MBCC Bike For Prevention Virtual Event

Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition (MBCC) is hosting its first annual Bike for Prevention Bike-A-Thon virtually on a local & national scale from Monday April 19th to Sunday April 25th, 2021. Participants can ride one mile or more either outdoors on their favorite route or indoors on a stationary bike. For those interested who do not have a bike MBCC invites them to participate on foot & either walk or run any distance of their choosing. Cheryl Osimo, MBCC’s Executive Director stated, “We are proud & grateful to all of the MBCC friends who will help support this new event & raise funds toward MBCC’s focus on cancer prevention starting April 19th. Ultimately, these individuals along with all MBCC Bike for Prevention supporters are helping us to make the world a better place for our children, grandchildren & future generations.” MBCC is the only breast cancer non-profit working closely with a research & sister organization Silent Spring Institute to investigate preventable environmental causes of the disease. MBCC is currently working on crucial national health projects to address environmental causes of breast cancer including water testing & how PFAS enters groundwater from firefighting foams, wastewater & other pollution sources as well as their impacts on children’s health. This work is funded through annual fundraising events like its first virtual annual Bike for Prevention Bike-A-Thon. Registration for the Bike-A-Thon is $40 for individuals, $150 for families up to 5 members, $25 for students & registered participants will receive a free t-shirt. All proceeds from the Bike-A-Thon event will benefit breast cancer prevention. For Info & Registration…

LISTEN: Filmmaker Jennifer Cooney Talks “Rain Beau's End”

LISTEN: 500+ Podcasts w/ LGBTQ Leaders & Celebrities

CHECK OUT OUR NEW STREAMING SITE

Hear Audio Chats w/ LGBTQ Leaders @OUTTAKE VOICES™

SUPPORT OUTTAKE™ @ OUR EQUALITY STORE

Celebrating International Women’s Day

International Women's Day (IWD) celebrated on March 8th was originally called International Working Women's Day. The earliest Women’s Day observance in the USA was held on February 28th 1909 in New York in remembrance of the 1908 strike of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Every year there’s a theme & this year it’s “Choose To Challenge” declaring that we all must choose to challenge & call out gender bias & inequality. We can all choose to seek out & celebrate women's achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world. From challenge comes change so let's all choose to challenge. First on the agenda in this country is to pass the Equality Act first introduced by U.S. Representatives Bella Abzug (D-NY) in 1974 & still 47 years later has not become the law of land nationally where protections against discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation & marital status in federally assisted programs, housing sales, rentals, financing & brokerage services remains. Though the undated version has been reintroduced & passed once again by Congress it still has not been voted upon by the U.S. Senate. In the meantime for women equal pay is not yet equal. A woman makes 77 cents on a dollar & women of color make 67 cents. President Biden & Vice President Harris are vocal defenders of the Equality Act issuing a statement from the White House stating, “Every person should be treated with dignity & respect & this bill represents a critical step toward ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality & freedom for all." So let’s take the challenge & pass the Equally Act. 

LISTEN: Filmmaker Jennifer Cooney Talks “Rain Beau's End”

LISTEN: 500+ Podcasts w/ LGBTQ Leaders & Celebrities

CHECK OUT OUR NEW STREAMING SITE

Hear Audio Chats w/ LGBTQ Leaders @OUTTAKE VOICES™

SUPPORT OUTTAKE™ @ OUR EQUALITY STORE

New Film “Rain Beau's End” (AUDIO)

This week I talked with Filmmaker Jennifer Cooney about her new feature film “Rain Beau's End” an intimate drama set in the late 1990's depicting how a progressive lesbian couple's relationship is tested when their adopted son is mislabeled with a genetic predisposition for violence. The stellar cast includes Janelle Snow, Amanda Powell, Ed Asner, Sean Young, Christian Stolte, Melanie Chandra & Kirk Kelleykahn. The film tells the story of a evolving lesbian couple Hannah Driver & Jules Paradise who adopt a child named Beau who is subsequently diagnosed with 47, XYY - which was believed at that time to make boys more prone to aggressive behavior and years later was proved false. The couple rides the rough journey of Beau's apparent behavioral issues & how it not only affects his life & the small community they inhabit but markedly their relationship & their lives. As Beau gets older & research of his condition grows Hannah & Jules must face the reality of a self-fulfilling prophecy & the ghosts of their past. The film was directed by Tracy Wren & screenplay by Cooney from a story by Joe Orlandino. “Rain Beau's End” will have its global premiere online on Lesflicks Video on Demand platform Monday March 8th 2021 in celebration of International Women's Day. I talked to Jennifer about what she hopes to accomplish with “Rain Beau's End” & her spin on our LGBTQ issues. LISTEN  

For More Info: rainbeausend.com 

LISTEN: 500+ Podcasts w/ LGBTQ Leaders & Celebrities

CHECK OUT OUR NEW STREAMING SITE

Hear Audio Chats w/ LGBTQ Leaders @OUTTAKE VOICES™

SUPPORT OUTTAKE™ @ OUR EQUALITY STORE

 

Campus Pride Celebrating 20 Years

Campus Pride is celebrating their 20th anniversary as the leading national organization dedicated to building future leaders & creating safer more inclusive communities for LGBTQ people & our allies at colleges & universities. The organization is the preeminent resource for LGBTQ leadership development, diversity inclusion & advocacy within higher education. Shane Windmeyer, Founder & Executive Director of Campus Pride stated, “Our twenty year anniversary is a time to celebrate our collective impact as an organization & the work we have done to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ youth. Our Campus Pride family is strong as we continue to grow & plan for our future. Today we remain committed to our mission in building future leaders & creating safer communities. The work is never done.” Campus Pride works annually with more than 1,400 colleges & universities including two-year & four-year & both public & private institutions with 60% of those campuses located in the South & or in rural areas. The organization’s work directly serves more than 126,000 young adults (ages 18 - 26), & supports 3,600+ staff, faculty & administrators each year to improve quality of life & the campus climate for LGBTQ youth at campuses across the country. Founded in 2001 by LGBTQ civil rights leader & campus pioneer Shane Windmeyer, Campus Pride offers a wide variety of programs & resources for students & prospective students including the Campus Pride Index, HBCU Clearinghouse, Trans Policy Clearinghouse, Lambda 10, Stop the Hate & Safe Space trainings & the annual Camp Pride leadership camp.  For More Info...

LISTEN: Kierra Johnson Leads The National LGBTQ Task Force  

LISTEN: 500+ Podcasts w/ LGBTQ Leaders & Celebrities

CHECK OUT OUR NEW STREAMING SITE

Hear Audio Chats w/ LGBTQ Leaders @OUTTAKE VOICES™

SUPPORT OUTTAKE™ @ OUR EQUALITY STORE

LGBTQ Sex Ed Leadership Project

The National LGBTQ Task Force launched their Sex Ed Leadership Project March 3rd following the success of two mini-conferences that offered training & programming on LGBTQ+ inclusive sex ed policy work. The project aimed to strengthen local efforts by young LGBTQ activists to advocate for sex education policy changes. It consists of 10 virtual sessions designed to strengthen advocacy skills & focus on navigating democratic processes to enact sex education policy change. Taissa Morimoto, National LGBTQ Task Force Senior Policy Counsel stated, “This type of information & training opportunities that specifically address the needs of LGBTQ+ youth are seriously lacking & this ambitious & comprehensive program will provide participants with detailed, focused & impactful information & specific strategies paired with the tools to put them into practice & make a difference in their communities.” The course was designed for people ages 15 to 28, for young LGBTQ advocates, activists & people who are new to advocacy or want to learn more about how to advance comprehensive, LGBTQ-centered, & inclusive sex ed. Some of these sessions include presentations on storytelling for change by Rachel Hill, Community Outreach & Engagement Manager at Equality Texas; sex education laws & policies by Jennifer Driver, Founder of Take Root Strategies & effective sex education messaging by Zach Einstein, Senior Account Executive at Spitfire Strategies. The course was developed to help young LGBTQ people build movement & create strategies for implementing a more comprehensive, inclusive sex ed. The National LGBTQ Task Force advances full freedom, justice & equity for LGBTQ people. They are building a future where everyone can be free to be their entire selves in every aspect of their lives. For More Info...

LISTEN: Kierra Johnson Leads The National LGBTQ Task Force  

LISTEN: 500+ Podcasts w/ LGBTQ Leaders & Celebrities

CHECK OUT OUR NEW STREAMING SITE

Hear Audio Chats w/ LGBTQ Leaders @OUTTAKE VOICES™

SUPPORT OUTTAKE™ @ OUR EQUALITY STORE

Poll Finds 18 Million LGBTQ Americans

According to a recent Gallup poll more Americans than ever before identify LGBTQ which is an increase of 60% between 2012 & 2020 of adults. Researchers say the findings are partly due to an emerging generation of young people who have chosen to live openly with an identity other than heterosexual. Polling determined the group leading the growth in LGBTQ identity are members of Generation Z or those aged 18 to 23. About one in six or 15.9%, identify as LGBTQ. Identification gradually declined with each older generation. Just 2% or less of Americans born before 1965 identified as LGBTQ. Jeff Jones Gallup Senior Editor states, “It reflects what we are seeing in society & the way society is changing. Younger people are growing up in an environment where being gay, lesbian or bisexual is not as taboo as it was in the past”. According to the new survey data a record 5.6% of American adults an estimated 18 million identify as LGBTQ up from 4.5% in the organization’s last polling year in 2017. Ineke Mushovic, Movement Advancement Project Executive concluded, “Less than 20 years ago, just being in a gay or lesbian relationship could be a crime. Now, LGBTQ people can marry the person they love & the Supreme Court found just last year that it’s not legal to fire someone just for being LGBTQ.” In the survey of who identified as LGBTQ, 54.6 % of respondents identified as bisexual, 24.5% as gay, 11.7% as lesbian & 11.3% as transgender. More than 3% said they used another term to describe their identity like as queer or pansexual. For More Info....

LISTEN: Kierra Johnson Leads The National LGBTQ Task Force  

LISTEN: 500+ Podcasts w/ LGBTQ Leaders & Celebrities

CHECK OUT OUR NEW STREAMING SITE

Hear Audio Chats w/ LGBTQ Leaders @OUTTAKE VOICES™

SUPPORT OUTTAKE™ @ OUR EQUALITY STORE

LGBTQ Heroes Postage Stamp Campaign

The two oldest LGBTQ organizations in this country, the International Imperial Court System (IICS) founded in 1965 & the oldest LGBTQ civil rights organization the National LGBTQ Task Force founded in 1973 have launched a national campaign asking the US Post Office Department to issue stamps honoring LGBTQ icons & trailblazers Bayard Rustin, Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera & José Julio Sarria. The IICS & The Task Force were also the sponsors of the successful campaign that resulted in the issuance of the Harvey Bernard Milk U.S. postage stamp unveiled in May of 2014 at the White House by President Barack Obama on what would’ve been Harvey Milk’s 84th birthday. Commissioner Nicole Murray Ramirez, Queen Mother I of the Americas of the International Imperial Court System stated, “As we just celebrated Black History Month & begin Women’s History Month, we want to celebrate our Black & trans LGBTQ icons; Bayard Rustin & Marsha P. Johnson, in the company of two extraordinary Latino icons; Sylvia Rivera & José Julia Sarria.” Kierra Johnson, The National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director concluded, “The National LGBTQ Task Force is thrilled to continue supporting this effort. This campaign recognizes the contributions that the trans & drag communities, particularly people of color who have given so much to the larger LGBTQ community & still do not have the visibility or credit they deserve. We saw the tremendous success of the Harvey Milk stamp & encourage the U.S. Post Office to create more - & more diverse – representations of LGBTQ icons.”  For More Info…

LISTEN: Kierra Johnson Leads The National LGBTQ Task Force  

LISTEN: 500+ Podcasts w/ LGBTQ Leaders & Celebrities

CHECK OUT OUR NEW STREAMING SITE

Hear Audio Chats w/ LGBTQ Leaders @OUTTAKE VOICES™

SUPPORT OUTTAKE™ @ OUR EQUALITY STORE