Susan Hershberg and the Wiltshire Pantry Has Record-Breaking Attendance at the Muhammad Ali Center
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February 2010 Let Your Voice Make the Difference PLAN TO ATTEND 2010 Fairness Lobby & Rally Day Feb. 24 As of the printing of this newsletter no anti-Fairness legislation has yet been filed ★ Dismantling Racism Committee – Feb in either the Senate or the House—a great sign for Fairness! (Check www.Fairness.org for 3, March 3 & April 7, 6:30 p.m., Fairness legislative updates—March 1 is the last day new legislation may be proposed in the House, office. March 3 in the Senate.) This means, for now, we can focus our efforts on supporting the many ★ Unlearning Homophobia Film Series pro-Fairness bills that have already been filed. It is vitally important you contact your legislator – Feb. 4 & 11, 7 p.m., in partnership with and ask them to support these bills, or thank them if they are already sponsors by calling the Kentucky Health Justice Network, Fairness Legislative message line at 1-800-372-7181! (The operator will help you determine who your office, free. legislators are if you are unsure.) ★ Then, join us in Frankfort for the Statewide Fairness Coalition’s Lobby Day and Community Building Committee/ Rally in Frankfort on Wednesday, February 24. We will meet for a brief lobby training at Archdiocese Action – Feb 10 & 24, March 9 a.m. in Captiol Annex Room 131, then disburse in groups to speak with legislators about 10 & 24, 6:30 p.m., Fairness office. Fairness issues. At 1 p.m. Fairness supporters from across the Commonwealth will fill the ★ Fairness Coalition's Legislative Capitol Rotunda for our Statewide Fairness Rally—don’t miss this important opportunity to Strategy Meetings– Feb. 15, Mar. 1, help build critical support for Fairness in Kentucky. Legislators have to see and hear from 15 & 29, 8-10 p.m., Fairness office and you to know you care! (A carpool will leave the Fairness Campaign office at 2263 Frankfort by conference call. To get involved, call Ave. at 8 a.m.) 893-0788. You don’t have to wait until Feb. 24 to go to Frankfort! A Fairness staffer will lobby at ★ Busting Out: LGBT Louisville in the the Capitol almost every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday until the legislature adjourns on '80's – Feb. 16, 7 p.m., Strickler Hall, April 13. Schedule a day to lobby with Fairness in Frankfort by contacting Kyle@Fairness. Room 102, panel discussion hosted by org or 502-893-0788. UofLOffice of LGBT Services. Here are the bills we're supporting this session: SUPPORT House Bill 195 (Dual Parent Adoption) Sponsor: Rep. Tom Burch (D-Louisville). ★ We Love Mountains Lobby Day The bill would “establish that the definition for stepparent means the spouse of the legal parent – Feb. 17, hosted by Kentuckians for the of the child to be adopted, or any non-relative adult person who, upon the petition for adoption Commonwealth, Capitol Rotunda, carpool with the written consent of the legal parent of the child to be adopted, the court finds acts in leaves Fairness at 8:30 a.m., more at www. a parental role to the child.” KFTC.org. SUPPORT House Bill 118 (Hospital Visitation Rights) See article below. ★ African American History Month continued on page 2 Gala – Feb. 19, 7-9 p.m., UofL's Red Barn, sponsored by Fairness, UofL's BlkOut, Hospital Visitation Rights Bill Passes House! Anne Braden Institute. ★ Fairness Coalition Lobby Day & Rally For the second year, Representative Mary Lou Marzian’s (D-Louisville) hospital visitation – Feb. 24, Capitol, Frankfort, 9 a.m. lobby rights legislation, House Bill 118, passed out of the Health and Welfare Committee with bi- training, 1 p.m. rally, call 893-0788 or go partisan support and was placed on the consent calendar of the full House of Representatives. to www.fairness.org for more info. It passed the House on January 27, and will now be sent to a Senate committee. ★ The bill, which would “allow a patient of a health facility who is 18 years of age or Louisville Youth Group – support and older to designate, in writing, an individual not legally related by marriage or blood, who the social group for LGBTQ youth 14 – 21, patient wishes to have visitation rights,” was co-sponsored by Reps. Kelly Flood (D-Lexington), weekly meetings. Call 499-4427. Joni Jenkins (D-Louisville), Reginald Meeks (D-Louisville), Darryl Owens (D-Louisville), ★ PFLAG – Louisville - Monthly Ruth Ann Palumbo (D-Lexington), Arnold Simpson, (D-Covington) and Susan Westrom meeting, 3rd Sunday, 3 p.m., 1st Lutheran (D-Lexington). Please call the Legislative message line at 1-800-372-7181 and thank Rep. Church, 417 E. Broadway. Call 329-0229 Marzian and the bill’s sponsors for supporting House Bill 118 by calling. for information. You can follow House Bill 118 and other pro-Fairness legislation’s progress on our live Twitter feed at www.Fairness.org. 2263 Frankfort Avenue Louisville KY 40206 / phone: 502 893-0788 / email: [email protected] Let Your Voice Make a Director’s Note: Summing Up the 2010 Summit Difference continued from page 1 by Chris Hartman SUPPORT House Bill 117 (Statewide Fairness Law) Sponsor: Rep. Mary Lou This January the Fairness Campaign joined Statewide Fairness Coalition partners the Marzian (D-Louisville) Co-Sponsors: Reps. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky (ACLU-KY), Kentucky Fairness Alliance (KFA), Ruth Ann Palumbo (D-Lexington), Kelly the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, and Lexington Fairness to host the 2010 Statewide Flood (D-Lexington), Joni Jenkins (D- Fairness Summit at Paul Sawyier Public Library in Frankfort. Building upon the ground laid Louisville), Reginald Meeks (D-Louisville). at the first Statewide Fairness Summit at Centre College in 2008, the 2010 Summit brought The bill would “include a prohibition on together nearly 100 Fairness supporters from across the Commonwealth, including student discrimination because of sexual orientation representatives from Bellarmine University, Centre College, Eastern Kentucky University, and gender identity” in employment, housing Elizabethtown Community College, Kentucky Community & Technical College, Murray and public accommodations across the state. State University, Northern Kentucky University, University of Kentucky, and University of Louisville. It was a truly historic gathering, and everyone in attendance came prepared SUPPORT House Bill 17 (Marriage to share their honest thoughts Amendment Repeal) Sponsor: Rep. Mary and ideas around the Statewide Lou Marzian (D-Louisville). The proposed Fairness Coalition’s strategy constitutional amendment would “repeal the to pass a statewide Fairness definition of marriage” as between one man law, which would protect and one woman. all lesbian, gay, bisexual, Ally Action Alerts and transgender Kentuckians from discrimination in SUPPORT House Bill 16 - This bill would employment, housing, and prevent the execution of severely mentally public accommodations. ill persons. Following a brief SUPPORT House Bill 70 - This bill would Coalition history lesson by allow Kentucky to join the 48 other states that ACLU-KY Executive Director 2010 Fairness Summit was held in Frankfort in January. automatically restore voter rights to convicted Michael Aldridge and a 2010 Coalition Work Plan orientation by Kentucky Fairness Alliance felons after they have served their term. Board Chair Travis Myles and Lexington Fairness leader Jessica Martin, Summit attendees participated in four Coalition Working Committee break out sessions. OPPOSE Senate Bill 38 - This bill would Morgan Ransdell, Managing Attorney for the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, force women seeking an abortion to review facilitated a committee on Statewide Organizing/Passing Local Ordinances alongside Travis the results of a mandatory ultrasound and Myles in which they began building strategies to pass local anti-discrimination Fairness receive “in person” counseling a minimum ordinances in Richmond and Paducah by the end of 2010. Michael Aldridge joined Fairness of 24 hours prior to the procedure. Campaign and KFA board member Nick Wilkerson in a committee on Media and Messaging, Statewide Fairness which worked toward developing messaging for the “moveable middle” population, whose Coalition Awarded $30,000 support will be central to the passage of a statewide Fairness law. A New Ideas and Initiatives The Tides Foundation’s State Equality committee to foster innovative thought around how we do our collective work was lead by Fund, a philanthropic partnership that includes Fairness Campaign Co-coordinator Phoenix Lindsey-Hall and Yana Baker, while I joined KFA the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, the lobbyist Wes Wright and newly appointed Lexington Fairness Board Chair Craig Cammack for Gill Foundation, and anonymous donors, has a Legislative Strategy committee where attendees helped us break down the current political awarded the Kentucky Statewide Fairness landscape of key legislative committees to guide our 2010 plan. Coalition $30,000 to promote lesbian, gay, By Summit’s end, I felt confident that the palpable energy, excitement, inspiration, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality and—most importantly—involvement of those in the room would help catapult us into the across the state. The Fund is programmatically Coalition’s very focused campaign to bring about the passage of Kentucky’s statewide Fairness staffed on behalf of the donors by the Gill law sooner rather than later (think April 2012). While we still have a long, arduous journey Foundation’s Movement Building Center. ahead of us, we must look towards taking the next steps to victory, such as growing the number of legislators sponsoring Fairness legislation in the House and Senate, and reaching out to “The State Equality Fund promotes communities throughout the whole state to host lobby trainings and listening tours, where equality through the work of state and we may better understand the case for Fairness across the Commonwealth. If you are part of local organizations,” said Toni Broaddus, any community in Kentucky (church group, reading circle, dinner club—any group) that you Executive Director of the Equality Federation, think would be willing to host a Fairness Listening Tour or Lobby Training, contact Kyle@ national alliance working to further equality Fairness.org or call 502-893-0788.