Articles tagged with: Tiffany McClain
Six Degrees of Pride Foundation: Patricia Van Kirk
Pride Foundation’s Tiffany McClain writes about former Juneau resident Patricia Van Kirk, whose contributions to lesbian arts and culture in Alaska and Washington have left a legacy that will continue to live on through the Patricia Van Kirk Scholarship fund.
Pride Foundation and chocolate! — Thursday, June 14
Join Pride Foundation in welcoming Pride Foundation’s new Executive Director, Kris Hermanns, on her inaugural trip to the Last Frontier! The Second Annual Chocolate Feast for LGBTQ Equality is a reception for Pride Foundation friends, donors, scholars, and grantees past and present hosted by Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge on Thursday, June 14.
Growing Alaska’s LGBTQ non-profits and students
Tiffany McClain is coming to events in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau this month to talk about Pride Foundation and the good work they’re doing to fund LGBTQ non-profits and students in Alaska.
Sunrise to Sunset: Juneau Pride Chorus concert
The Juneau Pride Chorus had the honor of opening the Alaska Folk Festival last week, and announced their annual concert will be on Saturday, April 30 at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center (JACC). Chorus member Marsha Buck describes the songs they will sing at the concert and a goal for 2012:
We are singing 12 songs during the upcoming concert on April 30, including the coming out song “Annie” by Fred Small in which a teacher comes out to the rest of her faculty, the two songs heard at Folk Festival (“Over the Rainbow” and “Breakaway”), a set of three mostly humorous songs about relaxation and meditation including “Uh Huh” by Holly Near, two complex environmental songs entitled “The Peace of Wild Things” and “Sky Dances,” and we will end our concert with two jazz numbers accompanied by saxophone and percussion and bass – joined by local jazz singer Vicky Van Fleet. Other pieces include “Thank You” in several languages by Elise Witt and the gorgeous “Arise My Love” by Joan Szymko.
For this performance we are a chorus of 30 women and we have an additional 8 members who are unable to sing this concert because of schedule, family, or health conflicts.
We are beginning plans now to travel to Denver in July 2012 to sing in the GALA Choruses Festival (Gay And Lesbian Association of choruses) so the funds raised by ticket sales, donations, and the baked-goods silent auction will go toward our Denver travel fund.
We only do one major concert a season but perform in the Juneau community when asked throughout each season.
Last year’s concert was “Eye on Chicago,” a Chicago-themed concert and a fundraiser for the Chorus to participate in the 2010 Sister Singers Network Festival in Chicago. Previous concert themes were “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Strength” in 2009, and “Songs for the Soul” in 2008.
Juneau Pride Chorus is sponsored by PFLAG Juneau, and this year’s concert is cosponsored by Pride Foundation. Tiffany McClain, Pride Foundation’s regional organizer for Alaska, will be in Juneau for the concert. Stop by her table and nominate your favorite nonprofit for a mini-raffle. If your name gets pulled, the group will receive a $100 donation in your name from Pride Foundation.
Juneau Pride Chorus concert – Sunrise to Sunset
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Baked Goods Silent Auction at 6pm
Concert at 7:30pm
JACC, 350 Whittier Street
Tickets at the door:
$15 adults, $30 family
$12 students (K-12) and seniors (65+)
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.
Where is the love in trying to make gays go straight?
COMPASS: Other points of view
Opinion | adn.com
By TIFFANY McCLAIN
Published: September 22nd, 2008 10:41 PM
Last Modified: September 22nd, 2008 10:41 PM
One of my earliest memories is being told by the principal of my Christian school that, along with Prince fans and devotees of the rock band Kiss, homosexuals were going to hell.
I was only 6 years old and had never heard of a homosexual, but my principal was happy to spell it out for his elementary school audience: “Homosexuals are men who have sex with men.” By the end of the school day, I was in tears, convinced that my mother’s love for Prince had doomed us both for eternity.
At the time, homosexuality had no relevance to my life, and because after this incident my mother promptly enrolled me in public school, I was spared any additional attempts to prevent me from growing up to be gay. But what about the children whose parents weren’t aware of what their kids were being taught? Or whose parents’ beliefs might have been more in line with that of the principal’s? What about the slightly older child, already aware of his or her attraction to people of the same sex, forced to come of age weighed down by this message of condemnation?
For years, these children remained vulnerable to the harmful teachings of adults who used their authority and their religious standing to promote an anti-gay agenda under the guise of Christian righteousness. It is disheartening to know that some groups continue to promote a philosophy that endangers peoples’ mental health and validates social intolerance.
Over time, the homophobic discourse of Christian fundamentalism has grown more benevolent in tone. Instead of threatening the gates of hell, for example, Focus on the Family’s Love Won Out ministry claims to help people “overcome” their same- sex attractions with “compassion and grace.” They claim to be able to “transform” people’s lives with holistic therapies and counseling.
But just because the tone has changed doesn’t mean that the consequences have disappeared. In a 1998 position statement the American Psychiatric Association cited the numerous potential risks of the “therapies” promoted by these ministries of so-called “transformation,” including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior. The American Psychological Association, National Association of Social Workers, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have also expressed their concern about the harmful consequences of these ministries on the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people and their families.
For all their talk of love, the Love Won Out ministry blindly ignores the love and affection that exists between gay and lesbian couples. We are portrayed as emotionally stunted in/piduals with no interest in each other beyond the physical, thereby diminishing public respect for and recognition of our relationships and families.
If you look beneath the “self-help”-styled rhetoric, at the core of their philosophy is the belief that if you’re gay or lesbian, there is something fundamentally wrong with you that needs to be changed. Not only is this belief medically incorrect — psychiatrists dismissed it almost 40 years ago — it also implicitly validates social prejudices that lead to acts of discrimination, harassment and violence. These acts cause far more mental harm to gays and lesbians — and do more harm to our democracy — than allowing law-abiding citizens to live their lives equally, honestly, and without fear — regardless of their sexual orientation.
I work for the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, an organization that protects the right of every citizen to believe in and promote the religion of their choice. Focus on the Family has every right to bring its Love Won Out conference all the way to Anchorage and share its mission with whoever is willing to listen. But our Constitution also grants me the right to urge you — for the sake of your loved ones’ mental well-being and happiness, for the sake of promoting a more democratic and compassionate community, and in the name of love — not to believe a word they say.
Tiffany McClain is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Public Policy Coordinator for ACLU of Alaska in Anchorage.
