Ellen DeGeneres Reports on Teen Killed for Being Gay

I just wanted to thank those of you who watch Ellen, the talk show hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. Because of the success of the show, she's able to help get the very serious word out about something as tragic as this:


What I hoped this clip would show is what happened before they went to commercial. The cameras started swinging and panning across the audience as they not only clapped in support for what Ellen says, they also stand.

This is huge....this is the kind of support we see at our movie events over and over again, and some people don't believe us because they don't see it in the media. There is SO much support for equality, acceptance and inclusion for the gay community across the country, but the mainstream doesn't see it.

There is more support than not and it takes moments like these where power is used for good, for social change, for human enlightenment, for the benefit of society as what Ellen did that'll bring more of that already present support more into the light. Thank you to that audience for standing up and applauding.

You don't know what that means to us.

We hope you'll find small ways every day to show that same kind of effort...helping people stop saying "that's so gay", not fuel jokes made about gay people. Let the ripple of ignorance and fear stop with you.

Links:
http://www.rememberlarry.com/
http://rememberinglawrence.org/

Day of Silence, A Day to Speak Out

Wednesday, April 18th is National Day of Silence, supported by GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network). Here's what the event is about:

Hundreds of thousands of secondary and college students are expected to participate in GLSEN’s Day of Silence on April 18 to bring attention to anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender bullying, harassment, name-calling and discrimination in schools.

A project of GLSEN, or the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, in collaboration with the United States Student Association, the 11th annual National Day of Silence will be one of the largest student-run days of action in the country. Students at more than 3,000 schools already have registered at www.dayofsilence.org to participate, many of whom will take a vow of silence, wear stickers and/or pass out cards explaining why they are not speaking.

"Seeing so many students – gay and straight – bring attention to the pervasive problem of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment is an inspiration to all of us who believe that every student has a right to feel safe in school," said GLSEN Founder and Executive Director Kevin Jennings. "In choosing not to speak, students will say so much about the will of our youth to bring about positive change in schools."

Bullying and harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and how masculine or feminine a student is are two of the top three reasons students said their peers are harassed in school, behind physical appearance, according to a 2005 Harris Interactive study, From Teasing to Torment: School Climate in America.

Additionally, nearly two-thirds of LGBT students (64%) reported feeling unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation in GLSEN’s 2005 National School Climate Survey.

The Day of Silence was created by University of Virginia students in 1996 and went national in 1997. GLSEN became the sponsor in 2001.

There are a number of bills in a variety of states including sexual orientation as protectable against bullying, discrimination and being fired from a job, as well as having safe schools. Take a listen to the silence on Wed. There's no reason why it couldn't be extended to people's work places, to younger students and other venues to help spread education. There's a recently written blog by David Shelton that gives more perspectives on the event, see Silencing the Silent from April 8th. Check it out, see what you think.

Regardless on if you think this is a great way to make a statement, look beyond just the expression and see the intention. The intention and the message is something we must live out on a daily basis, no matter our age or where we are. Love is a universal principle. See what each of us can do little by little....

This is the crap we have to deal with daily...

Hi everyone. I was forwarded this excerpt from Christiangays.com talking about no matter how defrocked Paul Cameron is, he's still spilling out the most absurd "research" and passing it off as truth. We've mentioned him before and for more of his background, read Rev. Dr. Mel White's new book, Religion Gone Bad.

Some people wonder why we come out to people, why we mention our sexuality at all. If we didn't, who knows how many people would be running around actually believing outright lies like those that come from Focus on the Family, Exodus International and Cameron. Since we've been deep into research for doing the movie and basically living in this country, finding out that more info is released of greater and greater absurdity just makes me laugh now. It's become such a joke. I'd be laughing longer and harder if this kind of info wasn't believed and therefore used against other people.

This kind of stuff makes us question what is real, what is truth and who can we trust? Here's the filter we use: God is love. If any info, belief, behavior, etc. is intentioned with love, then okay. If in anyway it's coming from fear which is the absence of love, then it's gone, it has no value or purpose. Poof.

I only have so much energy in a day, it's like a bank account and where I spend it shows what I care about and what will feed me and others. I support what supports me. Cameron's findings don't support me or anyone but those who choose to live in perpetual fear. So, why do I post this? Because it took me a while to get to this place of understanding and I know I would have liked knowing what was being said out there about me and my "peeps". While reading these findings, think of the info in context of being in a parody skit, or in the Onion or the Daily Show. Then you'll see just how ridiculous it is. You'll see it for what it is and not let the fear set in.

The one thing that is accurate is that some gays would live a lot longer, but not for his stated reasons. There'd be a higher percentage of gay people in society if there wasn't hate crime, gay bashing and suicide as common practices. Think about it. The genocide has been occurring for decades and decades.

"EARLY GAY DEATH SYNDROME" - MORE FRAUDULENT "RESEARCH"

Excerpt:

Unfortunately, the fraudulent use of counterfeit science is not illegal in the United States. If it were, Dr. Paul Cameron, the head of the Family Research Council would have been imprisoned many years ago. And despite the fact that he was officially expelled from the American Psychological Association in 1983 and officially condemned by both the American Sociological Association and the Canadian Psychological Association, Dr. Cameron is still allowed by law to present himself as a credentialed and published psychologist. (He received his PhD from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1966.)

So why should you care? Because Dr. Paul Cameron is the leading scientific expert on homosexuality in the eyes of many Republican judges and lawmakers, Christian fundamentalists, "family values" organizations and conservative media.
. . . . .
Cameron has now documented Early Gay Death Syndrome (EGDS). According to this new research, which Cameron claims is the largest random sex survey ever conducted, the oldest male that could be found who engaged in homosexuality was 54 years old and the oldest female was 49. According to Dr. Cameron the reason for this is because the average life span of a homosexual is 20 plus years shorter than for a heterosexual.

Read the whole article at
http://www.queersig hted.com/ 2007/03/23/ early-gay- death-syndrome/