At one time I thought I really liked holidays. Over the years as we have lost family, I realized that what I really liked was the time off to spend with family and friends. Today I give much greater thanks for my family than ever before. I have truly learned what it means to have others you can connect to in heart, mind, and soul. My own journey is one that is unique, as we each are unique. I have been amazingly blessed to have been able to continue to have all of my family as close allies through my entire transition.

If you are like me, you can always think of a great comeback to an offensive comment. One day later.

This last week was a whirlwind for me. One week past the National Equality March and I’m still processing everything that I experienced and felt. I felt so prepared to take on the world with such powerful words given to me by the speakers, with such energy and friendliness from everyone that I met.

By the time I was 15 years old, I had already had my first boyfriend, kind of. I had begun to accept that I was “gay,” but I had also experienced the sting of being a “fag.” Society, it seemed, disapproved. The disapproval was so great that I’d often be chased home by groups of boys on bicycles throwing rocks at me and calling me “fag.”

I remember walking home from school one day at 12 years old and coming across the one person in that small Arkansas town I thought I could call friend.

Gay Sailor Brutalized by Own Unit and Discharged in CA – Former Petty Officer Third Class Joseph Rocha was brutalized for more than two years by members of his own unit in Bahrain. He was returned to CA suffering from P.T.S.D. and was forced to admit to his sexual orientation – then was discharged under D.A.D.T. Others were also brutalized and the military is investigating.
Bill Recognizing Harvey Milk’s Birthday Passes CA Legislature – Once again a bill to recognize Harvey Milk is waiting for the signature of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger – and would recognize Harvey Milk on his birthday – May 22nd. If signed – Harvey Milk would join the only three other days of recognition in the state. The link also displays a photo of Harvey Milk at the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade in 1978 – five months before his assassination.
LGBT Activist Runs For Mayor in Idaho Town – Melissa Sue Robinson happens to be an LGBT activist who is also a Transgender woman running for mayor of Nampa. She was previously married for 17 years and her ex-wife now plays a major role in her election campaign.

At some point I have to face it, no matter how hard it is for me to accept. I can deny it all I want and make jokes with my friends about the fact that I’m not a white man, but I am – even though I think I’d make a good Latino (well, except I don’t like guacamole). Having spent my entire life as a white man and often being perceived to be your standard WASP (White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant), there are certain privileges that have been bestowed upon me.

I sat down the other day and penned “Murder of Gay Youths in Tel Aviv: I’m the One to Blame.” Although many have misconstrued the message to be an apology for “blaming religion” for anti-gay attitudes, it was really a call for us each to take personal responsibility in obtaining social and civil equality. We need to answer the call from “God” to ensure social and legal equality for all people.

While writing the post, I remembered, if only briefly, the slogan, “Silence = Death.” For those too young to remember, the slogan was about the HIV/AIDS epidemic sweeping the nation and our government remaining silent on the issue as people died. The slogan was later popularized by the group, ACT UP!

Here’s a line up of the upcoming episodes of Closet Talk with jaysays. Remember, if you are interested in being a guest on the show, please visit the Closet Talk page and complete the form!

One of the blogs I follows, itisalwaystoday.blogspot.com, is written by a molecular biologist, self proclaimed hippy, heterosexual gay-activist that I’ve come to admire and respect very deeply. Recently, she discussed the potential for science to find a “gay” gene in her blog post, “Is Being Gay A Birth Defect? What if We Could Treat It?”

If you missed Closet Talk last night you missed a great story from MJ (as well as some technical distractions from yours truly at the beginning of the show). MJ eloquently told her story of life before and after the closet, weaving us through her fears and feelings of loneliness but always leading us right back to where we should be, hopeful.

The “right-wing” have often *defended* themselves from LGBT people using ridiculous claims like gays are pedophiles and if you allow gays to get married, gay sex will be taught to elementary students, etc. It’s a topic I’ve covered a couple of times here because I find their comments so ridiculous that repeating them only illustrates how insane their claims are. But the claims all have one thing in common, they are meant to belittle, insult and oppress LGBT people. They are purposeful in illustrating the “evil” of LGBT people. They intend to make us look like wretches and non-productive members of society, and if they could, they would draw images of us with horns and tails and proclaim us to be direct descendants of the devil (but most haven’t gotten that ridiculous yet).