Emergency Rally in Los Angeles at 12 Noon TODAY!

Stand up for women's health and join Planned Parenthood Los Angeles for an emergency rally in Los Angeles TODAY at 12 noon!

Governer Schwarzenegger has just announced his intention to cut funding for family planning services - including the life-saving cancer-screening, contraception and STI testing and treatment services that millions of Californians rely on.

Today, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles will be rallying to thank a long time supporter and ally in the fight to protect family planning, Speaker-Elect John A. Perez, and to stand up against cuts to these vital services!

Where: 320 4th St., Los Angeles 90013.
When: Tuesday, January 12, 12 - 1pm.

PPLA will provide signs.

Hope to see you there!

Celebrate Dia de los Muertos!

Today is Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead! Dia de los Muertos, which falls on November 2 every year, commemorates and celebrates the life of those who have died. This holiday is celebrated throughout many Latin American countries. Although this day has indigenous roots, it coincides with and is tied to All Saints Day, a Catholic holiday. Many families will visit gravesites, create home alters decorated with flowers, food, candles and pictures of their loved ones in honor of their deceased friend or family member.

For me, Dia de Los Muertos is filled with great memories of attending community events that not only celebrate my ancestors but also my culture. Decorating sugar skulls, making paper masks, and having my face painted like the kind pictured here are only some of the many ways that I celebrated this holiday as a child.

This holiday is all about celebrating the life that someone led. Throughout the country there are yearly events going on today, including ones taking place in San Francisco, Arizona, and Los Angeles, that commemorate this day, so if you're in the area I invite you to attend. And if not, feel free to learn more about my cultural heritage and take a moment to reflect on the lives of those who are important to you and those who have passed away.

REGISTER NOW for the Western Regional Feminist Campus Leadership Conference!

Join us at the FMF's Western Regional Feminist Campus Leadership Conference November 6th & 7th at Santa Monica College in Los Angeles, California!

Feminists from campuses across the Western United States will converge to discuss women’s rights and equality issues, and to formulate a plan of action.

We’ll address feminist topics including exposing fake clinics, Afghan women’s rights, rape kit backlogs, femicide, anti-choice extremism, marriage equality, health care reform, immigration, global reproductive rights, birth control access and much more.

Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to network with dynamic speakers and student leaders and fight to improve the lives of women worldwide!

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION IS OPEN NOW!

$15 for individuals
$12 per person for groups of 5 or more
* To register at the group rate, contact Allie at amcdonald@feminist.org or Jacqueline at jsun@feminist.org or call 1-866-471-3652.

After Oct. 21st, registration fees go up, so take advantage of these discount rates and REGISTER NOW!

For information about registration, the location, fundraising, and group hotel rates, check out the conference website or contact Campus Organizers, Allie and Jacqueline at amcdonald@feminist.org, jsun@feminist.org or 1-866-471-3652.

The time is now to unite with feminists from across the western states and organize to create real change for women worldwide! We hope you can make it!

For Equality,

Allie, Jacqueline and duVergne
West Coast Campus Team

Film Festival: OUTFEST 2009

Going into its 27th year, the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival may be one of the best summer events in LA. Offering student discounts and an opportunity to lounge with a picnic and wine (a few screenings are at the Ford Theatre !), Outfest gives you the opportunity to ‘see a movie made for an LGBTQ audience with and LGBTQ audience.’

While the festival is drowned in everything feminist, gender, and queer related, a couple movies sparked my feminist interest:

WHO'S AFRAID OF KATHY ACKER? - (84min, Germany and Austria) Sat. Jul 11th at 7:15pm - WHO'S AFRAID OF KATHY ACKER? explores the life and ideas of the late literary pirate, feminist intellectual and punk icon whose groundbreaking and sexually explicit postmodern novels blasted conventions of gender, heteronormativity and the male artistic canon. Fusing rotoscoped animation, rare archival footage and interviews with a who's who of the literary and punk worlds, director Barbara Caspar's essay film channels Acker's seductive, disarming and sometimes vulnerable spirit and keeps the legacy of this important feminist thinker alive

Straightlaced-- How Gender's Got Us All Tied Up - (67min, USA) Sun. Jul 12th at Noon - Academy Award-winning director Debra Chasnoff crafted this powerful documentary about the lives of teens and young adults as seen through the gender lens. Approaching society's ideas and ideals of gender through clothes, sexuality, sports, dance, safety, consumerism and emotion, the film addresses the complexities of conceptions of masculinity and femininity for Generation Z. STRAIGHTLACED is a striking and diverse film for all ages, genders and sexualities.

Lion's Den - (113min, Argentina) Sat. Jul 11th at 7:30pm $13 - After murdering her abusive boyfriend, pregnant Julia is sent to the special maternity wing of a notorious Argentinean jail. There she discovers a cruel world utterly different from the one she left outside, one where the female inmates must depend on each other for support, protection and love. LION'S DEN takes the familiar tropes of trashy 'girls behind bars' flicks and deepens them, creating a tale of survival that is both inspiring and devastating.

Off and Running - (75 min, USA) Sat. July 12th, 5 PM - Avery, a model student and track star, appears to be an average American girl, but when the search for her birth mother causes rifts in her seemingly comfortable sense of identity, she is forced to confront long-suppressed tensions. With the help of her adoptive lesbian moms, Avery must examine what it means to be an African American girl raised white and Jewish while discovering insights about her mysterious birth mother. An inspiring portrait of a modern family founded on love.

The Stories We Tell - (19 min, USA) Friday, July 10th, 8 PM and Wednesday July 15th, 7 PM - A documentary about the drive, challenges and unique perspectives four queer women of color filmmakers bring to the craft when they pick up the camera and make the films they want to see.

With 182 films from 25 different countries, in 7 venues over 11 days, dubbed as one of the Oldest, Continuous Film Festival in LA, WOW! I will see you there!

To find out more information and locations go to: www.outfest.org