Please join us and meet fellow LGBT Armenian Americans and help us plan and discuss future projects/events for the coming year. The AGLA NY meeting is this Friday November 14 at 8PM at the Center.
AGLA NY Meeting
Friday, November 14, 2008 at 8pm
LGBT Community Center
208 W. 13th Street, NY, NY
For all those that are interested, we typically go out to eat or for drinks afterwards and we look forward to seeing you on Friday!
This past week has been full of highs and lows for LGBT Armenian Americans. While President-Elect Barack Obama became the first US President to ever use “gay” in his acceptance speech, in California the bigoted Proposition 8 passed (52 to 48%) and threatens to destroy over 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place before the election.
It is particularly disheartening that the heavily Armenian populated counties of Fresno and Los Angeles both voted to pass Prop 8 which seeks to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry.
As a sign of solidarity with our LGBT brothers and sisters in California and recognizing that LGBT rights are universal rights, AGLA NY will be participating in at least 2 Prop 8 protests in NYC this week: one in front of the Mormon Temple on the UWS this Wednesday; and the second at City Hall on Saturday.
Please join us as we make our voices heard to those who would challenge the rights of LGBT people to marry.
WEDNESDAY’S PROTEST
Prop 8 Protest in New York at Mormon Temple
Wed Nov 12 6:30-8pm
25 Columbus Ave at 65th Street
More info at the Facebook event page here.
SATURDAY’S PROTEST
National Day of Protest against Propositon 8 at New York City Hall
Sat Nov 15 1:30pm
More info at the Join the Impact website and RSVP at the Facebook event page here.
For those interested in meeting up with AGLA NY members for the protests please contact us.
Dear AGLA NY Members and friends,
It is my pleasure to welcome Veken Gueyikian as the new President of AGLANY. Veken is an intelligent, energetic and dedicated professional who served as Vice President for the past year, and without whom we could not have accomplished all that we did. We are looking for a few interested and energetic individuals to work with Veken in the coming year as a member of our organization. Please email Veken through this form if you are interested in volunteering.
I would also like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their support and help over the past two years that I have had the honor of serving as AGLA NY President.
We are now officially a tax-deductible charity, which means that we can raise funds like any other non-profit. The process took close to two years and I’d like to thank Hadi and Cleary Gottlieb for their help and hard work in processing all the necessary forms.
In the past two years, AGLA NY has built on a strong base to improve the organization in numerous other ways: our new blog is both informative and popular; our new lecture series attracts 20-40 people, both Armenian and non-Armenian at each event; and our coverage and name has expanded in the Armenian community and without. And of course, we continue to host traditionally popular events, such as our annual Armenian Christmas party.
In the coming year, we have many fun and novel events planned, including a winter benefit to raise funds for the organization and a spring conference on LGBT rights in the Caucasus.
We hope you will join AGLA NY if you have not already done so, and that you join us at as many upcoming events as possible. Bring your friends and spread the word!
Sincerely,
Christopher Atamian
Join us for a Book Party to celbrate the release of Nancy Agabian’s new book “Me as her again”Room 410
208 W. 13th Street, NYC 10011
between 7th and 8th Aves
Subways: 123 or ACE to 14th Street
212 620-7310
http://www.gaycenter.org
$5 donation suggested
Nancy Agabian celebrates the publication of her memoir, Me as her again: True Stories of an Armenian Daughter (Aunt Lute Books), with a reading, discussion and book signing.
The Armenian Gay and Lesbian Association of NY will be sponsoring the event with a reception to follow.
The book tells the overlapping stories of Agabian’s genocide survivor grandmother, her feminist mother who came of age in conservative 1950s America, and the author, who struggled to find a unique place between her Armenian family history and her queer identity.
Read more and pre-order the book at:
Aunt Lute Books is an independent, multicultural and queer friendly women’s press.
Join AGLA NY Members at the 2008 NYC Pride Parade on Sunday June 29th.
A group of AGLA NY Members will be meeting at Noon (12PM) on Sunday at the northwest corner of 5th Ave and 12th St, in front of the Forbes magazine building.
For more info on the meetup please visit the event info page at aglany.org
http://www.nycpride.org/home
An afternoon of Armenian Films and Videos!
Please join us Sunday, June 22nd from 3pm to 5:30 pm for what promise sto be an informative and entertaining double header of contemporary Armenian culture.
First filmmaker and AGLA NY member Melissa Boyajian will screen and discuss three short films: “Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon;” “Basic Conversational Armenian,” and “Body Intervention.” These films offer a thought-provoking look at space, time, culture and tradition. Melissa is an MFA student at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
After a short break, Hadi Deeb will share via a slide show and commentary his impressions about Armenian culture, preservation and nostalgia, following his recent trip to Western/ Historic Armenia, including Hadjin, Malatya and Musa Dagh.
This event is co-sponsored by AGLA NY and Nor Alik.
Refreshments will be served. Suggested admissions is $10.
Addresss: The NY LGBT Community Center, 208 West 13th Street, off 7th Avenue
For more info and to RSVP please visit AGLANY.org
AGLA NY wold like to express its dismay at the recent news concerning the armed attack In Yerevan against Mikael Danielyan, President of the Helsinki Association.
MIkael Danielyan has been a staunch supporter of human rights in Armenia for several decades now and as such is an invaluable asset to the country and its people.
We hope that the Armenian government and police will open a full and fair investgation and bring his assalilant(s) to justice.
We would also like to remind the Government of Armenia that it is only by guaranteeing all its citizens their full civil and human rights that the country will remain a true democracy and abide by the Council of Europe laws and regulations that it’s sworn to uphold.
For more info see:
Gay Armenia: http://gayarmenia.blogspot.com/2008/05/hate-crime-in-yerevan-armenias.html
A1+ Armenia: http://www.a1plus.am/en/?page=issue&iid=607
