Center Blog

At the Center, we hear many stories. Some depict challenges, injustice and discrimination and others are uplifting and inspiring.  Since 1993, the Center’s heard stories from members of our community about how our military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (DADT) policy resulted in 13,000 gay, lesbian and bisexual people discharged from the military.  This policy required LGBT military service members to keep their orientation secret in order to continue serving in the military.

The time to repeal DADT is now! As military officials begin sharing their stories and the press reports the antiquated policy’s impact, it is time for us to be heard. The Associated Press reported that, Adm. Mike Mullen, “The military’s top uniformed officer [...] made an impassioned plea for allowing gays to serve openly in uniform, telling a Senate panel it was a matter of integrity and that it is wrong to force people to ”lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.”

We are inspired by NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s project, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Stories and her call for hearings to repeal #DADT in the senate. She started her new website because she “thought that the more stories we could bring to bear into the public discourse, [the more] it will move this debate forward to a place where we will earn the 60 votes we need to repeal it.”

We encourage you to get involved by visiting the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Stories Project, sharing your story and signing their petition.

http://dadtstoryproject.com

For more information about other campaigns to overturn DADT, please visit Human Rights Campaign.

Did you know that the Center has an initiative that brings together advocates from LGBT liberation and reproductive justice movements? It’s called Causes in Common, and we’re happy to announce that the third annual Causes in Common National Coalition Meeting begins today. The first National Coalition Meeting was held on May 30th, 2007 in Chicago. It was a huge success, with over seventy-five representatives in attendance. This year, on November 5th and 6th in Washington, D.C., representatives from Causes in Common member organizations will examine the history of the important intersection of Reproductive advocacy and LGBT equality, and strategize ways to move forward. Attendees will have the opportunity to attend sessions on access and allies in the Obama Administration; workshops on how to engage a new generation of activists; and work together to further develop strategies for a domestic human rights agenda.

So what does the reproductive justice movement have to do with LGBT equality, anyway? The Causes in Common website points to some significant historical connections, the legal underpinnings and shared enemies of both movements, and identifies policy intersections. Other LGBT organizations have noticed the connection as well. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force contributed to the creation of a map that ranks states on reproductive and sexual rights.

The Center is proud to be on the forefront and working towards shared goals for reproductive and LGBT equality. Find out more by visiting the Causes in Common website.

Cross posted from Joe. My. God.:

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand will appear at NYC’s LGBT Center at 3:30PM this Sunday, where she will speak about the repeal of DADT and DOMA.

As a New York progressive, Senator Gillibrand strongly believes in equal rights for all. Since her time in the House of Representatives, she has spoken out in support of full marriage equality, becoming one of the first members of the U.S. Senate to favor full marriage rights for same sex couples. In the U.S. Senate, Senator Gillibrand is working on an aggressive agenda to provide equal rights for all, including eliminating the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in our armed forces, protecting people of all sexual orientations and gender identities from hate crimes and employment discrimination, and repealing the Defense of Marriage Act. This event is an opportunity for New York City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community leaders to meet your new Senator, learn more about her agenda and discuss your priorities.

To attend, RSVP at the above link.

See original post at http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2009/10/sunday-sen-kirsten-gillibrand-to-appear.html

Ride with the Center to the National Equality March this Sunday, October 11, in Washington, DC. The Center is giving away bus tickets one of our Facebook fans and one of our Twitter followers.  Enter the contest by 5PM today, October 8, 2009!

On Facebook, first become a fan of the Center at facebook.com/lgbtcenternyc. Find our wall post about this contest, and post a comment by 5PM today! We’ll send the winner a message. The winner will get two free bus tickets from NYC to DC this Sunday, October 11.

On Twitter, first follow the Center at twitter.com/LGBTCenterNYC. Then tweet by 5PM – include both @LGBTCenterNYC the hashtag #NEM in your tweet. We’ll direct message the winner! The winner will get two free bus tickets from NYC to DC this Sunday, October 11.

If you don’t win, you can always buy bus tickets on the Center’s website!  See you in DC!

The National Equality March is this Sunday, October 11, 2009
Attend a Planning Meeting Tonight, October 6, 8-10PM
Purchase Bus Tickets on the Center’s Website & in the Lobby

Message from Bruce Anderson, Interim Executive Director

It’s not too late to be part of the historic National Equality March this weekend in Washington, DC. Bus tickets are now available on the Center’s website and in our lobby. There is also a planning meeting tonight at the Center. We look forward to marching with New York City’s LGBT community on Sunday!

Buy Bus Tickets Today

The Center is pleased to join The National Equality March in inviting you to ride with us from New York City to Washington, DC, on Sunday, October 11th, 2009. Tickets are available now at gaycenter.org/nationalqualitymarch. Tickets are also available in our lobby; call 212-620-7310 for more information.

Buy your tickets now. In less than one week, buses will depart at 6AM on October 11th from a growing list of locations around the city, at prices lower than any of the commercial bus lines. They return to NYC by 10:30PM that night. Making this important trip couldn’t be easier. So get your friends together and make a day of it.

Buy tickets online by Thursday to win VIP Tickets to the 2010 GLAAD Media Awards Gala or Gold Passes to the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force’s Winter Party in Miami. There are no passengers on this journey. We are all activists and we all have a roll to play in making the March a huge success. If you purchase your bus tickets online by Thursday, you could win VIP tickets to the 2010 GLAAD Media Awards or a pair of Gold Passes to the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force’s Winter Party in Miami. Buy bus tickets now.

Together we will make history. Purchase your bus tickets now and join us in DC.

Attend a Planning Meeting Tonight at the Center

Tuesday, October 6, 8-10PM

The Center, 208 W. 13th Street (Map)

Come network, strategize, and share information at the New York City Mobilization Meeting for the National Equality March! Find more information at gaycenter.org/nationalqualitymarch and www.nationalequalitymarch.com.

Cross posted from Joe. My. God.:  

National Equality March founder Cleve Jones spoke long and passionately to an enthusiastic overflow crowd at NYC’s LGBT Center last night. Numerous well-known activists were in attendance, including Brendan Fay, Gilbert Baker, Lt. Dan Choi, Brandon Brock, and Jeff Campagna, but the only real dissent came from Gay City News’ Andy Humm (pictured above on the right, Father Tony on the left). Humm demanded to know what the concrete goals of the March were, leading Jones to repeat his earlier call for “full civil equality in all 50 states.”

Mentioning complaints about the March’s short lead time, Jones criticized earlier March On Washington events (which had many notable problems), prompting the organizer of the 1987 MOW to lengthily defend its tactics. Jones responded by citing Facebook and other tools of the digital age as obviating the need for yearlong planning. Father Tony provides the video clip below of Jones opening his speech.

Labels: activism, Andy Humm, Cleve Jones, LGBT Community Center, National Equality March

See original post at http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2009/09/cleve-jones-at-nyc-lgbt-center.html

Cleve Jones

Wednesday, September 23, 7PM

This Wednesday, September 23, please join us for a conversation with one of America’s most renowned gay rights activists, Cleve Jones, about the National Equality March, which is scheduled for October 11, 2009, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Cleve Jones began a career in activism working with Harvey Milk. He later founded the AIDS Memorial Quilt and continues to be one of our community’s most influential voices.

Earlier this year, he called for a national march on Washington to mobilize a grassroots movement to achieve full civil equality at the federal level and in all fifty states.

On October 11th, 2009, we will gather in Washington, D.C., from all across America to let our elected leaders know that now is the time for full equal rights for LGBT Americans.

Come hear him explain why our time is now.

Transportation options will be discussed as well.

Location: The Center, 208 W. 13th Street, New York, NY (Map)

Free and open to the public.

Learn more about this event at the Center’s website.

Find this event on Facebook, and invite your friends!

If you have questions about the event, please email a.meadows@nationalequalitymarch.com.

Learn more about the march at National Equality March.

Check out the Center’s YouTube channel, YouTube.com/LGBTCenterNYC, to see From the Shadows to the Sunlight, which chronicles the first year of the LGBT movement from the Stonewall riots of 1969 to the Gay Liberation Day March in 1970.  A new video from this 18-part series is being uploaded to YouTube each day starting September 1, 2009.  Please subscribe to the Center’s YouTube channel today.

Go to the series playlist on YouTube or watch below:

About the series: In June 2008 several individuals who were active in the gay liberation movement of the late sixties and early seventies held a panel at the Center to share their experience. It was sponsored by Services and Advocacy for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Elders (SAGE). The program called ‘From the Shadows to the Sunlight’ focused on the first year of the LGBT movement from the Stonewall riots of 1969 to the Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day March in 1970.

Watch the Center’s Former Executive Director Richard Burns in a segment called “Center Spaces,” part of IN THE LIFE’s July 2009 episode, “Civil Disobedience.”  Watch the July 2009 episode now.

You can also watch the “Center Spaces” segment here (from youtube.com/itlmedia):

From IN THE LIFE:

This July, IN THE LIFE is proud to present part II of its Summer of Stonewall series celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Stonewall Riots, “Civil Disobedience.” We don’t know for sure what happened when police officers raided the Stonewall Inn. What is known is that on that historic night, when LGBT patrons united to fight back against harassment and brutality, a movement was born. This month, IN THE LIFE looks at how this historic act of civil disobedience ignited a movement for LGBT civil rights.

To watch now, go to: http://www.inthelifetv.org/html/episodes/75.html

Transgender Basics is a 20 minute educational film on the concepts of gender and transgender people by the Gender Identity Project (GIP).  It is now available on YouTube and DVD.  DVDs can be ordered on the GIP website.  Check it out!

Go to YouTube to comment on or share this video.

In Transgender Basics, two providers from the Gender Identity Project discuss basic concepts of gender – sex, identity and gender roles – as three transgender community members share their personal experiences of being trans and genderqueer.

The film targets service providers and others working with the LGBT community, but it also provides a fascinating glimpse into gender and identity for the general public.

Go to the Gender Identity Project’s website.