Call (866-488-7386) if u feel alone or helpless.

U may be going to bed, thinking everyone hates u. The President of the USA supports u, with many other World Leaders. U’r not alone. I’m thinking of you. Call (866-488-7386) if u feel alone or helpless.


http://sparkaction.org/content/trevor-project-help-suicidal-gay-teens

Jay 'Corey' Jones, Gay Minnesota Teen, Commits Suicide After Allegedly Being Bullied

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/11/jay-corey-jones-gay-minnesota-teen-suicide_n_1510001.html?1336759158&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

HAPPY HOLIDAYS or MERRY CHRISTMAS?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS or MERRY CHRISTMAS?
 
For me, either is fine, I realize and understand that deep down it is another person wishing me well during this season of celebration and giving.  I could let my little rant get mired down in the Bible, or the origin Yule.  But that is not my goal.
  
A season of giving should be a season of giving and I am personally partial to the phrase “Happy Ho-Ho!”
 
When pressed against the law, the separation of church and state.  Law is always going rule in favor of the state.    Well, it should, unless I’ve misunderstood the point. 
   
Zealots on either side of this make it an ugly situation and at the center of a person’s beliefs, the center of their home and family should not be altered by an alternate phrase that to me means the same thing.
  
If you say Merry Christmas, out of obligation, it’s misleading and possibly a lie.  If you say Happy Holidays out of your convictions, it is not misleading or a lie.  Both are enduring statements, bidding wellbeing to another, during this wonderful season that has gotten beaten down in the bickering of definition and religion.
  
So if your child happens to ask “Why don’t they say Merry Christmas?” Can you just say “Because they follow a different faith than we do.”? 
  
If you really think that Christmas is only about Santa and what they do or don’t say at the stores.  I’m kind of thinking that you got lost in the bickering somewhere.  It just seems to me that, especially on this topic, we keep forgetting what it means to share.  Sharing is not just for toys.  Sharing is also for time, seasons and our world.
  
Your family.  Your Home.  Your Church.
  
Our Store.   Our Street.  Our World.
  
Our Season of Giving. 
 
Happy Ho-Ho!!!!!

Prejudice

"Prejudice doesn't just go away, knowing when to behave correctly does not free anyone from prejudice. Prejudice must take many generations to fade, I still witness it because of many social & cultural mistakes that began centuries before I was born. Simple respect and equal possibilities are all I would like, prejudice will only fade in its own time."

Danny Gunter
Saturday, October 15th, 2011

Safe In My Arms

As a man who lives between worlds, it's been my blessing that through my sisters allowed me to witness from  distance what it must feel like when you have children, and those wonderful children have gone on to have their own children.  It is fortunate for me, to have a gift like that presented for me to participate, even as slight as that participation might be.

This one is for Marilyn, Ruth and Terry, for Dana and Jason, for Josh and Kate.  You may not find Plumbs music appealing, but she did this one after she had her baby.  I can only imagine that you all feel the same.

I'm as far from a perfect person as a galaxy is a measure of another.  But you all did it and I believe it must feel like this for you.

between pillar & post

    
Over the course of my life, I have pulled between pillar & post.


People used me as a conduit to exert a measure of control of their lives.
 
I’ve been spoiled, tossed and held high.

I’ve been pride and shame for people who care for and love me.


In younger years, I lived knowing I may have to pack my bags and go live in another place at any time, all dictated by other people’s needs, whims and desires.

They never asked me how it made me feel or what I wanted. They just assumed that my re-location was for the best regardless of how it made me feel.

I have lived in over 10 houses in the Greater Kansas City area and I have been schooled in no less than 9 different school districts.
 
I do believe that this unwanted diversity added to my character but left me with feeling helplessness living life as a victim in the current of a river.
 
I don’t have to live like that anymore and I know while misguided, none of it was done with any intent to hurt me or make me feel bad. I liken myself to an important piece on a board game while the adults played their game of Life.
 
I do not begrudge anyone, but I will not and I do not have to live like that anymore. The rest of this is MINE. I had to get to the age of 40 to say that.
 
I just want everyone to understand how it felt living and knowing that at any moment that each and every friend could be taken, that every anchor that I had could be pulled away from me at any time leaving me at the mercy of angry seas adrift in this Tsunami of life. Never knowing where I might be next week. My Mom & Dad were amazing people and my sisters were awesome (when they weren’t teasing me).
 
I am finally out of the reach of that controlling force and no person will ever put me back into that situation again. I will not have it and I am strong enough now to say, NO! THIS IS MY LIFE and I choose and I decide.
 
I am damn happy and I AM THE ONE who made it that way,

God Hates Danny

I am a gay man with a caring and loving family. I have amazing friends, online friends from all over the world. So I ask a favor.

If you see a story about gay people do this. Replace fags or homo with Danny.

The sign really says “God Hates Danny”.

Remember “Danny cannot legally marry.”

Replace any gay connotation with my name; all of those headlines are about me.

Your Family Disaster Plan

With the events that happened today in Japan I want to encourage you all to set down with your family/friends/partners the people who are central to your life and would be concerned about your wellbeing if you or a loved one found themselves reacting to a ‘disaster’ situation.

I talk to people about it and they roll their eyes and chuckle like it’s never going to happen.

Set some time aside, get everyone together for a dinner or a BBQ and hand these out to the people you care about and those who care about you.  The site also gives lists of emergency kits you keep in your home and your car.  

If you can’t afford a cell phone go buy a 20 dollar go phone and get 20 or 30 minutes of talk time, just in case you need it.  Because if the world is ever pulled out of your feet, wouldn’t you be better off knowing that you have discussed the possible aftermath with everyone.

Also, people talk trash on Twitter and Facebook, but people in Japan were actually able to locate loved ones using Twitter and Facebook because the phones were overloaded with calls, but they could still connect to the internet.  

If it were for me to decide we would all live peaceful lives and never need to even discuss these things, but there is a myriad of dangers that could go off at anytime, anywhere.

Here are some additional links:

http://www.ready.gov/america/makeaplan/

http://www.redcross.org/images/pdfs/code/family_disaster_plan.pdf

A Thank You to my family & Friends

I may be one of the the few gay men who came out of the closet when I was 27 and after a brief period of awkwardness they accepted me for who I was.
I am very fortunate for this and I think this song says it well.

Alanis Morissette - Thank You (Video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOgpT5rEKIU