an important part of the American family fabric,” said Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Boston-based Family Equality Council, which is helping spearhead the effort to organize families to attend.
Chrisler said Tuesday she expects more than 100 gay and lesbian-headed families to take part in the egg roll.
This might not seem like a big deal but a little bit of recognition and validation goes along way. For once, we’re are being included. THIS is how you make progress.
Gay in the USA
OK. Here’s the scoop.
The Employment Non-Discrimination legislation failed in the WV legislature. While this is terribly disappointing, we need to keep our heads up and realize a few things.
1) We’ve successfully defeated a ban on gay marriage through an amendment to the West Virginia Constitution (amazing!). Thanks House of Delegates!
2) Vermont overrode the Governor’s veto on a bill allowing gay marriage! This victory is a FIRST in the United States wherein marriage was passed via the Legislative process (which is optimal) and not through a court decision.
3) The District of Columbia voted now to recognize gay marriages from other states!
While we’re all disappointed about WV ENDA, we’ve made significant progress towards toward validation and equality.
So, do you want to get involved? There are two groups in West Virginia that are leading the fight.
Statewide – Fairness West Virginia
Miss Pride & Mr. Pride Contestant Packet
Ok Ladies and Men.
Two events. Mr. Pride & Miss Pride. Are you in?
Miss Pride
Walker Theater @ the Clay Center
May 29th at 6pm
Mr. Pride
Broadway, Charleston
June 5th at 10pm
Download Contestant Packet
Click here to download the 2009 Contestant Packet (PDF file. Adobe Acrobat required)
Announcing the Lavender Vanguard Parade Band
We’re attempting to gauge if there would be any interest in forming a band to march in the Pride parade. We know that *plenty* of us participated in band in high school and college … a few of us may even still have our chops! And we think it’s about time that the Mountain State has it’s own “community” band.
Naturally, we do realize that there probably isn’t enough time to get this organized by June — we’re really shooting for the 2010 parade — but if we hear from enough people over the course of the next month or so, who knows? We could probably make a decent go of it with as few as 10 to 12 horns and a just a couple of drummers. If you can twirl a baton or spin a flag, we need you, too!
Membership will be open to all ages, genders, orientations, and levels of talent. Additional details will be forthcoming as soon as we see what kind of response we’re getting.
If you’d be interested in participating, or if you know someone else who might, please email Daniel at LavenderVanguard@rocketmail.com