April 9, 2003
Planning for June Pride
Charlene and Shenee brought the group up to speed on the status of the planning that has occurred to date for the June Pride celebration. A letter has been prepared inviting Congressman Kolbe to be the keynote speaker; it will be ready by Friday for Mike Trujillo’s signature. The auditorium has been reserved for June 24-25-26, depending on the Congressman’s availability. The group discussed whether to include other groups in the celebration with an opportunity to speak on behalf of their program; suggestions included Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Whitman Walker Clinic, Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL), and Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). Light refreshments will be served and are already coordinated. The celebration is planned for 10:30 to noon, with the program starting at 11:00 AM. Possible entertainment was discussed, with the Not What You Think ensemble the top consideration, if they can be available. John asked if there are other possible performers that the group could share with him for the USGS to invite to their Diversity Days. Charlene and Shenee recommended that the heads of both sponsoring organizations be invited to address the gathering, perhaps one giving the opening remarks and the other doing the closing. To prepare talking points for them, the group asked that Jay identify what the national theme is for this year. The Office of Educational Partnerships is willing to help develop posters. One suggestion was to station a splash screen in the lobby, displaying images of famous gay individuals. Bob volunteered to get the notice into the Blade.
The group decided to add the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Diversity Days to the Pride calendar. John discussed USGS’s 2-day celebration of diversity, with guest speakers, a panel discussion, booths for each special emphasis group, and food and entertainment. The USGS program will be held June 3 and 4, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM each day.
The group recommended asking Maria for suggestions on videos regarding sexual orientation issues that could be presented during the month. The group also decided to invite a financial planner with an emphasis on domestic partners to be available one day during the month. Although this was presented last year, there was extremely limited participation. The group recommended an all-employee e-mail to try to target a larger audience this year (all domestic partners, not just gays and lesbians). The group also decided to try for a luncheon social one day during the month. And lastly, it was suggested that Interior attempt to coordinate with the General Services Administration GSA and the Office of Personnel Management to see if there could be any joint activities.
The floor was opened for nominations for the John Berry Award, to be presented at the June Pride celebration. Mike Trujillo’s name was forwarded. Melodee Stith (Office for Equal Opportunity Director) had previously indicated that she had some suggestions, if GLOBE was interested. Ike was asked to research last year’s minutes to see what other names had been put forward at that time to see if any of those could be recycled this year. It was decided that the nomination period would close with the May meeting and a vote made so that the nominee could be identified in time for him or her to be able to plan to be present.
Revised:
05/17/03
Robert_J_Veltkamp@nbc.gov