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GAY CULTURE......IS THERE ONE???
Jamie Rich and a group from the Lesbian & Gay Community Center of Greater Kansas City will dialogue with
PFLAG-KC at our January 12th meeting on the hard-to-define, but seemingly easily recognizable subject of gay culture. Just what IS gay culture, you ask? As LGBT people (and straight allies) we have had to learn how live in a society that too often tries to marginalize, isolate and limit us. Remarkably, that shared oppression has created a thriving culture which reaches across gender roles to connect us in new relationships, expressions and ways of living. More than a pop trend or a fashion statement, there is a gay culture worth exploring ....and on this date, we'll do our best to discover together what that is!
This promises to be an exciting and informative discussion, so bring your family and friends and join us at 3PM at Village Presbyterian Church, 6641 Mission Rd., Room 307.
Hello!
Last summer, I e-mailed the flyer below asking for submissions to a brother-sister anthology. Although the response was pretty good, my search continues. I am extending the deadline until March 31st. If any of you know someone who might be interested, please have them contact me.
Thanks so much.
Andrew Gottlieb
ATTENTION:
BROTHERS AND SISTERS
OF LESBIANS AND GAYS
I AM CURRENTLY EDITING AN ANTHOLOGY OF STORIES WRITTEN BY BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF LESBIANS AND GAYS. THESE STORIES WOULD CAPTURE THE EXPERIENCE OF WHAT IT WAS LIKE FINDING OUT ABOUT YOUR BROTHER'S OR SISTER'S SEXUALITY AND THE EFFECT IT HAD ON YOU.
INTERESTED? KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS? PLEASE CONTACT: Dr. Andrew Gottlieb
at: 116 Willow Street #1g, Brooklyn, New York, 11201; (718) 624-0263;
agott116@aol.com
THANK YOU!
From our President
Happy New Year to All and best wishes for a wonderful 2003!! 2003 will bring several opportunities for
PFLAG-KC to be active on behalf of lgbt rights and to continue our work of support and education.
First, PROMO (Privacy Right of Missourians), the lgbt lobbying and political organization in St. Louis has established a presence in Kansas City. That includes PROMO Board members from
K.C., a PROMO representative and PROMO sponsored events. An upcoming event is the Words of Love brunch to be held on Sunday, February 16, 2003. Look for more details in the February newsletter. The Words of Love event was originally conceived as an lgbt alternative to the cultural heterosexual assumptions about Valentine's Day and has been celebrated in St. Louis for eight years. It features community leaders as well as straight allies each sharing their unique spin on love.
PFLAG-KC will also be involved in an exciting process that will greatly support and validate lgbt youth in the Kansas City area. It is the Kansas City lgbt Youth Violence Prevention Coalition Program. It is a two year grant program funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and initiated by the National Conference for Community and Justice
(NCCJ) in Kansas City. The Goals of the program are:
- to build the community's capacity to understand and recognize the nature, extent, and impact of violence, discrimination, harassment, and other forms of victimization on Kansas City's lgbt youth.
- to decrease discrimination and stigmatization directed at lgbt youth and those perceived to be lgbt in the Kansas City area.
The program plans to develop and conduct training for program audiences (schools, mental health facilities, youth development programs, police, etc.) on diversity, discrimination and stigmatization issues relevant to lgbt youth.
PFLAG-Kansas City will be a vital part of this program and representatives of
PFLAG-KC will participate in planning and training. This is an opportunity for PFLAG to be active and vocal on behalf of lgbt youth in our area.
Please call me (816-942-8747) to learn more about the program and how you can be involved in it.
Helen Cohen
US HOLOCAUST MUSEUM SPECIAL
EXHIBIT ON GAY VICTIMS
The US Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC is currently showing a special exhibit about the persecution of homosexuals by Nazi Germany. As you may or may not know, in addition to Jews, the Nazis also persecuted and gassed gays, people with disabilities, gypsies, prostitutes and others.
The Nazis made gay prisoners in the camps wear a pink triangle to identify them, thus the nascence of that gay symbol. This is supposed to be a fascinating exhibit - I'm going later this week. Fortunately, the museum has put a large amount of its info online, with old photos and all. This Web site is a must-see - it includes prison-style photos of gays arrested by the Nazis and sent to the camps to die. Absolutely chilling.
This might make a good topic for a Sunday School class or other faith-related get together, or a topic for a high school or college project.
I'll bet people would be shocked to hear about this horrible and little-known aspect of the Holocaust. It's also good fodder to throw back at the anti-gay bigots when they come before your local school board, etc.
Just show them some of these photos
You can check out the online exhibit here:
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/hsx/
Woman Escorts Ex Husband down the aisle to Gay Altar
Manchester, England
It is unusual enough for a couple who divorce to remain friends, but for the ex-wife to escort her former husband down the aisle at his next nuptials is the stuff of Hollywood.
But this wasn't Hollywood. It was gritty Manchester, home to the original TV series Queer As Folk.
39 year old Norma Stain says she was overjoyed when ex-husband David Goodall asked her to walk him down the aisle.
Goodall said his "I dos" Saturday at a gay civil ceremony to his new partner Kireon Marshall.
"I'm really happy for him and he was lucky with the weather because it rained when we got married," Stains said.
Stains and Goodall split up 13 years ago when he came out.
Goodall, 39, said: "I'd always said if I got married again Norma would walk me down the aisle. It was really nice. Everything went to plan and it was a great, great day."
About 15 people attended the ceremony including the two grown children of Stains and
Goodall..
Marshall and Goodall have been together for eight years.
"It's the best day of my life," said Marshall. "I had been nagging David for ages, but he kept saying he never wanted to get married again."
The couple, dressed in full highland dress in celebration of Marshall's Glasgow roots, became the latest gay couple to sign Manchester's civic partnership register.
Although the ceremony has no legal validity, the city council introduced the service in March in an attempt to pressure the government into giving gay and lesbian couples the same rights as straight couples.
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