Fall Fling 2012

Renegades to the Rescue
LA Corp Seeks to Raise Funds
Local community based organization, The Living and Affected Corporation has partnered with Renegades for a Cause for a evening of fundraising and awareness, October 27, Miss Kitty's, 307 West 7th Street, show time 11 pm.
A five dollar donation will benefit the organization in its mission to continue to share HIV/AIDS prevention information and provide "free" testing services. Currently The Living Affected Corporation is the only locally based organization that provides both on-site and mobile testing. Using the Oraquick test screen, individuals are required to swab their inner cheeks and gum areas with results being available within 20 minutes.  The line up will feature notable locals, former Miss Gay Arkansas, Stephanie Richards, former DSRA Royalty Dusty West, Former Miss Red Ribbon, Cherity, Dyaln Duggar, Liberty Galore, Sasha Iman, Justin Case and former Miss DSRA and Miss North Little Rock Emeritus, Cassaundra Manchester. LA Corp is supported by Manchester whom believes that the mission of the group is paramount and that the public health concern of HIV/AIDS needs to be reinforced and reignited. Statistics reported by statehealthfacts.com cite the state with 2,094 individuals living AIDS, of this number 1,118 (White) and 853 (Black), 93 (Hispanic/Latino). Other data cites a 48% increase within the Black MSM community and over 4,000 individuals who are not linked to any care continuum in the state. COP 24/7 urges individuals to come show your support at the show or by forwarding your charitable dollars, in-kind donations, or other cash contributions to: info@lacorponline.org For more info or volunteer opportunities call 379.8203


Survey Says!: Gay Community Needs to Be Studied More?

I don't know about you, but have you noticed that their seem to be inordinate amount of "researchers, social scientist, cultural critics and all those nerdy types who want to capture data to secure some evidenced based this or that. Earlier this week I posted about the “the largest single study of the distribution of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population in the U.S. on record,” which asked 121,290 Americans if they personally identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Ultimately the released results caused those who unpack these stats into a frenzy to understand exactly what they meant. As for myself, even though the sampling was sufficient, I ponder the thought as to where are these samples done and to some extent how? Especially the point that "younger people were more likely to answer affirmatively than older ones, young black men (those between 18 and 29 years old) were 56 percent more likely than young white men to answer yes." Really? As I continue to move about this community, I've found it unsettling that when attempting to engage people of color in participating in forums focus groups, social justice activities or step up for any kind of initiatives that they are far and few in this city. I've heard excuses and explanations from A to Z as to why gay Black folks are reluctant to be apart of the movement for change. From "I don't want my business in the street" to the effects of stigma have been offered as barriers to interaction. However, it appears that much of this mindset evaporates if there's an "incentive" or some form of payment involved that apparently makes it easier for these folks to participate. Therefore are we to concluded that same gender loving individuals place no real "value" on these activities unless there are meager dollars extended to the activity or information. Are we to assume that that "self worth or preservation" can only be leveraged by dollar signs instead of being concerned about their overall well being or any body's else for that matter. Yes it is understood that their are socio-economic barriers that exist and often these challenges are not conducive to being immerse in any activity, but coming out to a meeting, focus group or capacity building exercises designed to empower one's life should be sought instead of being seen as a opportunistic time to grab a fist of chump change that will most likely not do much to change your circumstances. In case you didnt' know and most likely you didn't, there have been "community assessments" on top of assessments concerning life in the LGBTQ community. And it appears there's no end in sight for those in search of data tyring to find out "who, what, why and where" in the hell is the gay community and what they're up too. Just in time for this posting come another set of Maine researchers stating the premise that the "gay and lesbian" population is vastly understudied and they are going to do something about that by offering links to Survey Monkeys in order to gather more data on this understudied community. If you'd like to participate here are the links:

Lesbian Women: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LGBTUMAINE
Gay Men: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GLBTUMAINE

Don't forget that these are outside parties and COP 24/7 assumes no liability on the information presented or how the information is collected. If results are circulated, we will attempt to post them once issued. In the meantime, if you've got some back talk about this issue or any of our items you can shout out in our comment section. We'd love to hear from you, you and yes you too!!




Rocking the VOTE 2012

If you didn't get registered, its too damn late now! But if you made the cut, then you can move forward with early voting the started Monday, October 22. News accounts state that heavy turn out resulted in some records being broken. Therefore, folks are turning out and casting their ballots in droves and you need to get on down to your local polling place to cast your vote. Early voting ends November 3.  Need to know where you are suppose to go? Click it to find a location near you, please click here: http://www.votepulaski.net/