Newly elected State Rep. Julie Fahey rallies for Planned Parenthood

Fight for Women and LGBTQ

Planned Parenthood Is Not Giving Up

The mission of Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon (PPSO) is to ensure the right and ability of all individuals to manage their sexual and reproductive health by providing health services, education and advocacy.

“For 100 years, Planned Parenthood has faced challenges and attacks from people opposed to our mission to provide excellent sexual and reproductive health care, no matter what,” PPSO’s Shelley Sump-Willey says. “Through every attack, we have come out stronger. We’re going to use that strength to lead in the coming days, months and years — for the patients who rely on us, for our allies across progressive movements.”

PPSO sees 38,000 patients each year, at six health centers. Essential health services include breast and cervical cancer screenings, well-woman annual exams, birth control, emergency contraception, sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention, testing and treatment, HIV testing, pregnancy testing and HPV (genital warts) vaccinations.

The organization is also one of the region’s most respected providers of medically accurate sexuality education for young people and adults, as well as training programs for professionals who work with youth and families.

And in the wake of the recent presidential election, PPSO President and CEO Lisa Gardner remains unbowed. “No matter how great the threat, we maintain our commitment to providing expert, affordable health care to the many thousands who have, and will continue to trust us with their health,” she says. “We will not give up, we will not back down, and we will not be silenced. We will fight to make sure that Planned Parenthood’s doors stay open, no matter what.”

Learn about ways to give by visiting plannedparenthood.org.

If you want to make a donation, it can can be made online, over the phone or sent by mail. Please make checks payable to Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon. Checks and credit card information can be mailed to: Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon, Development Department, 3579 Franklin Blvd. Eugene, OR 97403. Questions? Contact the PPSO development department at 541-246-1012 or email development@ppsworegon.org.

(And I can tell you from personal experience, it’s especially satisfying to make a donation in honor of Mike Pence.)

And since things are feeling a little anti-woman in the Trumpian age, as he “grabs her by the pussy,” please also give your time and money to Sexual Assault Support Services (SASS sass-lane.org or 484-9791), which has been Lane County’s primary sexual assault responder since 1991 and is focused on providing services to survivors of sexual violence. And also to Womenspace (womenspaceinc.org or 541-485-8232) in support of its mission to prevent violence in intimate partner relationships in Lane County and support survivors in claiming personal power. — Rachael Carnes

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Trans*Ponder Administrative Team: Oblio Stroyman (they/them/theirs), Max Skorodinsky (he/him/his), Seda Collier (she/her/hers), Cass Averill (he/him/his)

Trans*Ponder Needs Your Support 

Frodo: I wish none of this had happened.

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil.

Well it happened, Donald Trump is about to be the leader of the free world and LGBTQ folks are high among those who stand to lose under his administration.

Trump sent mixed signals about transgender rights during his presidential campaign. He said Caitlyn Jenner could use whatever bathroom she preferred in one of his luxury buildings. But he also chooses not to repudiate the North Carolina law that restricts transgender people’s bathroom access, saying such policy decisions should be left up to the states.

Trans*Ponder is a grassroots, completely transgender-founded and led nonprofit here in Eugene. Oblio Stroyman (they/them/theirs) tells EW, and the group provides support, education and advocacy for the trans/gender diverse community and its allies.

Trans*Ponder is staffed by humans who have decided to dedicate the time they have been given to this endeavor, Stroyman says.

Trans*Ponder originated in 2012 when a local trans man could not find the support community he needed in Lane County. “He gathered the courage to create a support group and resource list so that no one else would have to figure it out alone,” Stroyman says. Trans*Ponder rapidly grew and a “fellowship” assembled to address the complex needs of the trans* community. (Trans* is an umbrella term referring to all of the identities within the gender-identity spectrum.)

Stroyman says the Trans*Ponder fellowship is comprised of individuals with differing gender identities who volunteer countless hours and resources stewarding the organization. “These dedicated individuals realized that it is impossible to adequately serve the community’s needs using their own resources alone, and in 2016 became a 501c3 to gain access to the additional resources that this underemployed, often discriminated against group of people desperately need.”

Trans*Ponder is using its first grant from The Pride Foundation to build a website, and for scholarships to complete name and gender documentation changes before the new presidential administration take affect.

The nonprofit wants to raise funds to support moving into a “safe, physical space,” as well as to offer paid staff positions  — at least one full time. To donate, contact transponder.eugene@gmail.com, go to pay.me/transponder, or send a check to Trans*Ponder, PO Box 5857, Eugene 97405.  — Camilla Mortensen