Articles in Anchorage
Alaska’s Barnes & Noble stores join national No Name-Calling project
“Bringing awareness to the seriousness and severity of name-calling, teasing, bullying and cyber bullying is very important to Barnes & Noble. We’re pleased to be partnering with Simon & Schuster and GLSEN for such an important effort,” said Mary Amicucci, vice president of Children’s Books for Barnes & Noble.“GLSEN is excited to work with Barnes & Noble to bring No Name-Calling Week’s message of respect to youth across the country throughout the month of January,” said Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) Executive Director Eliza Byard. “As the world’s largest bookseller, we applaud Barnes & Noble for embracing this opportunity to raise awareness about the problems of name-calling and bullying.”
Barnes & Noble stores across the country have events planned throughout January to recognize No Name-Calling Month including: All stores will host a national Storytime event on Saturday, January 15 at 11 a.m. The event will include a Storytime reading of the books Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes and One by Kathryn Otoshi, arts and crafts and other activities.From January 15 through January 23, stores will host Barnes & Noble Educator Appreciation Week. Stores will have No Name-Calling materials available for teachers and educators including book recommendations, tip sheets for organizing No Name-Calling events, lesson plans for elementary and middle school students, classroom posters and buttons, [and] in-store panel discussions with GLSEN local chapters. Exclusive No Name-Calling articles by James Howe and Jodi Picoult will be featured in the January line-up of the More In Store program available on NOOK, the Barnes & Noble eBook Reader.Barnes & Noble.com will feature a No Name-Calling page. Exclusive video content from bestselling children’s, teen and adult authors will be placed on the site during the month of January… The authors will discuss their thoughts on and experiences with bullying.
The Creative Expression Contest is an opportunity for students to submit essays, poetry, music, original artwork, or other pieces that convey their experiences and feelings about name-calling, and their ideas for putting a stop to verbal bullying in their schools and communities. This year, we have added a new High School category to the contest for short-film submissions that focus on anti-LGBT name-calling and bullying in school. The goal is to have students working on their art pieces during the week as a way to learn about and deal with name-calling and bullying.
Christian Gay & Trans Resources
The Christmas season is a good time to highlight resources for LGBT Christians and people with Christian friends and family members. The Gay Christian Network, SoulForce and the Parents Reconciling Network are a few of the online resources that were recently recommended by Alaskans.
“I wish that you guys could post a link to The Gay Christian Network. [They have] amazing YouTube videos on helping people who are gay come to terms with their spirituality,” wrote Mark Allred of Alaska Native Lutheran Church in Anchorage.
Mark encourages watching all 7 videos, but he thinks the one embedded below is the most useful. Watch Gay Christian Answers, episode 4: “Aren’t we designed for heterosexuality?”
MCC Anchorage
Matthew Moak at Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of Anchorage also recommends The Gay Christian Network, along with several other resources. Of course, MCC itself is a great resource.
- What the Bible Says – and Doesn’t Say – about Homosexuality (pdf) is an important resource from SoulForce, a group that “works to end the religious and political oppression of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning people.”
- Homosexuality And The Bible is a list of articles and websites by Christian Gays, a group that provides “the resources for any who wish to understand the ACCURATE interpretation of the Original Scriptures with regard to homosexuality.”
- SisterFriends Together “is an outreach ministry of Grace Unfolding Ministries, and we exist to provide a safe and welcoming online faith community for lesbian, bisexual, questioning and transgender women.” They can also be found at ChristianLesbians, their previous name.
- The Gay Christian Network is “a nonprofit ministry serving Christians who happen to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, and those who care about them.”
- Coming Out as a Transgender Person is a workbook created by MCC Transgender Ministries, which “provides opportunities for spiritual development for transgender people and their families and friends.”
PRN is an organization of United Methodist parents of GLBT children. Rev. Johnathan of Church Life Alaska mentioned a new transgender resource from PRN in last week’s Alaska GLBT News. The information came from Sara Boesser, who compiles the weekly LGBT News Roundup posted here on Bent Alaska.
New Resource: Our Transgender And Intersex Children
What causes a person’s sexual orientation is unknown. Causes for people being transgender or intersex are not fully understood. A huge variety of factors are at work in making each individual the person that they are and there is no one reason that causes people to be transgender. It has nothing to do with anything you did or did not do, nor anything your child did or did not do.
Families love their children and want what is best for them. You cannot change your child. However, you can change your response to your child. Your specific response can improve your child’s health and happiness. Your consistent parenting and unconditional love does have a central and enduring influence on your child’s life. Here are some parenting guidelines, shown by research, to improve the physical and mental health of LGBT children.
LGBT-friendly church groups
Most denominations have an LGBT or LGBT-friendly wing, and many of these movements have web sites with resource pages. A good list of national LGBT-friendly church groups can be found HERE. This does not imply that the local Alaska congregations are LGBT-friendly, unfortunately, but the online resources can be useful.
The Resource page on the Open and Affirming (ONA) site of the United Church of Christ (UCC) was suggested by a reader named Matt. He belonged to an ONA church before moving to Alaska, although he is not involved with the UCC in Alaska. None of the Alaska UCC’s are listed as Open and Affirming on the Coalition’s site, and I don’t know if the local congregations are LGBT-friendly or not. But the national ONA site includes resources for gay and trans Christians.
A list of Alaska’s LGBT-friendly churches and religious groups is posted HERE.
Do you know a good online LGBT-positive Christian resource that we didn’t mention? Please leave the name and link in a comment below this list.
SantaLand Diaries elf tale by David Sedaris, a benefit at Out North
On the day after Christmas, Out North is presenting “The SantaLand Diaries” written by award-winning gay author David Sedaris and performed by Ben Brown of Juneau. Out North recently lost a major funding grant, and this show is a benefit so they can continue fulfilling their mission of Art for Everyone, No Exceptions.
You think you’ve had enough of Christmas shopping, piped-in holiday music, disgruntled Santas, crying children and occasional crying.
Take your holiday headache to Out North and have your yule attitude readjusted with “The SantaLand Diaries.” Juneau-based actor Ben Brown performs David Sedaris’ hilarious autobiographical tale about his stint as an elf in the annual holiday display at Macy’s Department Store in New York City. Just as Sedaris took consolation in the fact that some of the other elves were TV extras on “One Life to Live,” maybe you can take consolation in the fact that you’re enjoying a great play, not out in the shopping mayhem still.
The SantaLand Diaries plays at 7 p.m. Sunday, December 26th at Out North (3800 DeBarr Road). Tickets are $10 at the door, $8 online. For more information, visit www.outnorth.org.”
“The SantaLand Diaries” is a benefit show for Out North this year, and we greatly appreciate Ben’s generosity. We look forward to spending the evening with you, and invite you to bring your friends.
The Grrlzlist shared this message last week from Out North to their supporters:
Thank you for your continued support of the cutting edge work Out North produces. Your donations in the wake of our funding pull has so far raised $25,000 in less than a month! The overwhelming majority of the donations have been less than $200. I know you know how incredible that is. We here are overcome with gratitude – and relief. Thank you for pushing so hard to keep Out North in Anchorage. We still have $55,000 to go to make up the shortfall, but clearly, together we can do this! If you have not donated already, I can assure you that you are backing a winner by supporting Out North right now. Your support now will mean that we can maintain our commitment to the artists and schools we had promised to support in Season 26. And it means that we can continue to bring you work you just can’t see in Anchorage, as well as vital inclusivity for ALL people and ALL arts. What happened to us is not an isolated instance. Out North’s funding was pulled because the funder did not want to support the kind of work we do here. To them, we went “too far” by programming a musical about marijuana and two films that featured the (award-winning) story of lesbian lives. To us, art is for everyone, no exceptions.
Please help support Out North – attend shows, buy season tickets, or donate directly.
New youth grant and Alaska staff from Pride Foundation
Pride Foundation of the Pacific Northwest is strengthening their commitment to Alaska’s LGBT community by funding a full time regional staff position and continuing to provide grants for Alaska’s LGBT non-profits.
Equality Works "Friendraiser" on Dec 11
Gay & Trans films in the Anchorage International Film Festival
“Craig and Shane were holding hands when they fell victim to a brutal hate crime off Sydney’s Oxford Street in 2007. The image of Craig’s shattered face on the cover of the local newspaper called Sydney’s queer community to action, and the couple were nominated leaders of the 2008 Sydney Mardi Gras Parade. The hardest year of this young couple’s lives is documented through endless surgeries, physical and psychological recovery and their struggle to plan for their future. But at its heart, Holding Hands reveals that even in the worst circumstances, we can all create positive change.”
“A group of transgender women are violently beaten and left for dead. After regaining their consciousness the violated vixens turn deadly divas and with their new-found confidence and courage, slice their way to vengeance. A homage to the exploitation/revenge films of the 70’s and 80’s, this film sets out to create a new and unique genre called — transploitation. Loaded with titillating dialog, bodacious bods and extreme violence, this revenge-fantasy proves that it takes more than balls to get even.”
Anchorage Discrimination Survey to be distributed in early 2011
by Shelby Carpenter / Crossposted at Alaska LGBT Community Survey
During the 2009 battle over Anchorage Ordinance 64 — which would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to the Municipality of Anchorage’s equal rights code — one thing we heard from the opposition again and again was that there was no “proof” that discrimination was a problem that needed to be addressed. So this fall, a group of concerned community members and organizations came together to brainstorm how to compile this kind of information about the LGBT community in Alaska—both so that we can provide policymakers with accurate information, and so that we ourselves more fully understand the needs of our community. Thus, the Alaska LGBT Community Survey Task Force was born.
The Task Force will complete two important surveys over the coming years. Our broader, more long-term project is the Alaska LGBT Community Statewide Survey, which will provide an extensive profile of the LGBT community all across the state. Over the next six months, however, our focus is the Anchorage Discrimination Survey, which will focus exclusively on experiences of bias and discrimination by LGBT people in Anchorage. Please look for the survey in early 2011! We need as many respondents as possible, and all answers will be completely confidential. You can find more information about the survey at alaskacommunity.org.
I will be serving as Project Manager for the survey, so please also feel free to reach out to me by phone at (907) 263-2006 or by email at scarpenter@akclu.org about any questions you may have.
Shelby Carpenter is the LGBT Public Policy Director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, and is Project Manager of the Alaska LGBT Community Survey Task Force.
World AIDS Day events in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau
World AIDS Day is observed every year on December 1 to remember those we have lost to HIV/AIDS, to honor those still living with the disease, and to commemorate the theme of universal access and human rights.
Events including candlelight vigils are scheduled in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau. Click through on the city names to RSVP organizers about your intentions to attend.
- Day/time: Wednesday, December 1 · 6:00–9:00 PM
- Location: Out North, 3800 DeBarr Road
- Sponsor: Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association (Four A’s)
- Info: Join us for our annual World AIDS Day Candlelight Vigil to remember and honor all who are affected by HIV/AIDS. Vigil begins at 6 p.m. then afterward at 7 p.m. there will be a free showing of the movie “Life Support” starring Queen Latifah.
- Day/time: Wednesday, December 1, 4:00–7:00 PM
- Location: Interior AIDS Association (710 3rd. Ave.) with candlelight walk to 101 Dunkel St. (Morris Thompson Center)
- Sponsor: Interior AIDS Association (IAA)
- Info: December 1, 2010 Potluck, art, and open house from 4-5:30pm at the Interior AIDS Association. Candlelight walk at 5:30 from IAA 710 3rd Avenue to the Morris Thompson Cultural Center Theatre 101 Dunkel Street. We will have Anna Nelson, executive director of IAA opening and guest speaker Dr. Saltonstall from Anchorage and Father Scott from St. Matthews Episcopal Church. Other speakers TBA. Everyone is welcome to bring a dish to share for the potluck and don’t forget to dress warmly for the walk. Remember, this is Fairbanks and it will probably be cold!
- Day/time: Wednesday, December 1 · 6:30–9:30 PM
- Location: Baranof Hotel/Rendezvous
- Sponsor: Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association (Four A’s)
- Info: Join us for our annual World AIDS Day Candlelight Vigil in Juneau at the Baranof Hotel, beginning at 6:30 p.m. then come over to the Rendezvous for a free showing of “Rent” at 8 p.m.
“Two Truths and a Lie” benefits Out North
As we wrote last week, Out North needs our help. A national funder representing one-third of Out North’s budged has “changed direction,” and Out North need to raise money in order to keep giving us all the top-notch stuff they’ve been giving us for the past 25 years. One way you can help is to attend one, or even both, of Out North’s performances this weekend of Scott Turner Schofield’s “Two Truths and a Lie” — all proceeds of which will benefit Out North.
Thanksgiving Eve in Anchorage
Two free Thanksgiving Eve events in Anchorage this Wednesday evening.
Eve’s Family and Friends Community Thanksgiving Dinner
Event info on Facebook
At the Raven: 4:30-6:30 PM
At the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Anchorage (GLCCA): 5:00-7:00 PM
At Mad Myrna’s: 5:30-7:30 PM
The event is free, but donations are welcomed and will benefit the GLCCA.
More on GLCCA’s portion of the evening:
The GLCCA is thrilled to be able to offer a family friendly Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday evening, Nov. 24, from 5 – 7 pm. We will be using the space next door at the YWCA for this meal. Please join us for turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and other Thanksgiving classics. If there is anything special that you want to have on your plate feel free to bring a dish to share and place it on the table. This event is free and specially designed for families or those who prefer an alcohol free atmosphere.
336 E. 5th Avenue, (info@identityinc.org) or 929-4528
The GLCCA will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 25.
Wild Turkey Night at Bernies’ Bungalow Lounge
Event info on Facebook
Wednesday, November 24 at 9:30pm – November 25 at 12:30am
Join us and Wild Turkey in supporting the Food Bank of Alaska!
Here’s the run down: Come out on the 24th, and we’ll drink some Wild Turkey! Every $5 donation to the Food Bank of Alaska will get a chance to win a take home THANKSGIVING DINNER FROM MARX BROTHERS good for 8 PEOPLE!
Bottom line, we drink, raise money for a good cause and someone gets a (semi-) free turkey dinner without all the work!
