As LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Pride Month comes to a close, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone for getting involved, and to reflect on the incredible programs, community effort and energy that made this month on MiND an incredible success.

For starters, our little non-profit TV station presented more than 10 hours of feature-length, LGBT documentaries on MiND TV and on globalMiND. These documentaries are important. They tell the diverse and wide-ranging stories of people in the LGBT community - from rural Pennsylvanians to the out and proud in the streets of the Castro in San Francisco.

On MiND, we also presented more than 11 new programs from our staff - and from YOU in the community! Six of these programs, “Mazzoni Center: 30 Years Later,” “LGBT Peer Counseling,” “The Attic Youth Center,” “Giovanni’s Room: Making Gay a Career,” “Knoxville Reflections,” and “My Right Self,” premiered at our “LGBT Stories” event on June 16^th! Thank you to our partners at the Mazzoni Center and at the William Way LGBT Community Center for co-presenting this event with us.

Supporting and being part of the LGBT Community in our region is important to us here at MiND for many reasons. For some of us here - it’s personal; the LGBT community is our community. Simply stated, we care, and we want to do our part. For our organization, it’s important for us to support people and communities who are traditionally marginalized.

MiND is a media outlet for all voices to be heard, and we are especially passionate about providing a forum for voices who don’t usually find representation (or who find misrepresentation) in mainstream media. Our local LGBT community is strong and growing stronger, and here at MiND, we hope we help move that forward.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people often confront homophobia, discrimination, gender hostility, and even hate speech and hate crimes. Did you know that 40% of all homeless youth identify as LGBT? And, according to the non-profit organization, Parents and Friends of Lesbian and Gays, 50% of all gay and lesbian youth report that their parents reject them due to their sexual orientation. These are just a few of the realities that we need to overcome and improve.

At MiND, we hope that by airing the programs we air, and by bringing the community together at events to create public dialogue, that we are, in some small way, helping to increase tolerance among different kinds of people, thereby making the community-at-large a little kinder, a little more understanding and a whole lot more supportive. Even if one parent sees our programs, and can understand a little more of where their child is coming from - we think that’s a success.

We can make progress - but we have to do it together. Please share the MiND programs above, and your own programs with others. By sharing our stories, we can make an impact.

Thank you to everyone who submitted videos for LGBT Pride month - your voices help shape the world we live in, and thank you to everyone who is working on the ground level at LGBT organizations in our community.  Your work is appreciated, respected and celebrated.

Thank you,

Kim Kunda

Next Up: Piazza at Schmidts Screening of “LGBT Stories” 

Join us on June 30th for the final screening of “LGBT Stories” on the big screen at The Piazza at Schmidts! See you there, 6-7pm! Email for more info: kkunda@mindtv.org.

Coming Soon: July’s Theme of the Month is “Violence Prevention.”

Hello! My name is Hannah, and I’m a new MiND TV intern. I’ll be blogging from time to time in the coming months.

Maybe it was the fresh-baked vegan blondies, the kickin’ jerk tofu, or the quenching wine, but somehow, I don’t think so. I think the eloquence and participation of the community had more to do with the success of MiND’s LGBT Pride event than its tasty offerings.

Thank you so much to everyone who attended “LGBT Stories” on June 16^th, and thank you to the wonderful members of the panel. You made it great.

“LGBT Stories” kicked off at the William Way Community Center on Spruce Street. After a soulful slam performance by a few members of the Attic Youth Center, MiND’s screening of 5-minute programs beckoned a room of perspectives to speak. Many of the screening’s subjects sat on the panel, including Ron Powers of the Mazzoni Center, Candice Thompson of the William Way Center, Ed Hermance of Giovanni’s Room, Reverend Nathan Walker of the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia, Robert Keith Burns of Colours, and Carrie Jacobs of the Attic Youth Center.  The conversation traveled from the mission of the First Unitarian Church, to the human rights violation of the Anti-Gay Bill in Uganda, to the various ways that the LGBT community can welcome its youthful members.

Time was the only force to curtail the discussion. Though events like this one have to end (at about 8:30), the discourse that they foster can continue to get louder outside of the doors. And for those of you who didn’t make it to the event, there is still ample opportunity to see what LGBT Month on MiND is all about. Tune in for the premiere of our LGBT Month Member Hour!

This thought-provoking hour of programming includes:

Mazzoni: 30 Years Later

Today, the Mazzoni Center is the only Philadelphia-area medical provider that targets the unique health care needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. It is the oldest AIDS service organization in Pennsylvania and the fourth oldest in the nation, but thirty years ago it was simply an idea-the vision of Dr. Walter Lear. Wrought by thirty years of dedication, Lear’s idea transformed from the small group of volunteers that made up Lavender Health to the large, policy-influencing organization, the Mazzoni Center. Watch to see how the Mazzoni Center embodies the mission of LGBT Health and why its namesake, Dr. Peter Mazzoni, would be proud if he could see it today.

My Right Self…Humanistic Portraits

My Right Self is a photo documentary project with transgendered individuals from the Philadelphia area. It features photos and writings from five different individuals and couples who identify as transgendered or gender-variant. Producer Arthur Robinson Williams created this project to help educate broader audiences and provide inspiration for transfolk, especially youth, in search of community and validation. Through his photo work, Williams creates portraits that are balanced rather than narrow, humanistic rather than obsessed with otherness. Dane Menkin, one of the participants in the project, shares his experiences with My Right Self and draws from his own journey.

The Attic Youth Center

The Attic Youth Center creates opportunities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth to develop into healthy, independent, civic-minded adults within a safe and supportive community, and promotes the acceptance of LGBTQ youth in society. The impact that the Attic has had on its youth was evident from their slam poetry performance at MiND’s “LGBT Stories” event. About five young people took their turn with the microphone, and their poignant words reminded the audience that poetry can express truth in a way that makes us listen to it for the first time.

Coming Out Guide/Speaking Out

Coming out is the process in which a person acknowledges and accepts his or her sexual identity and starts to share that with others. In this piece, LGBT Peer Counselors provide advice and information for those who are coming out and for those to whom someone may be coming out. Speaking Out explains different facets of the coming out process: how it is not an instant process that most people come out to strengthen their relationships, and how to seek more information.

Connecting Generations: Giving Back to LGBT Seniors

LGBT seniors not only have to face the difficulties of getting older, but also discrimination against their sexual orientation, social isolation, lack of family support, and other challenges. Two out of three LGBT seniors live alone, and one out of three say that they’d have to hide their sexual identity in a retirement home. The Connecting Generations Program at the William Way Community Center works to ease these challenges by fostering connections between LGBT people across generations. They provide opportunities for meaningful mentoring interactions for younger and older LGBT people. Participants get together at least twice a month for friendly conversation, trips to local attractions, or any number of activities that may interest both participants.

Reflections on Knoxville

Reverend Nate Walker, minister of the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia mourns the death of two Unitarian Universalists who were shot and killed in at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, TN. On Sunday, July 27, 2008, Jim David Adkisson walked into the sanctuary and opened a guitar case, pulled out a 12-gauge shotgun and began firing while the children were performing a musical skit. Two church members were killed — Greg McKendry and Linda Kraeger. Seven more injured. Reverend Walker’s meditations stir remorse and mourning, but they also inspire hope in the power of community and thought about how to respond to acts of violence and bigotry.

State of MiND: Homophobia

Homophobia: an extreme and irrational aversion to homosexuality and homosexual people. State of MiND: Homophobia explores the effects of homophobia on the LGBT community throughout the world. State of MiND is a series that uses statistics to reveal the magnitude of social problems in our country and our community. This piece delves into homophobia in history, abroad, and at home.

As you watch this piece, consider these words about the social and cultural “air” that we breathe by Beverly Daniel Tatum:

“To say that it is not our fault does not relieve us of responsibility. However, we may not

have polluted the air, but we need to take responsibility, along with others, for cleaning it up. Each of us needs to look at our own behavior. Am I perpetuating and reinforcing the

negative messages so pervasive in our culture, or am I seeking to challenge them?”

Join the dialogue and submit your own 5 minute programs about the problems that affect your community.

LGBT Peer Counseling

The LGBT Peer Counseling program at the William Way Community Center offers confidential one-on-one counseling and a safe space to discuss LGBT issues. Dealing with isolation and a lack of social support makes it difficult for some LGBT individuals to get the help and support they need when dealing with issues such as coming out, facing discrimination, or encountering relationship issues. LGBT Peer Counseling cuts through this isolation and provides an outlet for LGBT individuals to feel comfortable discussing their concerns.

The International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission

This piece reflects on the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, which celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2010. IGLHRC works to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. Julie Dorf, IGLHRC’s founder, describes the original group as “a bunch of rag-tag street activists and immigrants” who were empowered to fight for LGBT rights worldwide. Then, they managed to get their issues on the tables of the international human rights movement. Today, it has become and international institution and its members speak in front of audiences of world leaders.  IGLHRCs work spans the globe with staff in the Americas, Asia and Africa working to bring human rights to everyone, everywhere.

Making Gay a Career

“In those days, I knew that I did not want to continue in an academic career because I would’ve had to have been in the closet. I either had to stop doing gay stuff in order to get a career together, or I had to figure out how to make gay into a career,” says Ed Hermance, owner of Giovanni’s room. With humor and grace, Hermance talks about the joys and struggles of owning and running an independent gay book store. The store helps individuals discover themselves through reading. Giovanni’s Room, among the oldest gay and lesbian bookstores, was founded in 1973. Giovanni’s Room is the traditional place from which to begin your visit to gay and lesbian Philadelphia.

Alison Bechdel: A Reading From Fun Home

Cartoonist, Alison Bechdel, best known for her comic strip “Dykes To Watch Out For,” visits MiND studios to read from her bestselling memoir, “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic.” Hearing Bechdel read her work brings out the nuances of tone and detail selection. Her words and images meld seamlessly to tell her story. Several publications named “Fun Home” as one of the best books of 2006. It was also nominated for several awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award and three Eisner Awards (one of which it won). “Fun Home” addresses themes of sexual orientation, gender roles, family relationships and the role of literature in understanding oneself and one’s family. For more, check out “A Conversation With Alison Bechdel” and “Creating Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic.”

Be sure to tune in. You may have missed out on the blondies, the tofu, and the wine, but the programs are still here and the dialogue abounds.

Tune in: June 23rd & June 26th at 8pm on MiND TV Channel 35.1

Comcast: 20, 35, 98

Fios: 35

Direct TV: 35

Hannah Levy is an avid eater, sleeper, walker, sitter, and breather. She is excited to be a part of MiND. She spends a lot of time in Philadelphia and Providence, RI.