IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT EDUCATION
From
NEVADA STONEWALL DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS
Chris Miller, President
Olivia Gobert-Hicks, Vice President
Karen Grayson, Treasurer
Andrew Davey, Secretary & Political Director
At Large: Sandy Eddy, Derek Washington, Daela Gibson, Angela Brooks
Whether you are a student yourself, a parent of young ones in school, or just a concerned citizen hoping for a sustainable economy in Nevada's future, you are affected by the state budget and whether or not we allow Brian Sandoval and his far right "Tea Party, Inc." friends to abuse the budgetary process to destroy public education in this state. Already those in college are being hit by tuition and other fee increases and K-12 students have to endure overcrowded classrooms and inadequate classroom resources. We can't take any more cuts... Now is the time to let our state heal and build a brighter future!
Brian Sandoval's budget would take $270 away from every Nevada student if allowed to pass. Since Nevada's schools are already among the most underfunded in the nation, this would mean even fewer resources for needed textbooks, after school programs, sports programs, other extracurricular activities and much, much more! Since everyone from the London School of Economics & The Brookings Institute to local business leaders have stated that Nevada must invest MORE (not less!) in K-12 and higher education to develop the kind of workforce that companies will want to locate here for, it is imperative that we save our schools in order to finally diversify our economy and create more lasting jobs in this state.
This is why this is an "LGBTQ issues" that our community should care about, and this is why we ask you to join us next Monday at 5:00 PM for a special Nevada Legislature Town Hall at Green Valley High School. Please come and let your voice be heard if you're free Monday evening, and please consider testifying if you are a student and/or you have children in public school.
Please stay tuned for future updates from Stonewall on this and other important Nevada issues. As the 76th Legislature rolls on, the Nevada Stonewall Democratic Caucus and Stonewall Democrats Southern Nevada will keep you informed on important legislation pending in Carson City, and what we can do about it.
Blog: nvstonewalldems.blogspot.com
Facebook: NV Stonewall Dems
Twitter: NVStonewallDems
--
Nevada Stonewall Democratic Caucus was founded in 2005. Our membership consists of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Nevadans and our straight allies. We will lobby and educate members of the Nevada State Legislature to protect the rights and advocate on behalf of Nevadans who are routinely discriminated against because of their sexuality and gender identity.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The Part Where You Come In
{Why exactly are schools and the state budget "LGBTQ issues"? Whether you are a student yourself, a parent of young ones in school, or just a concerned citizen hoping for a sustainable economy in Nevada's future, you are affected by the state budget and whether or not we allow Brian Sandoval and his far right "Tea Party, Inc." friends to abuse the budgetary process to destroy public education in this state. Already those of us in college are being hit by tuition
and other fee increases, and already K-12 students have to endure overcrowded classrooms and inadequate classroom resources. We can't take any more cuts... Now is the time to let our state heal and build a brighter future! Please consider joining us at Green Valley HS next Monday if you're in Southern Nevada, and stay tuned for more budget updates here!}
Do you really need me to restate the facts that we've covered extensively? And that our friends at The Nevada View, The Sausage Factory, and Desert Beacon have detailed?
Our state is in dire straits. There's no way to avoid the awful truth. Our unemployment rate is the highest in the nation. Our economy has suffered from extreme boom and bust cycles for decades. There's a growing chorus of economists and business leaders telling us we must have better schools to produce the better educated workforce our state so desperately needs to diversify the economy and thrive, but Governor Sandoval continues to blithely ignore them and hopes to proceed in cutting our schools (and our economic future) to death.
So what else can be done? What else can be said? Can anything be done to change this?
This is the part where we come in.
We MUST let our legislators, the public servants we elect to represent us in state government, know what direction we want our state to take. Are we the masters of our own fate? Or will we let some nebulous external force (insert Tea Party Inc link) make us into its ideological slaves?
What are you prepared to do to save our state? What are you planning to do to rescue your state? Go to Green Valey High School next Monday and speak some much needed truth to power? Ask Governor Sandoval and The Legislature to agree on a fair budget?
Whatever you can do, just do it. This is the part where you come in. What will you do to save our state?
and other fee increases, and already K-12 students have to endure overcrowded classrooms and inadequate classroom resources. We can't take any more cuts... Now is the time to let our state heal and build a brighter future! Please consider joining us at Green Valley HS next Monday if you're in Southern Nevada, and stay tuned for more budget updates here!}
Do you really need me to restate the facts that we've covered extensively? And that our friends at The Nevada View, The Sausage Factory, and Desert Beacon have detailed?
Our state is in dire straits. There's no way to avoid the awful truth. Our unemployment rate is the highest in the nation. Our economy has suffered from extreme boom and bust cycles for decades. There's a growing chorus of economists and business leaders telling us we must have better schools to produce the better educated workforce our state so desperately needs to diversify the economy and thrive, but Governor Sandoval continues to blithely ignore them and hopes to proceed in cutting our schools (and our economic future) to death.
So what else can be done? What else can be said? Can anything be done to change this?
This is the part where we come in.
We MUST let our legislators, the public servants we elect to represent us in state government, know what direction we want our state to take. Are we the masters of our own fate? Or will we let some nebulous external force (insert Tea Party Inc link) make us into its ideological slaves?
What are you prepared to do to save our state? What are you planning to do to rescue your state? Go to Green Valey High School next Monday and speak some much needed truth to power? Ask Governor Sandoval and The Legislature to agree on a fair budget?
Whatever you can do, just do it. This is the part where you come in. What will you do to save our state?
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
NSDC Statement on MGM Resorts' New Health Care Policy
NSDC STATEMENT ON MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL
MAKING ITS WORKPLACE TRANSGENDER INCLUSIVE
Contact:
Andrew Davey, Secretary & Political Director
(702) 806-1340/ atdnext@gmail.com
Chris Miller, President
We at the Nevada Stonewall Democratic Caucus (NSDC) are delighted to learn that MGM Resorts International, Nevada's largest employer and the world's second largest gaming company, is reiterating its commitment to transgender inclusive non-discrimination policies and revising its health care policies in order to ensure a fair and inclusive workplace for all its employees, including its transgender employees. MGM has a long and distinguished record of treating its gay and lesbian employees with respect and dignity, and in supporting Nevada's LGBTQ community, so we are glad to see MGM step up and give the same respect and dignity to transgender workers who have long sought this level of equality.
We want to thank all our NSDC members and activists who have worked months, and even years, to secure workplace equality for all LGBTQ workers at MGM Resorts International, as well as other Nevada employers. We particularly want to thank our friends and partners at HRC Las Vegas who have worked tirelessly in lobbying MGM leadership to make their company and their workplace fully inclusive and welcoming to all LGBTQ Nevadans. In addition, we want to thank our friends and colleagues at Equality Nevada, including the always awe inspiring equality activist Jane Heenan, for constantly beating the drum for equality and taking direct action to let MGM know that we Nevadans wanted them to give its transgender workers the same fair and equal treatment as every other MGM employee. And finally, we would like to thank all the rest of our amazing fellow community activists for working inside and raising noise outside to make this all happen. We are incredibly proud of everyone who worked alongside each other and with MGM to do this for MGM's transgender workers and Nevada's transgender community.
We at NSDC understand that our work is far from over, and we will not stop or rest until all LGBTQ workers in Nevada and nationwide can enjoy the same fairness and equality that LGBTQ workers have now achieved at Caesars Entertainment, Wynn Resorts, and now MGM Resorts International. We hope to continue to work with our community partners here in Nevada to continue encouraging more local employers to make their workplaces fully inclusive, and to let our legislators in Carson City and Washington, DC, know that we all prosper when we are all equal.
###
Nevada Stonewall Democratic Caucus was founded in 2005. Our membership consists of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Nevadans and our straight allies. We will lobby and educate members of the Nevada State Legislature to protect the rights and advocate on behalf of Nevadans who are routinely discriminated against because of their sexuality and gender identity.
@NVStonewallDems
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
NSDC STATEMENT ON “SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE” SKIT AND NEVADA’S NEED FOR END DISCRIMINATION
Last Saturday, NBC aired an episode of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) containing a skit that is still haunting us. In this skit, male actors with facial hair dressed in women’s clothing and proceeded to mock transgender women in a fake ad for “Estro-Maxx”, a fictional estrogen replacement therapy. Not only did we find this skit far from amusing or comical, but we were also horrified by SNL’s horrifying use of misleading, bigoted stereotypes of the daily lives of transgender people.
Many in our community are transgender, and the rest of us have transgender friends and family members. We know that this kind of humorless “humor” does nothing but reinforce the ugly stereotypes that are used to excuse continued discrimination against transgender people, and against lesbian, gay, and bisexual people as well, for that matter.
We at the Nevada Stonewall Democratic Caucus urge local media not to make the same mistake made by Comcast and “Saturday Night Live”, and to instead do their homework and realize that transgender people are people, too, and not some flat caricatures we can point and laugh at.
We also hope this will be a wake-up call for the people of our great State of Nevada. Transgender people are currently being denied work, housing, health care, and numerous services and accommodations that the rest of us take for granted. And as of now, they have no options for legal remedy. This must change, and we hope our Legislature will take action this year to fix this and stop the cycle of “legal” discrimination here in Nevada.
What we saw on SNL last weekend may have been disgusting, but we can take action now to ensure this anti-transgender hatred and bigotry is legitimized no more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)