ORLANDO'S CATERING WON'T SERVE PRO-CHOICE PEOPLE!

Well folks, its official...the rumors are true. Orlando's Banquets and Catering has caved to the pressure of radical anti-choicers and banished Faith Aloud. Michael Orlando, owner of Orlando's Banquet and Catering, has decided to donate all the profits from the Faith Aloud Awards to radical anti-choice causes to "make amends" for serving us. Furthermore, Michael Orlando has made the poor choice of refusing to serve people associated with Faith Aloud. Basically, Michael Orlando has chosen to ban pro-choice people from all of his venues. In his email to us, Michael Orlando wrote, "After much discussion and deliberation with our family who takes a pro-life stance in our community, we feel we must decline the opportunity to host your event in the future. I hope you understand our position."
We wonder how he can ask that we understand his position when he not only doesn't understand ours but has also chosen to ostracize anyone who associates with our position . When emcee extraordinaire and marriage equality activist Ed Reggi talked to Michael Orlando about the decision to ban Faith Aloud, Michael Orlando told Ed, " this is a right as a Catholic business to refuse anyone that goes against their families beliefs."
How does this make you feel? What can you do? Here at Faith Aloud we encourage you to BOYCOTT Orlando's Banquet and Catering. Don't have your event there, don't attend events there, and tell your friends not to go there. If you want to do more, write to Michael Orlando directly and express your disappointment with his choice to refuse those who support choice. His address is Orlando Gardens, 8352 watson Rd., St. Louis, MO 63119.

Newsweek says what we've always known...

Newsweek's coverstory is something the folks here at Faith Aloud have always known....that there is indeed a religious case FOR Same-Sex Marriage

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081208/pl_politico/16305

TOMORROW!!!

Tomorrow is a very important day in the struggle for justice. A Day without a Gay is a national day of boycott to show the country the power LGBTQ folk and their allies have on our nation.

FOR MORE INFO CHECK OUT THIS BLOG:

http://showmenohate.blogspot.com/2008/12/day-without-gay-st-louis-121008.html

Unequal citizens…

Our nation is in schism. While we here at Faith Aloud rejoice over the fact that only one of four anti-choice propositions or initiatives passed (Arkansas’s adoption ban for non-married partners) we are deeply saddened that all three anti-lgbtq propositions to ban same-sex marriage passed. California’s proposition 8 will amend the California constitution to TAKE AWAY the right to marry someone of the same sex. What really saddens me is that other minority groups in California were instrumental in passing Proposition 8. But why? It wasn’t all that long ago that Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere." Isn’t denying any person the right to marriage an injustice? Isn’t the ban on same-sex marriage just the modern parallel of the ban on interracial marriage? It seems people don’t realize that taking away someone else’s rights doesn’t give them more, but rather increases the likelihood that their rights will be taken away too. While I applaud the California voters for voting no on dangerous abortion restrictions that would limit women’s rights, I am perplexed by their simultaneous willingness to take away the rights of other citizens. As we work here for reproductive justice we believe wholeheartedly in the words of Dr. King. We will not allow justice to be threatened on any front, and we continue to fight in solidarity with all those who feel they are unequal citizens in this country. We will not rest until religion is safely out of politics and until the government gets out of our beds, our places of worship, and our private decisions. Justice for everyone, everywhere…yes…we…can.

Election Update....

As many of you know we, here in America, have a new president elect...Barack Obama! But what you may not know is that another kind of Choice rocked the vote on tues. NOT ONE ABORTION BAN PASSED!!!!! Colorado amendment 48 which would have defined life as beginning at conception which would have essentially outlawed abortion DID NOT PASS, nor did South Dakota's Initiative 11 which would have banned abortions. Also Michigan passed proposition 2 which allows stem cell research. California's proposition 4 to require parental notification for abortions has yet to be called since there are still absentee ballots to be counted. While we celebrate these wins for reproductive justice we still have some loses to deal with. Florida and Arizona passed bans on gay marriage and Arkansas pass a very anti-choice measure with Initiative 1 which bans ANY non-married couple from adopting! Once again California's Proposition 8 which would ban gay marriage is still too close to call.
Overall, great job on getting out there and voting, but we still have a lot of work today.

DO YOU WANT YOUR VOTE TO COUNT MORE?

Here is something really interesting for Students!!!!

Some friends created a website that helps college students figure out where their vote counts more: www.CountMore.org.

Two easy things you can do:
1) email countmore.org this to any college age friends and friends with college age siblings, etc.
2) join the Count More facebook group.

Your Voice is more important than ever.

It’s true, even though it often doesn’t seem that way your voice, my voice all our voices still have a great deal of untapped power. I often wonder what happened to make the current twenty and thirty somethings so apathetic to the political process. I could of course venture a guess or two, but nothing I come up with seems to encompass the general malaise that seems to have permanently affected the x, y and z generations. Despite what you think, and what I think on my more pessimistic days, we still have a voice in the political process. First we have to vote… on everything. Imagine what the political landscape would look like if 100% of those folks 18-30 voted. Can you imagine such a thing? Everything could change. So get registered.

For Missourians, use this website: http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/s_default.asp?id=voter.

Otherwise check out : http://www.rockthevote.com/home.html.

Get your friends to vote. Get your coworkers to vote. Get your siblings to vote. I know everyone this time of year is talking about voting and such but seriously stop and imagine doubling the amount of voters under 30. Can we be that generation? Could we rival the 1960’s in terms young adult political activity?

Another way to get our voices heard is talk to our representatives. In fact, let’s flood their inboxes, mail boxes, and voicemail with our voices. Especially on issues that matter. Like the new The Department of Health and Human Services regulations 45 CFR Part 88 which will allow institutions as well as individuals to refuse to provide women access to contraceptive services and information, and redefines abortion to include common methods of contraception such as Birth control pills and IUD's. These new regulations conflict with requirements of the Title X family planning program which ensures that women have access to a broad range of contraceptive options and that pregnant women receive non-directive counseling upon request. You can read the whole document here: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2008pres/08/20080821reg.pdf .

How dare the federal government decide what’s best for all of us without hearing our voices. You can contact your representatives and senators using the following sites: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml and http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?State=MO .

I for one think it’s time that our apathetic generations get off our butts, stop simply complaining about the state of our country and do something. Clearly, the only option is raise our voices, to make our society acknowledge our ability to make good choices and to never be afraid to proclaim Our Faith Aloud.