Halloween for a Good Cause: Texas Gay Rights Lobby Holds Fund Raiser
The Lesbian Gay Rights Lobby (LGRL) of Texas benefits all gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered individuals in the state, including those living in Amarillo and the surround region. On Saturday, Oct. 30, Amarillo's gay community will be provided an opportunity to have fun while supporting our community's only state-wide organization, reports John Hintz, one of the event organizers.
A Halloween party (costumes encouraged) in the home of Joseph Madrid will offer one of the great social opportunities of the year while raising funds for a valuable state organization. Admission to the event will be $25 in advance or $30 at the door. All proceeds go to support LGRL with local sponsors funding all expenses related to the event, Hintz states.
Sponsorships (including two admissions) are available for $150. Last year's event featured a nearly infinite supply of food and drink and every type costume imaginable. A host of pregnant nuns and a number of Titanic's passengers and crew (including fish and seaweed) were among the number.
Anyone interested in purchasing tickets or providing a sponsorship can call John Hintz at 374-2907 or Joseph Madrid at 359-1521. Some of the accomplishments of LGRL during the past year include:
Hate Crimes -- LGRL was instrumental in the passage of the James Byrd Hate Crimes Act in the House. Unfortunately, the bill did not pass the Senate, largely due to influence from the Governor's office.
Adoption and Foster Care -- LGRL stopped bills by Warren Chisum and Robert Talton that would have banned gay and lesbian people from adopting children - including their own relatives. Texas is one of only two Southern states that have not passed anti-gay marriage laws.
Anti-Gay Marriage -- LGRL stopped a bill by Warren Chism that would have banned gay and lesbian marriage (although it is not currently legal).
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Community Calendar
Anyone wanting to include listings in the calendar can call 383-0165. Monday, Oct. 11 -- National Coming Out Day Saturday, Oct. 30 -- LGRL Fund Raiser Friday, Oct. 22, 8 p.m. -- Gay Night at Stage Right. Performance of the three man comedy "Complete History of America Abridged." Call early for reservations at 353-7888. Friday, Nov. 19, 8 p.m. -- Gay Night at Stage Right. "Einstien." Call early for reservations at 353-7888.
Ongoing: PFLAG -- Second Thursday of every month, 7 p.m., call 358-4810 for information OUTstanding Board Meeting -- First Thursday of every month
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When Pigs Fly (by Kay C. Peck)
My cat is black.
No this isn't the start of a kindergarten reading primer. I'm just
saying that people pick the darndest things to decide that they're scary.
My cat is absolutely terrifying ... if you happen to be a mouse cornered
in the kitchen. Luckily it's an experience I have not shared with my cat. I
just know that she's been known to leave half-mice (Usually the butt end. I
guess she likes the taste of mousey brains.) on the doorstep as gifts. I'm
not sure that it's a case of it being the "thought that counts." It's a
pretty disgusting gift of love. But, I have no doubt that my little black cat
loves me. That's not scary at all. I'm a little confused how this little
fur ball of love could have become a Halloween symbol of something scary.
A while back, a friend of friend, was very concerned that I truly know that she understood and appreciated me. She has always been a kind and supportive person, and I believe, in her own quiet way, she has been especially helpful in encouraging key people to accept me "queer" and all. She came out to me. No, she's not a lesbian. She's a witch. I still think she's cool. The "coming out" didn't affect my opinion of her at all, except, perhaps to make me think about the nature of "difference." This woman practices more of the "Christian" values I grew up with than many of those who sought to teach me their own version of Christian "love."
She's different. She follows a nontraditional faith, at least in this country, that seems to bring her to many of the same spiritual paths of those following traditional trails. She lives love and acceptance.
Sooooooo. My black cat isn't scary. My witch friend isn't scary. Why do we think of so much to do with Halloween as scary?
Maybe its because Halloween celebrates things we don't really understand. It's a time when that veil between the living and dead is supposed to be its thinnest, and we just don't know what that means. That journey is a one-way street. We don't know what's on the other side.
Sometimes, I think that's why all us pansexuals (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered) frighten those who live most fully in the box of traditionalism. Its tough to be taught there is only one way to live and then see people living so flagrantly outside the "box." For them, we MUST be monsters because there's not supposed to be a life outside their traditional world.
Now, as my friendship grows with my witch friend and ally, I see more clearly that we pansexuals are not alone. I've seen it elsewhere, too. Whether it's ethnicity, race, religious beliefs, philosophical bents, physical or mental disabilities, economic plight, brilliance ... whatever it is that makes people different also makes them richer as human beings. It can also make them frightening to anyone who cannot bear to think there is life on "the other side."
I'll take love ... pure and simple love ... wherever I find it. I'm proud there's a certain witch I can call friend. I've never seen her broomstick, but I've certainly seen the love in her life.
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Gay Night at Stage Right
Gay Night at Stage Right will begin this month with the performance of "Complete History of America Abridged" on Friday, Oct. 22. The play will run Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. from Oct. 15 through Nov. 6. Cost of admission is $8, and those planning to attend are encouraged to call early for reservations. The Stage Right number is 353-7888.
Stage Right, located at the corner of Washington and 45th, has co-hosted monthly gay movie nights with OUTstanding Amarillo for the past several months. As the community theater's production schedule geared up for the season, it became increasingly difficult to schedule movie nights around play performances. The dilemma was easily solved by designating one Stage Right performance each month as Gay Night at Stage Right. The monthly OUTstanding social activity.
The November Gay Night at Stage Right will be Friday, Nov. 19 for the performance of "Einstien," a biographical piece about the famed mathematician.
Stage Right's 1999-2000 season will also include:
"A Rocky Horror Christmas" in December; "The Clouds," a classical Greek
comedy spoofing Socrates, in January; "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" in
March and April; and, a gay classic, "Torch-Song Trilogy" in May.