Log Cabin Chicago Blog

Rev. Steven F. Kindle, a straight minister, of Clergy United shared his personal story about how he changed his mind on the issue of homosexuality and the Bible. Rev. Kindle passionately spoke defending gays and lesbians and countered religious bigotry used against them.

He started out by repeating his introduction, “being gay is just one of the inconsequential aspects of the ‘human experience’”. He then went on to say, “Log Cabin is the most vital gay and lesbian organization in America today”. His point that the Church is not quite responsible for begining but for maintaining homophobia throughout the centuries was appropriately received the by the crowd. Continue reading ‘Rev. Steven F. Kindle “A Change of Heart”’

The polling strategist gave the convention insight into the current make-up of the Republican Party and how that make-up will effect the Presidential election. Florida moved up their primary and that is going to have a ripple effect for the entire slate of candidates. Tony doesn’t really feel there is a candidate that will have the undercurrent of moderate support, a candidate that can be supported by a all the of the pillars that make up the party. Given the current political landscape it looks like Giuliani has the upper-hand. But we were also given stern warning that Hilary has a great shot at taking the election. Not quite what you want to hear at a gathering of Republicans!

WOW… what an amazing Senator. Although Senator Art Simpson is 75 years old he delivered the most relevant, hilarious and insightful speech of the convention. And that’s saying a lot because the convention line-up was incredibly compelling.

Simpson is quick to point out the party is filled with cukoos and zealots, and directed us, “Don’t give up on the Republican Party. Not yet anyway.”

Log Cabin presented CC Goldwater, granddaughter of Senator and Presidential Candidate Barry Goldwater with their Media Visibility Award. CC walked the convention through her motivation for creating the movie. Later in the evening she hosted a viewing the video. The move was powerful and gave keen insights into a man who was often perceived as anti-gay due to his conservative positioning. And to be honest, I really never thought about or read about Goldwater, besides brief mentions in history books. My own personal historical perspective started with Reagan. I was born in 1980 so my knowledge of Reagan was mostly from the comparisons drawn on later presidents. I highly recommend watching this movie.

Trustees and potential trustee’s were invited to a Martini Party on Coors Field. The rain required that we hold the event in the Stadium Club but we did manage to organize a tour of the dugout. The grounds crew prevented us from walking on the field, but regardless, the experience was worthwhile. I’m not quite a sports fan so I admired the architecture and debated public fund use for stadium development. Very Fun!

The Stadium.

Proof we were in the dugout!

Admiral Steinman is a Gay admiral, served 25 years in the Coast Guard most of it as a physician. He largely served in the Aviation unit most of the time he was posted to small units under 100 people. Formal socializing wasn’t that big of a deal. But when we was facing the idea of promotion, he feared how he would deal with socialization since Flag officers have a lot of social obligations to meet. He resorted to seeking out female companion via personal ads from The Washitonian. Although he was forced to have female companion to “get by” with his new peer group, they grew to be very close friends. Continue reading ‘Admiral Steinman Discusses “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”’

Session 2

Jimmy inquired how the various chapters are using GetActive soon to be Convio. Most chapters are using this web based tool for communicating with membership. Some chapters are still operating legacy websites. But most are using the tool for email distribution. The comfort level with using GetActive varies from chapter to chapter, Chicago seems to be lucky in that we have a few people that are able to work within it. One chapter actually had their “web master” run away with all the passwords!

James challenged the group to form a group on Second Life. First person to create a group with 10 attendees will get $100, out of his personal funds I might add!

Log Cabin develops social networking tool! This tool, part of GetActive, can be used to stay in touch with a sub groups of your mailing list, or membership. Some chapters are already experimenting with social networking sites. Chicago is using blogging and Meetup.com. You can create badges for MySpace for and other social networking sites. The tool will foster a sense of community that expands beyond geographic boundaries. General members can create social network based on their own interests without LCR formal involvement.

Log Cabin has also created tools to help encourage membership to write letters to the editor regarding issues and topics effecting that local chapter’s membership.

Last night Fred Bachhuber, President of Cleveland’s Log Cabin chapter flew into Denver for our National Convention.  Dinner at Hamburger Mary’s then drinks at JR’s with dozens of Log Cabiners.

First Session

Growing the Grass Roots, led by Jimmy LaSalvia and James Vaughn.

We discussed tips for growing each the local chapters. Chapters casually reported on membership, social event attendance.  Chicago is actually doing a decent job of membership and social event attendance.  Chicago’s recent fundraising event held at David Valkema’s home and pride involvement was praised in part for Judy Baar’s Topinka.