OUR “DENIED” PHOTO CAMPAIGN HAS OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED!

DENIED is a photographic campaign to help fight against this outdated and prejudice law which labels all gay men as “Potential Victims of HIV”.  Fashion Photographer Sean Siegel (www.seansiegel.com) has brought to life our anti-discriminatory concept, showing how in our own individualistic ways we are still one community of people.  Regardless of what you look like or who you are, we are created equal, and that any person in good healthy standings should be allowed to help Save A Life. 

We always like to hear what people have to say about the issues.  Gay rights is the civil rights battle of this generation, and we want to hear what your opinions are on the subjects of gay blood & vital organ donation, gay marriage, and many other battles being fought.  Give us your thoughts, for or against and we’d love to both hear and share what you have to say.

Here’s a statement made by one of our Myspace Friends.

I must agree and disagree.  A lot of cultures hold blood in a very sacred and high regard very much, unlike the citizens of the united states.  I personaly would rather have blood from a straight person, but with all the facts on the board, gay people should be allowed to donate blood. the main reason is “descrimination towards gay men, due to a fear of a higher risk of HIV/AIDS exposure” , an infection that would only wipe out malpractice funds because people would receive transfusions that expose them to a life-threatening infection. …. You also cannot give blood if you’ve ever paid for sex and/or used intravenous drugs…. How is this any more discriminatory than patients that are at high risk for HIV when we do not have a test for it that’s 100% sensitive and specific? but then why are black allowed to donate, they are also concidered high risk for HIV.  And quote from the CDC, The HIV/AIDS epidemic in African American communities is a continuing public health crisis for the United States. At the end of 2006 there were an estimated 1.1 million people living with HIV infection, of which almost half (46%) were black/African American [1]. While blacks represent approximately 12 percent of the U.S. population, they continue to account for a higher proportion of cases at all stages of HIV/AIDS—from infection with HIV to death with AIDS—compared with members of other races and ethnicities.”

I supose the fear of a disease such as HIV is to blame, or a morally unclean blood, but gays are at no more of a risk then any other, right?  And what is morally unclean anyway?  Guess the fight for gay rights and acceptance in a newer society is rapidly changing the American populose and morso religous, and political views and how they view a gay person.  All I can say, is that your fighting for your freedom to help others, and I admire that.  Thank your for exercising your right to use words, (freedom of speech) and tell the world of a swept under issue.  Keep on keepin on and good luck on your mission of peace.

Elias Nousiopoulos is the Production/Post-Production Sound Designer/Mixer of Save A Life. He grew up in New London CT and has been interested in creating art at an early age.  Photography was his first medium he used and enjoyed throughout High School, and it was how he got interested in pursing a career in filmmaking.  Elias studied film editing and sound design at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and graduated in 2009 with a BFA.  He was the Director and Editor for his thesis project Not For Sale, his first short documentary, which focused on human rights and the use of Eminent Domain in New London CT.  It was screened at the Rhode Island International Film Festival in 2009.

Following Graduation Elias has been published in the Grad Issue of the Visual Opinion for his school which detailed his documentary project.  He has recently moved to a new apartment in Brooklyn after living in Queens for 2 years.  Over the summer he has been working on prepping his documentary to submit to more festivals.  On the side, Elias has also been creating his own music for a project he calls Home Music, which is compiled of ambient and electronical sounds mixed over samples of Old Time Radio records. 

Recently Elias has been interning at Smuggler in Manhattan as an Office PA since the beginning of September 2009.  At Smuggler he has been learning the marketing aspects of film and has been able to work on sets as an assistant.  He has been working on finishing up his reels to submit to post production houses and has been working on submitting Not For Sale to other festivals.

In his spare time, Elias can be caught listening to records from his vinyl collection or enjoying the night life that New York City has to offer.  He has built many personal and business friendships in New York and is looking to expand.

by Joe Siegel

EDGE New England Editor

Tuesday Nov 10, 2009

Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri vetoed a bill on Tuesday that would have added domestic partners to the list of people authorized under state law to make funeral arrangements for each other.

“This bill represents a distributing trend over the past few years of the incremental erosion of the principles surrounding traditional marriage, which is not the preferred way to approach this issue,” the Republican who has been a vocal opponent of marriage for same-sex couples said. “If the General Assembly believes it would like to address the issue of domestic partnerships, it should place the issue on the ballot and let the people of the state of Rhode Island decide.”

The bill, as written, would add “domestic partners’” to the list, in current law, of people who can legally make arrangements for a deceased person’s funeral, cremation or burial to include domestic partners if the deceased person left no pre-arranged funeral contract.

According to the bill’s sponsors, the proposed legislation is designed to provide rights to domestic partners regardless of whether they are of the same or opposite sexes.

State Rep. David Segal (D-Providence) said the bill “would have let domestic partners claim the bodies of their deceased partners, and arrange funerals for them.”

“This bitter, cruel, pathetic man is grossly unworthy of the esteem the people of Rhode Island have bestowed upon him.”

Segal noted the funeral planning bill was supported by the overwhelming majority of members of the Assembly who oppose marriage for gays and lesbians It passed by a vote of 63-1. And Segal expressed outrage over Carcieri’s veto.

“This bitter, cruel, pathetic man is grossly unworthy of the esteem the people of Rhode Island have bestowed upon him,” Segal wrote in a blog post on Rhode Island’s Future.

Carcieri has a contentious history with Rhode Island’s LGBT activists. The Governor was widely condemned for his appearance at a Massachusetts Family Institute fundraiser last month. The governor told the 300 attendees he believed marriage was “not a civil right.”

“I get aggravated when it is portrayed that way,” Carcieri said at the event. “Marriage is a license by the state. It is about a state’s responsibility, which is the reason why states don’t allow a lot of types of marriages.”

A statement on MFI’s Web site describes homosexuality as “an unhealthy practice and destructive to individuals, families and society.” The organization also maintains gays and lesbians can be cured through prayer.

Carcieri’s term expires in Jan. 2011. Two of those who seek to succeed him—Attorney General Patrick Lynch and former U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee—support nuptials for same-sex couples. House Speaker William Murphy (D-West Warwick,) who opposes gay marriage, has announced he will resign after next year’s election. And pundits maintain openly gay House Majority Leader Gordon Fox (D-Providence) will succeed him.

Joe Siegel has written for a number of other GLBT publications, including In newsweekly and Options.

Please visit our Fiscal Sponsor above and Donate.  We offer a tax deduction as we are considered a 501C non-profit thanks again to Independent Film Project!

Britain has just brought up the topic of gay blood donation and trying to evaluate if the law actually still holds any real value, if it had at all.  Hopefully they’ll try to make a change and begin what Spain, Italy, and New Zealand have already started!

Check out the article over at the Advocate… Go Britain!    (Britain Re-Evaluating)

Thanks To Adrienne DeTraglia (AdrienneSays) of DeTraglia Designs, we now have our myspace, facebook, twitter, and tumblr fully operational.  And with the help of David Paritsky (DavidParitsky.com), they have both helped to create our main website for the film, and it should be up and operational in the near future.  We’ve been doing well with gaining fans on our facebook page with over 113 fans in only 2 days of operation!

We’ll be posting soon when the film’s site goes live so you can get more information about it.

New Images are up for the film.  Special thanks to Alexandra, Shane Robat, and Adrienne DeTraglia for all their help with the execution!  Feel free to comment and Let us know what you think.

Get ready everybody…

Doing some work with the campaign, this week we’re working on getting all of our sites up. We have a freelance photographer, Alexandra S. helping with getting our posters/ flyers/ postcards and other items out.  We have a lot in store for the designs and hopefully will have some preview images to show in the coming week.

Also on board is David Paritsky (www.davidparitsky.com) helping with the design of our new myspace page and main website page layout. We are expecting to launch our Facebook, Myspace, and mainpage by the weekend of October 24th. There’s a lot happing all at once and we plan to launch all of our sites at the same time to maximize our chances of people jumping on board and coming back for more information.  Stay tuned for updates.

Just wanted to update everyone on our Pledgie.com Fundraising Campaign!  We have already raised $650.00 and we still have more people pledging and asking to help out every day!  It is so amazing that all of you support us and want to help out any way you can.  We hope that we can begin to reach out to more people to create awareness and attempt to reach our goal of $2100.00 before the end of the pledge drive on November 15th, 2009.  So keep up all your good work and help us spread the word.

Thank you all!