OUTmedia's
"BE QUEER, BUY QUEER!"
INTERNATIONAL VIDEO CONTEST

in partnership with Campus Pride

WIN $10,000
in FREE OUTmedia Entertainment for Your Campus

LEARN MORE

In partnership with Campus Pride, OUTmedia is seeking college students throughout the world to submit original videos on the theme,“Be Queer, Buy Queer!”

Slams,rants, stand up, sketch, music frenzy, spicy splicing are all welcome.We want you to speak boldly, and outrageously on the vision, expressed by OUTmedia’s Founder, Shelly Weiss, “care about where you spend your every dime, invest in the businesses that believe and invest in you.Build your queer vision of your future, with what and where you buy today!”

Submit your own video responding to concept of "Be Queer Buy Queer," with a friend,your LGBTQQIA campus group, or run wild with your entire campus community! Present in video form "What Does Be Queer Buy Queer Mean To You?"

PRIZE: One winner will receive $10,000 in OUTmedia entertainment* and the opportunity to host the First Annual OUTmedia Queer Campus Culture Fest! at their university --hosted by Kit Yan and being developed for TVairing.

An additional prize of a performance by one OUTmedia artist will be given to the school with the most number of registered voters.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: Submissions will be accepted through April 15, 2010, voting from April16-29, 2010 -- and the winner announced at the culmination of Diversity Month on April 30, 2010.

I remember being nervous as I sat there with my study abroad advisor. It was our final meeting. After months and months of meeting for advice on figuring out where I wanted to study, looking over final applications for programs and scholarships, helping me to get all of my forms and vaccines in order, it was our final check-in before I would be on an airplane to Tanzania. "There is one last thing," I nervously piped up after we'd gone over all of the checklists. "I...I'm kinda nervous about having a girlfriend while I'm abroad." Holly and I had only gotten back together in the last month of school, and I had only recently started thinking about what it would mean to have a girlfriend in a country that has a language without a word for lesbian and where male homosexuality is illegal--there was even a case of a European man being deported! None of this was going to stop me; I figured that our once-a-week phone calls would be private enough, and that I could pass off the picture of the two of us I kept by my bed as a picture of my "friend." Mostly, I couldn't believe this was a position I was actually in. I felt a lot of anger about having to step into a closet I had never even had to be in for that long. But, I also knew this was just part of the experience, one more opportunity in cross-cultural learning. And in the end, it made me grateful for the ability to be out and proud and makes it only that more important to create safe spaces for LGBTQ people.

The R. Scott Hitt Foundation provides grant funding for college and post-graduate students to receive compensation for skill-building internships at pro-LGBT 501(C) non-profit organizations.

The R. Scott Hitt Foundation is accepting applications for our 2010 internship grants. Additional information is available at www.scotthittfoundation.org Please feel free to contact us directly at scotthittfoundation@gmail.org

PAID LGBT INTERNSHIPS

The R. Scott Hitt Foundation Internships for 2010

The R. Scott Hitt Foundation is offering funding for qualified candidates with the vision to be future leaders in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movement.

The pro-LGBT sponsoring organization that you choose apply with will receive funding to compensate your internship position while you strengthen your resume and gain valuable skills towards becoming a leader of the future.

* POST-GRADUATE*
THE SCOTT HITT INTERNSHIP IN LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Application Deadline: May 7, 2010
Post graduate students with strong academic record
Duration: 7-9 months, 40 hour week - $20,000 Grant
Location: An established 501(c)3 nonprofit with a commitment to the advancement of LGBT equality
Applicant contacts host organization they want to work at and co-develops a successful curriculum encompassing these key elements: communications, fundraising, board development and grassroots policy
2-4 recipients per year

UNDERGRADUATE *
THE A.N.G.L.E. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INTERNSHIP

Application Deadline: April 16, 2010

• Current undergraduate students with strong academic record
• Duration: 8 weeks, 40 hour week - $4000 Grant to sponsor 501(c)3

So this is something to be excited about! That’s right, an LGBT skate night at the local roller skate rink/gaming establishment, Roll On America. It’s coming up this month, so I’ll be posting pictures! In the meantime, I’ll be encouraging my group to make sweet uniforms. It may not quite be roller derby, but it might just be a springboard. Oh yeah, it’s on.

On a more serious note, OPEN has recently come to realize that Clark University doesn’t account for any sort of gender and/or gender presentation in its nondiscrimination policy. This month we’re having a speaker on Transgender rights and showing the informative documentary Toilet Training, so hopefully we can use that momentum to work with administration and get some serious trans-friendly policies in place.

Campus Pride heads to Texas next week for the 22nd National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change hosted at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel in Dallas, Texas, Feb. 3 - 7, 2010. Since 1988, Creating Change has been the nation’s pre-eminent political, leadership and skills-building conference for the LGBT social justice movement. Every year, the conference moves across the country and brings a JOLT of activism and thousands of progressive minds together. The timing could not be better frankly (or -- for AT&T it could not be worse!)

So as I was packing my bags and reading the weather reports, I ran across this bit of NEWS from the Dallas Voice titled "Partner denied sick leave by AT&T" from Jan 28, 2010. I am REALLY hoping this is not true. But, if it is, I think it's time for thousands of LGBT and ally -- progressive queers -- to make a SWITCH!

Partner denied sick leave by ATT
By John Wright | News Editor wright@dallasvoice.com
Jan 28, 2010 - 7:14:06 PM
Despite 100% rating from HRC, company won’t allow gay man time off to care for ailing spouse

READ FULL STORY

Bryan Dickenson, left, and Bill Sugg hold hands in Sugg’s room at a rehabilitation facility in Richardson on Wednesday, Jan. 27. (John Wright/Dallas Voice)

RICHARDSON — Bryan Dickenson and Bill Sugg have been together for 30 years. For the last 12 of those years, Dickenson has worked as a communications technician for Dallas-based AT&T.

I have something to admit: I have been addicted to following the Prop 8 trial in California, formally called Perry v. Schwarzenegger. For those of you out of the loop, after Proposition 8 passed in California, two same-sex couples and a team of lawyers (including conservative lawyer Ted Olsen who argued and won in Bush v. Gore) decided to take the state to court (hence the Schwarzenegger in Perry v. Schwarzenegger). They're arguing that Prop 8 is contrary to the U. S. Constitution, and very well, I might add.

You should really check it out the Courage Campaign's excellent Prop 8 Trial Tracker. The trial tracker reads like a transcript with some commentary thrown in. If you don't have time to read the entire transcript (and trust me, once you start, it's hard to stop), KQED also has solid coverage that is easier to take in doses that won't make you feel like you can't do anything else until you finish reading every single post. As of right now, all of the testimony has already happened, and they're waiting for the judge to review stuff before making closing arguments. There's at least a month before the closing arguments happen, so you have plenty of time to catch up on the testimony. It's fascinating to see how the lawyers are building the case. A lot of expert witnesses are professors, and reading along is like a series of lessons on the history of marriage, the history of queers, and sociology. I have learned so much from reading this trial, and I think it can't help but think it'll be a powerful read for anyone.

Saturday, February 6, 2010
8:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.

Sheraton Dallas Ball Room
400 North Olive Street
Dallas, TX 75201

The 2010 Creating Change Youth Hospitality Subcommittee Presents Mas-Queer-Ade Ball headlining Vidur Kapur and Kit Yan. OUTmedia honors your activism and brings you: international comedy sensation, Vidur Kapur and internationally renowned trans slam poet Kit Yan. Vidur's credits include MTV LOGO, NBC's Stand Up for Diversity. Vidur has moved South Asians and LGBTQ students from the margins and into the campus core. Kit is a Curve Magazine favorite, OUTmusician of the Year nominee, and a speaker at the National Equality March.

Kit will premiere OUTmedia's "Be Queer Buy Queer!" national video contest. Bring your cameras and be the first to enter!

The event will also feature local queer youth artists, singers, and dancers. This is an alcohol and drug free event for all ages. A dance party for guests under age 24 will follow the performance.

Creating Change is the nation's pre-eminent political leadership and skills-building conference for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) social justice movement.

This event is free and open to the public. RSVP here for the event.

Click here to register for the Creating Change Conference.

Gamma Rho Lambda rapidly expands across the country as progressive LGBTA sorority

January 23, 2010 (Flagstaff, Arizona) — A new colony ofGamma Rho Lambda (GRL) has been recognized at Northern Arizona University(NAU). GRL is the first national sorority with a focus on a social support system for college students in the LGBTA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and straight-ally) community. Colonies and chapters of GRL are rapidly spreading, now located in California, Arizona, Kansas, Indiana, and New York and will soon be recognized in Texas and Wisconsin.

The process of bringing a new chapter of GRL to NAU began over a year ago when Alison Schertenlieb, a sister of Arizona State University’s (ASU) Alpha Chapter, transferred schools to continue her studies in nursing. Schertenlieb and her 8 co-founders have worked tirelessly to gain recognition as a colony. She is very proud of how well her fellow founders work together. “Everyone just clicked from the beginning. We feel like sisters already,” Schertenlieb said.

The NAU colony is especially passionate about their group because NAU only has one LGBTQ student organization. “Greek life is a big part of NAU, and this is another avenue for queer and progressive students to be involved in Greek life”, said Schertenlieb. The NAU colony has greatly benefited from Schertenlieb's experience as a member of Alpha Chapter, “I think it's made me a little less nervous about starting a colony. I can't imagine going into it all without knowing anything about Greek life. I really commend those students who start GRL colonies at our other universities without prior experience in a Greek organization. It's much easier for me to work with the Greek system and tell potential members what to expect.”

Hello again Campus Queens,

First, I must tell you all that I'm thrilled to now be on FACEBOOK! Please, won't you be my friend?

OK. Onto my advice column. I’ve received many fascinating questions over these past two months, making it difficult for yours truly to choose what to blog about next. However, there was a question that kept popping up more than any other, so I think it’s best if I answer it next. One version said it quite perfectly:

Dear Peaches,

I’m a freshman at UNLV and a Film Studies major. Unfortunately my film department, though fantastic in many ways, doesn’t offer a course in LGBT film history. I was reading about your history at Penn State and also about your new film coming out soon and I was inspired to write to you about my own dreams of becoming a filmmaker.

There are many books out now about gay film history, which gay movies to see, which are essential viewing, etc. I wanted to know your thoughts on this subject, and if you had your own list of films “every gay man should see”.

Thanks,

Vince

Well Vincent, let me first say that I’m shocked and appalled that a town like Las Vegas, the home of Showgirls and Siegfried & Roy, has no Queer Film Studies course in its main university’s cinema department. But seriously, I’d be glad to help a fellow queer filmmaker out. I remember what it was like those many moons ago when I myself was in film school – it wasn’t easy to find my own story represented up on those classroom movie screens.

“Current federal policy of excluding known lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals from admission to ROTC or of discharging them from service is inconsistent with Harvard’s values as stated in its policy on discrimination.”

Harvard’s official policy regarding the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program states that the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) doctrine of excluding openly LGBT servicemen conflicts with the university’s discrimination policy, forcing Harvard to prohibit ROTC from active participation on campus. Last year, the Harvard Republican Club sponsored a campus-wide survey in which 62% of the student body supported reversing the ROTC policy; the survey sparked massive protest within the QSA, many of whom claimed that ROTC programs were not only non-inclusive of the openly queer, but detrimental to queer rights movements on campus. However, exiling ROTC from the Harvard campus is more punitive and deleterious to the queer community than the DADT policy, denying queer and queer-friendly students a critical on-campus scholarship and career program.