“That’s it?!! Well I’m not angry, just disappointed!!” (Letter from Reader)

As I mentioned on many occasions I see this blog as a community blog whether is in France or Russia and or right here in the USA. I have a young gay man that I ve known for a year. Without meeting I had such a trust on the individual that I even asked his help as a volunteer with projects on G+. He has send me a letter to publish which complaints to something I talk today about which is what the community needs after Supreme Court decision.

 He is young, want to help and feel with hands tied up by the people that are supposed to have him serve. Been there, working in the community and realizing that the only way I was going to get rid of my impediments was to get promoted over them through hard work and common sense and sometimes a little elbowing too. So I know

It will be so nice that anybody that feels like commenting or has a regular beef I will post it. 'It’s got to have a direction of redemption’ What I mean by that is to show the problem but also indicate a solution.

Adam, Publisher

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“That’s it?!!  Well I’m not angry, just disappointed!!” 

• Kyo Kusanagi, King of Fighters ‘95

       This quote, in my opinion, has more meaning to me than anything in the world right now.  I feel in a simple word, disappointed.  I am starting to feel that the people in the LGBT community are not doing enough to get more people motivated and involved in community activities and social events.  Instead, we are becoming a competitive, anti-social, “not-this-person-but-that-person,” cliques.  It feels like we are taking everything that we learn from our past, the sacrifices that many gay men and women have endured for thousands of years….yes, thousands, and have literally thrown it out the window.  I will give you an example:

I went to a local gay community in Kansas City, Missouri for one of their Crew meetings.  Crew meetings are like little social gatherings to meet new people and get acquainted with others.  However, when I got there, I soon discovered that there was only one person who attended the meeting, me.  I was very disappointed.  Many of the volunteers who run the community center were in complete disagreement over how to be able to reach out to other LGBT people, especially to the youth in the city.  The volunteers want to do more by having more social gatherings and events.  But, it seems the leader of the center keeps telling them “NO!!”  And worse, the leader (I’m not giving out names) keeps coming up with excuse after excuse as to why these plans will not work.  

       Personally, I think that this shows a bad example of leader because not only is this driving people away, but it makes their center an empty building.  This is also what we are doing to each other.  We are driving away our own people when all they want is acceptance.  Sure we have the “It Gets Better” project, but to be honest, it doesn’t go too far enough.  More and more gays are still being hurt by those who label us as outcast, unwanted, even unacceptable, and the sad part is; it is also coming from within.  We are turning against each other simply because we want to be better than everyone else, and it is hurting everyone.  But most people don’t care anyway.  

        So, I am not writing this post just to get attention or to be popular.  I am writing this because it is time for my gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender, and yes…even straight friends to wake up to reality and get more involved with others in the community.  I am writing this because I care about you and love you as brothers and sisters.  It is time to start kicking some serious ass with our political figures, our friends, our families and even each other and help spread the word so that we are not going to hide in the shadows of hate and bigotry, even if is from within.  

       We should come together and come up with ways to make our communities better and stronger.  We should let gay marriage be legal in all 50 states, not just 12.  We should let events in history like Stonewall riots, and gay figures like Harvey Milk not be forgotten.  We cannot let religious and right wing groups strip away our rights because of who we love.  But most importantly, we should not let fear overpower us when the time comes to come out of the closet.  

       We have come so far to just simply throw it all away.  I applaud the efforts of many LGBT members on Facebook (don’t have an account, so don’t ask.), Twitter, and Google+, but there is more work that needs to done.  We are not lines on a map, telling us to stay in this place or that place, we are people who give a damn about the community we serve and the people we trust.  But, we need strong leader to carry that multi-colored flag to the promise land because without strong leaders, we are stuck in the same old bull crap that we have tried to get out of for years.  It is only a matter of time.

Jason Wiley