October News from the CBC!

Dear friends,

“I want people to know how traumatic that [surrogacy] was. Whenever I talk about it puts me back in that place and I feel all of the things I was feeling when I had to go through that.”

We hope these words sound familiar and that you have had an opportunity to listen to Toni tell her complicated story on season three of Venus Rising. Maybe you’ve been lucky enough to return to the office and have been listening in on your morning commute.

Well, if you weren’t aware or haven’t been listening in, let us excitedly share that season three of our podcast Venus Rising is well underway! So far, we’ve had the privilege of hosting surrogate mothers Toni Bare and Alyssia Wood as well as women’s health nurse and certified lactation consultant Jasmine Esmay, and we are just getting started! In the coming weeks we will be airing episodes with literary scholars, best-selling authors, and many more guests so that Venus Rising continues to create conversation, facilitate discussion and encourage listeners to think beyond the masses. The podcast is now available on Spotify, iTunes, and Podomatic. Make sure to catch up today!

Chatting and meeting with interesting activists, writers, world changers, and women’s health experts isn’t the only thing we’ve been up to this fall. Jennifer and Kallie toured first to the bright lights of New York City then to the halls of Princeton for three nights of back-to-back screenings of Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender? What a rush! After returning to the Bay, Jennifer and Kallie hosted a screening in Northern California where hundreds of viewers saw the film for the first time. The film has been a tremendous success and was well received by those invited to screenings. According to the most recent data, short promotional clips of the film have been viewed over 1.1 million times!!!! Want to host a screening or support our travel by donating? Let us know!

Finally, Kallie and Jennifer traveled to Irvine, California for the first meeting of the 2021-2023 Paul Ramsey Institute. Along with Scholars and Junior Scholars, Kallie and Jennifer welcomed 10 new fellows with a weekend full of discussion, learning, and, of course, fun! This was the first meeting of a two-year fellowship that will prepare them to be moral thinkers in the spirit of Paul Ramsey. It’s not too late to sponsor a fellow by donating today!

We hope your fall has been just as successful as ours. Of course, our success is your success. We couldn’t be in season three of the only podcast of its kind without you. We couldn’t create films to show to the masses without you. We couldn’t meet with scholars and fellows to promote and keep the traditions of Paul Ramsey ignited in young persons without you.

There is a saying that autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. We are able to fly because of your support.

Thank you,

Jennifer Lahl and Kallie Fell
CBC President and Executive Director