Mama's Health News

Did You Know?

Corporate War on the People

Youth/ Disabled/  Gay news

Resistance in the War
Against the Poor

OTHER WINTER 2008 ARTICLES

Lesbian author and activist, Rule died on Nov. 27 at age 76.  Rule’s 1964 book Desert of the Heart was one of the first lesbian novels where the lesbians were not punished or killed. Rule also mentored young writers. And she created a loan program for artists without credit.

The first LGBT nursing home in Europe is opening in Berlin. The city's gay mayor, Klaus Wowereit, has backed the project from start to finish. The four-floor building will accommodate 28 residents. They will have high-tech rooms with private bathrooms.

 The Advocate

150 LGBT students protested a lecture by Ryan Sorba at Michigan State University in September. Sorba’s states that all persons are born heterosexual and homosexuality is “unatural and immoral.” The lecture was sponsored by the rightwing Young Americans for Freedom  (YAF).

            With colorful signs and rainbow flags, the protesters vastly outnumbered the audience. The protesters sat down for the pledge of allegiance. When Sorba many times stumbled on his words, the protesters applauded.

Uganda lesbian writer, Monica Arac de Nyeko won the Caine Prize for African Writing with a story about lesbian love. “Jambula Tree” depicts a relationship between adolescent girls in a country where same-sex love is illegal. The prize bestows $20,000 and a one-month residency at a US university.

Brenda and Wanda Henson are the founders of Camp Sister Spirit in Mississippi. It is a feminist resource center and folk school that addresses social issues. It hosts the yearly Gulf Coast Womyn’s Festival. Camp Sister Spirit coordinated food distribution after Hurricane Katrina. Their daughter Andie Gibbs-Henson and her partner, Terri Valenti now run the camp.

In Oct. Brenda was admitted to Jefferson Memorial Hospital with stage four colon cancer. She came out of kidney failure and congestive heart failure. But she had a pulmonary embolism when they tried to move her out of ICU.

            Brenda’s family had to fight for Wanda, Brenda’s life partner, to have spousal privileges and for her to see Brenda’s chart. One night the docs said she was “gone.” The family said their goodbyes to her. The next morning her kidneys had kicked in and she was awake! But hospital officials wouldn’t let the family in to see her. They called security and told them to calm down. They said that Brenda wasn’t alone, “Jesus was with her.”

            Dr. Yunas refused to air vac Brenda to St. Vincent Doctors Hospital in Little Rock. The family had to hire an ambulance to transport her 40 miles to the hospital. Dr. Yunas removed her second IV line. If she had blown her line on the trip, there would have been no way to administer emergency drugs. The cardiologist at St. Vincent was amazed that there was no EKG in her chart. They never gave her one after the pulmonary embolism.

            Brenda is back home. Activists can send her cards. They can also send complaints to the Pine Bluff Hospital 1600 W. 40^th Ave, Pine Bluff AR 71603 and contributions to Camp Sister Spirit, PO Box 12, Ovett, MS 39464.

The Pentagon established Threat and Local Observation Notices (TALON) in 2002. It collects information about people and organizations that might be threats to the armed services. Two years ago it was used to spy on campus groups protesting the military’s ban on gay members. The groups learned about this surveillance last year.

            TALON was recommended for shutdown last April after several groups sued over it. The “don’t ask, don’t tell” watchdog group Service Members Legal Defense Network successfully sued TALON. Now Pentagon officials say TALON should be shut down.

What happens to our land when we die or can no longer care for them ourselves? The Lesbian and Women’s Land Preservation Project (LPP) wants to help. It is a program of Woman, Earth and Spirit, which also sponsors Maize, the Landyke & Lesbian Documentary Media Projects & Library. Wiseheart Farm in Ohio and Outland in New Mexico are creating programs to address our needs in preserving lands.

            Their goals:

1. A bank of dependable women to be on a land for days, weeks, seasons or even permanently.

2. A fund and structure to pay the ongoing expenses.

3. A maintenance fund to make sure that basic maintenance is done on each land.

4. A structure to provide information and consultation to help women evaluate and understand their needs about lands, homes or property,

5. A vehicle to hold title to land if that is what wimmin are looking for.

            LPP also wants to build a Library, Archives and Arts Center at Outland or elsewhere. This center is to preserve Landyke and Lesbian culture around the world. They want to encourage, teach, present and preserve Expressions of all kinds—art, movement, media etc. They will provide stipends and space for creative retreats. They have already contacted a volunteer attorney to address these issues.

            Landykes in Oregon and OWL Trust are exploring ways to preserve and pass on lands so they remain in women’s hands. The goal is also to continue to nourish women on the land. OWL Farm has 44 mostly wooded acres. They put 41 of them into the Nature Conservancy’s Forest Bank program. This program pays them not to cut woods they weren’t going to cut anyway. They get a nice check that pays taxes and insurance with money left over. They have willed the woods to Nature Conservancy. The dykes in Oregon could contact Nature Conservancy to see if they can get Forest Bank started there.

The Brazilian government handed out 19.5 million condoms during Brazil’s five-day Carnaval. They also gave out morning-after pills in the city of Recife.

            About 80% of men polled by the Health Ministry reported using condoms. Just 40% of women said they insist on it. Nearly 600,000 Brazilians are HIV-positive. 200,000 of them are being treated. Brazil’s AIDS treatment program provides free antiviral medications.