This section is dedicated to the activist in all of us. More issues to come soon...

Hate Comes to Town! - Our Youth Needs Your Support!
State Farm to Offer DP Benefits?
No Salvation in this Army
Ban Discrimination at ExxonMobil

Hate Comes to Town!
Our Youth Needs Your Support!

Join Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth (LIGALY), and many community groups, community members, parents, students, and concerned citizens in a counter demonstration in support of the Bellmore Bepham High School's Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). The school is under attack by the hate-group responsible for the "god hates fags" web site. The anti-gay group based in Topeka, KS is coming to Long Island to protest the Bellmore High School on Monday morning, October 27, 2003.

We urge you to join the rest of concerned Long Islanders in a planned counter demonstration in support of the GSA and the safety of students. We will not sit still.

There will be a counter demonstration planning meeting on Thursday, October 23rd at 7pm located at the LIGALY Community Services Center, 34 Park Avenue, Bay Shore, NY.

The counter demonstration in support of the school's GSA and for tolerance and peace here on Long Island will take place Monday October 27th at 7am located at the Mepham High School, Camp Avenue, North Bellmore and at 8:30am located at the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District Office, Meadowbrook Avenue, North Merrick

The American Family Association says State Farm Insurance is considering offering its GLBT employees Domestic Partnership insurance benefits.

The AFA has asked people to let State Farm know how they feel about this change. YOUR E-MAIL OR RESPONSE VIA THE COMPANY'S WEB SITE IS NEEDED TO OFFSET THE AFA BIGOTS.

And the AFA offers this contact information for State Farm insurance:

Web site contact form:

https://sfinsguides.statefarm.com/insur/Forms/Comments.asp

CEO Edward B. Rust, Jr.
State Farm Insurance
One State Farm Plaza
Bloomington, IL 61710
Fax: 309-766-3621
Toll free: 1-800-782-8332
Email: info@statefarm.com

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ACTION ALERT from the
Human Rights Campaign
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2001

In response to strong pressure from anti-gay groups, the national office of the Salvation Army overturned the decision of its western division to offer health benefits to the domestic partners of it employees. "We've been listening to our internal and external constituencies, and we now confirm adherence to biblical principles concerning marriage and the family," said Theresa Whitfield, a Salvation Army spokeswoman.

Please urge the Salvation Army to allow its divisions to base their policies on fairness and not anti-gay extremism. For more information and to send an e-mail message, log on to www.hrc.org/actioncenter and click on the Salvation Army alert. We have prepared sample language, which you can personalize if you wish. You can also call, write and e-mail Commissioner John Busby at the Salvation Army's national headquarters at:

Salvation Army National Headquarters
605-615 Slaters Lane
Alexandria, VA 22314
703/684-5500 (phone)
703/684-3478 (fax)
john_busby@usn.salvationarmy.org (e-mail)

By establishing domestic partner benefits, leaders in the Salvation Army's western division stood up for fairness and family diversity. Col. "This decision reflects our concern for the health of our employees and those closest to them, and is made on the basis of strong ethical and moral reasoning that reflects the dramatic changes in family structure in recent years," said Col. Phillip Needham, chief secretary for the Army's Western Corporation.

Urge the national office of the Salvation Army to use "ethical and moral reasoning" in reconsidering its decision to deny employees and their families equal health benefits.

Please send this e-mail to family and friends and thank you for taking action in the fight for equality.

From the PFLAG (National) site...

Give Salvation Army a Message - Not Money

Join local chapters of Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays in a "kettle protest" to educate the Salvation Army about the danger of their discriminatory policies towards gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people.

Print out these buck slips (you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader) and drop them in Salvation Army kettles in lieu of a donation throughout the holiday season. This project was conceived by PFLAG Genesee County, Michigan and has been adopted by many of PFLAG's 470 affiliates nation-wide.

Mary Scholl, President of PFLAG's Genesee County chapter says, "We support organizations working to address poverty in our communities. However, we cannot support an organization that discriminates against our loved ones. We intend to give to charitable organizations that understand and accept gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons as equal citizens, entitled to the same consideration as every other person."

Plans to use the Salvation Army's red kettles as an educational vehicle were already underway when the national Salvation Army derailed a new policy of their western division granting benefits to Salvation Army employees’ domestic partners. Recently the Salvation Army announced a new national policy denying their divisions the power to set employee benefits and limiting coverage to spouses and dependent children.

The kettle protest idea spread via e-mail and soon other PFLAG groups had signed on. Donna Blaha, President of PFLAG Glenview, Illinois, notes that "typically I’ll drop some money into a kettle each time I see it. But after the Salvation Army’s very public actions this year against the GLBT community, I’ll think of my lesbian daughter and gay son and drop in a reminder bill instead."

Thanks to PFLAG Genesee County for their "reminder bill" graphic. For more information on the project, visit their web site.

Join others nationwide in sending the Salvation Army a message this year. Drop a reminder bill in the next kettle you see. Donate instead to charitable organizations that treat GLBT people as equal citizens.

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Ban Discrimination at ExxonMobil

What would you do if one morning you woke up and found out that your previously gay-friendly employer suddenly made it okay to fire you because of your sexual orientation and eliminated your domestic partner benefits? This is the reality ExxonMobil employees face.

Let ExxonMobil know how you feel by using PlanetFeedback.com

As consumers, we can choose to send ExxonMobil a message at the pumps any day of the year. But we have only this month to persuade ExxonMobil's shareholders to support GLBT workers. They need to hear from us now. Visit www.equalityproject.org to find out how you can contact ExxonMobil's largest investors (which include most of the nation's largest mutual and pension funds) and tell them that discrimination is bad for business.

For more resources see this section at The Equality Project.

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