Around The Nation

Eastern Missouri's Sole LGBT Media Outlet Receives Its First Ever Human Rights Campaign Equality-In-Media Award

Darin Slyman, Vital Voice Publisher with Actress Doris Roberts

SAINT LOUIS, MO -- The Human Rights Campaign awarded the Vital Voice magazine its first ever Equality-In-Media award last Saturday, September 22 during HRC's “Homecoming: The 20th Anniversary St. Louis Human Rights Campaign Dinner Gala." Vital VOICE publisher Darin Slyman along with Executive Editor Colin Murphy accepted the award on behalf of the publication. 

Nearly 400 persons attended the event held at the Grand Hyatt At The Arch along the waterfront in downtown St. Louis. Dignitaries in attendance included Missouri's Democratic Governor Jay Nixon, State Attorney General Chris Koster- both of whom spoke- along with St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. 

Three-time Emmy Award winning actress Doris Roberts, best known for her work on the long running CBS comedy “Everybody Loves Raymond” was also in attendance and spoke to those gathered.

Governor Nixon received a standing ovation as the first Missouri governor to address the annual HRC Black-Tie St. Louis gala. He commended the HRC for “bending the arc of history towards full equality for all.” 

A spokesperson for the HRC indicated that the Vital Voice, which has been in publication since 1971 when it was known as the Gay & Lesbian News Telegraph, has been an important facet in advancing LGBT equality rights in the greater St. Louis metropolitan area as well as most of eastern Missouri. 

Leon A. Braxton, Jr. the Executive Director of the LGBT Center of St. Louis agreed saying;

"Vital VOICE was very instrumental in helping relocate The LGBT Center of St. Louis to its new location. Previously we were housed on the 4th floor of an unmarked building in a not so desirable part of town. 

Through the Vital VOICE the LGBT Center of St. Louis has been able to reach a broader audience and become better connected not only to the St. Louis LGBT Community but to the entire City of St. Louis. This relationship has lead donors, sponsors, events, news media and greater notoriety to the LGBT Center of St. Louis. 

We greatly appreciate all the support that Vital VOICE has given to The LGBT Center of St. Louis. We owe a large portion of our success to Vital VOICE."

In an interview Wednesday, Voice publisher Darin Slyman credits the hard work of his staff and the enormous support the publication receives from the local LGBTQ community. Although the circulation numbers may seem small Slyman noted, 15K in print monthly along with 12K monthly on the Voice's website:

“We know that the more our community knows about each other the stronger we become,” Slyman said. “And the more the world knows about us [LGBTQ people] the quicker our march towards full equality under the law.” 

Editor's Note: The Vital Voice is a media partner of LGBTQNation Magazine

Anti-Gay, Religious Bias Suspected As Police Investigate “Rampage” Of Vandalism Of Minnesota Churches

BUFFALO, MN -- Local police in this small city located 45 minutes NW of Minneapolis in Wright County, Minnesota, are characterising vandalism that was directed at several churches as hate crimes against religion and sexual orientation.
Buffalo Police Chief Mitchell P. Weinzetl said it is clear to him that bias is motivating what he called "a rampage that damaged these churches."

"When we see religious institutions in multiple attacks, it certainly gives us reason to believe there is a religious bent on those attacks," the chief said. "An attack against a religion in and of itself is a bias or a hate crime." He added that the material on the posters was "blasphemous and also included homosexual references" that are "an attack on a class of people." 

Weinzetl declined to give specific examples of what the messages contained, other than to characterize them as "inflammatory."
Father David Hennen said that St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church had two posters taped to its entry doors Sunday morning, saying that Jesus was gay. "Then they went into descriptions of homosexual acts. I won't go into detail," he said.
According to a police spokesperson, windows were busted out with rocks between noon and 3:00 pm Monday at four church buildings -- St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Seventh-day Adventist, Hosanna Lutheran (Missouri Synod) and Buffalo United Methodist. Posters with troubling messages were left starting Saturday night at St. Francis, Zion Lutheran (ELCA), Buffalo Presbyterian and Hosanna Lutheran.
Pastor Jef Olson, from the Buffalo United Methodist church told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that someone threw a softball-sized rock through one stained-glass window damaging it and an outer storm window. Olson said he had no idea what the motivation was, but it wasn't worth spending a lot of time trying to analyze.

"Somebody was making a statement, we don't think it's the right way to make a statement, and we don't even know what the statement is," Olson said. "The end result is that we have probably several hundred dollars that we can't use in ministry because we're going to have to use it to repair this window." 

Other churches apparently sustained more damage from rocks being thrown through either glass doors or stained-glass windows.
Wednesday night, police arrested a man, who is from rural Buffalo, after announcing earlier that they had identified a “person of interest” and released photos of him. The suspect confessed to the vandalism and was being held in the Wright County Jail pending charges.