Come Give Thanks with GAAMC! See “GAAMC Events”, page 2
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The Newsletter of the Gay Activist Alliance in Morris County Serving New Jersey’s GLBTI Communities Since 1972 Volume 42, Issue 9, November 2016
President’s Letter The End of An Era by Mickey Suiter Last month marked the end of an era in the LGBT commu- time to Somerset, where Dick’s son, Peter, took charge. nity of New Jersey. The Den in Somerset, New Jersey’s oldest gay bar, had its final last call and closed its doors The first time I visited Manny’s Den was in 1972 at its origfor the last time. inal location. As a Rutgers student I had walked past the place for a couple of years, not knowing it was a gay bar. Many gay bars have gone out of business in recent years. On one of my early visits, once I found out, I was with the The Cage in Hoboken and Switch in Boonton are a couple other founders of GAAMC (John, Jeff, and Jenny), shortly of examples. Maybe that’s a sign that we as a community before GAAMC’s first meeting. We were sitting at a table have succeeded in our quest to join society at large as and John had his arm around my shoulders. Dick Mack equals and we no longer need separate places to be our- came out from behind the bar and asked John to take his selves. Maybe not. I really don’t know for sure. arm away. As he went back to the bar he turned and told us we could hold hands under the table if we liked. Even But The Den is different because it was a part of our com- five years after winning their court case it still wasn’t cool munity’s history for so long and played an important role to be too obvious. John would have made a fuss about it in it. The Den began as Manny’s Den on Albany Street in but we reminded him that Jenny and I were under age so New Brunswick in 1944. It was across the street from a we had to watch ourselves. beauty school and many of the students began to hang out there. A large nuber of those students (surprise, surprise) Over the year I visited the bar many times at all of its lowere gay. The owner of the bar, Manny Mack, welcomed cations. In 2004, I attended a Democratic party fundraisthem all. At the time it was against the law for gay peo- er. Rue McClanahan was the hostess. Shortly after that ple to congregate in public places, especially bars which was my last visit to the bar. My bowling league held its were licensed by the state. season-end banquet at Sophie’s Bistro, the restaurant also owned by the Mack family in front of the bar. Afterward When the state tried to close the bar in 1963, Manny’s Den we all partied at The Den. joined with Murphy’s in Newark and Val’s Bar in Atlantic City to bring suit against the Alcohol beverage Commis- For over 70 years The Den was a gathering place for memsion. The result was a landmark 1967 State Supreme Court bers of our community. The Mack family’s courage in decision that legalized gay bars in New Jersey, two years fighting for what was right at a time when no one was dobefore Stonewall in New York. GAAMC’s very own David ing that gave us the right to congregate in public places. Morris assisted on that case. It is hard to imagine a time Inside Challenge when something as simple Challenge Information .......................... page 2 The bar underwent many and basic as that was not changes in subsequent years. allowed. GAAMC Events for October .................. page 2 Manny’s son Dick took over GAAMC Excursions............................... page 2 management. In the midThank you, Mack family. We Gleanings ................................................ page 3 seventies the bar had to will miss The Den, but we Q-munity Calendar for November ......... page 5 move to a new location on will always remember how Bulletin Board ........................................ page 7 Hiram Street in New Brunsyou fought for us and will wick due to redevelopment treasure our memories. GAAMC Board Minutes ........................ page 7 of the downtown area. Later GAAMC Information ............................. page 8 it had to move again, this
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Volume 42, Number 9 November 2016 ISSN 0277-1675 Editor: Allen Neuner Assistant Editor Bill Stella Submissions The deadline for all articles, inserts, and advertisements is the 15th of the previous month. The staff requests that all submissions be provided as electronic files. E-mail all submissions to challenge@gaamc.org. Ad Rates Single issue: Full page, $125.00; Half page, $85.00; Quarter page, $45.00; Business card, $25.00. For multi-issue rates, contact the Editor. GAAMC members may place one free classified ad per month, of no more than 200 characters in length. Challenge is © 2016 by the Gay Activist Alliance in Morris County, a 501(c)3 tax-exempt not-for-profit corporation. All rights reserved. All articles reflect the views of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of GAAMC, its officers, or executive board. All copyrights revert to the original contributors upon publication. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the express written permission of the contributor. All articles, contributions, and advertisements are printed at the discretion of the Editor and/or GAAMC Executive Board.
GAAMC Events for November 2016 Main meetings start at 8:15 unless otherwise stated. Discussion groups and Film Festival movies start at 7:00. November 7: Jill Powell, actress and raconteur, will be joining us this evening. Ms. Powell is the proud lesbian mom of her 22 year old transgender son Ash; advocate and inspirer for LGBTQ youth; and overall lover of life! Prior to her advocacy work, Ms. Powell had two very exciting careers: first, as an actress, singer, and dancer on Broadway and television; and second, as the founder and director of an all-girls camp which used the arts as the avenue in which to take girls on a journey of self-discovery and empowerment. Jill will be telling us a story that's close to her heart. Open Talk discussion group: Tonight’s facilitator: Liz. November 8: Election Day Tell your family, nudge your friends, even encourage strangers to get out and VOTE!! Oh, and if you haven’t already done it by mail, get yer butts off the couch and get out and vote yourselves! This is your one chance to vote for the President, your Representative, your State Assemblyperson, and county and local office holders. Remember: If you don’t vote, you don’t get a chance to complain about the politicians are doing until the next time they’re up for a vote! November 14: The GAAMC Film Festival presents We Were Here! The 2011 official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, this documentary looks at the impact of AIDS after its arrival in San Francisco. A story of community, tragedy, and transformation, this is a must-see for LGBTQ people. NOTE: The film will start at 7:00 pm sharp. There will be no Open Talk discussion tonight. November 21: GAAMC Gives Thanks! Join GAAMC for our annual feast – the Board brings turkey, ham, and roast beast while YOU bring the fixings! Be sure to whip up some of those creamed pearl onions, or your famous sweet potatoes. Bring that dessert to serve 6 of your closest friends and kick off Thanksgiving week! Contact John at Socials@GAAMC.org to let him know what you’ll be bringing – or to get a suggestion on what to bring! Open Talk discussion group: Tonight’s facilitator: Gordon. November 28: Members Market! Start your holiday shopping early for Chrisma-Chanu-Kwanzaa-kah and coast through the holidays with parties! There will be vendors with all sorts of wares, and this is great one-stop shopping for unique crafts and artisan-made gifts. Be there! Open Talk discussion group: Tonight’s facilitator: Sherri. 20-Somethings Group Tonight’s facilitator: Nick. Tonight’s topic: “Fact or Fiction: The 20-Somethings Discuss Our Favorite Novels.”
GAAMC Excursions GAAMC Eats Spanish! Bring your empty stomach and join GAAMC as we meet for dinner at Xunta, an authentic Spanish tapas restaurant in Northern New Jersey. We will try a variety of Spanish tapas (small dishes meant to be shared with friends) as we enjoy an evening with our GAAMC family. Location: 392 Bloomfield Avenue, Caldwell. Date & Time: Saturday, November 5th, 2016, from 6pm-8pm. Price: Dishes cost between $7 and $25, but are meant to be shared.
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Gleanings Queer News from across the nation and around the world New Jersey’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) has issued a final policy on working with LGBT youth and LGBT resource families. LGBT youth continue to represent up to 40% of the unaccompanied homeless youth population–a reality that stems from family rejection, abuse, and abandonment. Recognizing that LGBT youth are overrepresented in the out-of-home population, DCF has been proactive in crafting an internal LGBTQI youth committee which has turned to outside groups and experts for trainings and education. The final policy makes sure that vulnerable LGBT youth will be respected and affirmed in their sexual orientations and gender identities, and that DCF staff and resource families are trained in working with the LGBT community. DCF is also working to ensure that staff is culturally competent in working with LGBT resource families–making sure that LGBT individuals and couples are maximally supported if they choose to become foster parents or to adopt. (Garden State Equality) More than 34,000 transgender Americans in eight states could be prevented from voting in the November 2016 election because of strict voter identification laws that require voters to present government-issued photo IDs at the polls, according to a newly released report. The report, prepared by the Williams Institute, an LGBT think tank affiliated with the UCLA School of Law, says many transgender people who have transitioned from one gender to another do not have identification that accurately reflects their correct gender. “Lawmakers and election officials should not overlook the impact on transgender voters when enacting voting restrictions based on identity documents,” said Williams Institute Scholar Jody L. Herman, author of the report, “The Potential Impact of Voter Identification on Transgender Voters in the 2016 General Election.” “Voter ID laws impact many citizens who would otherwise be eligible to vote,” Herman said. “Transgender people have unique, and sometimes insurmountable, burdens to obtaining accurate IDs for voting in states that require it.” The report says 34 U.S. states have passed some form of voter identification laws but the strictest of them come from eight states: Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. The greatest potential problem for transgender people, the report says, is the requirement of the voter ID laws in these states that people present a government-issued photo ID. The report based its findings related to number of trans voters on the most recent data from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS), which is conducted by the National LGBTQ Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality. (Washington Blade) A U.S. Agency for International Development rule that formally bans contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity took effect on October 26th. National Security Advisor Susan Rice made the announcement on Wednesday during a speech at American University’s School of International Service in Northwest Wash-
ington. She said the rule means that any organization with a USAID contract “must ensure that all people can benefit from these federally-funded programs regardless of race, religion, disability or sexual orientation and gender identity,” adding “it’s a major step towards ensuring that American assistance is provided in a fair and equitable manner.” (Washington Blade) A group of 42 Senate Democrats led by Senator Richard Blumenthal (CT) made public a letter calling on the conference committee working on the fiscal year 2017 defense authorization bill to omit from the bill the Russell amendment, which would allow religious-affiliated federal contractors to discriminate against workers. “Section 1094 applies not only to the Department of Defense, but to the entire array of federal agencies and their contractors and grantees,” the letter says. “This would have far-reaching consequences, as taxpayer-funded discrimination would be allowed in every contract, subcontract, grant, cooperative agreement and purchase order awarded by federal agencies conducting business with religiously affiliated organizations.” Representative Steve Russell (R-OK) inserted the provision as an amendment to the House version of the defense authorization bill in April during the House Armed Services Committee’s consideration of the measure. The Senate version of the defense legislation lacks any comparable language. The Russell amendment permits “any religious corporation, religious association, religious educational institution or religious society” contracting with the U.S. government to engage in anti-LGBT discrimination on the basis of religious freedom. Because it would have the force of law, it would undermine Obama’s 2014 executive order barring anti-LGBT workplace bias among federal contractors. The lack of definition for “religious corporation” in the provision could allow courts to construe the term broadly to any federal contractor — not just religious organizations — in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in the Hobby Lobby case. (Washington Blade) Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced the release of a first-ever National Park Service “theme study” identifying places and events associated with the history of LGBT Americans. Jewell, joined by National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis and gay philanthropist Tim Gill, founder of the Gill Foundation, which helped to fund the new study, provided details of the study at a ceremony at the Interior Department’s headquarters in Northwest Washington. The 1,262-page study consisting of 32 chapters written and peer reviewed by 27 experts in LGBT history and historic preservation is entitled “LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History.” “For far too long, the struggles and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer-identified Americans have been ignored in the traditional narratives of our nation’s history,” Jewell said in a statement. “This theme study is the first of its kind by any national government to identify this part of our shared history, and it will (continued on next page)
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result in an important step forward in reversing the current underrepresentation of stories and places associated with
the LGBTQ community in the complex and diverse story of America,” Jewell said. (Washington Blade) Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has just been found guilty of violating six core ethical "canons" by the state's top disciplinary court and will be suspended for the remainder of his term, which ends in 2019, effective immediately. Moore's letter instructing all state probate judges to not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples led to the charges. Due to his age, Moore is not able to run for re-election. The Alabama Court of the Judiciary (COJ) handed down its ruling after hearing charges brought by the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC), which recommended Moore be removed from the court. Moore was found guilty of violating the following canons: Canon 1, failing to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary; Canon 2, failing to avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all his activities; Canon 2A, failing to respect and comply with the law and failing to conduct himself at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary; Canon 2B, failing to avoid conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute; Canon 3, failing to perform the duties of his office impartially; and Canon 3A(6), failing to abstain from public comment about a pending proceeding in his own court. "For these violations, Chief Justice Moore is hereby suspended from office without pay for the remainder of his term. This suspension is effective immediately," the order reads. In January Moore issued a letter claiming that both a federal judge's order allowing same-sex couples to marry in Alabama, and the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 ruling in Obergefell did not mean that same-sex couples could legally wed in Alabama. He can appeal to his own court, the Alabama Supreme Court. This is the second time Moore has been removed as Chief Justice. The first was in 2003, over his refusal to remove from the courthouse a stone monument to the Ten Commandments, which he himself had had installed. He won his position back in an election in 2012. (TheNewCivilRightsMovement.com) District of Columbia LGBT activists who turned out for a “Statehood Yes!” rally outside the D.C. Board of Elections offices said a vote for a D.C. statehood advisory referendum on the November 8th ballot would be a vote for LGBT rights. The activists joined Mayor Muriel Bowser, six members of the City Council, and about 200 other D.C. statehood supporters who gathered on the plaza outside the city municipal building at 441 4th St. NW, where the Board of Elections opened its doors on the first day of early voting in the city. “We have marriage equality and we have employment non-discrimination for LGBT people,” said longtime gay activist John Fanning, who serves as chair of the Logan Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission, but noted that Congress currently has full authority to repeal those laws. Fanning and at least a dozen other LGBT activists attending the rally are calling on LGBT people and all city residents to vote “yes” on Advisory Referendum B, which asks voters if the
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city should petition Congress in 2017 to admit D.C. as the nation’s 51st state. “I would say this is more relevant to LGBT people than it is to the average person because right now Congress can do whatever it wants,” said Michael Brown, one of the city’s two shadow U.S. Senators. “Conservatives in Congress have attacked our gun laws and they’ve attacked gay people in our city as well. So if you want to secure things like LGBT equality you want to be in control of your own destiny as a state.” D.C. residents have no voting representation in Congress, making the United States one of only a few countries throughout the world considered a democracy where residents of the capital city don’t have representation in the national legislative body. DC Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), a longtime supporter of D.C. statehood who cannot vote on the House floor, told participants at the Oct. 22 rally that the city’s lack of voting representation in Congress imposed “taxation without representation” on all city residents. (Washington Blade) Germany is to compensate more than 50,000 men who were jailed for their sexual orientation under an old law. Paragraph 175 continued to be applied until the late 1960s. The plans will see 30 million euros ($33.6 million) set aside to compensate homosexuals convicted under an old law for their sexual preferences. Germany's Justice Minister Heiko Maas of the Social Democrats told the paper that compensation would "depend on concrete individual cases," taking sentence duration into consideration. A draft law, set to be formally announced this month, will provide for "relatively uncomplicated" individual claims, Maas said. It also allows for collective compensation. Convicted homosexuals would also have their names cleared. The minister said that he expects more than 5,000 men to have a personal claim. The infamous Paragraph 175, which was part of Germany's criminal code from 1871 to 1994, made homosexual acts between men a crime. Over 140,000 men were convicted in total, with around 50,000 of them having been prosecuted since the end of World War II. (DW.com) Gibraltar’s Parliament has legalized same-sex marriage with unanimous cross-party support. Chief Minister Fabian Picardo described the passage of the Civil Marriage Amendment Bill as a landmark day for Gibraltar, a country of 30.000 people just off the coast of Spain, where 80% of the population are Roman Catholic. A last-minute amendment was proposed to allow civil public servants to decline to perform their duties and turn away a same-sex couple. However, this amendment was defeated by an 11 to 4 vote. Any church or priest who does not want to bless or perform a same-sex marriage will not be forced to do so. “The definition of ‘Holy Matrimony’…is entirely unaffected,” a Government statement read. “Nothing … proposed in this Bill has any bearing on the religious concept of marriage.” Gay sex was made legal in Gibraltar in 1993, with the age of consent being equalized to 16 in 2012. Same-sex couples were allowed to adopt in April 2013, and civil partnerships have been available to both same-sex and oppositesex couples since March 2014. (GayStarNews.com)
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November 2016 Q-munity Calendar Recurring Contact Information *Hackensack Peer Support Groups: 800-508-7577; njbuddies@aol.com †Pride Center, Highland Park: 732-846-2232; www.pridecenter.org ‡Hudson Pride Connections Center: 201-963-4779; HudsonPride.org Ocean #QSpot LGBT Community Center: 732-455-3373; info@jsqspot.org λNewark LGBTQ Center: 973-424-9555; info@NewarkLGBTQCenter.org Monday – Friday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm - HIV testing, Morristown; 973-889-6802 9:00 am to 1:00 pm - HIV testing, Asbury Park; 800-947-0020 10:00 am to 5:00 pm - HiTOPS Health Center, Princeton;www.hitops.org; 609-683-5155 x 211 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm – Internet Café, Newark λ Syringe exchange program, Newark; variable hours; njcri.org; 973-558-5054 Adult drop-in center, Newark; variable hours;njcri.org
908-791-3764 7:30 pm - Men’s HIV support group, Asbury Park; 732-7755084; apstillpoz@yahoo.com 7:30 pm - Positive Yoga, Oradell * 8:00 pm – Primary Purpose AA Group, Ocean Grove# 8:45 pm - Bowling, Belleville; 973-256-5936; NJGLB@aol.com 9:00 pm - Bowling, Jersey City; 201-933-6028; JoeyNJ@aol.com 9:15 pm - Bowling, Edison; 732-548-4550;cnjgbl@yahoo.com
Tuesday - Saturday Project WOW! youth center, Newark; variable hours; njcri.org; 973-412-7080
Every Wednesday 2:30 pm - RU Pride, Newark; 973-353-5716 6:30 pm – Overeaters Anonymous, Ocean Grove# 6:30 pm – Craft/Crochet/Knitting Circle, Newarkλ 7:30 pm - Men’s Living Out group, Highland Park† 7:30 pm - Gay Men’s Coming Out group, Highland Park; njwarrior@aol.com† 8:30 pm – Just for Today -- Narcotics Anonymous meeting, Ocean Grove#
Every Sunday 10:45 am - MCC of Christ the Liberator, Highland Park; tombohache10@gmail.com Noon - St. Francis of Assisi Church, Glen Ridge; 973-731-7765; stfrancisnj.org 12:30 pm – SOS AA meeting, Ocean Grove# 1:30 pm – Library Lounge, Ocean Grove# 2:00 pm – Gamblers Anonymous, Ocean Grove# 2:30 pm - Liberation in Truth Unity Fellowship Church, Newark; 973-621-2100 5:30 pm - Central Jersey Rainbows Bowling League, Bradley Beach; CJRBowling@gmail.com Every Monday Noon - Library Lounge, Ocean Grove# 6:30 pm – As Bill Sees It -- Cocaine Anonymous meeting, Ocean Grove# 7:00 pm - GAAMC, Morris Township (see page 2) 7:00 pm - Bowling, Union; merenl@comcast.net 6:30 pm – Yoga, Newarkλ 7:00 pm - S.E.L.F. HIV Men’s support group, Hackensack * 7:30 pm - New Jersey Gay Men’s Chorus choir practice, Princeton; 609-396-7774; www.njgmc.org 8:00 pm - Bowling, Green Brook; qcrollers@aol.com Every Tuesday 10:00 am - Library Lounge, Ocean Grove# 6:00 pm – TransView trans support, Jersey City ‡ 6:00 pm - SAGE, Jersey City ‡ 7:30 pm - Tuesday Night Lesbian Connection, Bound Brook; 01 Tue 7:30 pm – LGBT Fellowship, Belleville; 973-751-0616 7:30 pm – Come OUT and Play Halloween Party, Highland Park† 02 Wed 6:30 pm -- Positive People peer support group, Hackensack * 7:30 pm – Jersey Boys of Leather, Highland Park†
Every Thursday 10:00 am - Library Lounge, Ocean Grove# 11:00 am – Meal distribution, Newarkλ 6:00 pm - Our Youth weekly support group, Jersey City; www.myspacenj.org 6:00 pm – Chill Night, Newarkλ 6:30 pm - Double Jeopardy peer support group, Hackensack* 6:30 pm – Men of Hudson Pride, Jersey City ‡ 7:00 pm - Sexual Assault Survivor Support, Princeton; www.hitops.org 7:00 pm – Visions HIV Support Group, Ocean Grove# 7:00 pm – Yoga, Highland Park† 7:30 pm - Rainbows on Cleveland Street, Orange; 973-2565936; rbowsoncleveland@aol.com 7:30 pm - Writers group, Highland Park † Every Friday Noon - Library Lounge, Ocean Grove# 6:00 pm - Youth Connect, Jersey City ‡ Every Saturday 10:00 am – Al-Anon, Ocean Grove# Noon – Library Lounge, Ocean Grove# 03 Thu 5:30 pm – Hudson County HIV/AIDS Services Planning Council, Jersey City ‡ 6:30 pm – LGBTQ of Hunterdon County of NJ, Clinton; 908237-3423; MatthewL@alum.fdu.edu 7:00 pm – Coffee social, Edison; njlgh.onefireplace.com 7:00 pm – Young Adult Social Support Group, Highland Park† 7:30 pm – NJ Women Coming Out, Highland Park†
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04 Fri 7:00 pm – Positive Women peer support group, Hackensack* 8:00 pm -- Karaoke, Highland Park;† 05 Sat 1:00 pm – Women of Pride, Jersey City‡ 2:30 pm – First & Third for GLBTI Youth, Princeton; 609-6835155; www.HiTOPS.org 06 Sun 2:00 pm – Central Jersey Rope Share, Highland Park† 4:00 pm – Dignity Metro NJ Mass, Maplewood; 973-8574040; Dignitymetronj@msn.com 6:30 pm – Gay Men’s Opera Club; 732-249-9034; hagol@msn.com 07 Mon 1:00 pm – LGBTQ of Somerset County of NJ, Somerville; 908237-3423; MatthewL@alum.fdu.edu 6:30 pm – JSTSURF trans support group, Ocean Grove# 7:00 pm -- Support Group for Lesbians with Cancer, New Brunswick; 732-235-6781; slirzero @umdnj.edu 7:30 pm – TrueSelves trans support group, Highland Park† 7:30 pm – Raices Latinas LGBT, Highland Park† 7:30 pm – Anxiety Support Group, Highland Park† 08 Tue 7:30 pm – Pride Center Board Meeting, Highland Park† 8:00 pm – Election Day Party, Highland Park† (see Bulletin Board, p. 7) 09 Wed 7:00 pm – QSpot Book Club, Ocean Grove# 7:30 pm – Wednesday Night Women’s Hang Out, Highland Park† 10 Thu 7:30 pm -- PFLAG of North Jersey, South Orange; 908-7897489; pflagwaver@aol.com 7:30 pm -- Alternate Thursdays, Montclair; sherrrase@gmail.com 7:30 pm – Kollege of Kink, Highland Park† 11 Fri 7:00 pm – Young Men’s Social Network, Highland Park† 12 Sat 1:00 pm – Youth Drop-In, Highland Park† 1:00 pm – LGBTQ of Morris County of NJ, Morristown; 908237-3423; MatthewL@alum.fdu.edu 7:00 pm – Men’s Movie Night, Highland Park;† 7:00 pm – Anthony Campolo, speaker, Ocean Grove# 7:30 pm – Dignity New Brunswick gay Catholic liturgy; 732968-9263; dignitynb@earthlink.net 13 Sun 2:00 pm – Male Drawing Session, Highland Park† 6:00 pm – Gay Men’s Classical Song Club, Kingston; pbrown02@worldnet.att.net 14 Mon 6:30 pm – Lesbian Moms Support Network, Highland Park† 7:30 pm – PFLAG of Morris County, Mendham; 973-543-
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7229; craig.bcc@verizon.net 7:30 pm – PFLAG, Princeton; 609-663-5155; www.pflagprinceton.org 7:00 pm – Hot Topics 4 Lesbians, Ocean Grove# 15 Tue 7:00 pm – HIV testing, Highland Park† 7:30 pm – Come OUT and Play, Highland Park† 7:30 pm – LGBTQ for Social Justice, Highland Park† 16 Wed 6:30 pm - Positive People peer support group, Hackensack * 7:00 pm – JCLGO monthly meeting, Jersey City; 201-3335725; www.jclgo.org 7:30 pm – United in Grace discussion/support group, Jersey City; 201-946-0650; greg.perez@comcast.net 17 Thu 7:00 pm – Young Adult Social Support Group, Highland Park† 7:30 pm – NJ Women Coming Out, Highland Park† 18 Fri 7:00 pm – Movie Night Out, Ocean Grove#
7:30 pm – Shabbat Services, Sayreville; njlgh.onefireplace.com 7:45 pm – Out of the Box open mic, Highland Park† 19 Sat 1:00 pm – Women of Pride, Jersey City‡ 1:00 pm – LGBTQ of Somerset County of NJ, Somerville; 908237-3423; MatthewL@alum.fdu.edu 2:00 pm – NJ Hypnokink, Highland Park;† 2:30 pm – First & Third for GLBTI Youth, Princeton; 609-6835155; www.HiTOPS.org 7:00 pm – Rainbow Bowling, Bradley Beach; 732-774-4540 7:00 pm – NJ Gay Film Society & Potluck Dinner Club, Location TBA; gayfilms@bigfoot.com 7:00 am – NJ Rope Bite, Highland Park† 20 Sun 4:00 pm – Dignity Metro NJ Mass, Maplewood; 973-8374040; Dignitymetronj@msn.com 4:00 pm – TrueSelves trans support group, Highland Park† 4:00 pm – Trans Day of Remembrance, Highland Park† 21 Mon 7:00 pm -- Support Group for Lesbians with Cancer, New Brunswick; 732-235-6781; slirzero@umdnj.edu 7:00 pm – LGBT 50+ Social, Ocean Grove# 7:30 pm – Young Men’s Social Network, Highland Park† 7:30 pm – Raices Latinas LGBT, Highland Park† 7:30 pm – Anxiety Support Group, Highland Park† 22 Tue 8:30 pm – Men’s Social Night, Highland Park† 23 Wed 7:30 pm - United in Grace discussion/support group, Jersey City; 201-946-0650; greg.perez@comcast.net 7:30 pm – Wednesday Night Women’s Hang Out, Highland Park†
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25 Fri 7:30 pm – Gays Giving potluck, Highland Park† 26 Sat 1:00 pm – Youth Drop-In, Highland Park† 7:00 pm – Gay Bowling, Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park; 732776-6160 28 Mon 7:30 pm – NJ Rope Bite, Highland Park† 30 Wed 7:00 pm – Board meeting, Edison; njlgh.onefireplace.com
accept dog and cat food, scoopable litter, leashes, catnip, and durable toys. For more information, contact the Pride Center at www.PrideCenter.org.
GAAMC Board Minutes September 15, 2016 Members: DeLeeuw, Gannon, Gayle, Kennedy, Kohn, Rase, Slicer, Suiter Non-Voting Attendees: Allen Neuner The meeting was called to order at 7:04.
Bulletin Board The Pride Center of New Jersey is teaming up with the Middlesex County Center for Empowerment, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, and the NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking to raise awareness about the issues of human trafficking by sponsoring a screening of the film Sold on Thursday, November 3rd at 6:30 pm at the AMC Loews New Brunswick 18 & IMAX Theater on Route 1. For more information on the event or purchase your tickets please go to https://www.tugg.com/events/sold-fhlb. The Pride Center of New Jersey invites you all to its Election Day Party on Tuesday, November 8, starting at 8:00 pm in Highland Park! There will be light snacks provided, and the opportunity for friendly conversation! For more information, contact the Pride Center at www.pridecenter.org. Qspot, the Asbury Park/Ocean Grove based LGBT center, invites you to a lecture by Anthony Campolo, pastor, sociologist, and author, on the need for all religious denominations to be actively inclusive of LGBT people. Proceeds from this lecture will go to the No Place Like Home Fund to help Qspot either obtain a new lease on their current home or find a permanent home. The event will be held on Saturday, November 12th, at 7:00 pm at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Atonement in Asbury Park. For more information, go to QSpot.org. The Social Justice Group of the Pride Center of New Jersey invites you to attend “Rise Up as ONE!”, a day-long conference and social event, being held November 12th at the Reformed Church of Highland Park. The first part of this event will be a free, open to the public conference, with panels, speakers, and seminars, starting at noon and running until 6:00 pm. Then, between 8:00 and 10:30 pm, you’re all invited back for the social event! Your sliding donation of from $10 to $30 gets you in for an evening of music and refreshments! (Don’t worry –no one will be turned away for lack of funds!) For more information, contact the Pride Center at www.PrideCenter.org. The Pride Center of New Jersey invites you all to celebrate “Gays Giving” on Friday, November 25th from 7:30 to 9:00 pm! Along with bringing leftovers, or your special treat to share, this year we will be taking donations for Seer Farms, a place that gives pets and people a chance to recuperate then reunite after a crisis. Along with cash donations, we’ll
The minutes of the July meeting were approved (moved, Gannon; seconded, Gayle). Old/Current Business: GAAMC’s yearly “Get Out the Vote” meeting would concentrate on the procedure for registering to vote and the mechanics of voting, and would empathize the importance of local elections. The upcoming GAAMC elections were also discussed. New Business: The program originally scheduled for October 17 was moved to November 7 at the speaker’s request. GAAMC’s presence at a September24 rally in Ocean Grove in support of QSpot’s ongoing lease renewal battle, and at a meeting in Trenton on September 26 with the state Attorney-General were discussed. Reports Treasurer (Andy Skurna) Challenge/Front Desk (Allen Neuner): Deadline for the November issue is October 15. While new people are introduced at Open Talk, greeters are needed at the front desk. Webmaster (Andy Skurna): The new GAAMC site is fully operational. Programs (Sherri Rase) Socials (John DeLeeuw) Discussion Group Resources (Gordon Sauer) Development (Gordon Sauer) Social Action (Gordon Sauer) GAAMC Pride (Mickey Suiter): While GAAMC participated in Jersey City Pride, the event overall was not as good as it was last year. Outings (Jay Kohn): The proposed trip to Dorney Park will be replaced with a Harry Potter weekend on October 22. Dave Gayle’s proposal for a 20-somethings road trip to Outfest in Philadelphia was approved (moved, Kohn; seconded, Rase). An outing to see the Discovery Orchestra at Drew University on November 13 was discussed. Public Relations (Dev Gannon) Ideas & Suggestions: Liz raised the issue of the best way to convey inclement weather messages to the membership; discussion suggested using emails and the website. A motion to adjourn was approved (moved, Slicer; seconded, Rase). The meeting was adjourned at 8:23.
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November 2016
Challenge
Gay Activist Alliance in Morris County GAAMC Officers President (President@GAAMC.org) .......... Mickey Suiter VP Community Services (Info@GAAMC.org) ..................................................... Gordon Sauer VP Operations (Operations@GAAMC.org) ....................................................John DeLeeuw Secretary (Secretary@GAAMC.org) .......... Ron Kennedy Treasurer (Treasurer@GAAMC.org) ........... Andy Skurna
Trustees Dev Gannon, David Gayle, Jay Kohn, Sherri Rase, Richard Schaublin, Liz Slicer
Committee Chairs & Functional Officers Challenge (Challenge@GAAMC.org) ......... Allen Neuner Development (Discussions@GAAMC.org) .... Gordon Sauer Discussion Group Resources (Discussions@GAAMC.org) ..................................................... Gordon Sauer Information (FreeLibrary@GAAMC.org) ...... Andy Skurna Outings (Outings@GAAMC.org) .................... Jay Kohn Pride Events ..................................... Mickey Suiter Pride Guide (PrideGuide@GAAMC.org) ...... Andy Skurna Programs (Programs@GAAMC.org) .............. Sherri Rase Public Relations (PR@GAAMC.org) ............. Dev Gannon Social Action .................................... Gordon Sauer Socials (Socials@GAAMC.org) ................John DeLeeuw Webmaster (Webmaster@GAAMC.org) ....... Andy Skurna
GAAMC, the Gay Activist Alliance in Morris County, has served New Jersey’s gay, lesbian bisexual, transgendered, and intersexed communities since 1972. GAAMC is a notfor-profit volunteer-run organization that provides social, educational, and outreach programs. GAAMC also offers opportunities for individuals to become politically active on issues related to the GLBTI communities. Our intent is to maintain a positive, healthy, respectful, and supportive environment in a safe space. Meetings are held every Monday evening at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, 21 Normandy Heights Rd., Morris Township, NJ (near the Morris Museum). Discussion groups usually meet from 7:00 to 8:00. The evening’s program usually starts shortly after 8:00. Refreshments are available. For program information, check our home page (see below). Members and non-members are always welcome. Annual membership dues are: Regular, $40/single, $70/couple; Students/Seniors, $30/single, $60/couple. How to reach GAAMC Mail: PO Box 137, Convent Station, NJ 07961 Telephone: 973-285-1595 E-Mail: info@gaamc.org Home page: http://www.gaamc.org Mail List: http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/gaamc