THANKS SO MUCH!!!

Thank you to everyone who joined us today at River Tap for the Happy Hour/Meet & Greet and the Gorge Roller Derby bouts.

We met a lot of great folks, saw some exciting, hard hitting roller derby action and raised funds to help us host Gorge Pride at the end of the month.

We will keep you posted about future Meet & Greets this summer!

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

Columbia Gorge Pride Alliance Happy Hour/Meet & Greet hosted by Rivertap

Saturday June 1st, 2019 2PM – 4PM

Join CGPA as we kick off Pride month with a happy hour/meet & greet at River Tap, prior to an evening with the Gorge Roller Derby.

Meet our board members, learn about the upcoming Gorge Pride Weekend (June 29-30), find out how you can volunteer at Pride/support Gorge Pride, and meet other LGBTQIA folks in the Gorge!

Following our gathering, we will head up to The Fort Dalles Readiness Center (402 E. Scenic Dr. The Dalles) to catch The Gorge Roller Derby in action. CGPA will be the recipient of the GRD 50/50 raffle. Come check out some exciting roller derby and support Pride in the Gorge!

Bout #1 – 5:00pm – All Stars vs Jet City Roller Derby & Bout #2 – 7:00pm – BloodNGorge vs JBLM Bettie Brigade.

Pride Grows Across the Globe

I know Pride Month is behind us, but I just saw an article on the U.S News website site about a list of 6 cities around the globe that had never had a pride parade until now (link to article).

Columbus, Indiana.  Pence’s hometown.

Kfar Saba, Israel. Way to go Kfar Saba.

Auburn and Opelika, Alabama.  Good news from south of the Mason Dixon line. G

Georgetown, Guyana. Only county in South America that criminalizes homosexuality.

Lugano, Switzerland. Lugano is a predominately Roman Catholic city.

Winchester, Virginia. This state is unable to pass LGBT discrimination laws.

Antarctica. Pride was being celebrated at the end of the earth (link to article)

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LGBTQ History

During National LGBTQ+ month, even if Trump refuses to acknowledge it exists, it is good to reflect on the past.  Here are some key dates to think about as we celebrate where the LGBTQ+ community is today.

LGBTQ_History

Above is a timeline of where we were previously and where we are now – with legalized marriage for same-sex partners. It wasn’t that long ago that the Defense of Marriage Act was passed by Bill Clinton, making is so there was no federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

It took twelve years and countless deaths to pass the Matthew Shephard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law from when the Hate Crimes Prevention Act was first introduced in 1997. A year after the Hate Crimes Prevention Act was introduced by congress, Matthew Shephard was brutally beaten to death in Wyoming for being gay.

I wish I could say that this type of behavior will never happen again, but I cannot. Our history is ever changing. We continue to make progress and sometimes we falter,  but as long as we always strive to make the lives of our LGBTQ+ neighbors better, we make the world a better place.

By Susan Wertheim, 6/10/2018