Newsletter

Catch up on all the news, articles, and information from the most recent issue of our newsletter. Inside Out is published four times each year, in March, June, September, & December.





We are always looking for articles of interest to our LGBT community. If you find articles that you think might be of interest, please forward them to the newsletter editor at editor@blindlgbtpride.org. Please include the source of each article you forward. Or, you may write an article and submit it for consideration. Please limit articles to 500 words maximum.

 

 

Fall 2017

Volume 17, Issue 3

 

Blind LGBT Pride International (BPI) offers advocacy, education, programs, alliances and support for persons who are blind or vision impaired and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. To learn more, visit http://blindlgbtpride.org.

 

Contents

The Inside Out Newsletter 1

From the Editor’s Keyboard. 1

President’s Message: BPI:  Success in Moving Forward. 2

Thanks For Sharing Your Winning Hand. 4

Fear Kept Me Away. 5

A Biblical View of the Blind. 8

Book Reviews. 9

Bad Kid- A Memoir 9

If I was Your Girl 10

Recipes. 11

Board of Directors. 12

Notices. 13

Donations. 13

Copyright Notice. 13

 

 

 

From the Editor’s Keyboard

By: Leah Gardner

 

For the first time in my 15 years as a California resident, I marched in the annual San Francisco Pride parade in June. This celebration is so gigantic that I feared participating in the past due to its sheer size, but the LightHouse of San Francisco assembled a contingent to march this year, so I decided it was time to be part of an annual San Francisco tradition that always seemed elusive and somewhat scary to me. Wearing my BE SEEN T-shirt, offered to all LightHouse marchers, I waited over 2 hours with hundreds of other people in front of and in back of our contingent to begin walking the parade route. As we anticipated our time to move, morning fog rolled back, sunshine enveloping all of us.

 

Just when I thought my feet might be stuck to the pavement forever due to immobility, we got the cue to march. From that point on, my feet hardly touched the ground. The human guide assigned to me is a wheelchair user, and I held on tight to the back rest of her chair, my guide dog Vander on my leftside. My guide had a friend’s child sitting on her lap during the route, and her mother, a woman who convinced me to move to California 15 years ago, walked on my right. I turned to my friend, who has known me through many positive and awful times and told her that this was indescribably spectacular. The entire march, people cheered and celebrated simply being out and proud. I could have marched in this glow of pride and festive fervor all day.

 

I experienced a sense of melancholy after the march ended. Suddenly, reality kicked in again. Glbtq Americans face discrimination from a WhiteHouse administration bent on seizing every opportunity to engage in damaging and antagonistic policies. Our President arbitrarily sent a tweat out basically relegating transgender individuals in the military in to a realm of fear and concern about their immediate future as members of the armed services. He also decided to impose a looming end to the DACA program, promising to set in motion plans to deport an estimated 800,000 undocumented people who have been in the United States since they were children; of course, many of them are part of the glbtq community. Efforts to penalize transgender men and women for the simple need to use a public restroom matching their gender are strengthening in some parts of the country. Also, the concept of “religious freedom” is becoming a battle cry from the alternative right to condone discriminatory practices.

 

Many somber truths about this current period in American and social history face us, but events like Pride celebrations are reminders that we have strength and vitality in numbers. We are a community brimming with hope and life for a future where we are not suppressed by ignorance and brutally inhuman policies. Thousands of people cheered each other on in countless Pride parades across the country. We have to keep that energy and motivation pulsing through us as we confront the myriad of challenges facing us individually and as a community. So, I wear my BE SEEN t-shirt a lot, and I remember the sound of the crowd supporting the right to be alive and free. It is up to all of us to keep pressing for tolerance and for understanding, to fight for a world that treats all with equity and respect.

 

This issue reflects on the past BPI program at the ACB national convention in July. I have also included an article about the woman who dared to dream that the Lighthouse of San Francisco could assemble a group to march in Sf Pride; she is facilitating research and programs that are new to any blindness organization. Connie Teressi writes about depiction of the glbtq community in Scripture. The 2 book reviews highlight a novel and a memoir that both examine coming of age and all the pitfalls this entails. To top it all off, Donald Anderson offers up 2 new recipes to help us all find sustenance to keep our energy level high. To all of you, pride is not just one day per year; it is every day.

 

Leah Gardner

September 2, 2017

 

President’s Message: BPI:  Success in Moving Forward

By: Will Burley

 

Do not fear moving forward for the fear of leaving the past behind. When one door closes, many doors can open…” – Unknown

 

In the lifespan of any organization, a crossroad will present itself.  One direction can lead to a winding, endless circle, while the other leads to a pathway to destinations unknown.  An organization must, if it is to remain relevant to the needs of its members, travel the uncharted road.  While this can be a bit worrisome for some, it presents an opportunity to look back on the myriad of wonderful accomplishments to give strength for the future.  Each year, the BPI conference and convention offers just this opportunity as we review the past term and begin to map a new corse.

 

As my predecessors will likely tell you, while a president is a major support for each component of convention week, special attention is paid to the business meeting.  This meeting, if done correctly, will engage members so they can share their thoughts on the past as well as share ideas for the future.  This year’s meeting was no different.  I believe this was one of the most well attended business meetings since I’ve been involved with the organization.  Most sitting board members were able to be in attendance,  and members and friends filled every seat.  Members were able to verbalize ideas on a range of themes from board meeting notices to our social networking gathering.  Board members and committee chairs were able to take note and will work to find a way to implement many, if not all of those ideas in the coming term.

 

Another detail on the agenda was board elections.  Before I mention any aspect of this process, we must give a note of thanks to Kevin Ratliff and Leah Gardner who served as Secretary and a Member-at-Large, respectively. It is my belief that even though BPI is a small non-profit, our board members and committee chairs put in a great deal of work to make the engine run smoothly.  Both of these individuals have a long history with this organization and while not serving on the board, will still be active in one way or another.  With these members deciding to take a modest break from serving, our Elections Committee worked with our gifted membership to locate individuals willing to serve.

 

The Elections Committee is mandated to develop an elections process that engages the membership in not only the nominations process but through a balloting procedure.  BPI has had a simple form of electronic voting for years via email.  This year, an online program was located that was accessible to allow members in good standing, who could not attend convention, to vote.  We secured 15% participation.  I wish to thank the Committee and the membership for assisting this organization in taking a leap forward in giving each member a voice in our non-profit organization.

 

The effect of the Committee and membership working together is Gabriel Lopez serving another term as Vice President, Harlow Pease gaining a new term as Member-at-Large and Tamara Lomax serving in her first term as Secretary as well as Chris Snyder serving in his first term as a Member-at-Large.  At your first opportunity, please take a moment to congratulate each person and offer your support in the work they will be doing.

 

As we begin work anew in this board term, I encourage you to gift BPI with 0.5% of your time each month.  This translates to roughly 3.5 hours.  If each of us did this, approximately450 hours of work would be done!!  This would allow us to take this organization to heights we can only imagine.  It is said that no one can do everything, but if everyone does something, everything will get done.

 

What will you do?

 

Thanks For Sharing Your Winning Hand 

By: Gabriel Lopez Kafati

 

Word has gotten out the Nugget Casino & Resort in Sparks, Nevada is making room in the walls of the “Stars Suite” for one of our group pics! This elegant spot was BPI’s official hospitality suite during ACB’s Conference & Convention this past July. A shiny baby grand piano and the pictures of the celebs who have stayed in that same suite greeted us as we mingled to share the experience of this year’s Convention. The Nugget opened the doors of its endless casinos, multiple restaurants, and all-night bars. The hotel staff was very attentive; and ACB’s pool of volunteers was remarkable. Even the weather decided to cooperate, and we experienced a mild Summer in Northern Nevada. 

 

BPI’s Dinner With The Board took place in-style, at The Steakhouse. Our Triple7 Mixer attracted old and new friends. A fun fact from our Wine Tastings:  we had folks joining us for all five of them! Moonlight has been our best-attended movie night thus far, and many said that the best part of the audio-description was the narrator’s mention of BPI. The huge crowd gathered for our Gong Bath created a powerful energy as we immersed ourselves in the relaxing sounds of the gongs. Our Qigong Movement was such a fun and interactive experience; attendees expressed their gratitude and requested a “Part B.” Yoga Nidra gave all of us a much-needed break towards the end of Convention. Naughty Sparks was full of laughter and surprises. Our Last Deal left us all with the sweetest Convention aftertaste; and the week-long supply of Hi Sierra, BPI’s signature drink, left us thirsty for more. 

 

BPI’s complementary offerings were also top notch. The Policy Director of ACLU Nevada joined us in a discussion on how to “Take Action” during challenging times. Abundant sparkling wine filled our glasses as we toasted during our Ally Appreciation Dinner, and the generosity of a BPI member provided our meal for the evening. Besides the audio-description of Moonlight, AudioEyes also donated to BPI the film Real Boy; we enjoyed this production and engaged in an interesting discussion afterwards. A panel formed of remarkable individuals from different backgrounds opened the floor to a discussion on sexual orientation and faith. The BPI Suite was always ready to welcome our members and friends who simply wished to chat and relax. 

 

For those of you who joined us in July, we sincerely hope we met your expectations. For those of you who were not able to join us, we hope we have given you enough here to get you to St. Louis in 2018. BPI has become a home for many during Convention. Our priority is always to insure the best convention experience for our members. Our welcoming environment is always attracting our allies and friends. BPI has the most amazing and loyal team of volunteers any organization could ever hope for. The members of the Planning and Programs Committee bring all their dedication to plan for and execute our Convention; and our team has developed a keen ability to collaborate with our parent organization. All of this comes together in a week of fun, learning, and mingling between members, friends, allies, and volunteers. On behalf of my Committee, please allow me to thank each and every one of you for sharing your winning hand with BPI!

 

Gabriel Lopez Kafati 

Chair, Planning and Programs Committee

 

Fear Kept Me Away

Our sexual health coordinator on why her department exists

By: Camilla Sterne

 

From the August 17, 2017 LightHouse of San Francisco Blog

 

When Sexual Health Services Program Coordinator Laura Millar plans a new sexuality workshop or spends months gathering a LightHouse contingent to march in Pride, she does it from the perspective of someone who needed a strong community around blindness and sexuality when there wasn’t one.

 

“I do it for the isolated me,” says Laura, strong in her vulnerability. She does it for her former self who wasn’t yet ready to accept her blindness but needed resources, community and a place to share and ask questions.

 

Legally blind herself, Laura conducts research that examines how individuals who are blind or low vision learn about and navigate the world of dating, sex and intimate relationships. She offers workshops, trainings and in-services for adults and teens who are blind or have low vision, their family members and the organizations that serve them, ensuring that sexual health information and services are comprehensive, inclusive and accessible for everyone.

 

But the work Laura does is mostly uncharted territory. The main researcher on sex education for the visually impaired, Gaylen Kapperman, acknowledges in a 2013 Sex Education Instruction, that “little information has been reported in the literature on all aspects of sexuality as it pertains to those who are visually impaired.”

 

“If no one’s showing you these things or talking about these things, where do you go?” says Laura.

 

Studies show that 61% of blind adults or those with low vision say their vision status had a negative impact on the way they were able to participate in sex education. With mainstream sex education barely covering the bases (only 24 states mandate sex ed at all; 20 require it to be medically accurate) where does that leave people who are blind or have low vision? And for people who lose their sight later in life, many are confronted with identity issues and questions about dating and exploring sexuality without sight.

 

This was the case for Laura. Throughout her Master of Public Health and Masters in Sexuality Studies, she was losing her sight to RP and found that when she explored different communities or took workshops around sexual health, she was always the token blind person or disabled person in attendance. This also meant that the courses were geared towards the “able-bodied” and rarely were familiar with the needs of individuals with disabilities.

 

She was also new to the Bay Area, pregnant and coming to terms with becoming a single mother. She had just relocated to start graduate school and didn’t know anyone other than the acquaintances in her new cohort, most of whom didn’t even know she was blind.

She first took out her cane when she was pregnant, after she fell trying to catch the bus. But she says it was out of necessity and not because she was ready to “be seen”. Throughout her pregnancy, she spent her time at school or in bed, online. In her isolation, she turned to adult blogging and sought solace in an online relationship.

 

“The whole world was at my fingertips, in a computer,” she says. “If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have had a lot of meaningful human connection during that time. But it’s not the same as being in community.”

And as far as reaching out to the blindness community, Laura says, “Fear kept me away.” She was holding out hope for a cure for her blindness, and still lived life as if she were fully sighted, without learning any adaptive skills. When she finally sought services at LightHouse, a whole world of resources opened up to her.

 

As Laura reaches just over a year as the Sexual Health Services Program Coordinator at LightHouse, she’s heard countless stories similar to her own from other blind people. Stories about internet connections and online relationships, but also the dark side of isolation that involves self harm, self mutilation and self deprecation.

Laura acknowledges that a lot of people have similar feelings when it comes to understanding their sexuality. She finds this to be especially true in the blind community and disability spaces. “As a society we are incredibly uncomfortable talking about sex and disability, and that is without even getting into anything too taboo,” she says.

 

Laura’s programming is helping to change all of that. Over the next couple of weeks World of Sex will explore the kink community with Society of Janus presenters to demystify the kink community. “This is a wonderful opportunity for those who are curious to explore in a safe and supportive community” she says. For more information about those events visit the LightHouse Calendar.

 

“Each class, each workshop, normalizes the pieces of us,” says Laura. “I think every person that comes to something I do or is brave enough to show up, walks away with a little piece of them feeling seen. Even if it’s only themselves, seeing themselves. It’s healing. Being seen is as much about the outward being seen as the inward.”

 

Like her students, part of Laura’s journey with coming to terms with her own blindness and becoming a leader has been about unpacking her fear and embracing discomfort.

 

“Just by trusting myself and getting plugged in with other people on the same journey, I’ve finally been able to step out and be ‘blind and proud’,” she says.

 

A mentor once told her “‘You have to get comfortable being uncomfortable.’ Without those words, I don’t actually know that I’d be here,” she says. “I can’t tell you the number of times, I’ve been so uncomfortable. But no one else is doing this, and it needs to be done.”

Read the Bay Area Reporter’s recent write-up about the LightHouse Sexual Health Services Department.

 

A Biblical View of the Blind

By: Connie Torrisi

 

Most LGBT individuals have been taught that God doesn’t approve of homosexuality and that the bible confirms this. There are several ways of interpreting the bible verses that refer to “a man who lies with a man as he lies with a woman.” (Leviticus 20:13)  But, beyond this, there is something else that most gay and lesbian individuals may not be aware of.

 

Recently, while reading Dan Barker’s book, “God: A Most Unpleasant Character”, I came upon a rather stunning reference to blind and disabled people. According to this passage, God does not want blind and otherwise disabled people to approach his temple and worship him because they are “defective.” Yes, that’s right, they…that is, we, are defective.

Here is the passage direct from the New International Version of the Holy Bible, 1973 – 2011:

 

Leviticus 21:16

 

   16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or tcrushed testicles. 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to the Lord’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of vthe most holy and of the holy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries,* for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”

 

 One could argue that the above passage is really referring to the “spiritually blind” and not the physically blind, but that argument falls flat because the passage is clearly referring to lame, that is, disabled persons.

 

In ancient times, people generally believed blind and otherwise disabled people were being punished for their evil ways.  God would not make you blind or lame or cause you to have “crushed testicles” if you were not a bad person, right?

I can’t help but wonder how many people living today consider blindness a “blemish.” My own father, who was not religious, considered my legal blindness a “defect” that insulted his manhood in some way.

It is difficult enough to cope with the incredible amount of violence, rape, genocide and intolerance in the Old Testament. With the above passage we add the rejection of blind and disabled people to the list.

 

  I don’t take the bible literally. But I can’t help but wonder how this passage could affect a blind or disabled child if they came upon this particular passage in or out of bible class.  How would a parent or religious instructor whitewash this passage? How do you tell a child, or an adult, for that matter, that they are defective and therefor rejected by God? And why would God reject his own creations?

 

There are many references to spiritual blindness in the bible, but this passage is certainly not one of them. It is nothing more than a shameful example of intolerance and ignorance sanctioned by scripture.

 

Book Reviews

 Bad Kid- A Memoir

By David Crabb

 

Discovering George Michael’s Faith confirmed for David Crabb what every bully already knew: He was gay. What saved him from high school was finding a group of outlandish friends who reveled in being outsiders. David found himself enmeshed with misfits: wearing black, cutting class, staying out all night, drinking, tripping, chain-smoking, idolizing the Pet Shop Boys – and learning lessons about life and love along the way. Richly detailed with ’90s pop culture, Bad Kid is as laugh-out-loud funny as it is poignant. David Crabb’s journey through adolescence captures the essence of every person’s struggle to understand his or her true self. ©2015 David Crabb (P)2017 Audible, Inc. David Crabb narrates this Audible.com version of his memoir.  I have listened to David’s stories on both The Moth and Risk! Podcasts prior to reading this book, so I was anticipating the type of riveting memoir that is hard to walk away from.  Luckily, I was on vacation and could read at will because Crabb’s narrative style drew me in immediately.  His depiction of characters and scenes was vivid and unforgettable.  I am both amazed he actually survived his adolescence but also captivated by the various instances of sanity-defying consumption of chemical substances and risk taking.  I will never think of Scotch Guard in quite the same way.  But this book was also about the value of friendship in a tough world.  This is a must-read. And David, you should be sorry about the pickles, very sorry.-

 

Leah Gardner

 

If I was Your Girl

By: Meredith Russo

 

I would like to recommend “If I Was Your girl” BY Meredith Russo.  The NLS annotation will follow my thoughts.

 

This story took me through the wringer  of emotions as we look at the life of Amanda, a high school girl that comes from a broken home…all because of her existence.

 

You see, Amanda was born Andrew and this is the basis for the events of this book.  It doesn’t spend time dealing in a real way with the science of this trans girl but there is an in depth look at the emotions of Amanda’s mother and father, a guy at Amanda’s new school that likes her and she likes him back and the friendships that are formed and how everyone reacts when they are faced with a person they like not being who they expected.

 

At first I felt this story was way too simplistic in its approach to this topic but in the end it serves its purpose…to let the reader understand better than when he or she started.  I give this book two thumbs up and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

 

Will Burley

 

If I was your girl DB86901

Russo, Meredith. Reading time: 7 hours, 2 minutes. Read by Samia Mounts. Amanda only wants to fit in at her new school, but she is keeping a secret. When she falls for Grant, guarded Amanda finds herself yearning to share with him everything about herself–including her previous life as Andrew. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Stonewall Book Award. For senior high and older readers. 2016.

 

Recipes

By: Donald Anderson

 

DIRT FOR DESSERT

 

Recipe makes 12 servings.

The idea is that you create an artificial dirt filling from the following ingredients to fill 2 flower pots for serving.

 

You will require:

Two, six and one half inch size flower pots. Thoroughly cleaned for food storage.  

If the pot has a hole in the bottom I suggest placing a cardboard disk inside the bottom of the pot to prevent filling coming out of the hole.

 

Ingredients:

 

1/4 cup soft butter

1 8 ounce, 250-gm soft cream cheese

2  4-oz (92 gm) instant chocolate puddings

4 cups     cold milk

1 large container frozen whip topping

1 8 ounce, 400gm Oreo baking crumbs pkg

OR for a more course gravel look instead of the cookie crumbs use  1 package of oreo cream filled cookies and break them up with a rolling pin into small pieces.

12 gummy worms

 

Method:

 

Use two mixing bowls. 

In bowl #1 blend butter and cream cheese thoroughly with electric mixer. 

In bowl #2 beat pudding and milk for 3 minutes.  Beat in frozen whip topping that has been thawed.

Combine with contents of bowl #1.

 

In each flower pot layer crumbs or broken cookies, pudding mix and gummy worms

Repeat the layers ending with crumbs and a few worms peeking out.  If using flower

pots, place a stem of artificial flowers in plastic wrap and

plant in centre of pot. 

 Keep chilled until serving.

 

Fresh Pea Salad

 

1, ½ cup freshly hulled garden peas

( 10 ounce bag thawed frozen peas may be substituted),

½ cup chopped green pepper, bite size

½ cup chopped celery, bite size

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon parmesan cheese

¼ cup chopped green onion

 ½ small head ice burg lettuce, sliced into strips

4 strips cooked bacon crumbled/chopped

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup 3 cheese ranch dressing

 

Method:

Place chopped vegetables, peas and bacon in bowl.  Sprinkle cheeses over vegetables and toss gently.

Combine mayonnaise and dressing.  Pour over vegetables and toss to blend.

Serve cold.

 

Board of Directors

 

President Will Burley

Vice President Gabriel Lopez Kafati

Secretary Tamara Lomax

Treasurer Sarah Wiles

Immediate Past President Don Brown

Member-at-Large 1 Chris Snyder  

Member-at-Large 2 Harlow Pease

Member-at-Large 3 Rob Hill

Member-at-Large 4 Dennis Sims

 

Notices

Donations

 

Blind LGBT Pride International is a 501c (3) non-profit organization that depends upon the contribution of its members and friends. To make a tax deductible donation visit http://blindlgbtpride.org/donate/.  

 

If you would prefer to send a check, write to:

 

Blind LGBT Pride International

C/o Gabriel Lopez Kafati

6371 Pent Place

Miami Lakes, FL 33014

 

Copyright Notice

 

   Articles reproduced in the pages of Inside Out are published in compliance with Public Law 104-197, the Copyright Law Amendment of 1996. This law allows authorized entities to reproduce or distribute copies of previously published nondramatic literary works in specialized formats, including braille, audio or digital text, that are exclusively for use by blind people or others with disabilities. ANY FURTHER REPRODUCTION OR DISTRIBUTION OF SUCH ARTICLES IN A FORMAT OTHER THAN A SPECIALIZED FORMAT IS AN INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT.