Creating Change Wants You . . . To Go West and Build Our Movement!

Sparkplug. Community Leader. Inspiring Activist. Organizational Whiz. Major Domo. Original Thinker. Politerati. Cultural Activist. Movement Builder. You-Without-Whom-We-Would-Not-Have-Come-This-Far.

The 21st National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change wants you. Yes, you. We want you to teach your colleagues how to build LGBT power from the ground up. Come to the national gathering of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and strut your stuff!

Creating Change touches down in friendly Denver Colorado at the January 28 – Feb. 1, 2009, gathering together over 2000 movement stalwarts who are hungry and thirsty for new ideas, best practices, stronger skills and inspiration.

A large portion of the Creating Change Conference program is planned and presented by movement heroes just like you. To propose a workshop session, a training, a caucus or networking opportunity, visit http://www. thetaskforce.org/events/creating_change/09_proposal_submissions to access the Request for Proposed Sessions.

Perhaps you want to lead a session to grapple with pressing immediate issues like the results of the 2008 elections or how the right wing is attacking LGBT families. Or maybe you have longer-term issues on your mind, like the impact of the AIDS epidemic, especially in communities of color, or building a multi-racial advocacy organization in your community. The Creating Change Conference is your chance to organize a teaching/learning session to present the lessons you’ve learned and the best practices you have developed.

Attendees at Creating Change include colleagues who are young and old; organizers and activists of color; volunteers and staff people at LGBT organizations; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender advocates and straight allies; and leaders of campus communities. Creating Change attracts people from every corner of the United States who are working on many of the issues that you care about.

Conference presenters receive a steeply discounted registration fee and the deep satisfaction of building a stronger, smarter, more powerful grassroots LGBT movement.

Creating Change Conference session proposals are due on September 30, 2008. Online proposal submission and complete information can be found at www.creatingchange.org

This essay is X-Posted from BiNet USA President Wendy Curry's Blog curriedspam

Honestly, I've been less enthused about the "gay marriage" vs same sex marriage debate than I was the trans inclusive ENDA; with the ENDA battle, rights were being held up . . . With the marriage debate, it could be argued . . . as some have done . . . that the semantics (word choice) will not result in a lack of benefits. After spending time with the amazing Moira, I got to understand how some decisions are being made and can respect that.

One of the reasons so many "state DOMA" legislation's passed, IMO, was that national figures imposed their beliefs and did not listen to local voices . . . who better knew what would work in their neck of the woods. I am definitely enjoying listening to several CA voices on this list [Note: she means the very lively & interesting BiNet USA Discussion List - Click Here To Join] discuss the strategy pros and cons.

I believe the passion form the bi/trans communities on this issue comes from years of baggage and mistreatment from the gay/lesbian community. Since Stonewall (even before), bisexual and transgender individuals have been the back bone of the gay/lesbian movement. We have marched, planned the first pride marches, spoke before congress on DODT, and volunteered tireless hours to effect change for the entire GLBT community.

Yet, time after time, the gay/lesbian leaders have conveniently omitted us - from press releases, proposed legislation, web pages, magazines, etc, etc. The expressed pain comes from the long history of being welcomes when work is needed, yet shunned when convenient. In this particular case, there appears to be no reason for the omission. Does anyone really NOT know what "same sex marriage" refers too?

The gay and lesbian community does a disservice to it's own cause when they remove us from a discussion. Same gender marriage effects bisexuals and transgender individuals in a different way from gays and lesbians, which they would understand if they included us in the process.

One may argue that 2 bisexual females are in a lesbian relationship. I would counter - your individual experiences, feelings, and yes, sexuality effects your relationship. If not, why would so many gays and lesbians be afraid to date us? it's merely a "gay" relationship, right?

as reported in Bay Windows by Ethan Jacobs staff reporter
Wednesday July 2nd 2008 and UPDATED July 3 2008


When Nick Teich created a free account on the online personals site BisexualDatingNow.com last week, he decided to disclose that he is transgender. Perhaps he shouldn’t have.

"They say, tell us about yourself in your own words. And I stated, ’I’m a 25-year old trans guy living in Boston.’ . . . I didn’t want to mislead anyone looking at my profile, so that’s why I put that," said Teich. Within a day he had received three "smiles," which members send to express their interest in getting to know each other.

Teich thought little of his decision until he wrote to the site’s customer service staff about a problem he was having using the site. He exchanged e-mails with a customer service representative named Kiar Dupuis, and after reading his profile Dupuis informed him that the site does not allow transgender users.

"I am sorry, as a transgender, our site would not meet your needs. I am afraid we have to remove your profile," wrote Dupuis, according to an e-mail provided to Bay Windows by Teich. His profile was deleted shortly after he received the e-mail.

( Click here to read more and to find out how to protest this - and PS TangoWire is a Gay owned and operated company!!!!! )

we are x-posting this, we originally found this info on ftmichael's post on ourqueerfamily and neverbeuseless's post on gsa_lj but it's quickly spreading across the internet, it's now on "Pams House Blend" too. That'll get some action for sure!

Note that among the collection of right-wingnuts, religious loonies, garden variety bigots, and cynical political opportunists who signed on to the lawsuit brought by Arizona's scary-fundy "Christian" (Dominionist?) Alliance Defense Fund to block Governor Patterson's directive recognizing same-sex marriage are five (5) Republican legislators. Might they be from YOUR district?

Maybe they should hear about how their Constituents don't want their tax-dollars spent on their elected representitive's personal religious escapades. Also remind them that you will remember this little mis-adventure of theirs come re-election time.

o State Senator Martin J. Golden (R) Brooklyn
o State Senator Serphin R. Maltese (R) Queens
o State Assemblyman James N. Tedisco (R) Schenectady-Saratoga
o State Assemblyman Daniel J. Burling (R) Warsaw
o State Assemblyman Brian M. Kolb (R) Canandaigua
o Michael R. Long, Chairman. Conservative Party of New York State
o Shaun Marie Levine, Executive Director. Conservative Party of New York State
o Duane Motley, member New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms
o Jason Mcguire, member New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms
o Stephen P. Hayford, Esq., Coalition to Save Marriage in New York
o William C. Banuchi, Sr. Marriage & Family Savers Ministries
o Angel D. Rodriguez, (affiliation unknown)
o Piyali Dutta, (affiliation unknown)
o William Carlson, (affiliation unknown)
o Nicole Carlson, (affiliation unknown)
o Frances Vella-Marrone, Brooklyn Conservative Party

Wondering how to respond to your LGBT colleagues who say that Bisexual/Pansexual people, while reaping many of the benefits of the movement for Queer equality are (in Robyn Ochs' great description of what so many of our allies mistakenly think), trying to "muscle and whine our way into their movement, riding on the coattails of their hard-fought battles"? ( These are two articles you can give them to read )

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ms. Denise Penn
DenisePenn (at) aol (dot) com
949.498.8771

May 15, 2008

The American Institute of Bisexuality (ABI) applauds today's California Supreme Court ruling that the state may no longer exclude same-sex couples from civil marriage. AIB also congratulates and thanks lead counsel NCLR, Lambda Legal, the ACLU and Equality California who have been fighting for this victory for four years on behalf of all of us.

( Read more... )

A thoughtful, well researched (with lots of quotes from wolfbear) and quite extensive meditation on bisexuality in current western european/american culture, written from a gay man's point of view. It is X-Posted from the on-line LGBT website EDGE written by Scott Stiffler, EDGE Contributor published Monday, March 17 2008.

www.edgenewyork.com/index.php?ch=entertainment&sc=culture&sc3=&id=71703&pf=1

( Labels: they’re simple, fun and convenient; but how many same sex experiences does it take to make a hetero a homo? Can an opposite sex experience turn a gay into a bi? )

To quote directly from gay blogger jesus_h_biscuit, because we couldn't say it any better:

( This is what they say when they think we're not listening )

IMHO "bisexual organizing" has become the "new" feminism.

( Read more... )


( and click here to learn about some of the reactions to this piece )

www.bilerico.com/2008/01/matt_foreman_to_resign_from_ngltf.php

(Filed by: Bil Browning January 23, 2008 12:00 PM) Just in . . . Bilerico Project contributor and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force executive director, Matt Foreman, will step down in April to lead the Gay & Lesbian Program at the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund.

( click here to read the full text of this story )

Edited by: Sassafras Lowrey**
Publisher: Homofactus Press
Deadline: March 1, 2008

( Kicked Out is an anthology, which chronicles the experiences of former queer youth and current queer youth who were forced to leave home as minors because of their sexuality and/or gender identity )

Please X-Post

In her advice column of Friday December 28th 2007 entitled "Oh, the Things You Find Out Online", Margo Howard (daughter of the late Ann Landers) advised a married man who found himself blurting out "I love you" to a male friend that, "You are gay" and some how unaccountably left out the "B" word.

( click here to read the letter & Margo's answer and then PLEASE HELP by sending a note to Margo yourselves reminding her that the man could just as well be Bisexual as Gay )

Some say findings inflated, others claim ‘bi-phobia is alive and well’

by staff reporter Joshua Lynsen originally published in the Washington Blade on Friday, December 21, 2007

www.washingtonblade.com/2007/12-21/news/national/11768.cfm

A national poll showing that bisexuals account for half the number of people who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual is drawing mixed reactions.

(  read the full text of the Washington Blade article on the prevalence of bisexuality in the USA )