Greetings, friends!
We hope that this email finds you safe and healthy, and encourages everyone to take all precautions to stay safe and healthy! You have a special place in our hearts, and we want to see all of you again! Here is some OutSupport news and also some interesting events that you can participate in if you like!
OutSupport has been busy, and are looking forward to our next OutSupport OutDoors next Friday evening, Sept. 17 at River Styx Park from 6-8pm. this event is for transgender and nonbinary youth (17and under)to give them a special time to just hang out and connect with other youth. Parents will also find information and support for your family’s journey. This is thelast meeting this year for this series of support, so we hope to see many of you there! Masks are required at this event, as many youth and others may not have had vaccination opportunities yet. As for an October indoor meeting, we will continue to assess the Covid situation, and make a determination by mid-October and let you know through email and Facebook.
OutSupport has been busy and will be busy in the coming month! We are happy to have spoken at the Hope Recovery Center in Medina at PRIDE TIME. PRIDE TIME is a weekly Thursday evening meeting for folks in recovery or allies, 7:30 pm at 200 Highland Drive, and they meet in person, and you can ZOOM in! We are happy to be able to purchase several binders for teens and young adults this month in our NEOhio LGBTQ community…if you know someone who needs a new binder in the NEOhio area, we are happy to provide that for them! Please send them our way!OutSupport has purchased the book “Transgender Students in Elementary Schools: Creating an Affirming and Inclusive School Community” by Melinda M Mangin. We have 13 copies of the book that we will be distributing to Medina County schools as a resource for administration, guidance and education professionals. This is a great book, and hopefully it will be utilized to make all school environments safe for ALL students! We continue to work with the Medina County Health Dept., working towards a tobacco-free LGBTQ community in Medina County and beyond! This fits beautifully with our mission of making Medina a healthy place for LGBTQ+ individuals!
We are in the process of setting up meetings with the various GSAs in Medina County Schools! We will be, as in years past, offering each school with a GSA or diversity group a nice bag of swag and a donation for their group! We are set to meet at Medina and Brunswick High Schools at this time, and look forward to hearing from the other schools to set up a date!
Weathervane Playhouse will be offering the play Kinky Boots this fall from Sept. 30-Oct. 24!If you haven’t seen this play, put it on your calendar!! For tickets and more info: www.WeathervanePlayhouse.com
Andre Snyder continues his efforts to collect data from LGBTQ+ folks and Allies for the Greater Akron LGBTQ+ Community Needs Assessment! Data from this CNA will help form needed services and supports for the LGBTQ+ community in and around the Akron area, including Medina. Andrew is also looking for upcoming events that he could be a part of to help promote his work. Please contact Andrew at asnyde20@kent.edu to take the survey or get involved!
Lastly, we received this email from the Ohio History Connection:
The Ohio History Connection is a statewide history organization with the mission to spark discovery of Ohio’s stories. The Where My Single Folk? genealogy series is a series of virtual workshops designed to help family historians explore how to research our unmarried, never married, divorced, widowed, adventurous relatives and everyone outside the direct descendant line to create a more inclusive family tree.
Our next workshop is titled LGBTQ+ Genealogy – Inclusion of All Our Ancestors. Stewart Blandón Traiman, who specializes in locating LGBTQ+ people in the genealogical record, will help us find clues that raise “rainbow flags.” He will also discuss the evolution of genealogical software and its uses for modern families. The workshop is scheduled for Saturday, September 18 at 10 a.m. EST. It costs $20 for Ohio History Connection members and $25 for non-members. Participants can also create their own mini workshop series at a discount. Use the coupon code GEN21 in your shopping cart to buy three programs and get the fourth 50% off.
We believe that your organization might be interested in this workshop. Your goal to provide support services to LGBTQ+ individuals and their families aligns with our goal of investigating and interpreting LGBTQ+ history. If you are able and willing to do so, please pass along information on the LGBTQ+ Genealogy – Inclusion of All Our Ancestors workshop to the members of your organization and/or promote it on your social media accounts and website. If you would like more information, please feel free to reach out to me or visit ohiohistory.org/genealogy. Contact Quincy Balius for more information:qbalius@ohiohistory.org
Wishing everyone well!
Kindest regards,
Sandy
she/her/hers