Local Action Team Trainings for Lobby Day for Equality 2011

Join us for a Local Action Team Training and get information about the EHEA and other legislative priorities for this year, learn what progress has been made in the past year with your legislator, and practice and prepare with others from your area in advance of meeting with your representative.

Northwest Ohio

Toledo
March 26th,  10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Village Church - Register Here

Bowling Green

March 26th,  2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church -Register Here

Western Ohio - Dayton
April 16th, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Cross Creek Community Church - Register Here

Eastern Ohio - Mt. Vernon 
May 7th, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
The Social Room, 1st Congregational United Church of Christ - Register Here

Southeast Ohio - Athens 
May 7th, 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 pm. 
Athens Community Gateway for the Arts - Register Here

Northeast Ohio - Akron

May 8th, 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Student Union Room 316 - Register Here  (Parking is not a problem) Cleveland, Canton, and Youngstown are being planned - time, date and place TBD

Central Ohio - Columbus

May 14th, 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Stonewall Center on High - Register Here

Southwest Ohio - Cincinnati and Oxfod are being planned for the weekend of April 9-10.  Time and place TBD

Others are being considered as time and schedule allow.  Want a training in your area? Contact kim@equalityohio.org.

Clergy Call for Equality

This May 22-24, we encourage you to join HRC’s Religion and Faith Program and hundreds of fellow religious leaders from across the country to build the faithful movement for LGBT justice.  Now more than ever we need religious leaders like you to keep equality at the forefront of our nation’s conscience.  Sign up now for the 2011 Clergy Call for Justice and Equality in Washington, DC and  gather with colleagues from Ohio and beyond to organize, learn, worship and bring your witness for justice to Capitol Hill.  Learn more at www.hrc.org/clergycall.

Same-sex Parenting Case to Ohio Supreme Court

Updates: Case Number 2010 - 0276 (Re: Lucy Kathleen Mullen) - See oral arguments at Ohio Supreme Court - more.

Here is the case that is referred to in the testimony in Re: Lucy Kathleen Mullen.  Case Number 2001 - 0625 (Teri J. Bonfield and Shelly M. Zachritz) - See oral arguments at Ohio Supreme Court  - more.

Gill Foundation Matching Gift to Equality OHio

Gill Foundation invests $25,000 in Equality Ohio through matching gift - In November 2010, Equality Ohio was awarded a matching grant of $25,000 from the Gill Foundation.  For every new monthly donor to our Equality Council - the leadership giving group of Equality Ohio of $100 or more per month - the Gill Foundation will match the first $500 - more.

2011 CAUSE Conference Call for Proposals - April 1-3!

Save the Date Hosted by Equality Ohio at Columbus State Community College (CSCC) - tentative schedule includes an invitation to attend Fusion Friday at The Ohio State University on April 1, conference sessions Saturday and Sunday (ending at noon), and an optional group outing to Gallery Hop in Columbus's Short North Saturday night.

The planning committee is currently accepting proposals for workshops, caucuses, panels and presentations.  Please submit the following to info@equalityohio.org by Friday, March 12:

-Detailed description of the topic
-Information covered
-Goals or what attendees should get out of the session
-Required supplies (i.e. a computer, projector, etc.)
-Brief outline

Please limit presentations to 1 to 1.5 hours in length.

Register for the conference here.

Presented by the Hermes Foundation (Sustaining Sponsor)

McGregor & Antonio to Introduce EHEA in Ohio House

Representatives Ross McGregor (R - Springfield) and Nickie Antonio (D - Lakewood) to reintroduce EHEA in Ohio House - The Equal Housing and Employment Act (EHEA), which would prohibit discrimination in housing and employment on the basis of sexual orientation, is expected to be introduced in the House by Reps. Ross McGregor (R) and Nickie Antonio (D).  Equality Ohio met recently with Reps. McGregor and Antonio, and we will be working closely with them on navigating the bill through the current General Assembly.  Last year, EHEA was the first pro-equality bill to pass any chamber of the Ohio General Assembly, but it stalled in the State Senate.  We have established a base of support for EHEA in both the House and Senate, but it is extremely important for our community to mobilize in support of this bill to broaden its support.  Lobby Day on May 18th is an important opportunity for you to talk to your representatives about this and other pro-equality legislation, and we hope that you will join us then.  We also ask that you reach out to friends and family who live in areas where the current legislators are not supportive of EHEA so that they understand their constituents support it.  In the coming months, we will specifically identify those representatives who we believe are potential supporters and do targeted outreach in those communities.  Click here to read a recent article about EHEA. Source: Equality Ohio Newsletter

Happy Birthday Joan Crawford! Fundraiser

Not, perhaps, coincidentally, it's also the 107th anniversary of the invention of the wire coathanger. No joke. Speakers include BRAVO's Executive Director, Gloria McCauley and Equality Ohio's new Executive Director, Ed Mullen.
Noka Davers will perform two numbers as Joan Crawford and serving cake!

Stay after for a special screening of Mildred Pierce.

Admission is free. No RSVP necessary — just come enjoy the fellowship, networking and free appetizers!

Sponsored by KDB Easton, outlook media, Rainbow Cleaners, and the Angry Baker ... benefitting BRAVO.
Location: KDB at Easton (in the old Gameworks location in the Towne Center Building).

Time: Wednesday, March 9, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.