Hi Friends,
May has arrived, and with it new ways to be involved and support each other. The most pressing, and the one I ask you to take action today or tomorrow is to ask legislators to oppose HB6, the transgender sports ban for all trans athletes K-University. The Higher Education committee will be hearing a 3rd day of testimony from 3rd parties on Wednesday, May 3. Please call or send an email to chair Tom Young. rep37@ohiohouse.gov or call his office at 614-466-6504 and ask him to vote No on this horrible bill. Please check out TransOhio or Equality Ohio’s Facebook or other social media for updates and contact information for the entire committee. I wish this wasn’t happening, but it is, and we have to do what we can to stop this from going forward. Thank you for your efforts. Trans athletes are part of the team…let’s keep them on!
Another way you can show support in Medina is on Monday, May 8 at Medina City Hall. 6:00pm
The final meeting of the Medina City Council regarding flying flags (including PRIDE flags) will be held, and a decision should be made. As this is a Finance Committee meeting, nobody will be allowed to speak, but we can show up in support. I’ll be there with rainbow stickers that allies can wear. While a little bird told me that we may not get our flags up, but banners (different than flags) will likely be the compromise. If this happens, OutSupport will purchase the banners, and provide them to the city. If you’d like to send an email to the mayor or Medina City Council, please do so…we often hear how much it means to have a show of support in Medina, and we hope to continue to see shows of support. Hope to see you there!
OutSupport is planning our 3rd Annual PRIDE Picnic and Chalk Art event on Thursday, June 8 from 6-8pm on the beautiful Medina Square! Please bring your picnic basket and blanket, and have a pleasant evening with each other. This year, we will have supportive community resources joining us on the Square, to show support and solidarity with LGBTQ+ people here in Medina County. OutSupport will provide dessert and chalk! We plan to have another “family photo”…last year, we had over 200 participants, and we hope to see YOU there this year!
We also want to make sure that you get a chance to look at the billboards that we have purchased for the month of June all around Medina County. From June 5-July 2, take a drive around Medina County and see our signs! Signs will be on Routes 42(N and S), 3, 18 (digital), 94 (Wadsworth) and will all have OutSupport’s message of Love is Love and Medina County Has PRIDE! Let us know what you think!! Paid for partially by a grant from the Gay Community Endowment Fund, for which we are very grateful!
As PRIDE month approaches, we are happy to share via Facebook all of the PRIDE events in Ohio…check out the Buckeye Flame for info about all the PRIDE events in Ohio in the coming weeks!
A Couple other events:
Pride Time at the Brunswick Library for teens……May 2 4:00-5:30pm
Pride Time at the Medina Library for teens…..May 10 4-5:30pm
Outed @ Hope Recovery Center. Thursdays @ 6:30 All LGBTQ+ and Allies in recovery Zoom and in Person
Drag Me to Dinner @ Williams on the Lake. August 19 tickets on Eventbrite!
OutSupport will be participating in Summa Pride Clinic’s Health LGBTQ+ Health Summit at Akron City Hospital on June 9! OutSupport purchased 4 binders for trans youth in need this month…we want to see trans youth as the beautiful people that they are! If you know of a youth who needs a binder, send them our way!
Last but certainly not least, we want to give a HUGE shout out to OutSupport’s fearless Vice President and Treasurer, Amy Demlow! Amy received the Leadership Medina County’s Excellence in Medina County Leadership Award in April. Amy does so many incredible things for Medina county, including all of the amazing work that she puts in for OutSupport. OutSupport wouldn’t be what it is without Amy’s expertise and insight (and hard work!!). Congratulations, Amy, for a well deserved award!
In solidarity,
Sandy
she/her