CHURCHES THAT WELCOME US: LGBT persons and Christianity
Bill 219-30: Hate Crimes Bill
Episcopal Church on Guam and throughout the USA has long since welcomed LGBT persons in fellowship and worship. Mass is celebrated on Sundays at 9:30 a.m at St. John’s in Upper Tumon, 7:45 at St. Michael’s in Dededo and 10:45 at St. Andrew’s in Agat. For the last two years, Mass has been celebrated at St. John’s to kick-off Pride Month in June.
Public hearing for Sen. Calvo’s hate crimes bill was held on Oct. 1. GALA Office Manager Steven Torres provided testimony on behalf of GALA in strong support of the bill. GALA commends Sen. Calvo for sending a message that hatred in all its form is unacceptable.
Guam United Methodist Church welcomes all to worship. The church’s motto is: Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors. Sunday worship is 9:30 AM. Church is located in Pagat, Mangilao. For more information visit guamumc.tripod.com or call Pastor Fred at 734-3251.
Resources & Services: HIV/AIDS: A long time champion in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the GUAHAN Project provides FREE risk reduction counseling and HIV/AIDS testing. The agency at its Pacific Resource and Training Center in Tamuning has a growing resource of LGBT materials. For more info contact 646-2437 or visit guahanproject.org DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence and need help contact VARO’s 24-hr hotline at 477-5552 or 647-8833. MEDIATION: for conflict mediation contact Inafa’Maolek at 475-1977.
Survivors of Suicide Support Group Support group is open to youth and adult survivors of suicide. Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse, Prevention, & Training Branch PEACE office in Hagatna Thursdays from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm.
LEGAL SERVICES: Contact Guam Legal Services Corporation at 477-9811 for more information.
For more info call Barbara Benavente or Patricia Mafnas at 477-9079 thru 83. peaceguam.org Guam’s Alternative Lifestyle Association (GALA) Board Officers: Tim de La Cruz, president; Glenda Hall, acting vice president & secretary; Eileen Escalera, treasurer; and DeeDee Babauta, public relations officer. For more information contact (671) 488-5291/488-6025 or galaguam@gmail.com
Rainbow Alert Guam’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Newsletter
October is LGBT History Month: Celebrating Equality & Diversity October is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) History Month. Founded by a Missouri high-school teacher named Rodney Wilson, brought awareness about the lack of textbooks that addressed LGBT issues and highlighted the significant achievements of LGBT persons. He pioneered creating a month of celebration that focused on the contributions of LGBT people among educators and community leaders. October was chosen as the month for celebration because National Coming Out Day was already established as a widely known event on Oct. 11. In addition, October commemorated the first march on Washington by LGBT
people in 1979. LGBT History Month is intended to encourage honesty and openness about being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. It makes visible the invisible contributions of LGBT people. GALA is commemorating this month by hosting a series of events. This year’s theme is “Celebrating Equality and Diversity”. The Guam Youth Congress will present Resolution No. 45 that recognizes October as LGBT History Month on Fri., Oct. 2. The resolution was sponsored by Youth Congress Speaker Derick Hills.
LGBT History Month Events: Oct. 8, 2009: Thurs. 6:00 PM. Film Forum feat. Gender Rebel at the UOG Humanities and Social Science’s Lecture Hall co-sponsored by the University of Guam, Division of Social Work. Show-time 6:00 PM. Oct. 11-15, 2009: Sun.-Thurs. Pride Vote Initiative and “Coming Out Day” and “Straight Ally Week”. Oct. 16, 2009: Fri., 9:00 p.m. “Fierce Friday” at Club Euphoria will be held and will feature a fashion show and performances from the Untouchables in Upper Tumon. Oct. 24, 2009: Sat. at 11:00 am I Familia Picnic will be the final event held at YPAO Beach in Tumon to bring together our LGBT Families and Straight Allies.
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Oct. 2009 Volume 1, Issue 3
RAINBOW CONNECTION GALA Activity Highlights: Advocacy, Education & Support PARTNERSHIP: GALA assisted the GUAHAN Project and the Dept. of Public Health and Social Services conduct HIV testing with inmates at the Agana Correctional Facility. SUICIDE TRAINING: Inafa Maolek facilitated a suicide prevention workshop with GALA volunteers and members of the LGBT community and their families on Sept. 26 at the GUAHAN Project Office in Tamuning. AWARENESS: GALA screened the film The Curiosity of Chance during its monthly Movie Night at the St. John’s Episcopal Church Social Hall. Movie nights are held each month. Admission is FREE. Refreshments are provided and participants have a chance to win a small prize. Next movie night is scheduled for Nov. 19. RAINBOW ALERT LUNCHEON: Each month GALA will host a luncheon to discuss important issues affecting our LGBT community. The luncheon is sponsored by our newsletter committee. Guest speakers for the first luncheon at Carmen’s Cha Cha Cha included authors of Bill 212 Sen. Jim Espaldon & Sen. Frank Blas, Jr. Bill 212 is counter legislation to Bill 185 that proposes to grant specific benefits to same gender couples. ADVOCACY: The LGBT Advocacy Action Group will be launching the Pride Voter Initiative in Oct. Petitions in Support of Bill 185 have been circulated. To join the group, contact Tim at 488-6025. For regular updates on GALA activities, follow us on twitter. Search galaguam.
GALA to Host Flame Tree Awards Banquet GALA will host the Flame Tree Awards Banquet at the Hilton Hotel on Jan. 30, 2010 to honor the contributions of the island’s LGBT community and straight allies. Awards will be given to LGBT and straight allies who have made a difference in government, community service, social justice and the performing and visual arts. Awards will be given to LGBT Person of the Year, Aspiring LGBT Youth, Transgender Person of the Year, Straight Ally Supporter of the Year and LGBT Business Owner of the Year. The awards banquet will also pay special tribute to GLG and its founding members. GLG was Guam’s first LGBT non-profit organization founded in 1995. To learn more about this event, contact event chair Steven Torres at 687-6575. 2
Straight Ally Rose Hermosa’s Open Letter to the 30th Guam Legislature Supporting Bill 185 Although I am born, raised and educated with traditional Catholic moral values, my principles, ethics, and beliefs with Bill 185 contradicts those values. What matters to me is the heart of the bill. Unfortunately, there are those in the community that do not share the same larger point. While certain individuals approached and questioned me about the technical aspects of the bill (especially those on the opposing and ‘why-change-the-status-quo’ side) I must admit I am naïve, not too familiar, and definitely not an expert with what’s on (and not on) the bill. What I know of is the struggle and the fight for the passage of Bill 185—the pursuit of not just liberty and justice, is about equality. My question is why are basic rights not guaranteed to all couples? Why do we try to prevent, marginalize, and oppose such measure— a measure that majority of us are being offered, given, and recognized? Who are we to say no, obstruct and complicate such a bill? A bill that will ensure not just emotional, financial, and future security, but will also seeks to legalize all relationships. Is it just because we fear change? Is it because we fear simply going against our morality and religious beliefs? Is it because the bible and some religious leaders say that it [bill 185] stands against everything that ‘traditional family values’ have established, and therefore the bill should be prevented? BILL 185 IS NOT ABOUT THE LIFESTYLE OR ISSUES OF MORALITY! It’s about what is NOT GIVEN as a right; and although Bill 185 will not dissipate name-calling, discrimination and unfairness, it is a stepping stone towards a development of alleviating stigma, hate, and inequality. Senators, I am NOT asking you to put aside your personal religious beliefs and perspectives. I am writing this because I urge you to do what is right! DO what has been bestowed upon you as an elected official; see Bill 185 in a kaleidoscopic lens—a lens that encompasses not just the religious aspect, but involves a whole other dimension (psychological, sociological, financial, economical, spiritual—yes, not religious! and etc.) Again, IT IS NOT ABOUT THE LIFESTYLE OR ISSUES OF MORALITY! It’s about what is NOT GIVEN as a right; and now is the time to alleviate hate, alleviate inequality! I may not be an LGBT person, but I support Bill 185 as an individual whose rights are being met. I can be with someone I chose to love and have my relationship legally recognized by the government. This is not shared mutually and equally with our brothers and sisters of the LGBT community. My name is Rosemarie G. Hermoso, a resident of Yona, a straight ally and I DO support Bill 185. 7
Rainbow Youth in Politics
A Coming Out Story: With 4 Words
“There are no acceptable limits and there are no acceptable prejudices in the 21st Century” –Hillary Rodham Clinton
With four words, the weight was gone. ‘Twas seven days after my birthday and it seemed like a normal night. All the lamps in my house shined nothing but bright. I executed the same repertoire as regular teenager would. Study for thirty minutes, eat and shower, check my social network profile, instant message and ride the phone line. I was on the last item of the list, talking to my boyfriend for the time being. He was good-looking, a senior at GW, and a witty personality. Due to my careless discretion, I forgot to control all the cordless handsets in my house. My mother picked up a handset and listened as I "sweet-talked" my boyfriend.
Anthony Woods was born on Travis Air Force base in Fairfield, California, and raised by a single mother. He may be young and gay, but he has spent more time in the front-lines of critical battles than most politicians do in a lifetime. A two tour Iraq War Veteran, Woods earned the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal for serving our nation in battle and working with Iraqis to help rebuild their devastated nation. Woods volunteered for his first deployment to Iraq in 2004, leading a platoon of West Virginia National Guard soldiers in Diyala, a province northeast of Baghdad. The unit was responsible for a volatile region housing more than 66,000 Iraqis for eleven months. Now, Anthony Woods after being discharged from the Army is back home in California and is a candidate for Congress in the 10th Congressional District, where a special election to replace outgoing Representative Ellen Tauscher has attracted a virtual swarm of Sacramento politicians looking for their next job, seeking a promotion. Anthony Woods and Guam’s very own Derick Baza Hills are not that different at all. Derick Hills is a United States Army Reservist and the current Speaker of the 27th Guam Youth Congress. In the 25th Guam Youth Congress, Hills, then Vice Speaker introduced the very first legislation addressing ¹Same-Sex Civil Marriage on Guam. The bill failed by one vote. That did not stop Hills’ effort to fight for equal rights and benefits for the LGBT community on Guam. Speaker Hills reintroduced the bill as Substitute bill 3 and was passed by the youth congress by a vote of 10-2, which led to ²Bill 138 “Recognizing and Legalizing Same Sex Civil Unions in the U.S Territory of Guam”. Senator Benjamin Cruz of the 30th Guam Legislature introduced the legislation on behalf of the Guam Youth Congress. Anthony and Derick are similar in every way except Anthony represents a different color of the rainbow while Derick represents another. The LGBT community is proud of Derick and the work he is doing to improve the quality of lives of Guam’s LGBT community, straight allies and their families. References ¹ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recognition_of_same-sex_unions_in_Guam ² http://www.guampdn.com/assets/pdf/M013600364.PDF
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My mother confronted me about my conversation with my buddy Marc. To my mother's knowledge, he was my best friend Brit's boyfriend. As she looked at me, I pondered if I should tell her the real story about Marc and how really close he was to me. As my head took a swift look to the left and the right, I looked her dead in the eye, a few drops of perspiration, I uttered the very words of "Mom, I am gay." She looked at me in shock and tears fell down her cheek. "I don't want to talk to you right now." she said. As she made a 180 degree turn, I felt an explosion of energy and an unbearable weight release from my body. I sat down to allow myself time to comprehend that I just came out to my mother. Without thinking twice, I called my best friend and told her what happened within the last few minutes. As I spoke with her, she reassured me that I might the right decision and it was going to be okay. She said, now that I was open to my mom about my sexuality meant that I could be myself and not having to hide anymore who I really am. After a week of silent treatment, my mom finally said "Is this a phase?" I told her with a declarative tone "No." She asked, "Don't you want to have kids?" I replied with “I’ve liked the idea of having “tykes” (kids), but I not sure if I can handle it.” Now that I am a little bit older, my relationship with my mother is slowly improving. Coming out has enriched my life and has given me greater confidence in accepting who I am. I am a gay man. To share your coming out story, contact DeeDee at 488-5291. For more information about coming visit:http://www.hrc.org/issues/coming_out.asp 3
LOVE Makes A Family: National Association of Social Workers (Guam Chapter) Supports Bill 185 The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Guam Chapter supports Bill 185 to recognize same gender domestic partnerships on Guam. The NASW, Guam Chapter through its current board President Ovita Perez submitted its written support and policy statement on Bill 185 to Senator Frank Aguon, Jr. oversight chairman. The NASW’s support of Bill 185 comes days before the second public hearing for Bill 185 scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 1.
being of all lesbian, gay and bisexual people.” In a bold move, the organization cites its 2009-2012 policy statement from the 8th edition of Social Work Speaks to justify its support of domestic partnerships for same gender couples, stating that, “NASW supports the adoption of local, state, federal and international policies/legislation that ban all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation. The gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender must be granted all rights, privileges and responsibilities that are granted to heterosexual people...”
In their letter to Senator Aguon, NASW affirmed its support, stating that, “NASW is committed to advancing policies and practices that will improve the status and well-
NASW is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world, with 150,000 members in 56 chapters. The Guam
Chapter of NASW is aligned with other national and international chapters that seek to address or repeal policies and legislations that are rooted in bias and prejudice and work toward ending social injustices committed on the basis of sexual orientation. Guam’s Alternative Lifestyle Association President Tim de La Cruz said, “NASW’s support of Bill 185 affirms the hopes of same gender couples in loving and committed relationships who are not provided legal recognition and protections. We applaud NASW for standing with us in this historical fight for equality and fairness.”
You have the power to shape Guam’s future. Legislate Love: Support Bill 185. Join the movement..Call or email your senators (guamlegislature.com)...Sign the petition.
in-FOCUS: GALA’s Core Volunteers GALA is inspired by our core group of volunteers who remain vital to the success of the organization. Our volunteers serve in various committees, from event planning to fundraising, to providing admin. assistance. They make it all happen! Office Manager: Steven Torres LGBT History Month Co-Chairs: Peter San Nicolas, Joleen Perez, Michele Blas & April San Nicolas. Advocacy Co-Chair: Derick Hills. Volunteers: Jonas Casil, Justin Santos, Trinity Hufana, Wilma Duenas, Rose Hermosa, Chaplain James Moore, Howard Piersing, Joseph Strang, Cha Cha, Tristan Rico Advisory Network: Alex Silverio, Dr. Lisa Natividad, Franklin Sablan, Attorney Bill Pesch & Julian Aguon For more photos visit us on: