AGSA is excited to announce it’s first-ever Pride Week starting October 26 and lasting through October 30.  All of the event days are subject to change and these changes will be noted on the website, but right now, they are as posted below.

Monday, October 26

Come Out and join the members of the Auburn Gay Straight Alliance (AGSA) as we piece together portions of our quilt of tolerance, which you can leave messages of hope, courage, admiration or anything Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) related that will make it to the final quilt. We hope the quilt grows to immense proportions as the day progresses, so come and spend some time with us as we kick off Auburn University’s first ever Pride Week!

Tuesday, October 27

Come out and learn more about why the straight allies (aka “strallies”) are an integral part of helping with gay-straight alliances, especially here at Auburn. We will be passing out Skittles and letting people show their pride (gay or straight) through creating their own stickers with fun messages of support or pride. So, come out and have a fun learning experience while getting free stuff.

Wednesday, October 28

As part of our regular Auburn Gay Straight Alliance meeting, we will be having a discussion about the coming out process and why pride is so important to the LGBT community. Afterwards, we will go out to Niffer’s to relax and have a good time.

Thursday, October 29

Join the members of Auburn Gay Straight Alliance as we hold a rally and let Auburn’s campus know all about the LGBT and straight ally presence that it holds. Come out and show your support as speakers talk about coming out, pride, and LGBT topics as they engage everyone (that includes you.)

Friday, October 30

Come one, come all to the excitement that will be Auburn Gay Straight Alliance’s Under the Mask. The theme for the gala will be Carnevil and people are encouraged to come dressed any interesting (and odd) way, whether it be costume, strange or even formal wear. In addition, Blame Sydney will be performing for us and there might even be other fun treats in store for the guests. There will be a $2 cover and all proceeds will go to benefit The Point Foundation, and there will be free Niffer’s food provided, as well. So, bring some friends for a fun time.

More information regarding each event will be posted as time draws nearer, so please check back soon!

Hopefully everyone had an excellent (and exciting) summer break.  The AGSA officers have been hard at work trying to make the organization better for its members.  Therefore, we will be having officers’ meetings an hour before the regularly scheduled time for AGSA meetings.  These officer meetings will be open to the public so that members (or whoever would like to join us) may come and listen in as the officers discuss AGSA-related business.  At the officer meetings, people are encouraged to ask questions, provide ideas for events/activities that they feel would be beneficial to AGSA, and so on and so forth.  Unfortunately, the room for AGSA will end up changing somewhat for the first two weeks but do not fret since the meeting rooms will be posted via the AGSA listserv.  We hope to see everyone at the first meeting on August 19 at 7:00PM in the Student Union Room 2223.  Until then, have fun getting back to school!

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AGSA is excited to announce that we will be hosting the first ever drag show here at Auburn!  We will be showcasing several young, fresh drag queens and kings who will entertain you all evening long.  The event will be on Saturday April 18 from 6:00PM until 10:00PM, and there is even rumored to be a party featuring the fabulous drag queens and kings afterwards.  What A Drag!, as the event is called, will also honor those AGSA members who excel throughout the year and strive to promote what AGSA stands for: diversity.  In addition, most of our proceeds from this event will be going towards Equality Alabama as we are dedicating this event in memory of Ken Baker, who contributed so much to his community, Equality Alabama, and to so many other organizations, as well.  So, please come out, bring friends, and be ready to have a fun-filled, dragtastic evening!

The Alliance government has been split on the issue, with the junior partner Christian Democrats opposed to the use of the word “marriage” for homosexual unions.

However the three other parties, the conservative Moderates, the Liberals and the Centre Party, are in favour of a gender neutral law that eliminates the current reference to marriage as something between a man and a woman.

“Regardless of sexual orientation, people in stable couple relationships have a need to manifest their feelings and their desire to live together,” the motion reads.

While heterosexuals in Sweden can choose to marry in either a civil ceremony or a church ceremony, homosexuals are only allowed to register their partnerships in a civil ceremony. But this could all change, with parliament likely to pass new legislation on the matter.

The opposition Social Democrats, the country’s biggest party, also support such a law, and together the parties would garner enough support to adopt the legislation in parliament.

Civil unions granting gays and lesbians the same legal status as married couples have been allowed in Sweden since 1995.

If the new legislation is adopted, Sweden, already a pioneer in giving same-sex couples the right to adopt children, would become the first country in the world to allow gays to marry within a major church.

The Lutheran Church, which was separated from the state in 2000, has since January 2007 offered gays a religious blessing of their union. It has previously said it wants the word “marriage” reserved for heterosexual unions.

Pastors who do not want to perform a gay wedding ceremony may however have the right to refuse, something gay rights’ activists have criticized.

In 2007, 74 percent of Swedes were members of the Lutheran Church.

AFP/The Local

The AP reports:

Those who support the transgender protections say their opponents are really unleashing a broader attack on the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender individuals in general. The city commission approved the restroom provision by a 4-3 vote a year ago. Before the ink could dry, Bible-quoting opponents angrily began working for its repeal. “You are trying to operate in a realm you do not have the authority to operate in,” one pastor, George Brantley, told the commissioners. The debate is expected to become noisier as the ballot nears with opponents resorting to more TV ads and campaigns pegged to such slogans as “Keep Men out of Women’s Restrooms and vice versa.” [...] Since the ordinance took effect, police have reported no problems in public restrooms stemming from the law. (Ron Word, Associated Press)

It seems that Citizens for Good Public Policy is wasting its resources on the wrong things. They should be focusing on curbing predators’ attacks in their community if they are so concerned, instead of trying to take protections away from not only transgendered people, but possibly all gay, lesbian, and bisexual people, who are also protected by the ordinance. Regardless of whether this ordinance exists or not, predators will continue to exist. The ordinance offers no method to allow people who cannot legitimately prove they are transgendered to use an opposite-sex restroom.

Click here to see the ad.
Click here to see the ordinance and its revisions in full.

I hope that everyone’s winter break was fun and safe!  This is just a reminder that the first AGSA meeting of this semester will be this Wednesday, January 14, in the New Student Center at 7:00PM in Room 2310.  All of the officers are excited to start the New Year off right and we hope to make this semester one of the best yet in AGSA.  In case anyone is wondering, the discussion topic this week is: Coming Out Stories.  We hope to see everyone there!  Have a great day!

Frank
Director of Event Planning
Executive Communications Officer

What do you think about the Rick Warren controversy and, specifically, his sponsored AIDS programs? Are gay rights groups being overly sensitive or are too many people willing to ignore Warren’s discriminatory views? Let us know below!