RA-news Newsletter of the Rainbow Alliance at the University of Florida October 2005, Vol. 4, No. 1

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Please contribute to the Rainbow Alliance Fund. Next Rainbow Alliance Dinner: Rainbow Alliance Members are invited to attend the Sixth Annual Pride Awards Dinner, Friday, October 7. Tickets are $25.00 and are available only in advance. Tickets can be purchased by contacting Elaine at elaine@gainesvillepride.org; or, at Wild Iris Books, from PRIDE Board members, or at the Pride Community Center of North Central Florida Upcoming Events 10/7 -- Pride Awards Banquet -- Savannah Grande; Mixer at 6; Dinner at 7 10/8 -- LGBT Homecoming Event -- Graham Gallery; Begins 11 am 10/15 -- Pride Parade and Festival 10/20 -- Welcome Reception -- Keene Faculty Center; 5-6:30 pm 11/10 -- UF Faculty Conversation about Faculty Diversity, Recruitment and Retention -- 9 am - 12 noon, Rion Ballroom 11/18 -- An Evening with Ronni Sanlo 11/20 -- Transgender Day of Remembrance 12/1 -- "Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise." World AIDS Day The Rainbow Alliance is the staff and faculty organization at the University of Florida concerned with matters related to sexual orientation and gender identity. RA welcomes all members of the University community who share its goals.

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Contents Features Pride Awards Banquet Brings LGBT Community Together LGBT Homecoming Event for Alumni, Students, Faculty and Staff Gainesville Pride Celebration LGBT Faculty and Staff Welcome Reception Payroll Deduction is the Easy to Give to the Rainbow Alliance Fund Florida Football Featured on Outsports.com Progress in Connecticut Congress Considers the "Uniting American Families Act" Setback in California? Recommended Reading: Tango Makes Three Departments Update on RA Projects Contributing to the Rainbow Alliance Fund Resources Help us Build the Rainbow Alliance Contributors to This Issue of RA-News

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Features

Pride Awards Banquet Brings LGBT Community Together From the Gainesville Pride Web site... 6th Annual Community Awards Dinner Savannah Grande • 301 North Main St., Gainesville, FL Friday, October 7th • 7-8:30 pm • $25.00 Keynote Speaker TAMARA COHEN There will be a Social Mixer and Silent Auction immediately before the Dinner from 6 to 7 PM. The featured keynote speaker will be Tamara Cohen, Director of LGBT Affairs at the University of Florida. Don’t miss out the opportunity to find out who will be recognized as the 2005 Woman, Man, and Community Person of the Year! For the first time, Pride Community Center will be announcing its own Award for Business of the Year. Be sure to come as early as 6 PM for the pre-Dinner social and an eclectic and fun Silent Auction. At 7 PM the Dinner Buffet begins, followed by the awards ceremony and our Keynote Speaker, Tamara Cohen. Advance ticket sales are required for the Awards Dinner; sorry but no tickets can be sold at the door. Tickets are $25 and will not be mailed; they can be picked up at the banquet. Tables sponsors (8 per table) are available for $250. Tickets and table sponsorships can be purchased by contacting Elaine at elaine@gainesvillepride.org; or, at Wild Iris Books, from PRIDE Board members, or at the Pride Community Center of North Central Florida. Contributions for the Silent Auction are also being accepted. Please contact Mark Elliott at 352-331-2735 if you have an item you would like to donate. TAMARA COHEN: A Brief Bio --- Dinner Keynote Speaker Tamara Cohen is the first Director of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs at the University of Florida. Prior to assuming this position in September 2004, Tamara worked as a writer, community educator, consultant and activist for a variety of social justice and feminist organizations in the New York City area. Tamara was the Program Director of Ma’yan: The Jewish Women’s Project at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, one of the first such centers to include programming for gays and lesbians, for close to ten years. Tamara co-founded Jewish Activist Gays and Lesbians in 1994, one of the first organizations aimed at combating homophobia in the Jewish community. Tamara holds a B.A. from Barnard and an M.A. from Sarah Lawrence College. She has lived in Gainesville for four years with her partner Gwynn Kessler who is an assistant professor at the University of Florida. [top]

LGBT Homecoming Event for Alumni, Students, Faculty and Staff October 8 is University of Florida Homecoming this year. LGBT Affairs and Rainbow Alliance are cooperating with LGBT alumni to host an event before and during the game. The event will begin at 11 am at Graham Area. Join us for food and beverages. Catch up with Gator friends. At 12:30, guests can view the game against Mississippi State upstairs in Graham Gallery. Drop by or stay for the whole game. See you there! and Go Gators! History of Homecoming [top]

Gainesville Pride Celebration Each October, Gainesville lights up with the events of Pride Celebration of Gainesville. The most visible events are the Pride Parade on University Avenue, and the Pride Festival, held after the Parade at the Downtown Plaza. But these are just two of many events that will take place during Pride week, this year starting October 7 with the Pride Awards Banquet and running through Ocotber 15, the date of the Pride Parade and Festival. A sample list of events includes: October 9 -- Pride picnic at Westside Park October 9 -- Pride service at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship October 11 -- Fundraiser for the Gainesville Area Aids Project at Cold Stone Creamery October 11 -- HRC Town Meeting at United Church of Christ October 12 -- Pride Bowling Night October 13 -- GLBT Contra Dance in downtown Gainesville October 16 -- Garden Party at Spikes Throughout the week -- GLBT Film Festival at the Hippodrome Get the whole story, see all the events... [top]

LGBT Faculty and Staff Welcome Reception On October 20, 2005, a special reception for new faculty and staff at the University of Florida will be held at the Keene Faculty Center from 5 to 6:30 pm. The purpose of event is to introduce new faculty and staff to LGBT resources for them at the University of Florida, including the Rainbow Alliance and the LGBT Affairs Office. The first such event was held last school year and it was a great time to get together and hear from Dr. Machen about his support for diversity at the University. Attendance was great. We're hoping for an even bigger turnout this year. [top]

Payroll Deduction is the Easy to Give to the Rainbow Alliance Fund Contributing to the Rainbow Alliance Fund is one way to be sure that your contributions will benefit LGBTstudies and resources at the University of Florida. No money is drawn from the fund to pay for Rainbow Alliance. The easiest way for UF employees to contribute is to set up payroll deduction. A few dollars every pay period can add up to a significant contribution over a year's time. for example, five dollars every two weeks will contribute $130 a year to the fund. Ten dollars every two weeks means $260 a year for the fund. To start payroll deduction, you fill out a simple form and send it to the University of Florida Foundation. You can find this form on the Foundation Web site. Select the "Library" menu, then "Business Forms". The form is the UFF-R. The form is also on the Rainbow Alliance Web site. Click here. It will take ten minutes, and it will make a big difference. [top]

Florida Football Featured on Outsports.com How to cover the fall football season. Reporter Todd Heustess decided to get the true flavor of college football by making a "tailgate pilgirmage." He decided that during the season he would visit and report on at least five college football games. One of those reports is from Gainesville as Heustess joins in on the UF-Tennessee game. The story is accompanied by photos that record some pre-game festivities, some Gator mania, and some of Heustess's distractions. Heustess was hosted in Gainesville by membersof Pride Student Union Nate Pearman and Brian Davis. Read the story [top]

Progress in Connecticut Connecticut has become the third state in the US to offer same-sex couples legal recognition of their relationships. The other two states are Vermont, which also has civil unions, and Massachusetts, where same-sex couples can marry. Public Act No. 05-10, “An Act Concerning Civil Unions,” was passed by the state legislature on April 20, 2005, to become effective Oct. 1, 2005. Reaction to the measure was mixed. Civil unions represent progress but they are nowhere near equivalent to marriage, and no same-sex union in the country is acknowledged by the federal government. Nevertheless, Connecticut's decision gives same-sex couples in that state additional protections. As important as many ways is the acceptance the new law confers on same-sex relationships. The people of Connecticut will have the same opportunity to see how natural a part of society same-sex couples are as citizens in Vermont and Massachusetts have. At some point, same-sex marriage bans will come up in the US Supreme Court based on the full faith and credit clause on the US Consitution. Three states will now be on the side of same-sex unions. The law only applies to citizens of Connecticut. Read more [top]

Congress Considers the "Uniting American Families Act" Normally, anything Congress conisders that includes the word "family" is anti-LGBT, but the Uniting American Families Act would allow U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to sponsor their permanent same-sex partenrs for immigration. The law would allow same-sex couples the same rights as opposite-sex couples. It does not apply to non-married opposite-sex couples, who have a remedy through marriage. Read more on the National Center for Lesbian Rights Web site Read more about Immigration Equality [top]

Setback in California? On September 29, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill passed by both houses of the California legislature that would have made same-sex marriage legal in the state. Schwarzenegger had pledged to veto the bill some days before, reasoning that same-sex marriage is set for consideration by the California Supreme Court, and that if the Court finds California's prohibition against same-sex marriage unconstitutional, this bill is unnecessary, and if the prohibition is found constitutional, the bill is ineffective. Because the issue is due for the Court's review, the effect of the bill would most likely have been delayed until after the any Court decision. Nevertheless, Schwarzenegger's veto seemed politically timid, given his stated support for LGBT rights. Schwarzenegger also stated that he continues to support the state's law granting domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples and that he would oopose any effort to overturn such laws. Despite the veto, the passage of the bill was an important moral and political victory. Schwarzenegger's veto probably does little to attract Republican base voters because of the governor's public support for reproductive and civil rights. At the same time, the veto alienates supporters in the liberal and LGBT communities. Schwarzenegger's general support in his state continues to drop. His approval rating in California was measured at 33% late in the week, and his disapproval rating was 58%. Groups that oppose same-sex marriage continue to work toward a referendum next year that would put a ban on same-sex marriage in the state constitution. Schwarzenegger has announced that he will run for re-election next year. [top]

Recommended Reading: And Tango Makes Three I'm not too sure about the Chinese Zodiac, but this has definitely been the year of the penguin. It began with March of the Penguins, the Warner Brothers movie that was hailed for what it captured of the austere beauty of Antarctica, the devotion of its film-makers under the harshest of conditions, and for the inspiring life story of the charming animals the film portrayed. The American version is narrated by Morgan Freeman, but the original was French. In the film, director Luc Jacquet and writer Jordan Roberts describe the Emperor penguin's annual cycles of pairing, mating, and rearing young by closely following one penguin couple. Penguins are devoted in their partnerships, and the movie emphasizes the self-sacrifice and sharing that penguins demonstrate in caring for their families. Some have found the French version overly anthropomorphic. The American version takes a more objective view. Some Christian commentators have promoted March of the Penguins both for the parenting values it portrays and as testimony to the concept of Intelligent Design, a 21st century repackaging of the "every watch demands a watchmaker" line of argumentation in support of the existence of god. While the dedication of penguins in their pairbonds and to their offspring is certainly apt for homiletic metaphor, penguins are not people and they do not necessarily bond for life. Some commentators have found the narrator's mention of this fact "objectionable." Enter Silo and Roy. Once the issue was penguins, the 53 penguins in the Cenral Park Zoo in New York took center stage. Among the pairs in this colony are several same-sex pairs that have been together for various periods of years. The longest-term relationship was between two penguins named Silo and Roy. As evidence of same-sex pairing in nature, Silo and Roy defied not only traditional morality, but had the audacity to suggest that same-sex pairings could be a part of the Intelligent design. Same-sex behavior in more than 450 species of animals had been documented in the 1999 book Biological Exuberance by Bruce Bagemihl. In more than 800 pages, the author thoroughly documents same-sex behavior in many species of mammals, birds and even fish. The book establishes once and for all that same-sex behavior is as common and "natural" a part of non-human animal populations as it is for humans. The story of Silo and Roy has now been rendered in the format of a children's book, And Tango Makes Three, by authors Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell (illustrations by Henry Cole). The book teels the story of Silo and Roy's relationship and how they tend an egg provided for them by the zookeepers, eventually rearing the hatchling with the same skill and devotion of an opposite-sex pair. In the course of the story, there are some beautiful lessons about the nature of relationships. In this book, the relationship between penguins and the lessons drawn are part of useful parable, not a pointless proof. Speaking of pointless proofs, Silo and Roy made news along with several other celebrity couples when they split up over the summer. Certainly, some Cristian commentators tried to make a point out of this penguin infidelity, but the reality is that penguins do change pairings from time to time. Same-sex penguin pairs can break up with one or both partners choosing an opposite-sex relationship. However, these penguins often return to same-sex pairing, though not necessarily with the same partner. A brief synopsis, a reader's guide and reader activites for Tango Makes Three [top]

Departments

Help Us Build the Rainbow Alliance 1) UF Faculty and Staff: We want every LGBT staff or faculty member and ally to be a Rainbow Alliance member. Tell interested friends and colleagues about Rainbow Alliance. They can check out the Web site at <www.ra-online.org>, or bring them along to a monthly dinner. They can join by sending an e-mail to <info@ra-online.org>. 2) Alumni: Our mailing list of UF alumni is growing. Alumni are a vital part of the University community. Anyone with an interest in improving the LGBT envrionment at the University of Florida should look into Rainbow Alliance. Working together with Pride Student Union and the Director of LGBT Affairs, we are working to keep alumni informed, to help them connect, and to draw on their expertise. 3) Contribute: The Rainbow Alliance Fund at the University of Florida Foundation (established March 2003) is the only one of its kind at the UF Foundation specifically dedicated to the support of the LGBT community at UF. The Fund needs continuing support if we are to realize our goals. As always, details about contributing to the Rainbow Alliance Fund can be found at the end of the newsletter. Details about payroll deduction will be e-mailed to RA members soon. A word to out contributions: Your donation is fully tax-deductible, and the RA Fund is not used to support operations of the Rainbow Alliance. Learn more below. 2) Statewide: Help us connect with staff and faculty on other Florida/Deep South campuses working on LGBT issues. We have some unique challenges in the South. Maybe we can support each other and collaborate on progress. [top]