| Keeping the Faith a column by Thom Ballantine Do you have a fear of God? Many of the glbt community do. Far too often, we are shunned by the "Keepers of the Faith." I know from the personal experience of having been turned away from the church I had been a member of since childhood, for twenty- |
 |
| From the Triangular Office -- April Executive Notes by Roy M. Fique |
| Volume I, Issue ii April, 2003 |
 |
| of Westminster, Carroll County, Maryland |
 |
| N E W S L E T T E R |
|
| PFLAG's Mission Statement: PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, their families and friends, through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and secure equal civil rights. Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity. PFLAG-Westminster Meeting Time First Thursday of Every Month, at 7:30pm in Harrison House(the green one), on Main St. across from the College. Next PFLAG-Westminster Meeting: Thursday, April 3, 2003 PFLAG-Westminster: Officers Paul M. Himes, President Roy M. Fique, Vice President Candice Herron, Secretary Matthew S. McGowan, Treasurer [Position Open], Member-at-Large Other Contacts: Our Founders Thom Ballantine, 410-840-9932 Patty Sundberg, 410-751-8913 1234 Address Street Westminster, MD 21158 Email: pflagwestminster@yahoo.com Web: www.oocities.org/pflagwestminster |
|
 |
| March, 2003 Minutes - Business Meeting as recorded by Candace Herron, PFLAG-Westmister Secretary. To be approved at the April Meeting, on Thursday, April 3, 2003. From the PFLAG Meeting held at Harrison House, on the campus of McDaniel College, on the 6th day of March, 2003: Call to Order: 7:45 pm. Introductions: Attendees introduce themselves. All members are reminded that the identities and stories shared at PFLAG are, except for one's own, confidential. February Meeting's Minutes are approved, after being read by Candace Herron, Secretary. Membership Explained by Matt McGowan, Treasurer. -Membership offers newsletters (national and local) and discounts - $15 per household, $10 for each member past the first. - $100 lifetime membership to PFLAG-Westminster. - Each year, $10 per household and $5 per extra member of each householf go to PFLAG National. PFLAG-Westminster will cover the dues of lifetime members for as long as they remain active. Current Budget: $111, reported by Matt McGowan. Website Information, reported by Roy Fique - archive of newsletters - calendar of events - links to local and national support agencies and "hot spots." - email addresses - if we don't have yours and you want our mailings (until we have the resources for snail mailings), we need it. Bylaws - coordinated by Paul M. Himes. - bylaws cannot be passed without members. - we will revisit the bylaws in a few months, as Judy Hoff states we have 6 months to complete paperwork. - Judy also suggests a change: make the number of board members odd, to break ties. Judy Hoff, special guest - Judy Hoff is the Regional Director of PFLAG - She grew up in Carroll County. - Spoke of upcoming Mid-Atlantic Conference (see calendar) *Judy and her partner will be involved in the trans. workshop. Announcements - Roy Fique: Holocaust Museum in D.C. has a reception within its Persecution of Homosexuals Exhibit (which is on-going). Reception to include guest lecturers, etc. - Judy, a parent: Always My Child. Great new guide for parents. Discussion - Parental concerns: Did parents know before their kids came out? How do moms and dads differ in this regard? - AIDS Concerns Business Meeting Adjourned at: 8:45pm. |
| In the News: In Black, and White, and Pink by Thom Ballantine |
| Gay Life reported that on March 5, 2003, Baltimore's Mayor Martin O'Malley appointed David Costello, the Director of the Mayor's Office of Community Foundation and Non-Profit Investment, as his new liason and Chair to the administration's Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Costello replaces Gerry Shields, Commications Director for Baltimore City, who replaced the Mayor's original liason Steve Kearney six months ago. Costello said that he was chosen because O'Malley wanted someone close to him to serve as a trouble-shooter and resolve the issues facing the Task Force. Mayor O'Malley created the task force in 2001, after a scandal involving Baltimore Housing Commissioner Paul F. Graziano, to expand the communications between Baltimore City officials and the LGBT community when problems transpire. The task force tackled issues such as transgender discrimination but fell under criticism by several of its own members who voiced concern that the task force lacked direction and that interest had dried up. They noted that Shields never convened another meeting after the task force was formed in reaction to a bad situation; because of this, several board members resigned after being dissatisfied with responses they were given when they aired their concern that the task force was ineffective. Costello plans to convene a meeting in the coming weeks. He plans to meet quarterly and when there is a pressing issue to be discussed. His goals are for the task force to be community driven so that their agenda will reflect the LGBT community. He raises the issue of whether a member of the LGBT community should chair the task force, and has said that, "I would stay on it because we want to keep a close link to the Mayor's office." Other task force members are: Kevin Brown, Director of PR for the Baltimore Dept. of Housing; Don Davis, Owner of Central Station; Alvin Gillard, Ex. Dir. of Baltimore Community Relations Commission; Baltimore City Police Lieut. Paul Aerman; Rev. Harris Thomas, Unity Fellowship Church; Charlotte Wing, Dir. of Pupil Svcs. for Balt. Co. Pub. Schools, as well as Ann Gordon, Charles Hopwood, Louis Hughes, Vanista Hunte, Mary Konchar and Chris Muldownay. |
|
| After much hard work from our dedicated membership, I am pleased to announce that our group has been recognized as an offical chapter by PFLAG National. PFLAG-Westminster, Carroll County has been born. We could not have come so far so quickly without the care and support of the family and friends who make up our group. Thank you all, it means a lot to me to see this through, and we are now well on our way. Our major focus at the moment is a membership drive. Now that we are an official chapter, we must also have our local group members become members of the national PFLAG organization. As an offical member you will receive, among other benefits: both the national and our newsletter (at your request, mailings can be discreet or not at all); invitations to local and national events, and the right to a vote at meetings. Types of membership and prices are in the March minutes, to the right. Anyone with problems or concerns should talk to a Board member. And, of course, donations are always welcomed. This community has long needed a supportive and educational group like PFLAG to help set things to rights. I admit, I was amazed to find so many wonderful, supportive people willing to give their time and energy to help form this chapter. We are off to a great start; and I know that, together, we can help one another and our community in the years to come. A printable copy of our membership application can be found on our website, by following the 'Membership' link. |
|
|
 |
| five years, after the powers-that-be learned I was gay. Ultimately, this was a blessing from God in surprise, as it spurred me on to find accepting congregations to worship with and to develop my relationship with God, without fear. And to my great joy, I found that there are assemblies of faithful people who are accepting of the glbt community and openly invite us to comminion. Even here in Carroll County. I've contacted dozens of churches in the Westminster area. The following are congregations whose pastors have told me that God's glbt children are welcome. |
| Cedar Hurst Unitarian Universalist St. John's Catholic Church St. Mary's United Church of Christ St. Matthew's United Church of Christ |
| St. Paul's United Church of Christ Trinity United Church of Christ Westminster Church of the Brethren |
| I will continue to report more Open-Accepting-Confirming congregations as I discover them. As well, I propose that PFLAG-Westminster, Carroll County, invite the pastors and leaders of these churches to introduce themselves to us at our meetings. I envision, possibly, a panel and discussion of spiritual issues as they pertain to the glbt community. In future columns, I plan to report on Houses of Worship that are not supportive or are anti-glbt. Additionally, future columns will discuss scripture often used to support the argument that homosexuality is condemned by God. |
|
| Other Information The following links represent other pages on this PFLAG website that contain info that will be part of hard-copy newsletters, once we start making them. The copies of this and other e-newsletters which will be available at meetings will include print-outs of the pertinent info from below. Calendar of Events To see a calendar of pertinent, upcoming PFLAG and other events over the next several months, click here. Membership Information/Application Form Click here for a printable copy of our application form, with info about the various levels of membership, costs, benefits, etc. **-this form will be put on the website during the first week of April, 2003. Free State Justice Action Alert and Event Reminder Click here for info on pending legislation which will affect those in the lgbt community, positively or negatively. Click here for info on the upcoming production by Goucher College of The Laramie Project, the play about the life and death of Matthew Shepard which has sparked discourse about tolerance all over the country. |
|
|
| This PFLAG-Westminster Newsletter was produced by: Thom Ballantine, Roy Fique, and Matthew McGowan, for PFLAG-Westminster. Any requests to use or re-produce the information above should be directed to pflagwestminster@yahoo.com. |
|