Tuesday, 20 April 2010 – 5:29 AM
| Comments Off on Trans Alaskans get back into Action
Exciting developments from Alaska’s Transgender community: the TransAK website is back online and up-dated with two new projects, TransAKtion and a podcast, and four members will be guest speakers at a special YWCA luncheon Transwomen in Alaska on June 16.
TransAK website
TransAlaska Pipeline, the website for the TransGendered Alaskans’ Social Group, is back and better than ever! New features include
TransAKtion, an effort to form a TG non-profit in Alaska, and the up-coming “Good Morning, TransAmerica” podcasts hosted by Anja.
“It has long been a dream of mine to see an organization formed by us, run by us, that exists to help us.
Transgendered people suffer discrimination at every turn. Many of us face violence, simply for being ourselves. Transition can also be cost-prohibitive for many of us, especially the guys. Many of us are forced into the sex industry due to lack of opportunties and societal marginalization of TGs.
There is so much work to do. This website is the first step towards fulfilling my dream of uniting us into a real community.”
The podcasts are expected to debut on April 30 with the segments “Transpeople and Christianity: Does God have a plan for us?” – Part 1, “Life in a small Alaskan town” featuring a trans commercial fisherman, and a review of the book “The Riddle of Gender: Science, Activism & Transgender Rights.”
If you are the owner of a trans-friendly business, please let them know, so your business can be listed in the directory. Visit TransAK at
www.transakpipeline.com
“Transwomen in Alaska” 6/16 at noon
Guest speakers Anja Gensel, Kelly Johnson, Michelle Gallante and Meaghan Lockard present Transwomen in Alaska as part of the “Opening Minds and Hearts” luncheon series at the YWCA of Anchorage on June 16, from 12-1 p.m. Open to the public, $15 or $10 for students with ID. YWCA Anchorage is located at 324 E. 5th Ave. RSVP 644-9605.
Trans Social Group
The Transgendered Alaskans’ Social Group meetings are held in Anchorage on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the GLBT Center. The Mat-Su Valley meetings are held Wednesdays at 5 p.m. at the Vagabond Blues Coffee Shop in downtown Palmer. Check the
calendar on TransAlaska for more events.
Sunday, 18 April 2010 – 1:18 PM
| Comments Off on Sara’s News Round-up 4/18/10
A selection of this week’s LGBT news from Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.
Richmond, Virginia, Richmond Times Herald, April 18, 2010
CNN, April 14, 2010
Italy, Advocate.com, April 14, 2010
NY Daily News, April 14th 2010
Advocate, April 13, 2010
Detroit, Detroit Free Press, April 17, 2010
New York, New York Daily News, April 15th 2010
Santiago, Chile, Washington Post, April 12, 2010
Advocate, April 15, 2010
Philadelphia, Penn., Philadelphia Inquirer, April 15, 2010
Huffington Post, April 15, 2010
Huffington Post, April 13, 2010
Washington, 365Gay.com, April 16, 2010
Little Rock, Arkansas, Daily Record, April 16, 2010
Saturday, 17 April 2010 – 11:52 AM
| Comments Off on Student Leader wins Internship, asks for support
Felix Rivera, president of the gay-straight alliance at Alaska Pacific University, has been accepted to an intensive summer program at the Institute on Political Journalism in Washington, DC. The two month internship will teach him valuable news writing skills that he will bring back to use in Alaska. He is asking for help to cover the costs of food and expenses during the program.
“I am very much looking forward to DC, and also looking for more financial help,” writes Felix. “It turns out that I didn’t raise as much as I expected. Housing is provided – well, I’m paying for it. Money for food and other expenses would be great. I believe my parents are pitching in the plane ticket.” He’s leaving for DC on June 6.
The
IPJ internship at Georgetown University selects undergraduate journalism students from around the country to attend classes in economics, ethics and leadership, and to serve in internships with major news organizations. Participants also attend regular briefings at The U.S. House of Representatives, the World Bank and The State Department.
Felix has a passion for social justice issues and was awarded the Hartman Writing Prize. He is active at APU and in the Anchorage community:
As a student at Alaska Pacific University, I have the unique opportunity to develop my skills as a leader, mostly because there are so few of us. At the school, I take on the roles of APU Editor (the campus newspaper), ASAPU Sophomore Representative (the student government), president of Spectrum (the GSA and diversity club on campus) and treasurer and secretary of Newman Club (the Catholic-based club on campus).
As you can see, this encompasses many different positions and responsibilities. One of the biggest strengths I can bring is the power of religious dialogue, as I am an active Catholic in the community, volunteering with CSS and Brother Francis from time to time.
In the community, I also serve various roles. As an employee of the Anchorage Youth Symphony, I have various connections with the musical world of Anchorage. As an intern at the Anchorage Daily News, I can represent the larger issues of the GLBT community in the media. I also volunteer in the GLBT community, representing Spectrum at the GLBT Alliance, serving on the Sponsorships Committee, volunteering for the Youth Drop-ins at the GLCCA, and working to start a subset of the GLBT Alliance focused on the issues of youth, which I am very excited to do!
Congratulations to Felix on the internship! Please support this current and future community leader. If you have donations, questions, or would like to know more about Felix and the internship,
please email him.
Sunday, 11 April 2010 – 5:43 PM
| Comments Off on Sara’s News Round-up 4/11/20
This week’s LGBT news roundup from
Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.
Portugal, EuroNews, April 9, 2010
Washington, Associated Press, April 9, 2010
California, Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2010
Advocate, April 5, 2010
Manila, Philippines, Google News, April 8, 2010
Dillon, Colorado, Advocate, April 7, 2010
Radar Online, March 12, 2010
San Francisco, SF Gate, April 6, 2010
Advocate, April 7, 2010
Iowa, Advocate, April 9, 2010
Smolesnsk, Russia, TowerRoad, April 10, 2010
Russia, Gay Today, April 10, 2010
Ontario, Canada, Univ. of Guelph, March 29, 2010
Bronx, NY, Gay City News, April 8, 2010
Thursday, 8 April 2010 – 3:51 PM
| Comments Off on Anchorage waits for outcome of Midtown race
As often happens in Alaska, the final results of Tuesday’s election are not yet known. In a nail-biter assembly race for the midtown seat, Dick Traini has a 3% lead over Andy Clary, who
compared gays to drunks and cheaters. A
ballot mix-up that was resolved on Wednesday narrowed Traini’s lead to 147 votes, and the remaining absentee and questioned ballots won’t be counted until next Friday.
For the east Anchorage seat, Paul Honeman has a 6% lead over conservative Adam Trombley. Matt Claman lost the west side to Ernie Hall by more than the number of questioned ballots. Honeman and Hall are moderates compared to the previous assembly members, but both support our community.
Debbie Ossiander and Jennifer Johnston were re-elected to the assembly as expected. Keli Booher earned a respectable 34% of the south side vote against Johnston.
If Honeman and Traini hold their leads, the new Assembly will be Honeman, Traini, Hall, Ossiander, Johnston, Drummond, Gray-Jackson, Flynn, Guttierez, Birch and Starr. That appears to be four conservatives, four progressives and three moderates.
In the school board races, incumbent Jeannie Mackie won Seat B, but James LaBelle and Tommy O’Malley split the progressive vote for Seat A, allowing ultra-conservative Don Smith to win. LaBelle received over 23% of the vote and O’Malley had over 26%, for a total of almost 50% of the vote going to the progressive candidates. Smith got only 41%. He is a far right conservative serving where the majority wanted a progressive. That could make his position harder to defend next time.
Smith is the only fringe member on the school board. The religious conservatives have tried repeatedly to push a far right church-based agenda into the public schools. When O’Malley entered the race after LaBelle, he opened the door for a split vote and Smith’s win.
The land swap and the bonds passed, except for public transportation.
A big THANK YOU to those who voted! Every vote counts.
Andy Clary is the son of Anchorage Baptist Temple’s Glenn Clary. But he doesn’t want us to judge him as an assembly candidate based on his ties to Jerry Prevo or his enthusiasm for Mayor Sullivan. He wants to be judged by his own words, and by his current church. So what is ChangePoint’s stand on gays? Pastor Dan Jarrell wrote on Feb 22:
“God doesn’t hate people who are homosexual; he hates what homosexuality does to people.”
WTF? That’s twisted. Jarrell also calls us “pernicious,” which means destructive in a sneaky way:
“Perhaps the most pernicious behavior of gay and lesbian activists is their effort to indoctrinate children and encourage the promulgation of their alternative lifestyle…”
And what about Clary? During last summer’s battle for the jobs and housing ordinance, he was a staff writer for the anti-ordinance Alaska Standard and he wrote:
“Now, before I go any further, let me say that I am opposed to the ordinance myself, but for very different reasons. You see, I am a committed follower of Christ, and although I believe homosexuality is not a lifestyle that Christ approves of, I see it no differently than other sins such as alcoholism or adultery. Why do we Christians lash out against one sin so differently than we do any other? We need to be reaching these people not tearing them down.”
“These people”? He might have more success in reaching out to “these people” if he didn’t compare our loving families to chronic drunks and cheaters.
“What if some simply have not found answers to the tough questions they have? For instance, why is it that some people struggle with homosexual tendencies their whole life and others do not? It is the same as alcoholism. Some people are predisposed to certain types of behavior…”
Many gays and lesbians are comfortable with our natural and God-given sexuality. What we struggle against is the stigma of being different and the anti-gay prejudice of people like Clary.
“Finally, to answer the question, “Should you legislate morality?”, clearly the answer is again, no. It cannot be done, nor should it be done.”
The religious right often tries to legislate morality, as long as it’s their own moral interpretations that get promoted. Does he really mean that we shouldn’t have laws against murder and rape?
Clary told the Anchorage Press that he grew up in Prevo’s church where his father is assistant pastor:
“I have my own beliefs and I don’t agree with my father on everything. Yes, I grew up at that church; I do not attend there now. People will just have to judge me on myself.”
So he agrees with his father on most things, including his opposition to gay rights, but not on everything. What are the disagreements? He doesn’t say. But he belongs to ChangePoint now. Here are more quotes from the anti-gay ChangePoint article by Clary’s pastor:
“There are no reasonable grounds for considering same-sex unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage…”
“Support ministries that offer help, hope, and healing to those affected by homosexuality. Exodus International is one example of an effective effort to provide a way out for homosexuals who want help.”
Being gay is not a sickness that needs healing. Prejudice is the sickness. The pray-away-the-gay methods used by Exodus have been discredited over and over, but churches like ChangePoint and ABT continue to push the “ex-gay” lies.
Jarrell also tells his church members to become politically active against gays:
Get involved in the political process supporting any effort to preserve a biblical definition of marriage as a life-long, intimate partnership between one man and one woman.
And they have their own anti-gay “pernicious indoctrination” class for children:
There are many excellent tools available for any parent wanting to instruct their adolescent child about marriage, sex, and family issues… ChangePoint’s Due North program for 6th grade girls and boys is exceptional as well, get your kids involved.
How sad for those kids, especially the LGBT ones and their parents.
So, in his own words, Andy Clary thinks that gays (“these people”) are struggling with a lifestyle like alcoholism and adultery. His current pastor calls us “pernicious,” pushes harmful pray-away-the-gay methods, and encourages church members to get involved in politics against gay rights. Sounds close enough to Prevo.
This is NOT who we want to represent us on the Anchorage Assembly.
Local elections are important. That point was driven home during the ordinance battle between the assembly and the mayor last year. In
Tuesday’s municipal election, we have several allies – and opponents – running for the assembly and school board, and it’s important to know who they are.
One opponent is Andy Clary, son of Anchorage Baptist Temple pastor Glenn Clary and current member of evangelical ChangePoint. Both churches promote pray-away-the-gay “therapy” and oppose gay civil rights. Clary supports Mayor Sullivan’s agenda, and will be Jerry Prevo’s voice on the assembly.
In other races, LGBT ally Sheila Selkregg is retiring and endorsed
Paul Honeman for her East Anchorage seat. Honeman is a moderate and a supporter of our community. He’s running against ultra-conservative Adam Trombley, who opposed ordinance 64,
has no ideas, and
is a friend of our veto-happy mayor.
In West Anchorage, both progressive
Matt Claman and moderate
Ernie Hall are supportive of the LGBT community. Claman introduced the equal rights ordinance last year and is endorsed by progressives. Hall thinks the ordinance should have been handled differently. The nonpartisan Hall is endorsed in this race by conservatives, but once ran as a Democrat for lieutenant governor.
In South Anchorage, conservative Jennifer Johnston is being challenged by progressive
Keli Booher. Johnston voted for the ordinance, but generally votes conservative. Booher is young, motivated and gay-friendly.
Remember former assembly chair Debbie Ossiander, who allowed Wasilla homophobes to testify against the Anchorage ordinance? How could we forget that. Independent
Joelle Brown is challenging her for the Eagle River seat.
Yes, we are also voting on school board seats, and there are two ultra-conservative candidates who promote ‘traditional’ education and no diversity. Creationist Don Smith made nasty racial comments about President Obama, according to
Alaska Commons, and is the darling of the far right along with Bob Griffin. Both are running against people who are more supportive of diversity.
Jeannie Mackie currently holds Seat B and is doing a good job.
James LaBelle has the best chance of defeating the anti-gay Smith for Seat A. But there are two progressive candidates for Seat A, which might split the vote and allow Smith to win. So we need every vote we can get against him.
Your vote counts! Please learn about the assembly and school board candidates, and vote for the ones who support our community and the LGBT youth of Anchorage.
Sunday, 4 April 2010 – 1:47 PM
| Comments Off on Sara’s News Round-up 4/4/10
This week’s LGBT news roundup from Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.
Patterson Irrigator, March 24, 2010
Washington, DC Agenda, April 1, 2010
Washington, National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce, March 30, 2010
Iowa, Iowa Independent, April 1, 2010
Mexico City, Mexico, LA Times, March 19, 2010
Madison, Wis., 365Gay.com, April 2, 2010
Utah, Daily Herald, April 2, 2010
Huffington Post, April 1, 2010
San Francisco Chronicle, April 4, 2010
PFLAG’s eTransParent: March /April 2010
This is no April Fool’s joke: assembly candidate Andy Clary is the son of Anchorage Baptist Temple pastor Glenn Clary, who called Mayor Sullivan’s veto of the equal rights ordinance one of
Jerry Prevo’s greatest victories. The junior Clary also has close ties to Sullivan and served on his transition team. He’s running for the Midtown assembly seat against former assembly member Dick Traini.
“Clary’s father… is an assistant pastor at Anchorage Baptist Temple and has been a Republican Party activist. Andy Clary belongs to the same political party but a different church, ChangePoint. When asked at a candidate luncheon how he has served the community, he cited church work. He taught Sunday school, led men’s studies and cooked food for different events,” according to yesterday’s ADN article.
Did he switch from controversial ABT to the less politically tainted ChangePoint last summer, when
Prevo threatened to take down the pro-ordinance assembly members? Is Prevo positioning Clary to be the city’s future evangelical mayor?
The article also describes Clary’s ties to the current mayor, giving us another reason to oppose him:
On an Assembly that’s been fractious over Sullivan’s leadership, Clary makes it clear he is allied with Sullivan, who became mayor last July. He served on Sullivan’s transition team, held a fundraiser at McGinley’s, the pub Sullivan co-owns, and says of Sullivan, “Generally, I like what I’ve seen.”
We don’t need another assembly member who rubber-stamps Sullivan’s personal agenda against the best interests of the city.
Dick Traini is a conservative with an independent streak. He has also said that he could support a non-discrimination ordinance similar to the one passed in Salt Lake City with the approval of the Mormon Church. The two SLC ordinances added sexual orientation and gender identity, but involved only housing and job protections.
But Clary will oppose everything that benefits the LGBT community of Anchorage. And as Prevo’s man on the assembly, he will actively work against us.
Midtown residents, please vote for Dick Traini on April 6th.
A recent e-newsletter from AFC President Jim Minnery said that the Girl Scouts is “the last place you want your daughter to be.”
In case you didn’t know, it’s not your mother’s Girl Scouts any more. While the Boy Scouts of America has remained true to its traditional ideals, the Girl Scouts have gone full tilt into feminism/sexual revolution/GLBT politics. And doing their best to export it internationally.
It is enormously disappointing that an Alaskan coalition would forward such inflammatory statements without having made any contact with Girl Scouts of Alaska. Girl Scouts is a non-religious values based organization that strongly respects families and makes no statements or stands on girls’ sexuality.
Girl Scouts of Alaska builds girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place. The values that Girl Scouts stand for are what’s stated in the Girl Scout Promise and Law, essentially unchanged since 1912.
What kind of man picks on little girls?
– hat tip to The Mudflats
