As noted, this announcement comes with mixed emotions. We would love to continue OUToberfest, but without financial support, a $10,000+ event is next-to-impossible, especially when the goal is to make it a free event for the community.

By becoming Mississippi Pride, we will be able to do the following: secure marching permits for a parade/march; increase sponsors from national and local businesses; fundraise more; and celebrate National Pride Month.

By making this bold change, we hope to re-energize the festival and the community, and our much relied on donors and volunteers.

Our vision for Mississippi Pride takes the best from OUToberfest and expands it’s potential and reach. The Pride Festival will occur in the first week of June 2012 and serve as a kick-off for Pride Month. We hope to partner with organizations, individuals and businesses throughout the state to ensure that Pride is a success. Throughout the rest of Pride Month, we envision smaller events – from movie screenings to picnics to workshops – happening in the Jackson metro area and statewide.

It’s time for us to unify and take our state’s movement to the next level. To do so, we need your commitment. Whether you are an individual, a non-profit, a GSA, a local business, or a national corporation, there are several ways you can pledge your support:

• Get involvedonline
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mailing List
• Sponsor Mississippi Pride, early. With early resources, the festival can become bigger and better! Sponsor levels and opportunities will be announced in September on the site, Facebook, Twitter, and through our email list.
• Participate – march, present, perform, vend, table, host, attend, market, etc. Look for ways to get involved very soon.
• Volunteer your services, time, venues, and other opportunities to fundraise and raise awareness. Email volunteer@mississippipride.com to get involved.

This is not the end… It is a new beginning.

Now is your opportunity to help our festival evolve and grow by getting involved. Together, we will take another step towards increased visibility, growth, acceptance, and equality in Mississippi.

With Pride,

Knol Aust
Chairman, Unity Mississippi

But the movement’s success here could prove difficult to replicate. Twenty-nine states have constitutional bans on same-sex marriage, while 12 others have laws against it. And many of those states where support for same-sex marriage is high have already acted on the issue.

Continue reading the article at NYTimes.com

Attorney General Eric Holder said President Barack Obama has concluded that the administration cannot defend the federal law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. He noted that the congressional debate during passage of the Defense of Marriage Act “contains numerous expressions reflecting moral disapproval of gays and lesbians and their intimate and family relationships – precisely the kind of stereotype-based thinking and animus the (Constitution’s) Equal Protection Clause is designed to guard against.”

The Justice Department had defended the act in court until now.

“Much of the legal landscape has changed in the 15 years since Congress passed” the Defense of Marriage Act, Holder said in a statement. He noted that the Supreme Court has ruled that laws criminalizing homosexual conduct are unconstitutional and that Congress has repealed the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said Obama himself is still “grappling” with his personal view of gay marriage but has always personally opposed the Defense of Marriage Act as “unnecessary and unfair.”

Holder wrote to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, that Obama has concluded the Defense of Marriage Act fails to meet a rigorous standard under which courts view with suspicion any laws targeting minority groups who have suffered a history of discrimination.

The attorney general said the Justice Department had defended the law in court until now because the government was able to advance reasonable arguments for the law based on a less strict standard.

Read more at HuffingtonPost.com.

Participation is voluntary and minimal risk is involved. Your participation will consist of a 1 ½ to 2 hour interview with John F. Marszalek, Ph.D., LPC, NCC,  at your home, another private location of your selection, or his office in Columbus, MS.

For additional information, please contact John via email or phone at:

John F. Marszalek, Ph.D., LPC, NCC

Core Faculty and Program Coordinator
M.S. in Mental Health Counseling Program
School of Counseling and Social Service
Walden University
john.marszalek@waldenu.edu or john.marszalek@gmail.com
Direct line: 662-889-8850

Engel reports that “these studies show a relative if not positive outlook, at least an accepting outlook.”

Said Engel: “The findings are that for most soldiers, and this wasn’t the sum total of all soldiers, it wasn’t that big of a deal…The majority — the number one answer, first answer was ‘I don’t care.’ That’s significant.”

Engel adds: “A key thing this study kept coming back to is that it’s very important about the chain of command. What commanders say. How far commanders act. What tone they set. The marines were the most negative out of the services. They had the most people who were — with negative responses. And the marine corps leadership has taken a stance and has been very vocally against this issue. And the study found that most soldiers and sailors and all different service members follow a chain of command. So if the chain of command accepts this as the law, the data is that so will the soldiers.”

The park was filled with hundreds of smiling faces from every walk of life. The crowd was, by far, the most diverse we’ve seen ranging from families, kids, teens, and tweens to seniors, young adults, and even a few Great Danes. Everyone had a great time with over 6 hours of live music, a space jump, art projects, vendors, organizations, and much more.

If you’d like to donate to help keep the fest free and cover the 2010 expenses, click here to make an online donation via PayPal. Every bit counts.

Thanks to the following artists for making OUToberfest possible. Take a moment to become a fan on Facebook and bookmark their official sites.

• Garrison Starr
  Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/garrisonstarrmusic
  Official Site: http://www.garrisonstarr.com/
• Baron
  Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Baron-Officially/135724289781193
  Official Site: http://artistbaron.com/
• Patrice Moncell
  MySpace Fan Page: http://www.myspace.com/patricemoncell
• Jazmen Flowers
  Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000597174435
• Natalie Brooke Long & Clinton Kirby
  Official Site: http://natalielongandclintonkirby.blogspot.com/

Also, a special thanks to the OUToberfest drag performers! Here are links to their Facebook profiles:

• Tori Mattison: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000744692582
• Syrn Mirage: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001573860142
• Josephina Gabanna: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001367573216
• Trinity Starr: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001138689098
• Madison Lashay and Madyson do not yet have Facebook Pages.

Thanks to the following OUToberfest sponsors:

• HRC: http://www.hrc.org/
• Jackson Free Press: http://jacksonfreepress.com/
• Moonlight Video: http://www.moonlightadultvideo.com/gay-lesbian-bisexual-trans-sexual (NSFW?)
• Planned Parenthood: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ppse/index2.htm

Thanks to the following vendors and organizations:

• ACLU of Mississippi: http://www.aclu-ms.org/
• Brave New Day: http://unityms.org/directory/hiv-directory/abravenewday.html
• Broadmeadow United Methodist Church: http://www.broadmeadow.org/
• Girl on Girl Concepts: http://girlongirlconcepts.com/
• Grace House: http://www.gracehousems.org/
• Mississippi HeARTs Against AIDS: http://www.mississippihearts.org/
• Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition: http://www.mssafeschools.org/
• Planned Parenthood: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ppse/index2.htm
• Rise Above for Youth: http://www.riseabove4youth.org/
• Safe Harbor Family Church: http://safeharborfamilychurch.org/
• Unitarian Universalist Church of Jackson: http://www.uujackson.org/

Thanks to the following businesses for supporting the fest through in-kind donations:

• Broadstreet Cafe: http://www.broadstbakery.com/
• Pizza Shack:  http://www.thepizzashackjackson.com/
• Sal & Mookie’s: http://www.salandmookies.com/

If your business or organization would like to be involved in OUToberfest 2011, please email vendor@outoberfest.com… It’s never too early to get signed-up.

Deadline Hollywood reports that the film will air on ABC Family and will be produced by gay producing powerhouses Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Chicago, Hairspray). Ghost Whisperer creator John Gray will write the film’s script and is expected to direct the movie as well.

Read more here.

That’s the message Dan Savage wants to send to LGBT and questioning youth in America who are being bullied, with the launch of a YouTube channel to which he hopes people will contribute.

Writes Dan:

I’ve launched a channel on YouTube—www.youtube.com/itgetsbetterproject—to host these videos. My normally camera-shy husband and I already posted one. We both went to Christian schools and we were both bullied—he had it a lot worse than I did—and we are living proof that it gets better. We don’t dwell too much on the past. Instead, we talk mostly about all the meaningful things in our lives now—our families, our friends (gay and straight), the places we’ve gone and things we’ve experienced—that we would’ve missed out on if we’d killed ourselves then.

“You gotta give ’em hope,” Harvey Milk said.

Today we have the power to give these kids hope. We have the tools to reach out to them and tell our stories and let them know that it gets better. Online support groups are great, GLSEN does amazing work, the Trevor Project is invaluable. But many LGBT youth can’t picture what their lives might be like as openly gay adults. They can’t imagine a future for themselves. So let’s show them what our lives are like, let’s show them what the future may hold in store for them.

Check out the project at YouTube.

As Americans, it is our birthright that all people are created equal and deserve the same rights, privileges, and opportunities. Since our earliest days of independence, our Nation has striven to fulfill that promise. An important chapter in our great, unfinished story is the movement for fairness and equality on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. This month, as we recognize the immeasurable contributions of LGBT Americans, we renew our commitment to the struggle for equal rights for LGBT Americans and to ending prejudice and injustice wherever it exists.

LGBT Americans have enriched and strengthened the fabric of our national life. From business leaders and professors to athletes and first responders, LGBT individuals have achieved success and prominence in every discipline. They are our mothers and fathers, our sons and daughters, and our friends and neighbors. Across my Administration, openly LGBT employees are serving at every level. Thanks to those who came before us, the brave men and women who marched, stood up to injustice, and brought change through acts of compassion or defiance we have made enormous progress and continue to strive for a more perfect union.

My Administration has advanced our journey by signing into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which strengthens Federal protections against crimes based on gender identity or sexual orientation. We renewed the Ryan White CARE Act, which provides life saving medical services and support to Americans living with HIV/AIDS, and finally eliminated the HIV entry ban. I also signed a Presidential Memorandum directing hospitals receiving Medicare and Medicaid funds to give LGBT patients the compassion and security they deserve in their time of need, including the ability to choose someone other than an immediate family member to visit them and make medical decisions.

In other areas, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a series of proposals to ensure core housing programs are open to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. HUD also announced the first ever national study of discrimination against members of the LGBT community in the rental and sale of housing. Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services has created a National Resource Center for LGBT Elders.

Much work remains to fulfill our Nation’s promise of equal justice under law for LGBT Americans. That is why we must give committed gay couples the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple, and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. We must protect the rights of LGBT families by securing their adoption rights, ending employment discrimination against LGBT Americans, and ensuring Federal employees receive equal benefits. We must create safer schools so all our children may learn in a supportive environment. I am also committed to ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” so patriotic LGBT Americans can serve openly in our military, and I am working with the Congress and our military leadership to accomplish that goal.

As we honor the LGBT Americans who have given so much to our Nation, let us remember that if one of us is unable to realize full equality, we all fall short of our founding principles. Our Nation draws its strength from our diversity, with each of us contributing to the greater whole. By affirming these rights and values, each American benefits from the further advancement of liberty and justice for all.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2010 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month by fighting prejudice and discrimination in their own lives and everywhere it exists.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.

BARACK OBAMA

The provision would allow military commanders to repeal the ban. The repeal would permit gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military for the first time.

It was adopted as an amendment to the annual Pentagon policy bill, which the House is expected to vote on Friday. The repeal would be allowed 60 days after a Pentagon report is completed on the ramifications of allowing openly gay service members, and military leaders certify that it would not be disruptive. The report is due by Dec. 1.

The House vote was 234 to 194, with 229 Democrats and 5 Republicans in favor, after an emotionally charged debate. Opposed were 168 Republicans and 26 Democrats.

Read the full story at NYTimes.com.