Anniversary "Pre-Ball at The Call" - March 12

Asians and Friends Chicago is combining its 25th Anniversary celebration with a GLBT & S Anniversary Ball set for May 7. The charity hosting the event is having a preliminary function on March 12. Hope you all can come.

Right to Marry Rally

Chicago's chapter of Lambda Legal held its 9th annual Right to Marry rally for the GLBT community. About 300 people attended at the Mexican Art Museum on the city's near South Side.

Choi Back on Duty

Here's a piece from The Advocate:

Dan Choi Back on Drill Duty

By Michelle Garcia

Gay military rights advocate Lt. Dan Choi has been called back into drill duty, he told The Advocate in a phone interview Tuesday. Photographer Jeff Sheng, who recently turned his lens on active gay and lesbian service members for a book about "don't ask, don't tell," originally reported the news on Bilerico.com.

Choi was scheduled to appear at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Creating Change conference over the weekend but instead rejoined his unit. Choi said his commander called him personally, asking him to return.

Choi told The Advocate that he felt welcomed back by his fellow guardsmen in his infantry unit.

"Initially, I sensed a feeling of territorialism," he said. "They were like, 'That's right, he came back to us!'"

Even though Choi faced an Army National Guard committee in June — the board recommended he be discharged under "don't ask, don't tell" — his commanding officer was highly supportive of the Arabic translator and West Point graduate.


"The paperwork has been floating around in the Pentagon very slowly," Choi said. "Usually people wait six or seven days for their discharge. Meanwhile I'm waiting for months to hear back."

Since his hearing in June, Choi hasn't been able to perform drills with his unit — he said he's been substituting by doing those routines on the side. He has not been discharged, however. Now that he is back, he has been spending time "shooting rifles and doing all of the regular drill exercises."

"It felt good to just put away a lot of the past year," he said, also comparing his return to that of a Thanksgiving gathering. "Obviously there were soldiers following everything I was doing, or there were others who didn't have a clue."

Chinese New Year's Dinner 2010

Members of Asians and Friends Chicago gathered for their annual Chinese New Year's Dinner last weekend. The turnout was high at about 70 guests, who not only had a huge meal but were entertained by a cabaret act--a performance which also served as a prelude to their 25th Anniversary celebration set for May 7.

Banyan Tree Movie Night

The Banyan Tree project will be hosting another “Night at the Movies” @ the Evanston Public Library on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 @ 6:30PM. It will include a screening of the film with a short discussion to follow. Furthermore, it’s a FREE event, so please tell your friends, family, colleagues, social networks, etc. Thanks again for all of your support!


Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 @ 6:30PM

Evanston Public Library

1703 Orrington

Evanston, IL 60201

CTA: Purple line to Davis


Contact:

William Baciles Tutol, M.A.

HIV/AIDS Prevention Project Coordinator

Asian Human Services

2838 W. Peterson

Chicago, IL 60659

wtutol@ahschicago.org

direct: 773.564.4958

fax: 773.338.7946

Walk-In HIV Testing

On the second Tuesday of the month, the Banyan Tree Project @ Asian Human Services in Chicago will be hosting walk-in services for persons interested in getting an anonymous, free and empowering HIV test.

Contact:

William Baciles Tutol, M.A.

HIV/AIDS Prevention Project Coordinator

Asian Human Services

2838 W. Peterson

Chicago, IL 60659

wtutol@ahschicago.org

direct: 773.564.4958

fax: 773.338.7946