This?

May be the cutest Pieta EVER.




Here's the direct link if it doesn't load here on LJ, which is being all kinds of funky today.

http://yfrog.com/z/kelg6isj

Non-paying hangers-on are what kills Bear Runs.

And Pride events.

And Democratic grassroots organizations.

And liberal churches.

You know what you call those non-contributing cling-ons?

BLOODSUCKING LEECHES.

The leeches come to the events, they party with the out-of-towners, but they won't register for the event or join or volunteer or contribute in any way. They want to romp, but not earn the right to do so.

And the runs go under like IBR and Bear Bust. And the groovy church has to let go of their exciting new minister. And the idiotic Republican former-sheriff gets re-elected to Congress in a toss-up district.

If you want to vote in an organization's election, you must be a paid member in good standing. If you aren't, I'm sorry, but you've abdicated your right to complain and frankly, you have demonstrated that you aren't interested in being on the team. If you want to change how things work at an event, show up to the planning sessions. Don't have any money to pay for the registration? Volunteer. Don't have the time to volunteer, either? Then you don't have to time to party with us, do you?

Getting to exercise the privileges means that you also have to fulfill the responsibilities of membership.

I have no sympathy for comments from hecklers in the peanut gallery, which is all non-paying attendees are.

Just thought I'd point that out.

Don't like being called on your leeching ways?

FUCK YOU.

*ahem*

I may have some frustration tied up in this exact issue, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong.

I told a whining complainer at Spring Thaw "I'm sorry, [redacted], but did you come to a single meeting? Did you volunteer on the committee that planned this event? Did you help in any way, shape or form? No? Then I don't have to listen to a word you're saying."

And I turned on my heel and walked away to go do something constructive.

It's the little things that make it worthwhile.

It may not have been politically astute, mind you, but in all honesty, if I'd had to placate one more leeching bitch-mouth, I was going to quit the organization.

Truefact!

One out of every nine US citizens now lives in a state or district where they can legally wed a same-sex partner because the state Senate of New York just voted 33-29 for them to be able to do so.

That's 33 million people who now have equal civil rights.

33 State Senators, including Republicans, voted to give our rights to us when the President, IN NEW YORK LAST NIGHT for a GAY fundraiser, still opposes gay marriage.

You know, our Democratic President, the one whose own parents could not have married 50 years ago because interracial marriages were once illegal, the one who talks about hope and change, that guy?

The one who did NOTHING to help this happen tonight.

I cannot wait until his daughters grow up and ask him why he was a bigot back when gay marriages weren't just standard like they soon will be.

SHAMEFUL.

Maddow points out rightly, "President Obama is against what just happened."

Hooray New York!

It's so cute, over in vurumai-Land, he hosted an Eighties Video Fight, and the poor dears fighting didn't even scratch the surface to get to the true horror of the depths of Eighties awfulness.

Such youngsters!

Here was my entry:

Five Star "Let Me Be The One"

Complete with matching jumpsuits, ridiculous hair, and did I mention killer dance moves?

Confession: I was the purple-jumpsuited one in the LipSync show one year.

Truefact!

(I think I still know the moves, aw yeah!)

The 2:18 minute mark has a Syncopated Shoulderpads BREAKDOWN!

OH HELL YES!



CAN YOU BEAT IT?

1) See a sunbreak? RUN OUTSIDE. Vitamin D is your friend.

2) Schedule things to do. Do not sit in the house 24/7. Be too damn busy to worry about the grey skies.

3) Layer. This is paramount.

4) See number 3.

( Behind the jump to hide the Master Techniques, Grasshopper )

Because sometimes, nothing is fun to do!

WHAT I THOUGHT:

What I initially found most interesting about the backlash against the category of anti-homophobic bullying video I posted yesterday and the "It Gets Better" project videos, was that there was this undercurrent of well, bitterness-disguised-as-realism, as in:

"It doesn't get better, it didn't for me, so you better get a reality check here."

Um, really?

That's the message people wanted to send to young gay teens. No hope? No encouragement? Just "life's a bitch and then you become embittered?"

Time has passed, and my initial impression has changed.

WHAT I THINK NOW:

I believe that this Irish video actually represents the dramatic sea-change that has taken place in the past ten years in terms of homophobia and its societal acceptance. Yes, the world depicted in the video is a utopian "Big Eden", "In and Out" extreme, but it is not as far from reality as some would claim.

A few weeks ago, a drunken fan in the seats next to us at the Seattle Sounders game screamed "Faggot" at a player, and the entire seating section got quiet and very clearly Did Not Approve. He did not repeat the epithet for the rest of the game, nor has he in the subsequent three games I've attended.

I see a societal-norms trend that homophobia is now being classified as bigotry and is no longer acceptable on a community-standards basis, and that "Faggot" is in the process of going the way of "Nigger" in terms of disapprobation of its use.

So my position is now this:

"Criticize the encouraging videos all you want, but can you hold off doing so until the teens the campaign is directed at live long enough to understand your more-sophisticated position?"

Because really, if ONE kid believes it, that It Gets Better and doesn't kill himself, then the entire campaign is a success, and you want that too, right?

Right?

I'll put down some money right here that we will hear testimonials from kids starting in about two years about how they heard of the Youtube It Gets Better videos even way out in the sticks where they were growing up and being bullied, and that they clung to them like a lifeline. I'll even go so far as to bet you that at least ten kids will say that the campaign stopped them from killing themselves. I'll even give short odds. Any takers?

See?

It doesn't matter if the 99% of jaded youth goes "whatever" and cynics all over them, those kids are not the target demographic here. Too many of us grew up thinking we were the only people like ourselves in our small towns, and had no hope. The Kansasville, Wisconsin gay kid needs to see these messages of optimism as much as the budding lesbian in Pascagoula, Mississippi does.

Offer hope, people.

It's free.

My mom loves to tell the story of how she was sitting in the lounge of the senior center with friends from her building and they were bitching about how their sons would come over, tell them they should get a part-time job, and then turn on the TV to watch football. Mom says "My son doesn't want me to work anymore so I can enjoy my retirement, and he comes over to watch Jane Austen movies with me. I win."

The horror of Y2Gay EXPOSED!

This made me cry, in a good way!

http://www.towleroad.com/2010/12/miracle.html#more

Happy Holidays and a Joyous New Year, everyone!

Love,

Chris

I present to you, with a tip o' the hat to lostncove, Mary Ann, Ginger and Mrs. Howell, "Single Ladies"