Steering Committee Updates

Fall Workshop:  "Sex & Internalized Homophobia:  Millenials to Boomers"
Friday, November 21, 2008; 12:15-1:45pm
Plymouth Congregational Church
1900 Nicollet Avenue; Minneapolis, MN  55403
This three-person panel: Carla Nathan, a sex educator with youth and young adults, Jennifer Pritchett, owner and educator of The Smitten Kitten Progressive Sex Toy Shoppe, and Dennis Christian, LICSW, DCSW, psychotherapist who works with men coming out later in life,  will, from their different perspectives,  discuss sex, cultural identity, and internalized homophobia across the generations.

Box-style lunch included; $20 members & $25 non-members.  Everyone welcome.  CEUs. More information to follow. Mark your calendars!!


The Steering Committee Needs Your Help
The Steering Committee (which is YOU) needs your participation to carry on the work of the organization. Please help in a big or a small way: come to the planning meetings, send in your suggestions for events, volunteer to monitor the web site, shop for snacks for workshop meetings, maintain the membership list. Something. Please join us (Dennis Christian, Mindy Benowitz, Irene Greene).  We're a fun threesome and we welcome more. Call Dennis at 612.940.7033 or email him.


Time to Join or Renew
It's time to renew your membership with Minnesota's LGBT Therapists network.  Annual memberships cost $40.00, beginning October 1, 2008 and ending December 31, 2009; two-year memberships cost $75.00 and end December 31, 2010.

Send membership checks payable to LGBT Therapists to:
LGBT THERAPISTS
c/o Dennis V. Christian, L.I.C.S.W.
621 West Lake Street, Suite 325
Minneapolis, MN 55408

Or pay online with PayPal at our website. 
Call Dennis at 612.940.7033 or email him with any questions.

Thank you for spreading the word about renewals and the network.


LGBTtherapists.org Launched
Check out our updated website and our new web address:
www.LGBTtherapists.org   Find your information and check out other therapists' information.

In Memory

GLBT Community Loses Icon and Friend
Former State Senator Allan Spear
1937-2008

Former State Senator Allan Spear, one of the first openly gay elected state legislators in the country, has died. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Spear died of complications from heart surgery on Saturday, October 11th. Spear was a leader and icon of the GLBT community in Minnesota, including strong involvement with and support of OutFront Minnesota's work.

Former Senator Spear was a revered member of the GLBT community for many reasons, including his early coming out as a state legislator, tirelessly fighting for the Minnesota Human Rights Amendment to add civil rights protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity, which finally achieved passage in 1993, becoming Senate President, championing the rights of those most vulnerable in our society, and continuing his advocacy for our community after retiring from the legislature in 2001. Mr. Spear was a great leader for the entire state of Minnesota.

Mr. Spear came out in 1974 when being openly GLBT was virtually unheard of for an elected official and helped pave the way for other elected officials to come out in Minnesota and the nation.
A private burial for Spear has been scheduled, and a public memorial service will be arranged. He is survived by his long-term partner of over twenty years, Junjiro Tsuji.

Groups Available

New DBT Group for Men in St. Paul
Starting October, 2008
Thursdays 5-7pm
(New members start approximately every 6 weeks.)
Contact:
Ruth Spiegel MA, LADC        -or-            Shelley S. Berven MSW, LICSW
612.805.7420                                             651.224.3035
ruth@rmscounseling.com                         shelleymatic@mac.com
www.rmscounseling.com
Intake required. Most insurances accepted.  Sliding fee scale also offered
Group to be held at: 555 W. 7th Street (5 blocks west of Dwntn. St. Paul, near St. Clair Ave.)

Volunteer Opportunities

Be a Board Member
Hello Community Member,
Color CoordiNATION connects, cultivates and sustains Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Communities of Color. Color CoordiNATION is looking for permanent board members and will be holding a Board Recruitment and Social Gathering on:

Saturday, October 25 from 2-4pm at the
Midtown Exchange Apartments 2nd Floor party room
2929 Chicago Ave South
Minneapolis, MN 55407
 
We will have board applications available, light refreshments and a short presentation on Color CoordiNATION and what we are looking for in board members. Board applications will be due Friday, November 21.

For more information about the organization, please visit our website


Rainbow Families Seeking Workshop Proposals
From: Stephanie Hazen
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2008 11:38 AM
Subject: Rainbow Families seeking workshop proposals

Workshop Proposals Are Now Being Accepted!
Proposals are now being accepted for workshops for the 14th Annual Rainbow Families Conference. The conference will be held on April 18, 2009 in Minneapolis, and all proposals are due by November 14, 2008. This year's conference theme is "21st Century Queer Politics: What is the Next Step?" This theme will look at the integration of economic and racial justice, gender equity, immigration reform, universal health care, and other social justice issues into the queer movement.

We are seeking workshop presenters for the following tracks:
·    Creating Families
·    Parenting
·    Social Justice
·    Legal and Financial
·    Educators in Action
·    School Issues for Parents
·    More Than an Ally
For questions, please contact Tiffany Lane 651-644-4848 x6.

Please forward this announcement to your lists to help us spread the word.

Upcoming Events & Workshops

Sacred Sexuality Workshop
The Lotus Workshop is coming to the Twin Cities next weekend!  It'll be held October 17-19 in the Marriott Southwest in Minnetonka.  The conference organizers have brought us 8 nationally-known teachers in the area of sacred sexuality.  Friday and Saturday will contain a series of 1 1/2 hour workshops and classes, then on Sunday we have some deeper 4-hour trainings.  (People can for either Friday/Saturday, or Sunday, or
the whole weekend.)

Featured presenters include Deborah Sundahl, expert on the G-Spot and female ejaculation; Ina Laughing Winds, sex counselor and teacher of Quodoushka (the traditions of native American sacred sexuality); and Francesca Gentille, clinical sexologist and author of "The Marriage of Sex and Spirit".

For more information, view the workshop site (especially the speaker preview video)

Masquerade Dinner: Unmasking our Many Genders
Special Guest Kate Bornstein
Mon, Oct 20, 6:30-9:00 PM
Pi Bar & Restaurant
 2532 25th Ave S, Mpls
The Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition is excited to announce our first annual fundraiser: Masquerade Dinner: Unmasking our Many Genders with special guest Kate Bornstein. Costumes not required, but welcomed! Suggested donation: $25-100 per person for complete Dinner, Dessert and Performance or $10-75 per person for Dessert & Performance only option. Register online or by phone  at 612-823-1152 to guarantee your spot!


UM LGBT HEALTHCARE FOCUS GROUPS
From: Michael Wilkerson
Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2008 1:47 PM
Subject: UofM LGBT healthcare focus groups

I am planning to conduct 8 focus groups designed to identify gaps in LGBT healthcare in the Twin Cities.  What follows is a request for participants that you can send to your respective email distribution lists - please send it out.  I'm also attaching a pdf that you can duplicate and hand out to interested persons.  
 
Also, if you have an interest in LGBT healthcare, I encourage you to consider participating as well.  Thanks for helping spread the word!
-----------
Are you a healthcare provider interested in working with the LGBT community or are you a healthcare consumer concerned with adequately informing your health care provider about your LGBT lifestyle?
 
The University of Minnesota is conducting a series of 8 focus groups about patient/provider interactions in the health care setting. We are looking for doctors, nurses, social workers, community health educators, medical records personnel and LGBT health care consumers. Each focus group will last approximately 90 minutes and refreshments will be provided.  Participants will receive a $40 Visa Gift Card upon completion of the interview, intended to thank you for your participation.
 
Four main questions will be discussed in the focus groups. The questions are:
 
1.     How can healthcare providers create a LGBT culturally relevant clinical environment?
 
2.     How can health information management staff design paperwork and electronic medical records systems to meet the clinical needs of healthcare providers while being culturally relevant to LGBT patients?
 
3.     How can healthcare providers and LGBT patients communicate their respective concerns in a manner that creates open dialogue leading to better clinical diagnosis and higher patient compliance?
 
4.     How can healthcare facilities provide culturally relevant patient education?
 
The focus groups will be held from 7:00-8:30pm, at the Minnesota AIDS Project on the following dates:
 
  October 14: LGB healthcare consumer focus group 1     
  October 11: All healthcare provider focus group 1
  October 29: MD focus group 1
  November 4: Transgender healthcare consumer focus group 1
  November 11: LGB healthcare consumer focus group 2             
  November 18: All healthcare provider focus group 2
  December 2: MD focus group 2
  December 9: Transgender healthcare consumer focus group 2
 
 
To register for a focus group or to learn more about this research, contact Amy Grafstrom by phone at 612-624-0057 or by email.
 
The University of Minnesota HIV/STI Intervention and Prevention Studies, the Midwest AIDS Training & Education Center, and the Rainbow Health Initiative are sponsoring this study.

Michael Wilkerson, PhD, CHES
Man2Man Project Coordinator