Speak out, Act now: "The New Prop 8"

Plaid may be the new stripes, but don't let Iowa become the new Cali!

http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/campaign/next_prop_8/x7ikg5grhj6nemmx

Urge officials in Iowa to keep the hawkeye state an equal state!

SPEAK OUT, ACT NOW: "Don't ask, Don't tell" - Don't Wait!

"Let's push that one down the road a little bit," said Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this past Sunday when a Fox News anchor asked him about the timetable for repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

With all due respect, Mr. Secretary, let's not. Our military, and our service members, can't afford to.

Write a letter to President Obama telling him why we can't wait:

http://www.sldn.org/dontwait

Here's Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Aubrey Sarvis' take on why we can't wait:

"We're fighting two wars, and we need the most qualified people possible to wage them. In fact, President Obama recently announced plans to send an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. Meanwhile, more than 800 hundred mission-critical service members -- including linguists and intelligence analysts -- have been fired under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."Almost 13,000 service members have been fired since the law took effect in 1994. The longer the president and Pentagon delay the issue, the longer the military will keep firing service members because of their sexual orientation. And because intelligence experts and people who speak Arabic, Urdu, Pashto and Dari aren't exactly easy to come by, we'll have fewer people to call on in the fight against terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan. "

What do you think? Tell President Obama here: http://www.sldn.org/dontwait

THEO'S THOUGHTS: History has proven, the nation has only improved with military equality. If we separate and segregate ourselves with shallow labels, we only become easier to divide and conquer.

By excluding willing and able men and women from serving because of their sexuality or gender identity, we are handing ourselves to the terrorists in the form of pre-sliced bread and saying "Here, try to make a sandwich of us now."

This hits home for me too, as my very dear friend leaves for the Air Force in a few weeks. I worry about him terribly, as he is gay, but I know he cares more about this nation then he does his own comfort, and is willing to not only risk his life and his reputation, but willingly condemn himself to six years of torturous secret keeping, staring at his tongue anxiously making sure he doesn't slip.

And to think, he's making all these extra sacrifices for a country that won't allow him equal rights.
It's ridiculous.

This would never happen in Canada.

Theo.

Pedro, 1994's Milk?

In 1994, Pedro Zamora brough AIDS to a national spotlight through his open honesty on The Real World San Francisco, Season Three.
"He brought the disease to the spotlight and brought a humanizing element to this most feared and misunderstood illness," said QueersUnited. "Pedro became the face of HIV/AIDS activism for the younger generation and his courage to stand up and be counted has made a difference in countless lives and he made a place for himself in history."
He changed the lives of thousands, passing away on November 11th, 1994, just a few hours after the finale of The Real World. Tomorrow, MTV will debut "Pedro", a movie of the young man's amazing life, an incredibly relevant and necessary film that will premire tomorrow night.

Here is a clip of the upcoming movie of Pedro Zamora's life, "Pedro" which debuts on MTV Wednesday [TOMORROW NIGHT!] April 1st at 8pm EST.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/movies/358237/his-life-and-personality-are-very-inspiring.jhtml#movieId=1606095

Educate and Activate! Four minutes of Homosexuality 101.

[This is the most adorable concise video summarizing all arguements for and against homosexuality. Use it for a reference, send it to your homophobic heteronormalized friends, or just enjoy it for what it is. It's funny and factual! -Theo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PooEhBxh0NY

[PS: It's satire, humorous stereotyping. No worries, I appreciate at the fun it pokes at everyone]

Color Television

[Well, I personally hate TV. I think its a waste of time. I like to watch shows - but from a computer. The difference is eventually I have to get off my butt to watch something else, but televisions? Nah. They were built to run all day, and all night, and all the next day. Its the media keeping us fat and incubating us like little money babies in our own homes. I say this as I change my major to Media and Communications... Theo]


Color television

You watch your television in HD and color
Grumbling mumbling much like your father
Watching his whole life in black and white
Seeing the world in two tones, day and night

You watch your back when you’re with company
You can’t show your emotion’s without seeming funny
You cut off self expression to preserve your ideals
You suffocate yourself from admitting how it feels

It was once the same thing as people with color
In your fathers time they were treated as others
Now that your view sitcoms in a rainbow of hues
Sharply, suddenly, equality feels different to you

But just as one light can fill an entire room
I know the truth will shine through, and soon
Just as the colors of moving flashing screen
Change the walls, the floors, and all in between

Because, You watch your television in HD and color
The facts are in front of you and they couldn’t be clearer
We are all completely different, and this way is better
It’s what makes us the same, what holds us together

Color Televison
copyrighted 2009 by Theo Martin

SPEAK OUT ACT NOW! Vote NO on 1!

"1" is the new "8",
but will "WON" be the new "H8"?
It's up to us!
http://equalitygainesville.com/

Here's a SPEAK OUT ACT NOW related email straight from my buddy Anthony Haynes, HRC organizer. He said it best so I'm just going to copy and paste his call to action!


“Now that we are on the other side of the election and each one of you have been trained on campaign work we have some work to do. There are many opportunities to get involved and many of you are already doing great things, but there is one item that I need to rally as many people around as possible. It is short term work because there is a Charter Amendment up for vote on March 24, 2009. This work can be done from your home. All you need is a computer with internet access and a cell phone. We are working to help HRC's very own Regional Field Director, Sultan Shakir, who has been sent to Gainsville FL to help defeat Charter Amendment 1.

Here is a brief breakdown:
* Charter Amendment 1 eliminates protections against discrimination and makes it legal to fire someone from their job or kick them out of their home because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.


* Charter Amendment 1 takes away the City’s power to protect its citizens from discrimination! It prohibits the City Commission from prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, economic status, or political affiliation and gives Tallahassee politicians the sole power to dictate what is best for the citizens of Gainesville.



http://equalitygainesville.com/



In the short term we need as many people working the phones as possible to help fight this awful Charter Amendment. Why help with this Amendment in Gainesville when you live in NY? Simple: what happens in FL effects all of us no matter where we live, and we have HRC members calling from across the country to help defeat this Charter Amendment. All of this work can be done from your home and we will be organizing call centers once a week to work together as a group. If you are interested in helping with this and other efforts here in NY please email me today!

Anthony Hayes
Anthony.Hayes@hrc.org
Human Rights Campaign
Regional Field Organizer"





So ...What are you still doing on this blog? GO TO THE SITE!
http://equalitygainesville.com/




Don't wake up on March 5th feeling like its November 5th all over again!
This world has a funny way of mixing great achievements (President Obama) with devastating loses (Prop. 8) and hey, SEAN PENN WON AN OSCAR!!!
-- We can't risk this one! It has all the tell tale signs!!!



Really, if I didn't think it were big, I wouldn't be saying this:
THEO CAN WAIT, EQUALITY CAN'T! GO HELP OUT NOW!
http://equalitygainesville.com/




My blog will still be here when you're done, k? Promise.
Now, really, time for this: http://equalitygainesville.com/

Thank you all!
Theo.

OH GOD: Not another religious website 'chopping' away at gays!

As the grandchild of a lumberjack, I am sincerely offended. Chopping? Really?
Read on.









Step One: Go to this site, so you know what I'm talking about.
http://www.lovegodsway.org/
Step Two: Turn on some angry 'gate way' music.
Step Three: Continue reading.

Thank you.


C.H.O.P.
Changing Homosexuals into Ordinary People.

The anger and astonishment provoked by this hip new acronym for all the cool christian kids has not only made me severely dizzy, but tempts me to quote fellow Canadian Avril Lavigne's song "Anything But Ordinary" but on second thought, I won't go there.

Just, Look at the ADs they have! Don't you just want to put that on a can of soup? It's Slim Fast for gays! How can they put that on their site and STILL try to maintain some sort of seriousness?

Not only that, but they quote Oscar Wilde "reformed homosexual":

"Suffering is one very long moment. We cannot divide it by seasons. We can only record its moods, and chronicle their return. With us time itself does not progress. It revolves. It seems to circle round one centre of pain."

Are these words supposed to make someone want to be straight? Personally, I interpretted it to validate alchoholism. Or writing poetry, much like Walt Whitman and Emily Dickenson did. Both 'reformed homosexuals' themselves.

I think they're using the word reformed where they should say Closeted. Why closeted? Becaues "God Hates Fags" still exists.

Don't forget to check out the "GAY BANDS" section. Elton John is on there twice!!!
So are the Jonas Brothers, Toby Keith "(cowboy)", The Butchies "(lizbians)", and some chick named "Kate Bush (kissed a girl)" -- Wait, is that supposed to be Katy Perry?

While you're at it, take a tour of their safe bands.
CYNDI LAUPER - Speaks at Gay Rallies all the time!
UNDEROATH - Worst Emo Band Ever. They aren't safe from themselves!
FLYLEAF - What?! Ok, they are a disputable "Christian" band, but, what? They're scary!

And to top it all off:
THE DRESDEN DOLLS
Flyleaf + Creativity - Christianity = Dresden Dolls.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Dresden Dolls. And, hey, they are straight! They just like to wear make up and fishnet, and sing about murder and alcohol and self mutilation... BUT if straight is what makes you safe, they are most definitely happily married!

My personal favorite by them, and really if I had time for a music column I'd write loads about them, but my personal favorite is "Bad Habit" because it's the happiest song I've ever heard about cutting yourself. See:

"the ugly marks are worth the momentary gain...when i jab a sharpened object in choirs of angels seem to sing hymns of hate in memorandum"
Aww, see, they do sing about Angels after all... Totally
safe band.


Here's a really crappy live version of that song so you can get an idea of how happy this song is, and how "Safe" they are...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0aNGyPwSoM&feature=related

And because lyrics are important, read along! http://www.dresdendolls.com/downloads_n_lyrics/lyrics/badhabit.htm


ANYWAY, I figured I'd share this insanity with you guys for two reasons:

1) For a laugh, or a scream
2) TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT
Anything. Tell your friends, point out the innaccuracys of EVERYTHING.

Personally, I chose to write a blog.
And while I wrote that blog, I wrote two emails from two different addresses.

1. One simply said "check your facts" and had a link to these sites:
1) http://www.beyondexgay.com/
2) http://www.news-medical.net/?id=20718
3) http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_mental_health.html
of some pretty good arguments for homosexuality that this guy didn't even touch.

2. The other email said "I HATE GAYS" and told them to list Relient K, Chevelle, and Carrie Underwood under their gay bands.
Hahaha! My three favorite Christian artists thrown right there on the gay band wagon!
So keep an eye out for them!


OH and before you go, check this out!

Right under their FEEL THE MIRACLE Music Video, they have a little link to their shop, reminding us gays that right under heterosexuality, money is also important.

Oh! Oh! Homoaroma Therapy Candles! Mmm! Cures my same sex attraction with every whiff!

It even says PURCHASING GOD'S WAY! I didn't know there was such a thing!

...

This has to be a joke. Thoughts?
-Theo

DAILY DOSE OF 'PHOBE: Spotlight on O'Reilly

Oh really, O'Reilly?

So, to celebrate St. Pat's day a whole month early (why not?) I decided I'd post a video of my least favorite Irish person saying the dumbest, most angering things he could ever say, in my point of view.

This video is a few years old, but it still is one of the few videos on YouTube/moments on TV that leave me truly speechless, because I know once I start screaming about it, I won't stop. So, I'll leave the arguing and screaming and ranting all up to you guys!

DISCLAIMER: Billy-boy here in no way shape or form represents the view of all/any people of Irish ethnicity. I know this because I've dated a few (and yeah, it was an 'inapprorpiate' same-sex relationship:)

Enjoy the fuel for your fires:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj8g031VKj0

GLBT Statistics: The Majority doesn't hate the Minority, and they support them more then you'd think!

Remember that not too long ago, things were a lot different! This is a mark of improvement!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three-quarters of U.S. adults (75%) favor either marriage or domestic partnerships/civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. Only about two in 10 (22%) say gay and lesbian couples should have no legal recognition. (Gay and lesbian couples are able to marry in two states, and comprehensive civil union or domestic partnership laws exist in only five others and the District of Columbia.)

U.S. adults are now about evenly divided on whether they support allowing gay and lesbian couples to legally marry (47% favor to 49% oppose).

Almost two-thirds (64%) of U.S. adults favor allowing openly gay military personnel to serve in the armed forces. (The current "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law bans military service by openly gay personnel.)

About six in 10 (63%) U.S. adults favor expanding hate crime laws to cover gay and transgender people. (Hate crimes laws cover gay and transgender people in 11 states and the District of Columbia, and an additional – 20 states' laws cover sexual orientation but not gender identity.)

A slight majority of U.S. adults (51%) favor protecting gay and transgender people under existing laws that prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. (Existing non-discrimination laws cover gay and transgender people in only 12 states and the District of Columbia, and eight other states' laws cover sexual orientation but not gender identity.)

Nearly seven out of 10 U.S. adults (69%) oppose laws that would ban qualified gay and lesbian couples from adopting children. (In several states, gay and lesbian couples are banned from adopting.)
--------------------------------------------------------

Interesting things! Read the full story here at HRC: http://www.hrcbackstory.org/coming_out/

SPEAK OUT, ACT NOW: Let's stand with Bishop Robinson!

If you haven't heard (in which case, I can't really blame you because until recently neither have I) of Gene Robinson, you're about to.

I love wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Robinson

Bishop Gene Robinson, as summarized in a few words by wikipedia, is "best-known for being the first openly gay, non-celibate priest to be ordained a bishop in a major Christian denomination believing in the historic episcopate. His homosexual feelings were privately acknowledged in the 1970s, when he studied in seminary, was ordained, married, and started a family. He went public with his sexual identity and divorced in the 1980s. When delegates to the Episcopal convention were voting on the ratification of his election, he was a controversial figure. His election was ratified 62 to 45. After his election, theologically conservative parishes have aligned themselves with bishops outside the Episcopal Church in the U.S., a process called the Anglican realignment. His story has appeared in print and film "

Bishop Gene Robinson was chosen to deliver Sunday's inauguration concert prayer after much dismay for the decision to have Reverend Rick Warren, an opposer of gay marriage, for the inaugural invocation.

Hear his prayer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWWAnitUCw4
(video sucks but the audio works)

Read-a-long:
"O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
AMEN."
( http://www.hrcbackstory.org/2009/01/video-bishop-gene-robinson-gives-invocation-at-inaugural-concert.html )

Sign this petition asking President Obama (I love saying that) to keep his word and recognize GLBT rights!
http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/campaign/robinson
Signatures mean mucsle, and that will give us the strength we need to REALLY make this a Era of Change!

SPEAK OUT, ACT NOW: Way You Can Give!

Ok, ok, so you read my last S.O.A.N. post and you weren't diggin the whole "membership" scene. That's chill. But, now, you have no excuse.

Here are your options:

1. GIFT IT: Well, if you don't want a membership, but you know someone who does, give a Gift Membership to them. See, now everyones happy! https://secure.ga3.org/03/honorandgift1
2. DEAL IT: Make your business donate. Pay an annual fee and you can brag about how you support Equality and such to your clientele. There's nothing wrong with boasting!http://www.hrc.org/get_involved/hrc_federal_club.asp
3. EDUCATE IT: Do you identify yourself as a student? Get involved, join/start a club, and help them help everyone else! You'll get free stickers! https://secure.ga3.org/03/campusmember
4. REMEMBER IT: Donate in someone else's name, as a memorial. Celebrate their life, preserve their legacy, and continue the fight for equality in their name. https://secure.ga3.org/03/memorialgifts1
   
   and for my FAVORITE way to give...
   
5. SHOP FOR IT! They've got shirts, accessories, backpacks, napsacks, inaguration coins, staplers, etc! If you can't find it, you're not looking. If you still really can't find it,... maybe they don't have it. But check the site for what you want/need first! Then you can buy your stuff AND support the cause all at once, thus kindly and nonviolently subduing two birds in one attempt, so to speak.
   http://hrccornerstore.myimagefirst.com/store/
   

So... remind me.
Why are you still on blogger?

Yeah, thats what I thought.

Peace and hope,
Theo

SPEAK OUT, ACT NOW: Help HRC reach 2,009 in 2009 by JANUARY 20th!

If you're reading this blog, and you're not yet a member of the Human Rights Campaign, something's up.

Here: https://secure.ga3.org/03/h_member09

Its easy, simple, and for the greater good! When was the last time you did something for Human Rights? Today? Yesterday? A week ago? Never?
Well, whatever your response was, giving is a good thing! And you can never have too much of a good thing. Hence, sign up!

Here: https://secure.ga3.org/03/h_member09

Donate once a month. Its easy and you'll be helping out a good cause once every lunar cycle. They'll take credit or debit cards, and if you're nearing overdraft, they won't take your donation for that month. They only will recieve what you can give!

Come on! Go: https://secure.ga3.org/03/h_member09

You don't even have to give a lot. I donate eleven dollars a month, thats it. My reasoning is, I'm a broke college student with really patchy income, and yet, I used to pay $10 a month for a membership to a gym I rarely visited. So, I canceled that gym membership, bought myself a pair of shoes, and join HRC and I do not regret it one bit!

Seriously, go: https://secure.ga3.org/03/h_member09

Since August, I've donated 55 dollars. Could I cough up that much all at once? Not really. But it adds up over time, and within one year I will have donated 122 dollars, which goes towards towards programs like Camp Equality, teaching everyday nobodys how to be activists, and HRC lobbyists who fight anti-GLBT rights legistlation every day. These two examples I have witnessed first hand, so I know they're legit.

What are you waiting for? https://secure.ga3.org/03/h_member09

Speak out, Act now, Make the world a better place - One membership, one month, one donation at a time!

Peace, Hope, Change.
Theo.

PS: GO https://secure.ga3.org/03/h_member09
There, I have drilled this into your head.

Theo's Thoughts #3 :: Are we "born that gay"? It's a theoRy

[I found this article very interesting! Heres the first half of it, you can read the rest via the link. Hope you enjoy! Quote it for you next arguement with a 'phobe! -Theo]

Born that gayDo recent neurological studies prove once and for all that homosexuality is biological?
By Robert Burton
Sep. 12, 2008 As the accuracy and resolution of brain imaging improve, we can expect virtually all behavior to be shown to be associated with demonstrable brain changes. It shouldn't come as a surprise that imaging studies of sexual orientation are increasingly revealing anatomic and functional differences between "straight" and "gay" brains. But demonstrating such changes doesn't answer the age-old question of how much our sexual preferences are innate and how much they are fueled by environmental exposure, cultural norms and conscious personal choices.
One way to distinguish the effects of nature from nurture would be to look at brain regions believed by neuro-anatomists to be fully formed at birth and impervious to subsequent environmental effects, both physical and psychological. Focusing on such brain regions, a research team at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, headed by neuroscientist Ivanka Savic, obtained MRIs for 90 adult volunteers -- 25 straight men, 25 straight women, 20 gay men and 20 lesbians. Using the latest quantitative techniques for assessing cerebral symmetry and functional connections between various areas of brain, Savic was able to demonstrate highly statistically significant differences between straight and gay brains. Gay and lesbian brains more closely resembled the brains of straight volunteers of the opposite sex than the brains of heterosexual members of the same sex.
In their study, reported in the June 16, 2008, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Savic said, "This is the most robust measure so far of cerebral differences between homosexual and heterosexual subjects." Although Savic admits that her study cannot distinguish between genetic or prenatal intrauterine environmental changes, such as relative differences in sex hormone levels, her studies do suggest that our sexual preferences are, at least in large part, determined by the time of birth.
Not long after reading the study, I got a call from neurologist Jerome Goldstein, M.D., 67, once a fellow resident in the UCSF neurology training program. This fall, Goldstein, an internationally respected headache researcher and sometimes controversial gay activist, is giving a series of lectures on the innate biology of gayness. He was phoning to ask if I had seen the study and if I might write about the latest scientific evidence supporting the biology of gayness. I decided to interview him instead. Goldstein is compact, rapid-talking and constantly on the verge of impatience. Yet during our conversations he was subdued, confessional in tone, with frequent pauses to gather his thoughts; the seriousness of his concerns was palpable...

Read the rest of the article/interview here:
http://www.salon.com/env/mind_reader/2008/09/12/gay_neurology/index.html
It only gets more interesting!

Think about it!
Then, Email/comment with your thoughts, if you'd like to share.
theoreticalm220@aol.com

Peace and hope,
Theo

SPEAK OUT, ACT NOW:: Police Brutality in Mass. = HATE CRIME

[I don't suspend disbelief when reading articles and news reports, so read this with a grain of salt, as the source isn't exactly an official news source or anything. BUT then again, with police brutality as bad as this, and as covered up as this - who would want to cover it and face all the legal pressure? The establishment has a lot of money and they can do a lot of damage. Keep that in mind when you decide for yourself what the facts are, and if you think they are face, HELP OUT and SPEAK OUT - Theo]


http://mysite.verizon.net/freebarryscott/provincetown.html


**"To show your disgust for this corruption and disregard for the Constitution, ask Attorney General Martha Coakley to investigate this crime perpetrated by the Provincetown Police. She needs to be held accountable for police and hate crimes!
She can be reached at (617) 727-2200 or via e-mail: Martha Coakley"

[Can we get a phonebank on that number ASAP? If you too, join me in my grievance, then have a pizza party with a few friends who would relate, bring your cells, and make some phone calls. Don't let them get away with this. Once again, HELP OUT and SPEAK OUT - Theo]

How To Make The World A Better Place via **Get To Know Me First**

What a motto/mantra.

"Get to know me First."

Story of my life. A story of my life that I will eventually post more of on the blog.


BUT this isn't about me.
Well, not only about me.
Its about a lot of people like me.

How often are you judged on first glance? Judged by your race, your appearance, your gender, etc. Well, imagine being a part of the GLBT community, a permanent aspect of the human psyche that is also discriminated against, but not completely visable. Being discriminated against for being GLBT is like beginning a journey with a person you met as you get to know each other and create a friendship, then that person suddenly ditching you on the trail once they find out you're one of 'them'.

Get To Know Me First is an Post-Prop8 Anti-Prop8 campaign to teach the public the TRUTHS, and the in's about coming out and living in a gay family. They say, Don't judge a book by its cover, get to know these families and these stories before you make you choice.
Or, as I like to say, Hey, Don't knock it 'til you've tried it, buddy!
Just kidding.

Anyway, Check it out:
http://www.gettoknowmefirst.org/Overview.html
Watch the full vid. George Takei gets deep! He goes there, and I love him all the more for it. (You know, He's the guy from Star Trek. Wikipedia it, ok? Yeah he's on there!)

Oh hey they have a blog too:
http://www.gettoknowmefirst.org/Blog/Blog.html

Join the face book group too:
http://www.facebook.com/wall.php?id=1039530006&banter_id=1097168140&show_all#/group.php?gid=67255087624

Last link, I swear:
http://gettoknowusfirst.org/
Watch their five 30 second ads!

Sorry, I got trigger-happy about the linking. It happens.
But its good stuff! So... Help out!


Peace and Hope.
Theo.

Theo's Thoughts: How We Can Make The World A Better Place #1

How We Can Make The World A Better Place
Five Steps and a handful of Links every GLBT advocate needs to do, know, have, and see:

1. If your in, come out. Simple as that.
   Ok so that's not a link. If I could, I'd link your facebook/myspace/blogger page right here, right where you can edit your gender/interest/status/orientation etc. And if you're not comfortable with putting the label right there for the world to see right off the bat, then take a page out of my book and blog about it. If you don't want to express all of who you are, at least be honest about what you care about. There's no harm in caring about the fate of humanity and wanting to make the world a better place.
   
   
2. Join the HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN to stay up-to-date on... everything.
   <http://www.hrc.org/get_involved/volunteer.asp>
   I get most of my info from them, along with several other local sources. But if you're looking for a way you join millions of people around the world for this one cause, this is the place to go. You can know whats going on for equality rights around the country down to your home town. But if you're looking for news a little closer to New York...
   
   
3. EXTRA EXTRA! - Read the NY Blade, or any GLBT news, and be IN the KNOW:
   <http://www.nyblade.com/>
   A mix of local and national GLBT news. It's what I personally read. They've got pretty much everything. If they don't, there's always the more local:
   NY Q news <http://www.newyorkqnews.com/>
   Next <http://www.nextmagazine.net/> (another personal fav)
   Chelsea Connection <http://www.chelseaconnection.com/>
   As The Grove Turns <http://www.asthegroveturns.net/>
   
   And then theres the less local but still awesome sites such as:
   The Advocate <http://www.advocate.com/>
   OUT.com <http://www.out.com/>
   HIVplusMag <http://www.hivplusmag.com/>
   GayWired.com <http://www.gaywired.com/>
   Bilthe House Quarterly <http://www.blithe.com/>
   Whosoever (Gay Christian site) <http://www.whosoever.org/>
   
   Find what works for you, bookmark it, and visit it frequently. You can stay up to date on the progression of the cause AND get your daily bit of journalism with your morning coffee/espresso/chai latte/green tea/matte, etc.
   
   
4. Read HRC's "SPEAK OUT" handbook to Advocacy for ideas
   <http://nmmstream.net/hrc/downloads/meetup_docs/HRCActionGuide.pdf>
   How else can you help out? What can you do? What can you give? This guide has every basic, you'll see me reference it a lot. Visit this blog again in a few days and I'll give a basic rundown of what it says, along with some extra links on how you can follow its Action steps locally in the Big Apple.
   
   
5. LINKS TO MORE LINKS (Its Linkinsanity, I know!)
   
   <http://www.newyorkqnews.com/links.html>
   <http://www.gaycityusa.com/>
   <http://www.hrc.org/actioncenter>

Email me at Theoreticalm220@aol.com if you have any specific linkage requests, questions, or comments in general. And if you find anything interesting, you better message me with your findings! (This isn't Holes, so no you don't get a day off of work, but it will be much appreciated)