SRS Gay Lesbian or Bisexual Employees and Allies Association

Past Events

June 25, 2022 Augusta Pride Parade and Festival
June 23, 2022 Giving Voice: Workplace Stories from Savannah River and the CSRA
An interactive panel discussion with gay, lesbian, transgender and ally employees from SRS and surrounding institutions, moderated by Dr. Richard Friend This was a chance to hear what it is like at work for these employees as they answered audience questions and told their stories. The panel was presented at multiple locations across site to make it easier for people to attend.Bill Valdez, the Acting Director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity for the U.S. Department of Energy presented Mr Jim Hanna, Workforce Services Manager Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC, with the 2011 SRS GLOBE Award for Promoting Diversity at the Savannah River Site.
 June 24, 2010
 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Inclusion at Work
presented by Richard Friend, Ph.D.

This highly interactive session helped employees increase their understanding of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) inclusion as a workplace imperative for attracting, retaining and fully engaging top talent. Participants assessed their organizational and/or departmental climate for promoting LGBT inclusion and supporting an inclusive climate for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Dr Friend also reviewed recent national data about LGBT workplace inclusion, and addressed common workplace dilemmas by identifying best practices for preventing these challenges, and moving beyond the minimum policies of compliance toward an inclusive workplace culture across all sexual orientations and gender identities.
 June 19, 2010 Augusta Gay Pride Parade and Festival
Broad Street and Augusta Commons, Augusta GA
SRS GLOBE participated in the first ever Augusta Pride celebration. Members of SRS GLOBE participated in the parade and later hosted an SRS GLOBE information booth at the festival.
October 14, 2021
1 In what year was the country’s earliest known gay rights organization formed?
1924 - The Society for Human Rights in Chicago becomes the country’s earliest known gay rights organization.
2 How does WWII play into gay and transgender history?
1936-45 — After Germany’s Paragraph 175 is expanded, 100,000 men are imprisoned, several thousand of them in the concentration camps where they are labeled with pink triangles; many die from the hard labor or the Nazi “biological cleansing” experiments. After the war, many gay men are kept in prison to serve out their sentences under Paragraph 175.
3 What is the tie between MLK’s ‘March on Washington’ and the Gay and Transgender Community?
1963 — Martin Luther King “March on Washington” organized by openly gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin.
4 What significant event occurred at the Stonewall Inn in New York?
1969 — In New York City, police again raiding the gay bar called Stonewall Inn are met with resistance from gays, lesbians and transvestites; the 4-day “Stonewall riots” are now viewed as the start of the gay and lesbian liberation movement.
5 What State was the first to enact gay civil rights legislation?
1982 — Wisconsin becomes the first state to enact gay civil rights legislation.
6 What country first offered full marriage rights to same-sex couples?
In 2001 the Netherlands becomes the first country to grant full marriage rights to same-sex couples.
7 In what year did the first US same sex marriages become legal?
2004 - On May 17, same-sex marriages became legal in Massachusetts.
October 11, 2021 On Oct. 11, 1987, half a million people participated in the March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. This was the second such demonstration in our nation’s capital and the first display of the NAMES Project Quilt, remembering those who have died from AIDS. One measure of the march’s success was the number of organizations that were founded as a result - including the National Latino/a Gay & Lesbian Organization (LLEGÓ) and AT&T’s GLBT employee group, LEAGUE.

Based on the success of this event, the organizers came up with the idea of a national day to celebrate coming out and chose the anniversary of that second march on Washington to mark it. Keith Haring donated his now-famous image of a person fairly dancing out of a closet to the cause and the first National Coming Out Day was celebrated with events in 18 states, and national media attention including The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, USA Today and National Public Radio. By 1990, National Coming Out Day to expanded to include all 50 states and seven foreign countries.

Actress Amanda Bearse of Fox-TV’s Married… With Children agreed to be chairperson for National Coming Out Day 1994. At the time, Bearse was the only nationally known actress who was open about her lesbianism, and her participation in community events across the country drew a new and larger audience to the day. She appeared in a public service announcement with the message: “I’m not a straight woman but I play one on TV. And that’s where acting belongs - on television or in the movies. Not in real life. That’s why I stopped acting and came out.”

In September 1997 the project brought in its first straight spokesperson - Betty DeGeneres, mother of actress/comedian Ellen DeGeneres. The message she delivered and continues to spread is perhaps the most powerful of all. “The fact that I’m a mom advocating equal rights for my daughter and her partner underscores the point that ending discrimination based on sexual orientation is not just important to gay people, it’s important to their families and the people who love them,” she told the Human Rights Campaign’s HRC Quarterly in 1997.

Betty DeGeneres traveled the country with this message, and also made a television public service announcement for HRC entitled “For Our Families.” In it, she said: “For too long, gay Americans have suffered discrimination. As long as our sons and daughters are excluded from the basic protection of law, we must share that burden as a family.”

 
October 1, 2021 The following appeared in the site Online Employee Communication on October 1, 2009.

October is Gay and Transgender History Month, and SRS GLOBE is observing this anniversary with an account of the history of National Coming Out Day. This year marks the 21st anniversary of National Coming Out Day, which is set for October 11. See the Upcoming Events page on the SRS GLOBE website for a history of this observance. Additionally, each day in October, significant icons of gay and transgender history will be featured with a video, biography, bibliography, downloadable images and other educational resources at
June 24, 2022
The 2009 SRS Gay Pride Observance featured a seminar by Dr. David M. Hall. Dr. Hall is a straight ally, high school teacher, and consultant. He lives and teaches in Philadelphia with his wife Annie. He has spoken and written extensively on LGBT issues, diversity education, and sexual harassment and came highly recommended by experts in these fields.

David M. Hall Associates offers professional training and consulting for schools and corporations. Dr. David Hall has won teaching and humanitarian awards at the national, state, and local level and his work has been recognized nationwide. He has been featured on CNN, National Public Radio, and in other national publications.

David Hall…is an intelligent, hardworking man who brings a combination of grassroots experience and sincere commitment….David is an optimist who confronts problems by actively seeking ways to improve society….A man who stands up for what he believes in, David teaches his students and others around him that we must learn acceptance of one another’s differences in order to grow as a society.

Hon. Edward G. Rendell
Governor of Pennsylvania
Feb 7, 2022 SRS GLOBE sponsored tickets for the film Tru Loved which was shown at Augusta’s Imperial Theater. The evening began with a pre-screening reception at 6:30 pm and the film at 7:30. Tru Loved is the first film to address the Gay-Straight Student Alliance movement, an American school-based movement that deals primarily with student education about bullying and harassment issues. The film sends a message of inclusiveness to all questioning and troubled teens, as well as to their friends and families.Published studies have shown a much higher suicide frequency among students who have experienced high levels of rejection. The film would be helpful to guidance counselors, youth group leaders, health and wellness professionals and others who work with teens both straight and gay. Questions about the program may be addressed to GLOBE@srs.gov.