ISSUES & FORUMS

Civil Rights Issues:

The Civil Rights Forum has chosen to focus on issues equal rights under the law for all. This has included promoting gender identity/sexual orientation ordinances, monitoring and responding to intolerance towards people of color, the GLBT population and promoting racial equity and inter-racial healing in the Quad Cities. We are interested in any civil rights issues, including privacy issues, that members might want to address. Contacts: Rich Hendricks at 563-445-4556 or Ann Berger at 563-324-9411.

Next Meeting:
The third Monday of each month at 7PM at Metropolitan Community Church at 30th and Harrison in Davenport. Call 563-289-4155 for more info.

Quad Cities NAACP:
The NAACP meets monthly at United Neighbors, 808 Harrison St., 7PM.

Report on PACG Civil Rights Forum

Our meetings are now held on the third Mondays of the month at the Metropolitan Community Church on 30th and Harrison in Davenport. Rev. Rich Hendricks is the new chair of this forum.

After the great success of the Hands Across the Table racial healing potluck, the Civil Rights Forum will be working on organizing smaller dinners with people who want to host or attend another dinner. If you are interested in hosting or attending a smaller dinner, contact Rich Hendricks.

This forum will also be supporting the passage of anti-bullying legislation for our schools. We hope to host James Howe's (author of "The Misfits" and "Totally Joe") return to the Quad Cities, and will be working with other PACG leaders to help organize youth in this area.

We are also planning on beginning a dialogue with African American leaders about racial issues in the Quad Cities. See you soon!

Past Events:

Hands Across the Table Potluck Dinner, for racial and ethnic healing - The PACG Civil Rights forum recruited 32 co-sponsors for this event. 260 people came together on November 11th at Second Baptist Church in Rock Island to share a meal, get to know each other and build acceptance and understanding among the many diverse communities in the Quad Cities.

Day of Silence/Night of Noise
Black Hawk College Unity Alliance invites the public to a showing of "But I'm a Cheerleader"
Wednesday, April 26th – 5:30 PM
(Building 4 conference rooms adjacent to the cafeteria)
Black Hawk College, Moline

The movie is free but donations are encouraged. Popcorn is free with donation. A discussion will follow the movie.

The movie is in conjunction with National Day of Silence which recognizes the discrimination and harassment (the silencing) experienced by GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender) students and their allies. In support of National Day of Silence, BHC's Unity Alliance, along with other GLBT student groups in the Quad Cities, will wear National Day of Silence T-shirt and some individuals may take a vow of silence. Traditionally the Day of Silence ends at 5:00 PM followed by the Night of Noise which celebrates those working to end the silencing of GTBT individuals.

"But I'm a Cheerleader" is a rated "R" movie about a naïve teen who is sent to a rehabilitation camp when her family and friends suspect she is a lesbian. This comedy is about gender roles and the idea of reforming a person's sexual orientation. For more information about the National Day of Silence, please visit www.dayofsilence.org For more information about Unity Alliance or the movie showing, please contact Karen Hindhede at 796-5638.

CONSTITUTION VIGIL
Stop the Warrantless Wiretapping!

Members of PACG Civil Rights forum (and others), ACLU-QC, and MoveOn gathered in front of Congressman Nussle's office on Friday, February 24th at noon.

Participants read from the Bill of Rights and sang "When the Cows go Flying By" (we''ll agree to give up our civil liberties) to the tune of "When The Saints Go Marching In". Everyone had signs that ranged from "Bush Broke The Law" to "Stop The Warrantless Wiretapping" and many others (see pics below).

Three of the four television stations showed up to film the vigil in it's entirety!

We found a sign on Nussle's office door that read, "Out of the Office until 1:30pm"

We made our point succinctly! Let's keep up the pressure on our legislators, insisting they adhere to the Constitution and hold this administration to account! Call today: 1-800-426-8073

Other Events:

On December 10th, PACG Civil Rights forum co-sponsored "Workers Rights are Human Rights" in partnership with the QC Federation of Labor and many other community organizations such as PACG Corporate Reform, Davenport Civil Rights Comm, NAACP - Dav and RI Chapters, PAX Christi, ACLU, Working Families Win, LULAC Council 10, and the Scott County Democrats. The purpose of this event was to raise awareness about the Employee Free Choice Act as it pertains to the 23rd article on human rights. Individuals shared their personal accounts of their civil rights being violated in the workplace. Three TV stations covered the event.

Top Psychiatric Group Urges Making Gay Marriage Legal

Associated Press
ATLANTA, May 22 -- Representatives of the nation's top psychiatric group approved a statement Sunday urging legal recognition of same-sex marriage. If approved by the association's directors in July, the measure would make the American Psychiatric Association the first major medical group to take such a stance. The statement supports same-sex marriage "in the interest of maintaining and promoting mental health." It follows a similar measure by the American Psychological Association last year, little more than three decades after that group removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. The psychiatric association's statement was approved by voice vote on the first day of its weeklong annual meeting in Atlanta. It cites the "positive influence of a stable, adult partnership on the health of all family members." The resolution recognizes "that gay men and lesbians are full human beings who should be afforded the same human and civil rights," said Margery Sved, a Raleigh, N.C., psychiatrist and member of the assembly's committee on gay and lesbian issues. The document states that the association is addressing same-sex civil marriage, not religious marriages. It takes no position on any religion's views on marriage. Massachusetts is the only state that allows same-sex marriage. Eighteen states have passed constitutional amendments outlawing same-sex marriage.
© 2005 The Washington Post Company

Decision on PV Removal of "The Misfits"

Below is the QC Times article on the PV School Board decision to remove the book the Misfits form the 6th grade curriculum, which was upheld by the State Board of Education. The good news is that the Board members were not altogether pleased that this was the right action on the part of the PV School Board, even though it was legal. We will be pursuing opportunities to take this to District Court and to organize a forum in PV on these issues. We also have several quality folks running unopposed for the PV School Board, so while we may have lost this battle, we have made significant progress.

State board upholds PV on 'Misfits' Ruling
By Todd Dorman

DES MOINES - The Iowa State Board of Education voted Friday to uphold a decision by Pleasant Valley school officials barring teachers from reading the book, "The Misfits,'' aloud to elementary students.

But state board members also expressed "strong concerns'' about the local board's decision even as they accepted its legality.

Last year, the Pleasant Valley School Board voted to prohibit reading the book to students younger than seventh grade. "The Misfits,'' written by James Howe, deals with name-calling and features a gay character.

Two parents, Sara Slagle and Jerry Garhard, asked state officials to reconsider the local board's action.

"Our question is not do we agree with the decision,'' said Carol Greta, an administrative law judge who advises the state education board. "As much as we may disagree we must focus on whether their decision was illegal.''

Greta and the state board found that the local board has the legal authority to govern the use of materials in the classroom. Pleasant Valley officials expressed concerns about the "age appropriateness'' of the book and about "rough language'' used by some of its characters. "There's language you wouldn't use around this table,'' Greta told the board.

But Pleasant Valley board members allowed "The Misfits'' to remain on the shelves in the school library. "This would have been an entirely different outcome if the board had chosen to remove the book from the library,'' Greta told board members.

The state board voted 7-0 to uphold the Pleasant Valley decision. But members also attached language to Friday's action expressing their "strong concerns'' about any local actions that "quash the free exchange of ideas.'' "When you start pulling (books), it's a very slippery slope,'' said Charles Edwards, a board member from Des Moines.

Board member Sally Frudden of Charles City worried that upholding Pleasant Valley's action would send the wrong message to other districts. "We don't want to set a precedent,'' Frudden said.

Pleasant Valley Superintendent Jim Spelhaug said he's pleased state officials upheld the local board's action. But he rejected the notion that local officials impeded a free exchange of ideas. "I would strongly defend the need of an educational setting to be one where that exchange of ideas is strongly embedded,'' Spelhaug said. "I think it's wrong not to temper that with an eye toward age appropriateness.''