Earth Week is funny, people!

Catch the Earth Week keynote speaker, comedian Stacy Prussman at Baldwin Hall Theatre, Wednesday night at 7pm.  Her show is called “Cleaning up the world, one mess at a time.”  Really, you should go.

Women’s Activism and Feminist Agency tonight

Catch Jennifer Disney, Winthrop University, Women’s Activism and Feminist Agency in Mozambique and Nicaragua at 7pm in Magruder 2001.  Part of Truman’s Global Issues Colloquium.  Met her last night–she will be a dynamic speaker.

Upcoming Action!

Saturday, May 2, 11am-1pm, meet outside Planned Parenthood for a visibility event.  We will provide signs.

Steering committee meets for film

Some members of the steering committee met last night to watch “In Good Conscience,” a documentary by Barbara Rick.  In 1999 Cardinal Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, silenced Sister Jeannine Grammick, a member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, to stop her from ministering to gay and lesbian Catholics.  She was instructed to refrain “from any pastoral work involving homosexual persons.”  Eventually Sister Jeannine transferred to the Sisters of Loretto who welcomed her and her ministry, and Cardinal Ratzinger became the present Pope Benedict XVI.  We had good conversation afterward and a few people stayed on and watched another film.

From Iowa

This domino fell April 3: the Iowa Supreme Court, 25 miles up the road from K’ville, voted to allow same sex marriage, overturning an Iowa law that specified marriage was “between a male and a female.”  Iowa is now the fourth state—after Massachusetts, Connecticut, and California—to grant marriage equality on the basis of judicial review.  California decided last November to re-establish a ban on same-sex marriage by passing Proposition 8.  Missouri passed a state constitutional amendment forbidding same-sex marriage in 2004.

News from Columbia city council

In Columbia this week the city council voted to establish a domestic partners registry, making Columbia the fourth Missouri jurisdiction–following St. Louis, Kansas City, and Jackson County–to do so.  Couples who have resided together for six months or more and are each 18 years of age or older may register whether they are same sex or opposite sex.  Registering makes available to these couples and their families all services of the city of Columbia now available to spouses and children and may serve as proof of relationship status for employer benefit plans and for hospital and nursing home visitation.

Recent city council action

The dominoes are beginning to fall on the Great Plains this spring.  The Kirksville City Council voted to amend the city code regarding fair housing by adding “sexual orientation” to its non-discrimination statement.  City Manager Macomber recommended addition of this language to make language in this section of the city code match language in the Equal Employment Opportunity Statement.  Mayor Rowe voted yes, as did council members Kuhns and Detweiler.  Councilmember/Rev. Rogerson voted no, claiming—according to the meeting’s minutes–that “inclusion of this wording came “from a group asking for special treatment.”