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| >> Back to most recent newsletter Janurary 2004 LBGT@MIT Newsletter The Announcements on this page are updated once a month. lbgt@mit coordinates a monthly e-mail newsletter through which these Announcements are distributed. To subscribe to the monthly e-mail, please submit a request to lbgt@mit.
Also Check Out the Online Web Calendar to Find Out What's Going on with LBGT@MIT! LBGT@MIT's online calendar is an excellent way to publicize and learn about activities taking place on campus. Check out the newly updated version today and frequently at web.mit.edu/lbgt/events. In the News -- SUPPORT MAKING GAY MARRIAGE A REALITY Gay rights activists held a rally with more than 1,000 supporters at the State House on Thursday, calling on legislators to support the Supreme Judicial Court decision on same sex marriage and oppose a Constitutional Amendment that would ban gay unions. The rally was led by clergy, legislators, activists, and two of the couples who were plaintiffs in the same-sex marriage case. The rally came one day after conservative religious and political groups brought more than 200 people to the State House to support the amendment, which would define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. (State House News) Leaders of the Massachusetts Freedom to Marry Coalition urge you to write or phone your state and national legislators immediately-- and to encourage your friends to do so as well. The Human Rights Campaign and Massachusetts Freedom to Marry Coalition websites have links directly to your representative and form letters that you can click and send instantly. It only takes seconds and can make a world of difference. Check out the sites at www.hrcactioncenter.org/actioncenter/home.html and www.ftmmass.org. Thanks to all the members of the MIT community that went to the rally (we saw you in the crowd!) - and thanks to all of those who were not able to make it but were with us in spirit! IAP-Plenty of LBGT Activities to Keep You Busy! There are many LBGT-themed events planned during IAP. Events are listed below. For more information or notices about last minute events, check out the LBGT calendar at http://web.mit.edu/lbgt/events/ or the complete schedule of IAP events at web.mit.edu/iap/.
********* Wed Jan 14, 8-11 PM, 4-270
"Anatomy of a Hate Crime" ******** January 15, 2004, 4:00pm - 6:00pm Location: 14N-417
Speakers: Christopher Capozzola and Jo Ann Citron ******** January 15, 2004, 7:00pm - 8:30pm Location: 50-104 (Morss Hall)
Labyrinths are tools for meditation, insight, prayer, and stress relief
which appear in many civilizations. We will talk briefly about the history
and use of labyrinths and then you will be invited to walk a Chartres
pattern canvas labyrinth. This is a meditative event, and the walk will
take place in silence. Same as session offered on 1/14, only this session
is specifically for LBGT and questioning individuals of all faiths,
philosophies, or mindsets. For more information, contact Amy McCreath
(253-2983; mccreath@mit.edu). ******** January 15, 2004, 7:00pm - 11:00pm The Rainbow Coffeehouse is premiering Part Two of the television mega-event, 'Angels in America'. Refreshments will be served at 7:00pm in the Rainbow Lounge (50-306), attendees will be given the opportunity to visit the labyrinth walk in Walker Memorial after dinner, followed by the movie screening at 8:00pm in 2-105. (Note that this screening room is different from the room for Part One.) For more information, contact Ajit Dash (3-3106; glb-coffee-officers@mit.edu; http://web.mit.edu/glb-coffee/www). ******** Wed Jan 14, 08-11:00pm, 4-270 Trembling Before G-d ******** January 20, 2004, 7:00pm - 8:30pm Location: 5-104 Bi-weekly discussions on topics YOU want to talk about. Support for all LBGT and questioning undergraduate and graduate students - not just for coming out. Safe and confidential! Travis Wright and Chandra Mincher from Student Life Programs will facilitate a focused, topic-based support group. It is asked that individuals plan to stay for the full session. For more information, contact James Collins (258-5482; collin@mit.edu). ******** The
Brandon Teena Story and Boys Don't Cry The Brandon Teena Story is a documentary on Brandon Teena, born Teena Brandon, with interviews from his murderers, his family, ex-girlfriends, and others in his Midwestern town. It will be followed by Boys Don't Cry, a more artistic film based on the same story. For a full description and location, see GaMIT's site. ******** January 29, 2004, 6:30pm - 8:30pm Location: TBA The Rainbow Coffeehouse brings in experts to have a no-holds barred discussion over dinner. Sponsored by: Rainbow Coffeehouse, GSC Funding Board. For more information, contact Ajit Dash (3-3106; glb-coffee-officers@mit.edu; http://web.mit.edu/glb-coffee/www). ******** January 30, 2004, 12:10pm - 1:00pm GABLES
is the M.I.T. glbt staff & faculty group. The lunch is an opportunity
for us to gather in a social environment to meet and greet one another.
It is also a venue for us to talk about issues of interest to the M.I.T.
and larger communities. Our colleagues from the wider community are
invited to join us. For more information, contact David Fitzgerald (258-0235;
dfitz@mit.edu). Sat Jan 31, 10-12:00pm, TBD, see web site Celebrate a happy IAP and kick off the new term with
ULC. Join other lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgender students and
their friends at our Winter Party. It might be cold outside, but we
have hot apple cider and cocoa to keep our party HOT! Rainbow Lounge Hours of Operation The Rainbow Lounge is open during IAP!!! Complete with a new shipment of videos, the Rainbow Lounge is the perfect stop for fun things to do during the downtime of IAP. Please note the modified Hours of Operation for IAP: For more information or questions, please email lbgt@mit.edu Civil Marriage: Help Defend the Landmark Supreme Court Ruling The Freedom to Marry Coalition is looking for volunteers to help with numerous tasks in their offices (near Park Street on the Red line). If you have two free hours or even two free hours per week, then send an email to Robyn@equalmarriage.org or Tom Robinson at trob@mit.edu. You might be asked to help with cleaning, copying, organizing or shopping for office supplies among other tasks. While mostly grunt work, it would make a huge difference for the organization as they work hard to defeat a proposed constitutional amendment against same sex civil marriage and as they work to help pass Civil Marriage legislation. Thanks for any help you can provide!!!! It's a bird? It's a plane? It's..a..it's..a.. rooster in drag? Take a moment to look at this unique opportunity to combine your technical skills with your creative side while making a SPLASH for a good cause! There are two info sessions next week about this opportunity. Info Sessions: In June of 2004 Superman will have to move over to make room for the competitors in the 2nd Annual Gay Menís Domestic Violence Projectís (GMDVP) Provincetown Birdman. This truly unique event, modeled after Virgin Atlantic International Bognor Birdman, will occur on Macmillan Pier in Provincetown, MA. The Birdman event celebrates our quest to fly, our passion for creativity and our willingness to make complete fools of ourselves. Contestants (both men and women will compete) will attempt to fly, from a platform 20 feet above the water, without the aide of any motorized parts, rockets, helium balloons, etc. The person who is able to fly the furthest past 60 feet and the person with the best costume will win an amazing prize (2003 winners won a pair of tickets to England on Virgin Atlantic Airlines and a chance to compete in the international contest). Although some contestants take the idea of flying seriously, others make no real attempt to fly. Instead they will create silly, creative, over-the-top costumes, jump off the platform and drop like a rock. Examples from last year include Wonder Woman, a giant butterfly, a homemade Chanute glider and, yes, a rooster in drag. Anyone interested in being involved as a contestant or volunteer please contact Mark Green at 617.354.6056 or email: mgreen@gmdvp.org. For those of you interested in helping but not in jumping, we are looking for volunteers to help GMDVP generate interest about the event on the MIT campus and to provide jumpers with assistance in building their flying costumes/devices. All money raised will benefit GMDVP. Meet Boston Episcopal Bishop- Spirituality Discussion Save the date!!! February 5; 5:30pm; Rainbow Lounge (50-306) Boston's Epsicopal Bishop will be on campus to visit with LBGT students and discuss issues of spirituality and current events taking place in the Episcopal Church. The Episcopal church recently ordained its first openly gay bishop, challenging the church around the world to address lbgt issues. This is an important opportunity to think about the intersection between spirituality and sexuality -- please make it a point to attend! For more informattion, email lbgt@mit.edu. Save the Date: 'Tute Ice Cream Social! Save the date! The sixth annual TGIF (''tute Gay Ice Cream Friday) Ice Cream Social hosted by LBGT@MIT will take place Friday, February 6, from 3:30-5:00pm in the Rainbow Lounge (50-306). Come by for fun, fellowship, free ice cream, and to hear about all of the exciting activities that will be taking place this semester. For more information, email lbgt@mit.edu. This event is open to all students, faculty, and staff. More Information-Walking the Labyrinth At MIT, we're all about productivity, efficiency, multitasking, and problem-solving. These are all great skills, but to be fully human, we need to balance them with silence, mystery, daydreaming, and reflection. A labyrinth is an ancient tool for doing just that. The labyrinth we're bringing to MIT is a 36' canvas surface upon which is painted a labyrinth, which is a spiral path that you walk from beginning to end. A labyrinth is not a maze -- it's not designed to confuse you; there's one way in and one way out. Because you can't get lost, you don't have to worry about where you're going. You can just walk, slowly, thinking, meditating or praying about whatever you want. A labyrinth is walked in silence, in order to give everyone their own mental space. The labyrinth walk will be from 7 pm to 8:30 pm on Thursday, January 15th. You don't have to arrive at the stroke of 7 -- you can come later, if that's better for you. You should allow yourself at least half an hour to walk, however. If you do arrive at 7, you'll hear Amy McCreath offer a short explanation of where labyrinths come from and some suggestions for walking. If you arrive later, you'll be offered a handout with this stuff on it. When you arrive in Morss Hall (Walker Memorial big dining hall), you'll find the labyrinth set out on the floor. We'll ask you to remove your shoes & walk in your socks. We'll have some brand new socks in a basket, too, so if you want to use those, go right ahead. (That's to keep the labyrinth clean....) If there are a lot of people already walking when you arrive, you can sit and watch them, read, write in a journal, whatever & wait till the right time arises for you to start. When you finish walking, you can stick around and sit in the silence, or you can go ahead and leave. One
of the cool things about labyrinths is that they can be (and are) used
by people of all faiths and people of no religious faith. I will bring
with me some prayers from various religious traditions that you can
use if you want while you walk, but you are free to ignore them, too.
You will not be recruited into anything. |
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