By Kyle Rohen on Oct 30, 2014 05:18 pm
Good afternoon, and welcome to This Week in LGBT! We'll jump right into the news after a few quick announcements.
NOVA Pride has its own Merchandise Store! We have winter wear, novelties, stickers, hats, t-shirts, and more! A portion of proceeds benefits our mission of education and advocacy. Visit http://www.novapride.org/store to see our branded merchandise!
Join NOVA Pride every Tuesday at IOTA in Clarendon for LGBTuesdays! Board members are always in attendance and ready to socialize! With excellent food, great staff, drink specials, and our friend Mikey Torres showing LGBT-themed movies against the bar wall, there's something for everyone to enjoy! The shindig happens every Tuesday night from 5ish until the bar closes.
Pride on the Rocks returns on Thursday, November 6th at RedRocks in Arlington at 2501 9th Road South off Columbia Pike! This month we have partnered up with Schlafly Beer for their tap takeover! Drink and food specials include their standard $12 flights, but when you get a NOVA Pride stamp you're entitled to even better perks! The stamp entitles you to: First 20 people who have RSVP'ed "YES" (on Facebook or Meetup) and show up to the event will receive a free mug from Schlafly, the free raffle ticket, as well as some great Pride swag! (Must be present at event.) Come on out and party with us - their pizza is FANTASTIC and the atmosphere is PERFECT! Huge thanks to Redrocks for contributing a percentage sales from Pride on the Rocks to NOVA Pride!
And now for our news!
NOVA Pride is hosting an online Halloween Costume Contest! It's free to participate, and YOU will be the judges! Prizes will be based entirely on the number of entries but will include NOVA Pride swag as well as select prizes for community outings! A few simple rules: 1. You must email a picture of yourself in costume wear to kyle@novapride.org. When you submit, please use an email address which you check frequently! Please identify your costume as you would like to be labelled - i.e. are you a general clown or is this your best interpretation of Pennywise? Your name will not be attached to the photo - only your costume ID! One submission per person, even if you are doing multiple costumes this year - pick your favorite! 2. You must be a Virginia resident. 3. Immediate family members (including spouses, children, parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and any and all household members) of any NOVA Pride Director and/or Executive Committee will not be allowed to participate. 4. All costumes must be reasonably "Safe For Work" as must be the submitted picture. Use your best judgment! The NOVA Pride Board of Directors reserves the right to request an alternate picture or deny entry. Common themes to avoid include but are not limited to nudity/sexually explicit behavior, bigotry (including transphobia or "blackface"), and domestic violence. 5. The contest submission period runs from October 30, 2014 at 2:00PM EST through November 2, 2014 at 5:00PM EST. Voting begins November 3, 2014 at 8:00AM and runs through November 7, 2014 at 8:00PM. Winner(s) will be notified via email on November 8, 2014 and announced on Facebook and in a special newsletter on November 10, 2014. Voting and image hosting will take place on NOVA Pride's website. 6. While it's not mandatory, we encourage you to share information with your friends about submitting their costumes to be voted on! Prizes will be entirely based upon the number of submissions, so the more submissions to choose from, the better the overall prize package!
American Horror Story: Freak Show debuted on October 8th of this year. In addition to the usual group of LG and straight allies returning (Sarah Paulson, Ryan Murphy are both openly gay, while the remainder of the cast, most notably Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Evan Peters, and Angela Bassett, identify as allies), Freak Show introduces Erika "Amazon Eve" Ervin to the cast. Ms. Ervin is certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the World's Tallest Model. She is also a transwoman, which is awesome to see a transwoman playing a character on mainstream, Emmy winning television where they aren't Dead Prostitute #1 or Awkward Caricature (looking at you, Law and Order as well as almost every sitcom).
Jyoti Amge and Erika Ervin, both certified by Guinness World Records as Smallest Living Woman and Tallest Model, respectively
While not fully confirmed (as there are still several episodes left in the season which could contradict this) it would appear that Erika Ervin is playing a ciswoman, which would make her one of the (if not the) first transwoman to play a ciswoman on national television. Progress marches on!
Election Day is this coming Tuesday, and the most important thing you can do as a citizen is participate in your local elections! The Virginia League of Women Voters has an excellent overview of candidates and ballot questions, which can be found here. Also, the Human Rights Campaign has an in-depth look at voting patterns for currently elected officials and how they view LGBT families through said voting patterns here.
It's true, every vote counts. Lots of elections are decided by razor-thin margins, like Virginia's Attorney General race last year.
No matter who you choose to vote for or what reason you endorse a specific candidate, make sure you vote vote vote!
Tomorrow is Halloween, the time of year where we get dressed up and drink heavily (sort of like any other club night but with more gore). Here are important things to remember: - Uber, NOVA Pride Festival 2014's Bronze Level Sponsor, is always available - DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE! - Never leave your drink unattended, even for a minute - you never know what could fall in, from drugs to a black fly in your chardonnay. (why Alanis why) - Walk away from a threatening situation and call the police if harassment persists - do not take matters into your own hands! There will be plenty of obnoxious people out, don't be one of them. - Have fun safely! If you plan on hooking up, make sure you have proper protection and let your friends know who you're going home with. - Try not to overshare pics from your party. Odds are your other friends at the same party are also taking pictures for posterity and also uploading them directly to Facebook - and if your circle is tight, you'll wake up to 84k pictures of the same scene. - Participate in NOVA Pride's Costume Contest! (See top of this blog for details) - Get home safely so you can vote on Tuesday and party in the future!
That's it for This Week in LGBT, See You Next Thursday! null
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