Tour Fall 2006

Luane and I are so jazzed about hitting the road these next three months to Universities and theatres hosting us in all different areas of the country. We start in Virginia and basically get to cover the whole state hitting Charlottesville, Harrisonburg and Norfolk. We've got one day off inbetween which we plan to make some visits with HRC and PFLAG in Washington, DC. Those guys are national marketing partners and we'll be adding more akin organizations throughout the next few months. I love it when we can all work together!

Back to the tour...so then we'll head to Arizona, Vermont, New York, California and Pennsylvania. We really wanted to get the movie on the road with us before the mid-term elections in hopes those who come will get exposed to information that could lead to a more informed vote. What's going on in Virginia with yet another attempt to narrowly define acceptable love and recognition is occuring verbatim in Arizona. We are anxious to learn what people are doing locally in their states and how the elections effect them. We plan to do a looootttt of listening. Bags are packed, fish and cats are fed, plants are watered and we're ready to hit the road!

Working on the DVD Extras

Okay, the time is drawing near when we'll announce the release of God & Gays. We're working hard on the DVD extras and will be shooting some interviews with featured folks in the movie during our tour in Sept and Oct to many states who have a lot to fight for in the upcoming elections.

Our challenge is selecting from what we have. It's hard! We actually have enough to do a whole other movie. Alas, here we are on another holiday weekend banging out our ideas. If you've seen the movie, contact us at info@godandgaysthemovie.com and let us know what you'd fine interesting on your copy of the DVD in the Extras.

In the consistent spirit of paradox, happy memorial day.

Mel White's new book and tour

Mel White who is one of our featured speakers in God & Gays has a new book out called, Religion Gone Bad, the Hidden Dangers of the Christian Right. He's also going on tour around the country when it's released on Sept 7th. Check out the website for more info: http://religiongonebad.com/.

We had breakfast with Mel before we premiered in March and he told us this book was not holding anything back. He is very committed and serious in exposing the spells that many Christian Right leaders seem to have on their loyal audience. He's an amazing leader in this quest to educate.

He's also father to Mike White, who you may know of from School of Rock with Jack Black and Black/White Productions in LA. They just released Nacho Libre. Mike is doing really well and is currently directing his first movie in California.

Media comes in all its forms of messages. Its cornucopia can get overwhelming and in the spirit of the "goodbye" message from the flight attendants upon arrival, we know you have a lot of choices for your media consumption and what messages you'll put your attention to, thank you for choosing ours.

Seriously, we're grateful it resonates with you. We hope you continue flying with us. Thanks.

Bridge That Gap Comes to Santa Cruz, CA August 19th!

We're thrilled to be taking the Bridge That Gap conference to Santa Cruz, CA! A perfect vacation destination. This is home to the very popular Rev. Deborah L. Johnson from Inner Light Ministries and her partner recording artist Valerie Joi Fiddmont who are both featured in God & Gays: Bridging the Gap. I'm proud to know them and be working with them on creating this incredible, unique and really cool one-day conference.

New to this conference is I'll be speaking on Comfort Zones Are Slow Dream Killers and run a breakout group on bridging fear to love, helping each of us acknowledge where we're making decisions based out of fear and bust through our belief systems to make decisions from God's point of view, from love. I've been running workshops at other people's conferences and have been encouraged to speak at my own conference, so, come to Santa Cruz on the 19th and check it out!

We'll have live music from Marjorie Pearson and Valerie Joi's choir, author Darlene Bogle talking about her exodus from Exodus and we'll kick off the day by showing our movie, God & Gays: Bridging the Gap. Many of the people featured in the documentary will be there in person; how often do you get to talk with people from a movie in person?

It's going to be an incredible event. Thank you to Santa Cruz and Inner Light Ministries for bringing the conference to your area. If you can't come to Santa Cruz for the conference, then you can bring the conference to you! Email us from the website as we're already booking sites for Summer 2007!

Have you heard of The Secret?

It's a movie and no, I can't tell you much more than that, because, it's a secret.

What I do encourage you to do and I'm very very serious about this, is, to go to thesecret.tv and either watch the trailer and the whole feature-length movie there on the site or order a copy to purchase. It's not on Netflix, not in theatres. This is the only way to see it unless you have friends that own a copy. Then, get a showing together and include chips and dip.

We highly recommend seeing it with a small group of people. The discussion afterwards is always very enlightening. You'll be talking and thinking about it for days after watching it. For some, they watch it every few weeks to kind of make sure they're still on target and didn't stray too far.

You'll see life in a whole new way. More power to ya. Feel free to write us and let us know what you think of the The Secret after you see it, post your comments below.

I'm having a hard time not sharing stories of how our lives have been different since really watching the movie and see how its messages show up in life...so, check out the movie and share your stories with us.

More power to you.

Kim & Luane go on tour packed with the movie to the magic 17 states

The November mid-term elections are on the horizon. When I was in school, most people didn't like midterms, but they were precursor to how we'd do on the Finals which made the midterms that much more important. It's like when I played basketball in high school, how much attention I paid and effort I gave in practice clearly showed up in how I played the game.

The campaign ads have begun their race to the bottom, which helps fair-weathered voters blow off the mid-term elections. With my analogies above, hopefully we can really change our tune about these kinds of elections. Just because we aren't electing a president this time, doesn't mean it's not important. Future presidents are running for seats as governors, congress members and their are 17 states here in 2006 that still battle to legislate people's equality rights.

Just because it's baffling and absurd to most of americans, that doesn't mean we should ignore it and it'll go away. There's a bazillion signatures that need to go on a petition to get to a ballot. Somebody's signing them and those same somebodies are motivated to vote.

So, just like basketball practice, Luane and I have decided to hit the road and help political, spiritual and community-oriented organizations by providing non-threatening, educational, compassionate and undeniable content for their event.

Remember my post on living small? Luane and I can't make a movie like this and not do anything with it when there's so many people in the shadows who don't deserve to be there. The movie is meant to be seen and be a tool to bridge gaps: gaps of understanding and gaps between friends, family members and within ourselves.

We're serious about this stuff. Just yesterday, sitting in a restaurant, a woman leaned over to me and told me of her husband's brother who's gay and the whole Mormon family has shunned the brother except her husband. She talked of the divisiveness of the family and how her husband is also shunned for actually loving his brother, no matter what. Interesting implementation of family values.

So, if you and your affiliated organizations are running community educating events, no matter what state you're in, email us from the website and let's work on this together. We look forward to the road trip and meeting you in person.

Thank you for what you do, every day, from wherever you are.

Some say 6/6/06 is the apocalypse, maybe their right: The FMA vote

Hi everyone. Today, the US Senate is actually taking the time to deliberate on if LGBT people deserve equal rights and propose to amend the constitution banning gay marriage (the FMA: Federal Marriage Amendment). If you're reading this from outside the US, you're probably throwing your arms up in the air and thinking, if Americans are this bored, perhaps a library card or gardening would be less harmful to portions of their human segments? It's quick and easy for us Americans to respond with sadness, rage, depression, powerlessness at the very thought of someone's value being discussed in legislation. It's oh too easy to go there.

This is the consequence of doing nothing.

That willingness to sit in a corner in defeat and fear is what has allowed the discussion to even get this far. Lethargy is one of the main factors for the fact this documentary had to be made and is in high demand, that there is a PFLAG and an HRC. One would know the world is serving fully and spiritually if none of these organizations had jobs...there'd be nothing basic and obvious for us to teach and explain to each other like there's no difference between heterosexual and homosexual people...all are people.

We are not to be on the defensive. There's no reason. We have nothing really to explain, or justify. It just seems that way because many LGBT people feel attacked. Well, Osama felt attacked so he attacked. It's perception. Americans felt we got attacked by Osama. Who's right? It's perceived, long-held, well-watered beliefs.

I agree with Anne Frank. I believe there is good in every person. I also agree with Mandella when he said: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world." (Read Marianne Williamson's Return to Love for more)

I especially have been inspired by that last line. I used to tell my media theory class to stop robbing us of them, for example. When we "play small" we stay as insignificant as we believe we are. That's a lie.

Think of watching a group of kids in a dance recital. There's always one or two kids that just give it their all, you can tell they've rehearsed, focused, practiced and now really are shining. Then there's the other 82 that watch the person next to them, look bored or are clueless. They aren't connected, they dance small. Who are we inspired by as the audience? Who do we pay attention to? The kids who are dancing big and connected to themselves.

Below is a segment of a blog written by an episcopalian reverand who speaks on behalf of HRC. Please consider the words and their meaning. Call your Senators and tell them to continue to say no to the FMA:

"The exploitation of gay and lesbian families in the game of partisan American politics is what we went to Washington to protest. Writing discrimination into the Constitution is antithetical to our core American values and I believe it is critical that we hold to account those in this country would use the issue of marriage equality as a wedge to further polarize and divide a nation looking for ways to come together to solve the many very real problems we face.

Just as we said "No" to the Federal Marriage Amendment we must say "No" to any resolution that would place the burden for the unity of the Communion on the shoulders of a percentage of the baptized. Our vocations and our relationships cannot be used as bargaining chips to secure unity for some at the price of justice for all."

Dueling Conferences & the Clueless Mormon Family

People have been sending us the article in Fort Lauderdale about the two dueling conferences vying for the attention and attendance of christians struggling with homosexuality. There's the Love Won Out and Love Welcomes All conferences in May. There was controversial coverage in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on it that got a lot of people buzzing.

People have asked us if there's a big enough audience for our movie. Just the fact that at least 80% of America claims it's Christian and yet the continued rise of discontent, division and overall unhapiness could be enough. When I think of the size of the budget that Exodus has at a global level and other "ex-gay ministries", and the continued talk of the constitutional amendment and that it's over the battle of traditional marriage and traditional family, it's hard to escape the influence of religion. So, just look around. Read a paper. Visit a homeless shelter, a teen drop in center, psych hospitals in Arkansas, emergency rooms, read obits of a family who has no idea why their kid committed suicide...it's all related. We're all related. So, yes, there's an audience for this movie. Yes.

It's just a matter of will they step up and give it a chance to bring their family together again. Or at the least, let it bring themselves back together again.

Let me explain the clueless family statement. Our family has life-long friends who are devout mormons and moved to Utah when the younger kids were still small. When one of the kids, the 18 year old became distant to the rest of the family and meetings and talk was happening about his required missionary service, I got worried. Then, I heard the tragic news that the 18 yr old killed himself. The family was stunned, completely at a loss for explanation. They say there was no note, no signs, they struggle at understanding the why. Life was so perfect, love abounded in their home. They were very involved in their church. What could have been 'wrong'?

If you've ever wondered if the gay-dar thing is real, this is a solid example. I knew why. It's one of the reasons we made this movie. The isolation one can feel inside when knowing who we are but not seeing how it can be reconciled in reality can be and is deadly for some. The division of the "should" and the "is" in our heads and hearts can seem hopeless.

There's nothing divisive about oneness and that's what all this is about. Hope you'll see the movie and take it in.

Happy Easter

Well, this weekend is Easter. Good Friday is about the crucifixion of Jesus and Sunday is about the resurrection. We celebrate it with food, egg hunts and family...and for sure going to church. The bummer I find in knowing several christians is come the day after Easter, life lived in suffering continues...we immediately forget that Jesus rose, defeating suffering, defeating death.

How come we stay in the death? We live our everyday lives believing we deserve to suffer? Maybe you're saying...hey now, I don't walk around all day moping or crying or in constant pain. Are you sure? Are you as happy as you could be? Where are you not aligned with yourself and the world around you? Just as our spines need adjusting by chiropractors and we feel pain, suffer illness and headaches if we don't, we need to be aligned, making adjustments along the way to keep ourselves strong and healthy - physically, emotionally and spiritually. If people base their life on a teaching and faith, why are so many Christians irritable, unhappy, and unsatisfied in their work and family life? I don't get it.

Modeling life on how Jesus lived his is awesome, and his actions followed his beliefs.

Beliefs drive behavior.

What we believe about ourselves shows in everything we do and say.

How we do anything is how we do everything. I credit T. Harv Eker for that profound statement. Test it our for yourself...it's amazing what we can learn about ourselves when we care enough to look.

So, at this Easter time, I encourage us to make different, more positive, more self-supportive choices in the moment, every moment, and see what happens with our beliefs and therefore our attitudes which leads to overall feeling like we really are living life. We are alive. Jesus is alive. He had a mission and he filled it. What's yours? How are you doing in being honest with yourself and God in filling it? If you aren't going for what you came here to do, the world is currently living with that void that only you can plug up. Please, don't rob us here in society any longer from your gifts, talents and offerings. We need you! This is one huge way we can eradicate lack from our life, society and world. Live alive!

Happy Easter everyone from all of us here at God & Gays.

Let the Race Begin!

After our outstanding showings at Cinequest, the race begins on how we get God & Gays out to a theatre near you. We have been contacted by Hollywood, New York and Europe with offers and methods of distribution. We're thrilled they see the need to get this film out and so we're in discussions on the best way to roll out the doc to nationwide outlets.

I'll be honest that I don't know how soon this could happen. It's really important to us that we work with people who have a heart for this project and want to see it succeed and are willing to work their magic to allow that to happen. We cannot allow this movie to gather dust on someone's shelf while we enjoy our advance. Nope. Can't happen. We're careful of who gets involved in this project at any part of the process as to give it the most love and care possible.

It's our baby. We created it. Just as having a kid procreated by two people is made out of love (hopefully) and there's dedication by the parents to nurture, protect and teach it skills to be self-sufficient, we have the same commitment to God & Gays. We made this film out of love and we're on our way to being empty nesters and letting it move on to its destinations.

A Woman Cried on my Shoulder

I gotta tell you, meeting so many incredible people at the screenings and the conference was what really kept us going...we were so out of steam with putting so much work in getting the movie ready to show, the PR to get the word out with no advertising or PR budget, prepping for the conference and then running it...plus we have jobs that are keeping us financially afloat with all this mayhem going on.

My hives are better, by the way. I'm starting to get some sleep. I slept from early last evening and most of today and I plan on sleeping more before sleeping the whole night. Sleeping is all I'm capable of right now...oh, and this blog. I'll have to proofread this several times, I'm sure.

Anyway, we met many unforgettable people...two guys who went to two of our three screenings and our conference pronounced themselves officially "groupies" to the older men who just come up and with a strong handshake, quietly and quickly say, "thanks" before rushing away.

One woman in particular felt comfortable enough to tell me that she has been struggling with being gay and Christian for 15 years. Now, by looking at her, she doesn't fit the media stereotype of a gay woman. That's something else we say in the documentary...gay people come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, just like straight folks. Again, no difference. And in her situation, her looks allowed her to blend and not be noticed and questioned...which was also part of her internal pain.

The woman said the struggle of spirituality and sexuality was so difficult for her and caused her lots and lots of pain. She didn't want to leave Christianity, she loved God and she knew who she loved here on earth. All of it was clear but the stigma, culture and people in her life who made it much more difficult than it should have been.

We talked briefly about how our upbringing of seeing sexuality and spirituality as separate was a big fat lie...and that's when she lost it. And I totally understood why. The first time I had that epiphany, I lost it too. She cried, I cried and the subsequent people in line after her were all crying. The next five people I saw after her were all wiping tears away.

We really are all one.

Sunday Morning Special

Okay, our final screening at Cinequest is over...we are so sad! The morning audience was really incredible too. First drama was us being so exhausted from the whole week and especially the conference that to get up, unload our cars from the conference stuff and get out on the freeway in time was a challenge. Next, we find that Highway 17, for the first time in thirty years mind you, is closed at the summit due to snow! This is central California! There's no snow here!

So, we had to drive the loooong way which of course made us late and we missed the opening of our movie. We snuck in while it was playing though and got to enjoy the movie with a few hundred people who got up to see a movie on Sunday morning at 10.30am.

The Q&A was really powerful. One person asked us why we were so nice and not angry after knowing what's going on. I totally understood her question and I assured her that we had been through quite the emotional roller coaster while making the movie (see earlier posts for more). However, we can't stay that way. We aren't affective if we stay down in our lower selves. We have to get and stay in our higher self to do the work that needs to be done. We are in the results stage of the process and how can we be mad when we've got a hundred glowing faces looking at us with such gratitude for telling such a compelling and realistic story?

One thing we said in interviews was that we have been very deliberate in steering the conversation to what all of us can agree on, and where we are similar because from there, we have things we can talk about and learn from. If we go with what our differences are, then that stops growth. That stops listening. And that is unacceptable in this dynamic life.

Thank you to everyone who got up on a Sunday morning and watched a movie. Major kudos to you.

It was really wonderful meeting people at the screenings and the conference. It was a pleasure for all of us to get together and share an experience. We're looking forward to the movie continuing its journey around the states.

First God & Gays Conference Goes Smoothly!

Oh, man...I'm so running on fumes right now. This last week has been such a whirlwind, there's no way to prep for something like this. Fortunately, I had outstanding help from volunteers in setting up and running the conference. It went so smoothly, I was almost creating problems to deal with.

I also discovered during some down time that I broke out in hives. My mom flew in from Utah to be at the showing last night and help at the conference and thank GOD she did. She's the one that noticed my itching and red lumps and ran out to get me some goop to put on it and make me sit on my hands to stop itching. That was fun.

We had people come to the conference from over an hour away and in the morning they were quiet and shy and by the afternoon, they were laughing, relaxed and looking really happy. I was just thrilled to see people shift once they realized what our environment can provide people. We had PFLAG there, pastors from several open and affirming churches and christian denominations, an incredible choir lead by Valerie Joi Fiddmont, great food from Camille's catering that they donated to support the event...over 100 people were there. It was just so alive. It was an incredible experience.

The afternoon small breakout groups brought lots of people to share a lot of their pain and lots of tears came out...connections were made, stories were heard and people finally felt truly loved and accepted. I'm telling ya, it was just an incredible experience. My description isn't coming close to how awesome it was.

So, I guess you'll have to come to one the next time we hold a conference and see for yourself!

Showing #2 at Cinequest Sold Out!

So, we just had our second sold out screening at Cinequest. What a blast. We had a dinner for the people who are in the doc or on the crew and it was such a trip to see so many of us all together in one place at the same time. When shooting, no one knows each other...Rev. D doesn't know about Jason, Mary Lou doesn't know about Darlene and Mel White doesn't know about anyone as he's in Virginia fighting his good fight. So, to see these people talking and having such a big part of their life, mission and their identity in common...needless to say the conversation was always very interesting.

The audience was just as hyped as the audience for the premiere on Monday. It was so awesome! Our showing was at 9pm so it was after 11p for the Q&A and the place was still packed. The questions were great, we got lots of time afterwards to talk to people individually, got to hear a lot of amazing stories.

We flew in Mary Lou and her wonderful husband Bob all the way from Arkansas to come to the screening and speak at the conference. They were tired but great troopers. We brought Jason in from Los Angeles and he of course was wonderful to have around. That guy is so frickin' funny. He did tell us that his nephew is having his bar mitzvah this weekend and he wasn't invited so he was glad to be with us and doing the work with us. If you've seen the movie, you know his heart-wrenching story about the loss of relationship with his sister and how he's never met her kids...and now one of them is old enough for a bar mitzvah. Ouch.

Overall, it was fantastic meeting people who had come from all over the country at the movie. One woman has a strong uphill challenge on her college campus in Minnesota trying to her LGBT group and the christian campus ministry groups to work together. Oh, man. The stories we hear...

Thank you to everyone who came out to the late version of the show! Now, it's some sleep before we run the conference all day tomorrow and then a third screening on Sunday morning. Rest when we're dead, right?

Third Show Added at Cinequest!

Wow...and the hits just keep on coming! We've sold out our two scheduled shows at Cinequest and they have just scheduled a third in their 1100 seat theatre! That's the good news...the funny news is their only availability was on a Sunday morning. I teased the programmer that for any other movie, that would be great, but this one movie on a Sunday morning? Where does most of our audience spend Sunday mornings?

Well, since services can be on Saturday nights these days, hopefully we'll get lots of support. The challenge now is to promote it and let people know it's there. That's the big challenge...we'll let you know how it goes.

Sunday, March 12th 10.30am California Theatre downtown San Jose. Tix available at box office and online. See you there!

World Premiere of God & Gays a Huge Success!

Woo Hoo!!! We are on such a high right now, words just can't do it justice. We held a thank you reception for people who touched the project in some way before the premiere and over 70 people showed up. We had an open bar and vegetarian appetizers at the Blue Monkey in San Jose. At one point, the entire executive staff of Cinequest arrived...the founders, the program director, the PR director, the PR staff...I've never seen all of them in one place before.

Then, as we get to the theatre, we see this line at the box office with over 100 people in it. Then we walk into the theatre and our screeening is on the third floor. As we're walking up the stairs, we see the line for our theatre down all three floors, around the corner in the lobby and outside.

We are just in awe.

The Cinequest staff tells me they've never seen such demand for a film and tell me we're sold out for the premiere and for the second showing on Friday so they have to figure out how to accomodate all the people in the box office line by scheduling a third showing.

The energy was just electric in the theatre and all through the line. The crowd was fantastic. The audience was at least 90% heterosexual couples, all kinds of ethnic backgrounds. I saw pastors there I knew from my past when I worked in doing drama productions for churches. It was just fantastic to see the curious and willing show up and be interested in how they can be a part of the solution. They will help so many people in their world. One guy who came with his girlfriend told me after the show how his mind was just racing on ways he could help make himself be a safer person for people to be who they are, as they are. I didn't know this guy at all and he was compelled to really share that this movie really challenged him and how empowered he felt to be able to do something.

We had a ton of comments...all of them positive...that we'd love to share with you. Right now, I need rest...if I can sleep. We'll see how Friday goes. We're so thrilled! Thank you to everyone who came out to the premiere. Your presence and enthusiasm really matters.

Straight, married, white men love the movie!

We had a recent big ah ha. We've been getting interviewed for the Cinequest premiere by a lot of San Francisco and San Jose mainstream press and every one of the reporters have been straight, white, married men. They tell us they "had no idea this was going on" and by their other comments, they clearly get what we are trying to say and do. Some grew up Christian or the like and have since not been affiliated with a church. Their comments were striking to us as it helped us understand our scope of people who can really rally behind these people and these issues in the documentary. We were extatic to have their support, it gave us great hope that they are representative of a truly thinking public that will accept this movie and be moved to make positive change in their world.

So, a little on how the PR process has been working lately..we partner with Cinequest's PR team to come up with ways to pitch our movie to press outlets. They have a bazillion of movies to push, they only have so much bandwidth so it's up to us to kick it into gear and make it happen at a grass roots level. When Cinequest gets a request for interview, they contact us, acting as our PR rep since most of us indy filmmakers can't afford a PR person on retainer.

Lately, we've been contacted by the Metro, San Jose Mercury News, KFJC radio, KUSP radio, the Spartan Daily and several others have put us in their events calendar.

We've grown up in this area so seeing this community give back to us and support the movie means a lot.

Metro Cover

Okay, we've been working hard...Cinequest has been so fantastic in working with us on all kinds of PR opportunities prior to our showings next month. We've been interviewed for a cover story in Metro San Jose and Metro Santa Cruz. Richard von Busack is the Metro movie reviewer and he is widely very well respected. He met with us recently in a coffee shop in our little town and spent over an hour with us getting to know our movie and what we're all about. It was a great conversation. The result of that conversation can be found on our website under press links.

They did a photo shoot with us and a couple of the photos I really liked. Although we didn't have the whole Hollywood makeup and hair stylist team helping us out, it really is amazing how much better we look in photos. Weird. It was a windy day and we were on a roof so my hair is doing all kinds of fun frizzy things. It has a lot of natural wave in it and whenever it can, it'll curl up. I can easily make my hair look like I've done a perm. Although I'm not a fan of the frizz, I do like having multi-talented hair.

Anyway, the experience was great. We've been contacted by several other press outlets and we are just swimming in a pool of appreciation that these guys are interested and care enough to get this movie out into the public discourse.

Screening Dates Announced!

Okay, we got word from Cinequest of our premiere dates and times:

Monday, March 6th 7.15pm and Friday, March 10th 9.30pm at Camera 12 Cinemas in downtown San Jose.

We're so excited to have the dates down. This morning we attended the Cinequest press conference and got to eat yummy quiche and sit next to a major newspaper writer while trying to not dribble my orange juice. We were one of three films featured by Cinequest at the press conference and it was an honor to be there. I ran into old radio friends of mine there. It's funny, since I worked in radio for eight years before crossing over to the visual medium, I have a sense of compassion for people working for big corporations like my radio friends do. On an individual level they totally support what we're doing and the curse is they are major media figures and due to corporate content qualifications, they can't touch subjects like this. Their stations are meant to create entertaining content to allow people to forget there's war, poverty, discrimination and the like. So there's no room for discussion of real issues like this on their airwaves. Makes one wonder how much we don't hear. How much content isn't talked about because it's too real.

Well, that's why there's documentary makers and film festivals. So, support them if you want to hear different stories and not just the message that "everything's just fine, now go back to WalMart." Speaking of which, have you watched the recently released WalMart documentary by Robert Greenwald? Make sure to watch the DVD extras, especially the parody commercials. Oh my gosh, the "sales associate" had me in stitches with that canned opening. That's a dream job for me, doing parody commercials...anyway, you can get the doc from NetFlix and a bunch of other outlets. Check it out. Don't be afraid to learn more about the wizard behind the curtain.

The Conference is Homeless

So it goes with event planning...you start with your dream and then life comes along with its lessons in variables and knocks out pieces here and there along the way. Where we wanted to hold the conference originally didn't have our date open due to a Quinceanera.

So, we're looking for a home to host our first Conference after the Cinequest showings. It's really important to us that we go to a church that is authentically open and affirming...it's not just a tag line AND it's not just for GLBT people.

Seriously, if we really want equality, then we have to live the equality we want to see for ourselves. Hmm...sounds like a good blog topic. I'll talk more about that when I'm not shopping for a venue.