The Family Pride Coalition is proud to announce it will host its first-ever Texas LGBT Family Conference, which will take place on Sat., Feb. 26 in Dallas, Texas. This gathering for LGBT parents, those considering parenthood and their families and allies, will take place at the Cathedral of Hope, 5910 Cedar Springs Road.
The day-long conference will include nearly a dozen workshops on a range of family-related issues, as well as an advocacy panel focused on family-related legislation and activism in Texas. Programming for youth nine years and older will be presented by Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (COLAGE), and child care for children under nine years old will also be made available. The day will end with the Family Pride Coalition's traditional Family Dance.
In addition to the host organization, the Cathedral of Hope, other co-sponsors of the Texas LGBT Family Conference include the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby (LGRL) of Texas; Lambda Legal; COLAGE; Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)/Texas; the Straight Spouse Network, the ACLU of Texas; Dallas Family Pride; and Austin Rainbow Parents.
This event is scheduled two weeks prior to the LGRL rally and lobby day in Austin, March 13-14.
Registration is just $35 per family (an additional $10 fee per youth will be collected on site by COLAGE, however if this fee for youth programming is prohibitive for your family, please contact Meredith at COLAGE at meredith@colage.org ). Registration includes breakfast, a box lunch, workshops, child care, the advocacy panel, the Family Dance, as well as a one-year membership to the Family Pride Coalition. For more information, or to register for the conference, go to http://www.familypride.org/forms/tx2005registration.php or call (202) 331-5015.
For those traveling from out of town for the conference, the Family Pride Coalition has arranged at $69/night group rate with the Dallas Marriott Suite Market Center. For more information, or to reserve a room, please call (214) 905-0050 and tell them you're with the Family Pride Coalition to obtain the rate. For more info on the Marriott, go to http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/DALMT .
HB 2401, introduced by Rep. John Lim (R- Fairview) would make same-sex parents, as well as prospective parents, second-class citizens by rolling back Oregon's adoption laws to give preference to straight, married couples over unmarried or same-sex couples in adoption laws.
Oregon's children deserve what is in their best interest -- loving, stable families, which Oregon's current adoption laws provide. This bill does not address a problem -- it simply demonizes lesbian and gay parents and makes it harder for deserving kids to find loving families.
In addition, Oregonians will have an opportunity to help move forward positive legislation the Oregon Basic Fairness Act which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodation, public assistance and education.
In commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the date that same-sex couples were first married in Oregon, the Basic Rights Oregon Day of Action on Thurs., March 3 will bring 1,000 Oregonians from around the state to Salem to lobby for our equality.
The Day of Action will begin at 9am and end at 5:30pm. The day will include a lobby training, a rally on the Capital steps at noon, lunch with Basic Rights Oregon and afternoon visits with elected officials.
Participants are asked to pre-register to best organize legislative visits. You can sign up at http://www.basicrights.org/volunteer/volunteersignup.asp . Please contact Jessica DuBois of Basic Rights Oregon at (503) 222-6151 or at Jessica@basicrights.org for more information.
Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, in one of her first acts in office, denounced PBS for spending public money on a cartoon with lesbian characters, saying many parents would not want children exposed to such lifestyles. Spellings requested that PBS refund a federal grant that was used to pay for part of the show, and demanded that PBS remove any links from the Department of Education to the show.
PBS has announced that it will not distribute the episode due to its sensitive nature. A PBS spokesperson said the decision was unrelated to the Secretary's comments.
There are more than 45 locations around the country where PBS affiliates have stood by the decision to air the episode. In some cases, a decision whether to air or not has not been made. Whether or not the station has decided to air the episode, it is crucial that you register your opinion. Every call, letter, and e-mail is logged, no matter how short or long.
There are several ways you can make a difference from the comfort of your desk:
THROW A HOUSE PARTY WITH FAMILY PRIDE
Thanks to many of you who have voiced interest in hosting a house party for the Family Pride Coalition! House parties hosted by Family Pride members are one of the most effective ways to build membership and share the good work that we all do together. The 2005 House Party information package is now online at www.familypride.org . Click on membership and then click on host a house party to download the PDF. Please call the office if you have any questions at (202) 331-5015.
Barring Gays From Adopting Not Homophobic Lawmaker Says
From 365Gay.com
(Little Rock Arkansas) Rep. Bob Adams (D-Sheridan) says that his bill to ban the state from placing children in "homosexual homes" isn't meant to discriminate against gays.
"Some people think this bill is an anti-gay bill; it is not," Adams told a House committee meeting today. "It is not about the gay population. It's about the children."
Nevertheless, the committee, fearing a court challenge, dropped any mention of homosexual from the bill, amending to prohibit a child from being adopted by or placed in the foster care of an unmarried adult who is cohabitating "in a relationship that is not a legally valid and binding marriage'' under the state constitution.
The revised bill defines cohabitating as residing with another person and being involved in a sexual relationship with that person but makes no mention of sexuality.
John Thomas of Little Rock, assistant director of the Family Council, told legislators that it's the state's job to make "judgment calls" on which homes are good for adoptions or for foster homes.
"Nobody, either homosexual or heterosexual, has a fundamental right to adopt," Thomas said. "In foster care and adoption, the state is actually creating families. It's a very serious responsibility."
Thomas told the lawmakers that research that says that gays make good parents is flawed.
"Common sense should tell us that a home with two homosexual men or two homosexual women is not going to be the same as home with a married mom and dad," Thomas said.
Adams legislation is a reaction to last year's court ruling overturning a a state regulation that banned gay people and anyone living in a household with a gay adult from being foster parents in the state.
In his ruling, Circuit Court Judge Timothy Fox said the state Child Welfare Agency Review board had overstepped its authority by trying to regulate public morality.'