From: Melinda S
Nicola, I don't know how actively involved you are with LGBT issues nor how far your influence stretches but I have a friend, Denise, fighting for custody of her daughter. The Circuit Court in Memphis Tennessee declared her an unfit mother based on the fact that she had immoral living conditions in the home because she is a Lesbian. She is staging a peaceful assembly at the Memphis Circuit Court on Sept. 12th at 8pm. She can use all the support she can get. If you would be willing please help spread the word.
My influence is small and my reach short but, such as they are, they're at your service. It's an evil thing to separate family, especially for such a ridiculous reason.
What does Denise hope to achieve via this peaceful protest? Do you have media lined up? (How sympathetic is the local media? Forgive me but I know nothing about Memphis--I've been there once a very long time ago.) It's always useful to include a heart-wrenching photo--mother and daughter looking happy together (and 'normal' i.e. clean and well-fed and surrounded by the signs of American Life: car, house, tidy backyard, a fluffy dog, etc.). Yes, I'm cynical, but apart from the Lambda Legal, and the ACLU, the media is your best friend. Manipulate it with all your strength. So, for example, use the daughter's name.
If anyone out there lives in Memphis, or knows sympathetic journalists there, please consider getting in touch with Melinda to help her friend Denise.
