Happy Pride! Take It Back.

There is so much to celebrate today at the 42nd Annual Gay Pride March in New York City. As you know, New York became the 6th and largest state in the country to recognize marriage equality for gays and lesbians. For many, this is something we never thought we’d see i our lifetime – but because of our hard work and because we refuse to stop talking about equality, something incredible happened.

Through the coordinated efforts of many organizations and thousands of individuals, we changed the minds of elected officials and their constituents.

While we celebrate this victory and the progress we’ve made as a community, we must do so with thoughts of the future in mind. We must continue to educate our friends, family and allies on the inequalities we still face. Even with marriage equality becoming a reality in New York, there are still 1,138 rights that legally married gay and lesbian couples do not have. Our bi-national families can still face deportation, federal tax laws to not apply to us and 44 states still discriminate against us. On top of that, we can be fired from our jobs or evicted from our homes in over 30 states – simply because we are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

Please continue to use Pride as the educational tool it was intended to be. Wear your thong, but carry a sign while you do it. Pledge to call your mother or grandfather or best friend from high school and have a real conversation about equality. But most importantly, have Pride. Celebrate what we have accomplished and promise to commit yourself to winning our FULL equality – not for you, but for the generation that comes after you. We will have it. We will have it in our lifetime, but not without your work.

Happy Pride. Take It Back.

Stonewall, LA Principal Punishes 8th Grader Wearing Gay Positive T-Shirt

In the ironically-named Stonewall, Louisiana, it seems the principal of DeSoto Middle School is the one who needs some schooling.

Though students are usually required to wear a uniform, eighth grader Dawn Henderson had earned the right to dress casually to school. So she sported a t-shirt that read “Some kids are gay and that’s o.k.”

Dawn had the shirt covered by a zip-up, but word still spread around until she was told by the principal that she needed to change the shirt immediately. According to Dawn, “He basically told me he thought it was a distraction…My opinion is any shirt can be distracting.”

Principal Keith Simmons couldn’t be reached for a comment as of this afternoon, but we hope to be speaking with him soon.

Meanwhile, the t-shirt is available at FCKH8.com.

NYC Hate Crime Victim Fights Back

In the past few weeks, we’ve mentioned several hate-motivated attacks happening in largely gay areas of Washington DC. Tonight we have a story of some of the same happening in New York City. The most recent story, as told by the NY Post has a rather ironic twist that makes this story quite worth-telling.

Last night, DC resident Benjamin Carver was in New York with his boyfriend visiting a bar in the West Village. While using the bathroom, two men approached him and asked if he was gay. Assuming he was kidding, Carver laughed and asked if the guy knew where he was. He then was told “Don’t pee next to me faggot!” The men then demanded cash from him and blocked the door. They weren’t expecting him to fight back when they knocked him to the floor, but fight back he did. Elbowing one of the thugs in the head several times. The fight spilled out of the bathroom and into the bar with the thugs eventually making a run for it and later getting caught by authorities.

Now here’s the ironic part…perhaps it’s something in the musty air of the bar that inspired Carver to fight back. For it was in that bar 41 years ago, that the Stonewall Rebellion sparked the fight for equal rights for LGBT people.

Of course, hearing about an anti-gay attack is always troubling and spreads fear throughout the community. But remembering that we can fight back, that it’s within our power to no longer be oppressed, well that’s pretty inspiring. Hats off to Benjamin Carver! Have a great rest of your trip to the Big Apple!

Hold on…so I just did a little research and discovered Ben Carver is the founder of TheNewGay.net – one of our FAVE blogs on the interwebs which is run by TAE friend Zack Rosen! Too cool for words.

(photo of Ben courtesy TheNewGay.net)

(photo of Stonewall Inn (c) EqualityPhotography.net)