Archive for the ‘Columns’ Category

I am at a crossroads with publication of Hi-Desert LGBT News and so want to put out the word that a new editor is needed.

My motivation for publishing this newsletter has been the goal of bringing together the LGBT people here, and our allies, for the purpose of creating a real community. Such a community would be able and willing to make a unified response to threats and attacks.

Surely all of us are aware that there has been no shortage of anti-LGBT threats and attacks in the Morongo Basin. A handful of others share my conviction that these not be allowed to go unanswered. Yet I find it difficult to respond to such threats and turn out this newsletter each month.

Ideally, someone will come forward to carry on and I will be free to devote more energy to equality issues in new ways such as creating a database of locals who could be a first line defense, capable of rapid mobilization in response to threats and attacks such as the “Hate Van” that participated in this year’s Pioneer Days Parade in 29 Palms.

Perhaps there is someone out there who would like to have a shot at putting out this publication. Certainly I would do whatever necessary to make for a smooth transition. If no one responds this could be the final issue.

If that comes to pass, then gratitude goes out to the advertisers and to those who have taken a stand for the greater good, notably Rev. Louis Gerhardt, Donald Krouse, Jim Babb, Krista Blevins, RJ Howard, Shari Elf, Fritz Koenig, Andy Woods, and all who have served on the Out & About Steering Committee, also Phyllis Lozano and Pepper Blakeley in Victor Valley.

– Mike Lipsitz Editor/ Publisher 760-449-4048

By Rev. Dr. Louis Gerhardt

2010 has been a very good year for me. I have enjoyed good health, a loving family, many friends, and worthwhile tasks that challenge me.

I am an ordained minister and I officiated at several weddings including two same sex ceremonies. I delivered a number of talks at Rotary, Kiwanis, and other service groups, and of course, I offered a total of more than 60 positive living seminars. I also did considerable family counseling, blessings of homes, adult and child baptisms, etc.

My point is that at the age of 85 I have a pretty good perspective on our society and its individual citizens.

So as we begin a new year I give you the words of a world-renowned historian Will Durant speaking from the pulpit of the Church I served in Los Angeles.

“I was once challenged to sum up civilization in a half hour. I did it in less than a minute. Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shooting and doing things that historians usually record. While on the banks, unnoticed, people are building homes and making love, raising children, singing songs, writing poetry and even whittling statues. And the story of civilization is the story of what happens on the banks. Too often historians are pessimists because they ignore the banks and write about the rivers.”

Rev. Dr. Louis Gerhardt is a minister, counselor and author. His weekly column, Tough Minded Optimism, appears in the Hi-Desert Star, Desert Trail & Observation Post. He counsels those of all religions or no religion.

Contact Rev. Lou at 760-367-4627 or 800-995-1620 or res19mxc@verizon.net.

By Donald Krouse

The mid term elections brought mixed results, but it certainly isn’t the result of Morongo Basin citizens sitting back and doing nothing. Some of us are startled at the willingness of so many to participate in the electoral process. I’ve always been told that Morongo Basin voters won’t do anything. That is now proven wrong. Thank you everyone who voted and volunteered either publicly or in your own way.

Granted we lost two elections that local Democrats had worked so hard to get elected. Pat Meagher and Carl Wood both lost and that is certainly a disappointment for the liberal community. In the near future we may have a different configuration for the Congressional and Assembly districts. There is hope we will elect a good representative in the future, especially if we are separated from the Redlands conservative voting block.

One of the most startling election results occurred in Iowa. It should give everyone reason to be concerned. The other side is working very hard to deny and even reverse policies that strengthen LGBT rights. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) targeted the three judges on the Iowa Supreme Court who were on the ballot for voter confirmation. Unanimously, the Iowa Supreme Court had decided that same sex marriage was a constitutional right. NOM succeeded in getting all three justices removed from the court at the ballot box. What does that tell us about the consequences of action and inaction?

I invite all of you to join the newly re-chartered Morongo Basin Democratic Club. It is a diverse group interested in electing liberal candidates. If you are Republican then I encourage you to join the Log Cabin Club. In any event, keep your eyes open to the forces that are working successfully to take away our rights.

Donald Krouse is a retired financial planner living in Morongo Valley. Write to Don at CallToActionMB@aol.com.

They say do what you Love, so here I am with my 2 cents worth.  I’ve always wanted to say what I really think, so YOU dear readers are the lucky firsts to reap my sometimes funny, and always unique musings, ramblings really.

Hello LADIES!  Hello…Hello….  Are you out there?  Anywhere?  Starbucks?  The Library?  The Mojave Preserve?  Chish!  Now that I have your attention, I thought I’d throw out a few ideas in an effort to establish some COMMUNITY!  Remember? A PLACE we all used to go, such as a local women’s bookstore?  Current information was posted on a bulletin board and we could sip coffee, read the latest lesbian mystery novel, or our own local newsletter telling us what the haps were for the month?

The idea was tossed around a few months ago then literally disappeared.  Someone thought there might be some interest in forming a group just for the ladies, for the sheer enjoyment of getting together and doing what we all do so well, talk, bake, make plans, build dreams and CAVORT.  There, I said it!

I’d like to give it another try, something along the lines of a monthly mixer, get together,

Howdy Doody, or old fashioned Coffee Clutch.  Is anyone else interested in forming a group of local lesbians to take on the challenges of living in a rural area?

Why don’t YOU send YOUR ideas for our local desert denizens and see if we can reinvent the wheel for a ladies meet and greet?

I’d really like to hear your thoughts, especially since we may not have this newsletter to keep us up to date.

Contact me, Lez N. Dez , at rt.renishe@yahoo.com.

We heard from two subscribers on the same topic of this month. One stated his feelings clearly and in all caps:

I RESENT & FIND OFFENSIVE

THE FOLLOWING WORDS: QUEERS, HOMOS, NIGGERS, FAGS.

That same week I ran across an article by Jerry S. Maneker, a favorite blogger, entitled, Confronting Internalized Homophobia, where he writes “I feel very strongly that many LGBT people are seriously sabotaging the cause for full and equal civil rights by referring to themselves by the use of historically and current hateful epithets, using such terms as ‘Queer,’ ‘Dyke,’ ‘Fag,’ and other such demeaning and hateful words that have been historically used by their oppressors, and are still being used by their oppressors. [Such words are] doing tremendous harm to the struggle for, and the cause of acquiring, full and equal civil rights.”

Maneker goes on to write that when “gay people use self-denigrating and historically offensive epithets as self-identifiers … they are unwitting victims of a variation of the Stockholm Syndrome where, in this case, one helps provide the very ammunition that one’s abuser can and does use to maintain oppression.”

“There is a point when one has to own his/her dignity, demand the respect due, … demand full and equal civil and sacramental rights…. Those goals will not be realized as long as the group accepts its inferior status, and revels in it by referring to its members by the same terms used by the most virulent homophobes.”

That was enough for this editor. My belief that using such terms takes the power from them has been called into question. Hi Desert LGBT News will no long use the terms Queer, Homo, Lezzy, etc. to refer to LGBT people. I regret and apologize to those who found use of such terms offensive. Let us know how you feel about this topic.

- Mike Lipsitz, Editor & Publisher

Victor Valley is in danger of losing both gay clubs! The economy has been tough for business, but it’s tougher when customers travel out of the area for entertainment.

Our community has come very close to losing Westside 15, the County’s oldest gay bar. Ricky’s may go straight due to weak business. If these things come to pass, we’ll have to travel for entertainment. Let’s keep our money here where we live and support these establishments which generously support our community.

Victorville is blessed to have two very different venues where we can be ourselves. I know for a fact the owners of both will do whatever it takes to keep patrons happy even in good times. But now they must do it in order to survive. Jim & Ed at Westside 15 and Mike & Ricky at Ricky’s are eager to hear what you want. Offer them your suggestions.

That’s my opinion; if you have one, let me hear from you so that I can share it with the community.

Pepper Blakeley
Victor Valley Bureau

Each month CALL TO ACTION asks you to take a specific action in support of an LGBT cause or supportive candidate. But this month I am stepping out of my routine. I’m committing to do something I’ve not done before.

Are you wondering why I’m not again focusing on the elections considering they’re just a few weeks away? It’s because I figure that those who haven’t yet gotten the message that we have a say in our own equality will never get the message and I don’t want to turn them off by beating a dead horse. Instead I’d like to turn attention to something more carefree.

Out & About successfully brings gay men together in a food and beverage social gathering. The purpose is to just be with friends as reason enough to be involved.

When times are tough isn’t it great to know you have friends? So those who have never been to an Out & About may want to join the next event.

That leads me to wonder why there isn’t a women’s Out & About? Maybe someone will start a sister organization.

There are other readers with passions for the arts, the theatre, conservation, charity, women’s groups, or church. This month I intend to go to one of the locally produced theatrical productions. I’ve never been to one of the Hi Desert productions and this will be my way of showing appreciation for those who bring this form of culture to our community.

By expanding one’s connection with a wider range of people we can’t help but make ourselves seem just a bit more human and less scary.

Donald Krouse is a retired financial planner living in Morongo Valley. Write to Don at CallToActionMB@aol.com

The other day I shared my definition of love with the members of my weekly seminar. I said that love is the sincere desire to do what you genuinely believe is in the best interest of the object of your love. It’s as simple and challenging as that.

Love is the most powerful force ever experienced by mankind. In ways far beyond our present understanding love accomplishes miracle after miracle and continues to give us hope even when all seems lost.

As we begin a new school year in the Hi Desert, I want to share with you an illustration that should warm the hearts of educators, parents, and, in fact, all of us. In the mid-1960’s a professor at Johns Hopkins University gave a group of graduate students the following assignment:

“Go to [name withheld] slum area. Identify 200 boys who live there and are between the ages of 12 and 16, get a profile on their family situations and backgrounds. Then predict what is likely for their respective futures.”

The graduate students found the boys and did the interviews, gathered additional data, and examined the social statistics for the area. They concluded that 90 percent of the boys would spend time in jail or prison.

Twenty-five years later another group of graduate students was given the assignment of testing that prediction. Some of the boys—now men—still lived in the area, a few had died, and a few others couldn’t be located. Amazingly, they made contact with 180 of the 200.

Only four of them had ever been incarcerated. Since the area was now even more a breeding place for crime, the researchers were intrigued. Those who ventured to explain kept saying, “Well, there was this teacher…” Checking further, they discovered that three fourths of the 180 had been taught by the same woman.

They located her in a retirement facility and asked her how she had exerted such an influence on these boys, that is, could she explain why she loomed so large in their past and their memories?

“No,” she said, “I really have no idea.” She was quiet for several moments. Then she said musingly—more to herself than to her interviewers: “I did so love those boys…”

Rev. Dr. Louis Gerhardt is a minister, counselor and author. His weekly column, Tough Minded Optimism, appears in the Hi-Desert Star, Desert Trail & Observation Post. He counsels those of all religions or no religion.

Contact Rev. Lou at 760-367-4627 or 800-995-1620 or res19mxc@verizon.net

My best memory is from Madison, Wisconsin. When I saw pro-equality supporters marching up the street to the State Capitol and chanting, it was very emotional. At that moment I was proud to be part of that community, seeing the camaraderie and people, gay and straight, standing side by side fighting for equality, it was awesome. All I could do was cry.

- from Phyllis’ blog on the Courage Campaign trip to document the NOM tour.

Ever wonder why so many in the queer communities remain on the sidelines allowing others to defend our right to pursue meaningful, productive lives and loving relationships?

I’m not referring to those who choose to live in the closet. They are busy clinging to their secret so strongly that protecting it is their life’s primary directive.

Those who are “out” know that living in the closet isn’t living at all. “Coming out” is the great emancipator. The respect gainedfor ourselves and from others far outweighs the loss of anyone who loved us only while we lived the lie.

Most of us will tell you that our lives began once we came out.

But leading an open, affirming life may not be the end of the journey if we are to fulfill our potential as productive, valued members of this society.

Those involved in the active defense of our community will confirm the richly fulfilling sense of empowerment and satisfaction they gain from their efforts.

Active defense could be anything from joining a rally to writing a straight friend or official about the effects of discrimination on your family.

Sorry Facebook, clicking doesn’t count.

Phyllis Lozano of Victorville recently returned from a month long, nearly 3,500 mile road trip following the National Organization for Marriage’s bus crusade against marriage equality. Phyllis and two others were tracking the NOM Tour and documenting what they saw.

“My first rally was in Indianapolis, Indiana … I photographed a woman standing toe-to-toe, sign to sign with a NOM supporter, for what they believed in. It was a very powerful sight for me … I realized I was a part of something big,” writes Phyllis.

She goes on, “Following the tour and documenting what we saw, talking to the different people for and against the National Organization for Marriage and their message of hate and fear gave me a sense of peace. I come from a church background myself and believed the lies for a long time.  I finally feel like I have made a contribution (to) …something that was bigger than me. I will continue to fight for equality probably for the rest of my life, but this is so far my proudest moment.”

Read more of Phyllis’ blog, see photos & videos at: http://prop8trialtracker.com/category/nom-tour-tracker

We need your help.

Most people aren’t aware of the weight a letter carries. Many don’t know that when they write their representative it gets read. A personal letter can carry the weight of dozens of emails, letters to the editor can carry even more weight.

Call to Action last issue, asked you to email me your commitment to write a letter to the editor in support of two candidates who stand out as friends of the LGBT community. For you less motivated, I offered to write a letter on your behalf if you’d simply dash off an email giving me permission. I tried to make it easy in hopes of collecting a couple dozen names. Apparently, I failed.

No one responded  Perhaps many find it difficult to pen a letter, especially on an issue which may be unfamiliar. Still, I have to believe that many of you would be willing to pitch in for equality. Right?

When we take action as a community we can effect change. Consider the online, straw poll conducted by Hi Desert Publishing the week of Aug. 14.

When it first came to our attention, 15 votes favored the recent court decision ruling Prop 8 unconstitutional, while 44 disapproved of the ruling.

An Urgent Call to Action Urgent Call to Action went out via email to subscribers in the Basin and within minutes the numbers begin to change. By the next morning, we’d blown the opposition out of the heavens. Small actions do have an impact.

If we join together, pool influence, and maintain focus through Election Day Nov. 2nd, it is possible for us to wake up to a better world Nov. 3rd.

If you think clicking “Like” on Facebook shows community involvement, I strongly suggest you get out of the chair, turn off the computer, and think about actively doing something for your community during this election.

Again, is there anyone who can donate one or two hours, or more for equality?

We need your help. We need your help. Can you make some calls, put up yard signs, or answer emails? If you want to help but your time is limited, then go get your checkbook; we really need some funding.

Won’t you please call or email me and let me know you’re willing to pitch in?

We could really use you.

- Donald Krouse is a retired financial planner living in Morongo Valley. Write to Don at CallToActionMB@aol.com

The following is excerpted from an advance copy of Positive Living by Rev. Dr. Louis Gerhardt, due out this Fall through Amazon.

When Patty and I had our church wedding in 1995 our dear friend, the late Paul Isner, was my best man.

Paul was openly gay. He had a high opinion of himself and lived his relatively brief life with dignity and enthusiasm.

I first met Paul while I was serving as Senior Minister of First Congregational Church in metropolitan Los Angeles. The church building is magnificent and houses the largest church pipe organ in the world.

Many people congregate there daily for noon organ concerts and to participate in other church activities.

Paul was one of those people. He also enjoyed visiting our home in South Pasadena.

With my late wife, Grace, and our son Loren, I moved to Fresno in 1980 to serve our church there. Shortly after our arrival Paul wrote and asked if he could come to Fresno, live with us, and work at the church.

We welcomed him and he immediately became the church organist and worked in the church office.

Months later Paul went to San Diego to work in the city’s superior library system and to play the organ for a large Christian Science church in the Greater San Diego area.

Paul physically died in 2005 and I conducted his memorial service in San Diego’s downtown branch library. I then conducted a second memorial service and commitment at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. He was only 42 and died unexpectedly of natural causes.

I share this with you because my late wife Grace (he was the organist at her funeral) and my wife Patty loved Paul very much. We learned so much from him and his friends about the wonderful people of the GLBT community.

I have been a minister and counselor for better than 55 years and I have been in constructive and caring relationships with gay people all over the country. I have officiated at the weddings of many gay couples and have had many gay people on the boards and committees of the churches I have served. These experiences qualify me to write with some authority on the subject of homosexuals.

The purpose of all I have written, is to make it absolutely clear that I deplore attempts by some misguided, usually religiously oriented, people to portray homosexuals as men and women who are simply “sick” or “abnormal,” who could be “cured” of their “sinful” ways if they just determined to do so.

That kind of superficial thinking is wrong!

In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association issued a strong statement that homosexuality is not a mental disorder. Without doubt, men and women live more wholesome and happier lives when they accept without misgivings who and what they are.

In 1979 Mayor Thomas Bradley and the City of Los Angeles presented me with a Certificate of Appreciation for 25 years of effort to bring together different races, religions, and ethnic groups in a genuine spirit of mutual respect. I am pleased that I received that recognition.

Now I pray and work for a day when all people regardless of sexual orientation have all the rights, privileges and genuine respect often reserved for heterosexuals.

In June I was invited to open JOSHUA TREE GAY PRIDE by releasing a flock of white doves and promote the IMPERIAL COURT and CZARINA’S DYNASTY BALL at Palm Springs Riviera Hotel August 7.

From the podium in my black and white silk, pearls and huge hat, I surveyed the tank top and shorts crowd gathered in the desert heat. These were country people free of the airs and attitude common to the valley. There were lesbian couples with kids, friendly gay men, seniors having fun, and youngsters just coming out.

Turnout was huge and there was the spirit of togetherness. Everyone had come to promote and support equality, the event’s theme.

After the breathtaking dove release, I spoke. Appealing to those 50 and over I reflected on the days when homosexuality was considered a mental illness, and gay sex was criminal — dark times when gays were bashed, and the law looked the other way. Almost everyone lived in the closet and a middle-aged man in high drag could never have spoken publicly on these issues.

Turning my attention to the younger folks, I reminded them that their freedoms were won by activists like The Widow Norton, Jose, founder of the Imperial Court System, and Harvey Milk, the assassinated activist who we are to honor at the Czarina’s Ball August 7.

When I finished, I was caught off guard by exuberant applause. At that instant I experienced, possibly for the first time, authentic gay pride and I realized this is OUR time. The movement toward equality is unstoppable.

At the Czarina’s Ball, we will hear firsthand from Stuart Milk about his recent meeting with the President, and we will consummate a new alliance between EQUALITY CALIFORNIA and THE IMPERIAL COURT SYSTEM. The action will make us one of the most powerful forces in the equality movement, with influence reaching all the way to the White House.

Later, we tried to escape the heat and headed to the Joshua Tree Saloon, a local biker bar with a rough reputation. Feeling empowered by the day’s events, I crossed the threshold into the crush of straight bikers and cowboys. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I became increasingly self-conscious of my “Beverly Hills” ensemble.

My bravado began to weaken until a huge biker approached and said, “Ma’am, if you’re not married, I will marry you tomorrow!” Soon after a young man timidly approached to say he thought I was beautiful!

Everyone was having a good time just being themselves and I began to sense that these were good people. Maybe they didn’t know what was underneath my skirt, maybe they didn’t care. Some, including the owner, heard my speech and offered support! Complementary drinks arrived.

I can’t say exactly what I expected to bring to Joshua Tree Gay Pride, but I can say with certainty that I came away with a renewed sense of humanity, community and pride. My gratitude to the organizing committee and volunteers for producing such a spectacular event!

Elizabeth (Liz) Loren Maria Romanov
Her Most Imperial Majesty, Czarina of Riverside & Imperial Counties
liz@emeraldkingdom.org

Dove release generously produced & orchestrated by Tom Carlson High Desert Doves 760-413-9774

Before going into this issue’s Call to Action, I want to draw your attention to the individuals and businesses that Joshua Tree Gay Pride was so successful; it really does take a village!

Getting down to business, in case you’ve not heard, two pro-Equality candidates have gone out of their way to reach out to our community. Now they need our help if they are to have a real shot at winning in November. I’m referring to Pat Meagher (D), 41st Congressional District, and Carl Wood (D), 65th State Assembly District.

Call to Action this month, asks that you take just a few minutes to aid these men; here’s how.  Pledge to write a letter to the editor in support of either or both candidates. Decide which paper to write and the date you will do it and let me know in an email.

Not a letter writer? No problem. Give me the topic and the paper you’d like to see it in. That’s all! I’ll write it under your name, and after your approval, I’ll send it for you!

Because I’ve received minimal reader feedback since beginning Call to Action, this challenge may give me a sense of how many subscribers take it seriously. Nothing would make me happier than to be swamped with your emails.

If this assignment is more than you’re willing to take on, please consider allowing use of your name. I’ll send an advanced copy for your approval. If there’s any way to make it even easier for you to participate, let me know.

When people see lots of letters in support of a candidate they often follow the crowd. Bumper stickers are also a great way to build name recognition. And they don’t have to go on the bumper, consider the rear window? Email me if you want one.

- Donald is a retired financial planner living in Morongo Valley. Write him at CallToActionMB@aol.com.

I observed the Fourth of July 1984 holiday by visiting the birthplace and burial site of Carl Sandburg in Galesburg, Illinois. It was a moving and spiritually enriching experience.

Carl Sandburg was both a powerful voice for all the people of the U.S. and a genuine “Citizen of the World.” I have always admired him and I have read every word he ever wrote for publication.

While visiting Sandburg’s boyhood home I viewed a video of his life in which he was interviewed by a Chicago reporter. He was asked “What is the worst word in the English language?”

He answered without hesitation, “Exclusive.”

Sandburg deplored any separation of people because of sex, sexual orientation, race, religion, national origin, ethnic background or economic condition. And so do I!

It was Sandburg who wrote:

There is only one man in the world

and his name is All Men.

There is only one woman in the world

and her name is All Women.

There is only one child in the world

and the child’s name is All Children.

There is only one Maker in the world

and His children cover the earth

and they are named All God’s Children.

Rev. Dr. Louis Gerhardt is a minister, counselor and author. His weekly column, Tough Minded Optimism, appears in the Hi-Desert Star, Desert Trail & Observation Post. He counsels those of all religions or no religion.

Contact Rev. Lou at 760-367-4627, 800-995-1620 or res19mxc@verizon.net.

MORONGO BASIN—Hi-Desert LGBT News seeks writers and columnists to contribute to the newsletter.

If you have something to say (or write), then join the newsletter team. If you feel the newsletter doesn’t express your point of view, come join the team. Perhaps we’re not covering LGBT news of interest to you? If that’s the case, then let us know, or submit a report.

Our mission is to provide queer news of interest to you. Your feedback tells us how we’re doing, where we can improve, and helps to identify topics that matter to you.

Email us at HiDesertLGBTnews@aol.com or call Mike at 760-449-4048. No idea is too queer for us to report!

Last year’s JOSHUA TREE GAY PRIDE was a first for the Morongo Basin. Hundreds of local lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people, along with our families and many allied friends from every corner of the Basin gathered in Joshua Tree to enjoy art, music, dancing and networking. It was a day to celebrate who we are.

Joshua Tree was totally gay!

Last year’s Pride also saw the launch of this publication. I was already editor of a newsletter for Out & About, the local men’s social group, and wanted to morph that into a new publication with expanded coverage to include queer news of interest to women. The only barrier being the lack of a way to reach local lesbians. The solution involved a challenge and a promise.

The day of Pride, I set up a little table with a big poster challenging 50 lesbians to sign up for a free subscription and promising to launch the first issue of Hi-Desert LGBT News once they did. The goal was met in a few hours, and in a few weeks the first issue hit newsstands!

In the last year the number of local women subscribers nearly doubled, much more if you count those from Victor Valley. Some of the women who signed up then are now communicating. These are singles and couples who only 12 months ago felt isolated.

That development has been thrilling, but it needs to go to the next step. At least once a month, a local lesbian asks if I know another who might make for a good match. Of course I always draw a blank while my mind ponders the absurdity of this gay man playing matchmaker to local lesbians.

The benefits of forming a local lesbian group are obvious. All that is needed is one or two women to step forward and make it happen … pick a time and place and see who shows up. This newsletter offers an effective way to get the word out. I encourage local women to take advantage of it and build a network. Whether this network is social, political or spiritual is not so important. Reaching out and discovering who each other is seems like a reasonable first goal.

Women, here’s the Pride challenge: One of you name a time and place to meet. Get a clip board and pad of paper; then at Pride, sign up women to attend this ’organizing’ meeting. Later, send a reminder to the names on your pad!

Joining a Facebook group does not count as being active in your community. Won’t one of you accept this challenge? It’s called community service and your community needs it. It offers the potential to change lives for the better!

Have a happy, safe Pride.

Mike Lipsitz, Editor
Comment to: HiDesertLGBTnews@aol.com

June is LGBT Pride Month June is LGBT Pride Month; what could be a more appropriate Call to Action Call to Action than to ask that you vote Democratic in the June 8 Primary? We must participate even if our candidates run unopposed, as is the case with Pat Meagher and Carl Wood. Both are Democrats, unopposed in the primary, but running against two anti-equality incumbents in November. I strongly endorse both .

Pat Meagher wants Jerry Lewis’41st District Congressional seat. Carl Wood wants Paul Cook’s 65th District Assembly seat.  Both Lewis and Cook scored 0 out of 100 based on support of LGBT equality; while Meagher and Wood have publicly affirmed their patriotic allegiance to equality. Both Carl Wood and Pat Meagher will join us at JOSHUA TREE GAY PRIDE June 26.

Voters in the Victor Valley area Voters in the Victor Valley area have a similar opportunity to unseat two anti-gay incumbents in November. They are Steve Knight, Assembly District 36, and Anthony Adams, Assembly District 59. Knight and Adams also scored 0 out of 100 based on support of LGBT equality. The June 8 Primary determines who will challenge them. We endorse Shawntrice Watkins in the 36th District, and Darcel Woods in the 59th District.

The LGBT communities here have candidates willing to squarely align with our issues, shouldn’t we be willing to do something, anything, to get them elected? At the very least vote for them! Better yet, visit their web sites to see how you can help; or email me, I’ll let you know.

And by the way, if you don’t think Barbara Boxer is one of our biggest advocates and friends one of our biggest advocates and friends, you need to explain that to me.

The June primary is being bitterly fought in the Republican arena, but tell me what local Republican will do anything in support of equality. If you are Republican, and LGBT, I can’t understand why you vote against your interests. Where is your pride? Republicans fancy themselves ‘strong on foreign defense,’ yet remain distracted by their war on gays and lesbians wishing to serve in the military.

So what if you want to see less business regulation if it translates to open season on homosexuals in the workplace. As you read this, the GOP is trying to block the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. If you believe Republicans tend to be tougher on crime, consider their opposition to adding sexual orientation to hate crimes legislation. Wake up! They’re not tough on crimes against you.

And what good are GOP tax breaks when your family will likely be denied them? Without a marriage certificate, check out what happens when one partner dies. The government swoops in and takes a big cut of the survivor’s inheritance. And forget about social security survivor’s benefits.

If it’s the Republican promise of less Government that you like, how does that reconcile with their commitment to stand between you and your partner, or their efforts to strip a woman’s ’right to choose?’ That is not less Government.

Regardless of what you may like on a Republican platform, don’t expect access to any benefits. Instead you can count on being made scapegoat for any failures.

June’s Call to Action asks Republican LGBTs to look at June’s Call to Action asks Republican LGBTs to look at the GOP platform and see if there’s any room for you. the GOP platform and see if there’s any room for you. There isn’t, they don’t want you. It’s time to change your party affiliation; otherwise, we ask you to stay home June 8th.

And for LGBT Democrats, June’s Call to Action asks And for LGBT Democrats, June’s Call to Action asks you to vote our endorsements on June 8th. Follow our Equality Voter Guide (click here) to take the guesswork out of choosing candidates that have our community’s best interests at heart.

Donald is a retired financial planner living in Morongo Valley. Write Don at: CallToActionMB@aol.com.

Never forget that you have tremendous resources within you that will manifest themselves when you need them most.

I have found that when something disastrous actually happens to an individual, he or she usually discloses an extraordinary capacity to effectively meet the situation and to deal with its demands. He or she usually ends up not only master of the situation but often experiences a high degree of satisfaction from his or her decisions and actions during the difficult time.

You question these statements? Study the lives of the people about you. Observe the day-by-day courage being demonstrated by so many people with whom you have contact. Read the biographies—particularly of the people who have endured much hardship. It will strengthen you.

Why? Because it will remind you of the tremendous resources that are yours. You have nothing to fear—now or in the days that lie ahead. Even if the worst happens, you will be able to master circumstances—for you have reserves of strength that will disclose themselves. You will not only endure but you will prevail because your own innate resourcefulness, inherited from a thousand generations of embattled forbearers, will manifest itself and give you the strength you need.

Rev. Dr. Louis Gerhardt is a minister, counselor and author. His weekly column, Tough Minded Optimism, appears in the Hi-Desert Star, Desert Trail & Observation Post. He counsels those of all religions or no religion. You can contact Rev. Lou at 760-367-4627, 800-995-1620 or res19mxc@verizon.net.

In putting together this story, the aim was to demystify transgenders and create awareness of their presence locally.

The first interview was over lunch at Din Ho in Yucca Valley. Sitting across from Leslie Andrews, it struck me that I’d never permitted myself to see them, and had no understanding of their motivations and challenges.

My ignorance of the subject never stood in the way of offering answers when straight friends have consulted me on the curiosities of transgenders. The experience is not uncommon.

Listening to Leslie and Lexi’s stories made my own coming out experience seem struggle free, even trivial. I tried to imagine how it might be grow up with such certainty I belonged to the opposite gender that I’d want lose my penis and shed the masculinity that is my essence.

How powerful must be the compulsion to live as the gender of your brain and not your genitals? How difficult must it be to go to such irreversible lengths? Set aside the internal challenges to be overcome and imagine the bravery and fearlessness required to face friends, family, coworkers, everyone you come in contact with, and present as the opposite sex.

Ironically, TGs are often perceived as weak. Transgenders are routinely maligned, marginalized, and misunderstood. They are victims of assault and murder with alarming frequency. They experience double the average rate of poverty and unemployment; 97% report being harassed on the job; and 19% will be homeless at some point.¹ There’s no denying transgenders experience society at its most cruel.

Remarkably, my impression of both Leslie and Lexi is that they are happy. The internal and external challenges they must bravely overcome are apparently easier to attain than the prospect of going through life trying to conform to the gender you know is incorrect, denying your very essence.

Hearing their stories, realizing the lonely, extraordinary journey every transgender must discover aroused in me enormous compassion and respect. Never again will I forget to make room for them at the table; to the contrary, the transgender community can take the seat of honor.

- Mike Lipsitz, Editor

_______________
¹ National Transgender Discrimination Survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality & the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Nov. 2009. based on 6,450 transgender interviews.

ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (HR 3017), can be brought to the House floor for a vote when Nancy Pelosi decides to do so.

In 30 states, it’s legal to fire someone because of sexual orientation. ENDA would extend federal employment protections to gay, lesbian, and bisexual workers similar to those already provided based on race, religion, sex, national origin, age or disability.

LGBT organizations are calling for action, as are progressive organizations not identified primarily as LGBT. But the most important incentive comes from individual voices. Speaker Pelosi needs to hear from each of us. The squeaky wheel does get the oil. The more people calling for action from the bottom up, to elected representatives, the more likely a piece of legislation will get attention. Minorities who fail to demand their own equality do not fare well by quietly waiting for a good fairy godmother to make things right.

The time for passage of ENDA is now. Votes for passage exist today but may not after midterm elections. The replacement of a Democratic administration with a Republican administration in Virginia has demonstrated the readiness to bash the LGBT community. Virginia’s new Republican governor and attorney general have locked arms and revoked LGBT non-discrimination legislation already in place there.

The number of states allowing discrimination should be shrinking, not growing. ENDA is not a ‘States’ Rights’ issue. ENDA is a national mandate and passage will protect us from employment discrimination in all 50 states.

Republicans are responding to their noisy followers. Squeaky wheel Tea Partiers are making themselves heard. Homophobic churches get heard. We must squeak louder than they are in order to protect our own backsides.

April’s Call to Action asks that you call Nancy Pelosi’s office. Phone Speaker Pelosi and politely ask her to bring HR 3017 to the floor immediately. She is our friend but must hear from you in order to act. When, and if, she acts, please also send a thank you message.

Call 202-225-0100 or simply click this link http://www.speaker.gov/contact and complete the very short form.

Donald is a retired financial planner living in Morongo Valley. Send him your comments: CallToActionMB@aol.com.