Herland Sister Resources

Everyone Invited

January 1st , 2005, from 4 to 6 pm. Come share the traditional New Year’s Day fare of black eye peas, cornbread, cabbage, good company and more. Bring a dish to share.

Season two of the L Word begins Feb. 20, 2005 at 10:00 pm on Showtime.

Herland will be showing the complete first season of The L Word beginning Friday, January 7th, 2005. Two episodes will be shown at Herland each Friday evening at 7pm for 7 weeks-ending February 19th.

This Showtime series focuses on the lives, careers and romantic relationships (gay and straight) of a group of women in Los Angeles.

This is a fundraising event for Herland and the cost will be $3.00 per night or $15.00 for the whole series. In addition, the box DVD set will be given away on the last night of the showing (Feb. 19) to the winner of a drawing. Each ticket you buy will enter you in the drawing for the DVD set-seven tickets gets you 7 chances and the series price of $15.00 gets you 7 tickets.

So if you missed the first season, join us at Herland on Friday nights so you will be ready for the second season of The L Word.

Herland Sister Resources is located at 2312 NW 39th, Oklahoma City, OK.

The OKC Lesbian Moms Group is an organization with two purposes. First and foremost the establishment of a playgroup to provide the children of lesbian parents an opportunity to have fun interactions with similar children and their families.

It is crucial to our children’s mental health and emotional well being that they interact with other families that “mirror” their own family! This way they can feel that their family is “normal” too!

Our second goal is to provide lesbian parents with an opportunity to socialize and network with other lesbian parents. Parenting is always demanding and challenging, but can be especially so when the parents are lesbian or bisexual. Socializing with other lesbian parents is not only fun but it provides a healthy, informative forum for the exchange of parenting ideas and resources.

OKC Lesbian Moms Group is a forum for lesbian and bisexual mothers to come together for support and socialization. The group is non-judgmental and non-discriminatory. It is a place where women can find help and support and also be able to offer help and support to other mothers. This group is for discussing all aspects of parenting, from conception to coming out to your kids. Members do not have to be from the OKC area to join.

The group has an online group through Yahoo! It can be accessed through our website at geocities.com/okclesbianmoms. Group members communicate mainly through an email list that is very active. They also meet once a month with their children for fun activities and they meet once a month for a “mom’s only” night out.

For more information you can contact the founder, Stacey Young at okclesbianmoms-owner(at)yahoogroups.com. If you do not have email, you can send your name, address and phone number to Stacey Young, c/o OKC Lesbian Moms, PO Box 75911, Oklahoma City, OK 73107 and we will send you a schedule of events.

National Coalition for LGBT Health is announcing the Third Annual National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health Awareness Week, scheduled for March 13 - 19, 2005.

The National Coalition for LGBT Health is committed to improving the health and well being of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and communities through public education, coalition building and advocacy that focuses on research, policy, education and training.

The National LGBT Health Awareness Week is a very visible way for you to support the Coalition and promote a healthy LGBT community across the nation
via four objectives:

1. Raise public awareness of the unique health concerns, as well as the very real health disparities, among the LGBT communities,

2. Educate the LGBT health communities about the health issues that are present in our communities, since there is a belief that awareness in our communities must be significantly improved,

3. Provide community health centers, local organizations, and community representatives with tools to amplify the national campaign at the local level,

4. Educate medical and health care professionals in the area of cultural competency with regard to LGBT health.

To ensure the National LGBT Health Awareness Week is as successful as possible, there are many ways for individuals and organizations to contribute to the national campaign and get involved on the local level.

* Join us in Washington, DC from March 13-15, 2005 to kick off National LGBT Health Awareness Week with strategy meetings, lobbying, and hill briefings. Participate in LGBT Health Lobby Days at HHS and Capital Hill on Tuesday, March 15th. A form to request additional information for our two-day meeting can be obtained by calling, writing or visiting Herland Sister Resources.

* Help get the word out about LGBT Health issues during the week of March 13 through 19, 2005. Make sure your community organizations, clinics, health departments, universities, and allied organizations participate in whichever way they can. Some ideas for participation are holding a town-hall for your community, including a special article in your newsletter or website, writing letters to the editor, hosting an open house or health fair for your agency, and having a proclamation from your city council, mayor, or governor.

* Please share your ideas on what will make this week a successful one. Let’s us know what you are planning so that we can promote your activities via our newly designed Awareness Week website (to be launched in January 2005), and provide you assistance where possible. You can submit your plans or ideas by emailing our National Field Director, Donald Hitchcock, at coalition@lgbthealth.net. Your input is valued and important in the work that we do.

* Materials are being produced to assist you in your outreach and educational efforts currently available on our website at www.lgbthealth.net. Thirteen informational fact sheets (English and Spanish versions) dealing with pertinent LGBT health issues will be available for free from our website: Aging Issues, Cancer, Domestic Violence, Smoking, Mental Health, Genital Warts and HPV, Nutrition and Weight, Sexual Health, Access to Quality Healthcare, Hepatitis A, B, and C, Youth Issues, MTF Trans Health, and FTM Trans Health. Please use these as tools to help you educate the community about our issues. A form to request postcards and posters can be obtained by calling, writing or visiting Herland Sister Resources.

We are excited about the possibilities and potential for raising the awareness in our community and beyond around LGBT health in all of its issues. Your participation in the Third National LGBT Health Awareness Week will ensure that we will be able to work together in a coordinated way and provide a unified voice at the forefront of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender health.

Donald Hitchcock,
National Field Director National Coalition for LGBT Health 1407 S Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009

Herland is soliciting contributions for our second Herland Voice poetry issue which will be the April 2005 issue. Submission deadline is March 1, 2005. Please indicate if you wish your name to be included, and if so, how you want it printed. Send submissions to Herland Sister Resources c/o Voice editor, 2312 nw 39th, OKC, OK 73112, or email to herlandsisters@cox.net with “Voice Poetry Issue” as the subject line.