MAINE GLBT COMMUNITY RESOURCES

Does your not-for-profit organization have an event coming up? List it for free on our new OUT in the Community page. Contact us with details.

 

OUT in the Community

On Tuesday, May 20th, the Woodfords Congregational Church in Portland will host a screening of For the Bible Tells Me So, the award-winning documentary about five Christian families coming to terms with their gay children.

Given the current state of affairs in Maine, now is as good a time as ever to consider the question: is the Bible an excuse for hatred? The film starts at 7:00 p.m., and dessert will be served. Admission is free.

Click here for more about For the Bible Tells Me So.

On Thursday, May 29th at the Augusta Civic Center, the Maine LGBTI Health Summit will offer a thought-provoking day of work sessions and discussions about the health care disparities LGBTI Mainers face.

Join state and local health officials, community advocates, state policymakers and members of the LGBTI community to strategize ways to raise awareness of these disparities, collect health data in the LGBTI community and empower consumers. The $25 fee includes breakfast and lunch; CME credits are available.

Click here to register for the Maine LGBTI Health Summit.
 


  Portland Dyke March Call for Artists


The Portland (Maine) Dyke March Committee is seeking art submissions for the 2008 Dyke March posters and t-shirts.
We are looking for an artist who is a dyke, or someone who loves dykes, who would like to design the posters, quarter sheets and t-shirts for this year's Dyke March.  Poster designs may be full color, t-shirt and quarter sheet designs should be limited to single color.
Submission deadline is May 5th.  Art should be sent electronically as a .jpg or Adobe Acrobat file to portlanddykemarch@gmail.com

The Dyke March Committee will choose the "winning" submission and they will be notified before Monday, May 12th.  Details, feedback and additional information will be shared with the artist and a final version of the poster, quarter sheets and t-shirt design will be due on May 26th (Though, ideally, we would love to have save the date quarter sheets printed in time for the PRYSM Prom on May 9th).
The "winning" design will become the property of the Portland Dyke March Committee.
 
There is no cash prize or financial remuneration for the design.  The "winning" artist will be recognized in the following ways:  Their signature should appear as a part of the design, their name will be announced during the Dyke March Rally on June 20th, their name will be listed on the Dyke March website and the Dyke March MySpace page, they will receive a Dyke March t-shirt and they will receive and 2 free "tickets" to the June 20th After Party.
 
Need more info?  Contact us at portlanddykemarch@gmail.com
 
Text that must be included in the design:
Portland Dyke March Committee presents
3rd Annual
Portland Dyke March
Friday, June 20, 2008
Congress Square
6:30 p.m. Pre-Show featuring local musicians, drag performers and political rabble rousers!
 
"for dykes and the people who love them"
After Party at the North Star Music Café
8:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Featuring musical performers and DJ dancing
$3 cover, All Ages, 21+ to drink
www.mainedykemarch.com


 

 

Moving Heaven and Earth: Movable Books that Dramatize Nature and Earth Day Culture

Exhibition, April 18 – May 30, 2008 (open during library hours, see below)
6th Floor of USM's Glickman Family Library, Portland
 


In honor of Earth Day, April 22, 2008, Special Collections has mounted an exhibition celebrating the ecology movement using books from the Anne D. Williams Family Collection of Movable Books.

The American ecology movement exploded onto the scene with the publication of Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring.  She exposed how killer insecticides were hurting humans and non-humans alike, thus linking culture and nature, and making the environment an intimate part of what Americans cared about. In response, the first Earth Day in 1970 was billed as a National Environmental Teach-in. Senator Edmund Muskie (Democrat of Maine) was the leading environmental advocate in a Democrat controlled Congress, and he called for “an environmental revolution.”

This exhibition documents post-Earth Day thinking about the environment through movable books geared to young people’s education and culture. The movable books (also known as pop-up books) shown here bring the Earth and its ecology vividly to life by engaging the tactile, visual, audio, aesthetic, and thus moral, senses of their readers—connecting young readers to the Earth by connecting them to their senses.

For more information about the exhibition and the movable book collection at USM’s Special Collection, contact Susie R. Bock, 207-780-4269, bocks@usm.maine.edu.
 

 


 

 

 

 

City Launches "Volunteer Portland"
An opportunity for citizens to give back to the City
 

On February 14th, Portland launched its Volunteer Portland program, a web-based initiative designed to allow the people that live, work and play in the City a chance to give back by volunteering or donating their time, services or financial resources. The initiative was first introduced by City Councilor Jim
Cohen during his tenure as Mayor.

 The site's gift catalog includes more than fifty items including bike hitches, park benches, scholarships, and trees, available for donation to your neighborhood or the community at large.

 Donations can be made online, in person or by mail. Volunteer opportunities include ushering at Merrill Auditorium, working with the City Clerk's office during an election, or mentoring a student group.

 Councilor Cohen also presented the first Volunteer Portland donation of $3,000 to the Portland Education Partnership
Program. Visit the website at  portlandmaine.gov/donations.

 
 

 

 

EqualityMaine Foundation
2008 Award Recipients

 

Partners for Equality Award
recognizing outstanding work and collaboration by a
coalition partner organization
Maine Civil Liberties Union

Faith in Action Award
recognizing leadership for equality by a faith community
Rev. Mark Doty

Cameron Duncan Award
recognizing accomplishment, commitment, and service to the
HIV/AIDS community
Genia Graham

F. E. Pentlarge Award
recognizing outstanding leadership for equality by straight allies
Ray and Connie Winship

Young Leaders Award
recognizing young leaders in the LGBT community
Jill Barkley

Out Front Awards
recognizing outstanding volunteer leadership
Rita Clifford
Sara Jane Elliot
Kevin Gilgan
Carol Heilsburg
Toho Soma
Jean Vermette

For more Information

 

 

EqualityMaine Welcomes New Staffer

EqualityMaine, the state’s oldest and largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) political advocacy organization, has hired Mary Phillips-Sandy as Communications Coordinator. A native of Waterville, Ms. Phillips-Sandy was a co-founder and the first assistant director of the Maine International Film Festival.

 

For the past several years she has been living in New York City, where she worked at the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and M+R Strategic Services, a firm that provides strategy and communications services to national nonprofit organizations. As a freelance writer her work has appeared in regional and national publications, including Bust, Time Out New York, the Zagat Survey, asap @ the Associated Press and the Vault guides to financial companies.

 

Ms. Phillips-Sandy earned an MFA in creative writing (nonfiction) at Columbia University in 2006 and received her undergraduate degree in economics at the College of the Holy Cross in 1999. She is relocating from Brooklyn to Portland in July 2008, but will begin working remotely for EqualityMaine in February.

 

“Mary’s background includes a great mix of writing, nonprofit work, project management and media relations,” said Betsy Smith, EqualityMaine’s Executive Director. “She is also very committed to working for full equality for LGBT people in Maine. We have a busy year ahead as we ramp up our public education campaign on marriage, so we’re glad that she will be on our team.”

 

Phillips-Sandy added, “EqualityMaine has done so much to establish sound legislative policies and raise awareness of LGBT issues in the state. I’m excited for this opportunity to help make Maine a better place to live – for everyone.”

 

Since 1984, EqualityMaine has worked to secure full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in Maine through political action, education, and collaboration.

 

  

 

USM Looking for Women to Participate in Weight-Loss Study


The University of Southern Maine's College of Nursing and Health
Professions is launching a study led by Associate Professor of
Exercise Health and Sports Sciences Janet Whately Blum.  This study
is examining the effects of calcium on dieting women.

USM is looking for pre-menopausal women who are between the ages of
21 to 45; need to lose between 30 to 60 pounds; are not using birth
control; and are not currently dieting or participating in regular
exercise.  Participants must be nonsmokers in good health with normal
blood pressure and cholesterol levels, who are not diabetic or
lactose intolerant.

Participants need to be willing to follow a diet for 25 weeks, and
attend weekly meetings for the first 12 weeks, then bi-weekly meeting
for the next 13 weeks at USM. This 25-week study has screenings
beginning in January, and the weekly meetings will start in March of
this year.

Anyone who meets the above criteria should contact Research Assistant
Rachel Doane in Exercise Health and Sports Sciences at 780-5939 or
rdoane@usm.maine.edu.
 

 

 

 

 

Men’s volleyball returns.
 Held every Sunday evening at the UNE campus on Stevens Avenue in Portland,
 the start time is 6 pm beginning again on January 6th.

Men's coffee house.
Every Sunday at the North Star Café. It is located at 225 Congress Street in Portland.
The times are from 2-5 pm.

Men’s Discussion group.
 We will resume meetings on Tuesday January 8th. These take place at 49 Oak Street in Portland from 6-8 pm.

 For information on the above Frannie Peabody Center sponsored events
call Elmer at 207-871-0216  Email: eshelton@peabodycenter.org

.

 

 

 

  • SEA DOGS’ STRIKE OUT CANCER
    IN KIDS PROGRAM HAS RECORD YEAR

    $337,796.18 Raised in 2007

    Portland, Maine- The Portland Sea Dogs in conjunction with the Maine Children’s Cancer Program, TD Banknorth, and WMTW TV-8 have concluded the 2007 “TD Banknorth Strike Out Cancer in Kids” fundraising campaign. The 2007 season saw Sea Dogs’ pitchers record 1,080 strikeouts including playoff games bringing the total amount raised for the program in 2007 to a record $337,796.18.  The contributions through this program have helped make the Maine Children’s Cancer Program at Maine Medical Center one of the premier children’s cancer treatment centers in the country.

    In 1994, the Sea Dogs began their first season at Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine.  During that season Charlie Eshbach, President and General Manager of the Sea Dogs and John Menario, then Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Peoples Heritage Bank discussed how the two organizations could combine their resources to support a community activity to enrich the quality of life in Maine.  They both agreed the program should be focused on Maine youth, and any program that would benefit the Maine Children’s Cancer Program would be uplifting to all involved and the Strike Out Cancer in Kids Program was formed in 1995.

    For every strikeout thrown by a Sea Dogs pitcher, TD Banknorth donates $10.00 to the Maine Children’s Cancer Program.  A team of dedicated volunteers was formed to get individuals and other businesses to also pledge money per strikeout.  After the first season in 1995, the goal of raising $20,000 was accomplished.  In years to come the program took off and now raises $300,000 annually.  Today 24 corporate teams and more than 200 volunteers contribute to the programs success.

     

    Each season, one child from the Maine Children’s Cancer Program is selected to be “Slugger’s Kid” and the “Strike Out Cancer in Kids Program” poster child.   Each season “Slugger’s Kids” is warmly accepted by the players as a true member of the team. Serving as bat boy, racing Slugger around the bases, and throwing out the ceremonial first pitch are just a few of the duties for “Slugger’s Kid”.  Sea Dogs players take in active part in the program making several visits to the Maine Children’s Cancer Program’s treatment facility.

     

    For more information on how you can get involved in the “Strike Out Cancer in Kids” Program please contact the Maine Children’s Cancer Program at 207-871-6274 or http://fundraising.mmc.org/strikeout  .

     

     


     

     

     

    Help underwrite this page while marketing your business! Call 207-773-5775 for details or EMAIL