Greensboro PFLAG newsletter, February 2005

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GREENSBORO, N.C.
Vol. 12 No. 2
February, 2005
TV: Month-long LGBT Festival on Cable 8
Greensboro's public-access television station, cable
channel 8, will carry a marathon of programming for and
about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered
community during the month of February.
PFLAG is one of the community groups that will be
featured. A one-hour panel discussion of PFLAG folks
discussing issues about coming out is scheduled to be shown
on Feb. 25 at 7 a.m. and on Feb. 27 at 3 p.m. David and
Joan Parker will be featured in a panel discussion of
Transgender issues (Feb. 17 at 6:30 p.m. and Feb. 20 at 6:30
p.m.). There also will be shows on other community groups,
including GLSEN (the Gay Lesbian Straight Education
Network) and GLASS, the support group for gay teens.
Week 1 (Feb. 1-6) will focus on the African
American community; week 2 (Feb. 7-13) will focus on the
Lesbian community and LGBT-friendly churches; week 3
(Feb. 14-20) will focus on the Transgendered community
and workplace issues; week 4 (Feb. 21-27) will focus on
Coming out.
Funding for this series of programs has been
provided by the Guilford Green Foundation.
In the news
GOOD NEWS: Illinois will become the 15th state
with a non-discrimination law covering several orientation,
if the governor signs the bill passed by the state legislature.
The new law also covers transgendered persons. In previous
fights for non-discrimination laws, gay activists have not
fought for transgender inclusion, figuring that if they did the
legislation would die. The case of Illinois shows that's no
longer true.
BAD NEWS: Following voter approval of
constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage in 12
states last year, more states are jumping on the bandwagon.
In North Carolina, a constitutional amendment has been
introduced in the general assembly. A similar attempt was
blocked last year. In other states: Kansas voters will vote
on a constitutional amendment later this year; in Louisiana
Greensboro PFLAG
February meeting
February 15, 7:30 p.m.
Friendship Friends Meeting House
1103 New Garden Road
Welcome to PFLAG. We offer a safe, confidential space in
which to explore our feelings and understandings about the gay
experience, especially "coming out" and what this means to
families and other loved ones. Listen and share as much or as
little as you feel comfortable with, knowing that others can
understand. Welcome especially to our returning members
whose love is so healing.	
the state supreme court re-instated a constitutional
amendment that had been passed last year but blocked by a
lower court ruling.
Extending outreach
Our Greensboro PFLAG group has decided that we
need to extend our outreach and increase knowledge and
awareness of PFLAG in the larger Greensboro community.
We hope to place advertisements in the Go Triad in order to
make people aware that PFLAG is here. We also
want to encourage long-time supporters to take a more active
role in PFLAG.
Are PBS Cartoons Pushing Gay Lifestyle?
The nation's new education secretary, Margaret
Spellings, denounced PBS on Tuesday for spending public
money on a cartoon with lesbian characters, saying many
parents would not want children exposed to such lifestyles.
The not-yet-aired episode of "Postcards from
Buster" shows the title character, an animated bunny named
Buster, on a trip to Vermont, a state that recognizes same-
sex civil unions. The episode features two lesbian couples,
although the focus is on farm life and maple sugaring.
A PBS spokeswoman, Lea Sloan, said late Tuesday
that the nonprofit network has decided not to distribute the
episode, called "Sugartime!", to its 349 stations. She said
the Education Department's objections were not a factor in
that decision.
WGBH, the Boston public-television station that
produces the show, plans to make the "Sugartime!" episode
available to other stations, and will air the episode on March
23, she said
PBS gets money for the "Postcards from Buster"
series through the federal Ready-To-Learn program, aimed
at helping children learn through television.
Spellings said the "Sugartime!" episode does not
fulfill the intent Congress had in mind for programming. By
law, she said, any funded shows must give top attention to
"research-based educational objectives, content and
materials." (Continued on page 2)