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Youth Issues in the LGBT Community
Youth from Passages (Kansas City's LGBT Youth organization for those 14-21) will be attending the February 9th PFLAG meeting for a round table discussion. The group will discuss issues affecting their community. We hope to present a variety of opinions and experiences by having representative youth from high school through college age (along with a Passages adult facilitator). The panel will discuss the unique stresses inherent to those who are dependant on their families due to age, financial status, etc. We will also discuss our "coming out" stories and entertain questions from our PFLAG family.
Our meeting will begin at 3PM and the program will commence at about 4:30PM. We meet at the Village Presbyterian Church, 6641 Mission Road, on the 3rd floor, Room 307. We hope you’ll join us.
You're invited
Words of Love
A Valentine's Day brunch and silent auction with readings and performances to celebrate all love.
Sunday, February 16 from
12:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Doors open at 11:30 a.m.
The Writer's Place
3607 Pennsylvania
in the Valentine Neighborhood
Tickets: Cupid $35 and Angel $75
RSVP to PROMO@PROMOonline.org or
call 314.862.4900
Special Guests
Charles Feruzza The HeartAches..(from Heartland Men’s Chorus)
Lea Hopkins Ron Megee Krystle Warren And many more!!
(Russ and Helma Hawkins will represent PFLAG/KC)
Proposal to include gays and lesbians in Jewell student bill of rights draws fire
By Nora Coronado, The Kansas City Star
An effort to include gays and lesbians in a student bill of rights has divided William Jewell College's students and ignited discord with the Missouri Baptist Convention.
Acting on the college's call for diversity, student B.J. Cardin has proposed changing an anti-discrimination clause to protect gays and lesbians. Currently the document does not reflect the entire student body at the liberal arts college in Liberty, Cardin argued.
His proposal has drawn fire from some peers at the Baptist-affiliated campus. They say it condones homosexuality, which conflicts with their religious convictions.
The debate has led to discord between the college and the Missouri Baptist Convention, of which it is a member.
The Baptist convention publicly has criticized the debate and inaction by the college administration to quash it. William Jewell President David Sallee said the school would not buckle to outside pressure, and he defended the students' right to continue discussion.
For the proposal to go before the student body, the Student Senate would need to approve it by a three-quarters majority tonight. If approved, the proposal would go to a
campus-wide vote within two weeks. If it passed, it would carry no legal weight, but it would serve as a reflection of students' expectations.
The issue, Cardin said, is not about judging whether homosexuality is right or wrong.
"That's as basic of an argument as I can make to people, that it doesn't represent every student on campus like it's supposed to," Cardin said.
Others disagree.
"I see a connection between Jewell's religious connection and passing this," said Lindsey Gronewold, a senior class representative. She said she would lean on the Christian tradition that she was raised in when she voted no tonight.
"This is a choice, and morally it's not right," said Gronewold, who describes herself as a Christian and not Baptist.
Students also fear that passage could jeopardize funding from the convention. It gives William Jewell $800,000 to $900,000 annually, about 3 percent of its budget, Sallee said. Any decision on funding is one that convention members would make, not the organization's leaders, said Kenny Qualls, an associate executive director.
Sallee said passage would not necessarily open the door for gay and lesbian groups on campus. He referred to the college board of trustees' 1998 decision not to fund or support such groups.
"I join a lot of Americans and a lot of Christians who do not believe that sexual orientation is on an equal footing in terms of other forms of discrimination," Qualls said. "No one had a choice on their sex or gender or handicap, and I believe this is a choice someone makes.
"I understand that students are going to have debate and dialogue on topics in today's society, but I'm looking to the leadership of William Jewell to make a stand based upon what the Bible teaches for the benefit of the students."
Sallee sees it another way.
"I tend to think, 'What better place to have a tough conversation about a difficult issue than a Christian college campus?'"
The conversation is a student issue, and the college should not manipulate it, he said.
"I think there are people out there who say because you are having this conversation the college is not Christian...but while this is an important conversation, it's a small piece of what we at Jewell are about," Sallee said.
Other schools differ in their policies.
Hannibal-La Grange College, also a Baptist Convention member, excludes "sexual orientation" from its nondiscriminatory policy.
The University of Missouri system's policy requires students, staff and faculty to treat fairly and respect everyone, regardless of status.
The University of Kansas policy spells out the groups it protects and includes sexual orientation.
The anti-discrimination policies for Avila College and Rockhurst University, both with Catholic ties, also include sexual orientation.
Even if the amendment failed at William Jewell, Cardin said he would have succeeded in kindling an introspective discussion.
"I don't want people to regurgitate what their mom and dad said, what their youth pastor said," he said. "I want it to come from their own minds, and that's all that is really important."
Justice Department Awards Compensation to 9/11 Lesbian Survivor
The Justice Department announced Jan. 24 that it will grant federal compensation to Peggy Neff, who lost her partner, Sheila Hein, in the attack on the Pentagon. The money will come from a federal fund created for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. Unlike victims in New York, who were eligible for state-level survivor benefits, neither Virginia nor federal law made any provision for non-married partners.
"This is the first time that we are aware of that the federal government has specifically recognized that someone in a gay relationship should receive compensation for the loss of a partner," said HRC Communications Director and Senior Strategist David M. Smith. "This is a testament to fair-mindedness prevailing over intolerance. This is also thanks in no small part to the tireless efforts of Lambda Legal as they worked for months with Peg to make this happen."
Film chronicles Rustin's life
By Benjamin Y. Lowe, Inquirer Staff Writer
WEST CHESTER – The memory of civil-rights leader Bayard Rustin roared back to life in West Chester last summer and fall, as the community vigorously debated whether to name its new high school after the native son.
So it seemed appropriate to have an advance screening of a new PBS documentary about his life at the Chester County Historical Society here Tuesday night.
And it seemed prophetic when in the documentary, Rustin addressed one of the issues that almost derailed the proposal to name the school in his honor.
Talking about his work after the civil-rights movement, Rustin said at a 1981 march in Washington that America's next test of progress would be measured by how it tolerates homosexuals.
Rustin, who became one of the nation's most prolific and enigmatic civil-rights leaders, said on that September day that the country's attitude toward gays and lesbians over the next several years would have to evolve like its attitude toward blacks did in the 1950s and 1960s.
"The barometer 25 years ago was how we treated blacks. Now it's the country's attitude toward gays," he said.
The documentary is entitled, "Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin."
Previewed by 175 people at the historical society, the film traces Rustin's evolution from a radical to a political operative. It is also an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival.
In addition to accounts from friends and family, the 80-minute film tells Rustin's life through clips of his speeches, interviews and papers. The producers, Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer, said they made the film because they felt Rustin's place in history had been forgotten because he was openly gay.
"We were inspired by the incredible dedication he had to his belief system and the various forms his activism took over his 60-year career," said Kates, who decided to make the film in 1997. "He was very, very committed to his social justice agenda and never gave up."
The film also tells Rustin's story using FBI surveillance files and candid interviews with Rustin's first and last partners, Davis Platt, 79, and Walter Naegle, 53.
The film was completed before the recent controversy over whether the West Chester Area School District should name its new high school after Rustin. After weeks of debate in the community, the district voted last month to do so.
"Instead of marching to the [Chester County] Courthouse, restaurants or [Warner] Theater, we had to march to the ballot box," he said in the 1970s, referring to a new civil-rights movement strategy that called on the poor to get involved in politics, especially through voting.
Rustin's most well-documented achievements include convincing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to make nonviolent protest a pillar of the civil-rights movement and organizing the 1963 March on Washington, where Dr. King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.
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MORE DOCTORS, PLEASE
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(From the LGCC newsletter)
A couple of weeks ago, we sent out a request for leads on gay and/or gay-friendly physicians. Our thanks to those of you who responded, but we still have a great need for more physician referrals. If you are happy and open with your internist, family practice physician, OB-GYN or pediatrician, please share their name with us. We will contact them privately or with your blessing...your choice. But there are many LGBT people looking for high-quality and supportive health care providers. Send any names or any leads you have to
info@lgcc-kc.org. Thanks!
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