We have to say, we're more than a little excited about the recently confirmed line-up for the 2010 edition of women's festival Lilith Fair, what with its killer line-up and all.
As part of the festival's "Choose Your Charity" campaign, part of the proceeds from every Lilith show will go to a women's charity in each city. The charity will be voted upon by fans from a list of charities provided by the festival organizers. However, some of those charities have now been called out as anti-choice organizations.
The Chicago Reader reports that both Minneapolis and Indianapolis are being given the option to support Women's Metro Center and Indianapolis Life Center, respectively, institutions who abide by the rule that women should not be allowed to abort unborn fetuses. Several other U.S. cities, including Atlanta and Seattle, have included facilities that offer faith-based abortion alternatives and pregnancy counselling.
When asked by the Chicago Reader to comment about the inclusion of the pro-life facilities, Danielle Romeo, a publicist at Nettwerk, offered the following statement: "The primary focus of the selection process will be on those organizations that provide shelter to women in need. We want the fans to have a voice in the selection, and we will strongly consider all feedback on these selected charities when making the final decisions."
Nettwerk CEO and Lilith co-founder Terry McBride was also pressed for comment, and stated, "The seeding at the start was done with a basic digital search in each market of woman's charities. It's not perfect. Nor could it be, as we simply don't have the local expertise even within our own city of Vancouver."
The seeding refers to the initial charity selection process, which apparently was simply a matter of finding women-focused organizations with federal tax ID numbers. "What is posted," McBride insists, "are the results of the most cursory search, and it's really up to each community to help us decide. We aren't the experts, and so it needs to be up to people working in those communities."
Not that it matters. After all votes have been tabulated, the official Lilith Fair website notes that "the Lilith founders - Sarah McLachlan, Terry McBride, Dan Fraser and Marty Diamond - will hand pick the local charity winners from the top three charities with the most votes in each city."
For some heated comment and debate about Lilith Fair's "Choose Your Charity" campaign, head to The Daily Swarm.
As part of the festival's "Choose Your Charity" campaign, part of the proceeds from every Lilith show will go to a women's charity in each city. The charity will be voted upon by fans from a list of charities provided by the festival organizers. However, some of those charities have now been called out as anti-choice organizations.
The Chicago Reader reports that both Minneapolis and Indianapolis are being given the option to support Women's Metro Center and Indianapolis Life Center, respectively, institutions who abide by the rule that women should not be allowed to abort unborn fetuses. Several other U.S. cities, including Atlanta and Seattle, have included facilities that offer faith-based abortion alternatives and pregnancy counselling.
When asked by the Chicago Reader to comment about the inclusion of the pro-life facilities, Danielle Romeo, a publicist at Nettwerk, offered the following statement: "The primary focus of the selection process will be on those organizations that provide shelter to women in need. We want the fans to have a voice in the selection, and we will strongly consider all feedback on these selected charities when making the final decisions."
Nettwerk CEO and Lilith co-founder Terry McBride was also pressed for comment, and stated, "The seeding at the start was done with a basic digital search in each market of woman's charities. It's not perfect. Nor could it be, as we simply don't have the local expertise even within our own city of Vancouver."
The seeding refers to the initial charity selection process, which apparently was simply a matter of finding women-focused organizations with federal tax ID numbers. "What is posted," McBride insists, "are the results of the most cursory search, and it's really up to each community to help us decide. We aren't the experts, and so it needs to be up to people working in those communities."
Not that it matters. After all votes have been tabulated, the official Lilith Fair website notes that "the Lilith founders - Sarah McLachlan, Terry McBride, Dan Fraser and Marty Diamond - will hand pick the local charity winners from the top three charities with the most votes in each city."
For some heated comment and debate about Lilith Fair's "Choose Your Charity" campaign, head to The Daily Swarm.
