October 11, 2000
National Coming Out Day
Announcements
The next monthly Happy Hour will be October 27, 2000, at Gabriel’s, at the Radisson Barcelo Hotel, 2121 P Street, NW, Washington, DC. It will begin at 6:00 PM and end about 8:00 PM. Interior GLOBE will hold monthly happy hours on the fourth Friday of every month at Gabriel’s.
AIDS WALK DC Report
There was some concern that the Interior AIDS Walk Team did not have a large showing for this year’s AIDS Walk DC. Several GLOBE members made pledges. Daphne was not present to report on the actual number of participants in the Walk, but her report will be given later.
GLOBE Bulletin Board
Because the information on Interior GLOBE has been removed three times from the Departmentally recognized employee bulletin board, Bob Veltkamp has spoken with the National Business Center’s Office of Facilities and will follow up on creating a solution to this situation. It was felt that a plastic cover over the material would work.
Status of the Newsletter
Maria Wiseman had a draft copy of the newsletter, which will be finalized by the end of the month. Thanks go to Tami Heilemann for her work on this project.
Status of the By-Laws Approval
In an October 6, 2000, memo from Carolyn Cohen to Interior GLOBE President Wiseman, Ms. Cohen indicated that her office had reviewed the new by-laws and accepted them as the new by-laws for the Interior GLOBE employee organization. Ms. Cohen’s memo stated that the by-laws did not require a Departmental signature. Subsequently, the officers of Interior GLOBE signed the original set of them. Maria will forward a copy of the signed set to the Department for their records.
By-laws will also be sent to all members for their information under separate cover.
Employee Assistance Program
Information on the revised EAP, which includes services for domestic partners of gay, lesbian and bisexual employees, is in the final surnaming process. Thanks to Richard Nolan for his work on this project.
DI-1935 Amendment
Richard Nolan is also preparing a package for OMB review which proposes including additional information on the existing employee information form, currently used to gather data on race, gender, ethnicity and other demographics. The package must be reviewed and cleared by OMB before the Department and its Offices and Bureaus may begin to use the form to collect information on the number of gay and lesbian employees.
Relocation Assistance Program
The revised Relocation Assistance Program policy, which would permit same sex and non-married couples to receive relocation assistance from Interior Offices and Bureaus, is in surnaming. Richard Nolan was also responsible for the revision that was sent forward. Thanks, Richard!!!
Planning for the Holiday Party December 15, 2000
Jim and Gregg will again host this year's Holiday Party. Complete information will be sent to all Washington area members, but any GLOBE Members who are in town during that time are invited to attend. As in years past, the premise of the party is sharing:
This year we will commemorate the good work of Assistant Secretary John Berry at this event. John has accepted our invitation even though by then he will be the Executive Director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
If you need more information, please call Jim at 202-208-6571.
GLOBE Volunteer Effort with Food and Friends
The Interior GLOBE is once again looking for a few good men and women to help out at the evening meal time at Food and Friends. Two dates were suggested, October 25 and November 1. Please let Jay Douglas know via email if you can make either or both dates. Jay's e-mail address is: Jay_Douglas@blm.gov
GLOBE Elections
Next month, during the monthly meeting, a committee of three members will be selected to become the elections committee, as prescribed by the Interior GLOBE by-laws. This committee will oversee the nominations for offices in December and the balloting that will occur one week after that meeting. The Executive Committee requests that all members please be thinking about helping out with the management and operation of Interior GLOBE.
Contact by NPS Unit
Jay Douglas was contacted by a unit of the National Park Service which requested support in recruiting gay and lesbian employees to work in the park. Fire Island National Seashore is looking to increase the visibility of gay and lesbian Service members. Interior GLOBE will support this effort by sharing the list of college and university gay and lesbian organizations as well as putting the vacancy announcement on our website. Any member of Interior GLOBE who would be interested should contact Jay Douglas at his email address.
Federal GLOBE Fall Social
Federal GLOBE, in conjunction with DOT GLOBE and the Headquarters Chapter of FAA GLOBE, will be hosting a Fall Social at the Banana Café and Piano Bar, 500 8th St. SE , Washington D.C. on Thursday, October 19, 2000, from 5:30 to 7:30PM. Hors d'oeuvres will be served.
This will be your opportunity to meet the Federal GLOBE Board of Directors as well as GLOBE members from a variety of different agencies, and we hope that you can attend. Please RSVP to kitti@fedglobe.org no later than Monday, October 16, 2000, if you will be able to join us.
Revised: 10/22/00
Robert_J_Veltkamp@nbc.gov