PFLAG OMAHA - Community News Archive: April 2006

Pre-register for the 2006 Pride Walk. Come for the walkathon to help GLBT-allied charities, stay for the fun. Come enjoy the Luncheon, Special Guests, 5 km Walk/Run, Entertainment, Barbecue Supper, and uality of Life Expo.

The GLBT Center proudly invites you to the 2nd Annual Pride Walk on Saturday May 13, 2006. The Walk itself starts at 2 PM, but the festivities begin at 12 PM and run until 6 PM. It's a great afternoon of food and fabulous fun. The 2006 Pride Walk takes place at 70th & Cass St, Omaha. The 2006 theme is "Love & Human Rights" and our Special Guests fit the theme perfectly: Reva Evans, 31, and Ingrid Olson, 27, a Council Bluffs couple who have been together for 8 ½ years and are expecting their first child in June. These young women are one of the six couples who are plaintiffs in the Iowa Marriage Suit seeking equality for same-sex couples, and they are wonderful role models for Americans standing up for love and human rights. You'll learn their inspirational story.

Individual and Team registrations for the Pride Walk are available at www.PrideWalk.org or visit the Rainbow Outreach Metro Omaha GLBT Center, 1719 Leavenworth, (402) 341-0330, during drop-in hours. You can also earn gift cards and other prizes by collecting pledges to support the Pride Walk charity beneficiaries: PFLAG Omaha, PFLAG Lincoln, GLSEN Omaha, Proud Horizons Youth Group, ICON Foundation, Rainbow Outreach GLBT Center, and River City Mixed Chorus. "Until Americans can all walk down the road of life celebrating diversity in a just and equitable society," said Brian Wyant, GLBT Center coordinator, "we will walk to help create that world. We look forward to seeing everyone at the Pride Walk."

Those who register online at PrideWalk.org or at the Rainbow Outreach GLBT Center before May 1 will receive their choice of a Pride Walk event visor or t-shirt.

The 8th Annual Heartland Rodeo will be held at the Sarpy County Fairgrounds in Springfield, Neb., on May 20-21. More than 70 contestants from throughout the United States and Canada will compete. The Heartland Rodeo is part of the International Gay Rodeo Association.

This year’s rodeo will begin at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 20. Immediately afterwards, Nashville recording artist Steff Mahan and her band will be in concert. Local recording artist Tamara Marks will sing a few songs from her newly released CD. On Sunday the rodeo will begin at noon. The rodeo will end with an awards ceremony at 7 p.m. at the fairgrounds.

Tickets for the rodeo and concert are $10 in advance and $12 at the gate. Children under 12 are admitted free. Tickets can be charged through Paypal or credit card by going to www.hgra.net or by calling 402-541-2203.

Ministering to All

As more churches—including First United Methodist Church-Omaha—become committed to welcoming all persons, this question arises: How can we better embrace and minister to those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender and their families?

Please come to this ecumenical conference at First United Methodist Church from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 29, entitled: Connecting Hearts—Enhancing Inclusive Ministries. The keynote speaker is Rev. Troy Plummer of Chicago, executive director, Reconciling Ministries Network, national group to which FUMC belongs that seeks equality for GLBT persons in the United Methodist Church.

Pre-registration $10. At door $15 ($5 for students). Lunch included. Child care available.

Rev. Debra W. Haffner, director of the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing, will be the third speaker in the First Unitarian Church of Omaha’s Holland Lecture Series on Wednesday, May 10. The lecture will be at 7:30 p.m. at the Scott Conference Center, 6450 Pine St., in the South UNO campus.

The event is free and will be followed by a reception.

Rev. Haffner will address sexuality in America, how conservative voices have dominated personal and public morality, and the growing progressive faith movement to reclaim sexuality as a life-giving and life-fulfilling gift for all people.

The Religious Institute calls for, among other things, a sexual ethic that accepts no double standards and applies to all persons without regard to sex, gender, color, age, bodily condition, marital status or sexual orientation.

Rev. Haffner is an ordained minister with the Unitarian Church in Westport, Conn., and is the author of “From Diapers to Dating: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Sexually Healthy Children” and “Beyond the Big Talk: Every Parent’s Guide to Raising Sexually Healthy Teens” as well as several books for congregations on sexual health.

“A marvelous epic poem, a spectacular painting, a magnificent read for everyone who has ever dreamed about juggling fire, spinning in space, or falling in love with the girl on the flying trapeze. It’s an elegant immigrant tale of the most magical kind!”
From Judith Katz, author of Running Fiercely Toward a High Sound

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—Omaha, Nebraska-born author Patty Frazee will appear at The Reading Grounds for a reading and book signing of her new novel Cirkus, Friday, May 5th, 7:30pm.

In Frazee’s debut novel, set in Nebraska, Iowa and Colorado, enchantment and illusion casually commingle with reality as the Borefsky Brothers Circus makes its way across the American Midwest in the summer of 1900. A lyrically graceful novel, populated by vividly drawn characters, “Cirkus” is a haunting story of devastating heartbreak and exquisite loveliness.

Born in Red Oak, Iowa and raised in Fremont, Nebraska, Frazee is a graduate of the Master of the Fine Arts in Writing Program at Hamline University, St. Paul, MN. She currently lives in Minneapolis, where she teaches fiction writing at Loft Literary Center. She received Honorable Mention in the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice 2005 Emerging Lesbian Writer’s Fund.

Frazee received her BFA in Theatre at the University of Nebraska/Kearney and lived in Omaha for six years working at the Omaha Civic Auditorium and Rosenblatt Statium. She also appeared in various productions at the Omaha Community Playhouse, Upstairs Dinner Theatre, and the Dundee Dinner Theater.

The Reading Grounds is located on the corner of 40th & Farnam Sts., Omaha, www.readinggrounds.com, 502-2008.
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