Looking Toward Tomorrow and the Future of America

Rising for me today: On January 18, 1997, one year, eight months, and ten days after our younger son Bill committed suicide after a bashing based on his sexual orientation, I published an essay “Too Many Kids Like My Bill” which is in part included here: There is so much grief with the death of …

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We Can Do Better

There have been times in my life, mostly when I was younger, when I didn’t vote in elections because I didn’t think it mattered, or when I voted for independent candidates because I agreed with what they stood for more than the major party candidates. I don’t regret those, but I am really against those choices now…

I Didn’t Lose My Temper

A friend posted an image on social media with the words: Someone I don’t know commented with some awful homophobic/transphobic stuff (that I won’t share here) while claiming to be a very polite person with ‘them’ and not at all a hater. You’ll just have to take my word for what he wrote and use …

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A little bit of history: The Salvation Army Kettle “Dollars” Protest

I am still hearing about folks using Salvation Army kettle “dollars” to let the Salvation Army know of their disapproval regarding the organization’s homophobic/transphobic policies. The first Salvation Army kettle protest “dollars” that I know of were created in November 2001 by Mary Scholl, then President of the PFLAG Genesee County, MI chapter. The graphic …

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A local public television station and a PFLAG-Olympia screening of the documentary “Two Spirits” – Sexuality, Gender, and the Murder of Fred Martinez

The documentary “Two Spirits” explores the life and death of a boy who was also a girl and the essentially spiritual nature of gender. Fred Martinez was nádleehí, a male-bodied boy with a feminine nature, a special gift according to his Navajo culture. Martinez was brutally murdered at 16 in Cortez, Colorado in 2001. “Two …

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Bullying: Breaking The Cycle – a documentary Alec and I were in – is now online

Alec and I were in a KIRO 7 (Seattle) Family Connection Special Presentation documentary, Bullying: Breaking The Cycle, which aired on March 17 and March 26, 2011. It can now be watched online in four segments: Segment 1, Segment 2, Segment 3, and Segment 4. Those segments are all linked from this page: http://www.kirotv.com/bullying/if you …

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Mourning the death and celebrating the life of Carolyn Wagner

Carolyn Wagner died on January 18th. Wow, its been two months tomorrow. Carolyn co-founded Families United Against Hate with me, and she was an amazing woman and a wonderful friend. We have a memorial set up on the FUAH website and it says much more than I can here, so I invite you to read …

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Living In The Bonus Round: “William’s Song” to be performed on the radio.

Living In The Bonus Round: “William’s Song” to be performed on the radio.: “Taking A Stand Through Song: The Power of Protest SongsKALW 91.7 FM RADIO or www.kalw.org FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 10 PM (PST)Vocal music has long been used as a powerful vehicle of solidarity and dissent. Here on VoiceBox, we’ll be taking a stand …

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