Scripts for calling your Congressional Representatives about SNDA and SSIA

Thank you for taking the time to call your representatives in Congress to help pass the Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) and the Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA). Below are the scripts for calling your representatives. Since the bills have different numbers in each house of Congress, you will see that there is one script to use for you two Senators, and a second script to use for your Representative in the House.

Senate Script (You will call both Senators from your state.)


"Hello,

My name is __________________________ and I'm calling from _______City, State_______  to express my support for Senate Bill 555, the Student Non-Discrimination Act, and Senate Bill 506, the Safe Schools Improvement Act.

Can you tell me where Senator _____________ stands on these bills?"

* If the Senator's staff tells you that the Senator is a co-sponsor of either or both bills:  "Thank you and thank Senator _____________ for his/her support.

* If the Senator supports both bills but isn't a co-sponsor of one or either: "Thank you and thank Senator _____________ for his/her support. I also ask that Senator _____________ consider co-sponsoring these bills in order to build momentum and help them pass."

* If the Senator doesn't support the bills: "I'm disappointed to hear that. Having a safe school environment for every child should be a basic American right. Please ask Senator ____________ to reconsider supporting these bills. I will be watching his/her vote."


* If the office staff isn’t sure: “Having a safe school environment for every child should be a basic American right. Please ask Senator  ____________ to support these bills, and to consider co-sponsoring both.”



House of Representatives Script (You only have one Representative to call.)

"Hello,

My name is __________________________ and I'm calling from _______City, State_______  to express my support for House Bill 998, the Student Non-Discrimination Act, and House Bill 1648, the Safe Schools Improvement Act.

Can you tell me where Representative _____________ stands on these bills?"

* If the Representative's staff tells you that the Representative is a co-sponsor of either or both bills:  "Thank you and thank Representative _____________ for his/her support.

* If the Representative supports both bills but isn't a co-sponsor of one or either: "Thank you and thank Representative _____________ for his/her support. I also ask that Representative _____________ consider co-sponsoring these bills in order to build momentum and help them pass."

* If the Representative doesn't support the bills: "I'm disappointed to hear that. Having a safe school environment for every child should be a basic American right. Please ask Representative ____________ to reconsider supporting these bills. I will be watching his/her vote."

* If the office staff isn’t sure: “Having a safe school environment for every child should be a basic American right. Please ask Representative ____________ to support these bills, and to consider co-sponsoring both.”

Zanna Don't Comes to the William Way Community Center.

As many of you know, I am a huge fan and supporter of the William Way Community Center, having helped design their Homecoming event in June, including co-producing the entertainment portion of the evening.  Now, separately, another fine group of folks is putting on a series of shows at William Way which will simultaneously pay local artists, as well as raise funds for the Center. Talk about a win/win!  Currently, they are still casting their first show, Zanna Don't.  Check out the info below and please, share this with anyone you think may be interested.

Overview

Welcome to Heartsville High, set in a world where everyone is gay--well, almost everyone! The big-man-on-campus is the chess champion, and the captain of the football team is made cool by being cast as the lead in the school musical. The students write a controversial show called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" about straight people in the military, which becomes the catalyst for a young man and woman to fall in love. Enter Zanna, a magical, musical fairy who, with a wave of his wand, brings true love to one and all!

Choreography by Cliff Roberts of "Two Step Friday's" at Woody's and "Brokeback Saturday's" at ICandy with costuming provided by Philly AIDS Thrift.  Zanna Don't will support the programming for William Way GLBT Community Center and feature the community.  Please friend "Zannadont Williamway" on Facebook orwillyphillydares@gmail.com for audition times and information."

Break Downs:

NOTE: all are seniors in high school, and should be cast as multi-culturally as possible.

ZANNA (tenor/baritone to high G): the heart and soul of Heartsville; a hip, fun-loving matchmaker, driven to make the world better, even if he doesn't always fully think through his choices

STEVE (baritone to E-flat above middle C): the new guy in town; All-American high school football hunk, but self-effacing and shy; hoping desperately to fit in, his dreams will be alternately fulfilled and shattered.

KATE (belt to C, plus a few other higher notes mixed in): sweet, innocent over-achiever who, like Steve, is not quite prepared to have her world thrown upside-down.

MIKE (tenor/baritone to high G): all-around cool guy; captain of the chess team, which makes him king of the school, but with a humble appreciation of the simple joys in life, like finding that one special guy to settle down with.

ROBERTA (belt to high F): tough as nails on the outside, a hopeless romantic on the inside; perennial unlucky in relationships, she heroically, and comically, never gives up her pursuit of true love.

TANK (tenor/baritone to high G): Zanna's sidekick, and the school DJ; somewhere between nerdy and ultra-cool, he's also hopelessly in love with Zanna; doubles as a DINER CUSTOMER and also TEX.

CANDI (belt to C, plus a few other higher notes mixed in): the school's narrow-minded busy-body, the one you love to hate; doubles as a DINER CUSTOMER and LORETTA.

ARVIN (baritone to E-flat; should have a few low notes as well): Candi's browbeaten sidekick; a nice guy who just sort of goes with the flow; doubles as DINER CUSTOMER and also BRONCO.

The HIV Vaccine Trial and Me

A few friends have asked about (and had concerns about) my Facebook posts about the HIV vaccine trial that I'm participating in, so I thought I'd create a post about it to let everyone know what's up.  The primary reason that I post about it quite candidly is because there is still far too much stigma around HIV, and also because I hope that some of my friends will consider enrolling.

Philadelphia is one of a number of cities currently participating in a vaccine trial that is studying the effects of an experimental vaccine on gay and bisexual men, and transgender women.  I had two screening visits and today I received my first of four injections.  The first three are plasmid DNA that have a fragment of genetic code of the HIV virus; the fourth is RNA introduced by a deactivated adenovirus, AKA the common cold.  The study is open only to HIV negative participants, and the vaccinations cannot cause HIV/AIDS.

I chose to participate for two reasons: 1) to benefit medical science in advancing the search for effective HIV prevention and 2) for the possibility of reducing my risk of contracting HIV if exposed to it.  Granted, the plan is still to use safer sex practices to reduce that likelihood, but if the condom breaks and I can have an immune system that has possibly already been trained to recognize and react to HIV, why not? Of course, it's entirely possible that I'm getting either a placebo or a totally ineffective vaccine.

Additionally, the first time this study was done it was stopped because uncircumcised men and men who had been exposed to the adenovirus used in the fourth shot and who received the vaccine actually ended up at a higher risk of contracting HIV.  I do not fall into either of these categories, but whether there are other risk factors not yet known remains to be seen.  Other than a little tenderness at the injection site, I feel fine after my first shot today, and also having had 23 vials of blood taken today.  That's about a half pint, so never having been seriously ill, it's by far the most I've ever had drawn.  Next injection is May 23rd and the staff is so awesome that I'm oddly looking forward to going back for it.