A letter in last week's Windy City Times from Jackie Anderson addressed a recent e-mail exchange between Ellen Meyers, Lesbian Community Cancer Project board member, and Jessica Halem, LCCP executive director. To see the details, go to www.windycitymediagroup.com .
What follows is Vernita Gray's own letter to the editor.
As a member of the 'Triumvirate of Malcontents', let me share my feelings about the nasty e-mails between the ED of a cancer/healthcare organization and a board member. The e-mails between Jessica Halem and Ellen Meyers, board member of LCCP, are both hurtful and mean. How fortunate Jessica is that she can use her business e-mail to deride, and ridicule a woman battling cancer. There are not many employed people who can use their business e-mails to belittle their customers. The fact that Jessica thinks this is 'professional and ethical' behavior stuns me. As an executive director I would think she and her board member could spend their time doing helpful things instead of hurtful.
The fact that Renae, Jackie, and I are not welcome at the alums dinner was a real shocker to me. Renae and Jackie are former board members, and Jackie was board president for many years. We are all cancer survivors, and were supporters of LCCP until we saw the e-mail.
Last year I was co-chair of the Annual Brunch, and sold the most tickets. I then took my prize of two American Airlines tickets, auctioned them off for $900, and donated the money to LCCP. I have been an LCCP supporter since day one. I donated food from my restaurant, dollars from myself, and my friends, and numerous hours of my time. I recall a COAC dance at the cultural center where my friend Pat and I went home, changed clothes and came back to throw out thrash from the dance till 3 a.m. The two years that I missed COAC were the years I was home battling my own cancer.
As to Jessica's disappointment about not being inducted into the Hall of Fame, which she blames on the three of us: I am reminded that I do not have to look at a piece of glass to see my achievements. There was no Hall of Fame when I came out, so it was never a goal of mine, but a joy when I received it.
I am proud to be a 'malcontent'. It is that spirit of malcontent that led me to be involved in the anti-war movement in the '60s, which is where I first met Jackie Anderson. That spirit of malcontent has kept me from ever being in the closet, and always proud to be a Black lesbian. That spirit of malcontent led me to be a part of the first gay march in Chicago, now referred to as the Gay Pride Parade. I was a part of the first lesbian newspaper, Lavender Woman, and a part of building a real and viable community where we can all be proud of who we are, and what we have accomplished in such a short time. That spirit of malcontent was there as I marched up Pennsylvania Avenue with thousands of GLBT folks and our straight allies chanting 'Act Up, Fight Back, Fight AIDS.'
That spirit of malcontent is present today as I join in our fight for the right to marry, and to be treated as first-class citizens of a country where we pay first-class taxes. As a now-senior member of our community, I am already malcontent about how we aging GLBT folks will be treated in retirement homes, nursing homes, and senior centers.
This fall I celebrate 35 years of doing, giving, and getting from this community that I love. In 1969 I was that youth looking for a safe place, so I turned my livingroom into that space. Today my mouth and heart smile when I enter the Broadway Youth Center and see young people doing their thing in safety, and getting the respect and care that they deserve.
As the song from the '60s says, 'the beat goes on.'
My spirit of 'malcontent' also goes on, as I approach my 60s.
Like my sister, Jackie Anderson, it is with a heavy heart that I withdraw my support from LCCP. They do not have to rethink their anniversary dinner, or worry or strategize about my being alone with Jessica, as both are non-issues for me.
I am about community building, and there is still more community to build.
Vernita Gray
LCCP's response to the issue:
This is a personal matter between individuals and does not involve the organization.
LCCP Board Chair Mary York