A Letter From The President

 Bob Dorr, PFLAG Omaha

 Posted on April 20, 2005

It’s the time of year for high school proms. This year, Omaha’s gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender young people won’t be left out. On May 21 Omaha will have its first citywide Pride Prom for GLBT youths, who might not be welcome at their high school’s prom.

The Pride Prom will be a classy event, with a DJ, food and photos. Dress is formal/semi-formal. Admission is $5 per person.

The Pride Prom will be from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday, May 21, at First United Methodist Church’s Cary Hall. PFLAG’s Proud Horizons youth support group is a sponsor along with Gay Straight Alliances at Omaha high schools.

A lot of time and effort go into PFLAG’s activities that support youths. We want to improve the odds that GLBT students can attend school each day free of fear from taunting and harassing. At our Safe Schools presentations in college classrooms, audiences of future teachers and school administrators seem open to our message that the schools should be safe for all.

We also believe that GLBT youths need a place where they can feel safe to come and talk about issues they have in their schools and in their families, a place where they can socialize with other GLBT youths. Our Proud Horizons youth support group, which meets weekly at First United Methodist Church, gives them that place.

Life often isn’t easy for many GLBT young people. We hope the Pride Prom will give them something nice to remember about their high school years.

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When it comes to helping others, PFLAGers always have been generous with their time and efforts. Now we need one more person to help respond to requests left on the voicemail of PFLAG’s telephone help line.

The help line needs one volunteer per day. Not many calls come into our help line—maybe one or two a day. But those calls can be important.

This is not a help line that requires volunteers to sit by the telephone. Recorded voicemails can be retrieved from your home or from your work. Joining our phone help line crew will require about two hours of training. If this interests you, or you have questions about it, call me at 333-7064, or send an email to: bobcdorr@cox.net

And we have another need for a volunteer: PFLAG again this year probably will take part in a benefit performance given by Pride Players in late September at the Rose Theater. The benefit is one show during the annual series of shows performed by the citywide high school group. We need someone to serve on a committee that will plan the benefit and to help with the book work. Give me a call or email if you could give a few hours to help with that wonderful event.

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This year’s Nebraska Pride Celebration will be the event’s 20th anniversary. Special activities are planned. Come to our May 12 meeting and hear Pride Chair Troy Haasis tell us about the June 9-12 event. The parade and festival in downtown’s Old Market area will be Saturday, June 11.

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Thanks to everyone who responded to my emailed request to write a note of thanks to the San Francisco judge who ruled in favor of marriage equality for same-sex couples in California. We are told that this California judge is receiving large amounts of vituperation and hatred from the other side. We hope our appreciative letters will give him a lift.

Sam Thoron, PFLAG’s national president, wrote this to the judge: “It is absolutely essential that our judges at every level maintain their independence, courage and integrity regardless of the hostility that may result.”

Anyone else who wants to write a note can send it to:
Judge Richard Kramer
Civic Center Courthouse
400 McAllister St.
San Francisco, CA 94102-4514

Bob Dorr, Omaha PFLAG president