What is an ally?

Please read my note on Facebook about this question. If you would like to comment, feel free to do so here or on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=398409545770&comments

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

Orlando Health Discrimination Shared at National Conference

The discrimination happening at Orlando Health continues to be shared. This past Friday a group of New York University students presented at a conference at the University of Massachusetts Amherst discussing the multiple layers of oppression Orlando Health leaders are hurling upon their employees, patients and the public in general.

It was great to continue to spread this message - and to share here that letting more and more people know about the multiple ills this large hospital system is inflicting upon people - WILL NOT DIE!

Next month, the play CHAINED TO FREEDOM will be presented at the the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival. In it, great detail is taken to unpack the multiple oppressions at Orlando Health and show how they tie into a much bigger picture of oppression for queer and non queer people alike. Stay tuned (especially the Orlando Health spies and legal entities that follow this blog's every move).

CHAINED TO FREEDOM - UPLOADED ON ORLANDO FRINGE PAGE

Here is the link for my new show premiering at the Orlando International Fringe Festival, CHAINED TO FREEDOM that exposes the discrimination happening at Orlando Health among other oppressions.

A portion of the proceeds from the show will benefit direct actions for LGBTQI equality in Central Florida.

http://orlandofringe.org/node/768

IT. IS. TIME.

There is a wave coming – no – if we want it – a new ocean in the progressive movement – an ocean of real change. Not change we are promised from afar – change that I viscerally cried out for and celebrated over in November 2008 that turned into the same old goddamn fucking NOTHING bullshit. But a real change made by real people with a real yearning, desire and need to be free. And this change challenges every fiber of our current culturally, economically and politically siloed existence.

As a middle class, white gay male shackled to this failed American Dream – drowning under hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt due to this lie I have been force fed since birth – I count myself lucky. I count myself thus because I am oppressed as a gay man only. And if I, the white gay man am in this vulnerable place – imagine what it is like for our sisters and brothers with multiple intersecting oppressive forces bearing down on their shoulders. It is time we break open the silos and let the grains of humanity pile up together and create a mountain that overshadows the system that built the silos in the first place.

As of today, no more do I feel any sense of comfort or security in the crippling invisibility cloak I can wear as a queer person to cover up my queerness. I no longer see my ability to ‘pass’ as anything but a massive hindrance to what needs to happen from here. Now, I only find safety in numbers – numbers on the right side of history who are going to stand with me in solidarity making the rainbow of us queer folk a constant image that our oppressors cannot ignore.

And finally – I am committed to do more than scratch the surface of various festering soars of segregation – FINALLY I am finding spaces where I am among others who feel just as I do. And to knock it in to where ‘it’s at’ – FINALLY this week I have intersected with the same patchwork of humanity that enveloped me at a rally a little over a year ago. At that rally I was promised by then candidate Obama that the plurality present that night was what was going to be the realized vision for America at all levels of government and industry. I was promised that he would bring the country together – that black and white, straight and bi, gay and lesbian, trans and two spirit, yellow and red and brown, female and male and every other intersection present in this ‘great’ land was going to FINALLY be afforded equal, high quality opportunities to press forward into this century.

But, ‘the change’ was a lie. The magical intersections that I crossed that night at that rally were not manifestations of real change – I was sold a big bag of false – hope.

So, what changed my thinking forever? This week I got together with a bunch of crazy mother fucking queers and allies in the hills of Tennessee - at an historic place that has been a major organizing hub since 1932 for people who want to come together from different viewpoints and different cultures – cultures that were legally not allowed to intersect in this sacred space just a half century ago – and change the world around them. I was lifted by the spirits of all those who have done critical work there – people who we all know by name, who have immensely shaped this nation and the world – people who have been part of movements of all sizes who were ready to clash and FORCE themselves to cut through the tension and get. shit. done.

So, we queers and allies got together to purposefully clash our various culture lines in the queer movement and try to get to a deeper place of connectedness and cultural competence to do something that, up until now en masse we have all failed to do - to understand the intricacies of our intersectional oppressions and USE THAT knowledge as the fuel to propel queer people forward towards liberation. To use our often polarizing differences to force a wedge into our own complex and exhausting culture to come out on the other side aligned through the power of combined cultural knowledge and DEMAND LIBERATING EQUALITY THROUGH DIRECT ACTION AND CIVIL DISOBEDEICE that is integrated into winnable local and national campaigns.

And we learned it’s going to be hard as fuck! And it’s going to take lots of patience and persistence. And it’s going to be sharply criticized from all sides – and that’s all in line with what must happen for this radical inclusivity to work.

The work to shift the queer movement into this direction did not start with this week – it’s been a long time coming. But this week potentially galvanized this new direction. And it allowed about forty people to come together to start knitting us all into a mass network of boots on the ground activists, an online army and a massive support team.

The room was filled with people from all over the country, representing a dynamic blend of ethnicities, races, socio-economic classes, political inclinations, experience levels and ages. The group did not by any stretch encompass all cultural intersections and multiple identities that exist in our queer community, because that would take getting us all in a room together – but know – the room was radically diverse.

We as queer and allied people have one of the most complicated charges in history. And in that charge, we have one of the most humbling opportunities the world has ever seen. Queer people have always been there at the forefront of social change – change that has brought cultures together for centuries. And now, at this moment it is our turn to be the center of this new spiraling movement. And here’s where it REALLY GETS EXCITING - by taking this radically inclusive approach to queer liberation we do something far greater than liberate queer people. We will press forward the unfinished work of the Civil Rights Movement. And that is fucking huge!

And we take on this seemingly impossible task no more through asking nicely, no more through disconnected means – but DIRECTLY AND UNIFIED. And in this new direction we set in motion a trajectory where we strategically look at the local and national level to find where our oppressions are most clearly manifesting themselves. Then, together we hammer more fucking wedges, this time into these oppressive systems and blast open impossible situations for our oppressors so that the wedges crack the systems of oppression so deep they blasts through our intersectional oppressions as well to create the world we not only want - but need for the human race to thrive.

And we will persist. For each target – we will not give in to failed back room negotiations. We will not start something we don’t plan on finishing. We will take the exhausting road to freedom and the whole while, with powerful pride we will sing the good ole chant…

The people united can never be defeated.

We must commit NOW to persist and build into one mass culturally combined movement until ALL segregation is obliterated for all people!

And while we do this work we will remember every step of the way to make this experience the biggest fucking ongoing party of our lives! This shit needs to be so damn exciting the clubs turn into strategizing spots. The bathhouses become recruitment stations. Every social group in town turns into a think tank. And the only way to see that world is to make sure our movement stops being so goddamn stuffy and realizes that queer and allied people are party people too!

When we gather – we MUST create space for us to get loose and sexy. We must make sure we don’t misstep trying to assimilate into an oppressive equal status with straights, but help transform equality into a new space where a stripper at a straight man’s bachelor party in Rick Warren’s church and an assless chap wearing leather daddy marching down the streets of Birmingham, Alabama are not shocks to anyone’s consciousness but potentialities in this newly invented world.

So, don’t think for a second if we ignore the sexiness of people we will be truly successful. At the same time we are fighting for our trans sisters and brothers to be safe in the world and the workplace we need to be doing lap dance parties in the streets. We need to be comfortable intersecting ALL of us – knowing that sex and sexuality is a huge part of every human being – and is a huge part of the foundation of the queer movement that has gotten us this far.

No matter where you live – you are now immediately patched into this network if so you choose. All you have to do is stand up and ask who in your area was part of this week’s gathering. I will immediately get you connected so locally you can start getting shit done – and together, along with all the other people out there already doing this work, we will start turning this country on it’s head.

Alan L. Bounville - queerrising@gmail.com

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

Preparing for this Saturday's Encouragement Activity at Orlando Health

Dear Reader,

Tonight I am printing petitions, slips of paper to promote the link to the online petition, the Human Rights Campaign's Health Care Equality Index, legal documents to have on hand showing anyone who asks that I am well within my first amendment rights, other support materials - all the while ordering my signage and visual display materials in support of Orlando Health becoming more culturally competent. I do this in preparation for a Saturday in my hometown. A Saturday that will matter more to me than many Saturdays have in the past. This Sunday I can say to myself, "I did something yesterday. I don't quite know what, but something."

Like all activities to inspire people to dream for something better, I won't know the outcome of Saturday's activity until it is complete. And then, I still might not know how it fits into this big puzzle. But what it does do is add another piece to the puzzle so eventually the picture will become crystal clear to Orlando Health and all of Central Florida how much needed are the changes promoted in the petition to encourage Orlando Health to become more culturally competent.

I will say this - I have modified (for the better I feel) what I will be doing outside Miracle Miles (an event I managed for 2 1/2 years by the way - helping it grow by 800 runners just last year - I say this not so show how effective I can be but to show how much I love this organization and want them to do the right thing in the areas outlined in the petition - I was dedicated to the Orlando Health mission then - and I stay dedicated to it to this day. Wow, that was a long parenthetical statement) and the Community Block Party this Saturday.

I feel one of three things will take place while I'm out there in front of the thousands of people who will be out at these combined events.

1. No one will care. I will be looked at as some wacko disgruntled ex employee (which I am not as my above parenthetical statement attests).

2. People will not be happy with me and make that known somehow.

3. People will be intrigued by what I am doing, ask questions, realize the present reality of Orlando Health's current policies, see all the other people who have supported this effort so far and jump on board and sign the petition on the spot.

In reality, I would imagine what I will experience will be a combination of the three. But, like the petition itself, what I will be doing on Saturday is an experiment. When one engages in trying to impact change, it can never be known exactly what the right mix is for the desired outcome. Thus, Sunday I will know I did something that mattered, but I may not know how it builds the history of this movement- yet.

But no matter what happens on Saturday - it's all good. It's another piece because...

I assure you, after over a year working towards the vision of a more inclusive Orlando Health - know that Saturday is just as I propose - one more step. I have no intention of giving up after this if this doesn't work. I have no clue how much will need to be done for the vision of the future to become the present reality. I only know that I will persist.

And, I say 'I' because in this moment I am only talking about my experiences in this movement. I am not the defining factor that will cause Orlando Health to finally make the changes it needs to make to be more culturally competent. I am just a person who sees a better way and has worked with a group of people who still work at the organization and are not able to be as bold as I to encourage change.

You though - you are also a person. You may decide you will get behind the existing efforts. You may (or may have already) sign the petition. You may end up out at the events this Saturday with your friends and family and all wear stickers to support the movement that is encouraging Orlando Health to be more culturally competent. You may do something completely different to help reach Orlando Health so they start publicly making change for the better in the area of diversity/multiculturalism.

And as should always be the case, no matter what Orlando Health promotes they are doing in this area now or in the future, I assure you I will - and you should as well - be keeping my eye keenly trained on their activities. The organization should have changed years ago when other business leaders in Central Florida started the journey to become more culturally competent. It is very important that when Orlando Health start this vital work they do so for the right reasons and in the right way. This is not a smoke and mirrors marketing strategy like making sure all advertising has multiple ethnic faces represented. This is about a deeper understanding about what it means to be culturally competent. About how to better recruit and retain a diverse team member base. About how to reduce disparities between ethnic group's health outcomes. About providing equal benefits to all team members.

And it's about a never ending commitment to diversity/multiculturalism to better achieve the mission of Orlando Health which is, "To improve the health and quality of life of the individuals and communities we serve." Which individuals and which communities does Orlando Health serve best at present? This is the question a culturally competent organization should always be asking itself, especially when lives are on the line in its work every hour of every day.

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

Video of Speech Submitted for Equality Idol Competition

Dear Reader,

I wanted to share with you first the following video I submitted for the Equality Idol competition. If the internal panel of judges for the National Equality March choose my video as one of the top five submissions it will be loaded onto their Facebook page and Youtube for public voting. If then my video received the most public votes I would be invited to speak at the October National Equality March. Your comments about this speech's content and delivery are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading - and watching.

Alan L. Bounville

First Day of School

Dear Reader,

On the arch in Washington Square Park in New York City it reads, “Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God.”

– Washington

I sat there in the park by the fountain the other day to ‘have a moment’ before I attended my first class as a Master’s student moving closer to my dreams.

I sat there and thought of Les Caulfield. Les was my high school drama teacher and as I recently learned, a graduate of the New York University Master’s in Educational Theatre program – my program. I remember right before I finished high school he advised me to find a comfortable place on campus to go to and reflect upon my past high school experiences and think about where I wanted to go with my future.

‘To reflect and dream’ is what he was suggesting. Where have I been and where do I want to go?

I didn’t complete that activity until last year. I went back to my high school campus on a stormy Florida summer afternoon, mid July and sat on a green bench and just thought. I thought about why I didn’t do as he suggested fourteen years before. I thought about what I wanted to do with myself, ‘when I grew up.’ And I reflected on the ten years since graduating college and what I had and had not set out to do and what I had and had not accomplished.

The green bench I sat upon was the bench I had lunch at every day during school. My girlfriends and I would have the best times there – just being. No thoughts of the future or the past – just there eating, having fun.

In the monsoon that fell upon me last summer, I decided I would not leave that bench until I decided that upon standing I was going to commit to finally take my life in its intended direction. Over the years innocence beget experience, but the experience didn’t always bring with it fun I had experienced so many years ago.

As I sat in the pouring rain, in the lightning and intense wind – drenching myself – cleansing myself in a sort of way – as I sat – I decided I didn’t want to be a fundraising event manager any more. I did that for five of the ten years since completing my BA in Theatre from The Florida State University. I didn’t want to live in Orlando any more. I wanted to move to New York City like I had told myself time and time again I would do some day. I wanted to affect social change in a creative way – especially towards LGBTQ equality. I wanted to immerse myself in a new way of being and have not the end result, but the journey be what I lived for, reveled in.

As I sat – in the park the other day I realized all it took to get me there staring up at the arch was the ability to listen just to myself for a change. And, in my first class on the first day of this new journey, which appropriately is a research methods class I felt relieved. And I appreciated the introduction given in the class in regard to the vast resources that are now at my fingertips here at NYU. I really did appreciate this. I can begin to see how literate leads to articulate which leads to changing the world. Seeing the utopia in my mind while studying and feeling my way through the reality of the new journey – and using these new seemingly endless resources to get a bit closer to the ideal – that’s why I am here. And that journey, thought it may be hard at times is a new kind of fun for me.

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

Next Phase Encouraging Orlando Health to Become More Culturally Competent

Dear Reader,

I am happy to announce the petition to encourage Orlando Health to become more culturally competent has surpassed 100 signatures! The comments that are coming in as people sign the petition show that Orlando Health needs to do better for its team members, physicians, patients and the whole community in regard to diversity/multicultural activity within the organization.

The petitioners so far include current team members, past team members, patients, community members, medical professionals and people from other communities who all agree - Orlando Health needs to become more culturally competent.

But, since Orlando Health has been unresponsive to the petition effort thus far, it is time to announce the next course of action to let the organization know that the over 100 people (and growing) who have signed the petition are very serious.

On Saturday, September 26 Orlando Health is celebrating the “Community Block Party” on the campus of Arnold Palmer Medical Center (APMC)* to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. Prior to the Community Block Party, also on the APMC campus is the 11^th Annual Miracle Miles 15K, 5K and Kids’ Fun Run benefiting the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies. Both of these events signify great accomplishments for Orlando Health and benefit all of Central Florida.

And, these two events will be among the largest events in Orlando Health’s history with many thousands of people present. The petition organizer (Alan L. Bounville) and a team of this effort’s supporters will be presenting the below picketing display, offline petition gathering and online petition promotion on the public sidewalks right by the events on September 26th in accordance with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and all applicable state and local laws between the hours of 6 AM – 3 PM unless…

Orlando Health presents a viable plan to the petition organizer and the public to adhere to the call to action in the petition (see link below) by Saturday, September 19, 2009 - a week prior to the joined events.

Below are links to the two events mentioned above and the petition. I hope you will come out to the events with your family showing how diverse Central Florida is and also support the building momentum of encouragement the community is now providing for Orlando Health to become more culturally competent.

Picketing Display (click on image to enlarge):

Community Block Party:

http://www.arnoldpalmerhospitalbirthday.com/BlockParty/default.aspx

Miracle Miles 15K, 5K and Kids’ Fun Run:

http://www.orlandohealth.com/orlandohealth/GetInvolved/MiracleMiles.aspx?pid=3523

Petition for Orlando Health to become more culturally competent:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/orlando-health-diversity-initiative

Sincerely,

Alan L. Bounville

Former Orlando Health team member and current donor in good standing with the organization

alanbounville@gmail.com

407-484-6671

Thank You! A Great Start.

Dear Reader,

Re: Orlando Health Diversity Initiative

Thanks goes out to:

Equality Florida
OneOrlando.org
Metropolitan Business Association (Central Florida's LGBT Chamber of Commerce)

for spreading the word through their networks of the importance of this petition.

And of course, to the growing number of individuals who have worked on the front lines and behind the scenes to this point and of course the signers of the petition.

See Equality Florida's blog post:

http://eqfl.blogspot.com/2009/09/urge-orlando-health-to-become-more.html

Orlando Health can better serve the entire Central Florida community by becoming more culturally competent.

See the petition and the support this petition is gaining:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/orlando-health-diversity-initiative

It's amazing to see how fast leaders in Florida are stepping up to the plate to endorse/support this effort.

Thanks for reading.

Alan Bounville
alanbounville@gmail.com
407-484-6671

Sign This Petition to Encourage Orlando Health to Become More Culturally Competent

Dear Reader,

Several months ago a group of Orlando Health team members presented a proposal to key executive leaders of the organization calling for the development of a diversity initiative to benefit the organization, its team members, physicians and patients and the community at large. After several meetings with key leaders within the organization nothing has happened.

There are several inconsistencies within Orlando Health's team member and patient policies in regard to diversity/multicultural awareness.

Some examples include:

-Orlando Health does not allow team members to form groups to discuss diversity/multicultural awareness.

-Orlando Health does not educate its team members about the culturally competent way to treat its patients and team members in regard to important racial and ethnic differences.

-Orlando Health protects a team member's sexual orientation in its team member nondiscrimination policy, but does not do so in its patient's bill of rights.

-Orlando Health does not protect the gender identity of its team members or patients.

-Orlando Health does not provide domestic partner health benefits for its team members, regardless of sexual orientation.

-Orlando Health's mission is "to improve the health and quality of life of the individuals and communities we serve." Due to the above and the unknown number of opportunities for recruitment and advancement the organization has not yet explored, Orlando Health is behind other business leaders.

As the fifth largest employer in Central Florida, it is time Orlando Health lead like Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando and several other top employers in the market and develop a diversity/multicultural awareness initiative that will ultimately lead to the organization establishing a diversity/multicultural office to better achieve its mission.

Please join me in signing this petition to tell Orlando Health it is time to embrace positive change.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/orlando-health-diversity-initiative

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville
Former Orlando Health team member and donor in good standing with the organization