Mission:
OUTstanding Amarillo promotes empowerment and acceptance of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender population of the Texas Panhandle by initiating dialogue, providing education, and creating support systems with the ultimate goal of social change.
NALGBTCC Member
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NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE - APRIL 2000
Stage Right Presents Gay Classic
A gay classic will come to Amarillo with Stage Right's production of Harvey Fierstein's tale
of Arnold the drag queen. "Torch Song Trilogy" brings to life the trials and joys of a gentle, caring
man who happens to make his living performing in drag.
The play will run each Friday and Saturday night at 8 p.m. from May 5th through the 20th.
Friday, May 12 has been designated as the official Gay Night at Stage Right (located at 46th and
Washington) for May, and it is hoped that the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered community
will turn out in force to support Stage Right's performance of a play that has made personal to
many thousands, both gay and straight, the issues affecting glbt people.
The Friday, April 28, Gay Night at Stage Right will be a road show as members of the glbt
community join the audience for a special performance of "Romeo and Juliet" at the centercourt in
Western Plaza. The play starts at 8 p.m. and is free to all at
tending. Everyone is encourage to wear their Gay Pride items for a subtle community awareness and to make it easier to recognize who is attending as a part of Gay Night at Stage Right.
Amarillo's Pride 2000
Organization Underway
Organization is underway for the Gay Pride Picnic on Saturday, June 24. Anyone interested in having a vender booth, in participating in the volleyball tournament, or in being an event sponsor is encouraged to contact OUTstanding Amarillo as soon as possible at 383-0165.
Community Calendar
Anyone wanting to include listings in the calendar can call 383-0165.
Thursday, April 13, 6:30 p.m. -- Panhandle Triangle Association community meeting, Open
Mind, 519 E. 10th.
Friday, April 28, 8 p.m. -- Gay Night at Stage Right (on location) at the Western Plaza
Centercourt for a performance of "Romeo and Juliet."
Friday, May 12, 8 p.m. -- Gay Night at Stage Right, "Torchsong Trilogy," a gay classic by
Harvey Fierstein
Saturday, June 24 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. -- Gay Pride Picnic at Thompson Park
Ongoing:
PFLAG -- Second Thursday of every month, 7 p.m., call 358-4810 for information
OUTstanding Board Meeting -- First Thursday of every month. Call 383-0165 for information.
Youth Socials sponsored by OUTstanding every Friday night, 7 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist at
4901 Cornell.
Guest Editorial
THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL
(by Donna Red Wing, OUTgiving Director for the Gill Foundation)
In many ways, marches are nothing new to those who have spent time organizing for social
justice and civil rights. In my younger years, I marched for peace. As an adult, I organized a
march across the entire state of Oregon as part of the efforts to stop anti-gay bigotry and
discrimination. And I have marched on our nation's capitol with hundreds of thousands of gay,
lesbian, bisexual, transgender people and our allies.
I have spent my life fighting for what I believed was right. As part of that fight, I have marched.
And while my commitment to social justice for our entire community has never wavered, never
before has my marching been so focused on my life and the love of my life, Sumitra. This march is
different. This time, it's profoundly personal.
I began to seriously work on the issue of marriage in 1994, as the national field director of
the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. I attended some of the first national marriage
roundtables,
working with extraordinary people like Evan Wolfson, Donald Suggs, Jim Key, Billy Kahn and
Sky Johnson. It was an issue that had, for me, moved from the political to the personal.
A few years before, my partner Sumitra and I met a lesbian couple in Oregon. I'll call them
Annie and Carol. Together for 15 years, they adored each other. They were older, smart and had
the means to develop - with their lawyers - power-of-attorneys, living wills and all of the things we
need to protect our rights because we cannot legally marry.
One Memorial Day weekend they had driven their new camper to the mountains. The day
after they were to return home, Carol called to say that Annie had died.
They had returned home, flush with the excitement of their camping trip. Annie was in the shower.
Carol was reading in bed. She heard a crashing sound and ran into the bathroom to see that Annie
had fallen. She was unconscious.
The hospital
refused to allow Carol to be with Annie. She was not family, they said. While Carol was on the
phone with her lawyers, arranging for the paperwork to be delivered to the hospital, Annie died.
Alone.
The funeral home would not allow Carol to arrange the funeral. Carol was forced to call
Annie's ex-husband, who graciously arranged the funeral that Carol dictated and paid for.
In 1995, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It was dangerous and incredibly frightening.
The night before I was to be admitted to the hospital could have been my last. I wanted to tell
Sumitra all the things I needed to tell her. I wanted to hold her. I wanted to spend time with my
dogs. And I wanted to savor the things and the people I loved. None of us knew how I would, or
even if I would, emerge from surgery.
Instead, we spent that last night with our lawyer. I had to make decisions about property. Sumitra
had no rights as my family or spouse. I had to decide, t
hat night, when and if to stop lifesaving endeavors. I had to make decisions about my care. And
the last thing I had to decide was how to dispose of "the body," my body, if I died.
That night, in a most profound and visceral manner, I understood that I was, at best, a
second-class citizen. And until Sumitra and I had all of the rights and responsibilities of marriage,
we would continue to be treated as somehow less than.
Because I cannot marry the woman I love. Because Annie died alone. Because our
relationships are just as sacred and just as magical as anyone else's, I am marching on Washington
on April 30, 2000. And I'll be marching with Sumitra.
Editorial
WHEN PIGS FLY
(by Kay C. Peck)
I cried when I read Donna Red Wing's guest editorial (see page 3). At the time, I had no
way of knowing that a few days later I would be sitting beside her at a session on gay and lesbian
donors at a national fund raising conference in New Orleans. I told her I appreciated the article.
It wasn't enough.
I saw in the person as well as her written words the kind of personal courage that makes the
world a better place ... one small victory at a time.
My thanks to Donna and to all those who live life to the fullest, love with all their hearts and
still have the courage to risk it all in trying to create a better world.
Before Donna's article, I was ambivalent about the fight for marital rights. She changed my
perspective. I'll still strive first for partner benefits because I think that's the next successful step,
but she's right. It's personal.
When I was in the Navy, I once realized that if I died, the flag on my casket would go to my mother, not my lover. It was a haunting thought and
part of what made me leave the service I loved.
Marriage matters. As much as I can, I'll be a part of this fight.
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