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PFLAG NATIONAL CONFERENCE
SEPTEMBER 27 - 29, 2002
COLUMBUS, OHIO
For details, Contact Helen Cohen, 816-942-8747
From Our President
There are some weeks when the PFLAG-KC hot line and e-mail are so busy that it feels like all of Kansas City is coming out. There are calls from glbt people, young and not-so-young, planning to come out and wanting to know about support for their families. Some contacts come from people who have family in the Kansas City area but live far away. There are calls from parents, some in tears who have recently gotten the news that they have a gay child. These calls remind me of how important it is that PFLAG is here to support, educate and advocate. We send out information - PFLAG material specifically written for glbt people and for parents. The PFLAG brochure for parents is available in Spanish as well as English. We also provide information about our Kansas City chapter and we have reading lists with categories of books for glbt people and for parents and families. We have reports on glbt issues such as glbt youth and hate crimes. The national PFLAG organization publishes material that is supportive, helpful, and informative.
Now PFLAG-KC has a new, rainbow decorated brochure that contains a lot of vital information for families, friends, and glbt people. If you have not yet seen our new brochure, e-mail or call us for a copy. Then, make sure that you spread the word about PFLAG to friends, family and colleagues.
Please do know that it is not too late to register for the PFLAG National Conference to be held September 27-29, 2002 in Columbus, Ohio. For information please call Helen Cohen: (816)942- 8747. The conference is always a family reunion and an opportunity to learn and make new friends. So plan to join those from Kansas City who are already registered to attend.
I hope all of Kansas City's PFLAGers and friends are having a wonderful summer. Stay cool and join us for our August meeting, on August 11 when the program will be a film selected by our Vice President for Resources, Penny Henry.
Helen Cohen
Gay pastor won't face Methodist church trial
By Sheila Lalwani
Seattle Times staff reporter
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134500628_gay25m.html
In another decision that puts the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church at odds with the larger church, an investigative committee of the conference has dismissed a complaint against the Rev. Karen Dammann, a lesbian minister accused of violating church law prohibiting "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals" from being ordained or serving as pastors.
"We're happy," Dammann said yesterday. "I was not expecting this. I was expecting it to go the other way."
Three members of the investigating committee voted to forward Dammann's case to church trial, three voted against that and one abstained. Five votes are needed to send a case to a church trial.
Canadian Feds may leave marriages to the church
Janice Tibbetts, The Ottawa Citizen
The federal government, faced with a court ruling that allows gays and lesbians to tie the knot, is considering withdrawing from the marriage business and leaving it to the church.
A government source confirmed Friday that the radical proposal is one of four options that the Justice Department is contemplating, regardless of whether it appeals an Ontario court decision that sanctioned gay marriage for the first time in Canadian law.
The possibility of making marriage solely a religious institution is on the table as the Justice Department struggles with revamping its laws following the Ontario Divisional Court ruling July 12 that gave the federal government two years to conform to the equality guarantees in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by recognizing gays and lesbian unions.
The prospect of abandoning regulation of marriage, however, is still in its infancy and many issues have yet to be examined, including the impact it would have on divorce.
The federal government currently regulates who can marry in Canada and provinces handle the particulars of the ceremony, including licenses.
One of three judges on the Ontario Divisional Court panel that sanctioned same-sex marriage raised the idea of the federal government withdrawing from marriage, as he pointed out that including gays and lesbians in traditional marriage is not the only option.
Letter: Most sex offenders are heterosexuals
We restrict smoking in public places because even secondhand smoke can cause severe illnesses to those exposed. We have legal sanctions against drinking and driving because drunk drivers maim and kill innocent victims. Loving, caring people try to restrict the proliferation of casinos because they are offended by their existence.
Gays and lesbians are no more promiscuous than heterosexuals. The majority of sexual offenders present themselves as churchgoing heterosexual men with good jobs, wives and children. They are in your neighborhoods and in your families. For every "diseased" homosexual there are several Yateses, Ridgways and Aquinos.
Studies have shown that there may be a genetic development cause, but I have seen no professional accounts of homosexuality being hereditary.
Open your eyes and minds. I guarantee there are gays and lesbians living, working and playing all around you. They are normal, productive, loving, caring people who keep their sexuality the same place I do - in the privacy of their own homes.
---- Penni Maples, Director of education and training,
Sexual Assault Center of Pierce County, Tacoma, WA
Letter to the editor.....Austin Sentinel
There is always a group of people who hate and feel that it is their moral duty to promote ignorance and intolerance. Throughout history there have been unjust laws created to keep minorities from feeling as though they have the equal rights of those around them.
Women weren't allowed to vote or own land or hold certain jobs, African Americans were not allowed to drink from the same fountains as white people and Jewish people dealt with intolerance. Homosexuals are the final whipping boy for those who need to concentrate their ignorance and fear of anything that is different from them.
The sodomy law is a joke, one that is ignored and violated by thousands of Texans each day. It makes a mockery of our legal system and serves as a reminder that there are still those that feel that not all are created equal.
Christopher Leto, Austin, TX
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