Articles in Pride Outside
Dublin Lesbian and Gay Choir: Hark The Herald Angels Sing (video)
Merry Christmas!
Gloria, the lesbian and gay choir of Dublin, Ireland, performed their Christmas concert in St. Anne’s Catholic Church last week, including a beautiful rendition of “Hark The Herald Angels Sing” that opens with a piano solo:
Boston Gay Men’s Chorus: Hallelujah Chorus (video)
The Hallelujah Chorus (featuring les freres de St. Francis de la Sissies) performed with great comic timing by the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus:
Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus: Waltz of the Snowflakes (video)
Continuing with the theme of gay holiday music videos, here is the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus dancing in drag to “Waltz of the Snowflakes” from the Nutcracker ballet:
Coming Out at Christmas (video)
They aren’t in Alaska, and I don’t recommend coming out at big family gatherings, but this video of the London Gay Men’s Chorus singing “Coming Out at Christmas” is more entertaining then the current gay (and anti-gay) news. So here it is, around a hundred gay men singing a classic gay Christmas song:
LDS Church supports Gay Anti-Discrimination ordinance passed by Salt Lake City
Tuesday was a big day for anti-discrimination measures, as Salt Lake City, Utah approved protections for gays in housing and employment – with the support of the Mormon church – and Fort Worth, Texas added transgender protections to their anti-discrimination law.
The Salt Lake City Council unanimously passed the gay anti-discrimination ordinance after a representative of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offered a strong statement in support of the new law.
The ordinance represents “common sense laws that should apply to everyone,” said LDS church spokesman Michael Otterson. “The Church supports this ordinance because it is fair and reasonable and does not do violence to the institution of marriage.”
Their support for human rights does not extend to same-sex marriage. Yes, they miss the point that marriage is a basic human right, but their position is far ahead of the mobs that protested Anchorage’s anti-discrimination ordinance this summer.
Also on Tuesday evening, the Fort Worth City Council voted 6-3 to add transgender protections to its anti-discrimination ordinance, which already includes gays. The mayor supports the measure.
More than 200 people packed the council chambers and overflow rooms. Three transgender people spoke in favor of the ordinance. One man protested against the ordinance by standing on top of his Bible in front of City Hall to symbolize that he was “standing on the word of God.”
Despite a crowd of opponents, the council passed the ordinance one week after introducing it.
So Anchorage fell behind two more cities, in Utah and Texas, in our efforts to become a world class city. Even the Mormon church is more progressive than Anchorage on gay rights.
Gay & Lesbian Alaskans at the National Equality March
When Cleve Jones announced the National Equality March for LGBT Rights, he invited people to come “from Utah and California, from Maine to Hawaii, from Alaska to Florida.” Four months later, several Alaskans marched in the Washington DC rally – and people noticed.
“From as far away as Alaska, thousands of LGBT people demanding marriage, adoption and immigration rights rallied Sunday at the National Equality March,” began a Washington Blade article on the DC rally.
“The National Equality March brought participants from states across the country — some from as far away as California and Alaska — and included a strong contingent from Atlanta,” wrote Southern Voice Atlanta.
A description of the Camp Courage workshop on Saturday said, “About 200 participants from across the country including Alaska showed up learning the basic skills of telling your story in order to change hearts and minds.” [Asian Pacific Americans for Progress]
And a 365.GAY blogger was impressed by “the huge number of young activists – or would-be emerging activists – present and eager to be accounted for. Students had come from Maine, Alaska, Texas, Tennessee and California…”
The Washington Blade reporter spoke with Maureen:
“Some marchers came from as far away as Alaska. Maureen Longworth, a lesbian physician from Juneau, and member of Alaskans Together for Equality, said she wanted to join the march because she’s always been a civil rights believer.”“A plaintiff in an Alaska lawsuit that brought partner benefits to state employees, Longworth said she hoped the march would push Alaska’s delegation in Congress to act more favorably on LGBT issues.”“Two of three of our legislators are very conservative, and not always voting in our favor, she said.”
Three Alaskans, Marty, Lin and Maureen, were interviewed by This Way Out, an international gay and lesbian radio program that airs in southcentral Alaska on Wednesday evenings. The complete Equality March segment is online HERE (in audio) and the Alaskans are interviewed near the end, between NAACP chairman Julian Bond and America the Beautiful.
Reporter: “You’re coming from Alaska?”Marty: “Juneau, Alaska. That’s right.“That’s a long way. I think you win the prize for longest distance travelled to be here.”“Yes, sore wings.”“What was the impetus for your coming here?“We had the privilege of getting married in California about a year ago, and then when the vote turned it around, it just brought [to our] attention that this is something that was really great, it was a really important thing for the two of us after we’ve been together for 27 years to actually be able to celebrate this. And it’s just wrong that other people don’t get that privilege and that right.”“Is this the first march you’ve been to?”“Yep.”
Lin: “We’ve been several times…”Reporter: “How would you compare this one to previous marches?”Lin: “This isn’t as big as the ’93 but the spirit is huge, and it’s wonderful to see a lot of young people too. I had already given up hope that in our lifetime we would have equal rights. During the Bush administration, it got very discouraging and now I feel like I have optimism again. It’s really wonderful to feel like my heart is more open to our government and the government’s heart is opening and softening towards us.”Maureen: “I’m here because I believe in equality for all people and I always have. I was raised that way in Los Angeles in the 60’s and we started demonstrating for civil rights for African-Americans when I was a kid. So whoever needs the rights, I will be there for that person. That’s why I’m here today, and they happen to be for me.”
Thanks to the Alaskans who travelled so far and represented us so well at the 2009 National Equality March for LGBT Rights!
Whale Watching Tour & Pride Chorus fundraiser
Bring your family and friends on a whale watching cruise on Sept. 12 and raise funds to send the Juneau Pride Chorus to the Sister Singers Network Festival.
Sister Singers Network is “a cooperative web of feminist choruses and ensembles, composers, arrangers, and individual singers working together to support and enrich the women’s choral movement.” The next festival is the 2010 Choral Festival in Chicago.
The Whale Watching Trip is Saturday, Sept 12, 1-4 p.m. The Allen Marine Catamaran will depart from Auke Bay Public Boat Harbor. Please be on board by 12:45, bring a warm, rainproof jacket to wear on the observation deck, and don’t forget your camera. Finger Foods will be served. Tickets are available from chorus members, or call 780-5230. $40.00 Adults, $20.00 Students (K-8), $100.00 for a family of 4. Contact SEAGLA for more information.
Alaskan Celebrates Gay Pride in India on Historic Ruling
India overturned its ban on gay sex last week, and Ryan from Juneau, Alaska was there to celebrate in Bangalore’s Gay Pride Parade.
The High Court in New Delhi ruled that gay sex between consenting adults is no longer a crime, overturning the 1860 anti-sodomy law, known as Section 377. “Moral indignation, howsoever strong, is not a valid basis for overriding individuals’ fundamental rights of dignity and privacy.”
Ryan is traveling in India and studying at the Visthar Center near Bangalore. In the post Welcome to Bangalore & the South India Artist Intensive, Ryan described the theater and dance workshops and his adventures in the city, then wrote about gay life in India and the historic court ruling:
Finally, it’s been a surprisingly eventful week in sexual politics in India. Last Sunday I found myself marching in Bangalore’s gay pride parade, which is a scenario I never would have envisioned. It certainly was no New York or Amsterdam pride, but it beat out Juneau’s gay pride parade—which consists of me walking down Franklin Street to get a cup of coffee. There were several hundred people and drumming and shouting—lots of people wearing masks, though, for the sake of anonymity in photo or video. That very day, the Indian High Court was reviewing section 377, which is the law used against gay people in this country (though it doesn’t refer to homosexuals verbatim). Thursday, the law was amended! Huge news. What this basically means, as someone at Visthar put it, is that homosexual lifestyles are now ‘recognized as non-crimes.’ Still not equal rights, but at least not outright discrimination. …Now this weekend, there have been counter-protests and demonstrations in some cities, some apparently violent.It will be interesting to see how this continues to unfold here. I would at least venture to say that from what I’ve seen, the divide between rural and urban here, ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative,’ seems to be HUGE. As part of our cultural context class this week, we had a session discussing sexual minorities, and Visthar invited 2 gay men and 2 lesbian women to speak. It was incredible to me that all 4 of them—none of whom could have been older than 40—had attempted suicide due to their sexuality-combined-with-social/family-situation. Two had had their partners die in double-suicide attempts that they themselves had survived. It does seem that the situation here is behind the US by a few years or decades.
Check out his photos of India, and follow Ryan’s future adventures by subscribing to his blog Forging Ahead.
– hat tip to Maia of Own The Sidewalk
Human Arch Reflects Love and Acceptance for All Families
“Jump the Broom” celebrated love and acceptance with over 130 supporters on Oct 5th in Juneau, and $1300 was raised to help keep marriage legal and equal in California. Our $1300 doubled into $2600 when it was matched by another donor on arrival in California. Beyond that, some of you donated on line, and the total generated was well over $3000.
Thanks to so many of you who came hours early in your party clothes and helped set up. To those of you who created yummy potluck items, brought fabrics, table cloths, silver party favors, and rainbows galore, thank you.
It was truly a lifetime highlight walking through the human arch of love and acceptance. To all the broom jumpers, all the celebratory dancers and arch makers, your love and support are tenderly held.
Some have stopped us on the street since, asking if we can make this an annual activity. It’s not a bad idea to celebrate and be reminded of love, acceptance and equality on a regular basis!
Sadly, our nation lost the right for all couples to marry in California on Nov. 4 with the passage of Proposition 8. (Stay tuned at equalityforall.com, hrc.org, and pfaw.org for ways you can help fight this discrimination.)
So we may need to do that arch of love and acceptance again and again, letting it grow until all are included and equal in our nation. If any of you want to plan the next one in Juneau, or one for your community, we’d be happy to share our expertise. Perhaps we can have arches of love and support all over our state in 2009, or all over our nation.
Eighteen years ago, when we first married in California with no legal significance or recognition, our Dads were still alive and one of them said, “What we wish for you, is that barriers will fall away for you and people like you, and that you may have all the love you have for one another reflected back to you, all the days of your lives.”
His words were a cherished wedding gift. Now, dear Juneau friends, and supporters and family, you have given us a reflection of that love, a very powerful gift, keeping the words of Frank Longworth alive and believable, even at this very tender time. Thank you.
We are grateful to all of you.
Mo and Lin,
Juneau, Alaska
– Photo of Mo and Lin just legally married at San Francisco City Hall, Sept. 15, 2008, exactly eighteen years after their original (non-legal) wedding. Congratulations!
Elias in LA with NO on 8: A Dead Heat in the Polls, Every Vote Counts
Elias Rojas, from Anchorage, is in California to help the NO on 8 campaign. If it passes, Proposition 8 will eliminate same-sex marriage in California.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in California since May 5, and there is no residency requirement. Thousands of gay and lesbian couples from all over the country have been legally married there during the past six months, including couples from Alaska.
———
An Alaskan in California: Working to Defeat Prop. 8.
I just landed at Los Angeles International Airport. It’s about 70 degrees. I’m excited to be involved in the final days of the campaign to defeat this anti-gay constitutional amendment.
The election is now 72 hours away. Apparently, the Yes side sent a misleading message claiming that Obama and Biden support the elimination of same-sex marriage in California. This is a flat out lie! The opposition will do anything to win this vote.
A new poll shows 49% of California voters oppose the constitutional amendment and 44% support it, with 7% undecided. Support for gay issues is usually overstated by 5-7%, so it’s going to be very close.
Because this race is basically a dead heat, the side that gets more of their backers to the polls on Election Day will probably win. Over 7,000 people statewide have volunteered to help us get out the vote on Nov. 4.
I will arrive at the campaign office later tonight. I plan to send a quick update to you each night.
There is still time to donate to the NO on 8 campaign. Please visit the Alaska Fundraising page at: http://eqfed.org/equalityforall/fundraising/erojas2001-669616
In addition to giving, please call everyone you know in California and urge them to vote NO on Prop 8! This campaign could be decided by a few thousand votes.
