We are Family

    As GLBT individuals, we continue to face a lot of struggles in our quest for fairness and equality, but we will make it.

    Just 10 years ago, Lavender was printing its first issue, and some landmark GLBT businesses were accepting their first chamber dollars.

    Sodomy was illegal, and no jurisdiction anywhere, on any level, recognized same-sex marriage rights.

    GLBT persons will make it, because we have the right to do so, and -- as I have written before -- because the community at large needs us to succeed.

    I was reminded of this when I recently brought my toddler nephew, Dietrich, to work.  Lavender is a child-friendly workplace, and his parents had to spend the day in hospital.

    (Let me say kudos to any parent who accomplishes anything while watching a child, no matter how well behaved.  Parenting is hard work.)

    Taking responsibility for Dietrich reinforced to me that we do not need permission to have families -- we already do.  Millions of GLBT folks all over the world serve as moms, dads, uncles, aunts, and grandparents.

    It's a biological fact.  We are all members of families, and that cannot be changed.  As such, we must realize the right [to] openly fill our family roles.

    Dietrich also is a member of a cultural minority group in the Twin Cities. 

    Unless something changes, Dietrich will probably face, as have other members of his family, subtle, even blatant, stereotypes, prejudices, ignorant statements, and pressures to conform to the cultural expectations and values of another majority culture, often to his detriment or exclusion (sound familiar?).

    Though unfortunate, Dietrich's situation is real.  The only way for his tomorrow to improve is for us to confront today issues of social discrimination and bias. 

    The entire society needs the GLBT community to succeed in the pursuit of fairness, because a society that tolerates discrimination and openly codifies injustice into its legal system respects nobody.

    Reinforcing the interrelatedness of our society, Dietrich accompanied me to a recent press conference.

    St Paul Mayor Randy Kelly was supporting a new outreach effort by the St Paul retail community to the young urbanites and condo dwellers, who depend on taxers paid by healthy businesses to provide much needed mortgage assistance, student loans, and effective municipal services.

    Lavender  was there to help build those relationships.

    Dietrich took the time to thank the Mayor for supporting the continuation of the Early Childhood and Family Education (ECFE) programming at Highland Park schools, paid for by state taxes. 

    Then, Dietrich and I, as a family, headed out to support some of those St Paul businesses.


originally published 27 May - 09 Jun, 2005
Lavender Magazine, v 11, no 260
Minneapolis, Minnesota
 

Focus on James Dobson

    One of our contributors, Jacob Reitan, recently was arrested while attending a protest against intolerance at the Colorado headquarters of Focus on the Family (FOTF).

    Personally, having been raised in the Evangelical tradition, I have long held Dr. James Dobson, the founder of FOTF, in high regard.

    In 1977, suspicious of both reason and science, many Evangelicals had lost the ability to incorporate the modern world and its new behavioral sciences into viable Bible-centered lifestyles, and needed Dobson's then - "new" focus to assist them.

     Dobson was effective in bringing sound child-development theories and mental-health issues to the attention of the Evangelical churches, an din providing essential family-counseling resources to church libraries and pastoral staffs.

    As Evangelicals, we sorely needed someone like Dobson to promote rational discussions within our congregations regarding emotions, sexuality, mental illness, and child development.

    A radical shift occurred in Dobson's ministry in 1982, however, when President Ronald Reagan appointed him to a special commission on pornography.

    To some observers, Dobson began to lose focus on his initial ministerial aims, spending an increasing amount of on-air time discussing politics, a trend that only worsened during the great abortion wars of the late '80s.

    By 2005, "Focus on the Family" more readily could have been called "Focus on Washington."

    Instead of teaching Christians how to incorporate up-to-date psychological and counseling principles into their spiritual and family lives, Dobson now seemed intent upon injecting his personal spiritual view into their politics.

    Where once we might have looked to him for help in understanding what it means to be a queer Christian or to have a gay child, he now simply informed us that gays do not fit his political agenda.

    Dobson gave up his former professionally objective position, and assumed a personal political stance.

    It is important to realize today, as we deal with FOTF as a political force, that Dobson still retains credibility with moderate Evangelicals because of that sorely needed assistance he once gave to them in their personal lives.

    The only way for Americans of every stripe to survive to present culture wars is for all sides to agree reasonably to disagree, and to honor that old American ideal:  freedom of (and from) personal religion.

    With this in mind, Dobson's ministry could become effective again by refocusing, this time away from politics, with a return to his original calling and vision.


originally published 13-26 May, 2005
Lavender Magazine, v 11, no 260
Minneapolis, Minnesota

A Fashion Statement

    IF YOU ARE going to celebrate summer fashions for others, you definitely should look the part, so Lavender is stepping out of the dressing room and onto the street with our own new look.

    We decided to go for something classic, something suggesting openness and approachability.  White seemed the answer, so we have gone back to basics -- creating more white space, bringing lightness and clarity to our pages, opening up our editorial content for easy interaction with our readers.

    Following the mantra "form follows function," we have dumped our old font for a more contemporary typeface, providing a greater clarity for our thoughts and a new sleekness to the reading experience.

    We now have two Contents pages.

    The first Contents page summarizes the issue's features.  We have pared down the number of features to include one major piece, and two or three smaller ones.

    The second Contents page lists regular columns, both local and syndicated, that bring a thought-provoking point of view to our readers.  The new descriptions after the column's title will make it easier for you to navigate through the issue.

    Where would we be without the proper color accessories, perfectly chosen to guide the eye to where it should go?

    The colored squares tell you which section each piece belongs to, so you may traipse at will throughout hte issue, knowing exactly where you are.

    Red is community dialogue; orange is commentary; yellow is arts and entertainment; blue is the bar scene; green is leisure and sports; purple is back talk.  Note also that the colors are now matched between our print editions and the Web site.

    The new "Queer as Folks" highlights those individuals and organizations that have come to our attention as queer role models, contributors to the GLBT community, or just intriguing people to note.

    We found that our readers wanted more news with less work, so we have revamped the "Lavender Wire" to include just the essentials -- a greater overview of news with less detail.

    We will have more frequent fashion features, which take advantage of our new glossy paper with more use of photography, color, and the natural beauty of people.

    Finding it impossible to fit everything into the print edition, we have upgraded the calendar on our Web site at <222.lavendermagazine.com> to include more events, as well as local sports schedules and statistics.  It will be updated on an on-going basis.

    A look ahead:  Not only will our June 10 Collector's Pride Edition be larger, more colorful, and more informative than ever, but also it will spotlight the exciting new columnists and sections to be introduced to our pages in upcoming months, including gay parenting, financial planning, and legal advice.


originally published 13-26 May, 2005
Lavender Magazine, v 11, no 260
Minneapolis, Minnesota