Thursday, June 30, 2011

I pray too!

This is probably going to shock many of you, but I try and pray every night and I thank God for how he made me!

Gandhi said "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians." I don't remember what committee meeting I was at, I think it was the civil unions bill hearing, but the room was packed with "Christians" lining up to testify on the perils of homosexuality. First came comments for the bill, a handful of us spoke in favor, then came comments against the bill. Cue the freakshow!

A gentleman by the name of Gary Flom who drove all the way over from Torrington testified that there was indeed hope for homosexuals, they could join a program called Exodus International and convert from their wicked ways. Well guess what Gary? I don't want to convert! I love who I am! God made me this way and I thank him for it!

For the first time in my life I am truly happy! I have a wonderful daughter who loves me unconditionally. I have a great career. I have the most amazing friends in the world. And I Love Men!! Deal with it!

Of course Gary was there with all the WyWatch folks and their views are slightly different from mine. I took this off their website, it's a link entitled "why protect marriage in WY",  here are their conclusions;

Conclusions:
 Marriage was created and defined by our Creator and we have no right to 
change it!
 The primary purpose of marriage is to create families of one man, one 
woman and children to be the building blocks of society!
 Christian conservatives rightly conclude that homosexuality is a sin and not a 
right!
 There is nothing in the United States Constitution that grants homosexuals 
the right to marry!
 There is absolutely no scientific evidence to support the claim that 
homosexuals are born that way!
 Homosexual activity is a sin as described in the Bible and should be treated 
as such!
 If we do not stop the gay rights movement, our society as we know it today is 
doomed!
 There is no question that the overwhelming majority of the citizens of 
Wyoming favor a State constitutional amendment to define marriage as 
between one man and one woman


Wow!! Society is doomed???? That's the first time I've heard that one! So it just might surprise them to know that I pray to the same God that they pray to. The difference is I rejoice in gay people. My people, who have such a passion for life and just want to be treated the same as everyone else!

Jeran

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

GOProud?? Give me a friggin break!

 I just for the life of me can't understand why anyone would want to be part of an organization that hates everything  you stand for and represent!

GOProud is a faction of the Republican Party. They didn't want to be affiliated with Log Cabin Republicans because they are just to damn liberal. Take a look at their website. At the time I was writing this they had posts supporting Ann Coulter and New Jersey Gov Chris Christie saying gays shouldn't be allowed to get married. Are you kidding me??? Why????

Ann Coulter has used the word "faggot" publicly multiple times and would be the last person I would think of as a spokesperson for a gay group. I hope a member of GOProud reads this and can explain to me why they hate themselves so badly that they would push to oust politicians who are publicly supporting LGTB issues. Do you not want to marry the love of your life? Are you to irresponsible to handle a marriage? Do you think that being gay is a legitimate reason for being fired from your job? Please help me understand why you feel this way!

I just don't get it! Like many Wyoming citizens I grew up in conservative family and as a teen and young adult I identified as a Republican. I didn't really explore issues into any depth, I just knew what mom and dad were talking about and thought... "we'll, they're smart, I guess I'll go along for the ride." However once I grew a brain and a backbone and realized I didn't need anyone to tell me what to think, and especially after I came out, I have to admit that I felt a little ashamed to be affiliated with a group that, for the most part, can't stand how my brain and DNA are wired.

This post is a result of an article I read in The Advocate written by Michelangelo Signorile. Michel hosts a radio show on Sirius/XM. I was a guest on his show this spring talking about HB74 and SJ5. He is a wonderful advocate for the gay rights movement, and if you're not listening to his show, you should be! (even though he spelled my name wrong.)

So here again I ask, especially if you are gay, what makes you affiliate with this party? Maybe someone can explain it to me in a way that I can wrap my little brain around?? Because right now I'm very confuzzled!!

Jeran

Monday, June 27, 2011

Is your view evolving??

Friday New York State became the 6th state, along with the District of Columbia, to allow gay marriage. Oh what I would have given to have been in New York celebrating their pride festival this last weekend.

I was sitting home watching the live feed from the New York Senate floor.  When the votes were tallied and victory declared, I jumped up and down and cried for 20 minutes. I have to admit that I felt the same sense of elation that I had felt when we killed HB74 here in Wyoming.

This is such a huge huge victory for the gay rights movement and I hope this helps us build momentum in other states, and I also hope this helps turn attitudes more favorably towards marriage equality. One of the things that makes me optimistic for the future is people who admit they have formed new opinions, opened their minds, or had a change of heart.

This is a quote from Senator Mark Grisanti, a Republican from Buffalo who campaigned on the platform of opposing gay marriage but ended up voting in favor of the bill; "I apologize for those who feel offended. I cannot deny a person, a human being, a taxpayer, a worker, the people of my district and across this state, the State of New York, and those people who make this the great state that it is the same rights that I have with my wife."  Wow, now that's powerful!! And that's how we are going to win the war on equality!

So why is our Presidents' view on marriage equality "evolving?" As a gay rights advocate, I have a bit of a problem with the fact that Dick Cheney and Laura Bush have already evolved their opinions and they happen to be more progressive than our President's! President Obama it's time you speak out in favor of full marriage equality!! Your silence was awkwardly noticeable.

I agree with Maureen Dowd in that, for now, the leader of the civil rights movement of our time appears to be Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York. He has consistently asked New York Lawmakers to bring him a marriage equality bill that he could sign into law, and Friday they delivered!

So what about you? Most of my close friends have the same view I do, but I want to know how many of you have changed you mind about gay marriage or are at least you feel like you are evolving or maybe now are a little more open minded than you once were??

6 down 44 to go! We've got work to do!

Jeran

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Same Sex Census Data out for Wyoming

same sex couple info released for Wyoming

Comments are coming. I just want everyone to look at the data and know we are here, we have families and we are in your schools, offices, towns and cities.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

What a weekend!

"Woohooo! Happy Pride Baby!" If I had a dollar for every time I heard that this weekend I would be rich!  This last weekend was Denver's Gay Pride Event and what a weekend it was!

I've never been to a pride event like this before. The crowd was estimated at about 275,000 and let me tell you there was something for everyone! The main festival was down at Civic Center Park and was filled with vendor booths of all different shapes and sizes. The political parties were there, food vendors, porn sites, art galleries, communication and technological companies, insurance companies, t-shirt vendors; Wyoming Equality had a booth to promote our Rendezvous camping trip and to give you an idea of the "eclecticness" of the group we had an animal shelter booth on one side of us and right across from them was a booth that was selling spanking paddles and had men and women ready to spank you should you so desire (seriously!)

There were three stage areas that had some sort of entertainment going at all times. I saw a Michael Jackson impersonator, drag queens, Vegas show girls, go-go boys, comedians, rappers, tons of dancers and DJ's. One of the areas just played dance music in case you wanted to shake your booty all day long.

People were there with their families, gay couples, lesbian couples, straight couples, people decked out in leather, guys walking around in their tighty whities, sequins, tattoo's, piercings... all looks and all walks of life.

There was no judging going on, no hateful looks, just people having fun and celebrating diversity. For me the whole experience was incredibly validating. To see that many people out supporting gay pride is a very humbling experience.

Wyoming Equality had a float in the parade Sunday Morning. We arrived at 7am and put everything together. We blew up balloons, decked out a four-wheeler and trailer with rainbow flags and garland, hung banners, and turned Joe's truck into a rainbow piece of deliciousness worthy of gay pride. We then walked the parade route and handed out 3,000 flyer's promoting Rendezvous.


I stayed with my friends Dan and Josh (thank you so much guys!!) and we tried to take in as much as we possibly could over the weekend. We started with sushi on Colfax Friday night (who knew you could find some of the best sushi ever on Colfax Ave?) and we partied and celebrated all the way through Sunday night.

I met so many great people!  I don't think I will ever miss Pride in Denver again. If you've never been to something like this you need to go and experience it at least once. The beauty, the pageantry, the music, and especially the people watching are definitely worth the trip!

Jeran



Wednesday, June 15, 2011

I need these victories!

Yesterday equality took a few more baby steps in the right direction. To recap, read the entire story here, a chief U.S. District Court Judge said that an openly gay judge was completely competent to rule on issues that involve the gay community. Of course this relates to Judge Vaughn Walker's decision that California's Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

I really can't express what this does to me as a human being and as a gay individual living in Wyoming. These little victories are HUGE and help me keep my sanity!

Last night before I went to bed I was browsing through the comments on my blog and this little morsel caught my eye. (scroll through the blog until you get to comments and read what Marc wrote) I didn't catch it at first because my computer had flagged it as spam, but after reading it, it was not spam..... it was a message of hate.

I just for the life of me can't understand how someone could be so hatefully ignorant! I generally think that as a society we are making big strides, almost daily, in the fight on equality and viewing gay people as normal human beings. But when I read this kind of junk I realize how much we need to continue to speak out and fight against these ignorant assholes!

Obviously this personal deals in fiction rather than facts (just read the older blog comments,) and has lost all credibility as a worthy adversary on the debate on marriage equality. How can you take a child, physically abuse him, tell him everything that's going on in his head is wrong and that he needs to fight it, and then suggest that program has had no bearing on the adult he turned out to be or ultimately resulted in his suicide??

This also caught my eye "homosexuality will not be normal until 2 men can make each other pregnant." Wow! But, this is the kind of message WYWATCH preaches, they repeatedly testified to WY Lawmakers that the only reason we were put on this earth was to procreate and if you can't do that, then you were basically worthless. We responded, what about people who are sterile? What about an elderly couple that wants to get married but are to old to conceive? What about a straight couple that chooses to not have any children? Of course they had no answers. The only group they really wanted to rally against were gay's!

So little victories (and of course all my amazing friends) help me stay sane and realize that I need to keep fighting and shouting for what I believe in. Marc, you can't take away my voice, you can't take away this trend that is sweeping the country, and when you make comments like that, you expose the hateful, ignorant, bigot that you are. I really hope you are alive and well to see the day that same sex marriage is legal in all 50 states because I believe that day is coming!

Jeran


Monday, June 13, 2011

Supporting Rural LGTB Events and People

(following is a reprint of a blog from GAY ICONS & HISTORY, filed by D Gregory Smith, and sent to Wyoming Equality from Bob Edgerly, one of our California friends.)

I thought this was awesome and wanted to share with my readers;


LGBT people live in rural America. We work here, go to school, own property, pay taxes, raise families, attend churches, shop and donate to charity. We don't have a lot of gay bars, LGBT sports clubs, drag shows and neighborhoods where we can hold hands with our partners. Nonetheless, we live here. We love here. We have friends and families here.
Sometimes we do it all under a great deal of stress.
I work with a lot of LGBT persons who have really good reasons for living in rural America. We also have a lot of pressure to leave. We don't get a lot of support. Far too often, the strongest reason to leave is to find a greater sense of community. Sometimes, that is the only reason - the driving reason - that makes them pack up the car and head to Denver or Seattle or Portland.
Creating community in a small town isn't always easy. There are a lot of obstacles to overcome - fear, shame, stigma - all the old tapes. We don't have the sheer force of numbers present in New York, L.A. or Chicago; it can be scary to stand up with a group of five or six in front of a school board or a state legislature. We don't have a large pool of organizers, and often the same people are the ones organizing every event. Burnout is common. Sometimes we just need some encouragement.
And that's where you come in.
The fight for LGBT Equality is not going to be won in the cities. It's already mostly won there. It's going to be won in small-town America where people need to see gay people as human, normal and neighbors- not just some characters on television. It's going to be won when the lady who runs the local Holiday Inn meets real live lesbians and finds them to be just like any other guests.
When the casual onlooker comes to the parade to see "freaks" and walks away disappointed when he sees families and friends laughing and cheering. When a bi kid is accepted instead of encouraged to "get off the fence". When locals see their gay neighbors in the light of day, paying our own way, as deserving of love, respect and commitment as anyone else. When drag shows and AIDS charity events are just as normal and accepted as karaoke, rodeo and the county fair. When our rural and small-town legislators, see us simply as citizens with the same rights as every other constituent. When kids don't say "gay" as an epithet of scorn and derision.
When we are seen as part of a larger community, that's when full equality will happen.
We need your encouragement to continue the struggle for that equality. It can be pretty lonely out here, sometimes. And I've come to believe that, as important as the work in the cities is, those who work to improve the lives of LGBT persons in rural America are the real heroes.
The drag queens in Butte or Bisbee may not be as glamorous as the Key West queens, but they're certainly just as brave - braver even. The HIV activist in Anchorage has just as many concerns as the activist in Atlanta. We want to know you have our backs when we're working to educate legislators and local politicians and school boards and businesses. We want to know that it's okay to stay here, even when it's hard.
We need you.

I couldn't have said it any better myself! Thanks for reading,

Jeran

Friday, June 10, 2011

Another anti-gay hypocrite exposed!

Watch the clip. It makes me sick!! These sick bastards promote hate and intolerance while secretly being closeted gays themselves. I always have people ask me "Jeran, do you suppose these people that lobby so hard against you are actually gay themselves?" My response is, "some are, most definitely!!" These SOB's should be held accountable for their actions.  WYWATCH is the kind of group that makes people feel like suicide is a better option than coming out!

I've lived in the closet for most of my adult life, and it is no way to live! It is a miserable existence and I understand how people feel they simple can't live a lie anymore and feel that suicide is the only option. How can we not classify groups like Family Research Council, NARTH, and WYWATCH as hate groups?? Look at what they are doing to people!

I would suspect WYWATCH is full of members just like George Rekers. Take a look;

I have no interest in outing people who do not wish to be outed, but if you are an outspoken hater and get caught with your hand in the cookie jar, I will be waiting to expose you for what you are!

Jeran

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Here's the official list!

The WYWATCH Family Values Pledge was signed by 14 Wyoming Legislators in 2010. These legislators promised to "protect and advocate for the precious life of the unborn, marriage between one man and one woman and other Judeo-Christian principles"  The following legislators signed:




In case you were wondering what these Judeo-Christina principles were, here is a partial list:


  1. The dignity of human life
  2. Marriage, the traditional monogamous family
  3. A national work ethic
  4. The right to a God centered education
  5. Morality-obedience to God's word
  6. Freedom- common decency
  7. Our personal accountability to God

WYWATCH is a hate group! I listened to them testify up at the capital, I've read their letters to the editor, and I want everyone to look at the links they post on their website about gay hate. Legislators that align with this group should be ashamed! This group is not moderate or tolerant or even open to listening to new ideas about acceptance.

If these "values" are something you'd like to teach in the privacy of your own home fine, whatever, you have a right to do that, but this is not something that should be forced onto Wyoming Legislators! I respect the concept of freedom of religion and I believe this is a concept that makes America great!  Bottom line, don't cram your beliefs down my throat! I have a brain and I can think for myself thank you very much!

The next legislative session begins in February of 2012 and it is a budget session. This means the session only last for 20 days and as an unofficial rule of thumb most of the work should be centered around budget issues, hence the name.

However, if you read the recent article in the Casper Star  WYWATCH is indeed going to try and bring up the whole gay marriage debate again. Even though it's a budget session and even though it would take a 2/3 majority vote to even be considered.

I hope this makes you as mad as it does me! These folks wasted enough of our time in the last session talking about social issues that, frankly, I don't think most Wyoming Citizens even care about. So now they are going to do it again??? In a budget session??? That don't make no sense!!

With all the other issues this state is facing in regards to energy, employment, health care, not to mention putting together a multi-billion dollar budget, why do they want to waste time on social issues like gay marriage?

Think about and ask yourself this, "If Jeran and Ricky Martin get married this year how is that going to affect me in a negative way?" on the flip side "If I get laid off next year because my company closes up shop in WY, or a million barrels of oil accidentally get dumped into the North Platte River, how is that going to affect me?"  What would you rather have our legislature working on?


Jeran

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

We need your help!

Dear friends of the LGTB community, it's hard to imagine but election time is going to be here before we know it.  Our opponents are working hard behind the scenes and are well organized and well funded. We are trying to do the same thing!

Many of you know that I'm on the board of Wyoming Equality, please read this letter we recently sent to our members from our chairman Joe Corrigan;




 
Now, the hard part begins!    

It’s not an election year.  The legislature has gone home.  We won every vital legislative struggle this year.  At this point most of you go back to your private lives.  Many of us in Wyoming Equality now go to work organizing, planning, and strategizing for the next legislative session.  We need your help now.  We don’t want to be scrambling at the last minute putting together the coalition needed to promote pro-GLBT legislation and stop  anti-GLBT legislation.

To do this vital work we need the support of people like you who understand that our job is not finished just because the legislature went home.  We need your help creating the progressive change we all want to see take place in Wyoming.

Your help is needed in all of these areas:

·         Make an investment in Wyoming Equality.  Pledge $10, $20 or even $100 per month.  Your generous pledge keeps our doors open and finances our ability to do this important work.  Please go to the end of this article and send a check or make a monthly contribution through Pay Pal on our web page at www.wyomingequality.org.

·         Join Wyoming Equality.  There is strength in numbers. The more members we have, the more impressive we look to legislators when we are lobbying them. Talk your friends into joining.  Our goal is to sign up an average of five new members from each Wyoming county.  Membership is only $25 per year, $15 if you are low income/student, or $40 if you are living in the same household and we only send you one newsletter.  Please go to the end of this article and send in the membership form.

·         Become an advocate for Wyoming Equality.  Wyoming Equality is looking for ten people living in each legislative district to become advocates for our causes.  One of the most frequent comments we heard from legislators this year is "no GLBT people live in my district".  We know GLBT people live in every Wyoming legislative district, but we were not always able to prove this to legislators.  Emails, telephone calls, and letters made a huge difference during this legislative session.  When that communication honestly includes “I live in your district”, it makes a significant difference.

We stopped every damaging anti-GLBT bill during the last legislative session.  We succeeded because you helped.  During the 2013 legislative session we plan to promote positive GLBT legislation.  We believe we can succeed in passing pro-GLBT bills with enough help from all of you.  You all know your legislative districts better than we do in Cheyenne.    Advocates for our causes can be GLBT people, family and friends of GLBT people, or people who care about human rights and believe in fairness for all.  Talk to your friends and neighbors and find the advocates we need in your legislative district.  Ask them to send us their contact information.

Our opposition lost big time this last legislative session.  But let’s keep in mind that we won the last vote in the Senate with one vote to spare.  Those who oppose GLBT rights will come back bigger, stronger, and more organized in 2013.  We have to come back bigger, stronger , and more organized, too. We must begin now to create an organization that will grow enough to stop the opposition again in 2013.  We can succeed with your help.

Please join Wyoming Equality, talk your friends into joining, find advocates for GLBT rights, and send in your contribution today.  Together, we will create the progressive Wyoming we all want to enjoy.

Joe Corrigan

So would you please consider helping us? We didn't anticipate fighting these legislative battles in 2012 due to the fact that it's a budget session, however our opponents have vowed to bring these ugly bills back in 2012  so we need to be prepared to fight.

Our mission statement is, "Wyoming Equality seeks to enhance the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people in the Equality State by providing: Education, Information, Activities, Support, a Networking System, and an Advocacy System for people impacted by gender and sexual orientation issues."

We are organized as a 501(c)3 company which means your contributions are completely tax deductible and we can use a limited amount of our funds for political type issues.  We also have a 501(c)4 called the UGLW (United Gays and Lesbians of WY) for Social Change. If you want to make a donation strictly for political purposes, i.e. lobbying, please make your check payable to, "UGLW Fund for Social Change" and understand that it is not tax deductible.

So basically we are asking for help!! If you'd like to make a tax deductible donation with limited political influence please make your check payable to "WY Equality."  If you'd like your contribution to be completely political (thus non deductible for tax purposes) please make your check payable to, "UGLW fund for social change."   And if all of this is to confusing just contact me and I'll help you navigate the two choices.

Your donations can be sent to;

Wyoming Equality
PO Box 2531 
Cheyenne, WY 82003 

Also please consider becoming a member of WY Equality. Here is the link to join. We are happy to welcome our straight allies as members.

I've always said equality is not an issue of Republican vs Democrat, it is an issue of Right vs Wrong!  So please consider giving no matter what your party affiliation may be, and remember no amount is to small.

Thank you so much for reading this and making a donation.

Jeran