Herland Sister Resources

It’s time for a celebration, reunion, and just plain reminiscing.  Herland is turning 25 and everyone is invited to help celebrate.  Mark the date on your calendar: Saturday, October 4, 2008. Location: 2312 NW 39th, OKC. 

As part of our celebration, we’d like to invite you to send us your favorite Herland memories to become part of a 25th Anniversary scrapbook.  Please include your name only as you would be comfortable with everyone that comes in to Herland having access to read it.  We will edit as necessary to protect privacy (and reputations!) and the stories won’t be posted on our website.

Our plan is to put together a scrapbook with pictures and stories sent in by you, the Herland community.  Then, on the night of the celebration, we’ll ask some of you to share your stories at our gathering.  This will be a smaller, more intimate celebration than our 20th anniversary and the focus is on bringing people together and sharing. 

So type up your favorite Herland memory and send it to us by September 27 at: herland@herlandsisters.org or regular mail at Herland, 2312 NW 39, OKC, OK 73112.  Include a couple of photos, if you like, but only if you’ll let us keep them.

lake eufaula state park
october 24 – 26, 2008

Ready For Another Great Retreat Weekend?  Well you’re in luck!  Mark your calendars and plan to attend the bi-annual Herland Retreat!  This time we’ll meet at Lake Eufaula State Park (formerly Fountainhead) on October 24 – 26, 2008.  As usual, the weekend promises to be full of relaxation, good friends, good music, and lots of fun.  Workshops and the Saturday Night Concert are being planned as we go to press, but if you are interested in leading a workshop, please let us know ASAP by e-mailing SAHatwork@aol.com or calling (405) 550-2312.  Remember – there are very few rules so be creative!  With such a great group of women – there are bound to be at least a few that share your same interests.

If you have never been to a Herland Retreat, you owe it to yourself to give it a try!  Whether you come solo or with friends, are a certified camper or city grrrl, or come from near or far, it’s a perfect, affordable opportunity to meet new friends, catch up with old friends, play board games and sports, explore nature, swim at Hummingbird Beach, learn or share something new at a workshop, strut your stuff at the open mic, express your culinary skills at the Saturday evening Potluck, sing and tell stories around the campfire or simply relax in an incredibly supportive environment. 

Your registration fee includes lodging in a cabin, a light dinner on Friday, scrumptious breakfast/brunch on Saturday and Sunday mornings,  Saturday evening Potluck Dinner (bring or plan on making a dish to wow your fellow campers), all workshops and group camp activities, and the Saturday night concert.

If you have any special needs, please be sure to include them on your registration form, or call one of the numbers listed below, and we’ll make every attempt at accommodating you.

After we receive your registration form, a few weeks before the retreat, we will mail you a packet which has the retreat schedule, a list of items you may want to bring, details about the weekend, and a map to Lake Eufaula State Park.  If you have questions, you may leave a message at (405) 550-2312 or (405) 521-9696 and someone with call you back.

There will be more information and another registration form in next month’s Voice, but remember…The Herland Retreat is whatever we make it.  Let’s make it great!

by NOW President Kim Gandy (from http://www.now.org/)

It’s hard to believe, but the Democratic National Convention is now less than a month away, and following right on its heels comes the Republican National Convention. This means the media are obsessing, as they love to do, about the presidential candidates’ potential running mates.

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee, appeared on Meet the Press on July 27 and was pressed by Tom Brokaw to discuss the criteria, timing and prospects for his selection for vice president. Obama refused to name any names, but he did offer this insight: “I want somebody who I’m compatible with, who I can work with, who has a shared vision…” 

Well, I hope that shared vision includes full equality for women, because some of the names that have been floated recently aren’t particularly reassuring.

We just had one of the closest primary contests I can recall — with every last state and territory seriously in play, and 18 million votes cast for Sen. Hillary Clinton. Feminist voters, women and men alike, backed Clinton because they believed she would have their backs if she reached the White House. They were confident that her VP, Cabinet and federal court selections would reflect the equality principles she espoused. Some of these voters almost immediately transitioned to Obama once Clinton threw her support behind the senator from Illinois. But other voters are still grieving the loss of a dream. Others are taking a wait and see approach, and one of the things they are waiting on is Obama’s VP pick.

One longtime NOW activist puts it this way, “I have my fingers crossed that Barack Obama picks a running mate who is a partner, who is capable of stepping in, and who is dedicated to the principles of equality.”

This week the press began pushing the story that Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine was a likely choice to fill out the Obama ticket. Other names on the “short list” may include Senators Joe Biden from Delaware and Evan Bayh from Indiana, former Georgia senator Sam Nunn, governors Kathleen Sebelius (Kan.) and Janet Napolitano (Ariz.), and Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel from Nebraska. Sen. Clinton’s name remains in the mix, but most prognosticators say it’s unlikely she’ll get the call. Indeed, Senator Clinton may well have taken her name out of the hat early on.

The New York Times puts forth a frustrating Catch-22 in the veepstakes, claiming that there’s little chance Obama will choose Clinton, but that hopefuls like Sebelius shouldn’t hold their breath either because “if a woman were to be placed on the ticket, could it be anyone other than Mrs. Clinton?” Um, because Clinton was such a strong contender, that should eliminate all other prospective Democratic female VPs from the field?

(For remainder of article, please visit http://www.now.org/.)

The 2008 Democratic Party platform draft to be submitted to the delegates at the Democratic National Convention later this month is the most pro-glbt ever.  The official platform has yet to be released to the public, but the wording that was adopted marks historic firsts and advocates:

Repealing the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA),
A national HIV/AIDS strategy
Repealing the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy
Passing hate-crimes legislation
Passing comprehensive employment nondiscrimination legislation
Redefining family to include same-sex couples
Pledging to fight discrimination based on gender identity

Some of the highlights from the platform draft are as follows:
The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.

Ending violence against women must be a top priority. We will create a special advisor to the president regarding violence against women. We will increase funding to domestic violence and sexual assault  prevention programs. We will strengthen sexual assault and domestic violence laws, support the Violence Against Women Act, and provide job security to survivors. Our foreign policy will be sensitive to issues of aggression against women around the world.

Democrats will fight to end discrimination based on race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, language, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age and disability in every corner of our country.

We are committed to ensuring full equality for women: We reaffirm our support for the Equal Rights Amendment, recommit to enforcing Title IX, and will urge passage of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. We will pursue a unified foreign and domestic policy that promotes  civil rights and human rights, for women and minorities, at home and abroad. We will pass the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, because hate crimes desecrate sacred spaces and belittle all good people. We will restore and support the White House Initiative on Asian-American and Pacific Islanders, including enforcement on disaggregation of Census data. We will make the Census more culturally sensitive, including outreach and increased confidentiality protections to ensure accurate counting of the growing Latino population.

We support the full inclusion of all families in the life of our nation, and support equal responsibility, benefits, and protections. We will enact a comprehensive bipartisan employment non-discrimination act. We oppose the Defense of Marriage Act and all attempts to use this issue to divide us.

Rea Carey, the leader of the National Gay And Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) is pleased with the Democratic Party Platform: “The vision put forth in the 2008 Democratic National Platform is historic in its embrace of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. Never before in our country’s history has there been a national party platform that is so inclusive of our entire community. It is a forward-looking platform in so many areas, including those relating to LGBT people. The Task Force Action Fund is certainly pleased to see that in the opening paragraph of the section titled ‘A More Perfect Union,’ for the first time the platform explicitly calls for an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

See the full draft platform at http://noquarterusa.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/draft-2008-democratic-national-platform.pdf
 

It’s About Time:  LGBT Aging in a Changing World
SAGE’s Fourth National Conference on LGBT Aging
October 12 - 14, 2008 
New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge
 
The Clock is Ticking. Over the next quarter century, the number of seniors in America is projected to grow geometrically from 12% to 20% of the total population. Since 6-8% of these individuals are likely to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT), by the year 2030, LGBT seniors age 65 and above are expected jump from 2.5 million to as many as 4.7 million. The current generation of LGBT seniors differs from their heterosexual counterparts in profound ways:

Twice as likely to live alone
Half as likely to have life partners or significant others
Half as likely to have no close relatives to call for help; and
Four times less likely to have children to help them.

Today’s LGBT seniors came of age when being open about one’s sexuality was a life-threatening act of extraordinary courage.  As a result, their expectations often have been shaped by the necessity of “surviving” rather than the aspiration of “thriving.”  The next generation of LGBT seniors, part of the “Boomer” generation, has decisively and proudly embraced their sexual orientation and gender identity.  Collectively they will be a powerful and insistent force in combating the marginalization and invisibility that has historically plagued older members of the LGBT population.  They will (and do) harbor high expectations about opportunities and fulfillment in their later years.

Are You Ready?  To date, the mainstream aging field has given only limited attention to the challenges and benefits of serving LGBT seniors.  In addition, the organized LGBT community, which has made tremendous inroads in developing programs and services for youth and working adults, has paid almost no attention to the needs of its older population.  With 2.5 million LGBT seniors today, and another 2 million joining them in the next 25 years, shouldn’t you be prepared?
SAGE’s Fourth National Conference on LGBT Aging, It’s About Time: LGBT Aging in a Changing World, sponsored by AARP, will offer you resources, information, tools, insights, and networking opportunities to effectively address what LGBT aging will look like in the 21st century.

What To Expect:  Over 75 sessions in the areas of service delivery, program development, health & wellness, spirituality and faith issues, policy shifts, cultural competency training, advocacy, current research trends, sexuality, access challenges, long term care, housing, and more.

Who should attend? 
Professionals in aging service delivery, long term care, programming, case work, health, elder law, housing,policy, and advocacy
Researchers in the fields of aging, HIV and other health concerns, and LGBT studies
Policymakers in offices for aging, retirement organizations, grantmaking programs and others affecting aging policy and service delivery
Professionals, board members and activists in LGBT agencies ready to address an aging participant population; and
Others interested in LGBT aging.

Registration information: Registration for the conference is $250 ($200 before Sept. 30).  Registration for the October 12 preconference is $100.  Discounts Available!  Conference registration is only $50 if you book at least one night at the hotel by August 30.  For more information, visit www.sageusa.org.