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/

Gay Teen in Ft. Lauderdale Killed Too...

February is a month of love, right? Valentine's Day, my birthday (in 2 days, yay!) and President's Day where retailers show their love by having big sales over a weekend.

Alas, not much love has been shown to the gay community this month.

On Feb 23rd, a gay teen was shot and killed 4 miles from his home in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Read about the story here.

This, on the heels of Lawrence King in California, a blue state. On the other coast, some Floridians continue jumping on the fear band wagon of pushing a ballot measure (again) banning gay marriage, the death of Simmie Williams Jr, 17 is certainly worth real thought and our time.

Seriously, how different are these murders of these teens from the KKK killings of African Americans? People who are so angry, feel so much hate, they feel need and the right to take a life just because they are uncomfortable with how someone else is.

It's absurd.

Guns aren't the only methods of killing someone either. Words and emotions are also serious weapons, used to kill spirits and dreams. At our screening events, I often talk of the two types of suicides: the physical form which we're all unfortunately aware of, then there's the emotional or spiritual suicide. This is where people are so hurt by words and rejection, they let other people's opinion of them supersede their opinion of themselves and numb out, eventually walking around like zombies just existing through life.

Please please please be careful of what is said in your presence: Thoughts lead to words, words lead to actions, actions lead to results. Anything that happens, starts with a simple thought.

Let's take care of each other.