October is both LGBT History Month and National Bullying Prevention Month, which is sadly appropriate this year with all the recent gay teen suicides due to bullying.
In addition, National Coming Out Day is on October 11, and the Juneau community is recognizing the day, and the month, by screening two LGBT documentaries, one about families and one about bullying:
Free Films Sunday and Monday, October 10 & 11, at 6 pm, kick-off the new Conscientious Projector Film Series at the Nickelodeon Theater, sponsored by the Juneau Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
In honor of National Coming Out Day, the October Films are co-sponsored by SEAGLA (SouthEast Alaska Gay and Lesbian Alliance) and PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays).
** Bullied is the new Southern Poverty Law Center release by an academy award nominee filmmaker documenting a true story of one student’s ordeal at the hands of anti-gay bullies. His story offers inspiration to those fighting harassment. 40 min
** Straight from the Heart interviews a wide cross-section of American parents including a police chief, a Mormon couple, an African American mother, and Bobby Griffith’s mother (the mother of Bobby from Prayers for Bobby) all speaking from the heart about their grown gay and lesbian children. 27 min
Optional discussion following both films. Snacks and admission are free. Donations are appreciated.
The Juneau Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meets Sundays at 10 at the corner of Cordova & Foster in West Juneau and is a Welcoming Congregation, welcoming people from every class, nationality, race, gender and sexual orientation. For more information, please visit JUUF online.
The film Bullied is available free to schools from Teaching Tolerance, along with a viewer’s guide. Watch the trailer:
The very real consequences of DADT repeal; seeking survivor benefits for same-sex partner of Alaska shooting victim; waiting on SCOTUS decision about whether it will hear Prop 8 case; and other recent LGBTQ news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.
In this month’s “Ask Lambda Legal” column, Lambda Legal answers a question about the federal government’s longstanding ban against donations of blood from men who have sex with men (MSM).
Alaska Pride Conference 2012 kicks off on October 5 with a First Friday showing at Tref.Punkt Studio of Love is Love, a photographic exhibit of LGBT couples from across the state.
United for marriage: Light the way to justice. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this Tuesday and Wednesday, March 26–27, in two cases about freedom to marry. Please join us on Tuesday, March 26, at the federal courthouse in Anchorage (7th & C) in a circle united for equality.
Pariah, a critically acclaimed film about a 17-year-old African-American woman embracing her lesbian identity, will screen at UAA on Friday, November 2, and will be followed by a discussion on acceptance in honor of Mya Dale. The event is free and open to the public.