Tag: LGBT ally

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Utah holds 2nd Annual Pink Dot event

Pinkdot Utah aims to launch the movement’s credo — Support. Love. Courage. — by encouraging Utahns to speak up for their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) family members, co-workers, neighbors and friends.

I really love the message of the campaign. And watch the video above, I think about how many friends I had in high school who also might have said “I wish he knew…”

Especially impactful are those early and high school years, that to this day my first reaction is to cringe when I think of them. While “It Gets Better” is a great catch phrase today, it’s also the truth. Life did get better for me once I got past some of the scars of my years at Arlington Heights High School. It wasn’t all bad, and I do have some great memories. Since then, because of Facebook, I’ve been in touch with folks like Patti Brown, Addester Williams, Karen Ralston, Jennifer Hardgrove, Mimi Rogers, Peggy Bittrick – and I’ve really enjoyed that. And of course my best friends through the whole ordeal – John and David – who really gave me a lot of self-confidence. All of them were great during high school. But right along side those good memories are the “mean girls” comments that were pretty difficult for a 16 year to handle. I don’t think of high school without remembering Robbie Pulido calling “hey faggot” many times, even while we were both on the cheerleading squad as seniors. Or Randy Milligan walking ahead of me and saying to someone “hey lookout, there’s a fag behind you.”

I got over it. And then some, you might say. I forgive, but I also don’t forget. Big learning experience not only for my own growth but also in realizing young people often have no idea of the power of words.

PinkDot is a great event I’d love to see expand across the country to let folks know that they are fine the way they are.

The Council held its second annual pinkdot event on September 22, 2012, next to the International Peace Gardens in Salt Lake City’s Jordan Park.

At its innaugaral event an estimated 2,000 people helped form Utah’s first giant human pinkdot.

The campaign and event are targeted to attract both straight and gay Utahns and visitors, many who may come to support their family members, friends, co-workers and neighbors.

Check out the excellent video above, and for more info go to www.pinkdotut.org

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Win a lunch date with George Clooney and benefit LGBT students across the country

For the right price, you can get a lunch date with George Clooney which will benefit the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), an organization which keeps schools safe for LGBT students across the country.

The lunch “experience,” which also includes intimate time with entertainment writer Dave Karger, will take place at the Soho House in West Hollywood and is valued at $20,000. So if you have deep pockets (or have a movie project to spin), then it’s probably really worth—for the children of course. You can bid through Oct. 11 on the auction site Charitybuzz.

Clooney is a longtime ally to the LGBT community. During an interview with The Advocate in February to promote his appearance in the play 8, the actor spoke about why he’s so passionate about the issue of marriage equality. “One day the marriage equality fight will look as archaic as George Wallace standing on the University of Alabama steps keeping James Hood from attending college because he was black,” he said. “People will be embarrassed to have been on the wrong side.”

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Chris Kluwe: Out Of Bounds blog #11 “Stand Up”

Excerpt from Minnesota Vikings’ Chris Kluwe’s blog post “Stand Up”:

Every time you propagate the message that being gay is to be less than human, that same sex marriage cannot be as filled with love and laughter and tears as heterosexual marriage, that gays don’t deserve to pass a legacy on to their family, you quicken that howling storm and sweep away a tiny bit more humanity from the world, drive one more child to contemplating the cold razor’s bite, or the yawning abyss of the overdose because they simply cannot deal with the unceasing assault upon their psyche.

Well I, for one, will not stand for it. I will not stand for a world that demeans those it finds ‘different’ or ‘gross’. I will not stand for an ideology that promotes slavish adherence to a single arbitrary standard, that sacrifices children on the altar of oppression and control. I will not stand for one more RED TINGED MUSHROOM CLOUD second of people thinking that they have the right to live someone else’s life for them, for the complete lack of empathy so often shown in our society.

I stand for gay marriage. I stand for the end of segregation. I stand for a woman’s right to vote. I stand for equality under the law, for treating others how I want to be treated, for the fundamental human right to live a happy life free of tyranny.

I stand for my children.

Read the entire ANGRY PUMA GROWL from Kluwe by clicking here.

Kluwe Rocks!

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Happy birthday Ben Cohen!

Happy birthday to the amazing (and handsome) LGBT ally, Ben Cohen, who works tirelessly to help prevent bullying with his StandUp Foundation.

From the StandUp Foundation website:

The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, Inc. is the world’s first foundation dedicated to raising awareness of the long-term, damaging effects of bullying, and funding those doing real-world work to stop it. We stand up against bullying regardless of to whom it happens. Because lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are often targeted by bullies, we give particular attention to this community. We include removing homophobia from sports as central to our mission.

The foundation is funded, in part, through profits generated by the StandUp social-commerce brand. Individuals and corporations contribute generously to the Foundation as well. To engage the consumer marketplace and help drive social change as a partner, please begin by learning more about the StandUp brand.

Ben Cohen, MBE, is an England Rugby World Cup champion, and among the world’s greatest athletes. He ranks second in all-time scoring for England, and first among straight professional athletes to focus his philanthropic efforts for the benefit of the LGBT community.

Ben’s  new 2013 Calendar is available and the proceeds go to help the StandUp Foundation’s work on behalf of LGBT teens.

Check out the new calendar and other items you can purchase in support of the fight against bullying at StandUpFoundation.com

And one more time: Thank you to Ben Cohen for your efforts.  You make a big difference.  Wishing  you the best birthday yet.  Very glad you were born!

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At Chick-Fil-A: “I kissed a guy and I liked it!”

LOL… I saw this online earlier and I’m sorry it took me a while to post.

I think this guy, Comedian/Actor Skyler Stone, is pretty fab. He sets out with pal/comic Mike Smith to make a statement about Chick-Fil-A’s grotesque opinions on gay marriage.

Both are straight people with a lot of compassion for gay people’s fight against our corporations and our government.

Starring Skyler Stone (Hostel 3, Raising Hope, For Your Consideration, Accepted) and Mike Smith (Second City – Chicago).

Personally, if I was a female, I’d want to date either one. Sense of humor, good looking and they get a sense of inequality. Hot.

Can I get a hurray?

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Broadway’s Hunter Foster on Chick-Fil-A and marriage equality

From Broadway’s Hunter Foster on Facebook: “I just posted this on an anti-gay marriage/pro Chick-Fil-A blog and I wanted to share.”

I live in New York City. The majority of my friends, neighbors and colleagues are gay. My wife’s maid of honor at our wedding is gay. One of my best friends in the world is gay. We have traveled to Europe with gay friends, attended gay weddings and seen our gay friends adopt babies, buy houses and now, thankfully, get legally married in the state of New York. We know gay couples who have been together in long term loving relationships of thirty years or more and seen the joy of gay parents with their newly adopted children.

Unfortunately, I have also seen how the argument against gay marriage affects my friends. How it makes them feel like second class citizens. It may seem trivial to those who can get married, but what if you were told you were not allowed to stand up in front of your friends and family and commit your life legally to the love of of your life. How would that make you feel? Cathays comments are hurtful because he reiterates this. You can read between the lines in his comments: same sex relationships are “inferior” to heterosexual relationships.

I believe marriage is more than just the statement: one man/one woman. I believe it’s about love, its about two people who want to spend the rest of their lives together. Who want to create a family. Who want to build a home and a life together. Why does that have to be one man/one woman? Great families are born out of love regardless if it’s gay or straight

And I know this has a lot to do with religious beliefs. But, why would God want to deny love to exist in the world? Why would He want to deny certain people the same opportunity for happiness as everyone else? I believe people need to search their own hearts and find the truth about where this prejudice comes from, and maybe see the world as it truly is from a human point of view and not just a world influenced by scripture.

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Ben Cohen on the cover of Gay Times Magazine

Rugby star and LGBT hero Ben Cohen appears on the cover of the recent issue of Gay Times, talking gay stereotypes, how to fight bullies, and his new underwear line which raises money for his StandUp Foundation.

In the interview, Cohen says that the StandUp Foudation has had a “hell of an impact” in the last year, in the U.S. and the U.K. in part because it was the first foundation of it’s kind.

“We’re on a very simple mission — to create awareness and support organizations and to affect and educate that next generation,” he told Gay Times. “We need to teach people to understand that homophobic and racial slurs and bullying is not right. And to be part of the impact is fantastic.”

He thinks, too, that being straight has helped people listen to his message: “I think that the most important thing about it is that I’m straight and promoting a foundation that’s anti-homophobia. I’m bridging the gap between gay and straight. And I think straight people are more likely to listen when they see me breaking down stereotypes.”

Read the interview online by clicking here.