OutReach seeks nominations

OutReach, Madison and south central Wisconsin’s LGBT community center seeks nominations of individuals, organizations and businesses that have made outstanding contributions to Madison’s LGBT community in the past year.  The awards will be presented at OutReach’s 18th Annual Community Awards Banquet, to be held Friday, September 17th, at the Monona Terrace Convention Center.

A committee of community members reviews the nominations and selects award recipients. Past award winners, OutReach staff and board members are not eligible.

Award categories are David Runyon Memorial Man of the Year, Susan Green Memorial Woman of the Year, Business or Organization of the Year, Ally of the Year (non-LGBT individuals or groups that support the LGBT community) and OutReach Volunteer of the Year.

OutReach Madison seeks community awards nominations

Madison activists organize rally against National Organization for Marriage

Efforts are underway to generate a large grassroots protest to meet the National Organization for Marriage’s anti-gay “Summer for Marriage” tour when it arrives in Madison on Tuesday, July 27, for a noon rally at the State Street entrance of the Capitol.  A coalition-based counter-rally and march in support of the freedom to marry will begin at 11 a.m. on the UW-Madison’s Library Mall, in the 700 block of State Street, proceeding up State Street to the Capitol.

“Everywhere that the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) caravan goes, they need to be shown that they do not represent majority opinion,” coalition leader Jesse Otradovec, with the Queer Student Alliance, said. “Our highest hope is that if we’re successful and we can significantly outnumber them when they come to Madison, we can be a force for turning back this tour.”

Madison, Wisconsin gay-rights activists rally against National Organization for Marriage anti-gay "Summer for Marriage" tour

Cyclists gear up for the ride of a lifetime

It’s every cyclist’s nightmare – a sudden hailstorm on a deserted road in the middle of nowhere. But when Scott Jones found himself in that situation last summer while participating in the ACT 7 AIDS Ride, what began as a nightmare turned into a fond memory.

“I thought, ‘This is bad,’” Jones remembers. “But about the time I was really getting concerned about my safety, a van came and (volunteers) loaded up my bike and took me to the next pit stop, where I waited out the storm with several other riders. Everyone was so supportive and kind. After that, there was a new energy, and we rode another 35 or 40 miles that day.”

For Jones, that stormy experience embodies the meaning of an event that has become a highlight of his year. When ACT 8 AIDS Ride sets out July 29 for a four-day, 300-mile trek across Wisconsin’s rolling countryside to raise money for AIDS Network of Madison, Jones will be along for the third time.

“I look forward to being with a group of people who are all united in the same cause, and I look forward to the spirit of community that exists within the ride,” Jones says.

The community created by the ride extends beyond volunteers, contributors and AIDS Network staff and clients. A number of corporations and Madison-area businesses are involved as sponsors. Chiropractors and volunteers from a massage school help relieve riders’ aches and strains. Mechanics from Williamson Street Bikes travel along in a support van to help keep riders’ wheels spinning.

ACT AIDS bicycle ride Madison, Wisconsin

EEOC sues Ky. company over harassment in Wis. store

A federal agency is accusing a Kentucky company of permitting a sexually hostile work environment in one of its Wisconsin pharmacies.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said it has filed a federal lawsuit naming Covington, Ky.-based Omnicare Inc., which does business as Pinnacle Pharmacy.

The suit says a pharmacy manager at a La Crosse, Wis., store sexually harassed female employees through unwanted touching and demeaning comments.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sues Omnicare, Pinnacle Pharmacy over La Crosse, Wisconsin sexual harassment