Join Pride Foundation Scholars At Special Reception

JOIN THE CELEBRATION – YOU ARE INVITED!

Announcing a special reception to honor the 2013 Montana Pride Foundation Scholars and the 20th Anniversary of the Pride Foundation Scholarship Program!

Twenty years ago, Pride Foundation received a special request to memorialize a family member by starting a scholarship fund in his honor. Growing from that first, single scholarship award to six scholarships awarded the following year, we never could have imagined the growth and joy that would follow. This year, Pride Foundation will support the educational dreams of more than 100 students from across the region—bringing the total number of students supported since 1993 to over 1,000. In partnership with and with great thanks to the thousands of volunteers, fund-holders, and donors of the Scholarship Program, nearly $3 million has been awarded.

We will be celebrating this special anniversary as well as honoring the 2013 Pride Foundation Scholars at events across the region. Please join us as we celebrate our scholars, acknowledge family members, teachers, and mentors in their lives, and also thank our generous donors and volunteers for their support.

Please join us:

Missoula, Montana
Friday, May 10
5:00 PM
The Florence: 111 North Higgins Avenue | Missoula, Montana 59802

This event is free to attend. Hors d’oeuvres, beer, and wine will be hosted.

It is important that you RSVP to Caitlin at caitlin@pridefoundation.org or by calling 406-546-7017 by May 8. Space is limited.

We look forward to seeing you there!

With Pride,
Kris Hermanns
Executive Director

PS: If you cannot join us but would still like to support the Scholarship Program, pleaseclick here to make a secure gift online.

http://www.pridefoundation.org | info@pridefoundation.org | 1.800.735.7287 | Headquarters Mailing Address: 1122 E Pike St PMB 1001 | Seattle, WA 98122 US

Young Gay Men’s Retreat April 12-14

Mar27 by D Gregory Smith

Still time to register! Click pic for more info….

Building Courage

Mar22 by The Mind Alive

I came out approximately 5 years ago.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At the time, I was terrified. I assumed that I would never speak to my family again, lose my friends, move far away and start a new life.

Now, that just seems silly. I told one of my sisters first, and word got around either by me or through the grapevine. The majority of my friends stayed true to me. Those that did not, quietly removed themselves from my life. Although, to be fair, I didn’t exactly give some people the chance to tell me what they really felt, and for that I feel regret. I should have given them the chance to give me a chance.

I was selfish, scared, immature and irresponsible to a degree. I didn’t know what to do with myself once I had finally conquered my biggest fear. Life became beautiful, wonderful and… chaotic at best. Eventually, I straightened it out, grew up and moved on. I have amazing family, awesome friends, and great jobs. Something struck me today at a new job I recently took.

I was talking to a coworker I hardly know. I just met her, we are both new, and I have no idea what her beliefs or political standings are. I related my relationship to hers, talked with other LGBT employees about the drag shows, etc. I openly mentioned my partner in my interview, and as the last few weeks of training have progressed there has been no hesitation in relating my life and experiences to others. And I wasn’t even thinking twice about it. Even when I taked to a sweet little lady about the election of a new Pope, I never assumed she was anti-LGBT inclusion. I just saw that she was sweet, polite and happy about the selection that had been made. It made me smile.

There used to be such fear and discomfort. Always worried about how someone might react to my orientation, my life, my partner… But now, I just don’t even think about it.

And no one reacts innapropriately. THAT, my friends, is so beautiful. And I owe it to all of you that have supported me, given me opportunities and chances, friendship and love. I hope and pray that every young person, regardless of what struggle they have, will find those people in life so that they may reach full potential.

I smile so much these days. I laugh, dance, sing, and love. Not like before, when it was gaurded, insecure and sometimes forced. Now it is genuine, bright and glowing like a Montana summer day.

We all make a difference in the lives around us. Let’s make sure it’s a positive difference.

Opinion: Out at work / Out of work (cnn.com)
Courage (gamom1972.wordpress.com)

Women’s Health Stats For Montana

Mar7 by D Gregory Smith

WOMEN’S HEALTH IN MONTANA (DHHS REGION VIII) Female Population of MONTANA

Total state population: 989,415 (492,748 females; 496,667 males)

Health Status (Age-adjusted§ percent of adult females)

In poor general health: 4.4%

Activity limitation due to poor phys/mental health: 8.9%

No natural teeth: 5.4% Sources: 2010, BRFSS

Access to Care (Age-adjusted§ percent of adult females) No health insurance coverage (under 65): 21.2%
No personal doctor or primary care physician: 79.2% Saw a dentist in past year: 61.5%

Fact sheets are now available for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Each fact sheet presents a snapshot of demographic characteristics as well as a variety of health status indicators for females within the area. These include:

· Health Status

· Access to Care

· Health Conditions and Risk Factors

· Preventive Services and Screenings

· Mortality

· Prenatal Care and Pregnancy Risk

· Birth Outcomes

· Sexually Transmitted Infections

· Violence and Abuse

· Mental Health and

· Teen Health

For complete Montana stats, click here.

Suicide rate among Montana’s senior citizens outpaces national figure (billingsgazette.com)
Millions of Americans Have an STD: Report (news.health.com)
New study reveals sex to be pleasurable with or without use of a condom or lubricant (eurekalert.org)
Few pregnant women treated for sexually transmitted infections (scienceblog.com)
Women’s health must be priority for state health exchange marketplaces, new report says (eurekalert.org)

VIDEO State of Despair: Suicidal thoughts pervasive among sexual minorities

Mar3 by D Gregory Smith

I’m also featured in this video at the Gazette website:

http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/state-of-despair-suicidal-thoughts-pervasive-among-sexual-minorities/vmix_6b072762-14c6-55ac-a1b2-4762aded46f3.html

Montana LGBT Youth At Increased Risk for Suicide

Mar3 by D Gregory Smith

Today, a groundbreaking piece in the Billings Gazette:

Icon for Wikimedia project´s LGBT portal (Portal:LGBT). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Getting through adolescence is hard enough.

There’s the agony of puberty, the mood swings and the withering self-consciousness. Then comes the clumsiness of emerging sexuality.

It can be overwhelming.

For some young people, the passage can be even more daunting. For a few Montana kids coming to terms with their attraction to the same gender — in a religious and rural culture that doesn’t always know what to make of them — the challenge can be deadly.

A 2009 survey of more than 7,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender middle and high school students aged 13 to 21 found that in the past year, at least eight of 10 students had been verbally harassed at school; four of 10 had been physically harassed; six of 10 felt unsafe at school; and one of five had been the victim of a physical assault, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

LGBT youth also are at far greater risk for suicide. A national study of adolescents in grades seven to 12 found that LGBT youth were more than twice as likely to have attempted suicide as their heterosexual peers.

There is little specific research in Montana concerning how much of a role sexual orientation plays in youth suicides, said Karl Rosston, Montana’s suicide prevention coordinator. However, national studies have shown about 15 percent of youth who reported suicide attempts also reported same-sex attraction or relationships.

In Montana between 1999 and 2009, suicide was the second-leading cause of death for young people ages 10 to 24, behind unintentional injuries like auto and farm accidents.

In the two years between 2010 and 2011, at least 57 youth ages 15 to 24 killed themselves in Montana.

It’s difficult to figure the current number of gays and lesbians in Montana. However, according to a report from the Williams Institute, a national think tank at UCLA researching sexual orientation issues, there were 1,600 same-sex couples in Montana as of 2005, up from 1,200 in 2000. This number is almost certainly higher, especially since the study didn’t include youth. The number of male couples and female couples were nearly evenly split, with 806 men and 853 women.

About 2.6 percent of Montana’s population — around 26,000 people — is gay, lesbian or bisexual, according to the report.

Teen suicide is a microcosm of what’s happening throughout the state, which has had one of the highest rates of suicide in the nation for more than 30 years. Consider that during 2010, at least 227 Montanans took their own lives. Another 225 people committed suicide in 2011.

D Gregory Smith, a Bozeman-based licensed mental health counselor and executive director of AIDS Outreach, counsels LGBT high school and college students, gay men and a handful of heterosexual men and women. He also counsels parents wondering if their child’s sexual preference can be changed, although he doesn’t believe that’s possible. He counsels parents on how they can better understand their child’s sexuality.

Most of his youth and young adult clients have contemplated suicide.

“Their biggest fear is believing they cannot have a good life,” said Smith, a former Catholic priest who is gay and HIV-positive. “They believe they cannot stay in Montana, be who they are and be happy.”
There’s so much more here: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/lgbt-youth-at-increased-risk-for-suicide/article_d7e8360a-f437-5ba6-8d03-8aeb2d67d701.html#ixzz2MVkAw1EE

LGBT youth at increased risk for suicide (billingsgazette.com)
Former Priest: “I got the cue he’s falling in love with me” (Billingsgazette.com
Musical Nun Sings: ‘You Are Not Alone’ (dgsmith.org)

Join Montana Women At the Capitol March 8th

Feb27 by D Gregory Smith

Jeannette Rankin, Montana State Capitol Building (Photo credit: Janellie)

Please join Montana Women Vote for International Women’s Day at the Capitol, Friday March 8th, 9:30am – 3pm.

International Women Day is an opportunity to learn more about the legislative process, try your hand at citizen lobbying, and find out more about the issues and policies that impact women and families in the 2013 Legislative Session.

International Women’s Day 2013 Agenda:

9:30am – Noon, Lobbying 101, and Lobbying 201: Whether this is your first time at the Capitol, or if you have been here before, Friday morning’s lobbying training will give you the tools you need to talk to your legislators about the issues you care about most. Old Livestock Building, next to the Capitol
Noon-1pm , Women’s Foundation “Status of Women Lunch.” Old Supreme Court Chambers, Room 303
1:30 – 2:30pm, Friday Afternoon Issues Breakouts – Health and Reproductive Rights in the 2013 Session, Old Livestock Building, next to the Capitol – Keeping the “Public” in Public Education, Room TBD

Other optional International Women’s Day activities:

– Getting to Helena early? Join the Montana Women’s Lobby for a Women’s Issue Briefing: 8:30am at the Montana Historical Society
-Want to stay late? The Montana Women’s History Mural Committee is hosting a Reception for the Montana Women’s Mural at the Governor’s Residence: 4pm, 2 Carson St. Helena.

This event is free and open to everyone. MWV will help arrange carpools if possible.

For questions or to RSVP please contact Olivia Riutta at 317-1504 or olivia@montanawomenvote.org.

We hope to see you at International Women’s Day! And don’t forget to wear your purple!

In solidarity,

Olivia

Olivia Riutta Montana Women Vote (406) 317-1504, olivia@montanawomenvote.org

One woman voted NO to war (examiner.com)
Mural to honor Montana women to be painted for State Capitol (billingsgazette.com)
Deb Fischer, female senators hope for bipartisan efforts (omaha.com)
Jeanne Theoharis: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Rosa Parks (womensphilanthropy.typepad.com)

How The Sequester Hits Montana

Feb26 by D Gregory Smith

Here’s the link to the effects of the sequester for Montana.
One of the great “benefits” being the inability to pay for 117,000 HIV tests- now free for any Montana resident. And there’s more besides.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/sequester-factsheets/Montana.pdf

The Sequester is Coming! (blogs.barrons.com)
Sequester Could Lead To Massive Cuts In HIV Testing, Treatment (pinkbananaworld.com)
Montana passes law allowing motorists to eat animals they kill with cars (metro.co.uk)
Wyoming officials: White House report does little to alleviate ‘sequester’ confusion (trib.com)

Bozeman Men’s Group Begins March 21st

Feb26 by D Gregory Smith

Bozeman Gay/Bi Men’s Group

This group begins March 21, 2013

Thursday evenings, 6:30-8 pm, in Bozeman, MT

Registration Closes March 15th!

Laura Bailey, MS, LCPC, and

D Gregory Smith, MA, LMHC, LCPC

Facilitators

This 8-week group will explore

Dating ~ Relationships ~Sex~ Being Out ~ Mental Health

Community ~ Substance Use ~ Being Healthy

Whatever You Need To Talk About!

~FREE, SAFE AND CONFIDENTIAL~

Space is limited.

If you would like to participate,

please contact Laura Bailey

406-539-8890

Feedback from past participants:

“This group changed everything for me- thank you!”
“I didn’t know that I needed support until I started attending this group- and now I have the skills to live a better life.”
“I learned more about myself in 8 weeks than I have in 25 years.”
“It’s so amazing that the State of Montana provides this opportunity for us.”
“I wish it didn’t have to end- I really look forward to this every week.”

Montana HB481: A Mom’s Perspective

Feb21 by Debbie Schenk

On Friday morning, the House Judiciary Committee with hear HB 481. This bill adds “sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression” to the Montana Human Rights Act.

(Photo credit: romana klee)

Let me tell you a little bit about who I am and why this is important to me.

I am a 3rd generation Montanan, a business owner for 30 years, a taxpayer, a community volunteer and most importantly a mom. I am very much like a lot of Montanans, I suppose. There is one difference, however; I have a wonderful son who happens to be gay.

Like any parent, I want my son to have the same opportunities, protections and rights that his brother and his dad and I take for granted every single day. These rights are not something that we have to think about; they are always there and we know that. My son has a lot of the same opportunities as well. He goes to school, he works, and he pays taxes like the rest of us. Yet he can be denied housing, a job and other rights simply because of who he loves.

It really is that simple.

When I hear people criticize this bill, they often do so citing their religious beliefs. I respect peoples’ rights to practice whatever religion they choose, just as my family does. What I don’t understand, however, is how my son’s rights to equal treatment under the law can be seen as less important to a society than the religious beliefs of some of that society’s members. Where in the bible does it say that we should treat some of our own as second-class citizens because of who they are? And why should anyone else’s interpretation of the bible be more valuable than my own? Our country was founded on the idea of religious freedom. That does not mean the freedom for me to practice your beliefs but instead to follow my own.

This bill is about peoples’ basic human rights and what allows them to be safe, giving, productive citizens of this great state. Sometimes it is pretty easy to be against something that doesn’t really affect you personally. I ask you to please think about that carefully . Equal rights are not special rights and special rights are not equal rights. I hope the House will consider this important bill and not be led by unjustified fear. As we move forward in Montana with couples recognition and city non-discrimination ordinances, I hope that all Montanans will educate themselves and advocate for fairness for all people.

Thank you for hearing this Montana Mom out.