Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/tag/lgbtqia/page/7/)
In Sept. 2010, Lucinda Naylor lost her position as artist-in-residence at the Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis after she spoke out about Archbishop John Nienstedt’s plan to distribute 400,000 DVDs that argued against marriage equality for same-sex couples.
Fifty Shades of Gender is a project that I have been personally coordinating since around April of 2013. It’s been started as a documentary project focused on telling the stories and experiences of the transgender struggle from the perspectives of transgender individuals directed by a transgender identified person. The goals of this project include “looking at the fine points of the gender binary and questioning if these gender definitions are too rigid for us to all be living in. We aim to identify other gender identities, the struggles that we go through trying to fit into these binaries or beyond them, and what we can do to break down the boxes of simply male and female” “I really just want people to be educated about gender and trans* issues and learn how to treat us with respect and human dignity. Raising awareness is the first step to changing things.” Says gender-queer identified participant, Ollie Schminkey.There will be discussions throughout the project on how our society currently defines gender from the day that we are born, the role of patriarchy, and the intersection of various other identities that are affected in relation to our assigned gender and personal gender identities. Continue Reading
Laverne Cox was a trailblazer in the trans community for her role as “Sophia” in the hit Netflix original series Orange
It’s a year today since we voted on the anti-marriage amendment. This time last year we were at a stopping point in a long, difficult, involuntary journey. It was a nervous 18 months, leading up to a horribly scary day. Continue Reading
The Fox Egg Gallery in Minneapolis was packed full of nearly a hundred queer identified individuals and allies on Wednesday, October 9th 2013. Nikolas Martell, wearing a shiny purple bandeau with matching green hotpants and black high heels, and Paul Canada with a shiny red robe and a pearl necklace walked to the stage to host the kick off to the first ever OUTspoken Queer Open Mic event. “We want this to be an inclusive space, respect that please.” Says Martell. OUTspoken was started by Martell and Canada as an idea for an inclusive art space for queer identified individuals in the Twin Cities Area “Queer artists in the Twin Cities have needed this space for a really long time.” Says Renee Schminkey, the featured artist for the night’s event. The idea began when Martell and Canada were talking about ways they could “improve the community, bring the community together and find space for new voices.” One day Canada sent Martell a text message: ‘Queer open mic?’ to which Martell simply replied ‘Yes.’ and from there OUTspoken began to form together. Continue Reading
Minnesota finally passes marriage equality (otherwise known as legalizing same-sex marriage)! After a grueling campaign to stop the government from defining marriage as strictly between one man and one woman during last year’s election, supporters of marriage equality finally saw the governor sign the bill into law on Tuesday, May 14, 2013. That makes Minnesota the 12th state in the country to pass marriage equality. What does this mean for the Hmong American community? Hmong Americans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) will now be able to marry their partners. This will set a new precedent for us to rethink about our community and what is in store for us for the future. How will marriage change for us as Hmong Americans? Hmong LGBTQ may not be able to marry the “Hmong way,” but they are certainly going to do so the “American way.” Even then, we will all have to start rethinking how we see “family” and “community” in Hmong American society.
Newly formed political action committees and campaigns are gearing up to help re-elect — or unseat — state representatives who voted to legalize same-sex marriage in May.
As of this posting, The Uptake is short by more than $7,700 of its Kickstarter fundraiser deadline goal of $21,211 for its documentary project on the struggle for marriage equality in Minnesota; that deadline arrives on SEPT 6 at 11:59 p.m. The Uptake, a non-profit, citizen-propelled video news service, says its program on how Minnesotans successfully fought for marriage equality will be crafted for a national TV audience. The gubernatorial signing of Minnesota’s marriage equality legislation came just six months after the unexpected defeat of the discriminatory constitutional marriage definition amendment question on the November 2012 ballot. “That’s our story,” says The Uptake’s Mike McIntee. The Uptake can select interviews, demonstrations, legislative debates and protests from hundreds of hours of streamed and taped video from its own coverage and the video vault of the Minnesota United for All Families, the lead organization in the fight for equality.If the funding pledge deadline goal is made, the The Uptake will be good to go. But if the $21,211 Kickstarter pledge goal is not reached by 11:59 p.m. on September 6, the film will not be produced. The project will need to pay for such production costs as sifting through and selecting video clips from three years of coverage, scripting, digitizing the chosen footage for computer editing, music use fees, audio mixing, graphics and some promotion. Referring to the documentary’s small budget, McIntee says, “There’s some money in here for promotion and distribution, but not a lot. We’re hoping that once we get this made other like-minded organizations are going to help us out on that. It will get seen nationally. Free Speech TV is one outlet for that. I’m hoping that others will be available as well.” During the evening ramp up to the first, legal, same-sex marriage ceremonies at Midnight on August 1st, I assisted McIntee and Uptake videographer Bill Sorem at the Wilde Roast Restaurant at St. Anthony-on-Main. They were live-streaming interviews of couples, activists and political supporters of the marriage equality campaign that I was recruiting from the jovial and reflective celebrants. The three of us later added to that footage at Minneapolis City Hall before, during and after Mayor R.T. Ryback legally married the first group of 46 same-sex couples. You’ll see clips of the evening in my accompanying video. McIntee explained that if the target amount is not raised by the September 6 deadline, pledged gifts will not be processed – prospective donors will keep their money. If the deadline goal of $21,211 is reached or surpassed, donations will be tax deductible.Here is the link to the film project’s information and pledge page at Kickstarter.http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/uptake/how-minnesota-went-from-no-to-yes-on-marriage-equa?ref=cardCORRECTON 9/3/2013: It’s Kickstarter, not Quickstarter. Continue Reading
Our friends at The Uptake have gathered hundreds of hours of streaming and taped video of the campaign for marriage equality in Minnesota. Michael McIntee and his colleagues at the citizen-driven, Internet video news service are hoping to make a documentary for national distribution on how marriage equality prevailed in Minnesota. Their project needs to raise $21,211 through the Quickstarter fund raising mechanism by 11:59 p.m., September 6. Mike McIntee has told me that if that amount is not raised by the September deadline that the film will not be made. I think it is a story that has national import and should be told.Three weeks ago, The Uptake’s Bill Sorem asked me to help he and McIntee record Minnesota’s first, legal, same sex weddings at Minneapolis City Hall at midnight on August 1st. I also assisted them at a pre-ceremonies celebration at a packed and celebratory Wilde Roast Restaurant. McIntee and Sorem were live-streaming interviews of couples, activists and political supporters of the marriage equality campaign that I was recruiting from the celebrants. It was the best time I’ve had in a tavern since my grad school days in Athens, Ohio.The perceptive comments and the informal and emotional pageantry, vows and hugs of the evening that we capture, however, is only a portion of an archive of several years of unwavering Uptake coverage of the marriage equality movement.The defeat of the State Constitution amendment referendum question on the November 2012 ballot and the legalization of same-sex marriage just six months later are well documented. But only The Uptake has a large enough video archive for a major documentary. If the full amount is not raised by the September 6 deadline, your donation will not be processed. You keep your money. If the deadline goal of $31,211 is reached or surpassed, your gift will help complete the film and is tax deductible. I agree with McIntee and Sorem, this Minnesota story needs to be told. Click here to view the video promo that I have produced for the project using some of the footage that will show up in the documentary. Continue Reading
