Herland Sister Resources

The retreat starts at 5pm Friday, and continues until Sunday at noon. 
The weekend traditionally consists of visiting with old friends, meeting new friends, nature walks, outside sports, inside games, relaxing, crafts, laughter, music, campfires, shopping, great food, and many other activities.  The greatest part is - the retreat can be anything you want it to be! 
The Saturday evening concert promises to be a special one.  A “new” band, consisting of “old” favorite musicians, will be entertaining us with their collective talent.  The band, Covert Union, consists of Peggy Johnson, Wendy Allyn, Elyse Angelo, and Nancy Nesser.  They will perform their concert in the dining hall, and then play the second set at the fire, where we can request old favorites, and sing-along. 
Group camp accommodations include rustic group cabins with bunk beds, a group bath house with restrooms and hot showers, and a meeting hall and kitchen with a commercial refrigerator.  If tent camping is your thing… there is lots of room to set up camp.  Meals include a light Friday night supper, Saturday breakfast, Saturday evening potluck (be thinking about what you want to bring to share), and Sunday morning breakfast.  Herland will have pop, water, and snacks for sale, or you can bring your own. 
It is a big help in planning if you pre-register with the registration form above.  Please fill out the information and mail it with payment, back to Herland - postmarked by May 8th.  You will then receive a packet in the mail confirming your registration, with a map,  a “to bring” list, and a special treat - A Free Raffle Ticket – just for pre-registering!  We hope you’ll all be able to stay for the entire weekend, but if time is limited, you can still register to come for the day on Saturday, or even just for the concert.  If need be, you can even register when you get to the camp.  We’re looking forward to seeing you all there!

click for larger image

The date for the 2008 LGBT Leadership Summit presented by Cimarron Alliance Foundation has been changed to Saturday, May 10, from 9 am to 5 pm at the Norick Downtown Library.  The 2007 LGBT Leadership Summit was successful beyond expectations. LGBT and LGBT-friendly persons and organizations acquired tools and guidance to more effectively manage themselves and, more importantly, better collaborate with others to accomplish common goals.
Workshops will address five topics:
Leadership Development
Organization Development – non-profits, fundraising, etc.
Government – politics and the legislative process
Personal Development – spirituality, equality, etc.
Anti-violence – anti-bullying, hate crimes, etc.
There will also be two community forums: (1) discussing the possible creation of an LGBT community center in Oklahoma City and (2) a meeting of the Stop Hate Coalition, an anti-violence group founded as a result of the recent brutal murder of a gay Oklahoman. 
For more information, please go to www.cimarronalliance.org.

Oklahomans for Equality (OkEq) deplores the sentiments expressed by Oklahoma State Representative Sally Kern (R-Oklahoma City) in a YouTube video now generating a firestorm. National and local media outlets are closely covering the controversy sparked by Kern’s claim that homosexuality is “the biggest threat that our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam.”
In a triple play of intolerance, Rep. Kern offends lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans, thousands of women and men defending the United States from terrorist attacks, and Muslims worldwide. Yet, she remains completely unapologetic, citing her right to freedom of speech and claiming, “I have never endorsed or supported any hateful action targeting individuals on the other side of this debate and never will.”
Rep. Kern’s legislative track record belies her remarks. In 2006, Rep. Kern sponsored legislation that would have denied funding to public libraries that refused to segregate books addressing LGBT themes. Rep. Kern has repeatedly used her public office to demonize LGBT Oklahomans and to attempt to deny them the exact same civil liberties she now defends so passionately. This is the height of hypocrisy. 
“OkEq firmly supports Rep. Kern’s constitutional right to express her views, but vociferously objects to the actions she takes to prevent LGBT Oklahomans from attaining justice and equality. When elected officials use their power to defame entire categories of people, they abuse the freedom of speech embedded in the First Amendment and violate their responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of their constituents,” asserts Justice Waidner, OkEq Executive Director.
OkEq calls upon the many fair-minded members of the Oklahoma legislature to condemn Rep. Kern’s comments and to pass immediately a state hate crimes law that encompasses sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. We ask for the House and Senate leadership to allow the five hate crimes bills currently before them to receive full consideration on the floor.

Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma (PPCO) is having a 2008 Women’s Health Day at the Capitol.  Women’s health has always been an important issue to Oklahomans, including mental health, reproductive health, cancer screening, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence and sexual assault, and much more.  Considering recent facts about the state of women’s health in Oklahoma, we need to be working harder for all women in our communities. 
According to the National Women’s Law Center, Oklahoma received a grade of F and ranks 48th among the states in their National Report Card on Women’s Health.  Oklahoma got failing grades in 18 of 31 categories and unsatisfactory on 4 more.  If women’s health is on your radar screen, take this opportunity to let your elected officials know!  Join PPCO on Thursday, April 10th from 8:30 am to 11:00 am on the 2nd floor rotunda.  If you have any questions, contact adriennebrune@ppfa.org or call 405-528-0221.