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DignityUSA DATELINE

October 1999
VOL 8, NO. 10

Convention Business Highlights:

New Leaders Prepared to Serve DignityUSA

When the HOD gathered in Denver in early August to conduct the business of Dignity, they elected DignityUSA's new leadership to take our organization into the next millennium.

Mary Louise Cervone of Philadelphia will serve a two year term as National President along with Vice President Patrick McArron of San Diego. The Secretary's post will be filled by Peggy Burns of Boston; Joe Sinico of Rio Rancho, New Mexico will continue for another term as Treasurer. Outgoing National President Bob Miailovich will provide continued support by serving a one year term on the Board.

The newly elected National Directors are Rosemary Ananis from the New England Region, Tom Streeper from the Mid-Atlantic Region, and John Nangle from the Pacific Region. Returning Directors are Honour Maddock from the Northeast Region, Mike Hogan from the Midwest Region and Deb Myers from the Mountain Plains Region. Janet O'Day and Nickie Valdez were reelected to serve a two year term as cochairs of the Committee for Women's Concerns.

Fond farewells were bid to Secretary and former National Director Jerry Deas who served for seven years and Directors Wynelle Snow, Mark Banister and Tom Kaun who served two years as Directors.

Board of Directors Update

Prior to the opening of the national House of Delegates (HOD) in Denver, the Board of Directors completed its work for this administrative year. Highlights of the meeting, as provided by Secretary Jerry Deas, include:

• voting to establish a new bank account to better meet the needs of our membership;

• presenting a strong motion of support for Sr. Jeaninne Gramick and Fr. Bob Nugent concerning their silencing by the Vatican and calling upon all Catholics to give one voice in this action. This motion was passed unanimously by both the Board and the HOD;

• approving a proposal by the Pacific Region to host the 2003 Convention in Las Vegas;

• continuing to evaluate our relationships with other like-minded organizations such as COR, CTA, We Are Church, and the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Gay & Lesbian Ministries.

• developing and sending to the HOD a national prayer for use by the delegates and the chapters.

• receiving the report of our annual audit from our CPA firm; and .

• regretfully moving to de-charter Dignity/Orlando upon request from the chapter's remaining members.

House of Delegates

Every two years delegates from our chapters come together to determine the policies which govern Dignity, advise the Board and elect the officers of the organization. This year was no exception and the HOD was quite busy in its deliberations. The HOD elected new national officers, heard reports from the national committees, and received the National AIDS Project report during a lunch underwritten by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control. Motions were passed which:

• strongly supported Sr. Jeannine Gramick & Fr. Bob Nugent and called for a day of prayer to protest the silencing of Jeannine and Bob;

• recreated the Membership Task Force;

• opposed capital punishment;

• adopted a national prayer; and

• charged the Board of Directors with the responsibility to engage the chapters and membership in a process that evolves in recommendations for structural change to the organization which will be acted upon by the next House of Delegates in 2001.

National Religious Roundtable Meets in Colorado Springs

The National Religious Leadership Roundtable held its third semiannual meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado from August 22-24. Dignity President Bob Miailovich returned for another visit to beautiful Colorado (just two weeks after our national convention) where he joined about 40 national leaders from a wide group of pro-GLBT faith, spiritual and religious organizations. The highlight of the meeting was a three hour public forum on Spirituality and Sexuality: In the Image of God. About 200 people attended, and both the forum and the meeting received good press coverage nationwide, including an article the New York Times on August 24.

In addition to the forum, Roundtable members discussed internal documents concerning its membership, structure and organization; had a lively presentation and discussion of the current state of the same-sex marriage initiatives; participated in a workshop on conducting media relations; and agreed to extend a public invitation to James Dobson of Focus on the Family encouraging him to meet with Roundtable representatives to discuss the life-threatening consequences of his anti-gay rhetoric.

The NRLR meeting was held in Colorado Springs particularly because it is the home of Focus on the Family and other conservative religious organizations. About a half dozen Focus people attended the public forum. In addition to the meeting, Bob had an opportunity to visit with about a half dozen people from the Southern Colorado Dignity community.

The NRLR is considering having its next meeting in Orange County, California early next year, in time to address the Knight Initiative.

Solidarity Sunday™

October 10 is almost here! Thousands already are participating in Solidarity Sunday. If you haven't made plans or put materials together, it is not to late to do so or even to order them from Bruce Jarfster, Chair of the Solidarity Sunday Committee. Contact him via email: solidaritysunday@dignityusa.org.

The Solidarity Sunday Committee also maintains an address list of organizations who are friendly to this annual action. If you are uncertain about who is "friendly" in your area, send Bruce a list of zip codes you would like to include in your chapter's mailings and he can provide this information.

In addition, a letter was sent to all Catholic Bishops in the United States inviting them to speak out against hate crimes. Consider a follow-up with your bishop, and invite him to speak out.

Thank You!

DignityUSA gratefully recognizes financial support from the Coors Distributing Company and the Gay Financial Network, Incorporated. In addition, the Sister Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary have also generously supported DignityUSA with a recent contribution.

We also give thanks for gifts from Integrity-Dignity/Madison, Dignity/Honolulu, Dignity/Maine, Dignity/Detroit and, of course, many, many individuals. Again, many thanks to the numerous corporate sponsors of our Denver convention and to members and friends who gave so generously at the silent auction, the Mixner reception, the President's Club Reception, and other fund raising activities held in conjunction with the convention. Thank you all.

Happy Anniversary:

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