News :: GLBT
Briefs: Youth Pride, MassEquality and DPH survey the gays and the latest on the state budgetThursday May 7, 2009 CORRECTION: The original version of the story on the House budget contained erroneous information due to a reporting error. A correction and a corrected version of the story are included below.
Get ready for Mass. Youth Pride!
The 2009 Youth Pride celebration kicks off at noon on May 9 at the Boston Common, and as in the past this year’s event features a full day of festivities aimed at encouraging young LGBT people and their allies to show their pride. The day begins with a rally and a parade through the streets of Boston, followed by a festival featuring performances from acts All the Kings Men, Foundation Movement, Fly Upright Kite, and female Elvis impersonator Jelvis Presley. Later that afternoon Arlington Street Church will host an open mic, emceed by poet and performer James Caroline. That evening Boston City Hall will open its doors to the Boston Alliance of GLBT Youth (BAGLY) Prom.
Youth Pride is funded by the Friends of GLBT Youth, a non-profit that held its annual Sunset Soiree fundraiser May 1 to raise money for the event. Shane Morgan, vice president of the Friends’ board of directors, said events like Youth Pride are crucial to creating a space for young people to be empowered.
"Youth Pride, like everything else [in the LGBT movement] starts from the bottom up. It’s a grassroots thing and the more we can replicate it, the more we can empower the youth, to encourage their development, the better off we’ll be as a society in the next generation," said Morgan.
Registration for Youth Pride begins at 11 a.m. May 9 at the Parkman Bandstand on the Boston Common. The pre-parade rally begins at the bandstand at noon. The open mic runs from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Arlington Street Church, and BAGLY Prom runs from 7 to 11 p.m. at Boston City Hall. For more information visit www.massyouthpride.net. The event is rain or shine.
- Ethan Jacobs
MassEquality and Dept. of Public Health team up to launch survey
In the run-up to the fifth anniversary of marriage equality in Massachusetts on May 17, MassEquality and the state Department of Public Health (DPH) are conducting a survey of MassEquality’s massive contact list. Stewart Landers, senior program director for DPH, said the survey gives DPH the chance to survey a much larger sample of LGBT people about health issues than it normally captures in its annual population-based studies.
"John [Auerbach, commissioner of DPH,] had spoken with MassEquality and found they had a mailing list of over 40,000 individuals in Massachusetts, and the commissioner thought, what a great opportunity to learn about healthcare issues related to the LGBT community," said Landers. "He was aware we were looking at other data and how challenging it is to get good sample sizes using methodologies not geared towards over-sampling of LGBT people. ... We’re thinking this will be a secondary source of information, although we recognize that it’s not, strictly speaking, population-based."
The survey, designed by MassEquality, DPH and the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School, asked a range of questions of interest both to DPH and MassEquality. On the health end of the spectrum the survey asks about chronic disease, substance and tobacco use, domestic violence, STDs and sexuality, and obesity, among other issues. The survey also asks questions designed to measure the impact of marriage on people’s jobs, incomes, families, and sense of support in their community, as well as other factors.
"Marriage is a key foundation to a healthy society. As more people get married, the stronger our social and economic foundation - and the healthier children and families will be," wrote MassEquality Executive Director Scott Gortikov in a statement. "The survey is intended to find out what impact marriage rights have had on our society and economy as a whole. Ultimately, the information gathered from this survey will help shape future public policy."
The survey was e-mailed to MassEquality’s contact list earlier this week, and recipients have until May 11 to complete it. Landers said he expects data from the survey will be released publicly to coincide with this summer’s Boston Pride celebration.
- Ethan Jacobs
House restores some budget earmark language, leaves most cuts intact
CORRECTION: Due to a reporting error Bay Windows incorrectly reported that the House had restored funding to LGBT youth and domestic violence programs. The following is a corrected version of the original story.
State lawmakers in the House last week passed a Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) budget that left many of the cuts to LGBT programs in place contained in the original House Ways and Means proposal released last month. The budget restored earmark language for LGBT elder programs and for LGBT youth programs in the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, but it did not specify dollar amounts for those programs.
When the House Ways and Means Committee first released its FY10 proposal last month, it contained none of the earmark language for programs relating to LGBT elders, youth and domestic violence victims, and it included substantial funding reductions in the line items that had traditionally funded the latter two program areas (see "Advocates scramble to restore state funding for LGBT programs," April 24). The evening of May 1 the full House passed a budget bill with amendments that restored some of that earmark language but included no specific funding requirements.
The amended House budget maintained the cuts made by Ways and Means to LGBT youth programs in the Department of Public Health, including all earmark language and funding for the Massachusetts Commission on GLBT Youth. It restored programming language directing the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to conduct safe schools programs for LGBT youth, but it did not specify funding for that purpose. The amended budget also maintained the cut of the earmark for LGBT domestic violence programs.
The House budget restored the language specifying that part of the funding for the Councils on Aging should be given to the LGBT Aging Project, but it did not specify a dollar amount. Lisa Krinsky, director of the Aging Project, said she was satisfied with the House budget because the Councils on Aging was level funded, and she expects the allocation to the Aging Project to remain unchanged.
"I think because there was level funding from last year to this year there has been some understanding that this year’s level of funding would be consistent with last years’ funding for $80,000 [for the Aging Project]," said Krinsky.
The cuts in the initial House Ways and Means proposal were part of a broad range of cuts prompted by the state’s economic downturn. The House vote May 1 is not the final word on the FY10 budget; the Senate Ways and Means Committee is expected to release its own proposal shortly, and once the Senate passes a budget representatives from both chambers will meet in a conference committee to draft a compromise budget. That compromise will then be sent to Gov. Deval Patrick for his signature.
- Ethan Jacobs
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