Herland Sister Resources

Austin’s “Divas of Dysfunction” have several appointments for new and returning clients in Oklahoma City. The Therapy Sisters, a.k.a. Maurine McLean and Lisa Rogers, long-time Lone Star lampoon artists, will travel to Oklahoma City to co-facilitate a large “group session” as well as some small group sessions June 22-24, just in time for OKC’s Gay Pride Parade. 
The large group session will be held at Church of the Open Arms on Friday, June 22.  Co-pay for the session is $10, or whatever you can afford.  Then on  Saturday, June 23, catch the Therapy Sisters along with local talent at the annual Herland Pride Picnic.  Sunday, June 24, the Sissies will be featured during worship at the  Church of the Open Arms, along with guest speaker Paula Sophia.  If psychotherapy were this much fun, we’d all have good mental health. 
Maurine McLean seeks stability by playing steady bass lines. She plays fretted or fretless bass, depending on her stress level. Maurine is a Spanish-English interpreter by day; a musician by night. Both trades allow her to play with sound and meaning, two tireless companions. She’s responsible for such Therapy Sisters songs as “My Finger is an Instrument of Death” and “Don’t Touch Me When I’m Beautiful.” Giving people the giggles by playing music is her heart’s delight.
Lisa Rogers has played in various and sundry bands throughout the developmental stages of her life. She was weaned on church music, cut her teeth on folk music, took her first steps to bluegrass, swore off high heels while listening to women’s music, and found self-realization in the world of novelty tunes. A social worker by trade, Lisa is an avid reader of printed matter that ranges from the New York Times to the National Enquirer. Her most acclaimed news-inspired hit, “The Weenie Whacking Woman,” based on the tale of John and Lorena Bobbitt, topped the charts on Dr. Demento’s syndicated novelty radio show. Listen to Lisa as she sings of life at its most bizarre; therapy at its best. 
Lisa’s melodic guitar playing and Maurine’s fretless bass go together like hallucinations and Haldol. Though accepted by no major medical insurance, The Therapy Sisters continue to offer their musical mental health care nationwide, reminding you that if you’re not part of the problem, you’re not part of the Family. But if you are one of the best-stressed people you know, let these regular contributors to Dr. Demento introduce your tongue to your cheek with the most affordable therapy in town. 

june 16-24
June 16-17: Pride Festival noon to 10 pm Saturday and noon to 5 pm Sunday, Memorial Park, NW 36th & Classen.
Friday, June 22: Therapy Sisters  Concert at Church of the Open Arms 8 pm, $10. 3131 N. Pennsylvania in Oklahoma City. 
Saturday, June 23: Herland Pride Picnic, 5:30 pm. Suggested donation $5.  See details page 4.
Sunday, June 24: Therapy Sisters and Paula Sophia at morning services at Church of the Open Arms, 10:45 am.
Sunday, June 24: OKC Pride Parade stepoff at 4 pm from Memorial Park, NW 36th & Classen.

Deadline–Friday, June 29, 2007—The Lesbian Writers Fund of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
This grant is for emerging lesbian poets and fiction writers within the U.S.  First place awardees and two runners-up in the poetry and fiction categories will receive cash awards ($10,000 for awardee, $1,500 for runners-up).  Thanks to Skip’s Sappho Fund, at least one grant will be awarded to a lesbian writer who is based west of the Mississippi River. 
Guidelines and application forms are available online at: http://www.astraeafoundation.org/PHP/Grants/DeadlinesAllGrants.php4.  For more information, or a copy of guidelines and application for the above, please contact us at: 212-529-8021, ext. 22 or via email at: grants@astraeafoundation.org. 

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) seeks to extend fair employment practices under federal law to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. It does not create any “special rights,” but simply affords to all Americans basic protection from employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It is based on the principle that every worker should be judged solely on his or her merits. ENDA applies the same procedures and similar, but more limited, remedies as other federal civil rights laws, like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. 
A Pragmatic Approach
ENDA is a pragmatic and measured solution to the problem of workplace discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans. It does not apply to small businesses, most religious organizations, or the military. It prohibits preferential treatment, the use of quotas, and the collection of statistics. It permits employers to maintain generally-applicable workplace policies, including dress codes. ENDA does not require that benefits be provided to the same-sex partners of employees.
Public Support
ENDA’s goal is widely supported by the American people. According to a 2006 Gallup study, 89% of Americans believe gay people should have equal job opportunities. In a 2004 Hart Research poll, 65% of those surveyed believe it should definitely be illegal to fire someone because he or she is transgender.   ENDA is also supported by large coalition of civil rights, labor, and religious organizations, including the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.
States’ Experience
Seventeen states (California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin) and the District of Columbia have passed laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. In addition, eight states (California, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Washington) and the District of Columbia prohibit discrimination based on gender identity.  Most of these laws are broader in scope than ENDA, covering discrimination not only in employment, but also in housing and public accommodations.

The National Women’s Studies Association
28th Annual Conference
Pheasant Run, St. Charles, Illinois
     
PAST DEBATES, PRESENT POSSIBILITIES,
FUTURE FEMINISMS
  
June 28 - July 1, 2007
 
Featured Speaker: Sandra Cisneros, celebrated author of The House on Mango Street and the novel Caramelo.  She will read from Caramelo, which devotes much of its text to immigration issues, and comment on the politics of migration and mobility today.
The 2007 conference marks the National Women’s Studies Association 30th anniversary celebration.  Established in 1977 at a conference funded by the Ford Foundation, NWSA has survived and thrived in the context of fundamental shifts in higher education, an increasingly complex understandings of gender, and the transformative challenges of globalizing women’s movements.
Feminist inquiry within women’s and gender studies has broken new ground in the past three decades, while facing key social, political, and scholarly challenges.
NWSA 2007 will provide opportunities both to revisit past debates in light of today’s priorities and to chart possible futures for feminisms in the academy and beyond.
In particular, the conference will examine three sub-themes, each related to the past, present, and future of women’s and gender studies.
For more information, see http://www.nwsaconference.org/.