Herland Sister Resources

The purpose of the march is to help America connect the dots between the defamatory rhetoric that flows from Focus on the Family and the legislative assault on the civil liberties of LGBT people and their families.

On July 22, actor Chad Allen and Judy Shepard, executive director of The Matthew Shepard Foundation, will lead the crowd in a final 2-mile march from Rampart Park in Colorado Springs to the headquarters of Focus on the Family. The crowd will encircle James Dobson’s headquarters, joining hearts and hands in vigil as they peacefully call on him to cease his defamation of the LGBT community. Afterwards, Broadway star Billy Porter will protest in song outside Focus on the Family, with an electrifying jazz concert that celebrates the lives of all people and loving relationships that seek the American dream.

“Among dozens of other harmful lies, James Dobson says that families like mine are destroying the institution of marriage, harming children, and posing a threat to American society,” says Jeff Lutes, executive director of Soulforce, an organization that uses nonviolent methods to confront anti-gay religious discrimination. “Because of Dobson’s wealth, power, and direct ties to the Bush administration, those lies are being used to justify legislative discrimination and bigotry at the local, state and federal level.”

To find out more about the Soulforce 1000 Watt March, Vigil and Concert, please see: www.soulforce.org/1000wattmarch.

This year, after threats from James Dobson and other religious right figures, Congress reintroduced the Federal Marriage Amendment. Although this amendment has already failed in the Senate, the anti-gay rhetoric supporting it continues to use families headed by same-sex couples as political tools for turning out conservative voters.

Later that evening, Betsy and the Edge gave us a taste of blues and rock to finish out the activities at the park. From the looks of things, many of those revelers found their way over to the Copa where the wait was over 30 minutes just to get in.

On Sunday, the Herland “float” was decorated with bright streamers and the Herland banner. The slightly gray Herland contingent chanted, “We’re old, we’re queer, and WE’RE STILL HERE” much to the delight of the crowd.

visits to Oral Roberts University and other religious schools which ban the enrollment of lgbt students

bringing same-sex couples who are in committed relationships and wish to be married to city halls across Oklahoma

addressing discrimination in the workplace, housing, and in public schools

The youth will also participate in some larger Soulforce actions such as the military recruitment office sit -ins this summer. Committed to maintaining a positive image for the lgbt community and to uniting lgbt brothers, sisters and allies, they look forward to the community involvement. Please email Pamela at pamela@equalityride.com with any questions or if you wish to make a donation.

Besides personal safety, specialists in gay aging issues offer other reasons why the so-called Stonewall Generation, named for the 1969 New York riots that marked the beginning of the modern gay movement, needs and craves places of its own to retire.

“There is a real sense of disenfranchisement and also a sense of independence, of ‘I don’t want to be dependent on family, I want to be dependent on community,’” said Judy Dlugacz, founder of the San Francisco-based lesbian travel company Olivia Cruises and Resorts.

Olivia is currently scouting land in the Palm Springs area for what Dlugacz hopes will be the first of several high-end resort communities geared toward mature lesbians who are looking either for a vacation home or a place to retire.

“In a retirement community, you want to be with people of like minds and like interests, whether it’s a golf community or a religious community,” said Bonnie McGowan, who is spearheading Birds of a Feather, a gay senior complex in New Mexico. “Until I feel safe walking down the street holding a woman’s hand … and not feel like I’m going to offend even one person, there is a need for this.”

At Rainbow Vision, a just-completed senior community in Santa Fe, N.M. a private dining room is named after Truman Capote and ’60s teen icon Lesley “It’s My Party” Gore was scheduled to appear this weekend. Everything about the 146-unit retirement village was designed with the comfort of graying gays and lesbians in mind.