THE SECULAR CIRCULAR Newsletter of the Humanist Society of Santa Barbara www.SBHumanists.org MARCH 2011 March Program: LGBT and Family Law The American Civil Liberties Union has been defending the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) Americans since 1936. Recent legal battles over Proposition 8, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the US military, and the federal "Defense Of Marriage Act" are the most recent developments in a long history, beginning with the banning of a play, "The Children's Hour", for a suggested lesbian relationship. (http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights-hiv-aids/aclu-and-history-lgbt-rights-hivaids) Attorney James Gilliam is Deputy Executive Director of the ACLU of Southern California. He will talk and answer questions about "LGBT & Family Law", and how legal issues do not just affect lesbian women, gay men, bisexual and transgender people, but have profound effects on the lives of their "straight" friends and families too. His talk will touch on: Marriage, Civil Unions, Domestic Partnerships, and the intrusion of governments into personal decisions about how people may choose to live their lives together; inheritance, adoption of children; medical directives, hospital visitation, health insurance; discrimination at work, hate crimes; military service in defense of our nation. James Gilliam has a B.S. in Sociology/Social Welfare Policy from Middle Tennessee State University, and a J.D. from Loyola Law School. In 2007 he became the most junior attorney ever to receive Loyola's Pro Bono Alumni of the Year Award. He was named one of the National LGBT Bar Association's Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 in 2010. Following Mr. Gilliam's talk, a brief meeting will be held to discuss further collaboration between the Humanist Society and the LGBT community. This month's meeting is co-sponsored with the Pacific Pride Foundation of Santa Barbara County. (http://www.pacificpridefoundation.org) The Live Oak Unitarian Meeting Hall is at 820 PLEASE NOTE THE LOCATION! North Fairview Ave. in Goleta, Saturday, Live Oak Unitarian Meeting Hall, Goleta March 19th, 2011. Doors open at 2:30PM, meeting starts at 3pm. Dinner following will be at Takenoya Japanese Restaurant, 5934 Calle Real, Goleta. For information phone 805-689-2716. Please e-mail [email protected] for after-meeting dinner reservation. 2 The HSSB Secular Circular -- March 2011 Welcome, New Members! Recommended Viewing Ken Boehns, Santa Barbara For an interesting discussion on Atheism from Lauren Temkin, Santa Barbara various points of view, check out “The Atheism Tapes”, a 2-disc DVD available on Netflix. In this Rest in Peace series, host Jonathan Miller interviews Biologist Richard Dawkins, Nobel Laureate Physicist Steven We regret to report the death of Alyce Pierce, Weinberg, Playwright Arthur Miller, Theologian a member and subscriber of our Society for Denys Turner, and Philosophers Daniel Dennett many years. Alyce was a long-time Santa and Colin McGinn. Barbara resident, and was an active volunteer in several local charities. Elections Coming Up We are sorry to say good-bye to long-time The next HSSB Fiscal Year begins July 1st and member Pearl Kaplan, who died recently at goes through the end of June, 2012. The Officers the age of 94. Pearl was one of the earliest of the Corporation (we are incorporated in members of our Society, joining in 1995 .She California as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, educational grew up in Ohio, and served as a lieutenant in corporation) and the Board of Directors serve for the WAACs in World War II. After marrying, she one Fiscal Year and must be elected by the general lived in Texas, and in later life was able to fulfill membership each year. The elections are generally her dream of a college education, earning her done by mail in May with the results announced at Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Library the summer solstice party. Science. In 1976 she moved on her own to Santa Barbara, a city that she loved, and where The officers of the corporation, the President, she became an accomplished painter whose Secretary and Treasurer, are also members of the works were shown throughout the town. Board. There are between four and eight additional Board members (currently there are eight) with the total number of Board members being an odd HSSB Book Club number. Each year all positions are open for by Marty Shapiro elections; there are no term limits for incumbents. Having mastered the intricacies of the sub-prime The Society is always happy to bring new members mortgage market ("The Big Short") in February, onto the Board so that new ideas and perspectives your book club is now poised to take on the U.S. can be brought to bear on our operations. The only government and its formidable military formal qualification is that you be a member in establishment. Andrew Bacevich's "Washington good standing (i.e., your dues are paid up to date) Rules: America's Path to Permanent War" is a and the only informal qualification is that you are thorough-going examination of the "rules" that have interested in seeing the Society thrive and would dominated our attitudes towards our military, and like to contribute to its continuing success. have led to public acceptance of an apparently endless state of armed warfare. In addition to these positions, a number of Chairs with specific responsibilities contribute to the We'll be 'studying war no more' on Wednesday, operations of the society. These include the March 16, 1:30 p.m. at the sumptuous home of Program Chair (responsible for scheduling our Joy Knapp, 1781 Eucalyptus Hill Road (off monthly speakers), the Social Chair (responsible for Salinas). Call 962-4655 if you need help. organizing our after-meeting dining out), the Membership Chair (responsible for maintaining our The HSSB Secular Circular -- March 2011 3 roster and gathering dues), our Web master and to discover whom they can blame. There is a great the Editor of the Secular Circular. longing to turn the clock back to the America of their youth, which they idealize. But this idealized If you are interested in any of these positions please America harbored racism, gender inequities and contact Ron Kronenberg as soon as possible. homophobia. These inequities were an accepted Serving in any one of these positions is a rewarding norm in everyday life up thru the 1950’s as many of experience and makes the ongoing operations and us matured. Many seniors unfortunately, retain future success of our society possible. Please feelings of unease, when the norms of their youth consider becoming involved. are challenged. Being a Secular Humanist does not automatically free one from these feelings of HSSB Membership Directory unease. A roster of HSSB members will be available by The good news is that attitudes of acceptance of email later this spring. Roster entries will include the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual) members' names, addresses, phone numbers and community are progressing faster than any other email addresses. Members who do not wish to be social issues in the history of our country. The bad included, or to have certain of the above items part is that the senior component of our society is excluded, should notify Mary Wilk to that effect by lagging behind the rest of the country. We talk April 30. Mary can be reached at 805-967-3045, or about the need for diversity in our membership, mailto:[email protected]. what can we do to achieve it? Michael Friedman from the American Humanist Association (AHA) contacted me a couple of months ago, concerning From the President their program to form an LGBT council in each of by Ron Kronenberg our Humanist Societies nationwide. Our LGBT council would operate in much the It must be difficult for the younger same manner as our book club. generation to understand the They would meet with us at our enormity of the changes that have monthly meetings, and then meet on taken place in the lives of our senior their own as a special interest group, population. The Tectonic Plate and dealing with their own Secular Big Bang theories were not widely Humanist LGBT issues. I asked Joe accepted in our youth. My father was Navarro, a member of our board, if severely injured when he was run he would help establish the council over by a horse and buggy and my and he agreed. wife was born into a home (not a hospital) in rural Iowa with kerosene Our March meeting will be at Live lamps and an outhouse. I attended a Oak UU Congregation, because their high school in the city of Chicago meeting hall is twice the size of our with over 3,000 students and I was usual meeting room. We have invited unaware of any Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Pride, and they have African Americans in the student accepted, to co-sponsor the meeting body. We did have a Chinese Ron Kronenberg and we can expect the ACLU to turn restaurant in the neighborhood. out to hear their ACLU speaker from LA. Details of the meeting are in this Secular The reaction of my generation to many of the Circular. At the meeting, Joe will ask interested changes we have seen is sometimes anger, fear or people to stay after and discuss the formation of frustration. I can understand how many are unable our own local LGBT council. We will all benefit, as to deal with these enormous changes and endeavor we grow our Society and get to know more 4 The HSSB Secular Circular -- March 2011 members of the LGBT community personally and difficult for us; e.g., atheists "do not have a prayer" as fellow Secular Humanists.