Outlines Toledo is coming back!  After a few months on hiatus, we have decided that the show must go on.  We want to ensure that the Northwest Ohio LGBT community has a loud, proud, diverse voice, and we want your help!   We are currently looking for anyone interested in being a contributing writer (regular columns or occasional pieces).  We look forward to bringing you important LGBT news stories, local events and entertainment and diverse viewpoints from our community, including a new advice column, a column from the transgender perspective, the syndicated columns “Cocktail Chatter” and “Thinking Out Loud” and more.

If you are interested in being a part of the new Outlines Toledo, contact Kelly at kelly@outlinestoledo.com or visit us on Facebook.  Stay tuned for more information.  We can’t wait to bring you a whole new online experience!

Based out of Ann Arbor, they compete around the nation in tournaments as a part of the National Gay Flag Football league and will be one of the teams playing in the Gay Games in 2014 in Cleveland.  It is open to anyone: Gay, straight, lesbian, transgender, everyone is welcome.  Practices are in Ann Arbor on Tuesdays from 6:00pm to 9:00pm and Sundays in Livonia from 1:30pm to 3:30pm.  There are a couple of team members from the Toledo area, so carpooling may be an option.

For more information on how to get involved, visit the Michigan Panthers Facebook page or contact Jeff Pohlman at jpohlman689@gmail.com.

Join Outlines Toledo at the Valentine Theatre on November 5th to see David Sedaris!

With sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, David Sedaris has become one of America’s pre-eminent humor writers. The great skill with which he slices through cultural euphemisms and political correctness proves that Sedaris is a master of satire and one of the most observant writers addressing the human condition today.

David Sedaris is the author of Barrel Fever and Holidays on Ice, as well as collections of personal essays, “Naked,” “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim,” and “When You Are Engulfed in Flames,” each of which became a bestseller. There are a total of seven million copies of his books in print and they have been translated into 25 languages. He was the editor of Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules: An Anthology of Outstanding Stories.Sedaris’s pieces appear regularly in The New Yorker and have twice been included in “The Best American Essays.” He and his sister, Amy Sedaris, have collaborated under the name “The Talent Family” and have written half-a-dozen plays which have been produced at La Mama, Lincoln Center, and The Drama Department in New York City. These plays include Stump the Host, Stitches, One Woman Shoe, which received an Obie Award, Incident at Cobbler’s Knob, and The Book of Liz, which was published in book form by Dramatists Play Service. David Sedaris’s original radio pieces can often be heard on This American Life, distributed nationally by Public Radio International and produced by WBEZ. David Sedaris has been nominated for three Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word and Best Comedy Album.

Showtime is 8pm.  Tickets are $45 each.  Click here to buy yours now!

From Equality Toledo: 

Thanks to the leadership of Mayor Mike Bell, Toledo City Council is currently debating an ordinance that will offer domestic partner benefits to city employees. With your help, we’ve already made a real impact on an issue of simple fairness.

The Toledo Blade and The Toledo Free Press have editorialized in support. Pastor Ed Heilman proudly proclaimed this an issue of faith and fairness. And members of Toledo City Council have already commited to voting yes.

Yet others have called this plan “immoral.” Even some members of Council said this was “sad,” “a slap in the face,” and “the timing was awful.”*

If you’re as upset and frustrated as I am with these comments, then Toledo City Council needs to hear from you! Join Us at Toledo City Council on May 30th.The Toledo City Council Human Resources Committee is hosting a hearing on this important issue on May 30th starting at 4:00 p.m. The hearing will be held at One Government Center on the first floor.

We need supporters of domestic partner benefits to testify before Toledo City Council. You don’t need to be a professional public speaker. We simply need you to speak from the heart as a resident of this community who cares about equality. For more information on why domestic partners benefits matter, visit hrc.org/benefits.

There’s no doubt – opponents of fairness and equality will be there to make their voices heard. Don’t let this debate be one sided!

If you intend to testify, please take a minute and let us know by emailing equalitytoledo.communityaction@gmail.com or calling (419) 410-4215. Plan to arrive at Council Chambers by 3:45 p.m. that day.

If you can’t make it on May 30th, please take a moment to email our undecided members of Toledo City Council and make your voice heard:

• George Sarantou – george.sarantou@toledo.oh.gov
• D. Michael Collins – dmichael.collins@toledo.oh.gov

Working together, we can make a positive difference in our community!

Sincerely,
David Mann
President, Equality Toledo

* Source: Transcript of Toledo City Council Agenda Review meeting, May 1, 2012

Columbus – On Saturday, March 24th, Cleveland will host what is expected to be the largest rally for marriage equality in the Midwest. Thousands will rally in favor of marriage equality in Ohio, and couples — LGBT and allied — will then gather in a civil marriage ceremony as a tangible demonstration of support for marriage equality.

This event and others that have preceded it in Columbus and Cincinnati are the brainchild of 17 year-old grassroots organizer and LGBT activist Adam Hoover.

“This is a cause that’s close to my heart. The vast majority of my generation, along with the one behind and ahead, are on the same page when it comes to equality: we want it and we want it now,” says Adam. “Think about it. Stonewall happened only 33 years ago. We’ve made so much progress in such a short time. This may not be the final frontier for LGBT rights, but it’s certainly one of the most important causes we can advocate for.”

Since the 2004 referendum that wrote marriage discrimination into Ohio’s Constitution, many organizations and individuals have taken to the cause of equality. With recent victories in Washington and Maryland, the momentum has never been stronger. This change is supported by polls, like those recently completed by the Pew Research Center that showed Americans support same-sex marriage 46% to 44% (http://www.people-press.org/2011/11/03/the-generation-gap-and-the-2012-election-3/11-3-11-86/). Members of the millennial generation are supporting marriage equality by an even larger margin, 59% to 35%.

“The evidence is there,” says Ed Mullen of Equality Ohio. “With each new generation, support for marriage equality rises. It is no longer a matter of if, but rather when, this will happen.  I believe it will be sooner than many think.”

Same-sex couples in Ohio will show that their love and commitment should be recognized by the state so that they will have the same rights and responsibilities as other couples and families.

“The marriage event concluding the day is a symbolic civil marriage ceremony,” says Zac Branstool, Communications Director for Equality Ohio. “We respect the sacrament of marriage in religious tradition, and we recognize the right of religious institutions to follow their own religious teachings on marriage. This is about the government refusing to grant civil marriage equality to same-sex couples, and we want the public to see the beauty and joy of people engaging in a legal ceremony that is unjustly denied to them.”

In addition to the march and civil marriage ceremony, Equality Ohio will sign up people to support LGBT civil rights (including safe schools and non-discrimination) at the rally and also register people to vote.  Businesses and religious leaders, as well as political candidates and elected officials will speak out in favor of marriage for all.

The following is a list of supporters who are expected to be featured speakers:

Ed Mullen, Executive Director for Equality Ohio
Autumn Leaf and Tom Morgan, Get Equal
Bishop Heckman, Reformed Catholic Church
Jacob Nash, TransOhio
Rev. George Baum, St. Patrick Episcopal Church
CPT Steve Snyder-Hill, Plaintiff in the McLaughlin v. Panetta Case
Dwayne Seward, Make it Better Foundation
Sherry Bowman, Movement in Black
Ian James, Ohio Freedom to Marry Petition
Judy Benson, Old Lesbians Organizing for Change
Max Blachman, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s office
State Representative Nickie Antonio
Green Party Senate Candidate Joe Demare
Pastor Robert and Joyce Strommen, Cleveland Stonewall Democrats and Cleveland PFLAG
Equality Ohio advocates and educates to achieve fair treatment and equal opportunity for all Ohioans regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.  For more information, visit www.equalityohio.orgor call us at (614) 224-0400.

Join the BG Lavender Women for their Spring Fling Women’s Dance on Saturday, March 24, 2012 from 7:30-11:30pm.  The event will be held at the Simpson Building, 1291 Conneaut St., Bowling Green, OH 43402.

• $10/person donation at the door.
• DJ Amy will be taking your requests.
• Door prizes!
• There will be a free basic rumba lesson from 7:30-8pm to get the dance started (no partner is required). We will show you a couple of steps that you can use for slow dancing.
• There is no bar on the premises so bring your own drinks (alcohol is permitted if you’re 21 or over).
• Feel free to bring snacks too.

Columbus, Ohio — On March 24, 2012, a grassroots coalition of Ohio activists will stage a Rally for Marriage Equality in Cleveland that includes a mass wedding of same-sex couples and straight allies in an effort to highlight the discrimination faced by same-sex couples in Ohio.  This rally was spearheaded on facebook by “Support Gay Marriage in Ohio”  (http://www.facebook.com/MarriageEqualityOhio), which has over 200,000 fans.  This page is the brainchild of Adam Hoover, a 17-year old from Harrison, Ohio, who has organized previous rallies in Cincinnati and Columbus.  A group of local activists in Cleveland joined the group to organize on the ground and help make this event a huge success.

The rally will take place in Willard Park/Free Stamp at 9th and Lakeside Avenue at 11:30AM.  People will gather beginning at 11:00AM at Willard Park and some will be meeting at Public Square to march through downtown to Willard Park.  The rallies in Cincinnati and Columbus drew from 300-450 people; more than 2,500 have registered to attend the rally in Cleveland and nearly 200 couples have registered for the wedding.

The rally will feature brief speeches from a broad cross-section of the LGBT community in Ohio and Cleveland.  Among the expected speakers are Ed Mullen of Equality Ohio, Tom Morgan and Autumn Leaf of GetEqual, Bishop Heckman of the Reformed Catholic Church, Jacob Nash from TransOhio, George Baum from St. Patrick, Dwayne Steward from Make it Better Foundation, Sherry Bowman from Movement in Black, Max Blachman from U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s office, State Representative Nickie Antonio, Green Party Senate Candidate Joe Demare, Judy Benson from Old Lesbians Organizing for Change, Bob Sferra from the LGBT Center of Cleveland, and Pastor Robert and Joyce Strommen Cleveland Stonewall Democrats and Cleveland PFLAG.

Following the speeches, the crowd will march to the Galleria at 1301 East 9th Street for the wedding ceremony, which will be led by a diverse group of religious and secular officiants.

“With recent victories in New York, Washington, and Maryland, the momentum for marriage equality has never been more powerful,” says Ed Mullen of Equality Ohio.  “Same-sex couples in Ohio want their love and commitment to be recognized by the state so that they will have the same rights and responsibilities as other couples and families.”

Organizer Adam Hoover says:  “I want every person to be able to be who they are. We want the same things as all couples do — to settle down, to commit our lives to the person we love, and to raise children. Marriage should not be a privilege available to some but not all.”

For more information, please contact the local organizing committee:
Paul Demming- pdemming38@yahoo.com, cell- 440-488-4778
Jamie Moore- jamiemoore.cleve@gmail.com, cell- 216-551-0329

Did you miss the livefeed of last night’s celebrity-studded reading of 8, Dustin Lance Black’s play about California’s fight over gay marriage?  Now you can watch it here.

Want to see 8 in person? The University of Toledo will be producing one of 40 college and community productions of the play on Oct. 6, 2012 with support from the President’s  Diversity Lecture Series and  Equality Toledo, UT’s Women and Gender Studies department and UT’s  Doorman Theatre.  Toledo native Larry Dean Harris, playwright and actor, will be coming in from LA  to appear onstage. as well as Merlaine Angwall, an actress from Oshkosh, WI who was last seen in Lombardi in Green Bay.  We’ll have more details about the local production as they become available!

Please join Equality Ohio for the 8th Annual Leadership Summit on Saturday, March 3, 2012 from 11am – 3pm.  The event will take place at First Congregational Church UCC, located at 444 E. Broad St, Columbus, Ohio.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts and discussing the accomplishments and challenges faced in 2011, as well as strategies for moving forward in 2012.  One member of each organization will be asked to give a 1-minute report on behalf of their organization.

One focus this year will be on efforts to achieve marriage equality in Ohio. Recent efforts striving for marriage equality will make this a hot issue for discussion and debate, and it makes this year’s summit more important and timely than ever.

Other discussions will focus on  expanding the geographic and substantive scope of local LGBT-centric ordinances.

Ohio State University Law School Professor Marc Spindelman will deliver a keynote address, “More than Marriage”, at lunch, and Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Seelbach, Rick Incorvati (Springfield) and Leslye Huff (East Cleveland) will serve on the panel discussing local ordinances.  Additionally we’ll be hearing presentations from Ian James, who will be talking about the Ohio Freedom to Marry effort and the constitutional amendment, and Tom Nobbe, Executive Director of the 2014 Gay Games in Cleveland/Akron who will be giving an update on the status of the Games.

Schedule of events for the day include:

• Group welcome and introduction
• Successes and challenges in 2011 and goals and challenges for 2012
• Lunch (catered by J. Gumbos, with both Vegetarian and Vegan option.)
• Panel discussions on marriage equality and local advances,
• followed by breakout sessions
• An update on federal, state and local races, including a discussion of federal races from Max Blachman and comments from political leaders and candidates on Marriage Equality and LGBT rights – including Summit County Commissioner Sandra Kurt, Franklin County Recorder candidate Terry Brown, Congressional candidate Mary Jo Kilroy and Congressional candidate Joyce Beatty.

Click here to register for free today!

We look forward to a productive dialogue and hope to see you there!

Please note that Columbus’ monthly Gallery Hop occurs on March 3rd as well. Come for the summit and stay for the hop!

First Congregational Church UCC
(Parking available in the church lots)

444 E. Broad St

Columbus, OH 43215

(614) 228-1741

Map

Bus Schedule Information

Join Equality Michigan in Dearborn, Mich. for a night of great comedy featuring Chantal Carrere, Erin Foley, Chris Doucette and Diane Amos.   The event is scheduled for Saturday, March 10th, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, located at 15801 Michigan Avenue at Greenfield Road in Dearborn, Michigan.  Click here for more information and to get your tickets!

With almost 1,000 people attending, get your tickets now before they sell out! PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE, call 313-537-7000 (during business hours Monday-Friday) or visit:

• Just 4 Us Bookstore, 211 West Nine Mile Rd, Ferndale, Michigan 248-547-5878
• Five15, 515 South Washington St, Royal Oak, Michigan 248-515-2551
• Common Language Bookstore, 317 Braun Ct, Ann Arbor, Michigan 734-663-0036

This is a fully accessible event. ASL interpreter provided.

The Michigan LGBT ComedyFest is a community event produced by Equality Michigan, which works to achieve full equality and respect for all people in Michigan, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.