Former HRC president to speak at International House Thursday - RSVP for pizza

"Dear Interns,

We are writing to let you know that the former president of the Human Rights Campaign is going to speak exclusively to WIP interns this Thursday, June 7 at 7:30 PM. While most of you are already are aware of this speaker, we wanted to send you one more reminder. The event will occur at International House which is located at Iris Street, N.W. Please see below for more detailed directions. For those of you who are spring interns but might still be in the area, this will be our last event and will be a great opportunity to speak to Dr. Bayer before you leave. If you are a new summer intern, our first official class will be on June 14 at Georgetown University. However, this could also be a good chance to talk to Dr. Bayer about any concerns you might have before our first official class. We are still awaiting the room number for Georgetown next week which we will probably send out to you next Monday with the all the other details on how to get there, etc. Typically we will send out all announcements for Thursday night events the Monday before each one. Although this week's speaker is a spring semester event, we encourage all summer interns to also attend this event if you are already in town. If you haven't already done, please RSVP so we know how much pizza to get for everyone.

Cheryl Jacques is a national leader in the gay civil rights movement where she writes and speaks nationally on issues of diversity, civil rights and politics. She is Of Counsel to the law firm of Brody, Hardoon, Perkins and Kesten, and is a consultant on diversity issues to corporations and non-profit organizations. She appears frequently as a commentator on such shows as the CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, ABC's World News Tonight, The O'Reilly Factor, CrossFire, ABC's Good Morning America, Nightline, Fox News, CNN, NPR and many other television and radio broadcasts. Ms. Jacques recently spoke at universities such as Columbia, Vassar, Harvard Law School, Boston College, as well Carnegie Mellon to name just a few of the fine schools she has spoken to.

At our event, Ms. Jacques will discuss the differences between civil unions and gay marriage. (Here is a link of some arguments she will probably make: http://www.bidstrup.com/marriage.htm) Ms. Jacques may also touch on other issues such as employment discrimination, where in 37 states it is still legal to fire someone solely for being gay. Finally, she will also talk about the status of homeless youth in America. Of course, students will also have an opportunity to ask questions at the end of our session.

Jacques formerly served as president and executive director of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) which is the nation's largest bipartisan gay rights organization - an organization known for endorsing both Democrats and Republicans. Jacques oversaw significant growth in fundraising and membership, including a record $30 million budget for 2004 and a membership that now exceeds 600,000. She vastly increased the organization’s internal and external diversity and established a strong national presence with a record amount of media coverage.

Jacques took the helm of HRC after serving nearly a dozen years in the Massachusetts State Senate as the first openly gay State Senator in Massachusetts history. She was first elected to her seat at the relatively young age of 29 in a traditionally conservative district, proving her ability to speak to constituents across a spectrum of ideologies.

As a State Senator, Jacques was a leader on civil rights and equality in the Massachusetts Legislature. In 1996, she successfully pushed for the inclusion of sexual orientation in the Commonwealth’s Hate Crimes Statute. She also passed legislation establishing standby guardianship provisions to protect the children of AIDS patients and other chronically ill individuals. With recent statistics showing that 42% of all homeless youth are gay, she has been an outspoken and tireless advocate for the needs of gay and lesbian youth in Massachusetts. She was a leading Senate advocate on civil rights, consumer protection, criminal justice and victim’s rights. She authored and passed over 40 pieces of legislation including the landmark Gun Control Act of 1995, the 1998 Consumer Protection Act and the 2000 Clergy Abuse Mandatory Reporting Act.

Jacques (left) with her spouse Jennifer, and their twin boys, Timmy and Tommy

Before her six terms in the State Senate, Jacques served as an Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County, MA and went on to serve as an Assistant Attorney General in the Trial Bureau of the Attorney General’s Office. She was an Adjunct Professor of Law at Suffolk University Law School, and served on several state and local boards. Now in Washington, D.C. Jacques is an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management.

Jacques lives with her spouse Jennifer, who serves as Executive Director of the Family Pride Coalition – the nation’s largest organization dedicated exclusively to gay families. They live in Washington, D.C., where they are raising their twin boys, Timmy and Tommy.

For more information on her, you can check out her website, at

http://www.cheryljacques.org and see a recent piece written about her in the Boston Globe below. We hope to see you all there!

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2006/09/10/the_advocate?p1=email_to_a_friend "

RSVP significa Resdond Sie Vou Plea (o algo asi, pero esta en Frances).
Bueno, de todos modos, con la promesa de Pizza gratis, fui a la reunion, la verdad estuvo bien interesante, lo unico que no me gusto fue la compraracion de los derechos de los inmigrantes con los derechos de los Gays, no por algo racista u homofobico, pero sino por que me parecen que hay mas inmigrantes con problemas que gays con problemas, pero bueno.

Por suerte si habia Pizza gratis. Aca dejo un video:

Reunion Washington Internship Program Febrero

Ayer llego otro correo de la Dra. Bayer diciendo que nos reuniremos hoy a las 19:30 en la "International House".
Para asistir, tuve que pedir permiso en el CCP (donde doy las clases de computacion) para que hoy me reemplace otro profesor.
Me encontre con un par de chicas que conozco del Washington Internship Program (WIP), Heather y Regina, y nos dirigimos a la reunion.

De nuevo en ese extranio lugar, en el que nos piden a todos que nos saquemos los zapatos, supongo que es para cuidar la alfombra de la sala donde nos reunimos, aca algunas fotos:


Heather (morena) y Regina (sur coreana)


El extranio grupo


Yo sentado en el piso


Dra. Bayer!

Primera Reunion del Washington Internship Program

Hoy al fin pude conocer el Washington Internship Program, nos reunimos en su llamada International House que es una de las tres propiedades que el WIP posee aca en DC.
Me encontre el Union Station con Regina, una pasante de 26 anios de Corea del Sur que conoci en la visita a The Library of the Congress donde tuve esa aburrida charla.
En fin, nos dirigimos a la estacion de Metro de Silver Spring y en el Bus conocimos a Heather Mcloud una senorita morena de Boston creo que tambien es pasante del WIP. Llegamos y nos pidieron sacarnos los zapatos para caminar en la casa (que onda con eso?), hacia muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucho frio, incluso adentro, ahi, conoci a otros 5 pasantes mas, incluyendo a cuatro norteamericanos (uno de California y otro que habla espanio, eso es todo lo que recuerdo sobre ellos) y a una Britanica.

Al poco rato llego la Dra. Bayer, una senora pequena, robusta, de ojos azules y cabello negro, se disculpo por la demora y procedo a mostrarnos unos Slides bastante interesantes de los lugares importantes de Washington.
Por suerte la Dra. Bayer es una persona bastante bromista y no nos aburrimos para nada, bueno, tal vez un poco al final.

En fin, despues de presentarnos un rato, nos paso los contratos que debemos firmar, que deben firmar nuestros supervisores y ella, nos dio unas palabras de bienvenida y nos fuimos a casita. Ay caramba!, que frio que hacia, por suerte Dave Halpern (el amigo que faxeo un formualrio muy importante con mi nombre mal escrito tres veces!!!!) nos llevo ala estacion de Metro mas cercana, tuve que ir de ahi a Wheaton y tomar el bus Q2 para regresar, hacia tanto frio que mis manos se pusieron rosadas, pero un poco de ManOWar en el iPod calento las cosas.

Bueno, ese fue el final de mi dia. Lamentablemente no tengo mas fotos, ah! no! si tengo!, cuando salia hacia Union Station empezo a nevar super fuerte en North West (la zona donde queda la Universidad), aca tengo algunas fotillos, espero que los enormes copos de nieve se vean, por eso hacia tanto frio en la noche:

The Library of Congress

Algo bueno saque de la charla de hoy:
Conoci la Biblioteca del Congreso de los Estados Unidos de America.
El edificio donde se realizo la charla hoy al medio dia, queda justamente al frente del Capitolio (cuyo patio trasero por cierto actualmente esta en reparaciones), pero en si la Biblioteca es muy bonita, escribiria algo de su historia y como se fundo o abrio al publico, pero no tengo ni la mas minima idea, sin embargo aga dejo algunas fotillos:


Frontis del edificio, la biblioteca son dos edificios muy parecidos.


El edificio Jefferson, es uno de los dos, la verdad no se como se llama el otro.




Techo y escaleras dentro de la Biblioteca.


Unas escaleras.


Y este es supuestamente el interior, yo, tan lejos, no llegue. Parece bonito

The New Woman in Uzbekistan: Islam, Modernity, and Unveiling Under Communism

Dear Interns,

We hope you all had a happy holiday and that things are going well for you as your internships get back in motion. For our program this week, WIP is going to see Marianne Kamp discuss "The New Woman in Uzbekistan: Islam, Modernity, and Unveiling Under Communism".

Kamp will talk about her new book at noon on Thursday, January 11th, in Room 119 in the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street. S.E., Washington D.C.

In her book, Kamp draws on oral histories and writings to reexamine the Soviet Hujum, the 1927 campaign in Soviet Central Asia to encourage mass unveiling as a path to social and intellectual liberation. Her examination of changing Uzbek ideas about women in the early 20th century reveals the complexities of a volatile time: why some Uzbek women chose to unveil, why many were forcibly unveiled, why a campaign for unveiling triggered massive violence against women, and how the national memory of this pivotal event remains contested today.

Kamp is assistant professor of history at the University of Wyoming in Laramie and a fellow at the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress.

Through a generous endowment from John W. Kluge, the Library of Congress established the Kluge Center in 2000 to bring together the world’s best thinkers to stimulate, energize and distill wisdom from the Library’s rich resources and to interact with policy-makers in Washington. For further information on the Kluge Center, visit www.loc.gov/kluge.

If you have further questions about this event, please call (202) 707-3302.

Best wishes,

Washington Internship Program


Con ese correo, me han citado a una de las charlas que menos ha aportado a mi desarrollo no solo como profesional, sino como ser humano.... no es que haya sido mala pero es que ha sido algo totalmente raro, fuera de cualquier posibilidad de interes mio.
No tengo nada contra las mujeres de Uzbekistan, es mas, no sabia que existian... bueno, supongo que si aprendi algo.
Para variar, nadie del Internship Program fue a la condenada charla.....