During the month of July, we will be focusing our energies on taking positive actions on issues related to the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Intesex, Transgender, Queer or questioning (BGILTQ) community.

Here is a brief list of the planned activities:

• July 10: Second Sunday Collection Supporting Rainbow Lodge
• July 10 - July 31: Rainbow Lodge Kitchenware Drive
• July 25: Before Stonewall Video and Discussion Group
• July 30: Pride Parade with UU First Church of San Diego
• July 31: Letter-writing Party
• Ongoing at the SJM table – Notices of political action opportunities and information related to BGILTQ and other social justice issues.

Second Sunday Collection Supporting Rainbow Lodge
Our Second Sunday offering will support Rainbow Lodge, which will provide permanent, affordable housing for youth 18-24, including BGILTQ and HIV-positive young adults. Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Intersex, Transgender, Queer or Questioning (BGILTQ) youth are at particularly high risk for homelessness. As these youth struggle with their sexual identities and face less than supportive families, there are seldom safe places for them to turn. Their lives consist of couch crashing or sleeping on the streets, dumpster diving, and drug abuse.

The San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center (The Center) provides a variety of services to the BGILTQ community. Over the last three years, The Center, has performed some incredible work to address this problem. On January 27, 2005, The Center announced its plans for an innovative youth housing project. This cutting-edge effort is designed to provide permanent, affordable housing for youth 18-24, including BGILTQ and HIV-positive young adults.

Kitchenware Drive for Rainbow Lodge
Throughout the month of July, we will be collecting kitchenware to outfit the kitchens at Rainbow Lodge. The cupboards are bare, so let your imagination and your generous hearts be your guides in determining what you can donate. Our goal is to help transform these new facilities into functional, welcoming homes, by furnishing the “heart” of the home, the kitchen.

Don’t be concerned about duplicates. If we find ourselves in the happy circumstance of collecting too much of any one thing, the Homes of Hope project and other housing projects in the San Diego area will joyfully help us with this “problem.”
Please bring your donations to the Social Justice Ministry table immediately before or after service. The items needed include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Crockery - Dishes. Glasses, Bowls, Mugs/coffee cups, Serving plates and bowls
• Cookware – Pots, Pans, Skillets, Bakeware, Measuring cups and spoons
• Utensils – Silverware, Knives, Spatulas, Peelers, Graters
• Misc. Items. – Cutting boards, Placemats, Kitchen towels, Salt and pepper shakers

Before Stonewall Video and Discussion Group

Immediately after service , on July 24, we will be showing an excerpt of the video, Before Stonewall, followed by a discussion of the historic and future battles of the Gay Liberation movement. In 1969, the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New Your City, leading to three nights of rioting in the city’s gay community. With this outpouring of courage and unity, the Gay Liberation Movement had begun.

This widely acclaimed film presents a decade-by-decade history of homosexuality in America through eye-opening historical footage and amazing interviews with those who lived through an often brutal history. You owe it to yourself to experience this small portion of Before Stonewall.

Pride Parade
The UU of First Church has once again secured a colorful Old Town "Trolley" to carry us through the parade. The Trolley will leave the First UU parking lot promptly at 9:30 a.m. on the morning of July 30 to carry us to the Parade site. Wear comfortable, “rainbow” colored clothes, sensible walking shoes, hats and sunscreen. Bring water and snacks for yourself. We ask that unless you intend to use them throughout the parade, please leave your strollers and bicycles at the church.

Those who can't catch the Trolley with us at Church can park in the lots at Park Boulevard and Presidents Way and ride a Pride Shuttle to the Parade Starting point. After the Parade, the Trolley can drop you at the Festival Site or back at the Church. The Shuttle can take you from the Festival Site to the Presidents Way parking lot.
When San Diego's first Pride march took place 31 years ago down Broadway, its participants could not have imagined traversing down a mile-long parade route lined with 150,000 applauding spectators. The handfuls of brave activists who marched back then recall being afraid of losing their jobs or becoming ostracized in a climate that incited fear and hatred from those witnessing the event from the sidelines.
The San Diego LGBT Pride parade embodies more than 200 floats and contingents from myriad sectors of the LGBT community, including straight supporters, local politicians and community churches and businesses. It is an enormous spectacle not to be missed!

Letter-Writing Party
Sunday, July 31 marks the final day of the 31st Annual Pride Celebration in San Diego. In recognition of this event, we will be hosting a letter-writing party in the patio immediately after service. Grab some coffee and a treat and join us. Write your congressperson or your newspaper concerning pending BGILTQ legislation or issues of general concern. Writing materials, contact information, and information about pending legislation will be available. Some possible activities are:

• Letters to the Editor concerning unfair or biased stories in the press
• Letters to the CA Assembly regarding their pending vote on The Marriage Equality Act
• Letters to the U.S. Senate regarding The Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act