State Senator Joyce Woodhouse to Address Stonewall.

State Senator Joyce Woodhouse will be addressing the membership tomorrow night and do a little post legislature wrap-up. I also invited another guest speaker but it was rather last minute so we we will see who shows up for the July 6th meeting. We also have two initiatives in the fire that we will be discussing. And as always, if you think you need to update your membership, go to the join online page and pay your dues. We will be launching a new membership drive in anticipation of the 2010 Campaigns. So see ya all tomorrow night!

The June Monthly Meeting has been MOVED!

In celebration of the passing of SB283 The Nevada Domestic Partnership Bill, and in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Stonewall Southern Nevada, and all of our non member supporters, have been invited to a party

at the Rio Pavilion 5:30-10:30pm

ON THURSDAY JUNE 25TH. WE WILL BE ATTENDING THE PARTY AS GUESTS IN PLACE OF OUR MEETING ON WEDNESDAY JUNE 24TH. EVERYBODY WILL BE THERE.

GOT THAT?

Here is the invite:
====================
RSVP to

Celebrate283@TheCenterLV.com

to get on the guest list!!!!!

You are invited to a Party to celebrate the recent passage of Nevada's Domestic Partner Law - SB 283

Honoring SENATOR DAVID PARKS and Recognizing Gary Peck (ACLU), Jan Gilbert (PLAN), Juliana Ormsby (Nevada Women's Lobby) and Jan Jones (Harrahs Entertainment) with the Partners in the Coalition [Which includes Stonewall Southern Nevada] that Made it Happen

RSVP to Celebrate283@TheCenterLV.com to get on the guest list!!!!!

It's a FREE event open to Supporters, Friends and Families. Appetizers and Beverages will be served and there will be a cash bar.

Hosted by:
American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada
The Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada
Harrahs Entertainment
Human Rights Campaign of Las Vegas
Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada
Stand OUT for Equality

RSVP to Celebrate283@TheCenterLV.com to get on the guest list!!!!!
=====================

OK, here is a little advice.

GET ON THE LIST.
GET THERE EARLY
THE REASON THERE IS A LIST IS BECAUSE THEY HAVE A ROOM LIMIT.
FOOD RUNS OUT EARLY.
IT'S A CASH BAR.
AND WEAR YOUR STONEWALL BUTTONS!

Reminder, no meeting on June 24th as we will be attending the party on the 25th.

LET'S HAVE FUN!
Chandler:)

State Senators Nolan and Rhoads!

State Senators Nolan and Rhoads were the last two votes needed to override Governor Gibbons veto in the Nevada State Senate Saturday night, May 30th, at 7:30 pm.

The bill now moves to the Nevada Assembly!

Oh, Let it be...

Thank You LV Review Journal

The RJ was kind enough to print my letter to the editor on April 18th, 2009 below. I signed it as the Chair of SDCSN but that was removed . Ya win some, ya lose some:

New vote needed

To the editor:

Gov. Jim Gibbons announced he intends to veto a domestic partnership bill if it passes the Legislature ("Same-sex bill in cross hairs," Wednesday Review-Journal). He stated, "I just don't believe in it."

I won't go into what the governor apparently believes in concerning the sanctity of relationships; his divorce proceedings have made that pellucid.

What needs to be addressed are journalists, such as the Review-Journal's Ed Vogel, who constantly bring up the fact that Nevadans enshrined legal bigotry against gays and lesbians into the Nevada Constitution in November 2002 by a 67 percent vote. It is not a benchmark; it was a snapshot.

Current polling by Nate Silver at www.fivethirtyeight.com shows that Nevada has now passed the 50 percent threshold in gay marriage acceptance. That is a major shift in opinion -- more than 17 percent in a little over six years.

The time for Nevada to protect the security of our relationships and respect the integrity of our families is now. And now a majority of Nevadans would agree. It is just that simple.

Chandler Levrich

LAS VEGAS

See What Happens...

Last August Stonewall SN got an email saying that our domain registration needed to be renewed. Usually this is no big deal AS LONG AS YOU HAVE THE ACCESS CODES. Well, they had been lost somewhere along the way but through due diligence we contacted the company that parks our name, StonewallLV.org, and we worked with them to open our account so that we could pay them. A lot of rigmarole you say? Well go over to The Center and see what happens when your domain registration lapses.

And The Center is a HUGE website. My condolences to them all.
[Update: The Center website has been restored! YEA!]

IOWA!

With the Iowa Supremes making Civil Marriage legal in Iowa we now take a refreshing mid legislative session recap on what's happening with LGBTQ legislation in Nevada.

SB 207, the Public Accommodation bill, was introduced without the amendment that added "gender expression" to the bill. The Nevada Resort Association supported it, the ACLU supported it, and R&R supported it without the amendment. Stonewall and HRC did not support it without the amendment. Stonewall Nevada Caucus President Patrick Patin resubmitted the amendment during testimony as it had been inadvertently lost in the process. A week after the hearing, the committee passed the bill in its original form. Again, transgender members of our community have been singled out and treated differently and unfairly from the rest of us. When will people understand that we are a community.

Lincoln didn't free the light skinned blacks first, did he?

SB 283, Domestic Partnership benefits, is hanging in limbo. It had a committee hearing but no vote. Now people are talking about its cost. Nobody ever said that giving women the right to vote would be cost prohibitive but we, we have a price tag on our rights.

AB 184, correcting and adding gender expression to NV-Employment Non Discrimination Act, has likewise had a hearing and no vote. The average transgender makes less than $1o,000 a year. Giving people security in their jobs MUST be done. This one is 10 years overdue.

So that's where we are, folks. What do you think about this?

Also, the April Stonewall Board meeting will be April 29th, location TBD, as on the 23rd we will all be up in Carson City for Equality Days. We will be discussing the final arrangements for the Pride Parade and Pride Booth.

All bills must be passed out of committee by April 10th or they sunset.

Equality Days Update

Go and visit the Stand Out For Equality Page HERE and make your reservations!

At last Wednesday's meeting our sister Clark County Club and Caucus, Si Se Puede, voted unanimously to support Stonewall Southern Nevada and The Center in furthering the LGBTQ agenda during Equality Days.

Vicenta Montoya, the Chair of SSP, and a member of Stonewall DCSN, and Sanje Sedera, the Chair of the Asian American Club and Caucus, are both interested in traveling with us to Carson City to lobby on our behalf. SSP will also be sending a letter of support to the Latino members of the Legislature in support of Equality Days. Muchisimas gracias a todos!

The Nevada Stonewall Democratic Caucus

Our sister organization, the Nevada Stonewall Democratic Caucus, held a conference call soliciting the opinions of the candidates to the Nevada State Democratic Party. The candidate participation was remarkable.

[UPDATE: Free Conference Play Back
Playback Number: (218) 844-8799
Access Code: 191668#]

The people that run the party actually listen to us and our issues. However, we need more members of the LGBTQ community as members of the State Central committee. We need our people to be members in greater numbers of the Clark County Central Committee as well.

They listen to us when there are more of us to listen to.

You can get the information by clicking the links over there →

Election Results

Chair:
Chandler Levrich

Vice Chair:
Vacant Pending Special Election

Secretary:
Vacant Pending Special Election

Treasurer:
Patrick Patin

Jim Walsh will continue as Membership Committee Chair.

The position of Vice Chair will be filled by a Lesbian or a Transgender as practicable, according to the Bylaws.

It was decided that members had to be present to accept their nomination. Special thanks to Terry Wilsey who again did a wonderful job chairing the election.

So Good To Be A Gay Democrat

Nobody Tells It Like Barney Frank

Queer 101 Recap

Yesterday The Stonewall Democratic Club of Southern Nevada hosted Queer 101. The legislators that participated were, Stonewall member, State Senator (7) David Parks, Assemblyman (10) Joseph Hogan, Assemblyman (41) Paul Aizley, Assemblywoman (21) Ellen Spiegel. A surprise addition to the panel was Assemblyman (18) Mark Manendo who showed up and asked. Every one of the empaneled legislators was also a Stonewall endorsed candidate. They were joined by members of the community: Judy Cox and Allan Lichtenstein (ACLU-NV), Dawn Christensen (Stand Out for Equality), Lauren Scott (NITRO of Nevada), Launce Rake (PLAN) and community activist Donielle Twitty-Allen.

The program started with a greeting by me as Stonewall Chair and The Pledge of Allegiance lead by, Stonewall endorsed candidate and Stonewall member, Judge Kathleen Delaney (Dept. 25). [Judge Delaney was invited to be on the panel, as she worked with Assemblyman Aizley in writing Bill Draft 792, but declined for reasons of professional conflict. As judges must remain above reproach we totally understand but I wanted to makes sure that she got credit for her tireless efforts. We thank her.] After a few opening remarks by me, I introduced Vice-chair Jane Heenan who gave a charge to the assembled concerning our letters (LGBT) and the Queer Community. Jane's talk was evolutionary and inspirational. She then introduced moderator Jon Ralston.

When I went about constructing the framework for Queer 101, I took the opinion that, the right people placed in the right position create something greater than the parts. In this respect I asked Jon Ralston to moderate Queer 101. I have seen him in action in the community many, many times and he is the best at what he does. Whenever he asked about format and participants, we discussed things over and I always deferred to his experience. As a major player he brought together a loosely constructed event and turned it into a lively, provocative and exciting event. With much sincerity and gratitude I say THANK YOU Jon Ralston. [He also stayed longer even though he had a family conflict. Whatta guy:)]

Jon kept the legislators on their toes and then moved to the community activists and lobbyists, and then to a combined panel. It was most interesting, educational and motivating.

This was followed by a Q&A, where as a member of the audience, Clark County Democratic Party Chairman, John Hunt, made an impassioned speech about Democrats, and LGBTQ Democrats in particular, seizing the day legislatively because we cannot know if opportunities will ever be greater. A special shout out to John for making an empowering speech at our event. Hunt, YOU ROCK!

After Q&A the forum disbanded and then something very unusual happened. People from many diverse parts of the community networked and moved into ad hoc meetings. I was part of the Clark County Black Caucus/HRC/Stonewall group. It was wonderful to see Yvette Williams, the chair of the CCBC, grab a copy of the list of LGBTQ legislation and tell me that they are behind us. [As an aside, Yvette has placed me on the State Democratic Party's Committee on Diversity, which she also chairs.] Having André Wade, a hugely charming and effective African American member of the NV HRC Steering Committee, get together with Yvette is what these things are all about.

Personally, I want to thank each and every one of the people that came together to make this happen. Too many to mention but all very much appreciated. It is what Stonewall is meant to do. We did it well.

As a part of the greater LGBTQ community, we now move into a supporting role for the next great effort. Stand Out for Equality is hosting the LGBTQ Lobbying Days in Carson City during the Legislature April 21 and 22. I will be making a motion at the next board meeting, this Wednesday Janusry 28th, that Stonewall participate in a major way.

Stay tuned, The Gay (and you know I mean LGBTQ) Pride Parade NEVER ENDS!

Stonewall National News

Another most powerful Gay is...a Stonewall Member.

Read about it HERE.

The Stonewall E-List

If you would like to be added to the Stonewall e-mail list leave your name and email address in the comments section or email me directly at chandler77 at aol. (Correct the format.)

Hear ye, hear ye!

Who Defines Us?

Must read.

The guy on the left is a homosexual. The guy on the right married Coretta Scott.

Protest

The Gay Roots are not happy.

Gays, America's Political Speed Bump!

We opted not to be a political issue in the Campaign For Change. Nobody can say that Obama threw us under the bus when when we laid down like a speed bump voluntarily.

Merry Christmas and thank you Rachel!

Economic Issues Cause Local Gay, Lesbian Center to Close

I was living in Hollywood on 9-11. 9-11 coupled with the unconstitutional Bush Faith Based Initiative removed so much money from the LA Gay & Lesbian Center that they had to layoff over a HUNDRED employees. Yes the LAGLC is HUGE but it is well run and lean to begin with. Close to ten years later they are still not providing the services they were. Now we find out that the the center in Reno is closing their doors. So much of our resources went to Turn Nevada Blue and the Campaign For Change (aka the Obama Campaign) that our local LGBTQ institutions are suffering.

We should not rest in peace; we should not rest.

Read the story HERE

Thirty Years Ago Today Harvey Milk Was Assasinated

Nine years after Stonewall.


The words live on.





Give thanks today that once upon a time there was a Harvey Milk.