Grease Rag WomenTransFemme Cyclists Organizing Meeting

Grease Rag‘s mission:

to encourage and empower women/ trans/ femme (WTF) cyclists in a collaborative and fun learning environment through rides, discussions, shop nights and educational seminars in a safer space

Grease Rag is holding an organizing meeting Saturday, Sep 11, 10 am, in Seward. Interested participants should email greaseragmpls@gmail.com for the address.

Grease Rag is run by volunteers. We rely on each other to organize and make events happen. Join us to discuss the nitty gritty and get involved!

If you can’t make it to the meeting, consider joining the Grease Rag Google Group.

Grease Rag also hosts regular get togethers for group rides and shop time, educational workshops, and participates in all the cool biking events around town like Bicycle Film Festival and the Babes in Bikeland alleycat race.

TheColu.mn Profiles DFL Gov Candidates on LGBT Issues

TheColu.mn Profiles DFL Gov Candidates on LGBT Issues

In case you’re voting in the August 10 primary. Find all the info you need about who’s in the primary, where to vote, etc., from the League of Women Voters.

Technical Difficulties with The Dish

This edition of The Dish was supposed to go out by email last Friday, but it turns out one of the posts I had included was disallowed by my email service provider. Not because of the content, but because of the source (i.e., another website it was hosted on, and if I mention it again, the email gets canceled again).

The result is:

1. Unfortunately some events listed below may have already passed.
2. I’ll be taking another look at my email service provider’s terms of service to ensure compliance. Wouldn’t want to get blacklisted by, say, Yahoo or Comcast.
3. I may have to request more or different information from folks who submit items for posting. This should not happen very often.

Thanks for your patience. My email service provider is otherwise totally awesome, so I’m more than happy to work with them. And remember that stuff is always viewable on the web at cinna.mn/dish.

Calvary Lutheran does Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, May 20-23

Via Lavender Magazine. Erica says: My choir (the Twin Cities Women’s Choir) rehearses at Calvary Lutheran, participates in their food shelf, and otherwise has a long history with them. Great people!

Calvary Lutheran puts its diverse membership in the spotlight as they produce the hit musical “Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”. Join us for music and laughs and lots of splash!

Thursday, May 20 – 8pm
Friday, May 21 – 8pm
Saturday, May 22 – 8pm
Sunday, May 23 – 2pm

Tickets available online: $10/Adults and $7/Children age 8 and under

For more information, visit www.CLchurch.org or josephdreamcoat.eventbrite.com.

Calvary Lutheran is a Reconciling in Christ church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA)

Children and Youth Programming at Rainbow Families Conference, Apr 10

Erica says: I’ll be facilitating the Parents of Color affinity group and performing various other volunteer activities. Hope to see you there!

Children & Youth Programming Announced!

Programming at the Rainbow Families Conference will engage children and youth in fun, educational and empowering activities that encourage connections, leadership and pride in their identity as children of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender parents and families.

Programming for 1 year olds–preK
Babies, toddlers and preschoolers will be in the safe, loving care of experienced teachers and volunteers. Children will be participating in age-appropriate stories and arts & crafts and will have play time, gym time and nap time.

Programming for K–5th Graders
The day for children in Kindergarten through 5th grade will be jam-packed with amazing programming. We are pleased to be able to provide programming from CLIMB Theatre, Science Outside the Box, Rainbow Rumpus, One Voice Mixed Chorus, “the marbles guy” Tom Fletcher and the MN Freedom Band. Children in this age group will also participate in the children’s parade during the Community Gathering.

Programming for 6th– 12th graders
COLAGE is providing a day of exciting programming for youth in 6th grade and up who have one or more LGBTQ parent. COLAGE is a national movement of children, youth and adults with one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer (LGBTQ) parent. Youth participating in COLAGE programming at the Rainbow Families Conference with have an opportunity to meet other COLAGErs (youth with LGBTQ parents) and work with a team of adult facilitators who also identify as COLAGErs.

Additional information
*Children will be assigned to rooms by age or grade.
*Each room will be staffed by a minimum of two adults. An experienced teacher will be in every room.
*Parents will pick up their children at lunchtime and eat lunch with them then return them to their room when lunch is over.
*Though there is no childcare for children under age 1, you are welcome to bring your baby to the Conference. A breast-feeding room will be available for your convenience.

Deadline for registering children is Monday, April 5 – Register now!
For more information about the Rainbow Families Conference, visit www.familyequality.org/conference.

In celebration of the 15 year history of the event, we invite you join and upload photos from previous years to the 15th Annual Rainbow Families Conference Facebook event page. We would also love to hear your stories about the past 15 years. Please share your stories here.

Watch MN House Civil Justice Committee Hearing on Marriage Equality Live Online, Feb 22

Erica says: In case you can’t make it to the capitol to show support, you can watch the proceedings online.

Monday, Feb. 22

4:30 p.m. – (live) House Civil Justice Committee
Agenda: HF893 (Kahn) Gender-neutral marriage laws provided, and the Marriage and Family Protection Act enacted; HF999 (Mullery) Civil union relationships provided, and civil union contracts substituted for marriage for purposes of Minnesota law; HF1740 (Winkler) Marriages performed in other states recognized in Minnesota. (Informational hearing only. The committee will not vote on any bills.)

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The Minnesota House of Representatives provides live, unedited webcast television coverage of all floor sessions, as well as select committee hearings and press conferences. All programming is also archived.
Minnesota House television webcast schedules and links to the live webcasts can be found at: www.house.leg.state.mn.us/htv/schedule.asp

HRC Federal Club: Sweet Equality, Feb 20

Via What’s Up Ladies.

Saturday February 20
HRC Federal Club | “Sweet Equality”

8 PM – 2 AM
Chambers – Red, White & Blue
901 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis
(612) 767-6900

http://www.chambersminneapolis.com

The Twin Cities HRC Federal Club is mixing business and pleasure!

DID YOU KNOW: To provide the exact same benefits to your domestic partner, more money comes out of your pocket than your heterosexual co-worker? What is HRC doing about it? Come find out!

8pm-10pm: “Sweet Equality” is a delicious affair of decadent treats and after dinner cocktails. We’ve invited 3 special guests: US Senator AMY KLOBUCHAR, DEENA FIDAS, head of the Workplace Project from HRC and JULIE OWEN, SVP of Connected World Strategies from Best Buy.

Each will take a few moments to share what’s going on in the workplace with LGBT issues. $25/person includes 2 drinks, a gorgeous assortment of treats for your sweet tooth and some incredible messages!

10pm-2am: – (NO COVER AFTER 10PM) Beautiful bar, beautiful night- why stop now? We’re cranking up the volume and plan on keeping the RWFB bartenders busy. Bring your buddies, your mama or daddy- bring a sweetheart or just bring your sweet self. The Red, White, and F*ing Blue Bar wants you! Again- there is not a cover for this portion of the event.

SPONSORS:
Best Buy
Historic Interiors Group & Great Estate

Final Wishes/Wrongful Death Bill to Be Heard on Floor of State House

From Project 515 and new Executive Director Ann Kaner-Roth.

Our Final Wishes/Wrongful Death (SF 341) (PDF Fact Sheet) is expected to be heard on the floor of the Minnesota House of Representatives soon and with your support, we hope this bill will pass-it passed in the Senate and out of all House committees last year, so this is the final step. But members of the House need to hear why passage of the Final Wishes/Wrongful Death bill is important to you.

Please contact your State Representative today and ask your Representative to support the Final Wishes/Wrongful Death bill on the House floor. Find your Representative here.

Here are a few things to remember:

• The Final Wishes section allows same-sex partners to carry out the final wishes of their loved ones after their death.
• The Wrongful Death section of the bill will allow same-sex partners to recover funeral and hospital costs associated with the wrongful death of a loved one, such as in an accident with a drunken driver.
• This combined bill is critical for Minnesota families. Most Minnesotans believe state laws should treat all families equally and this will take us one step closer to that goal.

In the coming weeks, Project 515 will introduce a new proposal to address more of the 515-plus state laws that discriminate against same-sex couples and their families. Watch for details soon.

In the meantime, help us pass the Final Wishes/Wrongful Death bill by contacting your Representative today.

HOTB Mayday Parade and Festival Community Meetings, Feb 9 and Mar 16

Via the Seward Profile.

Open MayDay community meetings are the venue to which we invite you and your neighbors to brainstorm and discuss the theme for this year’s Mayday Parade and Festival. The meetings are free and everyone is welcome to attend one or both. No reservation needed, but please come ready to share ideas and discuss recent issues as well as concerns and hopes for the future.

Details
Tuesday, February 9 · 7-9pm at HOBT
Tuesday, March 16 · 7-9pm at HOBT

Open community workshops will run throughout April on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays beginning April 3. The MayDay Parade and Festival will be held on Sunday, May 2.

Fundraiser for Minnesota’s AWP Conference Contingent, Feb 10

From Bao Phi. Bao says:

Hello folks, I know it’s rotten timing, but please consider coming to support and spreading the word – there is no donation too small, and 100% of all donations goes to travel expenses for these great local artists. Also, check out the list of door prizes – more awaiting confirmation!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Equilibrium: Spoken Word at the Loft presents:
SEND MINNESOTA WRITERS OF COLOR AND INDIGENOUS WRITERS TO AWP!
featuring performances by Robert Karimi, Marcie Rendon, Brittany Delaney, Bao Phi, Diego Vazquez, Tatiana Ormaza, and Guante
with emcee Tou Saiko Lee and DJ Nak
At the Loft, Open Book, 1011 Washington Avenue South, Minneapolis
8 p.m.
No door charge.

Help send Minnesota writers from communities of color and indigenous communities to AWP, a large conference for writers where they will have an opportunity to represent Equilibrium and Minnesota to a national stage and connect with communities from all over the world. All the artists and the DJ are donating their performances to this event, and the Loft is donating registration fees as well as logistical support – we just need to raise funds to cover travel expenses. No donation is too small, and every person who donates regardless of the amount will be entered for fantastic door prizes from community sponsors Magers and Quinn, Toki Wright, Coffee Gallery, Heather Wang, The Loft, Dessa of Doomtree, Orikal, Coffeehouse Press, First Nations Composers Initiative/American Composers Forum, and many more!

This event is cosponsored by Equilibrium: Spoken Word at the Loft and Minnesota Private Colleges Council

Join the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry for Free

There is currently a promotion going that waives the $52 fee to process your donor sample (it’s just a cheek swab) to get you registered to be a bone marrow donor. They especially need people of non-white ethnicity, but of course the registry is open to anyone. If you are matched as a donor, your medical costs are covered.

Register here and use promotional code PIF070109.

I don’t know how long this promo lasts for, so check it out now. You’ll answer a bunch of screening questions and provide backup contact info. They’ll send you the cheek swab kit (I just got mine in the mail) and you’ll do the swabs and send it back.

Happy New Year from The Dish!

I hope everyone enjoyed their various holidays. I stayed home and did not much of anything for two weeks and it was divine.

In between movies, tv, books, video games, and sleep, I spent some time working on some behind-the-scenes details here at The Dish. I won’t bore you with the details but the key things to note are:

1. The Dish website has a new look. The basics are there, though there is still lots of tweaking to be done to things that you may not even notice but which drive me nuts. I was going for a cleaner, fresher, simpler look.
2. I switched mailing services (again). What that means for you is that the new emails are much prettier to look at. What that means for me is it’s way easier to manage (and prettier to look at). If you’re reading this by email, it’s all working perfectly.
3. I get regular requests (and a lot more lately) to add your interested friends to the mailing list. This is awesome; please keep referring your interested friends. BUT, please refer them to the website. Sign-up is completely automated. Sign-up instructions will be included in every email. Sign-up should be completely obvious when looking at the website. There are links to the website all over every email. I will respond to requests to add people to the list with instructions to go to the website. I’ve tried to make it as dead simple as possible.

As always, let me know if you have any questions – dish@cinna.mn.

With love,
Erica

We're looking to adopt…

My partner and I are working on adopting and are spreading the word far and wide. If you know a pregnant woman considering adoption please forward our information along. We are working with Lutheran Social Services and have an approved home study. We live in South Minneapolis and our ideal situation would be to have an open adoption if at all possible. We are open to a child of any race. Feel free to write or respond if you have questions. And send us some good baby vibes! :)

Our webpage:
dawnandjenadopt.weebly.com
(612) 670-0442

Thanks!

[Dawn and Jen's Family Profile (pdf)]

This post was submitted by Dawn & Jen.

Augsburg College Feminist Collective's Roundtable Discussion Series on Gender and Sexuality, Jan 22-23

Via True Colors Bookstore, where there are now extended weekend hours.

Augsburg College Feminist Collective hosts a Roundtable Discussion Series on Gender & Sexuality Friday, January 22 and Saturday, January 23 [2010]

Friday at 5 pm: Twin Cities Smitten Kitten Education Coordinator Clare Jacky facilitates discussion on safe, exploratory, and pleasureful queer sex.

Friday at 7 pm: Twin Cities singer/songwriter Chastity Brown shares her complex soul – a country-born, gospel-raised, activist poet who sings about women, race, love and politics with an edgy tenderness. Discussion of her music with Chastity at the end of performance.

Saturday at 11:30 am: Milwaukee sex therapist Psy.D. Lynn Vice facilitates discussion about the positive right to pleasure: the female orgasm, addressing questions such as What is sexual pleasure and what can it mean for each of us as individuals?

Saturday at 2 pm: Augsburg College Professor Nancy Fischer facilitates discussion on sexuality from a sociological perspective

Where: Augsburg College [Friday in the Women's Resource Center and Saturday TBA]

The initiative of the Roundtable Series on Gender & Sexuality is to have a variety of well-versed [in terms of gender & sexuality] community members host knowledgeable, exploratory, openly interactive, intimate, and informative talks with participants in order to develop discussion pertaining to the topic at hand in a safe and non-heteronormative environment.

The discussion facilitators will have space to elaborate on the dedicated themes and furthermore receive questions and varied analysis from listeners in order to foment greater interaction between the facilitator and those who are actively listening… Coming together to open a communal outlet embracing our unique realities of humanness; uniting to speak our truths…

Food and overall refreshments will be tentatively and health-fully provided by Birchwood Cafe, St. Martin’s Table, and Hard Times Cafe.

Twin Cities Women's Choir Illuminations Concert, Dec 6

Erica says: Totally a selfish plug; I’ll be singing. It’s also the unofficial release party for our Illuminations CD. Hope you can join us!

The Twin Cities Women’s Choir presents Illuminations—a concert to celebrate the return of light to our lives. Music will honor many traditions. This year, TCWC will present the world premiere of a newly commissioned work by the winner of the first annual TCWC Female Emerging Composer Contest.

Join us for an afternoon of reflective celebration of the transformation from darkness to light.

December 6, 2009 2:00pm [facebook event page]
December 6, 2009 4:00pm [facebook event page]

$15
(kids 11 and under free)
(sliding-scale pricing available at the door)

Calvary Lutheran Church
http://clchurch.org
3901 Chicago Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55407

For tickets:
612-333-8292
http://www.twincitieswomenschoir.org/event/2009-12-06/illuminations-2009