REI Family

In December UMA will join other groups in Minneapolis Minnesota in December for a first of its kind national gathering. UMA has been a proud member of Pride foundation’s racial equity initiate for over 4 years.  REI has several regions in the country, The Pride foundation is the organizer for the NW region People of Color LGBT organizations. Including Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Alaska.   learn more about REI  http://www.pridefoundation.org/programs/racial-equity-initiative/ .

The BOLD! gathering will bring together over 80 queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) organizations. BOLD! is hosted by Astraea Foundation and PFund Foundaiton in partnership with eight foundations across the country through the Racial Equity Initiative, a program originally conceived of by Funders for LGBTQ Issues.

This historic event is the first national gathering of queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) in the United State, at a crucial moment of profound economic and political upheaval and opportunity. BOLD allows us to come together to strengthen our collective voice, sharpen our thinking, and build our organizing skills, in order to create a vision for the future that speaks directly to our histories of creativity, desire, passion and resilience.

The UMA Celebration was a great time in the park, it’s our time to celebrate the work we’ve done in the past year and enjoy a good time with family and good friends that believe we are all equal. On August 6th 100 people came through the event and many for the 1st time. We had several performers a small crowd but all like minded people.

The Umatilla Morrow Alternatives has been on the constant go from Mid-July till Aug 22nd without 2 days off in a row and in  many towns,cities and  many 12 hour days. We have been spreading the word of human dignity to eastern Oregon one town at a time.
From Portland, Boardman, Hermiston, Milton-Freewater, La Grande, Irrigon, Kennewick, Umatilla, and Pendleton. The belief of human dignity and mutual respect is a foreign consept to Rural Eastern Oregon but  we will win.

On Saturday July 30th Umatilla Morrow Alternatives attended the watermelon festival as a Vendor. This event is held in Irrigon Oregon annually as the town’s community event of the year. UMA has retained the ACLU in the fight to be able to represent the LGBT community as an openly gay and people of color run organization.

We first  arrived at 8:40 am to set up our booth and other than trying to find our place in the park where we were to set up our booth it was rather uneventful. We found our space then quickly moved on to joining the parade lineup at 9:20 am. While in the parade our application we submitted and the call we  received prior to the event asking what we wanted them to say about us at the announcers booth, they did not say anything we wrote.

In the application the words Umatilla Morrow Alternatives is a gay and people of color human dignity group was carefully crafted on the sheet of paper mailed into the festival board. We then after 2 weeks received a call stating that they had received the letter from the ACLU requesting they allow us in the festival or there would be a lawsuit following. Vicki Voelk stated (you know the ACLU are a bunch of communists right?).  Vicki  then said what do you want the parade announcers to say about you?, We reiterated the above statement  and she made a very audible grunting sound and then hung up.

While at the festival Vicki just glared at us the whole day, and the Morrow county sheriff Matlack did say “HI” as he passed our booth but other than that there was no interaction with them or an apology for not allowing us  to be part of the festival several years prior. We did have a woman that said that we are against the 10 comandments as she stood in front of us but we could tell she was not all together herself.

That is the life and times of Morrow counties Irrigon Watermelon festival.

On Wednesday July 27th UMA presented a class on LGBT diversity in Eastern Oregon to the Department of Human Services  in Pendleton. This was a 1 hour class given to a group of representatives from several offices in Eastern Oregon.

The participants seemed very welcoming and engaged as the class covered safe words, Transgender terms, and communication skills  which were covered during the workshop. Sometimes it was suggested simply asking what gender pronouns were preferred when dealing with clients. This is a step in the right direction for Eastern Oregon’s Department of Human Services.

UMA has in the past recieved several complaints around cultural sensitivity and we believe it stems more from a lack of knowledge since they are not presented with the opportuntiy to assist openly  LGBT people as much as is found in an urban setting. This can provoke many reactions: surprise, curiosity, and unsureness/awkwardness in how to address them properly so avoiding alienation of clients from using misinformation, which can cause defensivness in a LGBT person’s attitude toward professionals seeking to assist this minority population in Eastern Oregon.

We hope with this education that DHS and other agencies will use the information from this training and become better equipped to handle clients in a manner that promotes human dignity.

While we as UMA are always contemplating whether fighting for this very little town in our coverage area is of consequence, and forcing them into something they are not willing to do themselves the answer for UMA is yes. As a human dignity group everyone matters no matter how big or small every voice counts for something.

On July 30th UMA will be at the Irrigon Watermelon festival for the 1st time starting at 10am in the festival’s parade and then tabling from noon to 6pm in the Irrigon Marina. http://calendar.tri-cityherald.com/irrigon-or/events/show/188143385-watermelon-festival

Today we feel some relief that some one has helped UMA where others have not. The Umatilla Morrow alternatives is a human dignity group based in Umatilla and Morrow counties. The human dignity part of the group means that we often have to fight for what others get in our community and that is a safe, livable,community.  Almost daily do we feel that we are fighting wrongs in this community and we offer classes, trainings, education, and even have developed a multi-cultural sensitivity program for our neighbors in rural eastern Oregon.

On occasion when we are up against much more powerful entities that are not doing the right thing and wish not to, we do ask for help in pressuring them to at least follow the law. Since there are not the multitudes of oversight groups, committees, and bands of people that we often see of our friends in urban areas we are usually out numbered. There are ups and downs and we can often feel like we are not making a difference or sometimes just spinning our wheels and asking ourselves often is what I am doing worthwhile or is it just a vision that I have that is not possible where we live.

The vision of everyone working together, and feeling safe without worry, knowing if you call 911 and the police arrive that you don’t wonder is the enforcement team helping me or wondering if I’m transitioning, or whether I’m an illegal alien, or due to a lack of education in rural Oregon are they misinformed about HIV and don’t want to handle me because of it and because I’m HIV+ are they more concerned with am I gay or a drug addict (yes this has happened many times out here). With the ACLU’s help after being denied the opportunity  from being a vendor at the Irrigon watermelon festivals for 4 years, this year they are being forced into letting us be a vendor. We are very happy to be there and represent the gay and people of color community. Why are we pushing to vend our equality movement in such a small town of 1,200 people?

This was the start of UMA : people being denied services, lack of  HIV support, and rejection from just about every angle possible. This is the home of the Director Frank Roa where he grew up and lived his childhood, and if we skip this little towns this one town of 1,200 and then we skip that other town of 800 and the other town of 1,400 then all this little towns add up to a 70,000 person population and that is who is voting for discrimination out in eastern Oregon. No one takes the time or usually has the resourced to hit every town but if left alone all those little 1000 person town scattered throughout eastern Oregon becomes a larger voice. While this voice is not the Portland population of voices but these common views on the LGBT community or other progressive issues is left to continue teaching the next generation the continuation of ignorance and handed down hate.

Another series of events well done including Umatilla Landing Days, Boardman 4th of July and Hermiston funfest. The two parades, Boardman 4th of July and Umatilla landings days were great as the crowds seem to respond with acceptance of what we represent and appreciation for our visibility. We had a table at all three events and as usual we had visits from the “open community supporters” that express what we do is very much needed in our area, the “quiet community supporters” who feel our work is awesome but aren’t sure how they feel with others  knowing and of course the few that feel we should not speak out about equality for all and true acceptance of each other no matter what race, gender, religion or sexual preference.

There were comments shared from individuals that we shouldn’t openly offer info on sex education as in prevention of  sexually transmitted infections, safe sex practices and safe sex kits. Also those same individuals expressed that we should  not speak out against racism or mention those in our community who openly discriminate against minorities and anyone gay or excepting of the gay community, well all I have to say to those individuals is “NOT”!!!!. So all in all, UMA’s summer events schedule is going great and we are having a “fab-u-lous” time and bringing our community together to be accepting and respectful of each other and adding to the equality of all of our lives.

So stay tune for updates on the next series of events as we march on for the cause.

The Umatilla Morrow Alternatives multi-cultural event is working towards being a truly inclusive festival in Hermiston Oregon at McKenzie Park on August the 6th from 12 noon to 5pm. The goal of this event is to promote the different cultures in eastern Oregon and celebrate who we are, while realizing that we are all Americans and part of that is celebrating where we come from. The United states is made up of all different kinds of people and that should not be shameful, but should be celebrated.

This event will include performers and speakers from the GLBT (gay,lesbian,bisexual,transgender), African American, Latino, and Native American communities. We are still growing , learning and teaching others about diversity and breaking down walls. Come join us as we encourage equality for all.

UMA has been very hard at work on creating a strong HIV/Hepatitis C prevention and education program to serve eastern Oregon. This is part of the long term programming of our social justice movement on breaking stigma and increasing access to knowledge and services.

In May of 2011 UMA officially started it’s syringe exchange and no cost HIV testing mobile program that travels from site to site in a box van proudly displaying our logo for all to know change is coming to rural eastern Oregon.

Even though UMA is a Gay and People of color run organization we run into many barriers in eastern Oregon especially from our local hospitals and the good ol’ boys clubs that exist out here. UMA is here to fight the good fight and not allow ignorance to reign where acceptance, tolerance and human dignity should be cherished.

What’s next for UMA, In our efforts to increase our strength and knowledge we will be attending the farm worker justice training program in Woodburn Oregon. There focus is on the migrant farm worker population and getting HIV services out to them in rural areas.

HIV / AIDS  is a serious, yet under-addressed, and under-recognized problem in many rural, latino communities.  Local organizations often do not have the full capacity to effectively transmit prevention messages and to address HIV/AIDS stigma with hard-to-reach populations. This training will take place in the first week of August and we hope that we will be able to more effectively reach out to the migrant population in eastern Oregon.

for more information go to: http://farmworkerjustice.org/hiv-prevention

The Umatilla Morrow Alternatives started out for Portland Gay Pride on June 17th at 10am and landed in the unknown country of Portland Oregon at 2pm. This is the 5th year of UMA attenting Portland’s annual gay pride with great volunteer support. This is an important event for us annually, it gives members of eastern Oregon the opportunity to see what inclusion and acceptance actually feels like and a bonding experience for us to reduce that feeling of isolation.

We hope that what will eventually happen is that portland will also have the opportunity to see that “YES” gay people do exist in the rural areas of Oregon. This is also one of the more difficult trips to coordinate for UMA because we come from different towns, distance, and funding  is always a struggle especially for making a trip as a group to another part of the state.

It is nice to see when the hiding, and fear of coming out and being visible in our side of the state is let go when we go to portland especially for the newbies. To see their eyes and watch how they almost have this overwhelming sensation of relief and happiness that we don’t often see when we are back home in eastern Oregon.

A bitter sweet moment for UMA: We would also like to say our fond good-bye to Rosalynda Stone and her son Kyle who have now transitioned from Hermiston to Portland. We will miss her being at the office on a daily basis, but we also know that in a much more accepting place as she transitions from Male to Female that she is safe and will be able to access more competant groups, healthcare, and life. We also know that we are not saying good-bye as in so long she is going to remain part of UMA and continue to help us spread the work of what we do in Portland so the urban areas might further understand the fight in rural Oregon.

Look for us at local events, or check out our event schedule http://umalt.com/events/  Come Join us!

Next events are:

• July 2nd Boardman 4th of July event and Parade
• July 10th Hermiston Funfest 10am – 3pm on Hermiston’s Main St
• July 17th Tri-Cities Gay Pride July 17th The parade starts at Noon and the Festival afterwards goes till 6pm