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Chapter Happenings Folsom Street Fair
San Francisco Chapter: Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays P.O. Box 640223 ~ San Francisco CA 94164~ 415 921-8850 ~ pflagsf@aol.com September 2013 Chapter Happenings Folsom Street Fair Our special guest for the September meeting will be Amie Shea, the founder of the Gay Dad Project; an organization that reaches out to and connects families that has had a parent who has come out as LGBTQ. In addition to creating a safe online community for sharing stories, challenges, and triumphs about families with an LGBTQ parent; the project educates, raises awareness, and gives visibility to these families through the Gay Dad Project documentary and Gay Dad Project book. More information at www.gaydadproject.org Sunday, September 29 11:30 am to 6:30 pm This month’s tabling event will be the Folsom Street Fair! This world famous leather fair will be held on historic Folsom Street (from 7th to 12th Streets -‐ and all streets in between. In addition to food and drink, there will be over 200 booths selling fetish gear and toys, a live stage with top-‐name indie bands, and two dance areas. For those of you who only have a passing familiarity with the Folsom Street Fair it is worth noting that contrary to stereotypical publicity this is not a gay event. Rather, it is for everyone who is in the leather and kink community regardless of their sexual orientation and PFLAG always receives a warm recepton at this event. *** Our next support meeting will be on September 8. When: Sept. 8 at 2:00pm. Presentation at approx. 3:15 (after the support meeting and brief break for refreshments at 3:00). Where: St Francis Lutheran Church, in the Parish Hall at 152 Church St., San Francisco (Across from the Market Street Safeway) California's Assembly Bill 1266 For Transgender Student Rights Signed By Governor Jerry Brown Huffington Post 8/12-‐13 California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a groundbreaking bill which will allow transgender youth to use whatever bathroom and participate on whichever sports team they believe matches their gender identity. As the Associated Press reported last month, California's Assembly Bill 1266 gives students in public K-12 schools the right "to participate in sex-segregated programs, activities and facilities" based on their selfperception, regardless of their birth gender. Although Massachusetts, Connecticut, Washington and Colorado have adopted policies designed to protect transgender students, California becomes the first state to address the issue with a statewide law, Fox News pointed out. News of Brown's Aug. 12 signing was confirmed in an email to HuffPost Gay Voices from Mark Snyder of the Transgender Law Center. Scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2014, AB1266 was authored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and passed the California State Senate and Assembly earlier this summer, according to San Diego Gay and Lesbian News. Meanwhile, Brown's move quickly drew praise from the state's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. "I'm so excited that California is making sure transgender students have a fair chance to graduate and succeed," Calen Valencia, an 18-year-old transgender student, said in an email statement. "I should have graduated this year, but my school refused to give me the same opportunity to succeed as other boys. Now other transgender youth won't have to choose between being themselves and graduating high school." Echoing those sentiments was Masen Davis, Executive Director of the Transgender Law Center. “Now, every transgender student in California will be able to get up in the morning knowing that when they go to school as their authentic self they will have the same fair chance at success as their classmates," Davis said in an email. Gaymers come out to play in real life, but still hide in digital spaces SF Examiner 8/12/13 The gay gamer community (cleverly now referred to as Gaymers) has come of age. "Gay culture is still relatively under-represented in gaming and I'd like to think that our series sheds some light on one aspect of it," said Artúr Tyutin, the San Francisco-based creator of GAYMERS, a Web series about gay men. GAYMERS premiered at GaymerX and is now available to watch atFacebook.com/GaymersTV. However, the popularity of a video game convention catering specifically to the LGBT community has yet to grab the attention of the mainstream video game industry. Companies such as Redwood City-based Electronic Arts and Canada's BioWare, which were both present at GaymerX, have made strides in including LGBT characters in their games, but Tyutin thinks other major players in the industry need to make more of an effort. "Whenever I asked someone at GaymerX which video game characters they related to, every person had a difficult time coming up with an answer," Tyutin said. "If there were more queer-positive characters in video games, questions like this wouldn't pose such a problem in the gay gaming community." Queer representation is very important to Gaymers, and the lack thereof has made it unwelcoming for most of them to come out as LGBT in online gaming spaces. Besides sexual orientation, that's probably a key component of the Gaymer experience: They are less likely to assert their personalities the way heterosexual gamers can. While geek culture at large tends to be a gay-friendly safe space, the cyber sphere where gamers gather safely behind a screen can be a cruel, homophobic, racist, misogynistic place where derogatory terms come at you faster than the alien homing missiles in "Halo." "The homophobia exists because other players aren't aware that members of the queer community exist in gaming," Tyutin said. He encourages fellow Gaymers to team up with other gay or ally gamers to have the support needed when the time is right to come out in their digital life. Oscar Raymundo is the head of marketing at a leading LGBT media company. Email him atoraymundo@sfexaminer.com. Announcements Monthly Support Meeting: When: Second Sunday of each month beginning at 2:00pm Where: St Francis Lutheran Church, in the Parish Hall at 152 Church St., San Francisco (Across from the Market St. Safeway) Board Meeting: First Wednesday of the month at 6:30. Call 415-‐ 921-‐6902 or email us at pflagsf@aol.com for directions. More Donations Needed At Community Thrift PFLAG SF gets part of its income from items sold at Community Thrift at 623 Valencia Street in San Francisco. However their inventory is running low. Summer is a great time to clear out that closet, storage space or garage. Why not bring unwanted items down to Community Thrift to stock their shelves? We are #43 on their roster and will receive a portion of the gross sales quarterly. Have an event you want to announce? Want to contribute an article to our newsletter? Send an inquiry to media@pflagsf.org with “Newsletter” in the subject Follow us on Facebook and Twitter Facebook: PFLAG San Francisco Twitter: PFLAG_SF -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ Membership/Donations PFLAG SF is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization and all donations are tax deductible Please check all that apply: [ ] $30 Individual Membership [ ] $40 Household Membership [ ] Donation [ ] Change of Address Name: __________________________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________________________ City: _____________________________________ State: _____________ Zip: ___________ Phone: (optional):__________________________________ E-mail: __________________________________________ Make checks payable to: PFLAG SF Mail to: P.O. Box 640223, San Francisco, CA 94164
