Taxpayers Fund Maine's Homo/Tranny Disease Summit
By Staff
May 30, 2008 - 10:44:55 AM
League Called "That Vile Organization" by Queer Youth Workshop Leader; EqualityMaine Solicits Petition Blockers; Maine's Just Guys Sex Club Says 'No' to Crisco
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| Mea Tavares, Ryan Conrad, Bill Barter |
A State of Maine-sponsored homosexual and transgendered disease summit (known officially as the Maine LGBTI [Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgendered, and Intersexed] Health Disparities Summit 2008, the Maine LGBTI Health Summit: Challenges, Opportunities, Change, and the Maine LGBTI Health Summit) took place all day at the Augusta Civic Center on May 29.
Controversial anti-Christian and anti-religious statements were made by a workshop leader during the late morning session called "It Isn’t Easy Being Young and Queer. ...Health Disparities in the LGBTI [Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgendered, and Intersexed] Youth Community."
During his opening remarks, Outright Lewiston/Auburn Queer and Transgendered Youth Coordinator Ryan Conrad stated extemporaneously: "We all need not have space [in Maine] for the Christian Civic League, that vile organization. Not in my town."
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| Homo Sex Brochures |
Additionally, Conrad stated that despite advances made by homosexuals and the transgendered, even homosexual marriage would not solve many health care problems. He noted that polyamorous [those who freely engage in sex with many partners of both genders outside of marriage] would not be protected, since they would not be married and thus not subject to their homosexual partner's health care insurance.
Additional leaders for the late morning queer youth session were Mea Tavares, who identifies herself as a "queer young person" and Americorps Vista intern program worker for the Maine Youth Action Network, and William (Bill) Barter, Ph.D., the Saint Ansgar Lutheran Church (ELCA) Council President and faculty member at Southern New Hampshire University. Dr. Barter stated he is a HIV-positive retired pastor who previously lived in Chicago.
During the question-and-answer portion of the session, several of the fifty homosexuals and transgendered participants identified "religious baloney" and "shame, due to religion" as causes of queer youths' problems.
A formerly married participant said that Christians were "hateful in their morality, and willing to let [homosexual and transgendered] people die due to their hate." This man described himself as now being a homosexual and a recovering alcoholic, and as working for D.H.H.S. in the Maine Office of Substance Abuse.
Another participant, Tom Muise, said he and a lesbian are the youth group leaders of their Unitarian Universalist church, and that they have seen several young people "come out" and publicly identify as homosexuals to them before these youth would let their parents know of their perceived homosexuality. He said this was due to their church's acceptance of homosexuality.
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| Tranny Workshop Notes |
In an early morning "Gender 101- What Are the Health Needs for Trans[gendered] People?" session, the workshop leaders, Dorn McMahon and Jordon Bosse, were also both from the Outright Lewiston/Auburn organization. Both said they were transgendered, apparently meaning both are biologically female, but are now living as young men.
McMahon and Bosse discussed the many different types of the transgendered, including "crossdressers, drag kings and drag queens, gender queers, transsexuals, the intersexed, the stone butch and the high femme, the polygendered," and those undergoing "male-to-female [MTF] and female-to-male [FTM]" transitions.
These gender changes require a series of injections of the opposite gender's hormones, and "gender reassignment surgery," commonly referred to as a sex-change operation. McMahon said that there were no facilities or doctors in Maine who perform sex-change operations. He did, however, offer Boston, Massachusetts, Canada, and Thailand as locations popular to the transgendered for the genital reconstruction surgery.
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| Dorn McMahon, Jordon Bosse |
A female registered nurse, and one of the forty people who attended this session, noted how the Frannie Peabody Center in Portland has recently created intake forms that are transgender-friendly. The forms now allow a patient to choose from being "male, female, transgendered, or other."
McMahon ended the session by discussing how the transgendered must be officially diagniosed by a medical professional with "gender identity disorder [G.I.D.]" in order to start the sex-change treatments. He said this mental health diagnosis stigmatizes the transgendered since it is permanently recorded in their medical records.
Partners of the homosexual and transgendered disease summit were almost exclusively State of Maine offices of the Department of Health and Human Services: the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine C.D.C.) and the Maine Office of Substance Abuse, and included the following Maine C.D.C. programs: HIV, STD, and Viral Hepatitis Program, Office of Minority Health, Teen and Young Adult Health Program, and the Women's Health Program. Other Partners for the event were MaineGeneral Health and the Maine Health Access Fund (MeHAF).
Sponsors of the homosexual and transgendered disease summit were EqualityMaine, the Mabel Wadsworth Women's Health Center's Lesbian Health Project, and Wabanaki Mental Health.
Supporters of the homosexual and transgendered disease summit were the League of Young Voters, the Family Planning Association, the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, the Maine Psychological Association, the Maine Primary Care Association, and the Maine Youth Action Network.
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| Homo Disease Summit handouts |
Many of the partners, sponsors, and supporters had booths and displays set up for the summit's attendees. Several of these displays included sexually graphic images and themes which were freely made available to everyone who attended, including teenagers.
One homosexual male sex club, Just Guys of Augusta, offered packages of two condoms, an instruction manual on how to properly use a condom, "Juicy Lube" lubricating gel, and a business card to contact the group's leader, Lew Alessio at 215-4594 and 621-3794. The instruction manual warns: "Do Not use oil-based lubes, Crisco, or Vaseline."
The sex club's motto "for men who have sex with men" was prominent on the Just Guys display. The group was not listed on the homosexual and transgendered disease summit's official list of supporters, sponsors, and partners.
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| EqualityMaine Homo Disease Summit Display |
EqualityMaine, the lead sponsor according to the official list, also hosted a table at the homosexual and transgendered disease summit. Matt Moonen, Field Director for the group's June 10th "volunteer truth squad" effort, staffed the EqualityMaine table.
With Moonen were dozens of blue petition blocker commitment forms. EqualityMaine is using these forms to track the homosexuals and transgendered who will harass voters on June 10th, telling them not to sign the Christian Civic League's YES for Marriage referendum petitions. Many copies of the group's recent "The Way Life Should Be: [Homosexual] Marriage in Maine" DVDs were also available.
Copies of the homosexual and transgendered disease summit's paperwork used the State of Maine's Department of Health and Human Services official letterhead, complete with their "Caring..Responsive..Well-Managed..We are DHHS" promotional slogan. Among the State of Maine officials who attended were Office of Rural Health and Primary Care Director Charles Dwyer, Jr. and Maine State Housing Authority Director, Dale McCormick. McCormick is an "out" lesbian who attended the EqualityMaine annual banquet earlier this year with her partner.
The State of Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, can be reached at 286 Water Street, 11 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0011, 287-3747. The Director is Dora Anne Mills, M.D., dora.a.mills@maine.gov.
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