"It Takes a Team" Conference to Address LGBT Issues in Sports

On October 25-26 there will be a groundbreaking think tank taking place in Indianapolis, IN that will be co-sponsored by the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Women’s Sports Foundation Initiative. The think tank is entitled: It Takes a Team! Education Campaign for LGBT Issues in Sport.

The campaign will address:

• Females students fears of joining a sports team due to them being perceived as lesbian or bisexual, or fearing the coach may be a lesbian or bisexual.

• Transgender athletes who are unfairly excluded by a team due to sex verification processes.

• Gay male athletes hiding their sexual identity for fear of harassment from teammates and coaches.

http://www.ittakesateam.org

H/T to TransGriot.

Organization Spotlight: Gay Neighbor Billboard Campaign

The Gay Neighbor Billboard Campaign is a project of the Cream City Foundation. Cream City Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization whose main goal is to help create social change on behalf of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people in southeastern Wisconsin. This includes supporting and creating visibility and awareness of LGBT people and their issues.

Bill O'Reilly: "Teaching About Cross Dressing is Social Engineering"

A harmless video being shown to elementary school children in California to teach respect for cross-dressers is outraging the right-wing media. O'Reilly and his republican strategist guest Margaret Hoover are saying its "inappropriate" to teach about cross dressing and that this is a "small segment of the population that's not worth discussing".

He claims that this video is tantamount to "social engineering" and that "they have a lot of power" ratcheting up fears that the gay and transgender community are trying to infiltrate schools with a queer agenda.



Tell Bill O'Reilly to stop his "culture war" against LGBT Americans:
oreilly@foxnews.com

Word of the Gay: "Frank Rule"

The "frank rule" is that a person who uses their power to hurt or deny LGBT people of their civil rights can be outed if they are a closeted gay. The term was coined because this is the stance of U.S. Representative Barney Frank one of three openly gay representatives in the house.

Web Spotlight: Keep Them and Love Them

Keep Them and Love Them is a campaign created by Affirmations (gay and lesbian Mormon group) to encourage families to embrace and accept their LGBT children. The website provides resources for gays, family members, friends, and church leaders.

Shameless Self Promotion Sunday

Please feel free to share any links to queer or queer related topics of interest. You can post a blog entry you made, a website you found interesting. Anything goes as long as it is queer in nature.

Word of the Gay: "Genderism"

"Genderism" operates under the premise that there are only two genders and that they are tied to our birth sex.

Open Forum: Rising LGBT Stars and Leaders

The month of October is GLBT history month and we honor the accomplishments of many great movers and shakers in the community who have made a difference. The beautiful thing about GLBT history is that much of it is not long ago, and therefore it is real and tangible in our lives. We are constantly making history, and today's pioneers will go down as hero's in the big pink book of queer history.

Who are some people that you find to be rising leaders, whom do you respect and for what reasons? Is there a new Harvey Milk in the making, or a great queer revolutionary like Kinsey?

Word of the Gay: "Sexualism"

"Sexualism" refers to discrimination on the basis of sexuality and operates under the premise that heterosexuality is a norm that all should conform to.

Organization Spotlight: Rainbow Baptists

Rainbow Baptists are members of the Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists (AWAB) which are churches, organizations, and individuals who are willing to go on record as welcoming and affirming all persons without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity, and who have joined together to advocate for the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons within Baptist communities of faith.

Join Joe Sestak in Urging for DOMA Repeal

There is a new campaign by Congressman Joe Sestak (D) who is also running for the Pennsylvania Senate seat asking for a vote on the House floor to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

His e-alert is urging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring the Respect for Marriage Act bill to the floor for a vote. If passed it would effectively end the federal ban on same-sex marriage recognition.

Please sign Joe Sestak's DOMA repeal letter here.

To learn more about Joe Sestak's senate campaign and to support him, check out his website.

H/T to Chris of Open Left for bringing this campaign to my attention.

Word of the Gay: "Multisexual"

"Multisexuals" are not defined by the labels gay, straight, or bisexual, they either are open to anyone sexually, or like a person for who they are as opposed to solely on the basis of their gender.

Web Spotlight: Intellectual Gays

Intellectual Gays bills itself as a networking site for intelligent and intellectual gay men and promises to connect smart men in smarter ways.

Catholic Declaration in Support of Marriage Equality

The Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry has begun a petition for faithful Roman Catholics who believe what the court did on May 6th to legalize same-sex civil marriage in Maine was right and helped end discrimination in marital matters.

The group believes in the Catholic principles of diversity and social justice, as well as the crucial separation of matters between church and state. The group is not asking the church to change its policy on marriage sacrament, but to merely not interfere with attempts to create civil marriage recognition.

Sign the Catholic declaration in support of Marriage Equality.

Word of the Gay: "2QT2BSTR8"

"2QT2BSTR8" or too cute to be straight is a phrase used in the gay community when they see a hot guy or gal.