Greensboro PFLAG newsletter, April 2005

              GREENSBORO, N.C.
Vol. 12 No. 4
April, 2005
Spring pot-luck April 19
We will have our covered-dish dinner on April
19. Come and bring a dish to share and come and
enjoy fine food and fellowship with other PFLAG
folks. Plan to arrive and set up at 6:20, and we'll eat
at 6:30. The regular monthly meeting will follow at
7:30 p.m.
Equality NC Lobby Day: Nearly 100
citizens from around the state participated
Several PFLAG members traveled to Raleigh
recently to urge their state law-makers to reject the proposed
constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Fr
those who were unable to go, there is still time to contact
state legislators.
The following is a report from EqualityNC on the
April 5 Lobby Day.
Equality North Carolina supporters from Asheville
to New Bern, and Charlotte to Rocky Mount came to
Raleigh to participate in the group's Lobby Day. After a
short orientation in the morning, participants spent most of
the day seeking and meeting with their legislators.
In the late morning, Equality NC supporters
gathered outside the Legislative Building for a press
conference outlining the group's legislative agenda. A
highlight of the day was Rep. Paul Luekbe (D-Durham)
announcing his intention to file a bill addressing
discrimination based on sexual orientation for state
employees. The bill, also sponsored by Rep. Larry Womble
(D-Forsyth), broadly defines sexual orientation to include
gender expression, so all lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender state employees can work free from
discrimination.
Lobby Day participants asked their representatives
to sign onto the bill as cosponsors. Equality NC expects a
record number of cosponsors when the bill is filed in the
coming days.
Greensboro PFLAG
April 19
Covered dish dinner
arrive and set up 6:20, eat at 6:30
Regular meeting at 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.	
"This bill is an important step for North Carolina on
the road to equal rights and justice for LGBT North
Carolinians," said Ian Palmquist, Executive Director-
Programs. "Similar policies have been adopted by 26 states
and 415 of the Fortune 500 companies. Nondiscrimination is
simply good business policy and the right thing to do."
In addition to supporting the anti-discrimination
bill, Equality NC supporters advocated against passage of an
anti-LGBT constitutional amendment which would not only
deny recognition of marriages between same-sex couples,
but would also deny any form of relationship recognition.
The bill is so broad it could prevent private companies from
offering partner health benefits, which many of our major
employers in the state do today.
Other policy priorities include:
• Funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment and
raising the eligibility level for the AIDS Drug Assistance
Program
• Expanding the state's hate crime law to include
protections based on age; gender; sexual orientation, broadly
defined to include gender expression; and disability status.
• Repealing the archaic, discriminatory, and
unconstitutional Crime Against Nature law, which has been
used to justify anti-LGBT discrimination
Many participants said the day was an exciting and
empowering experience. "As a parent of a gay son, the most
appealing thing about visiting with legislators is having the
opportunity to share the story of our family values with the
legislators and to point out the day-to-day inequities that our
children and LGBT loved ones have to deal with," said Lela
Chesson, an Equality NC member from Rocky Mount.
Day of Silence, April 13
The Day of Silence, a project of the Gay, Lesbian
and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in collaboration
with the United States Student Association, is a student-led
day of action where those who support making anti-GLBT
bias unacceptable in schools take a day-long vow of silence
to recognize and protest the discrimination and
harassment—in effect, the silencing—experienced by GLBT
students and their allies. Students at several Greensboro
area high schools are planning to participate.