February 1, 2005: Headlines: Gay Issues: The Advocate: Moreigh Wolf says: It turns out you are not worth a damn thing to the Peace Corps if you’re queer—unless you want to give up your partner

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Library: Peace Corps: Gay Issues: Gay Issues: February 1, 2005: Headlines: Gay Issues: The Advocate: Moreigh Wolf says: It turns out you are not worth a damn thing to the Peace Corps if you’re queer—unless you want to give up your partner

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Moreigh Wolf says: It turns out you are not worth a damn thing to the Peace Corps if you’re queer—unless you want to give up your partner

Moreigh Wolf says:  It turns out you are not worth a damn thing to the Peace Corps if you’re queer—unless you want to give up your partner

Moreigh Wolf says: It turns out you are not worth a damn thing to the Peace Corps if you’re queer—unless you want to give up your partner

No queers need volunteer
By Moreigh Wolf

From The Advocate, February 15, 2005

After more than a decade together my partner, Jamie, and I are still spontaneous people. Our daughter spent a great deal of time in Thailand last summer in areas that were devastated by the December 26 tsunami. She has a lot of friends there, and many of our friends love Thailand. After watching the horrific news I talked to my daughter, who now lives in London. She was pretty devastated, and it occurred to me that Jamie and I don’t really have any obligations that keep us tied to one place. We do dog rescue here in Hanford, Calif., but we could place the dogs we currently have and go off to do relief work.

I said, “Hey, honey, what do you think? We could go volunteer and spend a couple of years helping in some devastated area.” She went on the Internet, and the first thing we both thought of was the Peace Corps. I’m 48, and in my childhood the Peace Corps was iconic. You could go on a secular mission to bring goodwill to the rest of the world.

Once you join the Peace Corps it actually takes quite a long time to be sent to where you’ve been stationed. Generally, you make a two-year agreement, so you’re really making a huge commitment, and that’s great: We’re ready.

Jamie’s got a lot of medical education—she’s an acupuncturist and a body worker, and she’s got a master’s degree in Chinese medicine. I’ve got a nurse’s aide background, and I’ve done hospice work. Maybe it’s not much, but it’s experience, and we have concern and motivation as well. But it turns out you are not worth a damn thing to the Peace Corps if you’re queer—unless you want to give up your partner.

Jamie pulled up the Peace Corps e-mail address and I sent off a brief note of inquiry asking what the process and the options for a gay couple would be. The response was very brief: “We don’t recognize or accept gay and lesbian couples as partners.”

The gentleman I wrote to was very helpful and forthcoming with information. We really didn’t get any further than this initial contact, and we didn’t bother getting an application. We could apply as individuals, but they probably wouldn’t station us together.

So we’re looking for other ways to volunteer. The tsunami devastation is in our faces now, but it will also be in our faces when the media coverage dies down, because for us it’s personal. But I don’t know if going through a volunteer organization is the way for us to go.

I’d always thought, Maybe I’ll go do the Peace Corps someday. I’ve made different choices in my life, but now it seemed like something profound that we could really do. The Peace Corps seemed like a vestige of what Americans are supposed to be as opposed to what the rest of the world thinks Americans are. It was a shock to us to have that image shattered.

No, Jamie and I aren’t legally married. But we have been through so much together, I don’t know how anyone could possibly be more of a couple. People have died; people have been sick in both our families; we’ve gone through my son’s teen years. Our daily rhythms are aligned, and we wanted to do something together.

We are still very motivated to volunteer, but we’ve learned that it’s going to take a long time. We’re more likely to be active, on-the-spot volunteers in eight months or a year than right at this moment. But we do plan on going to the tsunami-affected area, and next year we won’t have any trouble with that.

We’re going to investigate organizations other than the Peace Corps. If there are any organizations that function without the federal subsidies that the Peace Corps gets and that will treat us as a couple, we’ll find them.

I don’t think about how far the tentacles of the evildoers in the White House reach on a daily basis; it just seems insidious. I feel like, Queer rights, yeah, we’ve made great strides, but when we try to do something that supposedly fits the values of the opposite party, we still get blocked. I’m 48 years old, and I’m tired of it. I’m just burned-out.

As told to Christopher Lisotta.





When this story was posted in January 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

RPCVs mobilize support for Countries of Service Date: January 30 2005 No: 405 RPCVs mobilize support for Countries of Service
RPCV Groups mobilize to support their Countries of Service. Over 200 RPCVS have already applied to the Crisis Corps to provide Tsunami Recovery aid, RPCVs have written a letter urging President Bush and Congress to aid Democracy in Ukraine, and RPCVs are writing NBC about a recent episode of the "West Wing" and asking them to get their facts right about Turkey.
RPCVs contend for Academy Awards  Date: January 31 2005 No: 416 RPCVs contend for Academy Awards
Bolivia RPCV Taylor Hackford's film "Ray" is up for awards in six categories including best picture, best actor and best director. "Autism Is a World" co-produced by Sierra Leone RPCV Douglas Biklen and nominated for best Documentary Short Subject, seeks to increase awareness of developmental disabilities. Colombian film "El Rey," previously in the running for the foreign-language award, includes the urban legend that PCVs teamed up with El Rey to bring cocaine to U.S. soil.

January 29, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Date: January 29 2005 No: 395 January 29, 2005: This Week's Top Stories
UPI says Suicides lower in Iraq after Lariam discontinued 28 Jan
Chris Starace makes DVD about life in Benin 28 Jan
Gaddi Vasquez tours Sri Lanka 27 Jan
Tom Hazuka receives writer's award 27 Jan
Raymond Wacks to oversee Baltimore's budget 27 Jan
L. A. Adams provides online assistance to village of Cochiraya 27 Jan
New blog helps prospective PCVs apply to PC 27 Jan
RPCV writes open letter to "West Wing" on Turkey episode 26 Jan
PC moves Guyana Volunteers from Flooding Areas 26 Jan
Taylor Hackford's 'Ray' scores six Oscar nominations 26 Jan
State building in Georgia may be named for Coverdell 25 Jan
Nick Craw to head Automobile Competition Committee 25 Jan
Peace Corps Announces Top Colleges 24 Jan
RPCV Francis J. Thomas was WWII Pearl Harbor vet 24 Jan
PC crafts strategy for Deborah Gardner murder case 23 Jan
Senator Bill Nelson says expand PC in South America 23 Jan
George Wallace is county's first poet laureate 20 Jan

Ask Not Date: January 18 2005 No: 388 Ask Not
As our country prepares for the inauguration of a President, we remember one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and how his words inspired us. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."
Coleman: Peace Corps mission and expansion Date: January 8 2005 No: 373 Coleman: Peace Corps mission and expansion
Senator Norm Coleman, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee that oversees the Peace Corps, says in an op-ed, A chance to show the world America at its best: "Even as that worthy agency mobilizes a "Crisis Corps" of former Peace Corps volunteers to assist with tsunami relief, I believe an opportunity exists to rededicate ourselves to the mission of the Peace Corps and its expansion to touch more and more lives."
RPCVs active in new session of Congress Date: January 8 2005 No: 374 RPCVs active in new session of Congress
In the new session of Congress that begins this week, RPCV Congressman Tom Petri has a proposal to bolster Social Security, Sam Farr supported the objection to the Electoral College count, James Walsh has asked for a waiver to continue heading a powerful Appropriations subcommittee, Chris Shays will no longer be vice chairman of the Budget Committee, and Mike Honda spoke on the floor honoring late Congressman Robert Matsui.
RPCVs and Peace Corps provide aid  Date: January 4 2005 No: 366 Latest: RPCVs and Peace Corps provide aid
Peace Corps made an appeal last week to all Thailand RPCV's to consider serving again through the Crisis Corps and more than 30 RPCVs have responded so far. RPCVs: Read what an RPCV-led NGO is doing about the crisis an how one RPCV is headed for Sri Lanka to help a nation he grew to love. Question: Is Crisis Corps going to send RPCVs to India, Indonesia and nine other countries that need help?
The World's Broken Promise to our Children Date: December 24 2004 No: 345 The World's Broken Promise to our Children
Former Director Carol Bellamy, now head of Unicef, says that the appalling conditions endured today by half the world's children speak to a broken promise. Too many governments are doing worse than neglecting children -- they are making deliberate, informed choices that hurt children. Read her op-ed and Unicef's report on the State of the World's Children 2005.

Read the stories and leave your comments.






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Story Source: The Advocate

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Gay Issues

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