hello...

Here's what's happening... Kansas City, Missouri... Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England, UK...  Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, England, UK... Redditch, Worcestershire, England, UK... Tulsa, Oklahoma... Hebron, Kentucky... Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania... Mountain View, California... Quezon, Nueva Ecija, Philippines... West Hartford, Connecticut... Izmir, Turkey... Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada... Sunnyvale, California... Philadelphia, Pennsylvania... Monroe Township, New Jersey... Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada... River Forest, Illinois... Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan... Taoyuan, Hunan, China... Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts...   Anaheim, California... West Jordan, Utah... Dungarvan, Waterford, Ireland...  Charlotte, North Carolina... Chicago, Illinois... Villas, New Jersey...  Terre Haute, Indiana...  Ottawa, Ontario...  Plainwell, Michigan... Huntington, New York...  Guelph, Ontario, Canada... Finale Ligure, Liguria, Italy... Graignes, Basse-Normandie, France... Moorestown, New Jersey... Scarborough, Ontario, Canada... Westlake, Ohio...

www.redcross.org

From sea to shining sea... and north to the Arctic!

In Canada, things are generally better for LGBT folks than here than in the US.  (In states such as South Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama, they're way better.)   But there are irksome spots.  What Canadian LGBTs want to do is to amend their constitution.

Jillian Page, who writes for the Montreal Gazette, has graciously allowed me to put in Canadian Members of Parliament along with US House of Representatives.

But now it's your turn!  Whatever side of the line you are on, it's your responsibility to let these people know that you expect respect, and it should be written into the constitution.

Lincoln, Nebraska - Jeff Fortenberry (R) - 1NE

Mountain View, California - Anna Eshoo (D) - 14CA

Moorestown, New Jersey - Jon Runyan (R) - 3NJ

Los Angeles, California - Linda Sanchez (D) - 39CA

Grosse Pointe, Michigan - Hansen Clarke (D) - 13MI

San Francisco, California - Nancy Pelosi (D) - 8CA

Moreno Valley, California - Mary Bono Mack (R) - 45CA

Corner Brook, Newfoundland(CAN) - Gerry Byrne (Liberal) - Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte

Harrison, Arkansas - Steve Womack (R) - 3AR

The representatives/MPs shown above are the product of the Internet.  To find out who the representative is go to www.house.gov.  If you are from Canada, go to www.gc.ca.

Hello!

Uhhhhh... too much turkey... here's the latest... Hamburg, New York... Mountain View, California... Wilmington, Delaware... Marl, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany... Vincennes, Indiana... Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa... Norwalk, Connecticut... Birmensdorf, Zurich, Switzerland... Davenport, Iowa...  Hull, Kingston upon Hull, England, UK... Evanston, Illinois... Zephyrhills, Florida... Moreno Valley, California... West Point, Virginia... West Point, Virginia... Dallas, Texas... Orël, Orel, Russia... Strømmen, Akershus, Sweden... London, England, UK... Kingston, New York... Berlin, Germany... Utrecht, Netherlands...  Alexandria, Virginia... Epsom, Surrey, England, UK... Wonju, Kangwon-do, South Korea... Vancouver, British Columbia... Columbus, Ohio... Taoyuan, Hunan, China... Belmar, New Jersey... Moorestown, New Jersey... Warren, Ohio... Chicago, Illinois.... Roselle, Illinois... Philadelphia, Pennsylvania... Quezaltepeque, La Libertad, El Salvador...  Zaventem, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium...

Hey, give a neighbor a hand!
www.redcross.org 

Once more - it's time!

I know, I know -- I'm beginning to sound like an ole broken record.  But the thing is, it's important. You may live in one of those fortunate states, but the thing is, there are those states that are not nearly as fortunate.  We need LGBT rights to be universal rights, not some crazyquilt map that you need to check every time you cross a state border.

Zephyrhills, Florida - Richard Nugent (R) - FL5
Moreno Valley, California - Mary Bono Mack (R) - CA45
West Point, Virginia - Richard Wittman (R) - VA1
Dallas, Texas - Pete Sessions (D) - TX32
Mountain View, California - Anna Eshoo (D) - CA14
Kingston, New York - Maurice Hinchey (D) - NY22
Houston, Texas - Al Green (D) - TX9
Columbus, Ohio - Steve Stivers (R) - OH15
Belmar, New Jersey - Frank Pallone (D) - NJ6
Moorestown, New Jersey - Jon Runyan (R) - NJ3

The preceding representatives are random selections from the Internet.   To find which representative is yours, go to www.house.gov and enter your five digit ZIP code.  

Hello!

It's Veteran's Day!  Hey, President Obama, you did right by gays, lesbians, and bisexuals - how 'bout us transgenders?  Here's what's happening... Stockholm, Stockholms Lan, Sweden.... Brookline, Massachusetts...  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma... Saint James, New York... Sheffield, England, UK... Syracuse, New York... Fargo, North Dakota... Washington, District of Columbia... Terre Haute, Indiana... Denver, Colorado... Bulle, Fribourg, Switzerland... Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania... Brockville, Ontario, Canada... Mountain View, California... Framingham, Massachusetts...  Central District, S.A.R., China (Hong Kong)... Sunnyvale, California... Dublin, Ireland... Windsor, Windsor and Maidenhead, England, UK... Philadelphia, Pennsylvania... Monroe Township, New Jersey... Zaventem, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium...  Canandaigua, New York... Roselle, Illinois... Riyadh, Ar Riyad, Saudi Arabia...  Kent, Ohio... Youngstown, Ohio... Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada...

Hey, you can help!

www.redcross.org

Let 'em have it - by e-mail!

A few things to remember; as I said before, the House of Representatives has an election every two years, and they had one this past Tuesday.  If your representative's mark "www.smith.gov" has a hash mark(#) next to it, it probably means that he/she is serving his last term.  However, until she/he gives up the seat formally (usually the first week in January) she/he continues the seat in November and December.  Therefore, it's considered proper etiquette to address the current member, not the future one.

In brief:  Let all LGBT people have the same rights as heterosexual people do, and let them be universal.

Mountain View, California - Anna Eshoo (D) - CA14
Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania - Mike Doyle (D) - PA14
Framingham, Massachusetts  - Ed Markey (D) - MA7
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Robert Brady (D) - PA1
Fargo, North Dakota - Rick Berg (R) - ND/AL
Washington, District of Columbia - Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) - DC/AL*
Syracuse, New York - Ann Marie Buerkle (D) - NY25
Terre Haute, Indiana - Larry Buchson (D)
Denver, Colorado - Diane DeGette (D) - CO1
Monroe Township, New Jersey - Rush Holt (D) - NJ12

The representatives are samples; to find yours, go to www.house.gov and enter it where it says "ZIP codes".

easiest e-mail... EVER!

Okay, okay... so five minutes is too much. Here's a handy-dandy e-letter you can paste onto your representative's blog, and send it off!

*****

Dear (representative's name)

I am writing to you because I am concerned about the future of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) rights.

The vast majority of these people are hard working, peace-loving persons.  This is why I find it so hard to believe that a majority of our representatives would not allow same-sex people to marry.  They would not allow visits of people who love each other if the family objects.  They even would not allow visits to a gravesite to say a final farewell.

I am strongly in favor of a nationwide guarantee of rights for all Americans.  These are egregious wrongs, and they MUST be righted.

Sincerely,

(your name)

*****

Simple, isn't it?

Norfolk, Virginia - Scott Rigell(? - VA2
Tulsa, Oklahoma - John Sullivan(R) - OK1
Osceola, Arkansas - Rick Crawford (R) AR1
Zephyrhills, Florida - Richard Nugent (R) - FL5
Mountain View, California - Anna Eshoo (D) CA14
Kensington, Maryland- Chris Van Hollen (D) - MD5
Ormond Beach, Florida - John Mica (R) - FL7
Newark, Delaware - John Carney (D) - DE-AL
Reading, Massachusetts - John Tierney (D)- MA6
Post Falls, Idaho - Raul Labrador (R)

Hello!

If you've fallen asleep, wake up!  It's almost Election Day time! Here's what's happening...  Riyadh, Ar Riyad, Saudi Arabia... Buffalo, New York... Raleigh, North Carolina... Mountain View, California... Zaventem, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium... Lansing, Michigan... West Hartford, Connecticut... Moscow, Moscow City, Russia... Austin, Texas... Birmingham, Alabama... Orlando, Florida... Dublin, Ireland... Westerville, Ohio... Toms River, New Jersey... San Diego, California... Rochester, Minnesota... Randolph, New Jersey... Denver, Colorado... San Francisco, California... San Luis Obispo, California...  Chicago, Illinois... Peoria, Illinois... Taipei, T'ai-pei, Taiwan... Cleveland, Ohio...  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania... Portsmouth, Ohio... Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada... Gresham, Oregon... 

e-mail your representative!

Let them that you are here, and that you insist on FULL rights for LGBT folks.  It only takes about five minutes, and you'll feel great!

Tomball, Texas - Michael McCaul (R) - TX10
Rohnert Park, California - Lynn Woolsey (D) - CA6
Brooklyn, New York - Michael Grimm (R) NY13
(among others)
Millbrook, Alabama - Martha Roby (R) - AL2
East Hampton, New York - Tim Bishop (D) - NY1
Mountain View, California - Anna Eshoo (D) CA14
Scranton, Pennsylvania - Lou Barletta (R) - PA11
Pacifica, California - Jackie Speier (D) - CA12
Newark, Arkansas - Rick Crawford (R) - AR1
Topeka, Kansas - Lynn Jenkins (R) KA2

This is a sampling of places on the Internet. To find your exact location, go to www.house.gov and type in your ZIP code.  If you
live in a very densely populated area, or one which borders with another district, you can enter your street address.