Weekly Announcements

April 2 - 8 , 2006

  1. Save the Date: Rainbow Banquet
  2. Lecture: Helen Zia
  3. Café Q
  4. Planet Orange
  5. Meeting: Open Doors
  6. OutLaw Forum: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
  7. Seventh Annual Reel Queer Film Festival
  8. A Men's Issue T-shirt Campaign
  9. Big Gay Weekend
  10. Pride Agenda Marriage Equality Training in Syracuse
  11. Contributors Needed: Women's Conference
  12. Group for Lesbian Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Assault
  13. Gay Marriage Case Now Before the Court
  14. Internship: National Consortium of Directors of LGBT Resource Centers in Higher Education Summer Program
  15. Scholarship for LGBT Health Professions Students Announced

LGBT Resource Center News

1. Save the Date: Rainbow Banquet

The Fourth Annual Rainbow Banquet returns to the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel Regency Ballroom on Thursday, April 20 at 5:30 pm.

We cordially invite you to be a part of this magical evening, featuring recognition of our 2006 graduates; presentation of the Foundation Awards for Outstanding Service to the LGBT Community; the Queer Year in Review Slide Show; food, friends, and fun!

Kate Bornstein, a celebrated pioneer for the LGBTQI community, transsexual author and performance artist, will be the keynote speaker. Bornstein offers a pivotal critique of the gender binary that has become a staple in the study of Gender and Sexuality. Tenderly intimate and unapologetically edgy, she is a radical role model, affectionate best friend, and guiding mentor all in one kind and spirited package. Pride Union and the LGBT Resource Center received a UEncounter Grant from the Division of Student Affairs to bring Kate Bornstein to campus. More on Kate may be found at http://www.tootallblondes.com/KatePages/kate_bornstein.htm.

Individual tickets for the Rainbow Banquet will cost $30. We invite departments to purchase a table for $300 or a half-table for $150. Full tables seat 10. Departments are encouraged to donate a table, or seats from the table, to allow students and community members to attend at no cost or reduced rate. If you are interested in donating seats at your table to students or community members, please specify when returning the reply card. We will fill all donated seats.

We hope that you will join us at this special evening of community and celebration. Please look for the forthcoming invitation. We hope to see you at the 2006 Rainbow Banquet!

Questions? Contact:
The LGBT Resource Center, 443.3983, lgbt@syr.edu

 

2. Lecture: Helen Zia

Helen Zia, award-winning journalist and scholar who has covered Asian American communities and social and political movements for decades, is coming to Syracuse University on Friday, April 7. Zia is the author of Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People, a finalist for the prestigious Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize. A second generation Chinese American, Zia has been outspoken on issues ranging from civil rights and peace to women's rights and countering hate violence and homophobia. More on Helen Zia may be found at: www.speakoutnow.org/People/HelenZia.html.

Zia will be the keynote speaker at the Syracuse University's Asian Pacific-Islander Heritage Month kick-off on Friday, April 7 at 4 pm in Schine 304.

Faculty, staff, students, and community members are invited to a luncheon with Zia to be held at the LGBT Resource Center on Friday, April 7 from 11:30 am-1 pm. RSVPs are strongly encouraged to lgbt@syr.edu by Wednesday, April 5. Vegetarian options will be available. Please indicate when you RSVP if you have any dietary restrictions.

This program is sponsored by a Student Affairs & Academic Affairs Kaleidoscope Grant, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Kappa Phi Lambda, Delta Lambda Phi, and LGBT Resource Center.

Questions? Contact:
Adrea Jaehnig, 443.3983, aljaehni@syr.edu

 

3. Café Q

Join Lauren, your host, for another fun night of Café Q on Thursday, April 6 at 8 pm. As always, expect great games, fun prizes, and the best blends of coffee this side of Ostrom Avenue.

Questions? Contact:
Lauren Adamski, 443.3983, lbadamsk@syr.edu

 

4. Planet Orange

This week's Planet Orange discussion on Monday, April 3 at 7 pm will explore coping with hate. The recent debate on LGBT rights has resulted in some very negative stereotyping of the LGBT community. How do you deal with the hate and negativity? How do we as a community respond to this hate, and take care of each other? Join us for an awesome Planet Orange discussion at the LGBT Resource Center.

Questions? Contact:
Adrea Jaehnig, 443.3983, aljaehni@syr.edu
Amit Taneja, 443.3983, ataneja@syr.edu

 

LGBT Campus Organizations

 

5. Meeting: Open Doors

Come to the Open Doors meeting on Wednesday, April 5 at 7:30 pm at the LGBT Resource Center. All LGBTQA graduate students are welcome to attend.

Questions? Contact:
John David Molesky, jdmolesk@syr.edu

 

6. OutLaw Forum: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

OutLaw and the Federalist Society are co-sponsoring a forum on Wednesday, April 5 at 11:45 am in room 204 of the College of Law. Please attend this informative discussion.

Questions? Contact:
James Burger, burger_jamesr@yahoo.com

 

7. Seventh Annual Reel Queer Film Festival

Open Doors brings you two nights of queer cinema for free. This event is open to the public and all screenings will be held in Grant Auditorium in the College of Law. Free parking will be available at the University Place lot. Visit reelqueer.com for more information, full program and latest schedule of screenings.

 

Friday, April 7, 2006

7:00 pm HOTEL GONDOLIN (2005)

The Gondolin Hotel is the home of 30 transvestites and one transsexual who work as prostitutes as the unique alternative to survive in a society that excludes them. This film focuses on the importance of freedom of gender identity, the everyday life of the transvestites in the Hotel, street prostitution, and the rising difficulties with the neighbors and the local authorities. Spanish with English subtitles

8:00 pm CAUSE OF DEATH: HOMOPHOBIA (2003)

During the last twenty years over 50 gay men were murdered in Israel. These were isolated incidents and in most cases the murderer was caught and convicted. This documentary studies some of these murder cases and investigates the social and psychological circumstances surrounding them. Hebrew with English subtitles

9:00 pm LOGGERHEADS (2005)

In the small town of Eden, a minister’s wife must confront her conservative husband, who has enforced a harsh estrangement from their adopted son since they’ve learned that he’s gay. Listless and disappointed in life, Grace makes a last ditch decision to search for the son she was pressured into giving up for adoption as a teenager. Mark, a longtime drifter who is strangely fascinated with loggerhead sea turtles, crosses paths with George, a fixture of his quiet beach community who for a time provides Mark the support and companionship he’s been starved of. Their stories interweave to create a portrait of familial detachment and longing that is at once universal, and steeped in the keenly observed looks and rhythms of three distinctive settings across North Carolina.

 

Saturday, April 8, 2006

7:00 pm BEAR CUB (2004)

An amusing and touching film about reinterpreting the idea of “family,” BEAR CUB tells the engaging story of Pedro, an attractive gay dentist living an active single life in Madrid. He offers to take care of his adorable 9-year-old nephew Bernardo for two weeks while the child’s mother travels abroad with her latest “hippie” boyfriend. When Mom suddenly becomes detained in India, however, Pedro must become the boy's caretaker. And to further complicate matters, the boy’s grandmother begins a custody battle for the child. Spanish with English subtitles

9:00 pm MYSTERIOUS SKIN (2005)

At age eight, Neil McCormick and Brian Lackey both played on the same youth baseball team in their small Kansas hometown. Now, ten years later, the two eighteen-year-old boys could not be any more different. Neil is a cold but charismatic teenage hustler, while Brian is a nervous introvert obsessed with the idea that he has been abducted by a UFO. As these two parallel lives inevitably intersect, both boys begin to discover a shared past shrouded in mystery. MYSTERIOUS SKIN takes the viewer on an illuminating, deeply affecting journey into the delicate reaches of self discovery.

 

Questions? Contact:
John David Molesky, jdmolesk@syr.edu

 

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY NEWS

 

8. A Men’s Issue T-shirt Campaign

A Men’s Issue (AMI) is a recognized student organization dedicated to exploring issues about masculinity and sexual violence in our society. Through peer education and presentations we hope to make men more aware that rape and domestic violence are issues that all men should be aware of. AMI acknowledges that men and women need to work together in the fight against gender oppression and also realizes that men need to work with other men to make this a reality.

As part of our peer education efforts, we are happy to invite you to participate in an upcoming T-shirt campaign focusing around attitudes regarding sexual violence on campus. We would invite you to present this opportunity to members of your organization. The Division of Student Affairs conducted a health survey in spring 2004 and obtained a statistically valid representative random sample of over 400 undergraduates, representing approximately 26 percent of respondents from the 2000 students in the overall survey sample.

From this data, we were able to gather such statistics as:

  • 85 percent of SU students agree that pressuring someone to drink or take drugs in order to better your chances at having sex with them is not OK.
  • 84 percent of SU students say that they would not have sex if they could sense their partner did not want to

These different statements are worded on the back of each T-shirt, with the percentage corresponding to that particular statement on the front of the shirt.

We are holding this campaign Tuesday, April 4 and Monday, April 17. To participate in either of these campaign dates, we ask that members of your organization attend a brief information and training session where we will be passing out T-shirts and informing participants about the various aspects of the campaign. These sessions will last no more than 45 minutes but are essential to maximize the impact of the campaign.

The training sessions for the April 17 campaign will be held Monday, April 10 and Wednesday, April 12. All sessions start at 7 pm and will be held in the basement classrooms of the Shaw Residence Hall. We would ask that you attend one of these training dates in order to participate in one of our campaign dates. When contacting AMI, please indicate which training date you will be attending, how many people will be attending, and what T-shirt sizes you will need.

Questions? Contact:
Jacob Bartholomew, 443.7052, jbarthol@syr.edu

 

REGIONAL NEWS

 

9. Big Gay Weekend

Colgate University invites you to its First Annual BIG GAY WEEKEND. It is an event that is for anyone interested in LGBTQ issues. This weekend is an opportunity for students from Colleges and Universities across the Upstate Region to come together, connect, network, and have fun. For it to be a success, Colgate needs the support of students from a lot of different schools. A quick schedule rundown:

Friday April 14:
4-7 pm - Arrival and Check In
7 pm - Homo No-Mo Halfway House Performance By Peter Toscano
8 pm - Free Showing of Brokeback Mountain
8 pm - LGBTQ Open Mic Night
9:30 pm - Opening Reception and Maroon Party (Colgate's very own Circuit Party)

Saturday April 15th:
10 am-4 pm - Workshops

  • A talk given by representatives from Career Services about life after College
  • An opportunity for LGBTQ leaders from different schools to discuss what has worked on their campus
  • A speaker who will discuss what is involved with being out and on a sports team in college
  • The President of the Log Cabin Republicans will discuss the future of LGBTQ politics in America
  • A panel discussion by a number of psychiatrists and psychologists concerning the coming out process
  • An opportunity for younger students to build a network between schools for the future
  • Many, many more

11:30 am-12:45 pm - Free BBQ Lunch
4 pm - Keynote Address by B.D. Wong (He is an out gay actor who has starred in Law and Order SVU, Father of the Bride, The Band Played On, etc. He is also a great speaker and very involved with advocacy. He will be discussing his own life and what it has meant for him to identify with multiple minority groups)
8 pm - Improv Performance by Charred Goosebeak (The guys who made Super Troopers)
8 pm - Free Showing of Brokeback Mountain
10 pm - Drag Ball (Imagine all of the hottest people, all in one place, and all taking their tail feathers in DRAG)

Housing . Just show up and be assigned a place to stay, if you need one. This means that it is FREE and you do not have to worry about setting it up for yourself.

This weekend is free for all of those who want to participate. Colgate and private donors are covering all expenses. You can also stay up to date with events that are added on the website at www.colgate.edu/lgbtq.

Questions? Contact:
Will Birnie, wbirnie@mail.colgate.edu

 

10. Pride Agenda Marriage Equality Training in Syracuse

Pride Agenda offers a great way to get involved in the fight for marriage equality in New York State by attending upcoming "Marriage Ambassador" trainings.

The trainings are a collaborative effort of Empire State Pride Agenda, ACLU, Lambda Legal, GLAAD and Syracuse University student organizations OutLaw, Outrage, and Pride Union. The trainings consist of a comprehensive, up to the minute legal and political update, media training and skills building workshops.

They are designed to build community and keep the conversation around marriage equality going. As early as this summer the Court could hand down a ruling and we need to be prepared to swing into action. We are looking for people who are interested in making a difference right in their own community by meeting with their elected officials, writing letters to the editor of their local paper, throwing house parties, talking to church and community groups, or who will simply rally when the time comes. There are many ways you can help win marriage in New York State and attending a training is the first step.

The sessions are:
Friday, April 7 from 5:30-8:30 pm at the Genesee Grande Hotel
Saturday, April 8 from 9am-5:30 pm at Syracuse University

These trainings are for:

  • Straight Allies
  • Community Members
  • Parents and Family Members
  • Friends
  • LGBTQ People
  • Students, Faculty, or Staff
  • Anyone who wants to make a difference

Please attend both sessions. Hotel information is available upon request. Conference organizers will supply snacks and refreshments on Friday evening and a continental breakfast and lunch on Saturday. A packet of materials will also be provided.

The trainings are free of charge but you must register in advance.

To register please contact Elisabeth Bullard at 212.627.0305 ext.105 or at ebullard@prideagenda.org.

 

11. Contributors Needed: Women's Conference

Students and faculty members at SUNY Cortland are sponsoring a women's issues conference on Saturday, April 8, 2006. Prof. Elizabeth Fraser, one of the conference organizers, is looking for help from SU/SUNY-ESF students, staff, and faculty interested in brainstorming, organizing, or presenting a workshop on the experiences of women who are classified as butch or androgynous. The purpose of this workshop is to raise awareness of these women's issues.

Questions? Contact:
Elizabeth Fraser, 607.753.2992, frasere@cortland.edu

 

12. Group for Lesbian Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Assault

The Vera House is offering a FREE group for lesbian survivors of sexual abuse and assault. Meetings will begin in March 2006 at a confidential location. Call for date, time, location, and to learn more about the group.

Questions? Contact:
Amber Hager, 425-0818 x110
Crystal Collette, 425-0818 x235

 

NATIONAL NEWS

 

13. Gay Marriage Case Now Before the Court

(NYT) The way Beth Kerrigan and Jody Mock see it, their partnership of 12 years has been a long engagement. Marriage, they hope, will come soon. Just how soon may be for the Connecticut courts to decide.

In Kerrigan & Mock et al v. State of Connecticut, Department of Public Health, heard March 21 in Superior Court in New Haven, eight homosexual couples have sued the state, charging that Connecticut has denied them marriage rights. The couples filed the suit on Aug. 25, 2004, before Connecticut enacted its civil union law in 2005, but just a
few months after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that laws restricting marriage to heterosexual couples violated that state's constitution.

"We have a great life, we really do," Ms. Mock said. "This is a little thing we want, but it's big."

The Connecticut lawsuit's most visible opponents are the state attorney general's office, which argued the case for the state on March 21, and the Family Institute of Connecticut, which has appealed a court decision denying the group intervener status in the case. Judge Patty Jenkins Pittman, who heard the case in New Haven Superior Court, determined that the institute had no special interest in the suit.

Gay-rights organizations throughout the country, buoyed by the Massachusetts decision, have been taking their cases for same-sex marriage to the courts. The Kerrigan-Mock lawsuit is one of 10 pending cases nationally charging discrimination at the state-government level. At the same time, groups opposing same-sex marriage have taken their arguments to state legislatures, advocating for constitutional amendments defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman. So far, 19 states had adopted such amendments, and proponents were supporting such initiatives in several other states.

Ms. Kerrigan and Ms. Mock were in their backyard last Sunday with their sons, Guatemalan twin boys, Fernando and Carlos. The family lives in a three-story colonial on a West Hartford street where neighbors treat them as family, the women said.

For them, the civil union law was not enough.

"You don't get a marriage license with a civil union," said Ms. Mock, who said she and Ms. Kerrigan had not participated in a civil union, in the hope that Connecticut would eventually permit same-sex marriage. "People understand marriage."

Ms. Kerrigan stood beside her, next to a neatly stacked cord of wood set by a picket fence.

"Our 13-year-old baby sitter, when she saw us on the news, said, 'Jody and Beth aren't married?' " Ms. Kerrigan said.

A Quinnipiac University poll released last April found that 53 percent of 1,541 Connecticut registered voters surveyed said they would not support same-sex marriage. (The margin of error was plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.) Almost one year later, in March, a national telephone survey of 1,405 adults by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press found that 51 percent opposed same-sex marriage, down from 63 percent opposed to same-sex marriage in 2004. (Margin of error: plus or minus 4 percentage points.)

William N. Eskridge Jr., a Yale law professor, said he believed it was just a matter of time before a statute allowing same-sex marriage would appear on the national level. So far, Northeast and Pacific Rim states have been the only ones to favorably address the issue, said Professor Eskridge, who teaches a course titled "Sexuality, Gender and the Law."

"I don't know that we'll end up with marriage," he said. "But the trend is going to be state recognition and probably some kind of compromise, I'm very certain of that. We are going to have a diversity of approach in America. The states that recognized same-sex unions, the sky did not fall. God did not send the locusts upon these states, gay and lesbian couples did not flood in, but thousands formalized their relationships and are leading productive lives. The whole thing has been greatly overblown."

The lawsuit proposing same-sex marriage, said Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, whose office is defending the state in the case, would be an attack on the state's statutory framework, particularly on the civil union law that includes a clause defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

"The state's statutory provisions limit marriage to a man and a woman," Mr. Blumenthal said. "The question is whether there's a denial of equal protection of the law. My job is to defend the statutes whether I like them or not, and we do that as vigorously and as zealously as we can."

Brian S. Brown, the executive director of the nonprofit Family Institute of Connecticut, which has fought civil unions, same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex families, said he believed that that federal action would stop what he called a patchwork of same-sex-marriage and civil union laws throughout the country.

"Ultimately, I think this will go before the U.S. Supreme Court," he said. "I do believe a federal marriage amendment will be the answer. What we have now is creating a complete quagmire of conflicting state law that will ultimately have to be resolved at the federal level. We live in a democracy, and the courts don't have the right to redefine marriage."

The Connecticut lawsuit was filed after numerous couples asked for help from the Boston-based Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, which had successfully sued for same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

"They had been together for decades, were raising children and living as families," said Bennett Klein, the organization's lead lawyer for the plaintiffs in the Connecticut suit. "We felt that it was time for Connecticut to really do the right thing for gay and lesbian couples and treat them fairly and equally."

For several couples, marriage became more of a priority once they started families. Jeffrey Busch, a New York City administrative law judge who lives in Wilton with his partner of 16 years, Stephen Davis, said the couple had not considered marriage until their 3-year-old son, Elijah, joined the family. When Elijah was a year and a half old, the family traveled to Europe and was returning home via Canada. They were stopped at the border by Canadian officials because Elijah's birth certificate listed his mother as "unknown."

"The officials at the border said, 'Everybody has a mother,' " Mr. Busch said. "They said, 'Here you are, two men with a child, how do we know it's not a kidnapping?' " They said that Canadian officials told them they needed more paperwork that established Elijah as their son, then let them go.

"It really shook us up," Mr. Busch said. "If we were a married couple, I could say, 'I'm Eli's dad and this is my spouse.' But I couldn't, so six weeks after that happened, we decided to enter into the lawsuit to secure our rights."

Superior Court Judge Jenkins Pittman has 120 days from the date of argument to deliver a decision, although Mr. Klein said that however the case was decided, the other side would certainly appeal. The case could also bypass the appellate court and go directly to the State Supreme Court, Mr. Klein said.

 

14. Internship: National Consortium of Directors of LGBT Resource Centers in Higher Education Summer Program

The National Consortium of Directors of LGBT Resources in Higher Education Summer Internship Program offers opportunities for pre-professionals to work in the field of LGBT student affairs. Current Consortium members provide developmental opportunities in the interest of expanding the breadth and depth to which the Consortium’s goals are implemented nationwide. Specific institutions compensation varies, however all Consortium Interns will receive registration for the 2006 NGLTF Creating Change Conference and the opportunity to present their research/project.

For more information about the Consortium Intern program, visit the Consortium Intern website at http://www.lgbtcampus.org/memberservices/internships.html.

Full-time, 5-8 week positions are still available at two Consortium Institutions. Each has a flexible start and end time between May/June and August 2006. Duties and compensations vary. Deadline to apply: April 20, 2006

University of Oregon: http://lgbt.uoregon.edu/
Supervisor: Chicora Martin
Internship Duties: Up to two internships are available. Interested students should submit a project proposal.
Compensation: All interns are eligible to receive free on-campus housing and board from mid June- mid August.
Deadline: April 20
Intern Start/End Date: Start date is negotiable, but must end early in August.
*Special arrangements can be made for housing in May.

University of California, Los Angeles: http://www.saonet.ucla.edu/lgbt/index.html
Supervisor: Dr Ronni Sanlo
Internship Duties: One internship is available. Interested students should submit a project proposal.
Compensation: All interns are eligible to receive free on-campus housing from mid June- mid August.* Endowed living stipend is available for female a/or woman-identified individuals.
Application Deadline: April 20
Intern Start/End Date: Negotiable.
*Special arrangements can be made for housing in May.

Qualifications: Currently enrolled graduate student within a student affairs graduate program or a student applying to enter a student affairs graduate program in Fall 2006.

Application:
Deadline is April 20. In addition to a Consortium Internship Program Application/ Project Proposal, (available at http://www.lgbtcampus.org/memberservices/internships.html) please provide a Resume and Cover Letter indicating which intern position you are applying for.

For more information about the Consortium Intern program, visit the Consortium Intern website at http://www.lgbtcampus.org/memberservices/internships.html.

 

15. Scholarship for LGBT Health Professions Students Announced

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health, Education and Research Trust, Inc. (LGBT HEART) is pleased to announce that it has begun accepting applications for the 2006 LGBT HEART Scholarship Fund for the Graduate Health Professions. This dedicated scholarship, now in its second year, is for LGBT-identified students in the graduate-level health professions.

The LGBT HEART Scholarship Fund for the Graduate Health Professions provides supplemental funding for students who have a demonstrated ability in and commitment to affecting change in the LGBT communities through their commitment to working and being educated in the health professions. The program is supported through funds raised by LGBT HEART.

Two students - committed to affecting change in the LGBT community through their education and work in the health professions - will be selected for the scholarships ($2,000 minimum each), and shall be known as LGBT HEART Scholars. The scholarships are for the academic year beginning September 2006.

This will be the second class of LGBT HEART Scholars, having selected Julie Anne Baker and Brian Hurley as its inaugural recipients in 2005.

"The core of our mission is to advance the health of the LGBT community, and we see no greater way to honor our mission than through that of our future LGBT HEART Scholars," said Manuel Hernandez, MD, President, LGBT HEART.

The 2006 scholarships are open to all LGBT-identified students enrolled in a graduate degree seeking program in the health professions at an accredited college or university in the United States. Students who apply must be US citizens, demonstrate satisfactory academic progress and financial need, and have exhibited leadership traits and have performed community service in the LGBT community.

For application and additional information about the LGBT HEART Scholarship Program for the Graduate Health Professions, visit www.lgbtheart.org. Send completed applications by June 2, 2006 to:

LGBT HEART, Inc.
LGBT HEART Scholarship Program for the Graduate Health Professions
51 N. 3rd Street, Ste. 331
Philadelphia, PA 19106

Questions? Contact:
scholarships@lgbtheart.org

 

* * * * *

To Submit A News Item

Send articles, messages, or links to the Weekly Announcements editor at jmtifone@syr.edu. Please include in the subject line "Weekly Announcement." All submissions must be received by Friday at 11 am to be included in the following week's edition and are subject to review by our editor.

 

Corrections, Clarifications

The LGBT Resource Center strives to report all news items fairly and accurately.  If you find an error, please write to the Weekly Announcements editor at jmtifone@syr.edu and we'll correct any inaccuracies.

 

Disclaimer

The views expressed in Weekly Announcements are those of the submitters and do not reflect the opinion, views, or policies of Syracuse University, the LGBT Resource Center, or the editor of Weekly Announcements, unless otherwise noted.  All readers are permitted to freely distribute the information contained herein.