Seven Straight Nights...

[Jennifer5]

Originally Posted by crm3

Hey everyone! I'm the Houston state leader and i can't wait for the event! In response to an earlier post, you most certainly do NOT have to be straight to attend. This is about allies standing with our GLBT friends and declaring that we also care about equality and that human rights are not just a "gay issue." So if you know of an event in your area, please come out! It should be moving, amazing, and powerful. If we're lucky it will even cause some people to open their eyes and start to love their neighbors instead of judging them.

This really does sound like it'll be an incredible event! Hopefully I'll get to attend here in Seattle, just so long as those annoying things such as school and work(mom's crazy schedule) doesn't get in the way.

[Zerbie]

Originally Posted by Jennifer5

This really does sound like it'll be an incredible event! Hopefully I'll get to attend here in Seattle, just so long as those annoying things such as school and work(mom's crazy schedule) doesn't get in the way.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime kinda thing Jen. Even if there's a 7SN next year, there will still never be a FIRST 7SN again. Tell work you need that day off, and tell them NOW. Then, line up a trusted adult relative or friend who can take you if your mom can't make it that day. Have two people lined up who you can call up last minute so you can get there.

[Jennifer5]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

This is a once-in-a-lifetime kinda thing Jen. Even if there's a 7SN next year, there will still never be a FIRST 7SN again. Tell work you need that day off, and tell them NOW. Then, line up a trusted adult relative or friend who can take you if your mom can't make it that day. Have two people lined up who you can call up last minute so you can get there.

Easier said then done. My mom's work schedule is the hard part. She's the only one that would be able to take me, I don't know anyone else near by who would... and they couldn't anyway because the crap with my dad (if anything happened, my mom would be screwed). I really do want to go and as soon as I get exact dates and locations I will work on my mom in hopes of her saying yes. I wish it was as simple has askign someone to take me, but I don't really have that option like I wouldn't a year or two ago.

I agree, this is a once in a lifetime experience, now I just need work on making it happen. Thanks for continuing to encourage me Zerbie, I'm trying to get in contact with the Seattle leader for more information... if you have any other suggests I'm glad to hear them, I want to make this happen.

[Daniel]

http://www.towleroad.com/2007/09/straight-vt-wom.html

[Jennifer5]

Originally Posted by Daniel

http://www.towleroad.com/2007/09/straight-vt-wom.html

Interesting! Good and bad... horrible that those things are happening, but I love her reaction. Do we have anyway to tell her about 7SN?

[BrentRichards]

Originally Posted by Daniel

http://www.towleroad.com/2007/09/straight-vt-wom.html

One of the comments posted on the article:

Did every homosexual man who read this story just instinctively shout 'You go, girl!' at once? Because I did.

ME TOO!

[Jennifer5]

Originally Posted by BrentRichards

One of the comments posted on the article:



ME TOO!

I love it.

[Jennifer5]

Is there ANYONE else on here from the Seattle WA area? Last I knew we didn't have a leader.. if you know of anyone in the area please suggest that they ask about being a leader. I'm 16, I can't, I'll just be glad if I'm able to go.

Thanks

[Zerbie]

Originally Posted by Jennifer5

Is there ANYONE else on here from the Seattle WA area? Last I knew we didn't have a leader.. if you know of anyone in the area please suggest that they ask about being a leader. I'm 16, I can't, I'll just be glad if I'm able to go.

Thanks

Even if you don't make it to a vigil this time round, Jen, your spirit will most certainly be with us as we hold ours in Phoenix.

[Jennifer5]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

Even if you don't make it to a vigil this time round, Jen, your spirit will most certainly be with us as we hold ours in Phoenix.

Thanks sis! I'd be just as happy to join you for the action in Phoenix... but you know, that distance detail

[sailaway58]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

Even if you don't make it to a vigil this time round, Jen, your spirit will most certainly be with us as we hold ours in Phoenix.

You can also host a at home vigil. come together with some friends and invite some friends on the outside of this issue and share why this is important to you. Share your stories and such.

[Jennifer5]

Originally Posted by sailaway58

You can also host a at home vigil. come together with some friends and invite some friends on the outside of this issue and share why this is important to you. Share your stories and such.

Neat idea... and I'll try to make it to the one in Seattle... if all works out, I think my mom's onboard!

[Zerbie]

Originally Posted by Jennifer5

Neat idea... and I'll try to make it to the one in Seattle... if all works out, I think my mom's onboard!

Yayyy!!!

Keep telling all your friends Jen, and everyone - I think the word is starting to get out there. Keep it goin' on!

[Jennifer5]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

Yayyy!!!

Keep telling all your friends Jen, and everyone - I think the word is starting to get out there. Keep it goin' on!

Yeah, I don't have any friends in the state that I could mention this event to... but that would be one of the nice things about going. Meet more people!

[Daniel]

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/09/092407Vigil.htm

Straights Join Fight For Gay Rights
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: September 24, 2007 - 1:00 pm ET

(Austin, Texas) Vigils are planned next month in cities across the country to support federal and state LGBT initiatives. What makes these demonstrations different is that they are being organized by straight men and women.

From Santa Rosa, California, to Montgomery, Alabama, to Augusta, Maine, overnight vigils will light up American cities over the course of seven nights - from October 7 to 13 - "providing unprecedented visibility to heterosexual men and women with the conviction to stand up for their gay and lesbian friends and neighbors" according to organizers Atticus Circle and Soulforce.

Atticus Circle is a national organization dedicated to achieving equality for all partners, parents, and their children regardless of sexual orientation. Soulforce is a nondenominational organization that advocates for LGBT issues.

The vigils, dubbed Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights, will take place in 30 cities the two groups said in a statement on Monday. The kick-off will take place at The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Many Seven Straight Nights local organizers were motivated to become more involved after divisive marriage discrimination amendments made it to the ballot in their states.

In Arizona, where voters defeated a marriage amendment in 2006, Seven Straight Nights organizer Susan Hurley and her husband William Reber were spurred to a new level of political involvement. "When the marriage amendment was introduced, we went from being the kind of people who make phone calls and write letters to being the people standing on street corners with signs in our hands," said Hurley.

In Texas, Anne Wynne said she was shocked into action by the November 2004 elections, when eleven states voted to add a ban on gay marriage to their constitutions.

"When I saw the margins these propositions passed by, I thought, 'Where were the people who think like my husband and me?'" When she couldn't find an existing political organization that represented her interests, Wynne took matters into her own hands, founding Atticus Circle to educate and mobilize straight supporters of equal rights.

Faith traditions also provide inspiration for many families and individuals who are organizing Seven Straight Nights vigils, Atticus and Soulforce said.

In Raleigh, North Carolina, the vigil organizer is Rev. Jack McKinney of Pullen Memorial Baptist church, a local institution with a long history of involvement in civil rights struggles. The Raleigh vigil will feature church choirs and will offer thanks to those North Carolina corporate leaders who have taken progressive stands on domestic partner benefits for employees.

Julie Morgan, vigil organizer for Duluth, Minnesota, is active in an interfaith committee called Standing on the Side of Love. Of her involvement with Seven Straight Nights, Morgan said in the joint statement, "my faith as a Unitarian commands me to be active in the world, to take my values and live them."

In other states, vigil organizers represent a variety of other faith traditions, including Judaism and Native American Shamanistic traditions.

"These fair-minded straight folks are showing their elected officials that equality is not a secular issue, not a gay issue, not an urban elite issue, not an east coast or a west coast issue--it's an American issue," says Jeff Lutes, Executive Director of Soulforce.

On October 12, 2007, the nation will mark the ninth anniversary of the murder of Matthew Shepard, a brutal hate crime that shocked many Americans out of complacency. With the fate of the Matthew Shepard Act still unclear in the Senate, this year's anniversary looms with particular poignancy.

Shepard's mother, Judy Shepard of Wyoming, has officially endorsed Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights, saying "All of us -- gay and straight alike -- need to act. Hate affects each and every one of us."

Vigil leader Susan Crain of Greenville, South Carolina understands the importance of hate crime laws that include sexual orientation and gender identity. On May 16 of this year, tragedy struck her city when twenty-year-old Sean Kennedy was attacked and beaten to death by a stranger spouting anti-gay epithets.

At the Greenville Seven Straight Nights vigil, South Carolinians will light 1,138 candles in the City Plaza to symbolize the 1,138 rights and responsibilities denied to gay couples by denying them marriage equality. Students from a local Gay-Straight Alliance will read aloud the names of victims of hate crimes.

In Wisconsin, where a marriage amendment passed in 2006, Atticus and Soulforce said that First Lady Jessica Doyle has stepped forward as the leader for Seven Straight Nights in Madison.

According to Doyle, "We are at our very best as a state when we are open, inclusive, and actively dedicated to equal rights for all."

And in New York, where a marriage equality bill remains stalled in the state senate, Seven Straight Nights participants will vigil outside the home office of Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R), which is located in Saratoga Springs, New York.

©365Gay.com 2007

Way to go batgirl!

[sailaway58]

Well I submitted a press release today.
I was a little gutless about it though, I didn't use my name or email. No doubt it will get around town fast enough that Tim and Cindy support Gay rights because I have to pay for the add if they don't want to issue it as a press release. This little town of 6,500 loves to gossip!
We both feel ready for what ever follows. I have been asked to also share that night our story as to how we came to support equal rights.
This won't be my first public speaking engagement, but it will no doubt be the most controversial. I plan to very frank and am putting together my thoughts for the night daily.
I'm kind of getting into this, are there jobs for this kind of thing? God knows my business will bite it as this gets out.
That's okay, we're ready for the ride!
I have found that most of the fears we have about something never come to the fruition we expect.
Don't forget us folks in Indiana! $$
https://www.soulforce.org/sevenstrai...hts&city_id=13

[Zerbie]

Originally Posted by Daniel

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/09/092407Vigil.htm




Way to go batgirl!

Well howabout that?

Originally Posted by sailaway58

Well I submitted a press release today.
I was a little gutless about it though, I didn't use my name or email.


I thought there had to be a media contact info on a press release in order for it to be taken under consideration? No?

We both feel ready for what ever follows. I have been asked to also share that night our story as to how we came to support equal rights.
This won't be my first public speaking engagement, but it will no doubt be the most controversial. I plan to very frank and am putting together my thoughts for the night daily.

That sounds perfect!!

I'm mentally speculating all the time on just how much I'm going to say and what it will consist of. Not much, since we've public speakers invited to do the bulk of the public address. Anyway, I hear ya.



I'm kind of getting into this, are there jobs for this kind of thing? God knows my business will bite it as this gets out.
That's okay, we're ready for the ride!

id=13[/url]

Well I hope you wind up pleasantly surprised about that!! You never know how many around you will really appreciate your stand. And even those that don't may turn out to really respect the courage you have in your convictions.

This is when I get to be glad I'm an opera singer. This sort of stand might not totally debilitate my chances there.

[sailaway58]

I thought there had to be a media contact info on a press release in order for it to be taken under consideration? No?

I used the host email and name Andy Burnette

[Jamie McDaniel]

Dennis Kucinich has Seven Straight Nights on his website.

www.dennis4president.com/go/newsroom/seven-straight-nights-for-equal-rights

[Jennifer5]

Originally Posted by Jamie McDaniel

Dennis Kucinich has Seven Straight Nights on his website.

www.dennis4president.com/go/newsroom/seven-straight-nights-for-equal-rights

That's awesome!!!





So, can anyone answer my questions....

Is the Seattle event still taking place, because I don't seem to be able to get any details?

Where would it be?

What day?

They're making it impossible to figure out what's going on... this week and I definately can't go if I don't know when, where, or if it's even happening.