October 13, 2006

PREPARE TO ACT: UP-COMING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

DRUG USER HEALTH: THE POLITICS AND THE PERSONAL

The 6th National Harm Reduction Conference has an incredible agenda now available on-line at http://harmreduction.org/6national/

The Harm Reduction Coalition expects more people than ever before at this year's not-to-be-missed conference. Register now and book your room - both are going fast!

Exhibition booths are still available but not for much longer. Click here to book space.

For the fashionistas among us, Gary Langis and Teresa Dulce are organizing a fashion show so you can model (and sell) your agency clothing. Contact Gary at glangis@cabhealth.org for more details.

Don't forget your dancing shoes for the Saturday night party or your soccer wear for the ad hoc East vs. West game.

The Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP NY) and the LGBT Community Center present...

LESSON PLANS FOR HOMOPHOBIA: Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, anti-gay harassment, and HIV stigma in schools

Tuesday, October 24th

6:30 - 8:30PM

LGBT Community Center

208 West 13th Street (between 7th/8th Aves.)

New York City

Free and open to the public

Refreshments will be provided.

Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs are one of the few growth industries in the domestic federal budget, and are stripping real HIV prevention education from public school curricula. But are these programs also being used to promote "hetero-only" beliefs into the schools? What do they say to young people who are LBTGQ, or who have gay parents? And do they promote HIV stigma by saying that the only safe relationships are with an "uninfected" spouse?

We will present new research linking abs-only programs to anti-gay harassment in high schools, and discuss what federally-funded marriage promotion means in the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and LGBT rights.

Speakers include:

Diana Bruce, AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families

Maxwell Ciardullo, Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS)

Elizabeth Diaz, Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN)

Shaquana Gardner, Teen Advocate Program – Planned Parenthood NYC, High School Student

Moderated by: Ann Northrup, Veteran AIDS activist/educator, co-host of the national TV show, "Gay USA"

Co-sponsored by: ACT UP New York, Advocates for Youth, Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP), Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC), LGBT Community Center, New York AIDS Coalition (NYAC), Planned Parenthood of NYC, Pro-Choice Public Education Project (PEP), Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), Youth CAHN (NYCAHN) (list in progress)

TRANSGENDER LEGAL RIGHTS

The New York City Bar Association is putting on a panel discussion about current judicial, legislative, and political developments on the local, state, and federal levels, affecting the legal and civil rights of trans people. It's open to all and free.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

7 pm - 9 pm

House of the New York City Bar Association, 42 West 44th Street

Panelists include legal experts from the Silvia Rivera Law Project, ACLU LGBT Project, the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy, and the Center for Reproductive Rights. Donna M. Levinshon from Warshaw Burstein Cohen Schlesinger & Kuh, LLP will be moderating.

BEYOND MARRIAGE: TOWARDS A NEW POLICY AGENDA FOR THE LGBT MOVEMENT

“The time has come to reframe the narrow terms of the marriage debate in the United States. Conservatives are seeking to enshrine discrimination in the U.S. Constitution through the Federal Marriage Amendment. But their opposition to same-sex marriage is only one part of a broader pro-marriage, “family values” agenda that includes abstinence-only sex education, stringent divorce laws, coercive marriage promotion policies directed toward women on welfare, and attacks on reproductive freedom. Moreover, a thirty-year political assault on the social safety net has left households with more burdens and constraints and fewer resources.”

- from the Beyond Same-Sex Marriage statement, already signed by over 1,000 advocates

Learn about the Beyond Same-Sex Marriage statement, and the effort to move beyond the narrow confines of today's marriage politics and towards a new strategy for securing governmental and private institutional recognition of the full diversity of partnerships, households, and families.

The panelists - all authors of the beyond marriage statement and leaders in the LGBT community – will discuss their vision for recognizing and strengthening ALL families and relationships.

Panelists include:

Terry Boggis, Director, Center Kids, the family program of The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center

Joseph N. DeFilippis, Executive Director, Queers for Economic Justice

Lisa Duggan, Professor and Director of American Studies, New York University

Kenyon Farrow, Co-Editor, Letters from Young Activists: Today's Rebels Speak Out, and Author, "Is Gay Marriage Anti-Black?"

Amber Hollibaugh,Senior Strategist, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

Please click here to RSVP.

RSVP is not required, but is appreciated.

The Housing Works AIDS Issues Update is reported, written and edited by Diana Scholl, David Thorpe, Christine Campbell, terri smith-caronia and Housing Works staff. Send your feedback, leads and story ideas to d.scholl@housingworks.org.

You can reach us by phone at 212-967-1500 x168, by fax at 212-868-4222, and by email at d.scholl@housingworks.org. Housing Works provides housing, advocacy and services to homeless people living with AIDS and HIV. Housing Works is the nation's largest community-based AIDS organization and the nation's largest minority-controlled AIDS organization.

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