A Letter From The President

From the November 2002 Newsletter

 Bob Dorr, PFLAG Omaha

 Posted on November 1, 2002

At PFLAG's recent national conference in Columbus, Ohio, we met Mike and Janice Neubecker from Michigan. They have a gay son.

Betty and I have a gay son. Because we want to make the world a little better for our son Michael and for all gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, we are involved in Omaha PFLAG.

Over the last two decades, two gay cousins of Janice Neubecker were killed in hate crimes. Her gay brother was beaten up; he later died of AIDS.

Hate crimes are nothing new for GLBT people. They have gotten more attention, thankfully, since the 1998 death of Matthew Shepard, the gay University of Wyoming student who was beaten and left tied to a fence post in sub-freezing weather.

Five of us from Omaha PFLAG were among the 750 people at the national conference: Venetia Collins, Carrie Spencer, Dave Meyer, Betty and me. It was the largest group ever from Omaha to attend a national PFLAG conference.

One of the joys of attending a national conference is talking with people who once received PFLAG's help and then decided to stay in the organization and give help to others.

We attended workshops that will help us do our work better and become a more successful chapter. We were energized by James Hormel, an openly gay man who is a former ambassador to Luxembourg, and by his daughter, Alison Hormel Webb, who spoke jointly about the importance of family.

At our Nov. 14 Omaha PFLAG meeting, the five of us who attended the national conference will share a few reflections on the meeting. Starting with the Nov. 14 meeting, the board has voted to reverse the order of our meeting. We will have our sharing-support time from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and our program from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Come at 6:30 p.m. for some social time.

As always, our meeting will be at First United Methodist Church, 70th and Cass Streets, in Mead Hall at the building's west end.

On Saturday Dec. 7, Omaha PFLAG and First United Methodist Church will take part in the Night of a Thousand Stars benefit for the Nebraska AIDS Project. As we have done the last few years, we will sponsor a potluck at the church. Our dinner will be one of many throughout the Omaha area that will be followed by a dessert gala for everyone in the Regency Court mall. We will be sending out invitations soon. If you don't receive one and would like to attend, please let us know.

Elsewhere in this newsletter is a report from Scott Winkler, a widely known Omaha activist who traveled to Florida in September to join others in working against an anti-gay ballot initiative in Miami-Dade County. Omaha PFLAG and some of our members joined with other like-minded Omahans in helping pay Scott's expenses.

As you know if you have followed the news, the anti-gay measure lost. Hurrah! Hurrah!

In Nebraska, Citizens For Equal Protection (CFEP) has begun a series of speaking engagements around the state intended to build support for pro-GLBT measures planned for next year's Nebraska Legislature. PFLAG is cooperating in CFEP's effort. Scott's letter also describes the CFEP initiative.

If you received an Omaha PFLAG membership-renewal envelope with this newsletter, think about what we are doing. If you believe those things are worthwhile, please support us for another year.

Bob Dorr, president