I recently became acquainted with a dynamic nonprofit organization founded and headquartered in Austin, Texas.  With a powerful vision and big dreams, Atticus Circle (www.atticuscircle.org) has a mission to educate and mobilize straight people to advance equal rights for LGBT partners, parents, and their children.

The organization provides information about the rights of parents and partners that are denied solely on the basis of sexual orientation and seeks to create cultural and attitudinal change by helping people understand the unique challenges and discrimination same-gender couples and their families face.  The founder, Anne Wynne, whom I had the good fortune to meet, is a practicing attorney in Austin who was moved in a heartfelt way to launch the organization in 2004 when 11 states passed marriage discrimination amendments (the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) had been passed and allowed these states to enact homophobia into their laws by preventing same-sex couples from marrying).  With the help of many friends and supporters who offered funding to launch the organization, Atticus Circle was born.  I had the chance to meet with the organization’s straight executive director, Ruth Gardner-Loew, whose passion for the mission of the organization is clear in any language (as she speaks a few).

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Northampton, Massachusetts is doubtlessly the lesbian mecca of the Northeast. Possibly even the planet, but this assumption is based on my rather unworldly knowledge of international queer hotspots. In any case, Smith College resides there. So you can probably already imagine that their pride parade is fierce.

OPEN and I took a convoy out to the festivities. It was a great time, despite the hot sun and the resulting sunburns. A good field trip is definitely one of the best ways to keep a club close. My personal favorite moments were the Raging Grannies and the high school kids chanting, “We’re here! We’re queer! And our parents think we’re studying!” Here are some pictures from the day: