Positive news

Gun violence is out of control. Anti-lgbt feelings are high with hate crimes all too common. During this LGBT Pride month, it might be easy to throw your hands up in the air, and say "Is it ever going to be good?"

I just heard that ChristianMingle has opened its doors to gay singles! Seriously. Of course it took a lawsuit and a judge-approved settlement to make it happen, but still this is good news. Christian rocker Trey Pearson has come out to his fans as gay. Oh and the other day, Pope Francis said that gays deserve an apology from the Church. Of course many mainstream Christian denominations already welcome our lgbt sisters and brothers, but as you know, much of the hate speech has been wrapped in religion. I can only look on these few developments as positive change.

There has been a lot more talk in the past few weeks about guns too and the lgbt community seems to be credited with leading a charge. That too is positive. I don't know where this will end up, but if we are heading away from hate and away from violence, that certainly is a good thing.

 

There was tons of positive news from many different Pride celebrations this month too.  The Orlando victims were memorialized as were other victims of hate.  Those vigils and moments of silence didn't just come from lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.  There have been more and more heterosexual allies standing and making themselves be heard. 

 

We need to keep this up though.  The media has already drifted away from the Orlando massacre and the issue of gun safety, just as I predicted.  Don't let them.  Call your local radio and tv stations.  Write letters to the editor.  Let your voice be heard.  Hate must end and gun violence must end as well.  Together we can make it happen.

Remember and Act

Whatever you think about gay people (I might not be able to change your mind in just a few short blog entries), and whatever you think about guns (the same thing is true about me changing your mind), I ask that you do two things: work together with others to make sure this doesn't keep happening, and also remember those who were murdered in Orlando.

They were in a gay club, which to some people is a horrible sin, but they were human beings. They were brothers and sisters and mothers and sons. They were people with jobs and with productive lives. We know a lot about a few of them and very little about others, but NONE of them deserved this. Nobody deserves to be shot to death. NOBODY.

So please, remember Stanley Almodovar III, Amanda Alvear, Oscar A Aracena-Montero, Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, Antonio Davon Brown, Darryl Roman Burt II, Angel L. Candelario-Padro, Juan Chevez-Martinez, Luis Daniel Conde, Cory James Connell, Tevin Eugene Crosby, Deonka Deidra Drayton, Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, Leroy Valentin Fernandez, Mercedez Marisol Flores, Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, Juan Ramon Guerrero, Paul Terrell Henry, Frank Hernandez, Miguel Angel Honorato, Javier Jorge-Reyes, Jason Benjamin Josaphat, Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, Christopher Andrew Leinonen, Alejandro Barrios Martinez, Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, Kimberly Morris, Akyra Monet Murray, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, Joel Rayon Paniagua, Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, Enrique L. Rios, Jr., Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, Edward Sotomayor Jr., Shane Evan Tomlinson, Martin Benitez Torres, Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, Luis S. Vielma, Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, Jerald Arthur Wright.

Remember and act. It is important to keep in our minds the 49 people who had their lives cut short by hate, and it is also important that we get together to stop the hate and stop the violence. All lives matter, whether you believe that or not. No person should have to live in fear and no person should be executed in cold blood.

Shout From The Roof Tops

Yes, I am still talking about gun safety and anti-lgbt violence. Yes, I still am writing here about love instead of hate. If I could, I would shout it from the rooftops! I don't understand meanness and I don't understand harming others. It makes no sense. I'd really like to hear some of you chime in too. Please feel free to add comments below.

Gun violence is terrible, regardless of who is being attacked. Please know that it is just as disgusting for an unarmed African American teenage boy to be gunned down by a police officer, as it is for a transgender woman to be shot to death by a transphobic man. All murder is wrong. All hate is wrong. You won't hear me saying otherwise. The reason I have been focusing on guns and the lgbt community, is that there seems to be an increase, and many people, including political leaders and clergy, are saying that violence against lgbt people is not only and good thing, but a necessary thing. They are WRONG.

Let me be quite clear about something else. We need to stop when we hear any hate speech and to examine what is being said. No matter what you hear, protecting the rights of transgender women and men, even those rights as basic as going to the bathroom, does NOT put others at risk. Allowing all adults to choose what other adults they wish to marry, does not effect the lives of others. If your narrow mind can not welcome all people, then stay home! As for everyone else, let's go out there and spread the love! Let us show how great this world is. Let us share only good and kind things and truly turn our backs on hate.

It may seem simple to you, but it really isn't. The difficulty is in that there are so many haters already. Don't let them ruin the world though. Join me and shout it from the rooftops! Love is the answer.

WeAreOrlando

Marching up Market Street in San Francisco yesterday was a wonderful group that honored those killed in Orlando. This contingent happens to also be a marvelous example of people working together, and I am told that there are already plans to duplicate this group in other cities for their upcoming Pride parades.

It seems a man named Richard Palmer Sizemore decided to create 49 signs with the faces of those killed in the Orlando massacre, at his own expense, and he was hoping to find 49 San Franciscans to carry them in the Pride Parade there. Marsha Levine, the coordinator of the annual event had been working on a large banner and a plan for a moment of silence. They were actually going to stop the entire parade in its tracks, and pause for a moment. Well Marsha's ideas and Richard's signs came together to form a memorial contingent.

I wasn't there, but saw video of it, and it was very moving. With onlookers lining Market Street and with the We Are Orlando contingent leading the marchers, lined up right behind the infamous Dykes on Bikes and other two-wheeled contingents, the Parade came to a complete stop at 7th Street, and for about 30 seconds, stood in complete silence. With a shout of "We Are Orlando" to end the moment, met with respectful clapping, the Parade started up once again.

 

Guns have killed, and they continue to even after that horrible Sunday morning in Orlando, Florida.  Gay men and women continue to be attacked too, simply for being who they are.  Yesterday though, there was nothing but respect in downtown San Francisco.  If only we could spread that everywhere!

A more secure Pride

On Grove Street in San Francisco yesterday, people entering the LGBT Pride Celebration area, had to pass through metal detectors, also be wand inspected, and have anything they might be carrying visually inspected. There is also a much more visible police presence. It's a shame that our world has come to this! The idea of course is the safety and security of everyone, and I am told that today is going to be even more secure. Pride celebrations in several cities today will have new elements of security. The attack on the lgbt community is all too fresh in our memory.

Barbara Poma, the owner of Orlando's Pulse nightclub, where the massacre occurred, will be leading the New York City parade atop a Stonewall Inn float. I'm hearing reports that onlookers have already started lining up along Fifth Avenue there, to get the best vantage point for the annual lgbt celebration parade. I'm certain the same thing is true in San Francisco. Last year it was an extra happy event, with the US Supreme Court having just ruled favorably on same-sex marriage. This year, just two weeks after the murder of 49 people at a gay club, the mood is expected to be quite different.

At all of the Pride events this weekend in any city, I expect there will be stepped up security. (I've already seen pictures on television this morning of police in New York City carrying long guns). I expect that some of the speakers will talk about hate and the need to put an end to it, and some will talk about gun violence and the need for that to end too. Heightened security along with heightened concerns, but a celebration nonetheless.

Remember, the future is up to ALL of us. We can all make the world more safe and secure. We can work to end the hate. We can bring back the joyful celebrations that we all enjoy. Let's do it!

Remember Their Names

During what is LGBT Pride Weekend in many cities, let us celebrate the freedoms that exist for some, but keep on working for the freedoms of all and let us remember the victims of gun violence, and firmly resolve to do something about it. Let us also remember our sisters and brothers who have been taken from us, simply because of who they are.

We know that 49 people were brutally killed in a gay club earlier this month, but this was not the beginning of violence against the lgbt community. Sadly these hate crimes go back through history.  Please be safe at the various celebrations today and tomorrow.  (I know that San Francisco Pride will have increased police presence all weekend, and metal detector have been added to all the entrances of the Celebration site).

These are some of the others who were murdered because of their gender identity or sexual orientation: Howard Efland, beaten to death by Los Angeles Police; Upstairs Lounge (32 victims), New Orleans gay bar torched by arsonist; Robert Hillsborough, stabbed to death in San Francisco by a man shouting "faggot;” Harvey Milk, murdered by political rival Dan White at San Francisco City Hall; Terry Knudsen, beaten to death by three men in Loring Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Steven Charles, beaten to death in New York City; Charlie Howard, drowned in Bangor, Maine for being "flamboyantly gay;" Rebecca Wight, shot along the Appalachian Trail; James Zappalorti, a gay Vietnam veteran, was stabbed to death; Julio Rivera, beaten with a hammer and stabbed with a knife because he was gay; Brandon Teena, a trans man, raped and later killed; and Matthew Shepard, tortured, beaten, tied to a fence, and abandoned in Laramie, Wyoming.

Other vicitms include Billy Jack Gaither, brutally beaten to death in Rockford, Alabama; Gwen Araujo, murdered by at least three men when they discovered she was trans; Sakia Gunn, murdered by stabbing in Newark, New Jersey; Richie Phillips, killed because he was gay in Elizabethtown, Kentucky; Glenn Kopitske, shot and stabbed in the back in Winnebago County, Wisconsin; Emonie Spaulding, shot to death in Washington, DC; Jason Gage, bludgeoned to death in Waterloo, Iowa; Ryan Keith Skipper, stabbed to death in Wahneta, Florida; and Ruby Ordeñana, strangled to death in San Francisco, CA. The list also includes Roberto Duncanson, stabbed to death in Brooklyn, NY; Ebony Whitaker, shot and killed in Memphis, TN; Sanesha Stewart, stabbed to death in The Bronx, New York; Lawrence King, shot twice by a classmate in Oxnard, California; Nahkia Williams, shot to death in Louisville, Kentucky; Lateisha Green, shot and killed in Syracuse, NY; August Provost, shot to death Camp Pendleton; Mariah Malina Qualls, murdered in San Francisco; and Toni Alston, shot in Charlotte, North Carolina.

There are more - a LOT more. Their murders were in small towns and in big cities and in all parts of this country. They were killed because of hate. They were killed in many cases because people in positions of trust had convinced them that lgbt people are not worthy of living.  Look up additional names (they are pretty easy to find).  Think of these people.  Remember - they were PEOPLE.  All people should be able to live without fear.  Let us move forward to a world with no hate and let is make certain that there are no more deaths like these.

Bad and Good

With every horrible event in history, there is both bad and good. It may be hard to think of anything good about a school shooting, on that fateful night in Orlando, when a shooter took the lives of 49 people in a popular gay club, but take a moment and think about how it has brought people together and how so many people are determined now to win a fight that we have been fighting for a very ling time.

Gun violence is never a good thing and the taking of lives earlier this month was a sad day for their families and friends, and I think should have been sad for everyone. Unfortunately there were some how actually rejoiced! I have mentioned the clergy who preach hate, but I am amazed that there have been so many. In a sermon on the day of the massacre, the preacher at Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento said to his congregation: "Are you sad that 50 pedophiles were killed today? Um – no – I think that's great. I think that helps society. I think Orlando, Florida is a little safer tonight." Even more outrageous statements followed. From this bad though is coming some good. This past Sunday at least 1,000 people came to the church's location to protest the hateful preacher, chanting "shame on you" and "love conquers hate" during their rally. In addition, the church's landlord is trying to evict them.

Even if the church is gone and even if the pastor is no longer preaching, there is still the matter of hate. How do you get rid of that? How do you turn hate into love?

I'm hearing all kinds of positive stories too about first responders who saved lives that night in Orlando. There's the bittersweet story of the mother who shielded her son in the club, giving her own life for his. There are stories of tears shed around the world because the violent event touched people in so many ways. I heard yesterday of a young gay man, who decided to come out after the incident in Orlando. He said he needed to become visible.

The number of people who have stepped up efforts regarding gun safety is huge. Bills have already made it to Congressional votes. The bad news is that every one of them has been voted down. There are many people who will not be giving up though, and that is a very good thing.

As I predicted, the Orlando story is already disappearing slowly from the news, and from people's minds, but as I said, I am not going to stop. There is too much at stake. The anti-lgbt hate needs to become a thing of the past, just like gun violence. We need to work for a loving and caring future.