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it's finally OVER!
benefit for Equality NC
Be Yr Own Queero brings you the best in LGBTQ activism, politics and culture by focusing on the personal stories of queer individuals. We feel that it's important to have strong and supportive queer communities and we are creating those communities where they do not exist. Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments with us. read more
- Mustache Ride Anyone?
- Love the Fuzz
- What Does it Mean to 'Look' Lesbian?
episode 1
PRIDE is happening all over the nation, click through to CarlosinDC’s YouTube channel to see LTBGQ views, opinions and happenings in the DC area.
Carlos in DC is about the peoples and the spaces of Washington, D.C., about his experience as an immigrant living in this city, about the influence of U.S. policies in Latin America, about Latino issues [mostly Indigenous and Afro descendant peoples], Immigration Reform and other stuff. Follow him on Twitter @CarlosQC
posted by teknacolorninjaA good friend of mine, Brandon, asked me the other day “You know, since the invention of the bolt cutter — how much has actually been accomplished by chaining yourself to a gate?”
Before I get started, and since I’m new here, I thought I’d go ahead and lay it out there. I work for an LGBTQ rights organization. And although I am dedicating my career to fighting the equal rights battle where it is currently at - in state houses and polling places/ballot boxes and the minds of society and the elected representatives - I have a simultaneous respect and frustration with people who rely solely on civil disobedience to enact legal and social change.
I think that you need both to make a difference. Rattle enough cages till they’re willing to talk to you? Not a bad strategy. But I think if we could learn something from the Civil Rights movement it should be that protest in it’s most effective form has to make a hit. Boycott the buses in Montgomery for 13 months, cause large percentages of revenue to be lost, and then see if someone will come out and talk to you.
I went to the National Equality March back in October. It was a great experience to see all of the people gathered there together all passionate about making a difference for LGBTQ people.
And it wasn’t until I had my first real campaign experience 2 weeks later, in Maine, that I realized the one flaw in the National Equality March’s plan. How many names were taken down? How were effective grassroots networks built? How many followups and phone banks and letters were written to legislators — to the movable middle? None.
But can you imagine 70,000 letters? 70,000 phone calls? 70,000 legislative meetings? 70,000 people out there — changing minds one at a time?
I think that if an organization or individual is going to chain themselves to the White House gate (host kiss-ins and sit-ins or rallies or whatever) that’s great. Get everybody’s attention in a non-violent way but then surprise them. Be educated about the political process. Learn about the ways past Civil Rights have been won. Network with other activists and take the battle to your own back yard, township, village, metropolitan city. Make phone calls and canvass doors.
The combination will be effective. It will win minds, then neighborhoods, then cities and states, and eventually the nation.
posted by indyam10 Year Old Explains He Won’t Pledge Allegiance to The Flag Until There is Liberty and Justice for All.
darrellslifeiswar:loveandzombies:itsthemusicpeople:soupsoup
posted by matildastone
queers on gears.
i wish i was there! san francisco, ca!
posted by matildastone
posted by matildastone
“Via OutSports, we find out that Australia’s national rugby union team, The Wallabies, have joined forces with gay rugby union club the Sydney Convicts to fight against homophobia. (At left is David Pocock of The Wallabies.)
The campaign - This Is Oz - touts itself as ”celebrating diversity and challenging homophobia,” and uses its online photo gallery to feature athletes (and everyone else!) holding up messages supporting GLBT rights.”
via feministing.com
posted by getbuck-deactivated20090820
a sticker on a dumpster in newport news, virginia!
posted by getbuck-deactivated20090820
Last month I posted the trailer to Say My Name, a documentary about women in hip hop. Invincible is one of the rappers featured in the film. She’s based out of Detroit and she is more than just a rapper, she’s an activist. Her raps have a political slant and she’s not afraid to speak out against racism and oppression.
When she’s not rapping, she’s working at The Hub, Detroit’s bicycle shop which also has a program called Back Alley Bikes which provides free bicycle education to anyone or doing community organizing with Detroit Summer, a collective which tackles problems in the community through creative and critical thinking. Invincible also emceed last year’s Allied Media Conference, one of the largest DIY media conferences in the country.
The video below is for the song “Ropes” off the album Shapeshifters. Invincible’s goal with this song is to open up the dialogue of suicide and mental illness because those two topics are things people never want to talk about. But as she says in the video, how can we fix the problems if we don’t talk about them? Check out this article in Metro Times about Invincible - her music and the community activism that she is so passionate about.
posted by scantronThanks amindy07 for the heads up! pulled info from the facebook event:
On Monday April 20, the Westboro Baptist Church will be gracing Duke with its presence, from 7:30am-8:00am. For those of you who don’t know, this group has been labeled a terrorist group by the ACLU, and spews some of the most ludicrous hate speech of any groups currently at work in the US.
“Well, we wish it were 33,000 killed, but we are thankful for 33.” (In reference to the VTech shootings.)
“The Lord God Almighty killed [the people who died on 9/11], looked at them in the face, laughed and mocked at each one of them as he cast each one of them into hell.”
“This is the hypocritical, fag-infested, fag-run United States of America and we’re supposed to respect that fag rag flag?”
These warped and attention-seeking sheep are hardly worth anyone’s time, and make their profit off of inciting bystanders to violence against them.
IN LIGHT OF THIS, Duke University chaplains and religious leaders are hosting a peaceful breakfast in front of the chapel, as a quiet but forceful show of support for Duke’s LGBT community, it’s allies, ROTC, and all those groups who have been targeted by Fred Phelps and the WBC. We cannot engage them, this would only play into their hands and give them the attention they crave. Instead, let them protest on their own, ignored, while we gather as a united community to celebrate our diverse campus.
THIS IS A CALL TO PEACEFUL ACTION. Come in your LOVE=LOVE shirt, eat a nice breakfast w/ friends. Let’s take this opportunity to show our support for ALL the communities that make up Duke campus.
In order for this to really have an impact we need the Chapel steps to be covered in a WAVE of LOVE=LOVE shirts and students mingling, unfazed by the bigotry being brandished just outside our campus. SO INVITE ALL YOUR FRIENDS! Drag them out of bed Monday morning! JUST BE THERE!
Date: Monday, April 20, 2009
Time: 7:30am - 8:00am
Location: In front of the Chapel, Duke University
City/Town: Durham, NC
posted by scantron
The 3rd Annual Be Yr Own Hero Festival (Hero Fest) will be taking place at the Soapbox in Wilmington, North Carolina September 5-6th 2009. Submissions for workshops, info sessions, skill shares, and musicians are currently being accepted until June 19th, 2009. Volunteers are also needed to help out on the day(s) of the event and/or to join the BYOH Fest Planning Team.
Please use the form to submit your workshop idea, skillshare, art or music. We welcome all subjects and we encourage all people to apply – we are looking for people/bands/artists who are:
Be Yr Own Hero Fest is an annual radical Do It Yourself (DIY) festival in Wilmington, NC. It includes workshops, info sessions, awesome live music, rad art, free stuff, free food, lots of fun and friends from far near and far!
In 2007, Wilmington NC was home to the first Be Yr Own Hero Festival, an all day radical Do It Yourself (DIY) Festival held at the Soapbox Laundro Lounge. 2008 saw the 2nd Annual Hero Fest. Both Festivals included a Really Really Free Market, potluck, workshops, info sessions and live music. Past workshops have included: DIY parenting (a radical concept), Basic Bicycle Repair, Truth in Recruiting / Promoting Peace, Social Activism & the Info-Wars, Radical Menstruation, Food Politics, Trans 101: Becoming an ally to transgender people, Unconventional Action: Organizing against the DNC/RNC, DIY DJ Workshop, Basket weaving, DIY Essentials Skillshare, Radical Women’s Health, Qi Gong (a type of Chinese martial arts) and more. Bands have included: The Nothing Noise, Gator Country, Prize Winners Collective, NED, Ghost Mice, The Mathematicians, and Poingly.
For more information on the Be Yr Own Hero Festival and Collective, visit www.beyrownhero.com or contact herofest@gmail.com.
posted by scantron
The Cook County Circuit Court was abuzz with gay rights supporters as the seven people arrested during Chicago’s Freedom to Marry Day protest had their trial date. The Marriage Equality 7—Buddy Bell, Erica Chu, Dale Fecker, Nick Ferrin, Jeff Graubart, Danielle Karczewski and Daniel Ware—were joined by fellow activists and friends in the court room, including Andy Thayer of the Gay Liberation Network and Drew Stoppels of Chicago’s Join the Impact chapter.
The recently minted Seven were arrested on February 14 for misdemeanor criminal trespass by remaining inside the marriage license bureau after it had closed. They told staff and security that they would not leave until the bureau issued a marriage license to Bell and Fecker. Police eventually arrived at 4:00 PM to arrest the demonstrators and released them at 2:15 AM the next morning.
The March 9 trial date was a flurry of activity as people were ushered into the courtroom, quieted down and cases were announced. The ME7 all approached the judge together, but due to the lack of a prosecuting argument, all charges were dismissed. The group celebrated with supporters outside the courthouse and were grateful for the experience to work for change, declaring, “We’re not gonna stop” and “If it doesn’t give us the same rights, it’s not good enough. Separate but equal is still not equal.” To that end, they immediately began discussing plans for their next action and are looking forward to helping make our divided country more equal.
Kevin Sparrow is a queer writer living in Chicago. Currently, Kevin is the editor of Cul de sac Magazine, an online blog dedicated to social justice and cultural analysis from an LGBT perspective.
posted by guestqueer
Please call all of our legislators today! It will only take a minute. Right-wing, misinformed “religious” groups, fueled and underpinned by purely politcal motives are rallying outside the legislative building in support of the constitutional amendment to North Carolina’s constitution that would write in discrimination!
Call these legislators and share your disappointment with them signing on to the bill as cosponsors from our area:
Rep. Carolyn Justice
919-715-9664
Rep. Danny McComas919-733-5786
Rep. Bonner Stiller919-301-1450
All three of these legislators are out of step with the country and with the times are signing up for a bill that does not protect marriage, but writes in discrimination. They know it and are still doing it! This is not what we need in this state during this time!
Call and thank:
Rep. Sandra Hughes at(919) 733-5754
Sen. Julia Boseman at(919) 715-2525
Both of these legislators have stood up and said NO to op
posted by scantron
It’s March 3rd and today is Florida’s first day in legislative session. Legislation topics include the passage of the four LGBT-rights bills:
Action now!
Whether you are fellow Floridian, North Carolinian, or Oklahoman, now is the time to voice your opinion and make a difference in our country! Let’s use our government and put democracy into practice by participating in lobby days, contacting your state representatives and state senators to get these bills heard and passed this session.
Here’s a starter list (feel free to add on to it in the comments section) of websites that should keep you in the loop about what LGBT issues/topics are being discussed at the state level.
Equality NC
Equality FL
Equality CA
Equality OK
Equality NY
Equality TX
Equality IL
Equality MD
Equality VA
Equality GA
Equality MI
Equality VT
Equality NH
Fellow Floridians, I encourage you to make a lunch date with other LGBTQ activists (allies that means you too!) for the Rally in Tally, Monday, March 16th at noon. Read up Public Policy Director Mallory Wells’ notes on what’s happening at the FL Capitol and visit your State Legislature’s website (FL) to read up on the bills:
Update/Resources provided by Tallahassee Impact and Join the Impact.
posted by teknacolorninja
“They’re at it again. With right wing legislators filing a constitutional amendment denying same-sex couples access to marriage and any other kind of relationship recognition this week, we need you to ask your elected officials not to sign on as a sponsor.
Take action now to ask your legislators to oppose the amendment. Have an even greater impact by putting the message below in your own words!” -
Equality NC is taking action against the “Defense of Marriage” ammendment and giving us the tools to speak up. Follow this link to send a message to your current state legislator to encourage them not to sponsor or vote for it . If you’re a NC resident, make sure to send the message fellow NC Representative or State Senator. Let’s redirect the focus on what’s legilation should really be focusing on: addressing unemployment and budgeting state funds to improve public education or healthcare…not taking rights away.
Follow up on Equality NC events and create an alliance by joining their Facebook group.
posted by teknacolorninja
Please join Be Yr Own Queero and our friends at Out Impact for night of music, friends and activism. The event is a benefit for Equality NC, who have also been very, very active and supportive in LGBTQ efforts. They have been doing great work on anti-bullying policies. (If you attended our L Word potluck a few weeks ago, you might remember signing a petition about safer schools. Yep, that was Equality NC)
Be Yr Own Queero will be present at the event as a Community Sponsor, so please stop by our table and check out our goodies!
When: March 6th, 2009 9:00pm - 1:00am
Where: The Soapbox (255 N. Front St, Wilmington, NC)
Who: Kim Dicso, Carsie Blanton, & Jenn Grinels
Cost: $5.00
