Two bits of news:

Uganda is considering the death penalty for gays. Check out the second-to-last paragraph: "In northern Nigeria, gay men can face death by stoning. Beyond Africa, a handful of Muslim countries, like Iran and Yemen, also have the death penalty for homosexuals." Discovering your sexuality (regardless of what that is) should be a new beginning in one's life, not the end of life itself.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/world/africa/04uganda.html

To provide some counterbalance to the Uganda posting: GO PORTUGAL!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8385935.stm

Q&A Update

Hello all! Please join us at our next meeting on Monday, November 23rd at 4pm in the Make-up Room. We will plan out the rest of the semester. And keep working on those pieces so you have a draft by December 1st. Thanks!

Meghan

It's official...

The conservatives eked out a victory with 53 percent of the vote. Gay marriage is not, I repeat, not legal in Maine.

Just in case you were living under a rock for the past 24 hours or so.

:'(

Articles & Organizations of Interest (links provided)

Articles and Organizations of Interest (links provided)

Lawrence King Murder in NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/23/us/23oxnard.html

Protect Maine Equality Website:

http://www.protectmaineequality.org/

NY Times Article on Broadened Hate Crimes Law (Oct. 2009):

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/us/politics/23hate.html

Human Rights Campaign Website:

http://www.hrc.org/

Matthew Shepard Story/Laramie Project 10 Years Later from NPR:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113663235

Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network:

http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/home/index.html

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:

http://www.thetaskforce.org/

A running list of ideas for Q&A scenes

Thank to everyone who attended today's meeting! Some of the ideas generated at Monday November 2nd's meeting include:

gay student in Catholic school

straight pride parade

gay agenda

life before and after Tuesday's vote

satire of position that gays were the cause of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina

closeted knitter (knitter metaphor for being gay)

Flag Day misunderstanding (Fag Day)

straight man who considers it a compliment to be thought gay

gays as a solution to overpopulation

women accepted in men's clothes/men not accepted in women's clothes

safe sex commercials as intermission material

trans bathroom issues

gay melodrama

Judaism & homosexuality

lesbians and gays in history

spoof of pc/mac commercial in which mac is gay

Please try to bring one of your pieces (even if it is in progress) to our next meeting on Monday, November 16th at 4:00pm. I look forward to seeing you then!

Best wishes,

Meghan

Welcome, First Meeting, and "No on 1" Assignment

Hello and welcome to the Q+A Writing project blog! This is where the members of the group can keep up with the project, as well as contribute their work, and their thoughts.

We had a meeting on Monday, October 26th, where we outlined a bit about what the project will entail, and figured out things like what we should do to enhance and/or document our progress during the project. We decided to start a facebook page and a blog (which is what you are reading right now, duh). We also watched a Colbert Report clip, and ate candy. You can't have queer theatre without m+m's! We adjourned after coming up with a meeting time for next week (the next meeting will be listed on the right of this page. No really. Look over there). Students are encouraged to come up with some ideas about potential topics for next week.

"No on 1" Assignment: Since the vote to legalize gay marriage is coming up so soon, feel free to write down any thoughts about the subject, in whatever form you please, and have it for the next meeting. The goal will be to have a "before and after" kind of piece; a time capsule documenting this major event in history. Part 2 will come after the vote, when the issue has been decided.

Thanks for reading. See you all next week!

P.S. If you would like to be able to post on this blog, please let me know. I can add your account to the author list. Otherwise, you are free to comment on any post, at your leisure.