Herland Sister Resources

If you smoke, you’re not alone.  Research shows that smoking is more prevalent among lesbians and gay men than almost any other demographic group.  The tremendous amount of stress and social pressure this community experiences from a long history of discrimination no doubt contributes to these higher rates of smoking.  But LGBT people also smoke because the tobacco industry actively targets them.
The tobacco companies were among the very first advertisers to recognize the LGBT community as a specific market.  Today, tobacco ads continue to multiply in the gay press.  In addition to these ads, which are often created to appeal specifically to lesbian and gay audiences, the tobacco industry successfully uses corporate sponsorship to sell an addictive product that kills thousands of LGBT persons every year.
Claiming to care about the LGBT community, tobacco companies sponsor gay and lesbian events such as Pride marches, give money to AIDS organizations, and profess support of political issues like “lifestyle freedom.”  What the tobacco companies don’t mention is that they are exploiting LGBT people and their need for financial and political support—support that other industries don’t provide—to gain and keep customers (replacement smokers) by trying to create a sense of loyalty.  Indeed, only one thing motivates the tobacco industry’s sponsorship of, contribution to, and interest in the LGBT community: increased cigarette sales.
Fighting back can start right here in Oklahoma County.  First of all, LGBT Oklahomans can put the tobacco issue on their community’s agenda.  Also, this community can stop supporting organizations and publications that accept tobacco money.  Without this support, tobacco companies could no longer carry on their façade of a supportive corporate citizen.  And every cigarette LGBT people refuse to smoke is less money for these companies.  Despite all appearances, the tobacco industry is not a friend.
The Central Oklahoma Turning Point Tobacco Use Prevention Coalition wants to help the LGBT community fight back against the tobacco industry.  For more information, call Patty Norton Armond at 405-425-4328.     

The next Herland Winter Coffeehouse will be on Saturday, February 23, at 7 pm and will feature Joan Ackley.   A native Oklahoman, Joan is a singer, songwriter, musician who enjoys performing a wide range of musical styles.  You can expect her to play a little bit of everything—funny, serious, originals, and covers.  She has written songs about the environment, relationships, and even the ghost of Wiley Post.    Come expecting a fun time and you won’t be disappointed.  The coffeehouses are free but donations are greatly appreciated.

The organization Freedom to Marry today announces the launch of a dynamic new website at http://www.freedomtomarry.org/.   The newly reorganized and more user-friendly website is designed to serve the nationwide civil rights movement aimed at ending the exclusion of same-sex couples and their families from marriage.  It also provides a starting point for all Americans seeking to learn more about the latest news  on marriage equality, and contains an archive of tools to help people find  their voice on why marriage matters, how the denial of marriage harms children and our country, and how to achieve fairness for all families.
Freedom to Marry is the gay and non-gay partnership working to win marriage equality nationwide. Launched in 2003, Freedom to Marry is headed by Evan Wolfson, nationally recognized as a central “architect of the marriage equality movement.” Freedom to Marry guides and focuses this social justice movement on a nationwide level, serving as a strategy and support center for national, state, and local partners, a catalyst that drives and shapes the national debate on marriage equality, and an alliance-builder fostering support from non-gay allies.
 ”In 2008, as the freedom to marry continues to be the subject of debate and decision, we have the chance to help people push past their discomfort and continue moving toward inclusion,” said Wolfson.

It’s that time of year again— yep, we’re going to ask you to go to your bedroom, pull out the piggy bank and check to see if you can’t send us a donation.  Herland has a very small budget because you helped us buy the Herland bookstore building.  But, we still need donations to pay the utilities and insurance, and to print and mail the newsletter.  Please check and see if you can’t send us a donation—every little bit helps!
We Need Your Support!

The number of children who die before their fifth birthday fell below 10 million in 2006, but much more still needed to be done, said a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released Monday.  The UNICEF report attributed the progress in children’s mortality rates largely to improvements in healthcare.  By comparison, an estimated 20 million children under five were dying every  year at the beginning of the 1960s. 
Among the good news reported was that between 1990 and 2004 more than 1.2 billion people gained access to safe drinking water, which resulted in fewer deaths from infection diseases.  Vaccination and other forms of public health care have also made great strides and have become more accessible.  More than four times as many children received the recommended two doses of vitamin A in 2005 as in 1999, according to the report. 
All countries in sub-Saharan Africa made progress in expanding coverage of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, a fundamental tool in halting malaria, with 16 of these 20 countries at least tripling coverage since 2000.  And in the 47 countries, where 95 percent of measles deaths occur, measles immunization coverage increased from 57 percent in 1990 to 68 percent in 2006, UNICEF pointed out. 
Education, a key tool for improving public health care, has become more accessible, UN researchers noted.  The number of primary-school-age children who were out of school fell from 115 million in 2002 to 93 million in 2005-2006 while many developing countries have come close to providing universal primary education.
The study also found an appalling lack of basic sanitation, hygiene and drinkable water, which contributes to the deaths of more than 1.5 million children each year from diarrhea and related ailments. About 158 million children between ages five and 14 were still engaged in child labour around the world, UNICEF estimated.  Moreover, the number of people living worldwide with HIV-AIDS has continued to rise, affecting child welfare as well. 
Only 11 percent of more than two million pregnant women living with HIV in the majority of developing nations in 2005 received antiretroviral prophylaxis to prevent them from infecting their babies, according to the study.  In low- and middle-income countries, only 15 percent of HIV-infected children under age 15 actually received treatment in 2006.