Heads up! Tuesday meeting - on WAC campus!

Please join us for our next PFLAG meeting this coming Tuesday, March 21st. We'll be meeting at the Rose O'Neill Literary House on the campus of Washington College. We'll be discussing upcoming events and issues related to advocacy for our Trans community.

Please enter from either the house's front door (it's the large white house across from campus on Washington Avenue) or the deck side door onto the enclosed porch.

If you'd like more information, please feel free to email Amanda Kramer at amandadkramer@gmail.com

Open Community Gathering Announcement - Centreville

This is a a reminder that the next Open Community gathering will be Saturday, March 18, 2-4 pm at the Kramer Center in Centreville.

We will have Kara Miller from Eastern Shore Yoga in Easton to lead us through some gentle yoga, guided meditation and a talk about healthy living and stress reduction. 

We are accepting RSVPs now as we need to limit this to 25 people. 

The first 10 people registered will receive their own yoga mat to take home. 

Thank you,
Mary Yancey (call: 443-262-4457)

Mary M Yancey RN, MSN Queen Anne's County Department of Health
206 N Commerce Street
Centreville, Md. 21617 

PFLAG HOLIDAY BOARD GAMES PARTY INVITE THURSDAY DEC 29, 2016

HEY ALL,

ADD THIS EASY RELAXED EVENT TO YOUR 'IN BETWEEN THE HOLIDAYS' WEEK AND HANG WITH US, YOUR PFLAG FRIENDS.  (BRING ANYONE ALONG.) IF WE FEEL LIKE IT MAYBE WE WILL ORDER FOOD FROM LUISA’S TO SHARE FOR DINNER AND STAY A WHILE LATER.  IF YOU NEED TO ARRIVE CLOSER TO 6 AFTER WORK, JUST TEXT US (443 480 3138) AND WE WILL STAY AND PARTY ON.  CHECK IN AS NEEDED IF THE WEATHER, DISTANCES OR TIMING IS TRICKY FOR YOU. TEXT/CALL 443 480 3138

LET'S JUST ENJOY....AND HAVE SOME FUN.

HOPE TO SEE YOU, PASS THE WORD ON IF YOU ARE AWAY....WE WILL CATCH YOU NEXT TIME.

December Happenings...HANG onto your version of sanity! Do something for others too...

It is THAT TIME OF THE YEAR!

Dear friends, 

Please work to maintain your wonderful or “sassy” attitudes in our turbulent times with not only the stress of holidays, the big changes in our country, but with sad stories we cannot avoid in the news.  WE try to be there for one another and simply getting out with a friend can help a lot. Calls to supportive folks also help. Use our website to find some of those resources and to reserve the dates you see on our calendar for activities we hope will be both social and informative. 

With the intention of uplifting our spirits, I want to mention this Sunday’s opportunity:

On December 11, at the Unitarian Universalists of the Chester River (UUCR), at 10 AM, our speaker, Linda Lucero, will be with us to share her sermon entitled Empower Women Empower Humanity. (UUCR is at 914 Gateway Dr. Chestertown and supports and houses our PFLAG Resource Center and is a Welcoming Congregation.)

Linda's presentation combines an entertaining and enlightening look back to the early days of the women's movement, as well as what it's like to be a young woman today living in a global world.   It is a timely message of hope and inspiration for all women and men, who now must stand fast with girls to ensure their voices are heard and their dignity honored so they get to be the powerful young women they were always meant to be.

LATER this month, we also plan to gather to play some board games, socialize and strategize with you and friends during the last week of the year.  SAVE the DATE of Thursday December 29^th for a 3-6 pm “Holiday Board Games Party.” In addition to Chestertown, we are trying to firm up a simultaneous Easton Party spot!  Another announcement will give you the specifics closer to the date.  (NOTE: There will NOT be a typical third Tues meeting on Dec. 20 this month.)

We already have a full spring regular meetings calendar along with most interesting opportunities and ways to continue to work to support our youth and young adults. Thanks to those who have stepped up and will help those activities be announced soon. While we rely on PFLAG.org for most of our work, the school work is beautifully partnered with GLSEN.org. PLEASE visit GLSEN.org and see the riches of info there for all ages and kinds of involvement including the SCOTUS case and new middle school resources!

Finally, thanks to our new PFLAG Chestertown LEADERSHIP GROUP!  We have formed a broader base of leaders who are already working with us to find their best fit as we expand our powers and reach with the help of these fine folks.  It’s not too late for YOU to reach out and say, WHAT can I do for PFLAG on the Eastern Shore in 2017?

Thanks for caring and do CARE for yourself too!

Wonderful TDOR! Photos soon....Thanks for a great turnout and consider attending another topic, yet important talk, Monday November 28th.

Hi everyone,

Thanks to the 60 or so folks who participated in our TDOR event last Saturday night...it was a meaningful and moving evening. Many thanks to our wonderful performers and our special producer, Barbi Bedell.  We will be posting photos, video and program information soon.  Give us a bit of time to get it together please.  Send any photos you may want to share to pflagchestertown@gmail.com.

Thanks again for being such a wonderful and supportive community.  It is our honor to work together.

*********************

Here is another event that is coming up next Monday November 28th at Sumner Hall at 6 pm in Chestertown, MD. See for more info: http://garpost25.org/ This talk is not LGBT specific, but important enough that I think we all could benefit from considering our own assumptions about how we and others view "our world."
We ALL carry prejudices in many ways...perhaps the LGBT community might relate to some of these topics related to race and assumptions made.

Please join us when David Billings presents and signs DEEP DENIAL: The Persistence of White Supremacy in United States History and Life.

DEEP DENIAL - part popular history, part personal memoir - documents the 400-year racialization of the United States and how people of European descent came to be called “white.” Author David Billings focuses primarily on the deeply embedded notion of white supremacy, and tells us why, despite the Civil Rights movement and an AfricanAmerican president, we remain, in the author’s words, “a nation hard-wired by race.” A master storyteller, Billings starts each chapter with a disarming and intimate vignette from his personal life, beginning with his white, working-class boyhood in Mississippi and Arkansas. He then situates these telling moments in a broader historical context that will be new and disturbing to many readers.

Part I covers the origins and evolution of white supremacy from 17th century Virginia through World War II.

Part II focuses on the Civil Rights Movement, how it emerged in the post-WWII era, and why it subsequently devolved from a vibrant community-led, issue-based movement into today’s bureaucratic, government-sponsored, needs-based, nonprofit industry.

An epilogue discusses strategies for dismantling white supremacy and “undoing” racism in America.

David Billings is an anti-racist historian, educator, minister and community organizer. Raised in small towns of Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas, Billings became a racial justice activist while at the University of Mississippi in the mid-1960’s. His experiences led him to enroll in New York Theological Seminary and to becoming an ordained United Methodist Minister. While he served churches in New Orleans and the Bronx, much of Rev. Billings’ ministry has been in community work, plus a few years with the National Office of the United Methodist Church.

In the early 1980’s, Billings became a trainer/organizer with The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, a national, multiracial, antiracist training institute headquartered in New Orleans. Through his experience with The People’s Institute, Billings developed a special interest in the role of race and racism in U.S. history and culture. While much of his work has been rooted in the South, particularly in New Orleans, he and his wife moved to New York City in 2004 to support the growing antiracist work of the People’s Institute there.

Billings returned in the fall of 2010 to live in his birth home of McComb, MS. He continues to teach and consult with organizations and institutions around the nation, including New York University School of Social Work, the City of Ithaca, NY, Insight Meditation Society of Barre, MA, Citizens United for Economic Equity in New Orleans as well as The People’s Institute.

Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil and Inspirational Performances, Saturday November 19, 7 pm

We hope you will make plans to join us for this important and inspirational evening.  No reservations or tickets are needed.
Please do bring along your friends and help us educate and enrich the lives of all by honoring these brave friends who we have lost.

Questions?  Please email PFLAGChestertown@gmail.com

It is a beautiful Fall week ahead...get out and GO!

It is time to get moving and enjoy the fall!

Next weekend, Oct 14-16, Camp Tockwogh is the location for a Rainbow Family Retreat organized by the Rainbow Families of DC.  Really sounds like a lot of fun!

http://www.rainbowfamilies.org/event-2318064?CalendarViewType=1&SelectedDate=10/12/2016

All the registration details are there!  Wow...it is held right here near us on the Eastern Shore every other year! (We didn't know about it till this year!)

And we need YOUR presence with your fellow community leaders...

Next Tuesday, Oct 18th there are two important opportunities, one at 6 pm and the other at 7 pm, both in Chestertown. (And it is the last day to pre-register to vote in November!)

Heads up!  On Tuesday Oct 18^th at the Kent County Commissioners meeting room on High Street in Chestertown at 6 pm there is a special meeting called addressing the consolidation and future quality of organizational leadership among our local county schools.  Some PFLAG leaders will be attending the school related (expect crowds!) meeting.  Others from PFLAG will be at UUCR for our monthly Chapter meeting which will begin at 7 pm. It is possible to do both!

Here are comments from a parent as well as a local business owner in Kent County asking for just a few minutes of your time to consider showing your support for Kent County Public Schools...

"You don't have to be a parent of a KCPS student to understand that having a high-performing public school district is a factor in economic development. Great schools should be part of the package to attract workers and families to Kent County. Please let the Kent County Commissioners know that you support our schools and ask them to show their support for our schools at their upcoming budget meeting on October 18. I am working with a group of parents who are encouraging other parents and business owners to be advocates for our school. You can read more about our initiative by visiting our website here - http://kcpssos.com/

I hope you will take a minute to read our petition and sign if you agree -

https://www.change.org/p/tell-the-kent-county-commissioners-that-our-schools-and-educators-have-our-support

Our local PFLAG Chapter monthly meeting WILL take place also on Oct 18th beginning at 7 pm at 914 Gateway Drive, the home of the Unitarian Universalists of the Chester River (UUCR.)  We may do some organization related planning first, then move into topics of interest and concern to our attendees focusing on specific LGBTQ topics. YES, we will be holding our 5th Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil (TDOR) on Saturday November 19th!  

There is always time for support and new friends are most welcome in our safe and confidential group setting. Did you visit our first Harry Potter Festival booth? Did you get to purchase a " HP Puff for PFLAG?"  We had a good fun day.

Linda Dutton, Board Member

PFLAG Chestertown Maryland Chapter