January 2019 Newsletter
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Southwest Washington Chapter January 2019 Newsletter Phone 360-562-0491 Email [email protected] Website: www.pflagswwa.org WSC Website: www.pflagwsc.org Join us at our regular meetings: In this issue: New PFLAG Southwest Washington Battle Ground meeting Vancouver Meeting PFLAG National Recommended Trans LifeLine Second Tuesday, 7pm Children’s Home Society Annual Business Meeting of the Membership 1112 Columbia Street, National Transgender Day of Remembrance Vancouver, WA 98660 PFLAG Southwest Washington 2018 in Year in Review PFLAG National 2018 In Review Battle Ground Meeting QYRC’s A Queer New Year Winter Party Third Thursday, 7pm 406 NW 5th Avenue Building B, Battle Ground, WA 98604 Next Vancouver Education and Support Meeting: January 8, 7pm At the January meeting Ken Burris of LGBTCouve will provide an overview of this organization, Battle Ground The education session will be Vancouver followed by our caring and Inaugual Battle Ground PFLAG Meeting sharing support group. Next Battle Ground Support meeting: On Thursday, January 17 at 7pm, PFLAG Southwest Washington will January 17, 2019 hold its inaugual Battle Ground meeting. The purpose of the Battle The inaugural Battle Ground Ground meetings is to support parents, families, friends, and allies of meeting will open with a support the LGBTQ commuinty in the nothern reaches of Clark County. meeting followed by brain storming and organizing ways to The first meeting will consist of a support meeting followed by brain make Battle Ground safer and storming and organizing ways to make Battle Ground safer and more more inclusive for LGBTQ inclusive for LGBTQ persons. persons. 406 NW 5th Avenue Building B Battle Ground, WA 98604 PFLAG Southwest Washington Newsletter-Dec 2018 1 | P a g e 2019 dates to remember: Annual Business Meeting of the Members Youth QYRC party, January 19, 6-8pm, see page 11 As required by the chapter bylaws the Annual Business Meeting of the February 12, 7pm Members is to be held annually. This year the meeting will be held on Vancouver meeting February 8 following the regular education and support meeting. February 21, 7pm Battle Ground meeting The adenda includes: March 12, 7pm Vancouver meeting FY 2018 review March 21 FY 2019 goals Battle Ground meeting April 9, 7pm Membership report Vancouver meeting Finance report April 18 Communication report Battle Ground meeting Advocacy report May 14, 7pm Bylaws revision discussion and vote Vancouver meeting Election of board May 16 Battle Ground meeting If you want to serve on the board please email the board at [email protected]. Positions are president, vice president, secretary, treasurer or secretary/treasurer, and at least two board directors. We welcome new faces and views. PFLAG National Recommended Trans LifeLine United in Remembrance and Conversation: Working Together to Make Our Community Safer Transgender Individuals YWCA Facebook article posted on December 20, 2018 by Emily Ostrowski by Emily Ostrowski PFLAG Southwest Washington Newsletter-Dec 2018 2 | P a g e On November 20th, YWCA Clark County hosted members of the community for a vigil, followed by a facilitated community conversation in honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance. Since its inception in 1999 Transgender Day of Remembrance is meant to memorialize those who have lost their lives due to transphobia and draw attention to the increased threat of violence trans people have and continue to endure. Thirty-three participants joined us for the vigil and many stayed for the community conversation. The community conversation consisted of three groups. Each group was posed a series of questions centering on issues faced by the trans community in Clark County, and ways in which we can make our community safer. (You can read a comprehensive overview of the questions and responses here.) Since 2013, The Human Rights Campaign has tracked 128 known anti-transgender homicides. The true number of anti- transgender homicides is likely higher due to under-reporting. In their report, the HRC points to several legal and societal issues that contribute to a lack of LGBTQ legal protections when it comes to housing, education, employment and health care, which they say exacerbates poverty and exposes trans people to violence. With a lack of protections also comes a level of distrust in governing and institutional bodies. Many trans and gender nonconforming individuals who attended our community conversation expressed feelings of distrust towards law enforcement, school administrations, and the medical community, and suggested that increased training for police officers, EMTs, and educators would be valuable. “Lack of trust stems both from historical trauma, and current experiences of prejudice and bias from community systems when trans and gender nonconforming individuals do not present within strictly defined cultural norms,” said De Stewart, an Advocacy Specialist with our Sexual Assault Program. “This places trans people at greater risk for violence as youth are less likely to seek support from family members or educators, have lower graduation rates from high school, and fewer educational and job opportunities. All of which can lead to joblessness, homelessness, and at-risk behaviors just to survive. Trans individuals are also less likely to seek emergency room or medical treatment for fear of being mis-gendered, misunderstood or being treated differently because they are trans.” Stewart, one of the facilitators for the event along with Jenn Harley and Carmen Huizara of our public policy committee, was inspired to hold a community conversation after the vigil for the first time this year in part because of how consistently she hears from the transgender community that they wanted an event that, “both recognized the loss of lives due to anti-transgender violence, while also wanting something that would help move the community forward as opposed to feeling stuck in mourning.” She also believes that education is the first step to destigmatize and create wider acceptance of the trans community. “It is my belief that most of the anti-transgender rhetoric we hear is due to a lack of knowledge around the issues that transgender individuals face,” said Stewart. “Many people say they have never met someone who is transgender, when in all likelihood, they have. I saw this as an opportunity to humanize the transgender experience while supporting the trans community and Vancouver as a whole.” YWCA Clark County has long supported LGBTQ rights, and we regularly collaborate with community partners in providing opportunities for education. In January 2017 we co-hosted a Community Town Hall as well as the showing of Gender Revolution at the Kiggins Theatre in May. We also provided space to hold events for LGBTQ identified youth like the Queer Prom, the Monster Ball, and the Triple Point Harvest Pride dinner. Our public policy committee advocates for the rights of trans individuals in Olympia, including fighting successfully to prevent I-1515 and I-1552, discriminatory “bathroom bills”, from making the ballot in 2016 and 2017. While we pride ourselves on being advocates and allies for the LBGTQ community we know that just like the community we live in, we still have work to do in creating a safe place for trans individuals. A critical first step we’ve taken is to offer our staff pronoun buttons to wear, which provides a safe opportunity for trans individuals to self-identify. PFLAG Southwest Washington Newsletter-Dec 2018 3 | P a g e Above all we promise to work with our community to make sure we are all continuing to educate ourselves on how best to support and respect the trans and gender nonconforming individuals in Clark County. “I consistently hear expressed that education and respect are the main things allies can do to support the transgender community”, said Stewart. “One community conversation participant said, ‘You don’t have to understand it to respect it.’ Respect that this is a trans individual’s experience and ask how you can be supportive.” We’d like to thank all our community partners and everyone who came out for the vigil and community conversation, as well as everyone in our community who has committed their time and donations to further YWCA Clark County’s mission to promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. Special thanks to: Leeza Edwards with Embodied Peace, Susan LaLone with Northwest Gender Alliance, PFLAG Southwest Washington, Children’s Home Society Triple Point, and WSU Vancouver. PFLAG Chapter 2018 in Review Annual Business Meeting of the Members In addition to celebrating the 22nd chapter anniversary, at the February 13th meeting, the Board of Directors presented reports about communication improvements, advocacy efforts, membership, and finances. Goals were set for 2018 which were developing and publish a new web site and increasing support for Triple Point youth. Membership was 20 and income was $1911.47 and the FY 2018 budget was set at $1152.00 Finally, a new Board of Directors was elected including De Stewart, President; Phaedra Baldwin, Vice-President; Dale Clukey Secretary/ Treasurer; Barbara Aitken, Director-at-Large; Nancy Dresher, Director-at- Large; Annette Barritt, Director-at-Large; and Ellen George, Director-at- Large. PFLAG Presentation at Vancouver Hewlett-Packard At the invitation of Anne Kauffman of Hewlett-Packard (HP), on March 26th PFLAG Southwest Washington chapter president De Stewart introduced HP employees to the PFLAG mission and explained how they can support LBGTQ,