The Quebec government will spend $7 million over the next five years on programs aimed at fighting bullying and discrimination against gays and lesbians. Justice minister Jean-Marc Fournier said money will be shared among agencies working to protect the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals and transgender people. The campaign will focus on demystifying gay people within the heterosexual community and ensuring they are treated fairly at school, work and society at large. The Montreal Gazette reports that Robert Laramée of Fondation Émergence, hailed the initiative which he said will help non-profit groups work on behalf of LGBT people, young and old, throughout the province. “There is still an enormous amount of work to be done.” Organizations have until December 1 to apply for funding from the Bureau de lutte contre l’homophobie.
After her son Nathaniel died of AIDS in 1989, The Los Angeles Times reports, Mollie Pier threw herself into a number of volunteer efforts on behalf of gay men and lesbians. She also helped found Project Chicken Soup, a non-profit volunteer organization that provides kosher meals for people throughout Los Angeles County living with HIV or AIDS. For Pier, the group's activities and other outreach efforts became a link not only to her son but to hundreds of others. "I can't even begin to tell you how many people I've helped be who they are," says Pier, 91, who plans to participate in Sunday's 27th annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles. Although she will be in a wheelchair, this will be the third time she has taken part in the fundraising event. Pier's blue eyes light up whenever she talks about her son, who died at age 37. In the 1980s, Nathaniel Pier, a doctor, was among the first private physicians in New York City who treated people with HIV and AIDS. He had already come out to his mother but was sceptical about her acceptance and feared she would eventually reject him, as some other parents of gay children had done. Maybe she should see a psychologist, he told his mother. Despite her assurances, she obliged, hoping to ease his mind. "He was fearful," said Pier, who has two other sons. "When he finally did come out, I wrote him a letter and told him, 'You're my son, and I love you, and whatever life you're happy in, I will be happy, too.’”Pier read all the literature about homosexuality she could find. She joined Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays as well as a group for Jewish parents of gay children. It wasn't long before she started leading meetings and giving speeches. "Once I came out, I came out to everybody," Pier said. "I made no bones about it: My son is gay." Shortly before Nathaniel died, Pier and a few other volunteers started gathering in a small Hollywood synagogue kitchen to make kosher meals for people living with HIV and AIDS. Despite its growing death toll, there was little outreach to AIDS patients at the time. "We decided that these people can't work. They're sick; they need food," Pier said. "They need more than counselling." In 1989, she helped found Project Chicken Soup. The group has grown from a few volunteers to dozens who gather twice a month in a kosher kitchen in Culver City to cook for about 125 people. The group delivers grocery bags that contain, along with salads, desserts and side dishes, three entrees and two quarts of soup, one of which is always chicken. All of the food is kosher. Many of the dessert recipes are Pier's, including chocolate-chocolate chip cookies and the coffee cakes. "I feel I have a spiritual connection with [Nathaniel] because he did everything he knew how with his medical knowledge, and I'm doing it with my cooking knowledge," she said. A few days before each food delivery, Pier spends time calling clients to make sure they will be home. The conversation is often about more than just dinner. "Sometimes, they're lonely, sometimes they're upset or not feeling well and just need an ear," Pier said. "I'm kind of the resident Jewish grandmother." Among her many other activities, Pier for the last two decades has baked cookies for the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles. "She's found her way of connecting with her son and standing with other gay men and standing for our fights and our struggles," said Lee Stickler, a member of the choir. "We're really touched. It's like having your grandmother or your mom out there rooting for you." Over the years Pier has used any means she could to reach out to the gay community. She has made YouTube videos in support of gay marriage and has a Facebook profile with links to her AIDS Walk fundraising page. Days before Nathaniel's death, he and his partner, Michael Hannaway, exchanged rings in his hospital room. "I thought, there isn't any rabbi, priest, pope, anybody who can tell me this kind of love is sinful," Pier said. Nathaniel died on December 24, 1989. "There are some people who never come out of it and go into mourning," Pier said. "I'm not that kind of person. I thought, 'I'm going to make Nathaniel's short life have meaning.'"
Senator Mark Grisanti's campaign bank account grew following a Manhattan fundraiser Thursday hosted by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg for the Buffalo lawmaker and three other Senate Republicans who voted for same sex marriage rights in June. The Buffalo News reports that the fundraiser at the Union League Club in midtown Manhattan was expected to raise a total of about $1 million for the four senators to divvy up. Before the event, Grisanti's re-election account contained only about $72,000, according to a filing this week with the state Board of Elections. "I have no idea," Grisanti said when asked Friday afternoon how much his campaign raised from the event, which he said drew about 100 or so donors. "It's not like they made an announcement" about how much was raised, he added. The event was used as new attack material by the conservative National Organization for Marriage, which has vowed to spend $2 million to defeat Grisanti and the other Republican senators in next year's elections. The group already has taken out billboards in the senators' districts and on Friday launched an online advertisement labelled "Money Dance" against the four lawmakers. "We already know that Sen. Grisanti lacks even a basic shred of integrity," said Brian Brown, president of the organization. He said Grisanti signed a vow in 2008 to oppose gay marriage rights and took his group's political donations that year. "We're very confident that come next election, Sen. Grisanti won't be able to lie to the people anymore and vote against his own constituents because he'll no longer be serving as senator," Brown said Friday. Grisanti called the group "hypocritical" because, he said, it would have been donating to him had he voted against the bill. A leading gay rights group said Grisanti and the three other Senate Republicans can count on support from the gay community in next year's elections -- from campaign contributions and mailings to get-out-the-vote efforts. Erica Pelletreau, a spokeswoman for the Empire State Pride Agenda, said gay rights organizations "have committed to standing by those who stood by us,” adding "By voting for marriage equality, Sen. Grisanti put himself on the right side of history. He stood with the 58-percent of New Yorkers who believe that all loving, committed couples should be able to get married.” Grisanti sought to portray the fundraiser as an afterthought. He said he had to be in New York for a hearing of his environmental conservation committee on Friday, so he went down a day early for the event Bloomberg hosted. The mayor personally lobbied Grisanti earlier this year on the gay marriage bill, which passed with the help of Grisanti and the three other Republicans -- Steve Saland from Dutchess County, Roy McDonald from the Albany area and James Alesi from Rochester. Grisanti said the 90-minute gathering -- called the "GOP Heroes" fundraiser -- featured remarks by Bloomberg and hedge fund executive Paul Singer. Also attending was Tim Gill, who runs a Colorado-based gay rights foundation. "It was the four of us on stage. They asked questions regarding our thoughts on same-sex marriage," Grisanti said. "I told them this vote wasn't done for politics or money. It was done after serious consideration and talking with groups on both sides. They clapped, said, 'OK, the program is over,' and I left." Asked if he thought there was a connection between his vote and the fundraiser, Grisanti said, "I don't know if there's a connection or not."
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