First Civil Disobedience Action for LGBTQI Equality Here in New York

Dear Reader,

Here is the video link for the first civil disobedience action for LGBTQI equality here in New York City. We are tired of incrementalism. We need our civil rights NOW.

LINK TO VIDEO

This is only the beginning.

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

If You Haven't Already...

Dear Reader,

If you haven't already, please sign up to receive updates at www.ohdi.blogspot.com. That's the blog I manage for one of my main activist projects.

There you can see weekly video updates 'showing' the growing support of the online petition that supports this initiative.

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE FOR LGBTQI EQUALITY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 3, 2009

Media Contact:

Alan L. Bounville

Activist and Graduate Student

New York University

407-484-6671

alanbounville@gmail.com

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE FOR LGBTQI EQUALITY

First Meeting in New York City to Set First Action

Several voices have emerged recently calling for the LGBTQI and supportive community to rise up and peacefully take the fight for their freedoms into their own hands. As we have seen this week alone, win some lose some tactics does not ensure all of us are treated equal under the law. The incrementalist approach to gaining full equality has lagged on long enough.

It is time for consistent, well-planned acts of Civil Disobedience for the whole of our nation to know we, those who believe in equality for all will no longer wait for judges, legislators and executives to dole out what is rightfully ours. And we will no longer accept the notion that anyone has the right to vote on civil liberties.

It is time we let those who want to continue working within the three branches of government to do that – and for the rest of us to join forces and do what every other civil rights fight has done to gain full equality – engage in Civil Disobedience.

The first of what will become a series of meetings until our full equality is achieved will be held on Sunday, December 20 from 6-8 pm. The meeting will take place at the LGBT Community Center at 208 W. 13^th Street, New York, NY 10011.

At this meeting we will brainstorm as a group all ideas group members have in regard to civil disobedient actions and again, as a group choose our first action.

For more information or to RSVP contact:

Alan L. Bounville

alanbounville@gmail.com

Alan L. Bounville is an organizational oppression and LGBTQI activist and graduate student at New York University in New York City. His current project, encouraging the fifth largest employer in his former city, Orlando, FL to provide domestic partner benefits, create a multicultural office and open the dialogue about diversity can be found at: www.ohdi.blogspot.com.

Andrew Conte, co-coordinator of this meeting was co-founder of Impact Florida, an activist group in the Tampa Bay area and has for years engaged in activism towards LGBTQI equality.

XXX

New Post - Giving Thanks

Dear Reader,

Here is the latest post for the Orlando Health Diversity Initiative.

LINK TO POST

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

Gay Apartheid Protest this Sunday in New York City - Plan One in Your City Too!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 4, 2009

Media Contact:

Alan L. Bounville
Activist and Graduate Student
New York University
407-484-6671
alanbounville@gmail.com

www.tinyurl.com/gayapartheidprotest

REACTION TO GAY APARTHEID IN MAINE

New York City Residents Protest this Sunday, November 8, 2009 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Join supporters of equality outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral this Sunday to show those who oppose equality the faces of their discrimination. Stepping beyond the comfort zones of rallies and marches we take our message directly to the people and one of the organizations that have brought about gay apartheid in the United States.

Protesters should come with signs and their voices. This is a peaceful demonstration, but the anger against the members of the Catholic Church in New York City, who helped by their affiliation to the Catholic Church in Maine pass the hateful Question 1 in Maine yesterday need to know that no longer can we live as a nation that is separate and not equal.

Protest participants are also encouraged to call their U.S. elected officials at 202-224-3121 and tell them that supporting gay apartheid on all fronts is wrong. It is against the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Protest Details can be found below and at:
www.tinyurl.com/gayapartheidprotest

Gay Apartheid Protest Details:

Sunday, November 8, 2009
Outside St. Patrick's Cathedral
9 AM - 1 PM
460 Madison Ave
New York, NY 10022-6863
___________________________________________________

Alan L. Bounville is an organizational oppression and LGBTQI activist and graduate student at New York University in New York City. His current project, encouraging the fifth largest employer in his former city, Orlando, FL to provide domestic partner benefits, create a multicultural office and open the dialogue about diversity can be found at: www.ohdi.blogspot.com.

Why I Call Orlando Health Leaders Bigots - and New Information about MD Anderson Cancer Center

Dear Reader,

I have uploaded the weekly video for the Orlando Health Diversity Initiative project. You can view it here.

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

NEW BLOG AND VIDEO PROJECT FOR ORLANDO HEALTH DIVERSITY MOVEMENT

Dear Reader,

I am very excited to announce the completion of the first video documenting this movement. This video is the first in a weekly installment where I will be 'showing' each week's growing support encouraging Orlando Health to be more culturally competent.

Visit the new blog and view the video here:

www.ohdi.blogspot.com

Thanks for Activating!

Alan L. Bounville

Unexpected Family Time Courtesy of Orlando Health

Dear Reader,

On the flight home the other night from my weekend in Orlando actively engaging supporters and dissenters of the petition that is encouraging Orlando Health to be more culturally competent, I couldn't help but think of the inadvertent outcome of my trip.

I was not planning a trip to Orlando so soon after moving to New York. I was not planning on using the buddy passes my best friend had put aside for me to go spend a day sweating my butt of looking like a freak outside my old job - those passes were supposed to take me to Puerto Rico or Aruba - somewhere away from my school and activist work. Then again, I never planned on working in a city for ten years where the topic of diversity/multiculturalism is so downplayed in importance by many companies and individuals.

As I stared out the plane window and started digesting the past year plus that led to this activity, I breathed a sign of relief that I was heading home - to my new home where discussions about diversity/multiculturalism are vibrant, active and ongoing. I started to appreciate the openness of the dialogue here in New York City and at New York University. It is a great feeling to know I can walk into NYU's Center for Multicultural Education and Programing or into any of my classes and discuss this ongoing work with people who understand exactly why I am doing what I am doing to prod along Orlando Health to a more vibrant future of its own.

But, a thank you of sorts goes out to Orlando Health for not being as inclusive as it needs to be - because had the organization been doing the right thing all along, I would have had no reason to go back to Orlando so soon and therefore, I would not have been able to experience...

• The conversation I had with my nephew about his first months in high school and what his plans are for his future.
• The time I spent with my oldest niece working with her on homework - defining for herself what the Declaration of Independence means.
• Listening to my second youngest niece tell me about how softball is going.
• Jumping in the trampoline with the two youngest nieces and popping them like popcorn.
• Singing with my youngest niece as I drove her to school. (My favorite part of this experience is when we played the humming game and she hummed the melody to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star three times. As it turns out, she knows three different sets of lyrics that use the same melody. To her, each time she was humming the song for me to guess what it was, she was humming a different song all together.)
• The meaningful and funny conversations I had with my sister and brother-in-law.
• Having brunch with my friends - some of whom are team members at Orlando Health.

So, yes thank you Orlando Health for dragging your feet towards the change you will be forced to make as the momentum for the petition and proposal we presented to you gains traction. The silly part of all this is - the longer Orlando Health waits to do the right thing, the more time they will give me with my family and in the end - I won't be the one looking bad for pushing so hard for this billion dollar + a year organization to fall in line with other business leaders in Central Florida. Orlando Health - the longer you wait the more positive memories you give me and the worse you look.

Parting questions (please post your thoughts)...

Why do Central Floridians or anyone traveling to the Orlando area put up with companies like Orlando Health not embracing the version of cultural competence companies like Walt Disney World, SeaWorld, AT&T, IBM, Universal Orlando, etc., etc., etc. embrace?

Why is it multi-market or multi-national companies that do business in Central Florida (like those listed above) are more inclusive than the companies without any out of market controls?

Why is Orlando Health not open to team members forming affinity groups to discuss diversity/multiculturalism and its impact on the mission of Orlando Health?

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

PS The video footage from this past weekend is being edited and a recap video to share with others will be available very soon. Also, the next phase of this movement will also be announced upon release of the video. Keep getting signatures on the petition.

Brief Recap of Today's Event at Orlando Health

Dear Reader,

I...am...

showered and cooled down. It was hot out there today! Thank you goes out many people who helped me get through the day, make sure I didn't cross over into the permitted area (so I didn't get arrested as I was told would happen) and did their part to make this next step towards a more culturally competent Orlando Health a success. (I will formally thank these contributors after I receive their permission to do so.)

A success not because there is some magic number of petitions signatures it will produce.

A success not because all of the sudden tomorrow Orlando Health is going to finally make the changes outlined in the petition (though that would be awesome).

But a success because every step bringing attention to this movement is a step closer to the the vision outlined in the petition.

The image above shows me 'wearing' all the names of the petition that were signed by earlier this week. Imagine - with your help how I will look when we get to 500 signatures - or a thousand.

Keep encouraging people to sign the petition to encourage Orlando Health to be more culturally competent. Your voice matters. Every step towards this end matters.

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

PS I will be editing the video footage from today and posting that very soon so you can see more of the impact the 115 people I was wearing had on today's activity.

A Few Quotes to Keep Me Motivated on a Sleepless Night

Dear Reader,

I've been finishing the final details in preparation for tomorrow's activity I will be doing to encourage Orlando Health to be more culturally competent. I have all my ducks in a row so to speak - support materials printed in case any one wants to ask in depth questions about the difference between what Orlando Health currently promotes as its cultural competence and what really defines cultural competence. I have all my other printed materials in order as well to collect paper petitions and promote the online petition. And of course, I have finished my very visual display that will show all who see me all of the other voices that have come forward thus far in this movement.

But, the focus here this early morning is to share with you a few powerful quotes that have kept me fueled this evening. The quotes come from a fantastic book, Voices of a People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove. Enjoy...

"If there is no struggle there is no progress...This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both." - Frederick Douglass (inside front cover past table of contents)

"(T)he plantation owner came, and said, 'Frannie Lou...If you don't go down and withdraw your registration, you will have to leave...because we are not ready for that in Mississippi' And I addressed him and told him and said, 'I didn't try to register you. I tried to register for myself." - Fannie Lou Hamer (p. 24) This was given as part of her testimony in 1964 in regard to her right to register to vote and the apparent oppressive nature of the plantation owner for whom she was a share cropper.

"Whenever injustices have been remedied, wars halted, women and blacks and Native Americans given their due, it has been because "unimportant" people spoke up, organized, protested, and brought democracy to life." (p. 24)

I hope tomorrow (that being Saturday) I am an unimportant person.

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville