COLAGE Bay Area

Town Hall Meeting with the Cast from "Noah's Arc" Sep 25 08

COLAGE is pleased to be a co-sponsor of this exciting event-
Town Hall Meeting with the Cast from Noah's Arc!
Thursday, October 2
First Congregational Church of Oakland
2501 Harrison Street
Reception: 4:30--6:00 pm
Town Hall Meeting: 7:00 - 9:00 pm

COLAGE is proud to be a co-sponsor of a special town hall meeting in support of marriage equality for all: "For Faith, for Love, Forever." We are particularly pleased to welcome cast members from the ground-breaking cable television series "Noah's Arc" on the verge of the theatrical release of their first feature film, "Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom."

Local area African-American clergy will join the cast members for a town hall meeting about marriage, family, same-sex couples, and religion in African American faith communities. The Transcendence Gospel Choir will also be on hand providing music for this special event. A reception before the event will provide an opportunity to meet and talk with "Noah's Arc" cast members.

Tickets are required for both the reception and the town hall meeting. To purchase your tickets, visit this site. . Don't miss this great opportunity! (For more information, contact Rev. Roland Stringfellow.

COLAGE Bay Area Kickoff Picnic Sep 23 08

Join youth and adults with LGBTQ parents and our families for a fun picnic to kickoff COLAGE Bay Area's 08-09 year.
Sunday, September 28th
Dolores Park, San Francisco
2-4 pm

For more information email Monica.

COLAGE Bay Area Art and Action Party Sep 17 08

ART FOR ACTION PARTY

In this election season our families are once again a topic of public debate. Proposition 8 threatens the rights of our families. The Constitution guarantees certain rights for all people of California but by passing this proposition it will deny them to a specific group and only recognize marriage as between a man and a woman eliminating the marriage equality that California has enjoyed since June.

Right now the polls are showing very close margins and this election will be very close. However with our words and our actions we can make a difference while making history! We believe that our voices and experiences are powerful and that they should be heard.

Join with other youth and adult COLAGErs and families for the Art for Action Party co-sponsored with Our Family Coalition. People respond to personal messages, so we have to let our communities know how this initiative will affect our families. This will be a chance to get together to make yard signs, window posters, and postcards in protest of Prop 8. This will also be a chance for us to gather together as a community at a time when it is imperative that we support each other and of course have fun!

When: Saturday, September 27th, 3-5pm
Where: Bananas, 5232 Claremont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94618
For directions to Bananas, visit http://www.bananasinc.org/visit.php

This event is for youth and adults of all ages as well as parents, families and allies!

If you can't join us but would like to take action there are still lots of ways to be involved:

Contact COLAGE about other activities, media opportunities and more!
Host a House Party around No on Prop 8
Make your own signs and posters to display
Write a letter to the editor or an article in your local or school paper
Most of all let your voice be heard and remind others to Vote No on Prop 8 on Nov. 4th!

For more information about this event, to RSVP or to get involved in any of COLAGE's work feel free to contact Paulie Schreck, Community Organizing Intern by email or 415-861-5437.

COLAGE Co-sponsors Free Community Celebration of 60th Anniversary of Perez v Sharp Sep 15 08

Attend Free Community Celebration of 60th Anniversary of Perez v Sharp

Celebrating 60 Years of the Freedom to Marry for Interracial Couples in California

On Friday, September 26, 2008 from 7:00pm to 9pm at the EastSide Cultural Center at 2277 International Blvd in Oakland, the Final Friday Films series and several community organizations will co-host a series of short films by and about Bay Area LGBTQI people of color and mixed heritage communities followed by a panel discussion on the history of marriage equality for interracial couples, achieved in California 60 years ago, and the parallels to same-sex couples today.

There will be a reception from 5:30 - 7:00 pm featuring the Marriage Equality Movement Story Quilt, curated by Maya Scott Chung, MEUSA Parents Outreach Director. This event is free to the public and refreshments will be served. Free childcare is provided- please RSVP for childcare to Julia at (415) 981-1960 orjulia@ourfamily.org.

"It was 60 years ago this month, in 1948, that California led the nation in recognizing that marrying the person you love is a 'fundamental right of citizenship,' and established the freedom to marry for couples of different races," said Stuart Gaffney, Asian Pacific Islander Outreach Director of Marriage Equality USA. "My family would not exist without this historic decision, as my mom is Chinese-American and my father is English/Irish-American. One generation later, in May of this year, California continued its tradition of fairness and equality by recognizing the freedom to marry for loving same-sex couples. Today, my husband John and I are overjoyed to be legally married as we celebrate our 21st year together. Having our parents there on our wedding day, as a second generation in our family was able to legally marry, was the happiest day of our lives."

"Thanks to Perez, my parents were able to marry in California, and they started a family and moved around the country," said Gaffney. "However, when they moved to Missouri and started looking for a home, they learned that their marriage was null and void under Missouri law - something that is now unthinkable. Today we herald Perez as a landmark in affirming that all loving couples should be treated equally under the law - and join together as Californians celebrating a tradition of supporting this most fundamental freedom - the right to marry the person you love."

Final Fridays Films of Resistance and Solidarity, a free monthly community event produced by EastSide Arts Alliance, screens on the last Friday of every month. Final Fridays Films is partially funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. Portions of this event will be filmed for a documentary.

For more information about COLAGE and our participation in this event, email Paulie Milagros Schreck.

Join COLAGE Bay Area for Phonebanking and Fun! Sep 9 08

We Need Your Help to Get the Message Out and Protect Marriage Equality in California

COLAGE Bay Area invites you for an evening of community and activism around Prop 8 in California.

We are excited to bring together youth and adults with LGBTQ parents and our familes, friends and allies for a night of phonebanking and fun! Together we will ensure that folks are getting involved in the campaign and know how important it is for COLAGErs and our families to have marriage equality. Plus you'll get to meet other youth and adults with LGBTQ parents and learn more about COLAGE and the Equality for All Campaign.

Tuesday, September 16th
Time: 6-9pm
Location: COLAGE's main office
1550 Bryant St. Suite 830
SF, Ca 94103

food and beverages will be provided.
Please bring your enthusiasm and your cell phone (if you do not have a cell you can use, COLAGE land lines are available)
(Please RSVP soon so we can go ahead and make sure we have an appropriate amount of food and beverages.)

Save the Date: Just in case you do want to participate but cannot make it to this event we will be having another phone bank on Tuesday October 14th, from 6-9pm

If you have any further questions, want to RSVP or need any other information regarding this event please call 415-861-5437 or email Paulie Milagros Shreck, COLAGE Community Organizing Intern.