With this month's passage of Proposition 8 in California, which denies marriage rights to same-sex couples, it is clear that our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community needs strong leadership.
You may have attended "Work It" in May at Café Metropolitan. That event was held, coincidentally, on the day the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality. Over 60 attendees completed surveys and demonstrated a strong interest in a leadership training program specifically for Seattle's LGBT community.
With Prop 8's reversal of the court's decision, it is even more evident that our community must prepare the next generation of community leaders. We must effectively address our urgent needs, not only for civil rights, but also for quality healthcare, workplace fairness, neighborhood and school safety, economic security, and other issues facing the LGBT community.
The Out In Front Steering Committee is responding to this need and is pleased to announce a 2009 Pilot Project. The program will consist of classroom instruction, mentoring, personal development, and community involvement.
Click here to view and complete the application by December 19th. We encourage you to apply for this important opportunity to play a part in the future of our community. Please forward this application to people who may be interested as soon as possible. The deadline for applications is December 19th.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhqm7tnh_0f86nr9hf
Monday, November 17, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
We Worked IT!
Thank you to everyone who attended Work IT! and made it a roaring success!
Our fabulous speakers Senator Ed Murray, Louise Chernin of the GSBA, Steve Davis, former CEO of Corbis, and Out in Front committee members Lonnie Lusardo and myself filled the crowd with inspiration. What a better day for the event than the California Supreme Court's ruling that we are indeed real and equal people entitled to equality! For our community, this victory is both political and as personal as it gets. In my excitement about the ruling, I noticed how it changed my outlook on life and relationships to know that one day soon, my government will recognize my relationship (if I ever find a partner). I also realized how accustomed to being a second-class citizen I have been. My straight friends would never think "wow, maybe I should move to California so that I can get married!". Civil marriage should not be a novelty idea afforded to us in only 4% of American states; I await the day when I can go to the courthouse and register my union without a second thought.
All of these revelations hammered home to me the importance of Out in Front's undertaking. The generations before me who were incarcerated, medicated, and lobotomized; lived in "boston marriages", lead institutions of higher education, advocated for progressive causes, danced and fought at Stonewall, marched in Washington, ran and got elected out as LGBT, and argued in the courtroom must be honored by my generation and those to come by continuing their work and ensuring that we never lose any of the progress we have made.
Oh, and take the survey!
-Anna Markee
Our fabulous speakers Senator Ed Murray, Louise Chernin of the GSBA, Steve Davis, former CEO of Corbis, and Out in Front committee members Lonnie Lusardo and myself filled the crowd with inspiration. What a better day for the event than the California Supreme Court's ruling that we are indeed real and equal people entitled to equality! For our community, this victory is both political and as personal as it gets. In my excitement about the ruling, I noticed how it changed my outlook on life and relationships to know that one day soon, my government will recognize my relationship (if I ever find a partner). I also realized how accustomed to being a second-class citizen I have been. My straight friends would never think "wow, maybe I should move to California so that I can get married!". Civil marriage should not be a novelty idea afforded to us in only 4% of American states; I await the day when I can go to the courthouse and register my union without a second thought.
All of these revelations hammered home to me the importance of Out in Front's undertaking. The generations before me who were incarcerated, medicated, and lobotomized; lived in "boston marriages", lead institutions of higher education, advocated for progressive causes, danced and fought at Stonewall, marched in Washington, ran and got elected out as LGBT, and argued in the courtroom must be honored by my generation and those to come by continuing their work and ensuring that we never lose any of the progress we have made.
Oh, and take the survey!
-Anna Markee
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Take the Survey! It's FREE
As part of our effort to assess interest in an LGBT Leadership Program, we have designed a quick and painless online survey that should take no longer than Project Runway's commercial break:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=2hsszh85_2fOv_2bHNmCGHBDAA_3d_3d
Try it; you'll like it!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Work IT!
Join your friends to make some new ones and learn about an exciting new endeavor in Seattle's LGBT community.
Work IT!
Cafe Metropolitan
Thursday, May 15th
5:30-7:30.
Don't miss drink specials, fabulous door prizes (ipod), and special guests.
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