Some PIcs at Long Beach Gay Pride May 09

Four of these pics were taken by my friend Cristina Vegas at the Long Beach Gay Pride Parade event in May 09, the second pic
with 5 people was taken by my friend Linda Barra. Sharonthen Mina or in the first 2 pic., 3rd pic includes Mina, Barbara Kalish, Cristina Vegas,Sandy Tappin, and me, Sharon Raphael with my head crooked. It was a fun day though very cool the first several hours and warmer toward noon. We are sitting on Ocean blvd. near Junipero in Long Beach.

Nancy Pelosi is Wrong Target

All this media attention on Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative, about her knowledge of CIA led Torture of "enemy combatants" by the Republicans and a few biased liberals i.e. Jon Stewart is driving me nuts. As a matter of fact, it was the Republican led Congress and Dick Cheney's brain trust child George W. Bush and the C.I.A. who actually made the torture happen and actually believed that torture was a good thing to do in the name of our old US of A. Pelosi admits she was briefed but not told that torture had been put into effect. It seems Cheney and the rest purposely set a trap ahead of time for Pelosi so they could say later she approved it so the Republicans can say "See, we are all in this together".

I believe from all I can tell and hear and see with my own eyes that Nancy Pelosi is an honest person, Steny Hoyer, her longtime colleague in the House, confirmed this opinion in the news accounts today (5/18.09). Pelosi says the CIA misled her and I believe it. Perhaps, there is some technical detail Pelosi has missed i.e. not reading the fine print as some of us might not do after getting a complicated form to read after a major insurance purchase or the like. I believe Cheney and his gang set up a way to make sure, they "got" Pelosi if the details of their torture plans ever came to light and backfired. Pelosi has a history of standing up for what I would call the right causes. Her first instinct is anti-War and anti-cruelty. It was her party that made sure the hate crimes bill passed not the Republicans. If Pelosi is let go as the sacrificial lamb of the Democratic Party, the Party will be smaller if they buckle to this latest insanity. Pelosi has been a target of the right for as long as she has been powerful.

I believe because Pelosi is a powerful woman that is the reason for all this backlash and constant targeting of her position and person. She is an older woman and the barrage of jokes about how she looks as a result of her buying into ageism and lookist thinking is very sad indeed. Powerful men never get this kind of idiotic jabbering and attacks against how she looks. Now she is depicted as the cowardly one when it comes to the torture debate. All I know is if she has to leave, there will be one huge empty space in the Congress, the number one space when it comes to leadership. Northern California will suffer if she is forced to leave her post and I know Nancy Pelosi has been good for all of California. I also fault Chris Matthews for buying into some of this madness. Olberman hasn't bought into the hype,but Matthews seems to need the ratings. He did the same thing to Hillary. Although I find Matthews keeps my attention and I like some of his thinking on controversial issues, I don't like the fact he is exploting the Pelosi targeting of Pelosi on his TV show.

I know there are a lot of people out there who don't do deep political thinking but who don't like Pelosi for the simple reason people like Matthews and Fox News in particular get on her case, for baseless and stupid lookist and ageist reasons, fpr a laugh or for cheap commercial reasons-i.e. more listeners, more watchers. Please, when will this insanity end and the target be focused on the right people, the ones who ordered torture, condoned torture and carried it out. Pelosi has taken a bad rap and I hope more people i.e. Hoyer speak out on her behalf. Personally, I do not believe this is the end for Pelosi. In the end, the people will see through this nonsense.

Sharon Raphael

Gray Panthers and The Older Adult Center at CSUDH

Maggie Kuhn, Founder of Gray Panthers

taken from Gray Panthers site

Yesterday was Earth Day and The Older Adult Center on our campus at CSUDH where I volunteer as the faculty adviser decided to regenerate our Gray Panthers membership and created our very own chapter of the Gray Panthers at CSUDH. We participated in Earth Day which has been a regular important item on the Gray Panthers' agenda whose motto is "Age and Youth in Action". The no. 1 priority though of the Gray Panthers in California is Health Care and Gray Panthers supports a kind of universal health care policy that includes a single payer tax system which rules out private insurance company involvement in the system. Our Older Adult Center had a table at the Earth Day event and we had a lots of people at our handout table from about 10 am to 4pm. It was an enjoyable time and the weather was great. The days before had been way too hot. It took place in our sculpture garden located in front of LaCourte Hall which is our Humanities Bldg. We had handouts on the services of our Older Adult Center which processes fee waivers for students over the age of 60 and provides a supportive environment those who returning students who identify as older i.e. 45 plus. We also train interns who want to learn how to work with older adults in a campus setting. Next step is to invite a Gray Panthers from an established chapter to come and speak to us about the important issues and to give us ideas on projects we might wish to undertake.

SRaphael

Counter

Description of My Time with (OLOC) at SAGE Roundtable & (LAIN) Meeting at and before American Society on Aging in Las Vegas

(Mina and I stayed at the Paris Hotel, well designed place given what it is- a gambling mecca, Ballys was the second hotel used by ASA)

It has been quite a week attending and presenting both before and during meetings at the annual American Society on Aging Conference in Las Vegas. Mina and I attended as OLOC representatives along with our immediate past Co-chair of OLOC Shaba Barner, immedicate past Co-Chair of Old Lesbians Organizing for Changee, and Ruth Debra who is on the Steering Committee with MIna. I gave a talk on what I do as Research Gatekeeper. We are satisfied with the attendance that occurred at our presenatation and all the information we put out on the table was gone after our session so there must have been strong interest.

Karen Taylor was there representing SAGE (Senior Advocacy and Service for Gay Elders of New York). All day Saturday (March 15th), we spent networking and working in groups at the roundtable which is a joint operation of The LGBT Taskforce and SAGE, NY soon to be under SAGE leadership completely. Agencies and program from all over the country were in attendance. The Roundtable consisted of about 22 individuals who were there representing a wide variety of groups and organizations that serve or cater to older LGBT people on some level. OLOC was the only membership group attending, the rest seemed to be agenices or programs geared to aging concerns. OLOC is a grassroots movement organization which fights ageism and bring the message of OLD LESBIAN PRIDE to the old generation, over 60 population of OLD LESBIANS.

In addition to my activities with LGBT aging, I also presented a workshop with a graduate student from my campus on the topic of "An Older Adult Center on a University Campus". I also attended my student's session which focused on S. East Asian Experience (Indians from India) using a novel theory on Aging in Place of Choice. I would give names but sadly I think this student might prefer not to be named on a blog titled Leftunronrights etc.

I also participated and volunteered to be part of LAIN (LGBT aging interest network at ASA) ClearingHouse Committee which collects and runs an online website of LGBT references and annotated information on all aspects of aging as it affects LGBT persons. I talked abut gathering information on ageism as it affects LGBT folks among other resources and articles that I come across over the year. We (MIna and I ) attended the peer group session of LAIN and also went to the workshop on the second publication of the pdf document OUTINGAGE which is put out by the LGBT Taskforce. Collected information at that session that was very helpful about federal grants that are available for the kind of project and services we tend to want to produce.

Mina and I attended one evening entertainment part of the conference on Wed. at 5:30 which featured Debbie Reynolds, the movie star who was so popular when Mina and I were growing up and also when we were teenagers. She did a great show, singing, dancing, telling jokes but at a certain point the audience was frightened as Ms. Reynolds appeared to have a fainting spell (what we thought was a TIA) but she did recover quickly and finished the night to great applause. What a trooper!!! We were blown away. The show wasn't that ageist either, only a few self deprecating comments about her looks though she looked swell, actually the same image is projected as she was when we were young. Of course, what it takes for Debbie to get that image across makes her the victim of the worst kind of ageism and I suppose we as the audience were continuing the problem but I must say I loved her humor and the sincere heartfelt comments she shared with us. Just a real walk down memory lane which is what the show is supposed to be. At one point she mentioned to the younger members of the audience that if they were trying to figure out who she was that she is the mother of Queen Leah from the the movie Starwars. I thought it was funny the way she pulled that one off.

In any case, I think OLOC was well represented. Shaba Barnes and Ruth Debra did very well with their speeches. The mostly forty and fifty year olds who attended our session titled "OLd Lesbians Organizing for Change" appeared to be ready and anxious to join us one day when they reach the age of 60 themselves. It was fun all the way around. We got some gambling in and came home with some money which is better than coming home with Notta. . When we got home all our flowers were in full bloom especially the azaleas and irises. The weather is foggy and cold early morning and later at night and during the day kind of on the warmer side so that is good growing weather I think. I am happy to be home. 6 days in Vegas is a bit much.

Off to the American Society on Aging Conference in Las Vegas

I am leaving for a week to attend American Society on Aging meetings in Las Vegas. We ( Sharon and Mina) will give a presentation about our organization with OLOC Steering Committee members and a former member of Old Lesbians Organizing for Change, our history, philosophy, what we do, how we impact Old Lesbians and in my case how I developed and process our research requirements for applicants attempting to do research and who request access via ads about the research sent to OLOC membership newsletter and lists. Wed. 4-5 pm. Paris-Versailles Mo 277

I will also co present a powerpoint presentation on The Older Adult Center located on my campus of Cal. State Univ. Dominguez Hills. The co-presenter is Ritwik Nath, who recently graduated from the Gerontology Option at CSUDH. Ritwik is Director of the Older Adult Center and I am the faculty adviser of the OAC. We will be sharing our experiences and provide information about the Center which includes trends and future issues. Our session is Monday 12:30-1:30. Paris. Bordeaux WE 14

Looking forward to seeing and networking when I get there.

SRaphael

The Report: Gay Unions won't be in Census

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The Report: Gay unions won't be in census taken from Smart Brief

Mina and I are quoted in this article.

SRaphael

By John Canalis, Staff Writer Long Beach Press-Telegram
Posted: 03/08/2009 10:09:54 PM PDT

No matter the legal fate of Proposition 8, the 2010 Census will not count same-sex marriages or ask respondents about their sexual orientation.

The federal Defense of Marriage Act signed in 1996 by President Bill Clinton does not recognize gay unions sanctioned by states.

Census takers will ask same-sex couples who live together to define themselves as "unmarried partners," as they did in 2000 before some states - currently only Connecticut and Massachusetts - allowed gay marriage.

"This is all about the numbers. This not about lifestyle or anything else," says U.S. Census spokeswoman Cynthia Endo.

The omission of gay marriage and sexuality questions on the census bothers some gays and lesbians, who argue that a proper accounting would give them the same visibility as minorities, who gain political power when their numbers increase.

"I am a sociologist and census data \ very important to our existence, and I don't like it when they leave things out, it causes an undercount," says Sharon Raphael, 67, who teaches gerontology at Cal State Dominguez Hills. "Certain numbers of us are not out, and when they hide us under these general descriptions ... it just makes us more invisible."

Raphael's partner, Mina Meyer, 69, says she will probably check the "married" box when the census form arrives at their East Long Beach home.

"Somebody needs to read that, somebody in those offices needs to know there are people out

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here who are married," Meyer says, adding that she and Raphael married in California when it was legal last year.
Though the census will not count gay marriages, domestic partnerships, civil union or the numbers of gays and lesbians, the questionnaire should provide some insight, albeit indirectly, into those areas.

The census form, Endo says, allows respondents to identify the number of adults in a given household and their relationship. Along with husband and wife, one of those choices is "unmarried partner."

If two people of the same sex identify as husband and husband or wife and wife, the census will retain that answer, but when results are released those people will be counted as unmarried partners.

"The census is all about self-identification," Endo says. "We don't ask that question \ on the census at all, but certain information can be gleaned from that if two people are living ... in the house."

Same-sex couples with children will not be categorized as "families" on the census. Children will be counted as belonging to single parents, those "unmarried partners."

"That's totally unfair," Raphael says. "We should be treated the same. First of all, it's just not good science to leave us out for some dumb political reason."

Gary Gates, a demographer at the UCLA School of Law, says federal law limits census questions to topics for which there is funding, such as income's influence on poverty funding.

There is not a federal funding category for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered, or LGBT, communities.

"The truth is there is no federal legislation that would be relevant on having information on LGBT people," he says.

He calls that situation a "classic Catch-22" because it is hard to properly assess needs of a group that has not been counted.

"We have no population-based survey that asks sexual orientation annually in this country," Gates says, adding that health care is one obvious place where an accurate LGBT count would help.

He encourages cities like Long Beach to use community surveys to get information on the gay community the federal government does not gather.

Conservative groups tend to support the census the way it is. In a statement, ProtectMarriage.com, a group that backed Proposition 8, says, "The way that the federal government looks at it is the way that the law says it should be in California."

It is too late to add questions before 2010. Congress, by law, must approve the questions for the census no later than two years in advance of the count.

"It takes an act of Congress to change the questions on the census forms," Endo says. "If somebody would want something changed they would have to start petitioning now."

john.canalis@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1273