Articles From Our February, 2004 Newsletter
Legislation Filed By Missouri Legislators That Will Harm LGBT Youth and
Adults
Our February 8 meeting will feature guest speaker Andy Schuerman who
will discuss a number of bills filed by Missouri legislators that threaten
the protection and best interests of the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender children and adults. He will also identify ways to combat
this harmful legislation.
Andy graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a bachelors
of business administration and secondary education in 2001.
He teaches marketing to sophomores through seniors at Winnetonka High
School in the North Kansas City Schools. He has been there 3 years.
He is currently working on his masters in secondary counseling
He served as board member of GLSEN-KC for 2 years, and was board chair
for one year.
Come join us at 3pm at Village Presb. Church, 6641 Misson Rd.
My darlings - what a life highlight experience. The party touched me so and I will live in the loving embrace of the day for the rest of my life. The room looked so beautiful - the balloons and flowers, the rainbows and the fantastic cake and I know that so much work was involved. Thank you for the party, thank you for your loving selves in my life, Helen
I was thinking the other day about having children and what the doctors and your friends never tell you. For those like me who chose not to know the sex of their child before the actual birth, it was so joyous to hear the doctor exclaim "It's a boy," or "You have a girl." We then call all of our family and friends to celebrate our great news. All of the time I was pregnant I thought only about having a healthy baby. What I didn't ponder, tragically, was that one or all of my children could have a sexual orientation or gender identity different than my own. How could I have been so damn ignorant?
Here is what I would like for all new parents to hear: "You have a healthy boy Mrs. Jones. We don't know his sexual orientation or gender identity yet but, when he has it figured out, he'll let you know!"
OR "You have a beautiful girl. If it turns out she is a lesbian, you'll be the first to know!" And when that moment of revelation does arrive, shouldn't this news be just as joyous?….once again calling family and friends to celebrate a new life-one that begins with coming out.
Tell those LGBT people in your life how much you love them and celebrate with them this "road" you've never taken. If we are the love and support they need, we can all enjoy the trip.
As ever, Jamie
Be aware that the April pflag meeting falls on Easter Sunday. For many
reasons we have chosen to go ahead and meet on that day.
The National Conference of Community and Justice is having a town hall meeting in Liberty on Tuesday March 2nd. The subject being "Are gay youth safe in Liberty?" It will consist of a panel but hopefully there will be much audience participation. (Sort of like the old Phil Donahue show) It will be at the Liberty Community Center at 7:00. Come one and all.
The Center is forming a Membership Team to work on fundraising for the Center. This team will be working with Shane Holt, our Membership Coordinator and Dan Melton, our Development Director, on the Center Rewards Membership Program that includes membership cards, monthly membership events and awesome discounts at local vendors.
We have a lot of exciting events, activities and partnerships planned for the upcoming year. We need your expertise, innovative ideas and most of all....your fun personality! The Membership Team will have its first meeting on Tuesday, February 3rd at 5:30 pm. Please RSVP to Shane Holt at shaneholt@lgcc-kc.org or 816.931-4420 to reserve your spot. We'll have food, music and good times working for a great cause. Hope to see YOU there!
Ok, here it is what you have all been waiting for - the opportunity of a lifetime! April Sanders, Manager of our Retail Space is looking for people who would like to volunteer 4 hours a week to work in the most trendy LGBT gift shop in town (name has not yet been released). There are three shifts a day, starting at 10 a.m. ending @ 10 p.m. We will be closed on Sunday's (to start) Training will begin in February. This is a way to be involved in the community, make new friends and meet new people. If you are interested please mail to: aprilsanders@lgcc-kc.org.
It’s Your Center - Get Involved.... email: info@lgcc-kc.org
voice: 816.931.4420
web: http://www.lgcc-kc.org
The Lesbian & Gay Community Center of Greater Kansas City
207 Westport Road - Suite 212
Kansas City, MO 64111
(816) 931-4420
Monday-Saturday, 10:00am - 8:00pm
Of 9,328 same-sex couples with children whose census returns were randomly selected for analysis by the Census Bureau, 26 percent of the male couples included a stay-at-home parent, said Gary Gates, a demographer with the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan research organization in Washington.
That figure is 1 percentage point more than for married couples with children and 4 percentage points more than for female couples, said Gates, who performed the analysis for this article.
To some gay men, the idea of entrusting the care of a child to someone else seems to defeat the purpose of parenthood.
Same-sex couples with a stay-at-home parent are doing this even though census figures show that their median household income, $35,000, is lower than the $45,000 for a heterosexual married couple with a stay-at-home parent, Gates of the Urban Institute said.
The 2000 census found that there were 60,000 male-couple households with children in America, and close to 96,000 female-couple households. Those figures are about 20 percent of all male couples and about one-third of all female couples.
Sociologists, gender researchers and gay parents say that because gay men are liberated from the cultural expectations and pressures that women face to balance work and family life, they may approach raising children with a greater sense of freedom and choice.
Mile Farina, 40, left his job as an engineer in Anaheim after adopting twins with his partner in 1998.
“In the beginning, I was even pigheaded about it,” said Farina, who now has four children with his partner. “I wanted the kids to bond with us. I didn’t want any help. In those first few years, I didn’t even get baby sitters. I thought, ‘That’s my job.’ ”
Though many gay fathers may enter into domesticity with few conflicts or reservations, the pressures of starting a new life stripped of professional status can mirror those faced by nonworking mothers. The transition may be even rockier, given that male identity is often defined by achievements outside the confines of nurseries and kitchens.
Still, many of the gay fathers interviewed did not betray any eagerness to return to the work world soon.
As Peter Vitale, a gay stay-at-home father in the Twin Cities, put it, “If I were honest, I’d say that I want to do an excellent job at this because I know the world has me under a microscope.”
PFLAG has a new scholarship program!!! To get all of the info you need,
check out the national website
www.pflag.org
You can download the application or write:
PFLAG National Scholarship Program
1726 M. Street #400
Washington, D.C. 20036
PFLAG SUPPORTS REAL FAMILY VALUES