As you may know, December 10th is International Human Rights day, and marks the next proposed movement-wide organizing event. National organizers have called for a day-long strike and commitment to community service instead of work. While we do fully endorse the community service aspect of this event, we ask you to use caution when making plans for work that day. It is unsafe to “call in gay” or use this day as a reason for not reporting to work, because in North Dakota your employment may be terminated at will and there is no protection for LGBT people under the ND Human Rights Act. However, some corporate employers have included LGBT people and may excuse you, so we ask that you use discretion.
In the spirit of community service, Dakota OutRight is organizing a food drive to help feed families in need. We will be collecting non-perishable food items, toiletries and monetary donations all day on Wednesday, December 10th.
Donations will be picked up at any location by volunteers from Dakota OutRight throughout the day. Just arrange a pick-up time by contacting Kory using the e-mail or phone number provided below. You can also bring your donation to the North Dakota Heritage Center between 6:30pm and 7:00pm on December 10th. Volunteers from Dakota OutRight will be on hand to collect donated items and cash.
We invite you to stay at the Heritage Center for a panel discussion on human rights hosted by the Bismarck Human Relations Committee. We would like to have a large gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender presence at the panel discussion as a way of encouraging the City of Bismarck to add a GLBT member to this Committee to represent our needs as a community.
To arrange a pick-up of your donation e-mail Kory ( kory_frey@yahoo.com ) or call 701-226-2010. You can also make a monetary donation on the Dakota OutRight website by clicking on the “Donation Box” button. Please specify that your donation is for the food drive. All donations will benefit the Bismarck Emergency Food Pantry on behalf of Dakota OutRight.
We also encourage you to make a statement about the obstacles you or your friends face as LGBT or allied people.
If you are a resident of Bismarck, contact Mayor Warford and ask him to add an LGBT member to the Human Relations Committee. In spite of a vacancy and the committee’s interest in having LGBT representation, applications from members of our community have been rejected by city officials. Send a letter to PO Box 5503, Bismarck, ND 58506-5503 or a fax to (701) 222-6470.
Otherwise or additionally, write our US congressional delegation about supporting a trans-inclusive equal non-discrimination act to federally prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination by employers on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. E-mail may be sent to any of our US congressmen using the following links:
• Byron Dorgan: senator@dorgan.senate.gov
• Kent Conrad: https://conrad.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm
• Earl Pomeroy: http://www.house.gov/formpomeroy/zipauth.htm
Be sure to include your address, as mail from non-constituents will be filtered out.
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