DignityUSA

DignityUSA Treasurer Resigns — Volunteer Sought

Joseph Giordano has resigned from the DignityUSA Board of Directors and as Treasurer, as of the end of May 2004, for personal reasons.

The other officers and directors thank Joseph for his work and contributions in these positions, as well as his services and contributions benefiting DignityUSA over many years.

Volunteer Sought

DignityUSA seeks a volunteer to serve an 15-month appointed term in the important role as Treasurer of Dignity, Inc. and member of the national board of directors participating in policy-setting and national advocacy work of DignityUSA. The appointee may be eligible to be re-nominated for a full two-year term beginning October 1, 2005.

Qualified volunteers will be members of DignityUSA and have experience in accounting, budgetary management and/or bookkeeping.

Treasurer responsibilities include:

Interested applicants are requested to send a letter of interest with qualifications.

To inquire further, or to apply, please contact Sam Sinnett, DignityUSA President, at president@DignityUSA.org or 8665 Barby Lane, St. Louis, MO 63124 or (314) 432-1744.

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DignityUSA Marketing Committee Launches National Ad Campaign

The DignityUSA Marketing Committee, headed by Tom Streeper, Lewis Tanner, Marty Grochala, Chuck Provancher and Matthew Gallagher, launched a National Ad Campaign to create awareness and Amplify the Voice of DignityUSA across the country. The campaign is aimed at combating the violence glbt people feel from the Vatican, supporting the marriage debate taking place across the country, and providing a picture of what a loving glbt Catholic family looks like.

The ad, one of what is sure to be many ads to come, includes a picture of one of our DignityUSA couples and their two children in a beautiful family portrait. Under the picture reads, “The Vatican calls this violence. DignityUSA calls it love.” The ad will appear in the June Pride edition of the Advocate and in three editions of the National Catholic Reporter (NCR). With the help of you, our members and financial supporters, the committee hopes to run additional ads in other main stream publications such as Time, Newsweek and USA Today.

To add to the excitement of the campaign, the committee involved all of our Dignity Chapters and DignityUSA Members across the Country. Information was sent to all Chapters via USPS mail, emailed to our news group of over 1,350 members, and resides on the DignityUSA website.

DignityUSA has provided the professional ad, training to handling press releases and media interviews, talking points and other information so that Chapters could run local campaigns during Gay Pride month. To date, over a dozen Chapters will participate. Look for this exciting new campaign during this year's Pride celebrations.

Please go to www.dignityusa.org/services/marketing.html to see the wonderful work that has been done.

Please contact the DignityUSA office at 1-800-877-8797, or by email info@dignityusa.org with any questions or comments.

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Happy Anniversary & Congratulations to:

• Greater Columbus (OH) - 9 years
• Lexington (KY) - 12 years
• Southern Colorado (CO) - 12 years
• San Jose (CA) - 20 years
• Houston (TX) - 30 years

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DignityUSA Board of Directors Quarterly Meeting

The Board of Directors of DignityUSA gathered in Washington, DC April 16-18, 2004, for their quarterly meeting. The meeting began Friday night with a celebration of accomplishments over the past three months, and a workshop on fundraising presented by Matthew Gallagher, Executive Director and Marty Grochala, director.

Noteworthy accomplishments include:

Saturday and Sunday were filled with going over the DignityUSA Strategic Plan, updating it, reprioritizing activities and approving committee strategic plans.

During a Saturday evening break, attendees made a pilgrimage to the new national office. The directors joined the office staff, Matt, Ron and Richard, in a prayer of blessing of the new space.

The board of directors will gather again in July 2004 to continue its work. In the meantime, the board is looking for volunteers to serve on the various committees, especially fundraising, marketing, membership services, membership meetings, and theology committees.

Please contact Matthew Gallagher, Executive Director, at ExecutiveDirector@dignityusa.org, 1-800-877-8797 or by fax at 1-202-429-9808, if you are interested in helping a committee.

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DignityUSA Welcomes New Chapter

Congratulations to Dignity/Sarasota (FL), granted full chartered chapter status by the DignityUSA Board of Directors. Welcome to the Dignity family!

New USPS Mailing Address The new USPS mailing address for the national office is: DignityUSA, 1500 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Suite #8, Washington, DC 20005-1894.

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Introducing Candidates for the Board of Directors

The DignityUSA Nominating Committee thanks, and is happy to announce the following eight (8) candidates for four (4) positions on the national board of directors: Rosemary Burdick, Drew Carey, Gene Corpuz, Leo Egashira, Chellie Griffin, Lewis Tanner, Leo Tibesar and Richard Young.

Ballots for electing the candidates, or any write-in candidates, will be mailed to all members of DignityUSA in late May 2004. They will be due back to the national office by early July 2004. If you don’t receive a ballot, and feel you should, please contact the national office at info@dignityusa.org, or by phone 1-800-877-8797.

Elected candidates will take their place on the national board of directors on October 1, 2004.

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Our Roamin’ Executive Director

Matthew Gallagher, our Executive Director, traveled to three chapters in May 2004.

The first weekend in May found Matthew in Philadelphia, PA. He attended a reception for a newly formed group of GLBT graduates of Catholic colleges, universities and seminaries. Forty people attended and were introduced to Matthew and DignityUSA. Matthew attended a similar reception for this group in New York City, the previous week. Matthew met with members of the DignityUSA Convention 2005 Committee, attended the Dignity/Philadelphia Chapter Liturgy, participated in a Chapter meeting to discuss the issue of no minimum dues for DignityUSA, and met with Kevin Simpson, immediate past president of Dignity Canada Dignité. Both pledged to continue working together.

While in Florida to visit family, Matt drove to Sarasota May 7th to greet some members of the newly formed Dignity/Sarasota (FL) Chapter. He didn’t know until after the meeting and was reading the Sarasota GLBT paper, that Chapter President, Bart Coyle, and his partner Jim Jablonski, were celebrating their 35th anniversary the next day.

Matthew joined Dignity/Chicago (IL) in their 32nd anniversary celebration May 15 - 16. Matthew had the honor and privilege to meet 4 of the 25 priests who signed a letter to Cardinal George challenging and contesting the increasingly violent and abusive language used by certain Church officials when addressing issues pertaining to homosexuals. When the 4 priests in attendance were called forward to receive their award, the crowd immediately stood to applaud their heroic act. The applause was loud and sustained. The names of all the priests were read to even more applause. Matthew proclaimed it a very moving moment.

The Chicago Chapter held a fund raising event on Saturday and another gathering for members and friends on Sunday. Matthew gave the homily at Sunday’s liturgy and was able to meet and talk with chapter members. During his visit, he and Sam Sinnett, President DignityUSA, met with one of the partners of the Martin & Wall, P.C. CPA firm which will be providing bookkeeping services for DignityUSA. The firm has offices in Washington, DC and Chicago, and is a member of the Chicago Area Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

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Claim and profess your identity…Have a safe and joyous Gay Pride Month