LGBTQ+ Commission Meeting

Description

Agenda

Co-Chairs: Bill Barnert and Zachary Dresser

Tonight’s meeting chaired by:  Bill Barnert

1. Welcome
2. Approve / Modify Agenda
3. Approve Previous Minutes
   1. NOTE: Confirm that we voted on & approved this item last month. If we did, add it to the minutes. If we’re not sure, add it to Old Business tonight: Youth Working Group - As part of the Welcoming Schools National Day of Reading, the Cambridge Public Library will be hosting a "Read aloud and break bread together" at the Central Square Branch, "Giving Voice to Trans and Gender Free Books in The Library Collection." The Commission has been invited to co-sponsor. The event will be on Friday, February 28, from 4:00pm to 5:30pm.
4. Introductions
5. Project Updates (current actions, and plans) including reports from Carolina, Sarah, Amelia, & Phoebe
6. Working Group Reports
   1. Diversity WG
   2. Outreach & Visibility WG 
   3. Policy & Advocacy WG 
   4. Public Health & Safety WG 
   5. Seniors WG 
   6. Youth WG
7. Old Business
8. New Business
   1. The Cambridge Public Library is hosting an event that they have asked if we would co-sponsor:Story Sharing, Button Sharing for Activists of all ages & Viewing the Film Ephemer
      1. What: Viewing of the Film Ephemera, Sharing Buttons: Sharing Stories of Activism and Ephemera Collected Over the Years of Movements for Justice
      2. What else: Making buttons & snacks and/or pizza
      3. Why: Giving Voice to History and Lived Experience of People in Cambridge Community Moving the World Toward Justice
      4. Where: Central Square Library
   2. Heads up: The term for Co-Chair is one year, and both Zack & Bill were elected in April 2024, so we will be voting again at the April meeting.  Be prepared to self-nominate and/or vote at the April meeting. Talk to Zack or Bill if you want to find out more about what it’s like.
9. Report from Rainbows Across Communities
   1. On Sunday, Jan. 26th, from 2:30pm to 4:30pm at Roasted Granola in Arlington Heights, Arlington is having a Community Celebration “to celebrate the generosity, diversity, and connectedness that makes the Town of Arlington such a special place.” Details & flyer below.
   2. Izzy Starr reported that some Somerville government buildings have no gender-neutral bathrooms. Izzy intends to meet with all of the GSA's in Somerville to find out what the students' needs are. So far, they have interviewed two GSA's, and some of the requests they have heard have been:
      1. Gender-neutral bathrooms in schools
      2. Political study group - queer & intersectional
      3. District-wide programming
      4. Programming for younger students (pre-teen)
      5. Education for other students
   3. NAME CHANGE CLINIC: Izzy Starr (Somerville) & Phoebe Hallahan (Cambridge) are working together to organize a Name-Change clinic.
   4. BATHROOM RESTRICTION LAWS: We had a discussion about the possibility of Federal legislation restricting the use of bathrooms for trans people that could affect us in Massachusetts. If this happens, we want to have a response. One suggestion was to stage a media event protest with trans men with beards going into the Women's room in a Federal building because the law says they have to.
10. Public Comments / Announcements
11. Next Commission Meeting: Thursday, February 27
    

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To participate in public comment join our meeting at 51 Inman St. 2nd Floor or register for the meeting at: https://cambridgema.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UDAKIdM0T4mZM2FUYVkxmA