Rigney Activism Grants Awarded ForTwo U of L Student Projects

Two student-led LGBT projects were the first recipients of Diane Rigney Student Activism grants, awarded by the Office for LGBT Services this week.

Emory Williamson will use funds to start a new campus group for heterosexual allies in LGBT work, Straight Against Hate. This group will partner with others on campus and in the Louisville community to champion issues and collaborate with LGBT students.

Grace Howard and Lindsey Ferguson will create a campaign to educate the U of L community about discriminatory practices at Red Cross blood drives, especially the lifetime ban on giving blood by men who have had a male sexual partner. Ferguson is excited to be one of the first recipients of a grant. "A lot of people don't know the inequalities that exist within the FDA's laws on who is able to donate blood. By becoming recipients of the Diane Rigney Student Activism Grant, Grace and I will be able to educate the general student population; that, in itself, will be rewarding."

This is the first year for the grant program, made possible by the generous donation from social justice activist and U of L alumnus Diane Rigney.

Rigney is a lifetime civil rights activist who participated in many social justice events throughout her life, including marching for civil rights in Birmingham and Selma, Alabama in the 1960s and advocating for domestic partner benefits in the company where she served as a senior vice-president for human resources.

The program provides undergraduate students with money to implement their ideas and a mentor experienced in social justice activism. The mentor will provide valuable coaching and feedback to make the project a learning experience. Throughout the process, from developing the grant proposal to evaluating the success of the project, students will learn what it takes to be active in social justice efforts and make a lasting change in their community.

Is It Time To Execute The Louisville Option?

There has been justified  grousing over the fact the just introduced GINDA in Maryland does not have 'public accommodations language in it and our GL allies are indifferent or clueless about how that affects us.

But what are we going to do about it?

We can lobby legislators in Maryland to put that language back in, or execute the Louisville Option and kill the bad bill.

What's the Louisville Option you asked?    Grab a seat because school is now in session.

Back in 1997 a Fairness Ordinance was proposed that over their objections, cut trans people out of the measure in the 'incremental progress' groupthink prevalent at the time among GLBT rights proponents.

But in this case, far from taking that lying down, the trans community activists fought back and lobbied the Louisville Board of Aldermen to successfully flip two yes votes into abstentions that turned what was predicted to be a 7-4 loss into a 7-2 one.for the LGB only bill.    


Two years later with the message sent to the GLB community and received that the only way forward was doing so together combined with a timely and highly publicized egregious example of anti GLBT discrimination,  a fully inclusive Fairness Ordinance was proposed and passed on a 7-5 vote in January 1999.

The inclusive Louisville law was a model for the ones that passed in Lexington and Covington KY, and the one currently being considered in Richmond, KY.    The Fairness Campaign in Louisville, Lexington Fairness and the Kentucky Fairness Alliance are also award winning role models as to how to collectively work together to advance GLBT rights without leaving anyone behind.

With transpeople being cut out of legislation we sorely need at a disgusting pace, is it time for trans communities around the nation to execute the Louisville Option?

I think it's past time to send the message that we're sick and tired of being treated as civil rights stepchildren and how disgusted we are about it.   If we are equal partners in this community, then it's past time for you to live up to your own Dallas Principles and act like it.

If GL activists don't cease and desist on the negative civil rights behavior, we trans folks will not only be tough minded enough to mobilize our troops and supporters to help us kill those non-inclusive trans rights bills, but be tough minded enough to cause problems with other non inclusive gay only legislation as well.

And if you think I'm kidding, ask peeps on the Hill how much drama we caused after Barney cut us out of ENDA in 2007.

Your call, GL community.

Miss Y'all Too Kentucky Division

The Super Youth Regional fencing tournament started yesterday at the Executive Hotel and Suites and is going on in Louisville this weekend through the 30th.

For a moment it looked like I might get the opportunity to fly up there and once again be the announcer for that event.  But alas, it didn't work out for me this time.

Dawn did call me last night with her latest Louisville update and what's transpiring in her life as well.   We're still tight even though I don't get to spend as much time with her (and Polar) as I used to.

Dawn is working the SYC, and one of the first questions from many of the participants that arrived to check in and participate in the various events was "Where's Monica?" 

It seems that my statuesque presence was missed, especially by the people of LFC, Bluegrass FC,  Indy Sabre, Knight of Swords and the Kentucky Division of USFA.   That made me tear up a little hearing that news.  

It may sound corny , but one of my goals in anything I participate in is to represent myself and my community with dignity and class, do the best job I can while I'm involved with it and leave it in better shape than when I found it. 

Guess I made more of a positive impact on people in the fencing community than I thought.  

On that note, have a wonderful and successful; SYC tournament.   I miss being the announcer for that event and had a lot of fun doing it.

And I miss you too Kentucky Division.