Since the anti-transgender agenda seems to be at the top of the current political climate, it’s important to keep the information and education flowing and going on how communities and LGBTQ+ groups are fighting back.

Here are some links to help with that effort.

• Lansing City Council Unanimously Declares City an LGBTQ+ Welcoming Community
• https://tinyurl.com/yyjazvma
• Virgin Islands make history by allowing trans & intersex people to change their gender markers https:// tinyurl.com/5dk8x63d
• Zohran Mamdani honors trans activist Sylvia Rivera, says NYC will be a pro- trans “sanctuary city” https:// tinyurl.com/msv599pz
• Pope Leo  meets James  Martin, US priest known for LGBT ministry https://www.reuters.com/world/pope- leo-meets-james-martin-us-priest-known-lgbt-ministry-2025-09-01/

LGBTQ+ Dates for November:

• First Sunday of November: Transgender Parent Day
• November 13 – 19: Transgender Awareness Week
• November 20: Transgender Day of Remembrance

Good LGBTQ+ News:

• How an Evangelical Pastor in Michigan Became an Unlikely Ally to Daughter https://tinyurl.com/yckbxzwc
• Democratic attorneys general tell trans students, “We will never stop fighting for you!” https://tinyurl.com/ mr25r9mc
• 30 iconic musicians you may not know were LGBTQ+ https://tinyurl.com/ ytc396t5

If you have any news or a lead on anything related to LGBTQ+ news, issues, and/or organizations, or would like to help the LGBTQ+ Advocacy group educate others on these issues, please email health@nfbpwc.org. I am also available to give presentations at your club or answer any questions.

Susan Oser

Advocacy LGBTQ+ Lead

I started working, like most of us girls now in our 60-70s, babysitting during my evenings and weekends for $.50/hr., with an after-midnight bump to $.75!

Then at 17, (in 1972) I was off to the Kentucky Fried Chicken near our apartments –complete with gross uniforms of nylons, a short blue skort, and a lovely red and white striped button down shirt. Everything was greasy by the end of my shift! It was fun sliding on the grease to mop the floors. All this for a whopping $1.10/hr., and a full complement of male managers.

Fast forward to 1973 at Neidata Services in Boulder, CO and my favorite outfit – a dark purple power suit! Wow! it made me feel so important. I had a satiny white under panel, and I added black high heels, nylons, and of course jewelry and makeup – woohoo. I got a great promotion wearing that outfit! I also donned it for my dad’s funeral in 1989, head held high with confidence in my big shoulder pads and scared to death to speak.

Of course, I had hair like Farrah Faucet. Stylin’! And we did the Jane Fonda exercise routine together at lunch, and Richard Simmons at home.

Such a great era to be in big biz. I broke the glass ceiling several times, with the help of my mentor, Johnny K. Ellis. He believed that women were actually more intuitive than men and we moved up the corporate ladder together. He, of course, stayed in positions above me and everyone “just knew” I had slept my way to the top. Nope. Johnny was happy in a 20+ year relationship with Rich. But of course, I couldn’t tell anyone that. When he passed from HIV, the rumor mill said I was going to die. Nope again!

The roles of women in business have continued to expand – and I, for one, think big shoulder pads should.