Next Meeting - May 17, 2009The May 17meeting: The evidence regarding the biological nature of sexual orientation will be presented by Paul Wertsch. |
The famous Madison Farmers' Market runs every Saturday morning until early November. We staff a table at the South Hamilton corner of the capital square in 2 shifts: 8-10 and 10-12. Jo Elder brings and takes the table and all materials, so volunteers just need to sit there, look pretty, enjoy the weather and people watching, eat pastry, and give out our booklets and answer questions from the walkers. Kay does all the scheduling, so for more information or to sign up: 221-1956 or kahegges@yahoo.com
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Pride is under new management this year and in a new month, so mark your calendars and check the pride web-site for updates: www.wisconsincapitolpride.org Watch your emails in early August for our parade plans. The planners can use donations of time and money.
Saturday, August 15, there will be some sort of event with music, comedians and food someplace.
Sunday August 16, parade (time and route to be announced), followed by event for families someplace. We DO plan to march in this parade, so start writing your parade cheers/slogans. Kay would like to do some choreography with the march this year, so if you plan to march, please let Kay know, kahegges@yahoo.com. We will have at least one practice before the parade.
May Meeting: We have two openings for PFLAG board members. If you are interested
in serving for a two year term starting in September, please call any board
member for more information. Election will be at the May meeting.
Pot Luck in August: Joyce Larson will have a pool side pot luck in August
at her apartment complex in Monona. Watch your emails for details when we
have a date.
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It's officially spring, and mirroring the refreshing change in weather, this week brought the LGBT community some of the most exciting and invigorating victories we've seen yet.
Voters in Gainesville, Florida came out to the polls on Tuesday and rejected a proposed amendment to the city charter that would have repealed existing laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Delaware state Senate defeated a proposed amendment to the state constitution seeking to define marriage as between a man and a woman. We congratulate the Equal Rights for All in Delaware coalition, its coalition partners, HRC members and others throughout the state who urged their senators to reject this measure.
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"Earlier today, President Bush said gay marriage is immoral and that heterosexual marriage must be defended, that's what he said. ... You can tell Bush is serious because he said the new Axis of Evil is Cher, Bette Middler and Clay Aiken." —Conan O'Brien
"The Senate has rejected the gay marriage ban. When you think about it, do you really want Congress defining marriage? That's like asking Charlie Sheen to define monogamy." --Jay Leno
[Clip of Bush: "America is a free society, which limits the role of government
in the lives of our citizens. In this country, people are free to choose how
they live their lives."]
Jon Stewart: "And that's why I want to ban gay people from getting married."
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Planning a vacation? Fly on American Airlines and support the preferred airline
of PFLAG National. PFLAG national staff gets free miles (and you do NOT lose
any bonus miles).
When booking on www.AA.com, follow these instructions:
Step One - Choose your travel dates and your best flight option.
Step Two - Login. (If you have an AAdvantage Number and a password, key it
in. If not, click "continue" without logging in.)
Step Three - Confirm your itinerary and complete passenger details. LAST STEP
- Important! - Key in PFLAG's Business ExtrAA Account Number (527590).
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The good news keeps on coming! Just hours ago, the governor of Maine signed marriage equality legislation into law. EqualityMaine has worked tirelessly to make this victory a reality. This is yet another huge victory in a state where the Task Force worked side by side with local activists and poured energy and resources toward securing equal rights.
Just check out what Betsy Smith, executive director of EqualityMaine, had
to say about our role:
"Our long-term partnership with the Task Force has provided us with
the expertise to build and run a grass-roots program unprecedented in Maine.
It has enabled us to identify, recruit and train volunteers to have face-to-face
conversations with tens of thousands of voters, who then contacted their legislators
in support of marriage."
"It was not necessarily supposed to be this way.
Two years ago last fall, Wisconsin and a number of other states voted for constitutional amendments barring same-sex marriage."
Here's what the Governor of Maine had to say when he signed the legislation
legalizing gay marriage in Maine.
http://www.madison.com/wsj/mad/top/450603
"Twenty years after he met the love of his life, nearly five years after their wedding helped make history, it took a nasty bout of pneumonia for Gary Chalmers to fully appreciate the blessings of marriage."
More on life in Massachusetts in the last 5 years:
http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/450444
The past month has been filled with historic change, and monumental progress, for our families. Since our last Update reached you, marriage equality has become a reality in Iowa and Vermont, and we are on the cusp of similar victories in Maine, New Hampshire and even in our nation’s capital. There is a sea-change happening in America, spurred by a remarkable decision in the nation’s heartland and bold moves by state legislatures, too. And at every turn, PFLAG has been there to ensure that our unique family voice is heard.
All of us at PFLAG extend our heartfelt congratulations to the countless couples who are marrying in Iowa and Vermont (and Massachusetts and Connecticut) . . . and we pledge our strong support to continue moving mar-riage equality forward in other states, too, where we believe similar victories are on the horizon. (In fact, just last week, a new poll (see below…) showed – for the first time – that more American support marriage equality than oppose it. That’s a landmark development we can all be proud of!).A new ABC News/Washington Post poll released today shows that, for the first time, more Americans support full marriage equality for lesbian and gay couples than oppose it. At its low, in 2004, just 32 percent of Americans favored gay marriage, with 62 percent opposed. Now 49 percent support it versus 46 percent opposed -- the first time in ABC/Post polls that supporters have outnumbered opponents. More than half, moreover -- 53 percent -- say gay marriages held legally in another state should be recognized as legal in their states.
Basic fairness and constitutional equal protection were the linchpins of Friday’s historic Iowa Supreme Court ruling that overturned a 10-year-old ban on same-sex marriage and puts Iowa squarely in the center of the nation’s debate over gay rights.
The unanimous, 69-page decision maintains a church’s right to decide who can be married under its roof, but it runs counter to the expressed opinion of a majority of Iowans who believe marriage is defined as the union of one man and one woman.
The landmark ruling is guaranteed to send shock waves through politics in Iowa and beyond. With no appeal as an option, opponents say their only hope to overturn Friday’s decision is an almost-certain bid to amend the state constitution. But that path, which would eventually require a public vote, would not yield results until 2012 at the earliest.
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…we are seeing signs of change throughout the country.
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