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Our March 9th meeting will consist of a panel discussion on diversity within the LGBT community in metropolitan Kansas City Missouri. The members of the panel will consist of Torean Walker from the African American AIDS Project of Greater Kansas City, Maria Raez from the Guadalupe Center, and Doug Reynolds from the National Association of Black and White Men Together.
The purpose of the panel discussion will be to identify current issues and needs within specific sectors of the LGBT community and to determine ways that we can work together to support each other through networking and sharing of ideas and information.
This promises to be a very interesting program. Come and join us and enjoy, no only some great sharing informally, but challenging ideas expressed from the panel.
As usual, refreshments will be served, and an expansive collections of books to choose from. See you then......3pm on Sunday, March 9th, at Village Presbyterian Church. Further details in the shaded box on this page.
LOBBY DAY APRIL 9TH
PROMO's annual Lobby Day has been set for Wednesday, April 9, 2003. We will gather in the capitol to educate legislators about LGBT issues ask their support for MONA (the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act) and other legislation.
Highlights of this year's Lobby Day will include a press conference, the presentation of petitions to Speaker of the House Catherine
Hanaway, and a reception at the end of the day with our legislative allies. Watch your email for more information and plan on joining us in Jefferson City on April 9.
VOICE YOUR OPPOSITION TO HOUSE BILL 239
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students are among the most harassed, intimidated, and discriminated against group in Missouri's schools. Occasionally a school board will vote to include sexual orientation in the groups protected from discrimination in their schools.
H.B. 239, sponsored by Rep. Larry Morris (R-Springfield) would make it much harder for local school boards to add "sexual orientation" to their non-discrimination policies. Such a change would require a vote of the district's residents, and would override the responsibility of school boards to make policy decisions. This bill would create a huge obstacle for community activists seeking to protect vulnerable populations in their schools and potentially overturn
LGBT-inclusive policies in St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia.
Go to www.PROMOonline.org for more information about
H.B. 239 and other Missouri legislation affecting the LGBT community.
President Bush has announced his plan to select Dr. W. David Hager to head up the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. The committee has not met for more than two years, during which time its charter has lapsed. As a result, the Bush Administration is tasked with filling all eleven positions with new members.
This position does not require Congressional approval. The FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee makes crucial decisions on matters relating to drugs used in the practice of
obstetrics, gynecology and related specialties, including hormone therapy,
contraception, treatment for infertility, and medical alternatives to surgical procedures for sterilization and pregnancy termination.
Dr. Hager's views of reproductive health care are far outside the mainstream of setback for reproductive technology. Dr. Hager is a practicing
OB/GYN who describes himself as "pro-life" and refuses to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women. Hager is the author of "As Jesus Cared for Women: Restoring Women Then and Now." The book blends biblical accounts of Christ healing women with case studies from Hager's practice.
In the book Dr. Hager wrote with his wife, entitled "Stress and the Woman's Body," he suggests that women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome should seek help from reading the bible and praying. As an editor and contributing author of "The Reproduction Revolution: A Christian Appraisal of Sexuality Reproductive Technologies and the Family," Dr. Hager appears to have endorsed the medically inaccurate assertion that the common birth control pill is an
abortifacient. Hagar's mission is religiously motivated. He has an ardent interest in revoking approval for mifepristone (formerly known as RU-486) as a safe and early form of medical abortion. Hagar recently assisted the Christian Medical Association in a "citizen's petition" which calls upon the FDA to revoke its approval of mifepristone in the name of women's health.......(For more, contact Helen or Russ)
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
OPPOSE THE PLACEMENT OF THIS MAN BY CONTACTING THE WHITE HOUSE AND TELLING THEM HE IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE ON ANY LEVEL.
Please email President Bush at president@whitehouse.gov
or call the White House at (202) 456-1111 or (202) 456-1414 and say "I oppose the appointment of Dr. Hager to the FDA Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. Mixing religion and medicine is unacceptable. Using the FDA to promote a political agenda is inappropriate and seriously threatens all women's health.
MSNBC draws protests over conservative host
MSNBC is feeling heat from an increasing number of organizations that are angry that the news network owned by NBC and Microsoft has given a weekend show to conservative San Francisco-based talk show host and author Michael Savage, whose habit of saying things such as Hispanics "breed like rabbits," women "should have been denied the vote" and "The gay and lesbian mafia wants our children" has earned him a reputation as a hate monger and not the "compassionate conservative" he calls himself.
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is expected to announce Wednesday morning that it will mobilize protest of MSNBC's decision to give Mr. Savage an hour-long show on Saturdays (starting at a date still to be announced).
The National Organization for Women is expected to notify NBC parent company General Electric and Microsoft on Wednesday that "It is very important that the corporations that own the media get the message: Profiting from hate will cost them the business of thinking consumers. That applies to GE, as well as Microsoft."
With the cancellation Tuesday of Phil Donahue's show and the recent hiring of former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, the conservative Republican Texan whose long term in Congress ended in January, as a regular contributor of commentary, MSNBC has "created a situation that makes it impossible to get a moderate message out," NOW President Kim Gandy said.
"We've done our homework on this," said Cathy Renna, news media director for GLAAD, which applied similar pressure in 2000 when Paramount built a short-lived syndicated TV show around conservative Dr. Laura Schlessinger, whose comments on gays became a lightning rod. "There are a lot of different organizations concerned about giving a platform to Michael Savage."
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting senior analyst Steve Rendall said FAIR is disturbed by the message from MSNBC that "They can't be held responsible for what he has said in the past," only for what he says on MSNBC's air. "That sounds a lot like Dr. Laura's people at Paramount. Isn't that why they hired [Mr. Savage]? It is what he said in the past that is getting him in the door."
NBC and GE were unavailable for comment. Microsoft had no immediate response.
In a statement, MSNBC said, "The addition of Michael Savage to the MSNBC lineup was made with the full awareness of his reputation for controversy and confrontation. We respect the right of those who wish to protest. However, we also strongly defend his new show as a legitimate attempt to expand the marketplace of ideas. By bringing our viewers a wide range of strong, opinionated voices, MSNBC underscores its commitment to ensuring that its perspective programming promotes no one single point of view. We encourage debate and we would neither expect, nor want, our audience to agree with everything on our channel."
Please avoid these products, recently heard on the Savage Nation
RockStar Energy Drink * Zims Crack Creme * Irwin Schiffs PayNoIncomeTax.com * Advil * Trim Spa * HotWire.Com * Alka-Seltzer Plus * Blue Emu * GEICO * Maximus * Cocoon GH * FreeCreditReport.com * Swiss America * Lear Financial * Matrix Direct * Dr Royal Rife's Frequency Generator * LendingTree.Com * DMI USA
Here is where you can write to get more help on the Savage
issue:
Michael Young
Central Regional Media Manager
GLAAD
young@glaad.org
646.871.8019 direct
212.629.3225 fax
www.glaad.org
DON'T MISS THIS!
THE HEARTLAND MEN'S CHORUS
(816) 931-3338
P.O Box 32374
Kansas City, MO 64171-5374
Contact: Rick Fisher, Executive Director
HMC PRESENTS CONCERT ABOUT
GAYS IN THE MILITARY
What
The Few, The Proud
Heartland Men's Chorus, Joseph P. Nadeau, Music Director
with special Guests Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer and Mrs.
Patricia Kutteles
When
Saturday, March 29, 2003, 8:00 pm
Sunday, March 30, 2003, 4:00 pm
Where
The Folly Theater
300 W 12th St., Kansas City, MO
Tickets
$25 & $15
Charge by phone: HMC Office 816-931-3338
Order on the Web: www.hmckc.org
More Information
Kansas City's 120-voice gay men's chorus presents a tribute to gay men and
women who have served in the US Military from the Revolutionary War up to
the present day. Despite bans, censure and discharge, gay men and
lesbians have always been there, bravely serving the country they
love. The Few, The Proud uncovers this little-known history and
celebrates the contributions of these heroes.
Based on Randy Shilt's book Conduct Unbecoming, this
original concert will share moving stories in word and music. Joining
the Chorus to narrate the program will be Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer - her
story of discharge after a brilliant military career after she came out as a
lesbian was made famous in the 1996 TV-movie Serving in Silence starring
Glenn Close. Also joining the Chorus on the stage of the Folly Theater
will be Kansas City resident Mrs. Patricia Kutteles. She is the mother
of PFC Barry Winchell, who was brutally murdered at Fort Campbell, Kentucky
in 1999, because fellow soldiers thought Winchell was gay.
Further information, including press kits, are available
by contacting Rick Fisher at 816-931-3338. Interviews with Col. Cammermeyer,
Mrs. Kutteles, and other program participants can be arranged on request.
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