Articles in News
Roe v. Wade Anniversary Brings New Direction and Local Celebrations
Today marks the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States.
And today President Barack Obama is expected to reverse at least a few of the anti-choice policies of the last eight years.
The “global gag rule” is the most likely option for reversal. It prohibits U.S. foreign aid assistance to international family planning groups that offer information on abortions.
One such group is Planned Parenthood. Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, says she’s hopeful that early action by President Obama will signal a new direction.
“It’s been eight long years in the wilderness,” said Richards. “I think for women in this country and women around the world, this is a president and administration that takes their health care needs seriously.”
Planned Parenthood of Alaska Advocates (PPAA) will celebrate women’s rights at two Roe v. Wade Birthday Bash and Pro-Choice Presidential Inauguration Parties, in Anchorage tonight and in Fairbanks tomorrow evening.
The free events include wine, food and games, with fundraising to support PPAA. RSVP required.
Discovery Channel Discovers Gays on The Alaska Experiment
UPDATE: It’s a 3 part series, airing Tuesdays April 14, 21 & 28 at 9 p.m. in Alaska.
UPDATE 2: Ttsusena Lake is 64 miles NE of the town of Talkeetna, according to an anonymous comment.
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The Discovery Channel is turning last year’s “The Alaska Experiment” into a new eight-part series, and one of the participants is an out gay man, a first for Discovery.
“Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment” strands nine strangers together in the Alaskan wilderness with three days worth of water, a map, a compass and instructions to find their way back to civilization before the harsh winter sets in.
The new cast members are from “all different walks of life.” The gay volunteer is Jake Nodar, a thirty-year-old horse trainer and avid hiker from Maryland.
“For me personally, I’ve always found Alaska to be appealing,” said Jake in an interview with AfterElton. “I completely stumbled upon this, just complete fluke kind of thing, and being openly gay, I found it to be a very cool opportunity to go and represent.”
The series was filmed in September 2008. After a three-day crash course in basic survival skills, including how to shoot a gun, skin an animal and start a fire without matches, the volunteers were flown to “Ttsusena Lake” in the rugged Alaskan interior, described by Discovery as “one of the most inhospitable terrains on earth.”
Where is “Ttsusena” Lake? Could they mean Tustumena Lake on the Kenai Peninsula?
“Over the course of their monthlong journey, the volunteers put their newfound skills to the test, hunting, fishing, foraging for food and building makeshift shelters,” said the press release. “They faced plummeting temperatures and diminishing daylight hours. Their only lifeline was a GPS beacon they could activate if their lives were in danger or if they wanted to be evacuated.”
“Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment” will debut in April during Discovery’s Alaska Week.
Gay-Welcoming JUUF Needs Our Support
The Juneau Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (JUUF) is asking the LGBT community for help.
The JUUF is working to purchase the historic church building on the corner of 5th and Main Street in downtown Juneau, the second oldest church in the city. The financing plan includes raising at least $125,000 from members and friends.
“JUUF openly welcomes lesbian, gay, and transgender people and honors our contributions to the community and to society,” reads the message from SEAGLA, the Southeast Alaska Gay and Lesbian Alliance.
SEAGLA members support the Fellowship for several reasons:
- JUUF has been an active voice for equal rights for the LGBT community of Juneau.
- It has been financially supportive of both PFLAG and the Pride Chorus.
- It is a “Red Ribbon Congregation” working toward a world without AIDS.
- JUUF members have marched in the 4th of July parade with a banner that says “Unitarian Universalists are for Equal Rights for Gays.”
How can you help? New donations received before February 1 will be matched more than double their value.
Please send a check to JUUF – Capital Campaign, PO Box 20064, Juneau, AK 99802. Even the smallest contributions at this time will help. Thank you.
Learn more about JUUF.
MLK Weekend Honors Bayard Rustin
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Organizing Weekend in Honor of Bayard Rustin, on January 16-19, is a national student-led action focusing on the coalition-building strategies that Bayard Rustin used to help activists, including Martin Luther King Jr., to create social change.
A master strategist and tireless activist, Bayard Rustin is best remembered as the organizer of the famous 1963 March on Washington, one of the largest nonviolent protests ever held in the United States.
The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) hopes that students, Gay-Straight Alliances and other student clubs, and community groups involved in the safe schools movement will use this Day of Action to build bridges and work together with other social justice movements.
They also encourage GSA’s to host a screening of “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin,” to support another student club’s MLK event, or to write a letter to President-elect Obama telling him what you would like to see in the next 4 years in regards to safer schools and social justice.
Learn more about Rustin’s legacy as a gay man active in the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s by viewing this video, excerpted from the film Out of the Past:
Fund to Support Lesbian Rape Victim
Two men and two male teenagers were arrested for the December gang rape of a California lesbian. The perpetrators taunted her for being a lesbian during the 45-minute attack and repeated raping, and police are investigating it as a hate crime.
The lesbian community has rallied to help the “Richmond Jane Doe” victim, and blogger Tata created the page We’re Here For You. The community held a candlelight vigil, and volunteers distributed flyers about the “Most Wanted Criminals” that provided leads to the arrest of the four suspects.
“Our hearts were broken when we read what happened to you,” Tata wrote to Jane Doe. “We offer our strength, we offer our tenderness, and we hope that there can be for you at least some small measure of comfort in knowing that we’re here for you.”
A benefit show is planned for January 9 and a fund was set up to raise money for Jane Doe’s medical costs, a safe home for herself, her partner, and their child, and a car that isn’t saturated with her blood and the memories of being repeatedly assaulted in it.
To donate to the “Richmond Jane Doe” fund, send a check made payable to Community Violence Solutions to: Community Violence Solutions, Attn: Jo Ann Douglas, 2101 Van Ness Street, San Pablo, CA 94806. Write “Richmond Jane Doe” in the memo line.
National Drag History Month
January 2009 marks the first-ever celebration of National Drag History Month!
“This month-long event salutes the richness of drag culture and pays tribute to the courageous queens & kings who have fought for equality while inspiring, educating & entertaining us all,” according to Logo, the sponsors of Drag History Month.
Come celebrate Drag History Month in Fairbanks at ICOAA‘s Masquerade Ball, January 10 at the Carlson Center, 8 p.m. The evening includes a drag show, food, and a contest awarding $100 for the best mask.
Please Don’t Divorce Alaska’s Married-in-California Couples
The “Yes on 8” campaign has filed legal papers to nullify all 18,000 gay and lesbian marriages performed in California between May and November of 2008.
In response, dozens of families added wedding and holiday photos to a slideshow of same-sex couples who will be divorced if the anti-gay effort succeeds.
The California Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of Prop 8 in the spring.
The “Please Don’t Divorce” Project
In response to the threat to gay and lesbian families, The Courage Campaign created an online slideshow of same-sex married couples, along with friends and relatives who support them.
“It’s time to put a face to the 18,000 couples facing forcible divorce by the state of California. To put a face to marriage equality,” says the web site of the community photo project.
Dozens of families contributed wedding photos with the message “Please Don’t Divorce Us” and holiday pictures of their children, pets and Christmas trees.
Other supporters sent pictures saying, “Please Don’t Divorce Our Friends” or “Please Don’t Divorce Love.”
Gay Alaskans Married in California
There is no residency requirement for marrying in California, and same-sex couples from Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau were married there, along with couples from other states and countries.
Mo and Lin of Juneau were legally married in San Francisco on Sept. 15, eighteen years after their original, non-legal wedding. Juneau residents formed a “human arch of love and acceptance” for the couple to walk through during the October reception, and the party raised money for Equality California.
At the Anchorage rally protesting the passage of Prop 8, a gay couple put their wedding photo on their signs, and a lesbian couple brought copies of their Palm Springs marriage certificate. Both couples were interviewed by local television reporters at the Nov. 15 rally.
The same day at the Fairbanks City Hall protest, two young men posed for a photo with their sign: “Just Married, San Francisco, Sept 8, 2008.”
The state of Alaska does not recognize these marriages, but they are recognized in at least four states, Canada, and several other countries.
Please don’t divorce them!
View the pictures “Please Don’t Divorce Us” and add your wedding photo, or a photo in support of your married friends.
– Photo: Lori & Artemis with their California marriage certificate, at the Anchorage protest against Prop 8. (photo by Koala)
Trying to Blame Us for the Church Fire
Did you see this Alaska-related bit of hate made up by right-wing reporters? I hope it is quickly dispelled and no one is hurt by it.
A suspicious fire on Dec. 12 at the Wasilla, Alaska church attended by Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin was instantly blamed on gay arsonists, though no evidence exists at this time that the fire, if deliberate, was set by gays.Nor is there any evidence that the church was targeted, as right-wing religious publications have speculated, because of its having promoted an “ex-gay” event in Anchorage.
I quoted this from gay news site Edge Boston, but the right-wing sites used words like “terrorist homosexuals.”
This is such an obvious attempt to stir up hate and encourage violence against us.
Be careful out there!
Right-wing Pastor Invited to Bless Obama’s Inauguration
President-Elect Barack Obama chose Rick Warren, an ultra-conservative pastor who is anti-gay and anti-choice, to give the invocation at his inauguration in January.
Why? Because he wants to include all voices, all Americans.
So which LGBT leader was invited to participate the inauguration to represent our inclusion? No one.
No openly-gay leader was given a role in the ceremony. We are represented by . . . a GLBT marching band during the entertainment.
Which leads to the next item:
Protest for Equality
Barack Obama made promises to the LGBT community. He promised to help:
repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA),repeal the anti-gay military policy Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,strengthen Hate Crimes Legislation, andpass a fully inclusive Federal ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act.)
Another national Join the Impact protest is scheduled for Saturday, Jan 10, 2009, to make our voices heard and remind him of his commitments.
I heard from a few Alaskans who said “Let’s Do It.” Are you with us?
Anchorage & Juneau Wear Red on World AIDS Day
The Four A’s “Painted the Town Red” for World AIDS Day again this year in Anchorage and Juneau.
Over 60,000 red ribbons were distributed the week before World AIDS Day. Volunteers in Anchorage waved to morning traffic and handed out more red ribbons on December 1.
Fifty-five people came to the Anchorage Candlelight Vigil for World AIDS Day and read a non-denominational prayer in memory of those lost to AIDS.
After the vigil, about 70 people attended a free showing of Rent and a panel discussion on local resources, held at the Alaska Wild Berry Theater.
For the third year, Four A’s staff and volunteers waved signs at major intersections during the morning commute. They stood on the corners of Northern Lights/Minnesota and Northern Lights/New Seward from 7:30 a.m. until around 9.
“A lot of people waved and honked,” wrote Chrissy, the Director of Development at Four A’s. “We usually get a positive response.”
After the sign waving, they gave away red ribbons at City Hall, Providence Hospital, the 5th Avenue Mall, Northway Mall and UAA.
In Juneau, free HIV testing was offered during the day at the University, and over 40 people attended the Candlelight Vigil.
The Four A’s thanks everyone who helped to Paint the Town Red this year.
“Remember to wear your red ribbons not only on World AIDS Day,” wrote Chrissy, “but throughout the entire year.”
