Hi all!! To all those who didn't attend, you missed one bad-ass Vermonster. But don't despair, because here are the MINUTES!

GSA MINUTES 11/02

*****ROTC STATEMENT******
Jamal and Sean handed out their final draft of the GSA Position Statement on the ROTC for review and discussion. The statement will be submitted to various groups on campus tomorrow morning including The Progressives and SA. The statement can be viewed online at the GSA website, and it will be distributed next week.

*******RED CROSS*******
Today and tomorrow the Red Cross is holding a blood drive on campus. One of the questions that volunteers are asked before donating is "Are you a man who has had sex with another man since 1977?" If yes, you cannot give blood. Therefore, a straight man who has all the unprotected sex he wants is not barred from giving blood, but a gay man who has had protected sex in a monogamous relationship cannot. Double standard???
We will have a table TOMORROW in the HOP from 11:30am-4:00pm to hand out information and promote awareness about this discriminatory policy. Want to help man the table??? Blitz Jon Hopper at "ihop" or "zoolander".

*********BIG MEETING*******
...IS COMING UP! November 16th at 8pm, hopefully in Hillel. MARK YOUR CALENDARS! The theme is "Gays and God," and it should be an amazing discussion with different groups and religious organizations on campus. There will be food, fun, and intellectual stimulation, so COME!

********KATRINA RELIEF********
We need to get the ball rolling on setting up a late-night baked goods/grilled cheese sale to raise money for the LGBT Hurricane relief fund. Interested in helping out with this event? Blitz me at "proth"!!!

*******DISCUSSION*******
From now on, we will have a different volunteer each week prepare a discussion topic for the meeting. Get pumped!!!

Topics thrown out tonight:
Sheryl Swoops- Huge women's basketball star. Recently came out as a lesbian! (via her spokesmanship for a lesbian cruise line.) Issues raised: Gays in sports? Lesbians in sports? Coming out as a public figure? Where are all the openly gay male athletes?

Famous Gays- celebrities like Ellen, Ian McKellan, Billy Bean, etc. have helped make big strides for the gay community via their celebrity status. Other celebrities remain entirely closeted by choice. If you're in a position to make a huge difference, are you obligated to help the community? Do you risk being marginalized?

Talk amongst yourselves.

************GSA************
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