LGBT community focuses on feeding neighbors while churches waste money on hateful ads

Memphis, TN, November 1, 2012 — In the last week, an anonymous organization claiming the name "Memphis churches of Christ" placed two full-page advertisements in The Commercial Appeal attacking the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Sources tell us that Memphis churches of Christ paid around $15,000 to place these ads in Sunday's and Tuesday’s newspapers. A group by the same name placed similar anti-LGBT ads over the last eight years.

Jonathan Cole of Tennessee Equality Project observed: “The content of the ads is deeply offensive, but I remain a firm believer in the First Amendment right to free speech. While this group is entitled to say what they want, most people reject the divisiveness of the ad’s message because they support inclusion, fairness, decency, equality and diversity in Memphis. It’s hard to watch churches and other religious organizations spending tithes and church offerings on hateful advertising rather than benefiting their church members or assisting those living in poverty in our city.”

The recent ads moved PFLAG mother Lisa Kurtz-Crume to recall these famous words from Mohandas Gandhi: "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."

A coalition of LGBT advocacy groups rejects the example set by this anonymous group."Our organizations have criticized churches who spend money to demean us by suggesting that they focus on caring for the poor and feeding the hungry,” said Will Batts, Executive Director of the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center. “In response to recent attacks on our community, we're putting our money where our mouths are...and the mouths of those who go hungry. We shall meet hatred with love for our friends and neighbors.”

We call on everyone in the community of Memphis to show their love for their neighbors by making a donation of money or food to the Mid-South Food Bank between now and November 9, 2012.

Make a donation online at http://bit.ly/MSFoodBankDonation

Supporters may also give money or the following needed food items at the Mid-South Food Bank at 239 S. Dudley, Memphis, TN  38104, Mon-Thurs: 8 am - 5:00 pm  Friday: 8 am - Noon: canned meats, including tuna, stews, chicken and dumplings, chili, Spam, soups; Peanut butter; Canned fruits; Canned veggies; Canned 100% fruit juice and any non-perishable item (no glass containers).

The Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center will also accept the above food items between now and Nov. 9 at 892 South Cooper Street in Midtown. The center is open Monday-Friday from 2-9 pm.
Vanessa Rodley of Mid-South Pride encouraged people to participate in the food drive to support their Memphis neighbors: “Hunger can reach anyone and shows no discrimination. What affects one of us can easily affect all of us.”

Advocacy organizations supporting this food drive include:

Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center  
Memphis Loves Gays
Mid-South Pride  
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays of Memphis (PFLAG)
Tennessee Equality Project’s Shelby County Committee

Click the above organizations to visit their website.

For more information:
Jonathan Cole - Tennessee Equality Project - 901-301-3306 - Jonathan@tnequalityproject.com 
Will Batts - Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center - 901-278-6422 - WBatts@mglcc.org 

Calpernia's activism taking a new turn

This profile of one-time Tennessean Calpernia Addams appeared today.

Addams first drew national attention in the summer of 1999 when her boyfriend, Pfc. Barry Winchell, was murdered in a vicious homophobic attack. Pvt. Calvin Glover bashed Winchell's head with a baseball bat while he slept, crushing his skull. A second soldier, Justin Fisher, had taunted Glover into the killing and later would clean Winchell's blood off the bat. Glover was sentenced to life in prison and Fisher received 12 years. The incident occurred while Calpernia Addams celebrated her biggest pageant win, Tennessee Entertainer of the Year Contest – and America freedom – on the fourth of July at Fort Campbell Army Base near Nashville, TN.

Winchell's murder, a blatant failure of President Clinton's Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass policy, made national headlines. And Addams reluctantly stepped into the national spotlight.

We're coming up on the 9th anniverary of Winchell's murder, which is still a painful topic for Tennessee's GLBT community, especially since Addams and Winchell met at Nashville's now defunct club Connection. The story of his murder and the movie Soldier's Girl as well as her recent reality series Transamerican Love Story have made Calpernia Addams one of the most well known transgender people in the United States.

Addams has decided to use her celebrity in the service of the GLBT community and highlight awareness of transgender issues.

Pro-gay group Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) is set to feature Calpernia Addams in a new national campaign titled This Is Our Love Story. The campaign will first appear during GLBT Pride season (June-July) this summer. A PFLAG website, titled Transform The Movement, will come online later this summer. The site will highlight PFLAG's work in the transgender community and showcase the stories of transgender people who have worked with the organization on equality issues.

Some people inside and outside the GLBT community are nervous about the effort to "push" gender identity issues when it looks as if the country is finally getting closer to accepting gays and lesbians. But the matter can be stated simply. If people are disproportionally discriminated against or the victims of hate crimes based on their gender identity, then they are clearly deserving of the protections that guarantee them equal opportunity and safety. Why on earth would we make people wait for equality in the workplace and protection from hate crimes?

Calpernia's work will help bring awareness to millions with her compelling story. Congratulations and thanks to her and to PFLAG for launching their new campaign!

A must-read from PFLAG Tri-Cities

Take a minute to read this blog post by the Rev. John Shuck of PFLAG Tri-Cities. John represented the NYC Comptroller's office at the Eastman Chemical shareholders meeting where he presented a resolution for the company to add sexual orientation and gender identity to their nondiscrimination policy. Thanks for stepping up, John!

Tri-Cities PFLAG chapter on the move!

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Detail.php?Cat=LOCALNEWS&ID=62470 . I missed this one yesterday, but John Shuck deserves a hat tip for passing it on to me. Nice coverage for the state's newest PFLAG chapter. Here's how one member describes the group's hopes.


“What I would really hope is that several years down the road, we wouldn’t need to have a PFLAG Tri-Cities,” she said. “I don’t think that’s particularly realistic, given the time in which we live in. But I really would like to see a larger, vibrant organization that would be able to advocate in the community for all people; that perhaps we would not just be focusing on creating a supportive community, but we might be able to advocate for change in how things are done in the community and perhaps some legalized discrimination could be made illegal.”

I think that's exactly right. Creating a supportive community lays a good foundation for legislative change. They're on the right track.

PFLAG chapter forms for Tri-Cities

http://www.timesnews.net/community_article.php?id=2137

Congratulations! We need you up there.