Speaker Quinn leads Tel Aviv vigil in New York
(New York) Tonight, New York Council Speaker Christine Quinn, LGBT Jewish groups, youth LGBT groups and others will join in remembrance of those killed over the weekend at the LGBT Center in Tel Aviv. The vigil will take place at Congregation Beth Simchat Torah at 57 Bethune Street …
Tags: Beth Simchat Torah, Bethune Street, Christine Quinn, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, Council Speaker, Jewish Groups, Leads, Lgbt Center, Remembrance, Simchat Torah, Tel Aviv, VigilRegina to get LGBT center
Tags: Lgbt Center, ReginaPrayer Service on the EVE of Decision Day – Monday, May 25 Grace Cathedral (1100 California Street San Francisco), 7:00 – 8:30 pm
PROP 8 DECISION DAY IS ON MAY 26, TUESDAY!
Decision Day is on Tuesday, May 26!!!
From the CA Supreme Court website: “The California Supreme Court has announced that it will issue an opinion in three cases challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8 at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26, 2009. (Strauss v. Horton, S168047; Tyler v. State of California, S168066; City and County of San Francisco v. Horton, S168078.) Tuesday at 10 a.m., the opinion will be available on the California Courts Web site at this link: http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/.”
You are invited to the following events:
1. Prayer Service on the EVE of Decision Day – Monday, May 25
Grace Cathedral (1100 California Street San Francisco), 7:00 – 8:30 pm
The night before the announcement of the CA Supreme Court’s decision, we invite the Bay Area community to come for an evening of songs and meditation that will center our hearts on peace, healing and understanding.
2. Service/Blessing on Decision Day – Tuesday, May 26
St. Francis Lutheran Church (152 Church St. San Francisco, across from Castro Safeway), 8:30 – 9:15 am
The morning of the decision, we invite the Bay Area community to come for encouraging music and words from community leaders, testimonies from married couples and blessings for those who will be doing civil disobedience. We will march in a procession from the church to Civic Center Plaza. Some people will join the march from the LGBT Center on Market and Octavia.
NOTE: We request clergy to come in their religious garb as appropriate for their tradition. Please come at 8:00am to prepare.
CONTACT: Rev. Roland Stringfellow at rstringfellow@clgs.org
3. Circle of Care – Tuesday, May 26, Civic Center Plaza
If Proposition 8 is upheld, we will surround those who are willing to be arrested in civic disobedience as we sing, and move aside as they are arrested.
Marriage is not just a nice idea for some. To deny it is a form of bashing. On Decision Day, a group of people will participate in civil disobedience if the Supreme Court upholds Prop 8. In partnership with an interfaith group of clergy, we’ll do a peaceful street blockade with the message SEPARATE IS NOT EQUAL!
We’re looking for people to participate in this action with us, and for friends who will support us as peacekeepers and legal observers. For more information, please email action@onestruggleonefight.com.
SPONSORED BY:
Bay Area Coalition of Welcoming Congregations
California Faith for Equality
Congregation Sha’ar Zahav
Fellowship of the Rainbow
Progressive Jewish Alliance
Jewish Mosaic - The National Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity
California Council of Churches
Colage
The Fellowship
Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco
Freedom in Christ Church of San Francisco
Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies of Pacific School of Religion
Equality California
Marriage Equality USA
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry California
Glide Memorial United Methodist Church
Grace Cathedral
St. Francis Lutheran Church
One Struggle, One Fight
Nueva Vida Ministries
The Society of Franciscan Workers
API Equality
PANA Institute of Pacific School of Religion
Network on Religion and Justice for API LGBTQ
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LGBT Domestic Violence Services Bill Passes State Assembly
“By passing this bill, we are expanding innovative and proven program models already being pioneered by LGBT centers and organizations across the state,” said Assemblymember John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles), the author of the bill. “Now more people will have greater access to the services they need – in a safe, comfortable environment.”
Rates of domestic violence in same-sex relationships are equivalent to those in opposite-sex relationships. However, support for LGBT survivors continues to lag far behind those available to non-LGBT couples.
“We must do all in our power to ensure that LGBT survivors of domestic violence have access to culturally competent services and resources,” Geoff Kors, executive director of EQCA. “EQCA is extremely grateful to Assemblymember Pérez for his leadership on this important issue and thank the California Assembly for helping move us one step closer to making this goal a reality.”
The LGBT Domestic Violence Services Bill is designed to correct this inequity by expanding access for LGBT service providers to a state fund within the California Emergency Management Agency, which supports LGBT-specific domestic violence programs across the state. The fund, originally established as part of another EQCA-sponsored bill in 2006, is subsidized by a $23 fee on domestic partner registrations. The new bill also eliminates the requirement for providers to offer shelter – an impediment to many smaller LGBT organizations that inadvertently keeps several California communities from providing any services for LGBT survivors of domestic violence. The bill previously passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee by a vote of 5-2.
More information about EQCA’s other current legislation can be found at www.eqca.org/legislation.
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Two Los Gatos residents pledge $1 million to San Jose State University’s new Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center
Los Gatos residents Larry Arzie and David Stonesifer have pledged $1 million from their estate to support San Jose State University’s new Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center.
The center opened in the fall of 2008.
“They’re going to be a beacon and a lifeboat to a wide demographic of people,” Arzie said. “They’re there to help anyone who is questioning their sexuality.” Stonesifer graduated from SJSU in 1965 and Arzie graduated in 1966. “San Jose State is dear to our hearts,” Arzie said, “and so is this new center that’s opening up. The reason we did this is because money’s tight everywhere.” Arzie and Stonesifer owned the popular N. Santa Cruz Avenue home decorating store, The Porch, for three decades. They are well known in town for their philanthropy and have opened their historic home, La Estancia, to many nonprofit organizations, including the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Foundation and Jazz on the Plazz.
The bequest, Arzie said, is a way to encourage other alumni to include the LGBT Center in their wills. “This is something you look down the road on,” he said.
In addition to the $1 million bequest, Arzie and Stonesifer also made a small cash donation to help the center with immediate needs. See Two Los Gatos residents pledge $1 million to new gay and lesbian …
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Vandalism at Long Island LGBT center probed as hate crime
(Bay Shore, New York) Thousands of dollars in damage to the Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth Center in Bay Shore was a message to the LGBT community that hate remains a “terrible reality,” the facility’s director said Tuesday.
The front door of the Center was smashed, all the windows of …
Tags: Bay Shore New York, Gay And Lesbian, Gay And Lesbian Youth, Gay Lesbian, Hate Crime, Lgbt Center, Lgbt Community, Long Island, Thousands Of Dollars, Vandalism
