Friday
Oct 28, 2005
SGN.org
Volume 33
Issue 43
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Tuesday, Dec 02, 2008
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Letters |
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| HELP MAKE THE CENTER
FOR LGBT HEALTH A REALITY
Dear SGN, We have a rare opportunity to significantly advance LGBT health in Seattle! Verbena and Gay City Health Project are planning to co-locate, under one roof, as the Center for LGBT Health in the Spring of 2006. City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen has included a line item for the Center for LGBT Health in his budget recommendations. I need your assistance. I need you to call, write, and - if possible - come down and testify at the pubic hearing on the budget (November 3rd). Twenty-seven cities currently have a dedicated LGBT Health Center. Seattle is NOT one of those cities. We have a chance to change that and bring to life a vision for comprehensive LGBT health services and education that has never fully materialized in this city. This opportunity rises on the shoulders of work done years ago by Marsha Botzer, Kathleen Stine, and others. It is an opportunity to create a legacy for our communities for years to come. This is an email I need you to respond to. Please take 10 minutes from your day to call and write all the council members urging them to support LGBT communities by approving the $75,000 - recommended by Tom Rasmussen - for the Center for LGBT Health. If you are able to come down and testify as to why this is an immensely important project, please contact me and come down. Sincerely, Mary Dzieweczynski Executive Director Verbena SUPPORT WALGREENS FOR THEIR LGBT SUPPORT Dear SGN, We are writing to you today with the hope that you will blog about or report on an important issue for the gay and lesbian community. The American Family Association has stated that the reason the Walgreens chain of drugstores has decided to support the Gay Games is that the event helps to spread HIV, resulting in more Walgreens customers. Sick? Yes. Crazy? You bet! We hope you will report about this and ask you readers to TAKE ACTION regarding this matter, by writing a quick e-mail of support to Walgreens at their customer service address. A call to Walgreens' media relations department informed us that a few thousand contacts from the right wing opponents of this support had come in. With the help of gay bloggers and the Gay press, we can easily exceed their messages. In advance, thank you for your help in promoting this important action. Thanks, Jeremy, Scott and Mike SUPPORT THE TROOPS Dear SGN, Today marks the day that 2,000 brave servicemen and women have sacrificed their lives for the war in Iraq. Most of us cannot imagine what it must be like for their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers. But as a nation, we can take a moment to send our gratitude and support to those families. Democracy for America is joining with MoveOn and TrueMajority to host candlelight vigils across the country and offer our condolences to the families and friends of the American servicemen and women who have given their lives. The vigils will take place at 6:30 PM tomorrow night, Wednesday, October 26. To find a vigil in your community, visit: http://www.democracyforamerica.com/attend_vigil If there is not a vigil already planned in your community, then sign up to host one yourself. It's easy. All you need to do is find a place for people to congregate, register it online and gather the group together when people arrive. To host a vigil, visit: http://www.democracyforamerica.com/host_vigil These vigils aren't rallies or places to give long-winded speeches. They are moments to solemnly come together and mark the sacrifice of those who have died and their families. If you can't join a vigil in your community, then please join the "Honor the Fallen" campaign and write a letter to the editor to your local newspaper asking them to place all casualty reports on the front page. With this one small action, we can continue to honor the fallen and remind the public of the dangers that our troops face everyday, visit: http://www.operationtruth.com/honorthefallen Thanks for all you do, Tom Hughes Executive Director Democracy for America Dear SGN, Later today, I will deliver a major speech on the war in Iraq. It asks a hard and essential question: how do we bring our troops home within a reasonable and responsible timeframe, while achieving what needs to be achieved in Iraq? One thing is certain. It isn't by continuing to pursue the Bush administration's "stay for as long as it takes" rhetoric. And it isn't by blindly following their policy of cutting and running from the truth that underlies that rhetoric. That's why my speech today will call on the Bush administration to immediately draw up - and present to Congress and the American people - a detailed plan with target dates for the transfer of military and police responsibilities to Iraqis so the majority of our combat forces can be withdrawn. I hope you'll take a moment to read excerpts from this critically important call to action on Iraq, visit: http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2005_10_26.html My speech today will assert that there is no reason Iraq cannot be relatively stable, no reason the majority of our combat troops can't soon be on their way home, and no reason we can't take on a new role in Iraq, as an ally not an occupier, training Iraqis to defend themselves by the end of 2006. Today of all days, it is important to note that instead of attacking Ambassador Wilson's report, instead of attacking his wife to justify attacking Iraq, the Bush administration should have simply paid attention to what his report revealed. As I write this, we are waiting to learn whether the administration's attacks will prove to be an indictable offense in a court of law. But for its CIA leaks, and for misleading a nation into war, the Bush administration will most certainly be indicted in the high court of history. Sadly, there have been a legion of Bush administration miscalculations that have left us having far too few options in Iraq. It is never easy to discuss what has gone wrong while our troops are in constant danger. I know this dilemma first-hand. After serving in war, I returned home to offer my own personal voice of dissent. I did so because I believed strongly that we owed it to those risking their lives to speak truth to power. We still do. In fact, while some say we can't ask tough questions because we are at war, I say no - in a time of war we must ask the hardest questions of all. No matter what President Bush says, asking tough questions isn't pessimism, it's patriotism. If you agree, I urge you to join me in demanding a new course in Iraq. You can start by making sure as many people as possible see this speech: http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2005_10_26.html The American people - most importantly, the families of the brave men and women serving in Iraq - can no longer tolerate George W. Bush's failure to spell out a reasonable and detailed plan of action on Iraq. If the President refuses to act, we must call on Congress to take the decision out of his hands. I urge you to read the speech I plan to deliver at Georgetown University in a matter of hours - and to forward it to as many people as possible. Most of all, I hope you will resolve to join the entire johnkerry.com community in the weeks ahead as we work to create an undeniable groundswell of public pressure for a detailed, date-specific plan of action on Iraq. Sincerely, John Kerry CORRECTION Last week, the SGN mistakenly credited another writer for the Capote Film Review, "Hoffman nails Capote; once America's Favorite Gay Writer." SGN Writer Derich Mantonela wrote the review. We apologize for the error. |
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