Herland Sister Resources

Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma is sponsoring Sarah Weddington’s return to Oklahoma City to help commemorate the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade on Thursday, January 18th at 7:30 p.m. at Stage Center, 400 West Sheridan, in downtown Oklahoma City. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the cost is $20.

On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in Roe v. Wade, that the constitutional right to privacy “is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.”  Roe is the case that legalized abortion nationwide, making abortion services safer and more accessible to women throughout the country.  The then 27-year-old attorney Sarah Weddington argued the winning side of Roe v. Wade, becoming the youngest attorney in history to win a Supreme Court case.

Call Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma at 405-528-0221 for more information.

Lobbyist and longtime activist, Keith Smith died of pneumonia last month at age 51.  Keith was one of the founding members of the Oklahoma Progressive Alliance and was indispensable to the many organizations he represented in Oklahoma City . He lobbied vigorously and passionately for the Progressive Alliance, the Sierra Club, ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Gay Rights organizations, and others.
Keith was born in Alva, Oklahoma and graduated from Oklahoma State University. He was a member of the National Board of Stonewall Democrats, co-chair of Central Oklahoma Stonewall Democrats, a founder of OGLPC, former ACLU Oklahoma and National board member, a Director of Progressive Alliance Political Action Committee and former Board member of Cimarron Alliance. Keith was the first openly GLBT delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Oklahoma.
The rewards he received for his hard work in the public arena include the Angie Debo Civil Libertarian Award form the ACLU of Oklahoma; the Margaret Sanger Legacy Award from Planned Parenthood of Oklahoma; the Ron Schaffer Memorial Award and Bill Rogers Award of Merit from the Gay and Lesbian political Caucus; the Democracy in Action Award from the League of Women Voters and the Swan Award from the Parents and Families of Lesbians and Gays.

Fifteen months after Northwest Classen Asst. Principal Terri Miller sought the assistance of many organizations in a national letter writing campaign, Oklahoma City Public Schools has added sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy (Sexual Harassment/Gender or Sexuality Discrimination Policy).  In addition to the many letters that were written, local ministers, teachers, parents, and others repeatedly spoke to the Oklahoma City Board of  Education also asking for sexual orientation to be included in district policies. 
With the publication of this year’s Student and Parent Handbook, sexual orientation now appears in the district’s non-discrimination policy.  This achievement is one more accomplishment of GLBT people who are making progress towards fairness and equality.  The new policy is on the district’s website, www.okcps.org. Look in Student category, then click on Handbook.  It is located at the bottom of page 10 of the pdf file.