GLIFAA Board - 31 Mar 2009T

 GLIFAA Globe - Pride Edition
GLIFAA Newsletter                                                     June 2010
In This Issue
- Secretary Clinton Address
- Women's Happy Hour
- NASA Goddard Pride Luau
- Tammy Baldwin Reception
- Official Celebration @ Embassy Manila
- House Event on Reducing AIDS
- Secretary Clinton's Pride Proclamation
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News Clips...
Dear ,

Our Pride reception and participation in the DC Capital Pride Parade was better than ever!  View video of our group in the parade here.

The month is not yet over though with our Events with Secretary Clinton, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and a Women's Smart Power Happy Hour among others!
 
Fill your calendars with all of our events below and looking for other local and international events by visiting our NEW WEBSITE and the calendar.
 
Embassy Manila held Pride festivities - please send in photos and information about your local events!

Be sure to register by Friday for this year's Pride Month Luau at NASA Goddard!
 
Look at the Quick Links sidebar for links the Secretary and President Obama's Pride month announcements - and new benefits.

Happy Pride!

-The GLIFAA Board


GLIFAA at the 2010 Capital Pride Street Festival
Pride 2010

ClintonSecretary Clinton Address on LGBT Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy
Secretary Clinton will speak on integrating LGBT human rights with U.S. foreign policy followed by a panel:
 

Assistant Secretary Eric P. Schwartz, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration

Mark Bromley, Chair of the Council for Global Equality

Cary Johnson, Executive Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission

 
Location: 
Loy Henderson Auditorium
Main State
 2201 C Street NW
Metro:  Foggy Bottom

Tuesday, June 22
 11:00am-12:00pm
ARRIVE by 10:30
 
All interested State Department and USAID personnel are invited to attend.  Non-USG guests may also attend by contacting Verena Sander (S/OCR) at 202-647-9040 or at  to register.
WomenGLIFAA Smart Power - Women's Pride Happy Hour!
All are welcome to join foreign affairs agency women for a special Womens event at 15 Ria @ the Doubletree Hotel.
 
Location: 15 Ria
Doubletree Hotel 
 1515 Rhode Island Ave NW
Metro:  McPherson Square or Dupont Circle

Thursday, June 24
6:00pm-8:00pm
luauNASA Goddard Space Center Pride Luau
Please join the NASA Goddard Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Advisory Committee and the Asian and Pacific American Advisory Committee in celebrating Gay and Lesbian Pride Month at our Pride Month Luau.

Come and enjoy a delicious feast.

Dinner will be followed by Fire Dancing, Singing, and Hawaiian Music performance. After that, we'll be dancing the night away.

The doors will open at 5:00 p.m.
Dinner will begin around 6:30 p.m.
Musical performance at 7:30 p.m.
Dancing to follow.

Tickets are $25, students $20

 
Location: NASA Goddard Recreation Center
Directions

Friday, June 25
5:00pm-9:00pm
BaldwinPride Reception with Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin
Join GLIFAA and Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin in the Delegates Lounge to hear about LGBT issues on Capitol Hill.
 
All are welcome!
 
Location:  Delegates Lounge
(Across from the Loy Henderson Auditorium) 
Main State
 2201 C Street NW
Metro:  Foggy Bottom

Monday, June 28th
4:30pm-5:30pm
 
 
 
USAID LGBT Pride Month Celebration
 
More Details coming soon!
 
Location: 
Ronald Reagan Building

Metro:  Federal Triangle

Tuesday, June 29
 10:00am-11:00am
 
 
RSVP:  Chad Mills
ManilaEmbassy Manila Celebrates Pride! - News Clip
Mike Pignatelllo, GLIFAA Post Rep, Embassy Manila

US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. is flanked by (from left) US embassy public affairs counselor Richard Nelson, gay advocate Melo Esguerra, TV host Boy Abunda and Pinky Sabinosa-Nelson at the embassy's first gay pride celebration in Manila.
Manila
Embassy Manila, under the initiative of our GLIFAA group, hosted a
successful Gay Pride Month reception on June 3 at the home of the
Public Affairs Counselor.  We had over 100 guests from Philippine
media, arts, politics, business, civil society, law enforcement,
fashion, and academia at this official Embassy reception - which may have been the first-ever such event held by a foreign mission in the Philippines.  We invited all the section/agency heads at the Mission (from Peace Corps to USAID to DOD offices) to attend, and even asked section chiefs to let us know if we should invite particular LES.  It turns out that some LES who had been too scared to come out of the closet here at the Embassy were feeling encouraged by this event and decided to attend.

Ambassador Harry Thomas attended and delivered wonderful remarks. In a side comment to the Mission personnel, he said he hoped he could help make the Embassy a more welcoming place for LGBT persons.  (In fact, he was far more progressive than the talking points I had drafted for him!)  I also gave brief remarks, describing GLIFAA's advocacy, thanking the reception's hosts, and also asking everyone present to applaud Ambassador Harry Thomas for his efforts in the last few years to help us obtain equality for LGBT persons at the State Department. (I said that "Ambassador Thomas, as Director General of the Foreign Service, helped lay the groundwork for the advancements in equality we've made in the past year and a half, and we are very grateful for his efforts.")  Before digging into the buffet, we also showed  a 2-minute clip of the documentary "Before Stonewall" to help our Filipino guests understand the origins of the gay rights movement in the U.S. We distributed President Obama's pride month proclamation at the
event.  The event was so well-received and attended that I suspect
Amb. Thomas will want to host a bigger event next year at his
residence.

This was a full-on GLIFAA and Public Affairs Section event, made
possible with the financial support of the Office of the Chief of
Mission, USAID, POL, ECON, CON, and FCS.  I called up Embassy sections and asked them if they would be willing to donate some money for the reception, and had surprisingly good response. The OCM covered almost half of the $2000 cost for the event.  The PAS Counselor's wife had a real knack for decorating their house for the event: pink tableclothes, pink flowers, and she even dyed the lumpia (Philppine spring rolls) the color pink!

We happened to have the Pacific Islands Regional Conference here at Embassy Manila this week, and I had a chance to talk to our gay
Ambassador to New Zealand, Amb. Huebner, about our event, and told him it was extremely well received.

Please see the article below for the full story - it appeared on Page
13 of the main news section of one of the country's two major dailies, the Philippine Star.  We had at least one other major news article, and the event was even mentioned on a major TV talk show the same evening by Boy Abunda, a gay celebrity (and friend of the PAS Counselor) who attended the reception.

Contact Mike if you would like to do a similar event at your Embassy -- there is still time this summer; or for Coming Out Day in October!
US House Of Representatives Event on STDs

The Intersection of Public Health and Human Rights:

Reversing the Rising Incidence of HIV, STDs and Viral Hepatitis

Among Gay Men in the U.S.

 

June 24, 2010

Location: Rayburn House Office Building, B340

Time:  12:30 - 2:00 PM

 

Dear Colleagues:

 

The National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), in cooperation with the Co-Chairs of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, Representatives Tammy Baldwin, Barney Frank, and Jared Polis, invite you to a briefing entitled: The Intersection of Public Health and Human Rights: Reversing the Rising Incidence of HIV, STDs and Viral Hepatitis Among Gay Men in the U.S.  This briefing will be held on June 24, 2010 in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room B340 from 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM.  Please RSVP to Kevin Trotter at 202-434-8090 or at [email protected]
 
Secretary Clinton's 2010 Pride Proclamation

This June, we celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month.  I join President Obama in recognizing the immeasurable contributions of the LGBT community both in the United States and around the world.  In honor of LGBT Pride Month and on behalf of the State Department, I extend my appreciation to all those who work on behalf of human rights for all.  At the State Department, USAID, and throughout the Administration, we are grateful for our LGBT employees in Washington and around the world.  They and their families make many sacrifices to serve our nation.  Their contributions are vital to our efforts to establish stability, prosperity, and peace worldwide.

The United States also recognizes the unflagging efforts and courage of advocates and organizations fighting to promote equality and justice around the world, especially in countries where doing so puts their lives and their families at risk. 

Human rights are the inalienable right of every person, no matter who that person is or who that person loves. The State Department is firmly committed to supporting the right of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals to lead productive and dignified lives, free from fear and violence.  We have specifically included the status of the human rights of LGBT individuals in our annual Human Rights Report in each country.  We are working to protect LGBT people across the world, particularly those forced to flee their homes or countries.  And the State Department will continue to counter efforts, anywhere they occur, to marginalize, criminalize, and penalize members of the LGBT community. 

We have made significant progress but we still have challenging work ahead.  Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people face horrific violence and repression around the world.  Pride marches are often met with active and armed government resistance.  Laws banning sexual orientation and gender expression undermine civil society, the rule of law, and public health outreach.  The persecution and violation of human rights of members of the LGBT community is not only an affront to human dignity, but it also diminishes human progress and potential.  As Secretary of State, I will continue to advance a comprehensive human rights agenda that includes the elimination of violence and discrimination against people based on sexual orientation or gender identity. 

Let us recommit ourselves this year to building a future in which every child, whoever and wherever they are, has the opportunity, dignity, and freedom to fulfill his or her God-given potential.


ScholasrhipMake Pride an Exciting time for Interns -- Donate to the LGBT Foreign Affairs Scholarship
The LGBT Foreign Affairs Scholarship Board will award one $2,500 scholarship to a disadvantaged student who plans to intern in a foreign affairs-related field. The LGBT Foreign Affairs Scholarship serves as need and merit-based financial aid for students pursuing degrees and/or careers in foreign affairs.

The fund helps reduce the personal costs for students in high cost housing areas such as Washington, DC or in other world capitols or cities. The Scholarship partners with GLIFAA to foster knowledge of international issues and careers for disadvantaged youth.

The scholarship committee will award the scholarship based on the following criteria:

Demonstrated financial need
Demonstrated strong interest in working in foreign affairs
A committed LGBT advocate
Attainment sophomore status or higher

Contact Ashton Giese to find out more about the organization.  Email [email protected].
 
To Donate
 
Send Check to:
GLIFAA
P.O. Box 18774
Washington, DC 20036-8774
Memo: "Scholarship"