Michael’s Ditherings
by Mike MahlerWhat a busy month it has been! The turnout was very good for the recent candidate forum that the Erie Gay Business Alliance held. It was great that we had candidates from across the political spectrum, and also that people turned out to become more informed voters. Please note that there is video coverage of the event linked from that article.
Kudos to the Latonia Theatre and the Oil City Gay/Straight Alliance for putting on a truly delightful Halloween dance! I had a religious obligation earlier that evening just over the border in NY state and then dashed down to Oil City afterwards. Bring greeted by such a wonderful and friendly group of people made the evening very much worthwhile. I took some photos, which are posted here. The Latonia will be having a Holiday Social on December 13. Very highly recommended as something to check out.
Like many folks in the LGBTQ community, I was happy with how some of the races went on election night, but not so happy with the nasty ballot initiatives that took away rights from our community. I was really floored by how well people came together for the Proposition 8 protest rallies, both locally and nationwide. (And a hat tip to our friends in Toronto, who held a rally in support of their less fortunate American cousins.) Mike, a young guy on the GLBT Vote email list, emailed me a week before the date to ask me if anyone locally was doing something. I sent something off to the list, and Rev, Steve Aschmann took up the ball and helped organize. Mike brought some of his friends to a meeting that was called only 2 days later and there were some other people there who were ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work. Everyone pitched in to make the event a success.
Considering we only had a few days to put this together, I am very pleased at how well the community came together. All 3 local news affiliates carried the story. Jeremy of Misinformed Productions took video. Deb took photos. All of these are linked online from the article. Tim Dahle told a straight family he knew, and Alina, a 13 year old girl, made some wonderful colorful signs.
The Advocate, the national GLBT news magazine, included photos from the rally here on their web site. The Oakland Museum of California asked organizers across the country for items from local rallies for their collection. So, we are sending the signs that Alina made and some of the armbands that Erin and the others made on to the museum. Very cool that Erie gets to be recognized as part of a national effort at creating change and making history!
We are planning on continuing participating with Join the Impact in their efforts to achieve full equality for GLBT people. Check out the GLBT Vote email list for more info about this.
Congratulations to the Erie Sisters on the 10th anniversary of their Lake Erie Gala! The Erie Sisters have been very helpful and supportive, particularly with the Pride Picnic. They needed escorts for the fashion show at the Gala, so a few of us volunteered. It was very nice, and they also really knew how to kick up their heels at the dance after the fashion show. We should have photos in the newsletter next month.
Glad news that Vertigo in Butler has a new space for their dances the 3rd Friday of every month. I had a wonderful evening with some friendly folks. Again, another great thing to support and enjoy!
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Erie Gay News
1115 W 7th St
Erie PA 16502
(814) 456-9833
info@eriegaynews.com
Co-editors Michael Mahler and Deb Spilko