The Choose Respect Rainbow Group in Fairbanks is joining in to march against domestic violence and sexual assault in Fairbanks on March 31, one of forty communities statewide that are holding Choose Respect marches as part of the Governor’s Choose Respect campaign.

What’s special about the Rainbow Group?  They want to their presence to bring awareness that domestic violence can affect ANYONE, including members of the GLBT community. To that end, Fairbanks marchers will have rainbow sashes that say “We Choose Respect.” If you want a sash, message kara7@hotmail.com so organizers can make sure there are enough. (If anyone wants to coordinate a groups in Anchorage or Juneau, let her know!)

• Date/time: Thursday, March 31, 2011, at noon
• Locations:
  Fairbanks: Golden Heart Plaza (map)
  Anchorage: from the Delaney Park Strip (9th and F) to Town Square Park
  Juneau: from the Capitol Steps to Marine Park
• Further info: See Facebook events page for the Rainbow Group, or the Governor’s Choose Respect page through which you can also find locations for Choose Respect events in other communities throughout Alaska.

Last month Tiffany McClain wrote an article at the Pride Foundation website about domestic and sexual violence between members of the same sex:

Did you know that domestic violence happens in same-sex relationships at about the same rate as in straight relationships?

Have you ever considered how homophobia and the lack of legal protection from discrimination might discourage an LGBTQ victim of domestic violence from getting help for fear of being “outed” or did you know that the most common type of male-to-male rape is the rape of a man who is perceived to be gay by a heterosexual man?

She went on to describe how the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (ANDVSA) in 2008, with a grant from the Pride Foundation, developed a curriculum to help Alaskan direct service workers provide effective care to LGBTQ survivors of domestic violence.

ANDVSA’s pamphlet Outing LGBTQ Intimate Partner Violence details some of the ways that domestic violence plays itself out in our relationships.  Read the pamphlet: become aware. And if you recognize any of the problems listed in the pamphlet in your life, please get help.

And join marchers tomorrow as they call for all Alaskans, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, to CHOOSE RESPECT.