LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
GLAADLINES |
News and Breaking Stories about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community POLITICAL PROS TEACH CAMPAIGN SKILLS TO ACTIVISTS: The Rev. Jesse Jackson; AFL-CIO President John Sweeney; Assistant to the President Virginia Apuzzo; White House AIDS Policy Director Sandra Thurman; Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass.; Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga.; and Connie Morella, R-Md.; are among speakers at OutVote 98. The event is the second national political convention of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). The event, intended to mobilize the vote and teach campaign skills to an estimated 1,000 lesbian and gay activists from across the country, takes place this weekend at the Washington, D.C., Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. The hotel is also the site on Saturday, Sept. 19, of HRCs National Dinner, with Vice President Al Gore delivering an address and receiving the organizations National Leadership Award. TELLING TALES DOCUMENTS LESBIAN, GAY AND BISEXUAL STUDENT EXPERIENCES: Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) Executive Director Kevin Jennings has edited a new book entitled, Telling Tales Out of School: Gays, lesbians, and bisexuals revisit their school days, inspired by GLSENs Back-to-School Campaign, a program which encourages individuals to write their schools and share their experiences as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender alumni. Jennings says in the books introduction, "People started sending me copies of their letters, and the stories were so incredible... that I knew there was a book crying out to be made from them." More than 30 authors contributed with stories of harassment and strength, including Jennings himself; noted African-American author Larry Duplechan; Jon Barrett, an Advocate editor, and bisexual activist Loraine Hutchins. Jennings has edited two other anthologies, One Teacher in Ten and Becoming Visible. This book adds the voices of students to the teachers stories and curricular information he had presented in the prior two. GAY MALE PARENTS SPEAK AT NATIONAL ACLU EVENT IN D.C.: Jon and Michael Galluccio of New Jersey, the first same-sex couple to jointly adopt a child in New Jersey, were in Washington, D.C., Sept. 15-19 as guests of the ACLU. The Galluccios spent the majority of their time lobbying members of Congress including Rep. Marge Roukema, R-N.J.; Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., about adoption rights. Among the highlights of their non-lobbying activities: taking part in an ACLU national panel on defending lesbian and gay families led by ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project Director Matt Coles, and meeting with Vice President Al Gores staff. Accompanying the Galluccios will be their children, Adam, the son they adopted this fall, and their foster daughter Madison. The Galluccios are taking time to celebrate Adams third birthday at D.C.s National Zoo. NEW NATIONAL STUDENT-RUN COLLEGE ORGANIZATION FORMED: The student-run National Collegiate Pride Association, believed to be the first U.S. student-run national organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender college students, was launched Sept. 9. Among its purposes: To provide networking and other support for such students and their allies, and to "create a viable communication network of all American collegiate based sexual minority organizations." The Flagstaff, Arizona organization says it is "specially dedicated to providing education and advocacy pertaining to issues concerning suicide of sexual minority youth and the continued oppression of sexual minorities within the realms of collegiate athletics." RECONCILING RELIGIOUS FAITH WITH SEXUAL IDENTITY: Authors Bruce Bawer, Alan Wolfe and Sally Lowe Whitehead were among the speakers at "Reclaiming Our Faith," sponsored by Maine Speakout and the Maine Council of Churches in Lewiston, Maine. The event was held against the backdrop of a high-profile ad campaign by religious -political extremists condemning homosexuality. Bawer is the author of Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity; Wolfe, of One Nation, After All, and Whitehead of The Truth Shall Set You Free: A Familys Passage from Fundamentalism to New Understanding of Faith, Love and Sexual Identity. GLAAD is the nations lesbian and gay multimedia advocacy organization. They promote fair, accurate, and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 8, No. 13, September 18, 1998. |