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"Shakin’ It Up" is the theme for the 1998 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Parade and Celebration. By the time you receive this mailing, this annual event will have already taken place, including the fabulous parade in which our float and walkers marched proudly as the 22nd contingent. However, the theme still lingers within us . . . Shakin’ it up! What are we shakin’ and who are we shakin’ it to?

To answer this question, let us revisit the first issue of Dignity Spirit (April, 1997). In it, we challenged ourselves and our chapter with a vision of service, specifically in the form of outreach to each other, to the greater LGBT community and to the world. Since then, Dignity has outreached via its own multicultural task force, including the hiring of a consultant; by distributing over 4000 rainbow ribbons during Solidarity Sunday ’97; through tithing fund disbursements over the past two years to various deserving organizations; by voicing our opinions on the recent Bishops’ pastoral letter; and through our various 25th Anniversary events.

However, we aren’t done shakin’ it up yet! We, as a community, need to be OUT more in the spirit of SERVICE and we have a wonderful new opportunity to do so. We will need your support and active participation to make it a reality. In the July Second Sunday Supper, we will call for a community consultation to present the proposal for our chapter to hire our own Pastoral Leader. This person will be responsible for centering and focusing our chapter’s pastoral needs and goals into fruition. This will include service and outreach in various forms to our members and to the greater LGBT community, something that our chapter is in dire need of, in order to shake things up!

This idea arose from the Worship Committee in conversations with Fr.William Odom-Green. The committee presented the idea to the board during the June meeting. They suggested that the person we hire should report directly to the Co-chairs. We thought that it would be a good idea to try out the program with Fr. William who is currently available and willing to commit to serving us in this capacity through the end of 1999. This will give us the edge to implement this new initiative right away. This is a unique opportunity to forge a new model of pastoral leadership in the LGBT Roman Catholic community in a pilot study, the results of which we will evaluate in the Fall of 1999. We hope to see all of you at the Second Sunday Potluck Supper on July 12th so you can hear details of the plan, and give us your suggestions and comments. If you think you might not be able to attend, please send us your thoughts at our voice mail (Angelo 415-751-6178 or Gino 925-778-7411 ext 2, e-mail: ginopaul@aol.com).

We have heard many wonderful suggestions and proposals on how we can build a closer, more intimate community and, at the same time, do more effective outreach. Most of these ideas, however, require a good amount of dedication from each one of us. One is to form a committee that will be known as Dignity’s Media Watchdogs. This group would respond to media articles regarding issues of homophobia or violence against LGBT communities via a letter of protest or condemnation. Another suggestion was made for Dignity to form a group who will peacefully attend services once a month at different Bay Area Catholic churches to represent Dignity by our presence and to remind the church of the need to acknowledge and affirm the rights of its baptized LGBT members. To the extent possible, this will be done in conjunction with the pastors and parish staff, perhaps through the efforts of parishioner contacts. This is one way for us to re-establish friendly ties wherein we can promote the Bishops’ pastoral letter encouraging parents to love and support their gay children. We can also gather support for Solidarity Sunday, which provides an excellent opportunity for people to display this love and support in a visible way. Please contact your Co-chairs and let us know in which project you would like to be involved!

Thanks, too, for all your prayers for our members Mac McGrath, Henry Chau, Trudy Guella-Cullen, and Tom Montgomery, who are recovering successfully from various surgeries. Continued prayers are requested for our members Tom Ryan and Manny Fernandes who continue to battle with their physical ailments. May our Compassionate God, the Ultimate Physician, continue to give them hope and strength for the journey.

Last, but not least, we would like to thank the Parade Committee who worked patiently and diligently on our Pride float this year: Jim Paz, Chuck Perryman, Gilbert Gonzales, John Chavez, Ed Simmons, David Turner, Paul Giurlanda, Vince Phillips, Jim Remer, Henry Chau, Jim Fahy, Victoria Valencia, and all who marched with us and staffed our booth. Your Dignity Pride and Spirit is very much appreciated!

Believe it or not, we still have quite a few of the 25th Anniversary Crystal Ornaments left and at $10.00 apiece, they are a bargain! We paid $11.40 each for these babies. Please show your Dignity Pride by getting one or more for your Christmas Tree this year. Call Gino at 415-681-2491 to order or, better yet, mail your check payable to Dignity San Francisco, 1329 7th Avenue, SF, CA 94122-2507.

We hope you all have an enjoyable summer. Don’t forget to join the Dignity contingent in this year’s AIDS Walk fundraiser in Golden Gate Park on Sunday, July 19. See you there!

Last modified:  Saturday, June 14, 2008 09:34 PM Copyright © All Rights Reserved