 Entertainment Tonight News | GLAAD asks Perez Hilton to apologize for anti-gay slurs against ... Los Angeles Times, CA The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has asked Perez Hilton to apologize for slurs he hurled at Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. GLAAD was responding to a video posted by the celebrity blogger, whose legal name is Mario Lavandeira, ... GLAAD Condemns Perez Hilton's Use Of Anti-Gay Slur Perez Hilton asked to apologise over 'gay slur' Gay-Rights Group Demands Perez Hilton Apology |
 Think Progress | Dodd flips on gay marriage Politico, DC who had opposed gay marriage â€" has reversed his position on the issue in a low-key post on his Senate website, saying doing otherwise would strike a blow against “fairness.†Dodd, who has been gaining on Republican Rob Simmons, has been assiduously ... New England's Gay Marriage Compromise State rep: Obama action on gay marriage "disappointing" Fighting gay marriage through ballot |
Istanbul's Gay Pride Week Roundup New York Times, United States By Susanne Fowler ISTANBUL | It's Gay Pride Week, a festival organized by Lambda Istanbul that features dance parties, panel discussions and special screenings, all culminating, on Sunday, June 28, in a parade down the lively pedestrian artery Istiklal ... |
 Broward New Times | LGBT organizations leverage Stonewall anniversary in outreach PRWeek, NY NEW YORK: LGBT organizations are building awareness of LGBT history through events and outreach surrounding the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots on June 27, as well as leveraging the anniversary to promote their own efforts. ... Marching in Syracuse for Gay Rights Stonewall Riots: The Beginning of the LGBT Movement 'No Single LGBT Rights Leader' a Feature, Not a Bug |
 San Francisco Chronicle | LA Times on LGBT San Francisco Chronicle, USA The latest installment in who's talking about Alameda now. The LA Times Editorial Board has felt the need to get into the action over the Safe Schools curriculum brouhaha. You know, because there's not nearly enough stuff to talk about in LA, ... |
One Voice LGBT community center names managing director The Board of Directors of One Voice LGBT Community Center is pleased to announce that it has named Jeff Gish its Managing Director effective June 8, 2009. In this newly created role, Gish will oversee and manage the expansion of the Center's programs ... |
 School Library Journal | GLBT Titles Scrubbed from DC Public Schools' Summer Reading List School Library Journal Officials are taking a second look at the list after a post appeared on the American Library Association's GLBT listserve that said, “The DC (District of Columbia) Public Schools decided to scrub their summer reading list of all GLTB related books. ... |
| <> SF GLBT Film Festival: A Closer Look Examiner.com "Fiona's Script", playing at 7pm June 22 at Berkeley's Elmwood, deals with an Oakland woman making the transition from straight to bisexual to lesbian. Her main outlet is putting her feelings into her script but complications arise due to her own ... |
 Sydney Star Observer | Sport panel refuses late GLBT submission Sydney Star Observer, Australia Anger is mounting at the refusal of a national independent panel to allow a late submission addressing the needs of GLBT people in sport. The Independent Sport Panel is due to report to the federal Government before the end of the year. ... |
A Message from Kim Pearson, TNET President(Click here to read this month's edition of the eTransParent newsletter)
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.†-Margaret Mead.
A few weeks ago an amazing thing happened. The Rob, Arnie and Dawn Morning Show, of radio station KRXQ in Sacramento, CA publically took responsibility and apologized for their hateful anti-trans youth commentary from two previous broadcasts.
While hate speech (disguised as free speech) in popular media seems to be common place, it can only survive if “we the people†don’t step up and say enough! This is exactly what happened in this instance. The LGBT community and our straight allies exercised their freedom of speech in a manner that made it economically and socially unacceptable to malign and marginalize our transgender children, youth and adults. Click here to read about the apology and education that took place during the 2.5 hour show, featuring new media blogger Autumn Sandeen, KRXQ hosts Rob, Arnie, Dawn and myself. I think you will agree that, when presented with the sourest of lemons, we truly made some amazing lemonade.
To all of you who wrote the station, the hosts and the advertisers, I wish to express a heartfelt thank you from PFLAG-TNET, TransYouth Family Allies, and all our trans youth, family and friends!.
Namaste,
Kim Pearson
TNET President
June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month
By Dr. Cindi Love (Dr. Cindi Love is a member-at-large of PFLAG, from Abilene, TX. Click here to see her letter in the Abilene Reporter-News.)
President Obama has officially declared June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. The timing was chosen to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall protest in New York City. This act of civil disobedience launched the movement among LGBT people to live openly and with integrity regarding their sexual orientations and gender expressions. June 2009 is a month commemorating good mental health for LGBT people, because mental health professionals tell us that the truth makes people free and secrets make them sick.
In recognition of this month, Kirk Hancock, executive director of the Mental Health Association in Abilene asked Kim McLaughlin, local Parents and Families of Lesbians and Gays president, to provide reflection on the effects of living in secrecy ("don't ask, don't tell"), stigma, marginalization and discrimination on the mental health of LGBT people and their families. I was honored when Kim asked me to compile it, and grateful that Kirk included our LGBT community in the MHA circle of care and compassion.
The fundamental mental health challenge for LGBT people is to choose to live truthfully about who we are in spite of the risks and consequences. If we live truthfully, there is risk that we will be shunned by our churches, our families, our employers and our peers. We may lose our jobs and in some parts of the world, our lives. But, if we don't live truthfully and "come out" about who we are, we continue to live in unhealthy silence and secrecy.
It's like playing a movie with half the screen showing. A friend of mine, Dr. Rob Eichberg (now deceased) wrote a book titled "Coming Out is an Act of Love." His theory was that living with integrity is a gift to the LGBT person and, ultimately, to that person's family and community. Giving that gift, however, is a very hard choice. Living in the closet is brutal for the adult psyche and it is often fatal for young people. Here are a few statistics that help quantify the situation in the United States.
• Gay teens are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.
• Forty-five percent of gay men and 20 percent of lesbians surveyed had been victims of verbal and physical assaults in secondary school specifically because of their sexual orientation.
• Gay youths are at higher risk of being kicked out of their homes and turning to life on the streets for survival.
People who don't come out often experience guilt and anxiety, as well as loneliness and isolation. They report thoughts of suicide, self-doubt and self-hatred. Despite these negative feelings, many choose to stay "in the closet" because it provides a degree of safety from bigotry.
Researchers have reported many positive effects of coming out, including a sense of relief, an improved sense of self, positive self-esteem and increased authenticity.
Coming out is a process that occurs over and over throughout an individual's life, and it is an important component of gay, lesbian and bisexual identity development. So, if you know someone who is in the midst of this process, try and support them. I often hear parents and friends say, "OK, you're gay, now can we just not talk about it anymore." The truth is that we need to talk about it when we need to talk about it.
And, the good news for Abilenians is that we have some great resources to help us with the conversation.
- Dr. Cindi Love
By Dr. Cindi Love (Dr. Cindi Love is a member-at-large of PFLAG, from Abilene, TX. Click here to see her letter in the Abilene Reporter-News.)
President Obama has officially declared June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. The timing was chosen to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall protest in New York City. This act of civil disobedience launched the movement among LGBT people to live openly and with integrity regarding their sexual orientations and gender expressions. June 2009 is a month commemorating good mental health for LGBT people, because mental health professionals tell us that the truth makes people free and secrets make them sick.
In recognition of this month, Kirk Hancock, executive director of the Mental Health Association in Abilene asked Kim McLaughlin, local Parents and Families of Lesbians and Gays president, to provide reflection on the effects of living in secrecy ("don't ask, don't tell"), stigma, marginalization and discrimination on the mental health of LGBT people and their families. I was honored when Kim asked me to compile it, and grateful that Kirk included our LGBT community in the MHA circle of care and compassion.
The fundamental mental health challenge for LGBT people is to choose to live truthfully about who we are in spite of the risks and consequences. If we live truthfully, there is risk that we will be shunned by our churches, our families, our employers and our peers. We may lose our jobs and in some parts of the world, our lives. But, if we don't live truthfully and "come out" about who we are, we continue to live in unhealthy silence and secrecy.
It's like playing a movie with half the screen showing. A friend of mine, Dr. Rob Eichberg (now deceased) wrote a book titled "Coming Out is an Act of Love." His theory was that living with integrity is a gift to the LGBT person and, ultimately, to that person's family and community. Giving that gift, however, is a very hard choice. Living in the closet is brutal for the adult psyche and it is often fatal for young people. Here are a few statistics that help quantify the situation in the United States.
• Gay teens are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.
• Forty-five percent of gay men and 20 percent of lesbians surveyed had been victims of verbal and physical assaults in secondary school specifically because of their sexual orientation.
• Gay youths are at higher risk of being kicked out of their homes and turning to life on the streets for survival.
People who don't come out often experience guilt and anxiety, as well as loneliness and isolation. They report thoughts of suicide, self-doubt and self-hatred. Despite these negative feelings, many choose to stay "in the closet" because it provides a degree of safety from bigotry.
Researchers have reported many positive effects of coming out, including a sense of relief, an improved sense of self, positive self-esteem and increased authenticity.
Coming out is a process that occurs over and over throughout an individual's life, and it is an important component of gay, lesbian and bisexual identity development. So, if you know someone who is in the midst of this process, try and support them. I often hear parents and friends say, "OK, you're gay, now can we just not talk about it anymore." The truth is that we need to talk about it when we need to talk about it.
And, the good news for Abilenians is that we have some great resources to help us with the conversation.
- Dr. Cindi Love
This posting comes to us from the Detroit, MI chapter:For local stations and times, click here or go to http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/asknot/.
To read more about Suzie Symons and her son Johnny, visit http://www.pflagdetroit.org/stories_suziesymons.htm or click here.
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