Monday, 26 Oct 2009: Conference at Carleton University

Gay rights in Russia: from freedom of assembly to same sex marriage

The first Russian lesbian couple seeking to get married will be speaking at Carleton about their struggle. They are eager to share their story after having their wedding ceremony performed in Toronto and before their return to Russia, where not only the validity of their licence will likely be rejected, but where they may also face intimidation, harassment and even detention. Nikolai Alekseev, the President of Gay Russia, a non-governmental organization fighting pioneering legal
battles to secure the rights of the GLBT community in Russia, will be accompanying this couple and will speak about the campaign for same-sex marriage in his country, as well as about the European Court of Human Rights case he is currently pursuing on Freedom of Assembly for
beleaguered Pride parade participants in Moscow.

Date: Monday 26 October 2009

Time: 2:00-3:30 pm

Location: 2017 Dunton Tower, Carleton University

Asterisk article

Hospital Forces Lesbian to Die Alone; Judge Gives Stamp of Approval

Posted by Matt in DOMA, Marriage, News, Politics on September 30th, 2009

U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan dismissed a lawsuit yesterday, essentially finding that the Jackson Memorial Hospital was within its rights to leave a dying woman alone while denying her present and immediate family to visit her, be updated on her condition, or even to provide the hospital with medically necessary information.

Named in the now-dismissed suit were Jackson social worker Garnett Frederick and attending physicians Alois Zauner and Carlos Alberto Cruz, who made the decision not to allow Janice Langbehn, Lisa Pond’s partner, to have standard family access to information, even after receiving durable Power of Attorney and a Living Will naming Janice as legal guardian with authority to make end-of-life decisions.

Jennifer Piedra, spokesperson for Jackson Memorial, released this statement after Judge Jordan said they could continue to turn [lesbian and gay] people away from their dying family members:

We have always believed and known that the staff at Jackson treats everyone equally, and that their main concern is the well-being of the patients in their care. At Jackson Health System, we believe in a culture of inclusion. For more than 90 years, the institution has taken great pride in serving everyone who enters its doors, regardless of race, creed, religious beliefs or sexual orientation. We also employ a very diverse workforce, one that mirrors the community we serve.

Jackson will continue to work with the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community to ensure that everyone knows they are welcome at all of our facilities, where they will receive the highest quality of medical care.

Yes, that sounds perfectly reasonable. If only there were a way to judge their words against their actions. Oh wait, there is, and guess what! They’re completely and plainly full of it! In March, Janice told the story of Lisa’s final hours:

On February 18, 2007, Lisa Pond, my partner of nearly 18 years and 3 of our 4 adopted children: Danielle, David and Katie were on board the Rfamily cruise preparing to set sail. Before leaving port, Lisa suddenly collapsed while watching the children play basketball. The kids were banging on the stateroom door saying, “Mommy was hurt!” I opened the door, and took one look at Lisa and knew the situation was very serious. As a medical social worker for many years, I have seen people in critical condition. I knew that my life partner was gravely ill. As the ship was about to leave, we had no choice but to seek medical help in an unfamiliar city. After local medics arrived, we hurried off the ship to the closest hospital in Miami, Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

As Lisa was put into the ambulance I had no idea when she signed “I love you” to the kids and I it would be the last time I would see her beautiful blue eyes. We arrived at the trauma center minutes before her ambulance. I tried to follow her gurney into the trauma area and was stopped by the trauma team and told to go to the waiting room. The kids and I did as we were told.

We arrived shortly after 3:30 in the afternoon, around 4pm, a social worker came out and introduced himself as Garnett Frederick and said, “you are in an anti-gay city and state. And without a health care proxy you will not see Lisa nor know of her condition”. He then turned to leave; I stopped him and asked for his fax number because I said “we had legal Durable Powers of Attorney” and would get him the documents. Within a short time of meeting this social worker, I contacted friends in Lacey, WA, our hometown, who went to our house and faxed the legal documents required for me to make medical decisions for Lisa.

I never imagined as I paced that tiny waiting room that I would not see Lisa’s bright blue eyes again or hold her warm, loving hands. Feeling helpless as I continued to wait, I attempted to sneak back into the trauma bay but all the doors to the trauma area had key codes, preventing me from entering. Sitting alone with our luggage, our children and my thoughts, I watched numbly as other families were invited back into the trauma center to visit with loved ones. I was still waiting to hear what was happening with Lisa, realizing as the time passed that I was not being allowed to see her and if the social worker’s words were any indication it was because we were gay.

Anger, despair and disbelief wracked my brain as I tried to figure out a way to find out what was going on with Lisa. I finally thought to call our family doctor back in Olympia (on a Sunday afternoon at home) to see if she could find out what was happening. While on the phone with our doctor in Olympia, a surgeon appeared. The surgeon told me that Lisa, who was just 39 years old, had suffered massive bleeding in her brain from an aneurysm.

A short while later, two more surgeons appeared and explained the massive bleed in Lisa’s brain gave her little chance to survive and if she did it would be in a persistent vegetative state. Lisa had made me promise to her over and over in our 18 years together to never allow this to happen to her. I let the surgeons know Lisa wishes, which were also spelled out in her Living Wills and Advance Directive. I was then promised by the doctors that I would be brought to see Lisa as “soon as she was cleaned up”. At that point all life saving measures ceased and I asked that she be prepared for organ donation.

Yet, the children and I continued to wait and wait. A Hospital Chaplain appeared and asked if I wanted to pray and I looked at her dumbfounded as if I hadn’t already been doing that for over four hours. I immediately asked for a Catholic Priest to perform Lisa’s Last rites. A short time later, a Catholic priest escorted me back to recite the Last Rites and it was my first time in nearly 5hrs of seeing Lisa. After seeing her I knew the children needed to see her immediately and be able to say their goodbyes and begin the grieving process. Yet the priest escorted me back out to the waiting room. Where I was faced with the young faces of our beautiful children to explain “other mommy” was going to heaven.

1967 - 2007" title="Lisa Marie Pond
1967 - 2007" class="size-full wp-image-851" width="300" height="200">

Lisa Marie Pond
1967 - 2007

I continued to assert myself over the ensuing hours again that we needed to be with Lisa. I even showed the Admitting clerk the children’s birth certificates with both Lisa and my name on them… and said if you won’t let me back, let her children be with her. I was told they were “too young”. I thought how old do you need to be to say goodbye to your mother?

In nearly eight hours, Lisa lay at Ryder Trauma Center moving toward brain death – completely alone and I continue to this day to feel like a failure for not being there to hold her hand to tell her how much we loved her, to comfort her and to sign in her hand “I love you”. All my pleas fell on deaf ears.

Lisa’s sister arrived driving straight from Jacksonville as soon as I knew Lisa would not survive. She announced who she was and I was at her side staring at the same person who had been denying me access all those hours. It was only then that I was told Lisa had been moved almost an hour earlier to ICU… and the hospital just kept the children and I waiting in the same waiting room, where Lisa was not even at.

On Monday February 19, 2007 at 10:45am, Lisa was officially declared Brain Dead. It was then that individuals from the Organ Donation Agency became involved (who I must point out are completely separate professionals from Jackson Memorial Hospital) that I finally was validated as Lisa’s spouse. They asked me which organs she wanted donated.

The Langbehn-Pond Family

Explain to me again how a straight couple would have been split like this even for five minutes, let alone hours. Explain to me how three children would have been kept from their straight mother’s side, how a dying straight person would be treated in such an cruel, vicious, I-don’t-have-enough-words way.

Tell me again why the word “marriage” doesn’t matter. Tell me again that we should just be patient and not rock the boat.

Better yet, tell it to Lisa Pond’s partner and children.

Yesterday a judge shrugged his shoulders and left LGBT victims unprotected. When will Americans demand better? Will Americans demand better?

Article taken from: http://blog.mattalgren.com/2009/09/hospital-forces-lesbian-to-die-alone/

First Women, First Voices advance ticket sales

Don't risk being turned away at the door!

We're now a week away from the event and advance tickets are definitely going to sell out. This is great news for us, but we don't want you to be disappointed and miss out on this spectacular event!

There will only be a LIMITED number of tix available at the door the night of the event.

Here's the ticket info:
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at VENUS ENVY (320 Lisgar, near Bank) or MOTHER TONGUE BOOKS (1067 Bank near Sunnyside).

You can also get tickets ONLINE at: http://www.facebook.com/l/dfac4;www.firstwomenfirstvoices.eventbrite.com

Looking forward to seeing all of you there, and thanks for your enthusiastic support!
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Event info and details:
When: Friday, October 23, 2009 from 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM (ET)
Where: Mac Hall, Bronson Centre (211 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa)

Ladyfest Ottawa is thrilled to present First Women, First Voices - a night dedicated to showcasing and celebrating the work of aboriginal women in spoken word.

We'll begin this powerful evening with opening sets by TAQRALIK PARTRIDGE and by MOE CLARK & EMILIE MONNET, who will be debuting an excerpt of their new collaborative project, The BirdSong Prophecies.

TAQRALIK PARTRIDGE http://www.myspace.com/taqralikpartridge
MOE CLARK http://www.myspace.com/moeclarkspokenword
EMILIE MONNET http://www.electriques.ca/filles/artistes.e/m/monnet_em.php

Our featured artist for the evening is Calgary's Sarah Murphy, who will be presenting her performance piece "when bill danced the war." In this fierce anti-war critique of colonization, Murphy uses words and music to bear witness to her father's experiences fighting in three wars as an indigenous man and american soldier. She will be accompanied by Toronto musician and performance artist Cheryl L'Hirondelle.

SARAH MURPHY http://www.wordhoard.co.uk/bill.htm
CHERYL L'HIRONDELLE http://www.myspace.com/cheryllhirondelle

Ottawa Feminists RebELLEs meeting - rencontre de féministes RebELLEs Ottawa

The Ottawa RebELLEs is a young Ottawa Feminist Network that has adopted the Feminist Manifesto compiled at the Pan-Canadian Young Feminist Conference (Montreal, Oct 2008) in its entirety. Membership is open to any feminist, regardless of age or gender identification.

Interested in being part of the movement? Come to the next meeting!

Date: Sunday, 18 October 2009
Time: 2:00pm
Place: Raw Sugar Cafe (692 Somerset St W, Ottawa)

Can't make the meeting, but would like to be a member? Contact ottawarebelles@gmail.com.

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Le réseau de jeunes féministes RebELLEs d'Ottawa ont adopté le manifeste compilé lors de la conférence pancanadienne de jeunes féministes qui a eu lieu à Montréal en octobre 2008. Le groupe est ouverte à tout(e) féministe.

Intéressé à faire partie du mouvement? Joignez-vous à notre prochaine rencontre!

Date: Dimanche le 18 octobre 2009
Heure: 14:00
Lieu: Café Raw Sugar (692 Somerset O., Ottawa)

Vous ne pouvez pas vous déplacer pour cette rencontrer mais désirez vous joindre à nous? Envoyez-nous un courriel: ottawarebelles@gmail.com

Decision Time on EI (From ACORN Canada)

As we all know, labour issues and the fight against poverty is central to feminist struggles. With that in mind I share with you this message from ACORN Canada:

With politicians declaring to Canadians that the Recession is over, the Bank of Canada is reporting that "...the economy has continued to shed jobs (albeit at a slowing rate), average hours worked have fallen, and the unemployment rate has risen to its highest level in 11 years."

Even worse, of the nearly 1.6 million out of work Canadians only about 45% qualify for Employment Insurance.

Let's send a message to the members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance that the next Federal Budget needs to fix EI to protect laid-off workers. Click below to take action:

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/2749/c/4714/t/5097/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2992

ACORN Canada along with our friends at the Good Jobs for All coalition are calling for reforms that will:

• Reduce the number of hours to 360 so that more workers in the precarious job market can access EI.
• Increase the number of weeks people can receive EI to at least 50 weeks in all regions.
• Increase benefits to at least 60% of normal earnings, using workers' 12 best weeks, and raise the maximum.

Click the link below to send a message to the Committee members:

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/2749/c/4714/t/5097/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2992

Employment Insurance is a key piece of Canada's social safety net, and an important economic stabilizer. In past decades EI support was deeper and longer, and EI reduced the shock of job losses on working families and their communities.

Now is the time to expand EI to protect workers, their families and vulnerable communities.

4th Annual Sisters in Spirit Vigil in Ottawa

The Native Women’s Association of Canada proudly presents…

4th Annual Sisters In Spirit Vigil
Sunday, October 4th 2009
Ottawa, ON

Come light a candle for our missing and murdered Aboriginal Sisters In Spirit

4-6pm: Community Feast
University of Ottawa, Desmarais Bldg (55 Laurier Avenue East)
Entertainment, Food, Speakers

6pm: Unity March
U of O to Parliament Hill

7–8pm: Rally on the Hill
Welcome, Family Stories, Vigil

Call 613.722.3033 for information

In collaboration with:

Amnesty International Canada
KAIROS
National Association of Friendship Centres
Canadian Federation of Students