ISU Alliance Blog

Well hello, I hope you had a good weekend and enjoyed some of the festivities of National Coming Out Week.

So a long time ago I tried to write a weekly blog catered to lesbian and bi women around ames/iowa with info about all sorts of queer things that are going around Ames, Des Moines and the Midwest.

Tonight starting at 9pm till 2am. We're tranforming the M-Shop into a dance club. $5 general admission. $3 for due paying members.

The All 1 Dance Party is a once a month [held on the 2nd Saturday of each month this semester]. We will be playing the hottest tracks, mash-ups, rare remixes, and occational performances. Tell all of your friends about it.

And I am for sure will be playing this song.

Campus Pride Issues Warning regarding the Princeton Review’s Top 20 “Gay Community Accepted” College Ranking

National nonprofit organization states that the educational preparatory company's college ranking is "erroneous & potentially misleading, harmful to LGBT youth & families"
(CHARLOTTE, NC, Thursday, August 13, 2009) -- Campus Pride issues a warning regarding the Top 20 “Gay Community Accepted” and “Alternative Lifestyle Not an Alternative” rankings in the 2010 edition of the Princeton Review’s annual college guide The Best 371 Colleges (Random House/Princeton Review, $22.99). The national nonprofit organization believes that not only is the use of “alternative lifestyle” problematic when referring to the lives of LGBT people, but the methodology Princeton Review used to garner their findings is too simplistic and could potentially lead to harmful, unsafe choices for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) students looking for acceptance and support during college.

The criteria that Princeton Review used to determine the best LGBT “acceptance” at colleges was not based on significant LGBT student opinions or research related to inclusive LGBT policies, programs or practices as one might expect. Their rankings were based off one single question asked to 122,000 students at the 371 top colleges -- whether they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: “Students, faculty, and administrators treat all persons equally regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.”

“This list is an erroneous, misleading indicator of acceptance for LGBT youth and their safety on campus,” said Shane Windmeyer, founder and executive director of Campus Pride and the author of The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students, the first-ever guide profiling the 100 Best LGBT-Friendly Colleges, released in 2006 by Alyson Books. “The majority of students responding to such a question – irrespective of response – will be straight. Their perceptions of equality are likely quite different from those of LGBT students.”

While Princeton Review— a widely trusted company—believes that their rankings are created to help parents and students determine which school is right for them, Campus Pride believes that parents who are truly concerned for their children’s safety and well-being will be misled by these particular findings. Campus Pride strongly believes that given the rise in violence and harassment among LGBT students, there are serious issues to consider when looking for the right college.

Another reason for concern is the dated use of the words ‘alternative lifestyle’ when referring to the lives of LGBT people. “It’s disrespectful and out of touch because it alludes that being gay is a choice and something that can be cured,” Windmeyer said. “The insensitivity to language is a major warning sign that this guide does not have the nuanced perspective to be a trusted resource and to truly understand the complexity of LGBT students’ lives and needs.”

Campus Pride believes that LGBT students deserve better. “Today more and more LBGT high school youth are making life decisions on the college that not only best fits their academic needs, but also a college where they can live and learn openly in a safe and welcoming environment,” says Windmeyer. “If students and families do decide to use the Princeton Review as a resource, I would encourage them to compare its rankings for LGBT schools with those available from the Campus Climate Index (http://www.campusclimateindex.org) – plus, it’s free.”

The Campus Climate Index, developed by Campus Pride in 2007, is an online educational research tool for LGBT students and their families with over 200+ colleges and universities with inclusive LGBT policies, programs and practices. In 2010, Campus Pride’s National LGBT College Climate Survey (http://www.campuspride.org/research) will share the attitudes and perceptions of LGBT students, faculty and staff in a report titled “The State of Higher Education for LGBT People.”

For more information on Campus Pride, please visit www.campuspride.org.

Outsiders will be visiting the Ames community to spread hate and lies, so we're coming together to share food, socialize and celebrate equality & respect for all in spite of their efforts. Help us call Iowa voters and have productive conversations about marriage equality, spreading understanding and protecting our newly recognized freedoms.

Staff from One Iowa and local volunteers will be present to provide callers with all the training they need to have a great time talking to Iowa voters about marriage equality!

** Please bring your cell phone and charger to use for the phonebank **

Doors will open at 6:00pm, with phonebank training at 6:00pm & 7:15pm. The meal starts around 6:30pm (or when food & tables are set up)!

The event is open to all community members (including ISU students). If bringing food isn't convenient, just show up! There are plenty of ways to contribute (e.g. helping with set-up and clean-up). There is always enough food to share.

For questions about the phonebank event, please call or email Matt Fender (mfender@lambdalegal.org) or (646)752-5932. Please contact Joel Geske (curlyjoe1955@yahoo.com) with any questions about the location or meal.

Fred Phelps and his posse over at the Westboro Baptist Church will be in town on July 24 from 4:45-5:00 pm.

This is from their press release:
Iowa State University - We're back to tell you God H8s You! SW corner of W. Lincoln Way & University Blvd What's up ISU? Long time, no see. While we are in the area to picket Marshalltown, we thought we'd stop by and say "God Hates You"; "You're Going To Hell" and "God Hates Fags" Iowa says "It's Okay To Be Gay", and was the first to begin giving $ to little perverts for no other reason than they brag about being little perverts. God Hates Iowa, and all who live there are cursed. Deuteronomy 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. 29 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal. 30 Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh? 31 For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein. 32 And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day. Obama's gonna destroy your State with his "economic program" and then you are going to eat you little babies - you heard it here FIRST. AMEN!

Too bad we won't be there. Summer session ends on the 10th of July. I'm not wasting my summer vacation dealing with them. I have more important things to do like solving the middle east crisis, alternative energy, global warming, world hunger, and world peace.