Articles by Melissa S. Green
Melissa S. (Mel) Green is the editor (as of October 2011) & contributor to Bent Alaska. She also has her own blog at Henkimaa.com.
Will Alaska get gay Presbyterian ministers?
The Presbyterian Church (USA) becomes the fourth mainline Christian denomination to permit the ordination of LGBT ministers and lay leaders. Celebrating Immanuel Presbyterian Church (Anchorage) and other More Light churches which worked for decades to bring about this change.
A majority of Republicans support either marriage or civil unions for same-sex couples
A majority of Republican voters support some form of legal recognition for same-sex relationships, according to a recent poll; and national trends show that a majority of Americans support marriage equality for same-sex couples.
Out North celebrates Tennessee Williams’ 100th birthday with “The Glass Menagerie”
In celebration of the 100th birthday of playwright Tennessee Williams, Out North Contemporary Art House will present Williams’ most produced play, The Glass Menagerie from May 6 to 22, with a preview on May 5.
The new & improved Bent Alaska events calendar
Bent Alaska has a really good events calendar now! Check it out.
A celebration of Celebration 2011
Since the first Celebration of Change on September 19, 1983 at the Red Ram Motor Lodge, Celebration has arguably been the Anchorage women’s community’s premiere annual social & arts event. Here’s a photographic celebration of this year’s show, the 27th Celebration of Change.
DADT still in effect, as parents of gay soldier killed in Afghanistan post tribute to their son
Corporal Andrew Wilfahrt, a Minnesota native, died on foot patrol in Khandahar, Afghanistan in late February at age 31. He was gay.
Now his parents, Lori and Jeff Wilfahrt, have come forward with a tribute to their son for the Testimony: Take a Stand campaign. Lori and Jeff lament their son’s forced re-closeting when he enlisted, though “people in his unit knew he was gay…and nobody cared.”
It Gets Better, the book: A “message in a bottle” to LGBT youth
Not all kids have access to YouTube. And so the It Gets Better Project’s message of hope for LGBT youth is now in a book: time, now, to get it into every library.
“Inlaws & Outlaws”: Love is neither straight or gay — it’s human
There was lots of laughter in Room 101 of UAA’s Rasmuson Hall: the laughter of recognition as we shared in the joy of people whose stories of love we heard at the March 18 screening of “Inlaws & Outlaws.”
Help LGBT ally John Aronno go to Netroots Nation!
I was delighted to learn that John Aronno of Alaska Commons — a Bent Alaska contributor — had applied for the scholarship for Netroots Nation 2011; & I’m even more delighted to support his candidacy, both as a progressive blogger per se, and as a tremendous ally to LGBT Alaskans. Please vote for him!
Alaska Hate Crimes Bill stalled: Action needed
SB 11, the Alaska Hate Crimes Act, passed the Alaska Senate Judiciary Committee on February 25, and was referred to Senate Finance. Nearly two weeks later, where’s it at? The answer: it’s nowhere. It’s stalled, and Senate Finance hasn’t even scheduled it for a hearing. But with the legislative session ending on April 17, there’s little time to lose to get action on this bill.
