Gay AK – Notes from LGBT Alaska

Coronation 38, Labor Day weekend

Alaska Coronation 38 — “Kickin’ it old School…Back to our Roots” Labor Day weekend in Anchorage, Sept. 2-6, 2010! Call the Sheraton for reservations (907) 276-8700, mention ‘ICOAA’ for the special rate. Visit Imperial Court of All Alaska for updates throughout the summer.

2nd Celebration of Life in August for F Ken Freedman

F. Ken Freedman, a long-time member of the Anchorage LGBT community, a licensed professional counselor, Queer Activist and loving presence in the world, passed away on Saturday, May 1, 2010. Many calls and e-mails came in after the Celebration of Life was held on May 6th saying “But I did not know”, “Can we have a second service?” We decided to do so. Please send your name to Victoria if you would like to be kept in the loop about this service. His brother, who was very close to F Ken, spoke to him daily on the phone would love to meet all of F Ken’s Alaskan family. They are planning a second Celebration of Life in August 2010 to allow the greater community to mourn with them. More details to follow as they are planned. Please sign his guest book and share your memories with F Ken’s family of origin and family of choice.

Judge Lack wins Harvard fellowship

Judge Jonathon Lack, appointed in 2007, serves as the Superior Court Master and District Court Magistrate in the Alaska Court System, and he is one of ten LGBT leaders to win a Harvard fellowship this summer from The Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute. Congratulations!

New leader for the UAF Gay-Straight Alliance

Jessi Angelette, president of the UAF Gay-Straight Alliance and the student spokesperson for the effort to add gays to the UA non-discrimination policy, is moving out of state this summer. Lauren Tibbitts-Travis, current pres. of the GSA at Juneau Douglas High School, is graduating and moving to UAF where she will be their new GSA president and will continue working for the UA policy change. The Regents agreed to deal with it this year, their next meeting is June 3-4 in Anchorage, and Lauren will speak at the meeting. Thanks, Lauren! Congratulations to Jessi on the pregnancy, and good luck in your next state!

PFLAG thanks Mary Parker

The Anchorage PFLAG Board of Directors has accepted, with gratitude and thanks, the resignation of Board member Mary Parker. Mary has been a board member for the past 14 years, among many other things she has been our primary contact person with all aspects of Anchorage youth and UAA during that entire time. She plans to continue her work as a point of contact for both youth and UAA, but she wants to eliminate Board meetings from her busy schedule. The Board thanks Mary for her many years of valuable service and we hope her future schedule has a little more flexibility. Thank you very much for your time and efforts Mary, your wisdom will be missed!

Thanks to the Fabulous Nine

A great big Thank You to the Fabulous 9 people who showed up at 10 a.m. on Saturday and worked so hard to clean the highway for PFLAG Juneau. There were 4 men and 5 women who worked really hard! We collected 12-15 bags of garbage and quite a bit of recyclables. The sunshine was glorious, the lake was beautiful, and we got several waves and gratitude honks from passers by. That was community service you can see and feel good about, SEAGLA and PFLAG working together on improving the community in which we all live… Thanks!