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Faith Community Spotlight: Congregation Adath Israel Brith Shalom

The Temple: Congregation Adath Israel Brith Shalom

Daniel Denhart-Lillard

The Temple Congregation Adath Israel Brith Shalom, located at the intersection of Brownsboro Road (US Highway 42) and Lime Kiln Lane in the heart of Louisville’s residential East End is Kentucky’s oldest and largest Jewish congregation. Located on a beautiful, wooded, 10-acre lot, The Temple Campus consists of a main building, auditorium, chapel, library, an administrative wing, archives, a religious school and a preschool. An additional two-story building houses a kitchen, fireplace, and room for meetings and activities.

A founding member of what is now Union for Reform Judaism, by 1873 The Temple was the largest congregation in the movement. The Temple strives to provide “essential values of our Jewish faith, the deeper understanding of our heritage and our future, and the involvement of our people toward the betterment of our community as a whole,” according to their website.

The congregation has long been active in civil rights and in working for fair treatment of all people, including LGBTQ+ individuals. Temple Rabbis are involved with the Fairness Campaign and have performed same-sex marriage rites since 1996, including the first same-sex marriage in the state of Israel. The congregation is welcoming and promotes acceptance and inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals. This year The Temple was the only Jewish congregation in the Commonwealth that commemorated Pride month with a special Shabbat Service entitled “Creating a Welcoming Community.”

You can find out more about The Temple by visiting their website at https://www.thetemplelouky.org. Or, if you’d like to contact a Rabbi about a confidential matter, please email [email protected].

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Steps LGBTQ+ Workers Can Take if they are Experiencing Discrimination in the workplace

Steps LGBTQ+ Workers Can Take if they are Experiencing Discrimination in the workplace

LGBTQ+ workers are often targeted for harassment and discrimination at work. Despite cultural gains in the last twenty years or so many workers who are LGBTQ+ don’t realize that they have legal protection against discrimination and harassment at work. If you’re being victimized at work because you are LGBTQ+  you need to know that you are legally protected and don’t have to put up with harassment and discrimination by your employer or your coworkers.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects people from discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, and place of birth. But the Supreme Court expanded that protection and it now also includes discrimination based on identity, orientation, and gender. Your employer is not allowed to discriminate against you or to allow a hostile work environment. 

If you’re a victim of discrimination at work you can file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC investigates employers after employees file complaints and also shares information with the state labor boards of 44 states so that the states can investigate any companies in their state who have a complaint filed against them. 

Examples Of Workplace Discrimination

Discrimination in the workplace can be harassment, bullying, or things like:

Being Denied Raises or Promotions

If you are always passed over for promotions or regularly scheduled raises and you suspect it’s because of your LGBTQ+ status that’s discrimination. 

Targeted Harassment 

If the people that you work with use LGBTQ+ slurs, promote offensive stereotypes, exclude you from office events, make you feel unwelcome or harass you and make offensive comments or statements that’s discrimination.  

Getting Hours Cut

If you work on an hourly basis and your schedule keeps getting cut or you keep getting put to work on the worst shifts that’s discrimination. 

Misgendering you on purpose

After you have told your colleagues and bosses what your preferred pronouns and what name you prefer if they refuse to use those pronouns or trhat name that’s discrimination.

Filing A Workplace Discrimination Claim

Keeping a record of the discrimination that you’re experiencing is very important. You will need a list of incidents that describe what happened and name the names of who was involved. Take that list to your boss or to the head of HR and explain what is going on and how it’s affecting your ability to work. Your boss or your head of HR should immediately agree that what you’re going through is awful and tell you they will stop it. If they don’t take you seriously or you get the feeling nothing is going to be done then you can go to the EEOC’s website and file a complaint. 

You can also file a complaint on the state level too. In Kentucky, you can file a discrimination complaint with the Louisville Human Relations Commission or the Kentucky Commission Human Rights. When you file a discrimination complaint on the state level in Kentucky, it will be dual filed with the EEOC, that way you don’t have to file two complaints. 

Penalties For Harassment And Discrimination

It’s a big deal for employers to get hit with a violation of the Civil Rights Act. They could pay tens of thousands of dollars per violation and face criminal charges too. If you are owed money because you lost out on a raise or promotion you could qualify for a lump sum of money for back wages. You also may be eligible for a lump sum of pain and suffering. 

Resources:

https://www.eeoc.gov/ 

https://employmentlawhelp.org/sexual-harassment/sexual-orientation-harassment 

https://www.employmentlawhelp.org/discrimination/gender/lgbtq-discrimiantion-complaint-letter 

https://louisvilleky.gov/government/human-relations-commission 

https://kchr.ky.gov/Pages/File-a-Complaint.aspx 

 

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LGBTQ Study Recruitment Request

The University of Louisville wants to hear the opinions of LGBTQ+ individuals in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. We are conducting a research study to help us learn about LGBTQ+ individuals’ thoughts and experiences related to cervical cancer screening (commonly called a Pap or Pap Smear). Participation will take about 1½ hours total, and participants will receive a $20 gift card for completing an online survey and a virtual (or telephone) interview. If you are interested in participating, you may find more information and if you are eligible by following this link:

https://tinyurl.com/sgmscreening

Please share this email, the above link, and the attached flier with other LGBTQ+ individuals that may be interested in participating in this research. Information from the online surveys and interviews will be used to help develop a program that will focus on decreasing the risk of cervical cancer for LGBTQ+ people. We value your opinion and appreciate your time.

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Opinions Needed: Cervical Cancer Screening

Flyer: SGM_Flyer_V1 IRB APPROVED

 

The University of Louisville wants to hear the opinions of LGBTQ+ individuals in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. We are conducting a research study to help us learn about LGBTQ+ individuals’ thoughts and experiences related to cervical cancer screening (commonly called a Pap or Pap Smear). Participation will take about 1½ hours total, and participants will receive a $20 gift card for completing an online survey and a virtual (or telephone) interview. If you are interested in participating, you may find more information and if you are eligible by following this link:

 

https://tinyurl.com/sgmscreening

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Mental Health Provider Spotlight: Mandala House

By Holly Brown

Mandala House is a well-known queer and ally-owned mental health practice that has operated in our city since 2016. The practice offers psychiatry evaluations and medication management, psychotherapy, psychological testing, and gender-affirming treatment letter-writing services. All of Mandala House’s providers are affirming, and several are out as members of the LGBTQ+ community. 

The practice’s Clinical Director, Dr. Adrianne Lange (she/her) stated, “We pride ourselves on cultivating an affirming and equitable atmosphere for all who walk through our real and virtual doors. We display emblems of the Pride Community in all of our common spaces and outdoors. We take care to use self-determined personal identifiers including names and pronouns with everyone that we serve. We provide gender-affirming services with knowledge of best practices in the field of affirming mental healthcare. We take care to educate and inform ourselves and our trainees in these practices in an ongoing way.”

Mandala House’s staff consist of psychologists, social workers, counselors, therapists, psychiatry providers, and graduate-level clinicians in training. Providers use a biopsychosocial framework and offer a range of treatments, including interpersonal, dynamic, CBT, DBT existential, integrative, and eclectic models of therapy. 

“The ‘mandala’ means circle in Sanskrit, and symbolizes the joining of unique parts to create an organized, and balanced whole. We use the word ‘house’ in our name to reflect the energy of warmth, calm, and care that we bring to the space. At Mandala House, we believe in the possibility of peace through the therapeutic process and in the possibilities of integration and wholeness for all of our clients,” Lange shared. 

Currently, this practice is exclusively providing telehealth services. Appointments are available M-F 9-5, with early evening hours on a limited basis. Mandala House accepts most insurances, and offers low-fee out of pocket services through their clinicians in training. When the practice returns to in-person appointments, their Baxter Avenue office is fully wheelchair accessible. 

If you’re interested in making an appointment, you can contact the practice through the form on their website (https://mandalalouisville.com/), email [email protected], or call 502-309-2408. 

Mandala House is also an affirming workplace for LGBTQ+ mental health workers. They currently have job openings for psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, and other independently licensed mental health professionals.

 

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Augustus Seabrooke joins the Louisville Pride Foundation Board

A Louisville native and graduate of Brown University, Augustus Seabrooke (he/they) is a transmasculine individual excited and honored to be on the Board of Louisville Pride Foundation. He is grateful for his upbringing in Louisville, as the eclectic community has given him an appreciation of vintage fashion pieces, a taste for various cuisines, a strong sense of hospitality, and a deeply embedded principle of valuing community.

You may find Augustus walking down Bardstown road from Prophecy Ink all the way to Purrfect Day Cat Cafe. (Don’t tell his kitten Samosa-she’d throw a fit knowing daddy passes by the Purrfect Day Cat Cafe every day.) He also loves lifting weights and cruising on his skateboard.

Augustus hopes his ability to communicate and connect with different individuals can “facilitate an environment where people can feel heard, understood, and respected.” Passionate about  helping LGBTQ+ individuals with substance issues that have been affecting other areas of their life, Augustus hopes to bring his experiences, both professional and unconventional, to provide a unique perspective for Louisville Pride Foundation and its celebration of diversity among the LGBTQ+ community.

Daniel Denhart-Lillard is a volunteer with the Louisville Pride Foundation. 

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Highland Baptist Church is an LGBTQ affirming faith community

If you’re looking for an LGBTQ-affirming, vibrant Christian faith community, Highland Baptist Church may be for you. Located on the corner of Grinstead Drive and Cherokee Road in the eclectic Highlands community, the church has a mission based on creating a world where justice, love, and respect for differences are abundant.

Situated on land gifted by Norton heiress Juliette Norton Marvin, parts of the current church have been serving the area since 1908. During the Great Depression of the 1930s the church was able to reach out to those facing financial ruin. Then, as the neighborhood evolved throughout the 1960s from a suburban area to an urban center, the congregation continued to empower the community through their various urban ministries. Today, work continues to help alleviate systemic causes of poverty, planting urban gardens, and caring for refugees locally and around the world. Perry Dixon, Associate Pastor to youth and their families says the church’s mission with the LGBTQ+ community has grown in the last 15 years. Gay deacons are now ordained, pastors are working with the Louisville Youth Group, and a free Pride breakfast is held around Pride for LGBTQ+ youth and families. Nomad’s Class, a bible study group for those re-entering church life seeks to help those who have been harmed in the past by Conversion Therapy and other negative church experiences.

The church makes clear on their website that they are a welcoming and affirming community by declaring “We value all people, not in spite of, but precisely because of all that makes each one unique.” The design of their logo, found around the Sanctuary and on the doors, symbolizes that the doors are open to everyone.

Online Worship Services are currently held Fridays at 7:00 PM and Sundays at 10 AM, although church leadership is working on a plan to return to in-person gatherings. A video service is also available at 10:00 AM. on Sundays on their YouTube Channel. The weekly bulletin is available on the website by Friday afternoon so that you may join in prayers, hymns, scripture reading and view the planned service.

Street Address: 1101 Cherokee Road, Louisville, KY 40204-1201

Phone: (502) 451-3735

Website: https://hbclouisville.org/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY7dObZSxKl_X5h4DGqE_5w

Daniel Denhart-Lillard is a volunteer with the Louisville Pride Foundation.

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Dawn Wilson is a leader in the LGBTQ community

It didn’t matter which search engine I used. One name kept popping up in the results. Dawn Wilson. This was the mid-1990s. There was no Google then. If you wanted to find anything on the newly developed World Wide Web you either used Lycos, AltaVista or Yahoo.  As someone who did not understand why I had conflicts regarding my gender identity I was scouring anything I could to understand the subject of being transgender and during those searches I would see Dawn Wilson come up repeatedly and it always showed her speaking out for some type of activism. 

Twenty-five years later, Dawn Wilson is still devoted to activism for Human Rights.  I have been very fortunate to work with Dawn on a few occasions and I recently managed to corner her for an interview to talk about her past and hear about projects she is involved in nowadays. If you ever have the opportunity sit and talk with her, you know you are in for a treat. This is not an easy feat considering her busy schedule. Dawn loves to share stories about the people she knows and friends she has worked with.  

Dawn is a wonderful and engaging Black transgender woman.  Dawn emerged into the world at age 27 after serving in the military in Desert Storm. During the 1990s, being a transgender person was not as understood and accepted as it is now. The challenges and barriers she faced were immense. She did not avoid or shy away from those hurdles, instead she attacked them head on with a passion for activism and compassion. Alongside her lifelong friend Monica Roberts, she fought the battle for trans rights at the top levels of government. In the late 1990s Dawn in a Senator’s office in Washington D.C. lobbying for the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) was not an unusual sight. Dawn told me ”back then you could walk right into their offices,” and walk right in she did. During that time Dawn was also instrumental in helping the Fairness Campaign in Louisville pass Kentucky’s first anti-discrimination Fairness Ordinance.  Since that time 20 other cities and counties in Kentucky have followed suit and passed Fairness ordinances that provide LGBTQ+ protections and equal rights.  

When I asked Dawn what her first job was she proudly told me that it was at the University of Kentucky and she lets it be known to everyone that she is a proud follower of the Big Blue and that’s how she bleeds. She also worked with Charter Communications in the early 2000s for almost 11 years  as a Special projects Manager and in 2010 joined the Louisville Metro Human Rights Commission. That was an appointed position and Dawn was appointed by Mayor Jerry Abramson.  Dawn is extremely proud (and rightfully so) that she was reappointed more than the maximum allowable times that you could be reappointed. Dawn recently stepped down just this past year from the HRC.

One of Dawn’s passions surprisingly came about as a result of being injured during a softball game. Dawn hurt her shoulder and was advised not to do anymore softball in fear that she may injure the shoulder permanently. By chance she picked up a copy of Velocity, a weekly free newspaper published by the Courier Journal, and happened to see an article on Fencing. Fast forward a few years. Dawn has won national championships and traveled the world in a sport she loves. Dawn also works with youth at the Louisville Fencing Center teaching them Fencing techniques and helping them to compete. You can hear the absolute passion she has for the sport when she starts talking about it and a true desire to help the youth that she coaches succeed.

There isn’t enough space to even begin to list all of Dawn’s accomplishments or what she has going on. She was involved in planning the Juneteenth activities for the city of Louisville and she is actively planning Transgender Day of Remembrance events which she is particularly passionate about just to mention a few.  When you do your searches on Google, don’t be surprised to see the name Dawn Wilson pop up.

Sarah McKinney is a leader in the Louisville transgender community. She is actively involved in the Kentuckiana Transgender Support Network, the Transgender Wellness Coalition, and the Louisville Pride Foundation.