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In about 30 days! Read more at the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force.
Saturday, March 08, the Western Montana Gay and Lesbian Community Center hosted the Third Annual Black & White Ball.
Colorful attendees, dressed from funky to formal in black & white, socialized, ate hors d'oeuvres, drank, and danced to the music of Full Grown Men. More importantly, they raised some of the money it takes to fight hate crimes and unify the diversity of the queer community: $25,366, to be exact.
If you're feeling nostalgic or wondering what you missed see our follow-up.
Fifty respected Montanans, one from each Senate district, will agree to make a pro-equality statement used in 50 Voices for Equality, the centerpiece of the the Montana Human Rights Network's The Equality Project. By committing to a few activities a year you can make real the passage of a fully inclusive Human Rights Act before the end of the 2011 legislative session. Read about Oregon's 50 Voices project here.
To nominate someone, including yourself, please forward
names, contact information (including home address or senate district), & a few words on why this person would be a good Voice for Equality to:
conlin@mt.net
(406) 431-3635
or the:
University Center, Suite 209
The University of Montana
Missoula, Montana 59812
406.243.5922
By WMGLCC 02/25/08.
On February 12th 15-year old Lawrence King was shot in the back of the head. King had recently come out of the closet in response to long-term harassment. Read more here. GLSEN, myspace, and family memorials.
Statement by Matt Foreman, Executive Director National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (emphasis added):
"Right now we don’t know exactly how anti-gay hate expressed itself in the murder of Lawrence King. What we do know is that he was harassed on a daily basis because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. We do know that adults at his junior high school did not stop it and that kind of tolerance of anti-gay bigotry is pervasive in our nation’s schools. Our hearts go out to Lawrence’s family — and to all young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender kids who are — right now, right this minute — being bullied and beaten in school while adults look the other way."Adults outside of King's school continue to ignore violence, including Time magazine, which encourages adults to ignore the problems of gay teens rather than oppose hate crimes:
Still, it's hard to look at the photo of King's fragile little face and not want to do something.
By WMGLCC 02/25/08.
On February 15 the Great Falls Tribune, and later the AP, reported to enlightened minds around the country that U.S. Rep. Rehberg assembled an anti-gay "care package" for friend and fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson. The "gifts", including a stuffed sheep and rubber gloves, made reference to bestiality, fisting, cross-dressing, sign-language, the Village People and the Sen. Larry Craig scandal.
Rehberg's says the real news is Rehberg's failure to pass legislation, including the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and not his personal failings. The truth, as the community center's Jamee Greer explains, is that "this is an embarrassment to Montana. Rep. Rehberg owes the gay community and all of Montana an apology." If Rehberg could tell the rest of the country that most Montanan's are kind and considerate people, not like Rehberg at all, that would help too.
See also 02/16 coverage in the Missoulian or watch KECI 13's clip.
By WMGLCC
Coming to you live on Monday nights from 8-10 pm on your favorite college radio station in Missoula, 89.9FM. Your host dharmagrrl brings you Out Words radio, your weekly radio journal of queer culture, news, views, reviews, interviews and generally getting your groove on. Tune in, get informed and stay active.
Sponsored by Out Words: the voice of Montana's LGBTIQ community, the monthly newspaper distributed throughout Montana and KBGA, Missoula.
On Monday 11/26/07 We Are Missoula. Speak Up. Stand Out Held a "Community Rally to End Hate Crimes".
The event was a success. The Badlander was filled to the brim. We ran out of pizza in two seconds. We ran out of ink to screen print. We ran out of time for attendees to speak with the documentarians. We ran out of signs.
That's right. We had food, we had t-shirts (Gay & Griz in gray and a Keith Haring triangle in red), speakers, free food, free "We Are Missoula" car dash signs, organizations tabling, theater, film making, politicians, police, students, slackers, gays, straights, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender folks. There was eating and drinking and dancing and singing.
Perhaps more importantly we sent a strong message to Missoula that hate crimes are not acceptable and a strong message to the queer community that we can unite and speak up and stand against hate crimes. You can read media coverage:
See the following coverage in the Missoulian: "Assault victim says attack was anti-gay", UMT Kaimin: "LAMBD calls for unity after two attacks", and KPAX: "Missoula assault victim believes crime was motivated by her sexual orientation".
The "victims" of these hate crimes should be celebrated for their honesty and bravery. Moving beyond the culture of victimization is only accomplished two ways: making choices and fighting back.
"Don't agonize. Organize." - Florynce R. Kennedy
Unfortunately not every person realizes their power and hate crimes go woefully under-reported. For more information see Uniform Crime Reporting Program 2005 Hate Crime Statistics.
See also Missoula Independent: "Defining Hate", Montana Human Rights Network: "Anti-Gay Assaults Plague Montana Communities", Common Dreams: "Cowards In Our Midst – Recent Missoula Hate Crimes Are Terrorism", and Missoulian: Rally for tolerance set for Monday.
wmglcc
©2007 Western Montana Gay & Lesbian Community Center