Washington -- As voting machines from the 2006 midterm election are returned to storage for another Congressional session, members of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) are celebrating key accomplishments in the race and identifying and focusing their efforts on the many obstacles that still lie ahead.

"The people of Arizona are the heroes of the night," said Jody M. Huckaby, executive director of PFLAG. They made a monumental effort to defeat the movement to turn their state constitution into a tool for discrimination against our gay and lesbian loved ones. Arizona residents saw that equality is a family value too, and brought that belief to the ballot box.

The night, however, was not without its losses. In seven other states –Virginia, Wisconsin, Tennessee, South Dakota, Iowa, South Carolina, and Colorado – anti-equality amendments did pass, albeit by smaller margins than expected in some areas. Colorado also saw an effort to authorize domestic partnerships defeated.

The evening dealt losses to some of the most anti-equality fixtures on Capitol Hill, including Rick Santorum
(who once said marriage equality is harmful to our society) and John Hostettler (who helped write the Federal Marriage Amendment). These legislators were sent home by voters who gave the nod to more mainstream candidates with campaigns
not based on anti-gay politics.

"We’re at a big turning point. Now that this new class of legislators
has shifted control in Congress and defeated so many advocates for inequality, what are they going to do with the power they’ve been given?" said Huckaby.

The organization points to its outreach to all advocates for equality – with a particular emphasis on straight, fair-minded allies – to steer the legislative agenda both nationally and locally and help elected officials understand why discrimination is always wrong.

PFLAG is already talking about how these new legislators will move equality forward for our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender loved ones. Are they going to come through with legislation to ban discrimination in the workplace and military? Will they fight new attempts to write discrimination into the constitution? Will they support basic equal rights? At the capitol and in the states, PFLAGers in our more than 500 chapters will be watching and working for fairness.

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Hawaii elects transgender person to state-level office

Washington, DC – Mid-term elections marked a historic first in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LBGT) movement for equality and civic engagement. With a comfortable victory garnering 81,532 votes, attorney Kim Coco Iwamoto was elected to Hawaii’s state-level Board of Education (Oahu-at-Large), a non-partisan office. Ms. Iwamoto, an openly transgender woman, is a member of the National Center for Transgender Equality’s (NCTE) Board of Advisors. Iwamoto holds a Juris Doctor from the University of New Mexico School of Law, is a volunteer guardian ad litem for the First Circuit Family Court, and is a frequent speaker at high schools and colleges on civil rights issues and community service.

“This is a truly historic win and marks an important first in the American political landscape, said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. “Kim Coco Iwamoto is an outstanding individual with a long history of pro bono legal work and volunteerism benefiting her home state. She will serve the people of Hawaii well.”

There are currently only a limited number of openly transgender elected officials serving in the US and around the world. In the United States, Michelle Bruce serves on the City Council in Riverdale, GA and Jessica Orsini serves as an Alderman in Centralia, MO. There are also dozens of other openly transgender appointed officials across the U.S.

As public education efforts aimed at ending misconceptions and prejudice against transgender individuals advance, more and more transgender people feel safe and comfortable living their lives openly. Concerned with the betterment of the country’s
economy, educational system, health care and security, candidates who also happen to be transgender are running for–and winning–political office.

Source: National Center for Transgender Equality

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Start your Holiday Partying at the Chocolate Party!

It's that time again. On December 2nd, PFLAG will again hold its once-a-year fund raiser with the Holiday Chocolate Party.

You should have received your invitation by now. If you have never attended, you are in for a lovely feast of beauty. If you have attended before, you will continue to enjoy a lovely feast of beauty! Come start your holiday partying with communion with old world architecture, beautiful home furnishings, gorgeous quilts, eighteen fantastic Christmas trees, lots of chocolate desserts, wine and coffee.

New this year upstairs is the original crystal ball room chandelier which hung for years in the Cornhusker Ball Room of the torn down Cornhusker Hotel. As you stroll around, special music will accompany you. Your ticket price will go to the outreach and education fund of PFLAG Cornhusker.

Last year your donations went to advertising PFLAG on the Lincoln Transit System buses and buying our PFLAG pamphlets, just to mention two places the funds went. Do put on your party duds and join us on Saturday night on December 2nd. If you don't receive an invitation, do come anyway! We will put you on next year’s party list. We try to get invitations to everyone, but sometimes errors on our part are made.

Tickets are $15.00.

For more information and location, please call the PFLAG helpline: (402) 434-9880 or use our contact form to send us an email message.

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Special Screening of "The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green".

Here! TV is coming to Lincoln. Celebrate with a special screening of "The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green". All proceeds will benefit PFLAG Lincoln Cornhusker, Queer Student Alliance at UNL and Lincoln Pride!

Date: November 16, 2006
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: Mary Riempa Ross Media Arts Center
Address: 313 N. 13th Street
Phone: (402) 472-5353
Tickets: $15 Adults, $10 Students
Advanced Tickets can be purchased at the Ross Box Office.

Learn More About "Ethan Green"

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