2009 Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
Calling all Employee LGBT Groups!
October 16 – 25
Advance planning is underway for the 2009 Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, to be held October 16 - 25. Three Dollar Bill Cinema, the nonprofit producer of the annual festival, is offering Employee LGBT Groups unique opportunities to participate as this year’s Featured Volunteers, giving your group a dynamic and rewarding volunteering experience.
Held annually in October since 1996, The Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival has grown into the largest event of its kind in the Pacific Northwest, gaining industry and audience recognition for showcasing the latest in LGBT cinema, from major motion picture premieres to emerging talent. An important venue in the local Seattle film scene, the festival engages and entertains over 10,000 attendees.
Sign up by email before July 31, 2009:
lgbtgroups@threedollarbillcinema.org
You send us a brief email of interest with your contact information.
We’ll send you Employee LGBT Group Festival Announcementsand details regarding our Featured Volunteers program.
Three Dollar Bill Cinema enriches, strengthens, and connects diverse communities by supporting queer film and by producing the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and other events. For more information, visit www.threedollarbillcinema.org or call 206.323.4274.
Food should not be a luxury.
But with rising costs, increased demand and funding cuts, Chicken Soup Brigade (the food program of Lifelong AIDS Alliance) has reached its capacity to help. We have been forced to create waiting lists. And there are still people to feed.
You can help. Your $5 donation will give 2 meals to a hungry person today.
Help us keep people safe.
Until a vaccine is found, our best hope of fighting the local AIDS epidemic is through prevention and education.
You can help us keep people safe. Your $5 donation will produce 10 safer-sex kits which create HIV/AIDS awareness and prevent infections.
Use your cell phone to donate $5 to Lifelong AIDS Alliance:
Text LIFELONG to 90999.
Reply to the automated text message with YES.
That’s it! You just provided two meals with two texts!
Visit our website for more information or to donate online.
Thank you for helping us feed people in the greater Puget Sound area.
A one-time charge of $5 will be added to your mobile phone bill. Standard messaging rates and additional fees may apply. All charges are billed and payable to your mobile service provider. Proceeds benefit Lifelong AIDS Alliance and are collected by the MGF. Service is available on most carriers. You can unsubscribe at any time by texting "STOP" to 90999. For full terms, visit mgive.com/a.
Glamazon invites local ERG and Out & Equal Seattle members to the Rfamily Cruise aboard the NCL Star!
The ship leaves Seattle on Saturday, July 11th.
Information is available at: http://www.rfamilyvacations.com/index.php
Contact Carol Evans at carevans@amazon.com for more details!
(As provided by the Out & Equal Newsletter)
***
In the News
Vermont and Iowa to support marriage equality
In a historic move, the Vermont Legislature today overturned Gov. Jim Douglas’s veto of a bill, allowing LGBT couples to marry.
The decision makes Vermont the first state to support marriage equality – effective on Sept. 1 – through legislative action instead of a court ruling.
The decision comes days after the Iowa Supreme Court overturned a 1998 law banning LGBT couples to marry, calling the ban unconstitutional. The Supreme Court ruled that the 1998 law violated the equal protection clause in the state’s constitution, systematically making Iowa the third state in the country to legalize LGBT marriages.
Proponents expect challenges to the Iowa ruling, which would likely result in the issue resurfacing as a potential constitutional amendment. The constitutional amendment process takes three-steps: approval from two consecutive legislative sessions and then a public vote. At this point, the earliest an amendment could be on the ballot would be in 2012.
"These are incredible and historic decisions," says Out & Equal Workplace Advocate Executive Director Selisse Berry. "I applaud lawmakers for taking positions for progress and equality. This is a sign of change that will eventually be experienced in every state, with LGBT couples no longer treated as second-class citizens."
Vermont and Iowa are now the third and fourth states to allow marriage equality. Massachusetts and Connecticut are the others.
Sweeping federal hate crimes bill re-introduced in House
Michigan Representative John Conyers has introduced the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act in the House, the first federal law that would make it illegal to inflict harm on anyone based on disability, race, religion, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity.
If passed, it would be the first law that specifically includes protections for transgender people, wording that transgender advocates and the transgender community have sought for several years.
In Conyers’ blog, he says he is hopeful that the bill – which is similar to a bill vetoed by President Bush – will be passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama.
Out & Equal Executive Director Selisse Berry says: "Now is the time for positive changes, and the introduction of the proposed law is a sign that equality for everyone is in our near future."
Under the proposed law, federal authorities could assist in investigations and prosecution of hate crimes committed against LGBT people that resulted in serious injury or death.
The federal government could also lend its assistance to local authorities or take the lead in cases if local officials are unwilling or unable to prosecute the cases.
Hey gang! Here's a great event to get you out of the house on Friday!
The event will be this Friday at the Featherston gallery from 5:30pm to 8:30pm, see the flyer below or visit their website for more details.
www.puffinsproductions.com
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