Herland Sister Resources

The Cimarron Alliance Foundation (CAF) announced that Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) will be in Oklahoma City for a Town Hall Meeting, Thursday, June 8, at Mayflower Congregational Church, 3901 N.W. 63rd Street, beginning at 7:00 p.m.The Human Rights Campaign, a 25-year-old, national organization with more than 650,000 members and a $30 million budget, is the nation’s largest civil rights organization dedicated to achieving gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) equality.Taking the helm of the Human Rights Campaign in the spring of 2005, Solmonese’s vision for equality is clear: taking the fight for equality not only to the floor of Congress, but to the kitchen table, to factory floors and to church pews.

Margaret Cox was the recipient last month of the Lifetime Abolitionist Award given by the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Margaret has contributed her talents for many years to the anti-death penalty movement as well as Herland, Cimarron Alliance, Pride Inc., Spiritual Walks for Peace, and many other organizations.Congratulations, Margaret! We honor your contributions. 

“Human authenticity comes more from wrestling with angels than from being one. ” - UnknownGrateful Bean and Back Door Café proudly present one of the most controversial people in the State of Oklahoma, Paula Sophia Schonauer: the minister, the cop, the father, the poet, the person…the woman.Opening Friday, June 16th will be a special preview of Paula Sophia Schonauer’s, “I Wrestled with an Angel,” a poetic journey through gender transition in an experiment in interactive theater at the Individual Artists of Oklahoma.

Laurie Cox of Seattle, Washington is putting together a collection of stories from people who have participated in and dropped out of an ex-gay program or “reorientation” therapy.Laurie is an ex-gay dropout herself and has experienced the healing power of writing her own story. She wants to spread the same healing to others as they tell their experiences through story, poetry, journaling, or whatever format works for them.Laurie believes this will increase awareness and understanding of the damaging effects of the ex-gay movement. She would like to have all written work submitted by July 5, 2006 so she can publish this fall. All proceeds will be donated to Soulforce or other lgbt non-profits. You may contact Laurie at goldstarsrock@gmail.com.

Herland is starting a project to pull together its collection of photos and memorabilia and put them in order in scrapbooks. We have bits and pieces of herstory going back more than 21 years-remember the Holly Near concert in Oklahoma, how about Nancy Day? We would like to get some years associated with our photos and secure them in scrapbooks for better preservation.We plan on doing this most every Saturday afternoon in August-but watch future newsletters for more details.