LGBT language not allowed in workshop title (by the Bush thugs)

[benburch]

Date: Tue Feb 15, 2005 12:11:30 PM US/Eastern
Subject: LGBT language not allowed in workshop title.
From: Reid Vanderburgh
To:
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 6:23 PM
Subject: Who's next?
 
Hello colleagues and friends,
 
Recently, I was asked to help present a workshop on suicide prevention among GLBT individuals, at the third in a series of five regional conferences on suicide prevention in the U.S. This particular conference covers Public Health Regions 9 and 10 (basically, the entire west coast). Following is a statement my co-presenters and I have prepared outlining recent chilling events surrounding our workshop. One interesting thing to note ? the two previous conferences, one in New Orleans and the other in Denver, contained workshops very similar to ours and were not a problem. The difference? Both were held PRIOR to the last election.
 
We give permission to forward this to whoever you believe needs to read it:
 
Please distribute as widely as possible:
 
 
Statement of Concern and Protest
 
Government funders within the Bush Administration at SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) notified the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) that SAMHSA Administrator, Charles Curie, would not be allowed to attend a SPRC regional conference on suicide prevention if conference organizers went forward with a workshop title that included the words "gay," "lesbian," "bisexual", and "transgender". The conference is scheduled to take place in Portland, Oregon, February 28-March 2. The original title of the workshop was "Suicide Prevention Among Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transgender Individuals."
 
On January 31, Lloyd Potter, SPRC Center Director, contacted workshop presenters Ron Bloodworth, Joyce Liljeholm and Reid Vanderburgh and requested that we come up with alternative wording for the workshop so that the words "gay","lesbian","bisexual", or "transgender" did not appear in the workshop title or descriptor.
 
We worked with SPRC to create alternative wording so that the workshop could continue to be offered but we expressed deep concern about government intrusion to remove any reference to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in the workshop title and descriptor. After agreeing to the title "suicide Prevention in Vulnerable Populations", we were told that the new title would be acceptable to SAMHSA and that we could use the term "sexual orientation" in the workshop descriptor but that the term "gender identity" would "not fly with SAMHSA."
 
We are still planning to offer the workshop as originally planned even though the workshop title and descriptor had to be changed but we will not be quiet about the heavy handed efforts of SAMSHA to render gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgender people invisible. The action of our government in this regard is the very reason a workshop on suicide prevention with gay,lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgender individuals is needed. How ironic! The discriminatory and intimidating actions of SAMHSA and the Bush administration should not go unchallenged and should be of concern to all Americans.
 
It's important to note that Oregon Senator Gordon Smith is scheduled to attend the conference as part of his support for suicide prevention efforts in the U.S. We urge you to use the attached contact information to express your concern to SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt, Oregon Senator Gordon Smith, and other members of Congress from your state that represents you.
 
Thank you for your concern and support.
 
 
Ron Bloodworth, MA, LPC, Portland, OR
Joyce Liljeholm, MEd, Portland, OR
Reid Vanderburgh, MA, Portland, OR
 
Contact Information for Government Officials:
 
Charles Curie
Office of the Administrator
SAMHSA
Rockville, MD 20850
Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]
 
Mike Leavitt
Secretary of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Ave. SW
Washington, D.D. 20201
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
 
Senator Gordon Smith
404 Russell Bldg
Washington, D.C. 20510-3704
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
http://gsmith.senate.gov/webform.htm
 
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
[e-mail]
 
Please post in plain text only (i.e., no HTML) so that all messages will be accessible to all members of our community, including people with disabilities whose assistive technology may have problems with HTML emails.

[Behind the Aegis]

1. This is disgusting!

This just adds to the fact that gays are 2nd class citizens. Fuck these people!

[rodeodance]

2. whow--first Marg. Spellings telling PBS not to air Sugartime and now this.

[rodeodance]

3. I will forward to all I know. Thanks for the post

[corbett]

4. What? Everybody Knows That Sexual Orientation Is A Choice

How can GLBT suicide rates be above the national average if sexual orientation is a choice? Oh, yeah, you can bet that the shrub had a sexual experience with a man before deciding to settle down with Laura.

[janetle]

21. Leading cause of death

The leading cause of death of high school boys who are gay is suicide--not car accidents--but suicide.

This breaks my heart and we continue to throw these children away, I guess.

[KnowerOfLogic]

5. Pink triangles can be picked up at your local government church;

all gays must affix them to their clothing, to be visible by the sex police at all times, under penalty of deportation to forced labor camps......

[spanone]

6. Ignorance above and beyond the call of duty.

The agenda of the bush* administration is genocide on gays.

[satya]

7. Doubleplusungood! In all seriousness, though, this makes my blood boil and

my skin crawl. Thanks for the post; I'll pass it along to others.

[LeftCoast]

8. Recommended!

:thumbsup:

[Athame]

9. Very disturbing

Posting this far and wide. How DARE they? :grr:

[benburch]

10. Thanks, everybody.

I'll keep kicking this one as I think it is very important that the word gets out.

[benburch]

11. Kick

:kick:

[satya]

12. Kick and nominate. nt

[ultraist]

13. Bush's CULTURE OF HATE continues to SILENCE people!

banning: gay","lesbian","bisexual", or "transgender" did not appear in the workshop title or descriptor." ????

WTF?

Say these words as much as you can in everday speak!
GAY
LESBIAN
BISEXUAL
TRANSGENDER

EQUAL RIGHTS!
PEACE!

Bush's Culture of Hate breeds:
RACISM
SEXISM
HOMOPHOBIA
CLASSISM
VIOLENCE & WAR

We will NOT be silenced.

This is getting really creepy. And we have FOUR MORE YEARS OF THIS BS?

[juslikagrzly]

14. More info from originator of email

I emailed the originator for permission to post this--beat me to it benburch! Here is his response. Note that he requests we remove identifying info as he is being overwhelmed with calls and emails.

Hello XXXXXX,
I have an update to that e-mail, which you can send out as a companion
piece. I would like my contact info removed, however, as I'm getting
overwhelmed by e-mail and phone calls!

Hello friends and colleagues,

This has been a most surreal experience. My co-presenters and I are feeling
a little hung out to dry at this point, with folks around us backpedaling
and scrambling to make us look like conspiracy theorists, or at best,
alarmist. Officials at SAMSHA, and some of the conference organizers, now
tell conflicting stories, saying there was never any intention to prevent
Charles Curie attending the regional suicide prevention conference in
Portland, that it's all been a misunderstanding, that some people
miscommunicated and others made assumptions. We're being told it's all been
a misunderstanding, but it's very unclear to us who miscommunicated what,
and to whom.

I'm keeping my eye on the ball here... the title of our workshop HAS been
changed, as has the wording of the description. All we are clear on is: we
were originally asked to present a workshop titled "Suicide Prevention Among
GLBT Individuals," and we are now presenting a workshop titled "Suicide
Prevention in Vulnerable Populations." Our original workshop description
included the phrases "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" and now only
includes "sexual orientation." It matters little to me who tries to spin it
in various ways, who said what, to whom, or misunderstood or miscommunicated
in some way. The facts are still clear: "GLBT" is not in our workshop title,
and this was not our idea. "Gender identity" is mentioned nowhere, and this
was not our idea. No matter what the spin or the reason... something's not
right here.

I am not a journalist. I'm a therapist with a private practice to focus on.
I would be doing a disservice to my clients if I allow myself to be further
distracted by this issue that should never have been an issue in the first
place. I am going to talk to a few media folks tomorrow, then let them take
it from there; this sort of investigation is their job, not mine. I will
talk to those of you who would like more information, to answer questions
and clarify points as needed, but I am not going to investigate this any
further. I haven't the time, energy or patience to deal with stonewalling.
On March 1, I will be a co-presenter at a workshop in Portland, on suicide
prevention in GLBT populations. Regardless of the current title of this
workshop, my co-presenters and I have retained our focus - these folks are
vulnerable to suicide, and we're going to present a workshop on why this is
the case, and strategies for helping prevent such suicides in the first
place.

Please forward this post to the same people you forwarded previous posts to.
Unless something completely unexpected happens, this is the last you'll hear
from me on this topic.

Take care,

[benburch]

16. I have asked the mods to comply with his wishes...

since the editing period has long passed.

[Swamp Rat]

15. kick

[Solly Mack]

17. so even death must remain in the closet

for these sorry excuses for humans to "feel good" about their hate and ignorance.

Wouldn't want any truth to intrude on their carefully scripted realities.

Silence can kill...but then Bush and his ilk (to include his supporters) are counting on it. If they can't legislate the oppression of the LGBT community...they'll regulate it to death....literally...to death.

[HaloKitty]

18. It was only a matter of time

As a transsexual woman, I was wonderin how long it would take for Bush and Co. to specifically target Americans like myself. It seems they've now begun. It's amazing, these people would not only deny GLBT people basic human rights, but the opportunity to LIVE as well. Traditional Christian values indeed.

[Straight Shooter]

20. Welcome to DU, HaloKitty

:hi:

Yes, it's all about denying the rights of basic human dignity from anyone who doesn't fit the fundie mold.

[johnlal]

19. This is the agency in charge of mental health?

Well, it only makes sense. The agencies involved with the environment are making it easier for corporations to pollute. The agencies involves with fiscal planning are making it possible for Bush to rack up record debts. Now the agency in charge of promoting mental health is exposed as totally insane!

[janetle]

22. Al Franken....

..is talking about this right now on Air America.

[juslikagrzly]

23. Wow! The DNC website has this story up

GOP Politicizes GLBT Suicide with a link the WaPo article Request to Edit Title of Talk on Gays, Suicide Stirs Ire

Notice the incredibly astute framing of the DNC headline!

[geniph]

24. Have any of those who demanded the title changes

given ANY reason - any reason at all - for demanding said changes? I'm curious as to how they think they could possibly rationalize this evil bit of idiocy.

[fishwax]

25. evil and revolting, but not surprising

funny how this kind of shit is pretty much taken for granted in bush's america.

Thanks for posting and bringing attention to this.

:kick: