Gender Neutral Bathrooms: Diesel Cafe Leads the Way

On May 22^nd, 2014, the Somerville Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to amend Somerville’s human rights ordinance to include gender identity as a protected class. This got a lot of people thinking about what we can do to make Somerville safer and more welcoming to transgender people. One easy thing to do is to change single-stall bathrooms into gender neutral bathrooms. Transgender people often feel unsafe using multi-stall restrooms, where they may be misgendered and encounter verbal or physical abuse. Having a single stall, gender neutral bathroom means that they can use the bathroom safely, and no one will question their right to use that bathroom.

I interviewed Jess Brasil, the Operations Manager at Diesel Café, Bloc 11 Café, and Forge Baking Company about Diesel Café’s gender neutral bathrooms.

LGBT Liaison Logo

The LGBT Liaison has a new logo! Thanks to the Webmaster for designing this beautiful image that captures the spirit of our office.

hear me OUT

hear me OUT

An Intergenerational Oral History Project for the Somerville LGBT Community

A partnership between the SCOA LGBT Board, Somerville High School GSA, and Tufts University LGBT Center

Somerville LGBT youth and older adults can sign up to participate in a unique intergenerational project that pairs older adults in the Somerville LGBT community with Tufts and Somerville High School Students. In this 7-week program you will develop a partnership with an LGBT member of the Somerville Council on Aging, learn how to capture and record your personal story, gain new insight into the history of the LGBT community in Somerville and Massachusetts, craft interview questions create a specific story, and produce a recording that can be shared with the community at large as an on-going resource.

For more information, please contact Simone Martell at the Somerville Council on Aging at SMartell@somervillema.gov.

Second Annual LGBT Halloween Skate Night

Last year, we started a tradition in Somerville with the LGBT Halloween Skate Night. LGBT folks and allies of all ages took over the Veterans Memorial Rink on Somerville Ave.

There were a lot of us.

There were kids. These kids were very good at skating. You can tell because they came prepared with helmets.

There were adults dressed as kids. Specifically, dressed as the kids from the Magic School Bus. They were not as good at skating as the real kids.

Someone dressed as pregnant Beyonce. (I love Somerville.)

So why am I telling you about an event that happened almost a year ago? Because it's happening again, but this time, bigger and better. Tell your friends.

Saturday, October 26th
8-10 PM
Veterans Memorial Rink at 570 Somerville Ave.
$10, free skate rental
If you want your own skates, you can get 10% off ice skates at Play it Again Sports in Stoneham if you mention this event.
For more information: call me 617-625-6600 x2400 or call 311.

Left on Pearl showing at the Somerville Council on Aging

We have another special screening in our film series, "Movies to Come Out To," for LGBT older adults and allies. LEFT ON PEARL is a documentary-in-progress about the 1971 takeover a building on Harvard campus, which led to the foundation of a women's center. The film highlights this little-known but important piece of local history. Don't miss this unique opportunity to see this film!

From the website leftonpearl.org:

"In 1971 classified ads for employment were still segregated by gender, battered women's shelters did not exist, abortion was illegal, and a married women couldn’t open a bank account without her husband’s permission. LEFT ON PEARL is about the movement that changed all that.

"LEFT ON PEARL is a documentary-in-progress about a little-known but highly significant event in the history of the women's liberation movement, the 1971 takeover and occupation of a Harvard University-owned building by hundreds of Boston area women. The ten-day occupation of 888 Memorial Drive by women demanding a Women’s Center and low income housing for the community in which the building stood, embodied within it many of the hopes, triumphs, conflicts and tensions of Second Wave feminism. One of the few such takeovers by women for women, this action was transformative for the participants, and led directly to the establishment of the longest continuously operating Women's Center in the U.S.

"Through television news from the time, newspaper headlines, found footage, and extensive interviews with participants and eyewitnesses of varied sexual orientations, racial, class and ethnic backgrounds (including both supporters and opponents of the takeover) LEFT ON PEARL  provides a riveting and often humorous look at a fascinating historical moment."

Monday, September 23rd, 5:30 PM

167 Holland St., Somerville, MA

Meal is $6 from Maya Sol Mexican Grill.

RSVP to 617-625-6600 x2300 to reserve your meal and choose chicken or vegetarian.

Click here for the Facebook event.

Sara Farizan at the Somerville Public Library

Next Thursday, the Somerville Public Library main branch is hosting a reading by debut author Sara Farizan. Farizan's book, If You Could Be Mine, is a young adult novel about two girls in love in Iran. Don't miss this opportunity to meet the author of this great book!

Thursday, September 26th

7 PM

79 Highland Ave., Somerville, MA

For more information, check out the Library's page about the event here.

LGBT Equal Access to HUD Programs Policy Awareness

On April 25th, the City of Somerville Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development, in collaboration with the Office of Somerville Commissions, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Dvelopment Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, and MassEquality, presented a training to recipients of aid from HUD about the new regulations prohibiting housing discrimination. Under the regulation, any housing that receives funding from HUD is prohibited from discriminating based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The training was well attended and provoked interesting conversations about equal access to housing for LGBT residents of Somerville. One thing that was discussed was that the new regulation may provide encouragement for homeless services to provide better accommodations for LGBT people, particularly transgender individuals.

You can get more information about the nondiscrimination policy here.

City of Somerville LGBTQ Programs and Services Directory

In May, in partnership with the Committee on Suicide Prevention and Mental Health and with the help of an excellent Tisch Scholar Ryan Parigoris, we were able to finally produce a first edition of the City of Somerville LGBTQ Programs and Services Directory. This has been a long time coming, and was worked on for many years by various LGBT Liaisons. After a small print run, we have now put the guide online! Check it out. Got any feedback about it? Let us know in the comments!

Happy Pride!

Boston Pride week was fantastic! Somerville has been celebrating. The LGBT Liaison joined Mayor Curtatone, State Representatives Carl Sciortino and Denise Provost, State Senator Pat Jehlen, Alderman Courtney O'Keefe, and School Committee Member Adam Sweeting in raising the Pride flag with the Somerville High School Gay Straight Alliance on May 28th. The turnout was easily twice the attendance of last years's event!

On June 1st, Somerville Public Library unveiled its display for Pride highlighting their new LGBT purchases. These are all available to be checked out, and the display will be up all month!

On June 5th, The Somerville Council on Aging's LGBT Advisory Group had an event to celebrate Pride month and kick off its new event series for LGBT older adults with an advance screening of Cloudburst. The room was filled to overflowing!

Pride Month isn't over yet! The next Somerville LGBT event will be the first installment of the LGBT Advisory Group's new monthly event, "Dinner and a Movie," with a screening of Transamerica at 167 Holland St., at 5:30 on June 24th. Dinner is from The Greek Corner Restaurant and costs $6. RSVP to 617-625-6600 x2300 to reserve your spot. Hope to see you there!

Fit-4-Life Class for Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Women Over 55

The Somerville Council on Aging has a new Fit-4-Life group just for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women 55 years and older!

Our goal is to reduce the significant and prevalent burden of age-associated chronic disease and provide support for healthier aging. In a two-part program, a certified exercise trainer will lead and supervise you in aerobic, strengthening, and mobility exercises geared to your specific needs, and a nutritionist will offer individual dietary screening and assessments, counseling, and regular support groups so you can learn more about nutrition, improve your eating habits, and optimize body weight.

Cost: $10/month*

Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:00 PM,

Location:  Holland Street Center, 167 Holland Street.

More info: Lisa Heyison, Outreach Coordinator, 617-625-6600 ext. 2316 or lheyison@somervillema.gov.

Here's the flyer. This class is brought to you through the efforts of the Somerville Council on Aging, the Bisexual Resource Center, and the Office of the LGBT Liaison, and it is funded through a grant from the Somerville Health Foundation.

*Scholarships are available for eligible Somerville residents. You do not have to be a Somerville resident to participate in the class.

Help Somerville's LGBT Community

Hello, everyone!

This is Elizabeth here, LGBT Liaison to the City of Somerville. Are you interested in helping Somerville's LGBT population in two easy ways? You're in luck, because I have two current projects that could use your help. They are big projects for one person, but easy projects for a lot of people. They take very little time and no money at all.

1) Gay and Lesbian Medical Association

One major problem for LGBTQ people is finding healthcare providers. Before they go somewhere new, they might find themselves asking themselves questions like these: Will my doctor be uncomfortable if I come out to them? Will my dentist still give me care if they know my HIV status? Will my therapist understand what genderqueer means? Will this nursing home allow my partner to visit?

One way to find a doctor is to search the free online providers directory from the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. I’d like to increase the number of Somerville providers listed in the GLMA. If you have a doctor, dentist, therapist, or any healthcare provider at all and your experience with them has been that they are LGBT competent, please consider sending them this letter, which asks them to create a free listing with the GLMA. Please fill in the date, your name, and your doctor’s name before you send it on. If you do send this on to someone, let me know in the comments!

2) Cell Phone Drive for The Network/la Red



The Somerville Women’s Commission and the Office of the LGBT Liaison have an ongoing cell phone drive to benefit The Network/la Red, a local LGBTQ domestic violence service agency. If you have any cell phones that you would like to donate, please drop them off in the deposit boxes in City Hall (93 Highland Ave) or City Hall Annex (50 Evergreen Ave).

Thank you for supporting this community!