Saturday, March 28, 2009

Wear a white ribbon.......

Gay-Teen Suicide Awareness Ribbon

This ribbon was created by Xavier Neptus, a personal survivor of attempted teen suicide himself. He was inspired to create this campaign after hearing Jason Bolton, a young man who was thrown out of a suburban Detroit high school for being gay, speak about gay youth suicide at the 1997 Lansing, Michigan Pride March. According to Neptus, the color white was chosen to represent clarity of thought and innocence of youth. Neptus quotes on his site that an American teenager attempts suicide every five hours because of difficulty dealing with the stresses of being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. By spreading the word about this campaign and recommending professional resources, Neptus hopes to save other young people from suicide.

If you know a LGBT youth who is having a hard time dealing with the rejection of society and their parents, let them know about The Trevor Project: http://www.thetrevorhelpline.org/

The Trevor Helpline is a free and confidential service that offers hope and someone to talk to, 24/7. The Trevor Helpline's trained counselors will listen and understand without judgment. If you or someone you know would like to talk to one of our highly trained counselors, dial 866-4-U-TREVOR.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

A Young Gay Mans Journey

I'm seventeen, a senior about to graduate in two months.
I'm the eldest out of two kids, I have a younger sister.
I'm a phenomenal artist.
I'm wanting to go to college and get a degree in either art education or nursing.
I'm also gay, but that is not what defines me.

I guess I've always kind of known. I remember the age when boys start looking at girls and girls start looking at boys. I was the boy who watched the boys look at the girls. I didn't understand it, but I just shrugged it off.

As I grew, I was the one always being pushed around and bullied. I talked funny, I acted different and all my friends were girls. Then came the word faggot. Automatically, it fit my description. I was harassed and school became my own personal nightmare.

I became bitter and hateful. I spent two and a half years, my seventh, eighth and half of my freshman year hating everything. I was severely depressed, and my grandparents, who I was staying with for four years, didn't know how to deal with my problems. My parents were divorced, I was unhappy I had not come out, and my mom wasn't calling or writing anymore. School was horrible, my grades slipping and I had driven all my close friends away.

My sister and I decided to move to a small town in Wyoming, to live with our father. I slowly became happier. I was in a new place, and I was going to start over a new life here. I was really happy for about a year and a half. However, there was still that secret part of me that it killed to keep hidden away. I knew that I should come out, else it would tear me apart.


It was in May, near Mother's Day, when I found out my mother had passed away from a drug overdose. I was devistated. I went nearly catatonic for a week. I remember nothing but me, dealing with her death. I became depressed again. I became that hostile person I was a few years ago. I started to hate myself. I knew I wouldn't ever get the chance to tell my mom anything. I knew she didn't even know the real me.

I started cutting. I became a pill popper, taking about 12 to 14 tylenol or ibuprofen a day. I didn't care, I knew it was downhill from there. My father, and my sister watched as I became this destructive, self-loathing person.

That went on for a while. I got the help I needed and I stopped the self-injury and the pills. I never really was happy, and I knew I wouldn't be till I told someone.

My sister became pregnant. We grew distant. In a final attempt to reconnect with her, I planned a day trip to go see a movie with her, and to go shopping. I was going to tell her that I was gay. And I did, on the way up there. I ruined the whole day.

Since then, I have came out to everyone. My father knows, but is dealing with it. My grandparents know, and still accept me as their grandson, unchanged. My friends know, and love to have a gay best friend. My sister finally started to talk to me, and we've become really close again. She still loves me, and she she tells me everyday that she does.

That was two months before my senior year. I'm finally that happy person that I always dreamed of and loved. I'm many things, and now, I can finally say outloud, that I'm a gay man.

Anon

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Blogging For Truth

Cruise on over and check out the Blogging for Truth blog
We would like all our readers and friends to consider writing an article about the Truth in regards to LGBTQ lives, loves and realities. Truth and Love set up this site after reading about HRC's End The Lies Wall.
Here is the scoop:

"Beginning May 25 through the 31st, 2009 LGBTQ bloggers and all allies are invited to write articles about the truth of our existence and lives. To blog facts and the results of real scientific studies carried out by real scientists.
For over 30 years there have been organizations dedicated to spreading lies and false studies about our lives, our loves and our persons. These same organizations in the United States now seek to remove all rights and privileges afforded us as American Citizens, they ultimately seek to re-criminalize our love and our existence. In other parts of the world our brothers and sisters face prison, torture and even death for being "sexual deviants."
We believe it is time to shine the light on these false witnesses. It is time to end the hate.
"

Thank you for considering this! And please let your readers know about "Blogging for Truth"