Rad Queer Know Yr Rights Training, Jun 13

[facebook event page]
Sunday, June 13, 2010
12:00pm – 2:00pm
Powderhorn Park (by the stage)

This training will discuss what your rights are and how to assert them.

Following this event there’s a Really Really Free Market and free food in the park! How convenient!

Erica says: Further info and resources at RoseCityCopWatch.org.

Final Passage for Domestic Partner Ordinance in Edina

From Outfront Minnesota. Erica says: My mother-in-law – who loves Edina, lives in Edina, and wishes we would move there – was positively giddy.

Tuesday night the Edina City Council gave final approval to its new domestic partnership ordinance after unanimously moving it forward at their previous meeting. The Edina ordinance allows couples to register with the city to receive recognition of their relationship and various municipal benefits such as the ability to apply for family memberships at city-run facilities and homestead designations for their property. This recognition will also help provide documentation when couples apply for health insurance that offers benefits for domestic partners. Edina city employees will also be granted the ability to take paid medical leave to care for their partner and children as married spouses are able to do and to access bereavement benefits.

“We were not just the fourth city in this state to have a domestic partner ordinance; we’re the first suburb,” Edina Mayor Jim Hovland said of the ordinance. “So whether we were the first, fiftieth or five-hundredth, take pride in the fact that your community believes in fundamental fairness for all.”

If you care about health care reform and GLBT rights read this about a friend in need

A note from Ann Freeman.

Dear friends,

If you care about health care reform and if you care about the rights of GLBT people, this is a story you will want to read, and a situation I hope you will feel inspired to help out.

On May 11, her 34th birthday, a friend of mine, Jodee, who lives with her partner Sara in Austin, TX, had a mild-moderate stroke in the left temporal lobe of her brain. She’s recovering now, but the immediate result was that she lost mobility and feeling in her right arm below the elbow, which seems to be slowly coming back.

The cause is three blood clots that have been discovered in her brain, one at the base that has restricted blood flow from her carotid artery by 60%-80% and two more near the center of her brain. She’s in imminent danger, and needs surgery to remove the clots and put a stent in her brain to release the blockage.

As horrible as that story is, it gets worse because of the unfairness of our health care system and straight up discrimination against GLBT people in being granted full rights in our country.

Jodee is uninsured because she is diabetic, which insurance companies consider a “pre-existing condition” that renders her uninsurable. Because she is in a long term, loving, lesbian relationship which is not considered a legal marriage, she is not covered by Sara’s insurance. Jodee and Sara have access to doctors who WANT to help her but are unable to because she has no access to insurance.

The medical bills incurred as a result to date are staggering and will further sky rocket in the months to come. They are also struggling with lost income due to Jodee not being able to work and Sara needing to miss work to help care for her.

They need your support now, and in the future. They need money now for things like prescription drugs which cost them hundreds of dollars a month, and to replace lost income just to cover immediate living expenses.

But they also need funds to deal with mounting medical bills and to cover needed medical procedures could literally be life saving.

Jodee is slipping through the cracks of a health care system that her life now depends on, and any donation will help make a difference.

Challenge yourself to give the most you can. Jodee is a vibrant, beautiful young woman who deserves every opportunity to address this crisis and get the health care she needs to improve her changes for a healthier future.

A PayPal account has been set up to make donation easy. It can be found here.

If you are on Facebook, more information about Jodee and her situation can be found at this open group site: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=122480424447084

Information about donating and a link to the PayPal account can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Our-wealth-for-Jodees-health/123366847692120

Thank you for reaching out to Jodee and Sara in their time of need.

Please pass this along to your networks and anyone who might be willing and able to help out.

Sincerely,
Ann Freeman

Erica says: If for some reason you can’t get that PayPal link to work, the email address to send money to is yourmama@indystart.com. Include “Our wealth for Jodee’s health” in the note section.

Help Eliminate LGBT Housing Discrimination

Via Family Equality Council.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the launch of a new study on discrimination in housing against LGBT people.

You can participate in this historic study by visiting a new website created by HUD to allow individuals to comment on housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Comments received in town hall meetings, and those gathered from this new website, will inform HUD on the best ways to test for housing discrimination targeted against LGBT individuals and couples.

2010 Census Toll-Free Help Lines

Via d rojas.

Spanish 1-866-928-2010
English 1-866-872-6878

The Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association has extra forms if you have not received your forms. Stop by 821 E. 35th St. or call 612-722-4817. You could also check with your own neighborhood association.

As of Census Day (April 1), the nation’s participation rate was 54%. The Census is still accepting forms until through mid-April, and door-to-door visits will start May 1.

Erica says: I explained how my partner and I filled out our census form as a gay, multiracial couple.

[2010.census.gov]

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.)

******************************

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.

Estate Planning Without Full Legal Protection, Feb 2

Presented by Quorum’s Business Institute. Erica says: I’m signed up!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
6:30pm – 8:30pm
Women’s Club of Minneapolis
410 Oak Grove Street
Minneapolis, MN
[facebook event page]

Ignoring the unexpected is the worst preparation. Part 1 of this 2 part series will focus on the legal and tax planning options available to GLBT people and their families — which currently do not enjoy equal protection under the law. Do yourself and your family a favor and discover the tools you need to be prepared.

Only $15 for Quorum Members! $25 for Non-Members

Reserve Your Spot Today! – http://tinyurl.com/2010qu2

Presented by Lee Roehl of ROR Tax Professionals and Amy Papenhausen of Henson and Efron.