I am from a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere, Michigan.  Not exactly the most accepting place.  Due to where I was from and the general opinion of gay people I decided it was best to keep my homosexuality to myself.  From a very young age I realized there was something very intriguing about boys.  When I was really young I had some neighborhood friends that always liked to play “Doctor” (God bless my poor mom who, on a few occasions busted us in the “Doctors Office.”  I look at that light hearted now but at the time my poor mom was PISSED!  I think that, if she would have been alive when I came out, she…    a.) Would have already known, and…   b.) I think she would have been totally accepting of me and my life.  I was a fairly “normal” kid growing up, with the exception of the gay feelings I had.  I was able to keep those feelings in check for a long time until…..

High School was a really lonely time for me.  I dated a few girls but I really had no interest in it.  (I graduated High School a virgin, at least a straight virgin.)  I really wanted to tell people I was gay but there was no way I could do it.  I remember on many occasions seeing one gay kid that was a few years behind me get bullied and pushed around.  I don’t even think he had officially announced (like they hold press conferences) that he was gay, but people perceived him as gay and a freak so they treated him like shit.  I remember him being shoved into lockers and being constantly harassed.  When you are young that kind of shit is terrifying!  Secretly I wanted to have the strength that he did and just be who I really was but it wasn’t something I could bring myself to do, so I stayed in the closet living a shit existence. 

After High School I joined the military.  Here is where things got interesting!  During my time in the military I was able to meet a few other closeted gay people that to this day, I am lucky enough to still call them friends.  In 1993 President Clinton had enacted the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which, at the time was the right thing to do, because it put in place a policy where no one could ask you your sexual preference, allowing gays to serve.  Little did I know 13 years later, I would fall victim to that very policy, which would inevitably cost me my career. 

One experience I will never forget was when I was stationed at Ft. Meade, Maryland.  I, like a lot of gay people in the military, was growing more and more lonely.  I wanted to be like my friends, I wanted to have someone to share my life with.  This was not meant to be however.  Instead I turned to Gay.com to meet others like myself.  Ft. Meade is home to the National Security Agency, and with that came members of all military branches.  One fall evening I was chatting with people on Gay.com and stumbled across this young man that happened to be in the Navy.  After chatting for a few days he agreed to meet me for dinner after much assurance that I would not turn him in for being gay. 

What occurred over the next week or so was really the first of many firsts for me.  First and foremost, we went out to dinner.  I remember a lot of details from our first meeting, the grey sweater he wore, his cologne (a sweet yet soothing aroma), and the way his eyes sparkled.  He was the sweetest person I had ever met.  This is super cheesy but I’ll never forget the night we spent, curled up on my bed watching, of all things, the movie Pay It Forward.  This was the first time I realized just how much of life I was actually missing.  Things were not meant to be with him, but the experiences were priceless and really helped to shape who I am today.

Towards what turned out to be the end of my military career I had become frustrated and tired of hiding who I was.  I had begun living a little less carefully.  When I deployed to Iraq with the 1st Military Police Company to Iraq I began to unravel.  Call it stress, call it whatever you want but I began slowly letting who I am shine through.  I started watching Will & Grace on DVD and really started to realize I was growing tired of living like this.  My roommate Dan was amazing and never said anything about what I did.  I’m sure he suspected that I may be gay but he could have cared less, he was one hell of a good friend.

After Iraq I had transferred to Ft. Lewis, Washington.  I was really growing tired of hiding who I was and my experiences with others had me longing to let my rainbow shine through.  This is where I developed a crush on the man that would eventually cost me my career.  He was attractive in a Zac Efron meets Lurch kind of way!  Over the months we had many talks about who we liked and who we would sleep with.  One night, we ended up fooling around and I guess he wasn’t ready for the emotions that came to him and he ran and told people what had happened.  I was shocked to say the least and could see my career going right down the drain.  Six months later and 45 days of extra duty and barracks restriction later and I was out of the military.

You would think at that point I would have just come to terms with it and come out already.  Not a chance, in fact now I had to lie and hide why I left the military.  This was getting OLD!  One day in early February of 2007 I decided that I was going to leave Michigan and move somewhere I could be me.  I eventually settled on, of course, Sin City.  Las Vegas, would surely accept me for who I am.  So in June of 2007 I had sold everything that I owned and moved to Las Vegas!

Las Vegas was awesome!  I was free to be me, I felt like a whole new person, I would work all week and explore the new city on the weekends.  I finally decided that it was time to meet some other gay people.  One weekend I went to an amazing gay bar called Charlie’s.  Charlie’s was a cowboy bar, but it was more than that.  To me Charlie’s was the beginning of my accepting who I was and exploring the life that I had missed out on for so long.  I made some really good friends over the weeks and months that passed.  I eventually met new roommates and moved in with them.  Then it happened…..  I met the most amazing man I have EVER met. 

Russell was his name and oh my gosh he was so beautiful!  I was in love!  This was the first time I had ever been in love and I wasn’t about to let the opportunity to do something about it slip away.  Over the next few months Russell and I were inseparable.  On Sunday November 2nd 2008 Russell and I were home with our roommates watching a story about gay marriage on Logo when our roommate commented that he would never get married even if it was legal.  Right then and there, with the impending doom of California’s Proposition 8 looming over November 4th Presidential Election, Russell and I decided to get married.  Russell and I, accompanied by his mom made the trip to San Bernardino, California first thing Monday morning, and that afternoon, were married.  AMAZING!!!

Now keep in mind, I was still in the closet to anyone that didn’t live in Las Vegas.  No one in my family had any idea.  I really wanted my brother to know first, so one night, all alone, I made the phone call.  That was really the first time I had to say the words, “I’m Gay.”  That was the most difficult phone call I have ever made.  My brother is 10 years younger than me and his words really meant the world to me.  He told me. “I don’t care, If that’s what makes you happy, go for it!”  “Could it really be this easy to come out?”, I thought.  We talked for a while and I explained that I not only was gay but I was married, to another man.  We laughed and joked for a while and all was well.  It was easy to come out to him, but now I had to tell the rest of my family.  There was no way in hell my nerves would take more phone calls like that so I devised a plan. 

I decided that I would send letters to those who mattered the most to me.  I prepped three letters to be mailed out to my grandma and my two aunts on my mom’s side.  With Russell’s support I mailed them and the waiting began.  One night, while I was in the shower, my phone rang.  I saw it was my Aunt Karen that called and that she had left a voicemail.  Oh crap, this was it…..

I nervously dialed my voicemail and listened.  Now my Aunt Karen has always been amazing.  She is, hands down, the most understanding and loving person I have met.  As her voice broke the air, she started proclaiming how happy she was for me.  She was SO HAPPY that I could finally be ME!  So was I!  I finished listening to the voicemail and called her back.  She informed me that my grandma had received the letter and was fine with it too.  Unfortunately, I hadn’t heard a peep from my other Aunt and to this day we are still not where we used to be. 

All in all, my coming out was a success.  It felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders.  I am finally happy with my life and only regret not coming out sooner.  I am glad to see Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell go away too!  On this National Coming Out day 2011 I urge you all, including my military friends to COME OUT!  You don’t have to be afraid, I love all of you and I am tired of seeing you hide the best part of yourselves, YOUR LOVE!  Join me and all of the other gay Americans and gay soldiers on October 11th and let me show you how good the world really can be.  Take the unnecessary weight off your shoulders.  Arnt you tired yet?  Don’t you want to share your love?  I beg you, be strong, COME OUT!

                I would like to share with you the letter I sent to my family in hopes that it helps you let your love into this world.  Thank you so much for taking your time to read this and once again, WELCOME!

The following is my coming out letter:

Grandma, Aunt Chris, Aunt Karen,

Before I start, I want you to know that I love you very much; you’ve always been there for me when I’ve needed you and never asked for anything in return. You have loved and cared for me, and I couldn’t love or appreciate you more for.
Anyway, now, this is the most difficult letter I’ve ever had to write, so I won’t flower things up or try to confuse you: I’ll get straight to the point:

I’m gay.

I’m telling you this now because the time is right for ME to tell you now. I know that sounds selfish, but this is something I have to do for myself. I’ve told you because it is part of my own personal journey in life, and I don’t like pretending to be something I’m not. I respect and love you too much to keep on lying to you about who I am.

This is a point it has taken me a long time to get to, to have the courage to tell you – even if that courage is not great enough for me to tell you to your faces. I will probably regret for the rest of my life that I couldn’t tell you to your faces.

But the time is right for you to know and for me to tell you, it’s just that this is the only way I can do it. Also, writing it down gives me the opportunity to say exactly what I feel and for you to take it all in.

 I am who I am, and it hass nothing to do with the way I have been brought up that I’m gay. It was just meant to be. I know that saying “it was just meant to be” is a poor excuse and explanation, but is as close as any of us are ever going to get to understanding why, not only that I’m gay, but also why other people are too.

I want you to know that for me, this is natural and normal – I know that you probably think that being attracted to other guys is wrong and totally abnormal, and while it isn’t the NORM, it is what is normal for me: it comes as basically and instinctively as you finding people of the other sex attractive.

Being gay isn’t the norm for society as a whole, but for me it is normal and natural, and I can’t think of being any other way.

There have been so many times over the past years where I’ve thought to myself “Just tell them” but stopped myself before I blurted it out. It was the thought of the consequences of telling you that put me off telling you. It has never been something that I have been able to predict.

I have had so many dreams where I’ve told you, and you’ve simply replied that you knew, and we were able to carry on openly, frankly, honestly and happily.

But then, for every good dream I’ve had about telling you, there have been three where you took it badly. I know that these fears were totally unfounded, but I hope that you understand vaguely why I had them.

Even now, I have that same fear. I’ve read that for many family members, finding out that a relative is gay brought their entire world crashing down around them. I cannot help but feel SO sorry for all the things that my being gay has deprived you of – the beautiful and perfect nieces and nephews and the grandchildren, and the continuation of the family name.

Whilst I feel deep sorrow and regret for depriving you of these things, then I must think of what such a life would have been like for me if I had decided to live such a life.

I know that sounds REALLY selfish, but you have always told me that I should do what makes me happy – and having a wife and children certainly would not make me happy. I would be living a lie, something that would eventually destroy me.

The other thing I want to talk to you about is what DOES MAKE ME HAPPY!

I have found the love of my life, my soul mate.  His name is Russell .  He is the most amazing person in the world and no one has ever made me feel the way he does.  He, like me, was in the Army and has an amazing Mom, just like mine!  I am so happy that I finally have someone to share my love with! 

On November 3rd Russell and I went to San Bernardino, California and got married.  It was a very small and intimate ceremony with only the two of us and Russell’s mom and step dad.  Enclosed are a few pictures of us on our special day.  I wish you all could have been there, but due to the uncertainty Proposition 8 posed; we had to move quickly before closed-minded people had their way and wrote discrimination into the constitution.  Our marriage is based on the same thing your marriages are based on… LOVE AND COMMITMENT!

So now I have come to terms with the fact that it is something I cannot nor do I want to change. I only hope that you can share in my happiness, and that you accept who I am and hopefully welcome Russell in to our family as I have.

I love you all so much, and I hope you know I would never do anything to hurt or upset you deliberately – even though you may now feel confused, hurt, upset and betrayed. But you must know that I love you, and if me being gay – and the feelings I have here immortalized in print – hurt, confuse, upset and betray you, I am so sorry.

I respect you more than you can possibly imagine and I only hope, that now, everything is out in the open, we can lead a life without me lying to you anymore.

Once again, I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell you to your face. Please forgive me.

Every day I have fought a war against the mirror – I couldn’t stand the person staring back at me – but now I will not fight against who I am anymore.

I will not despise myself any more – either for being gay or for not being straight.

Lots of love, your Grandson, and Nephew, ALWAYS,

Matt

Suppressing sadness or anger can lead to a lot more pain. If the person you tell doesn’t react as you’d hoped, and it hurts you, allow yourself to feel the pain in the moment. Don’t worry about staying positive, if you’re hurt, let it out! Leave the room and: cry, punch a pillow, maybe write it out in a private journal, whatever works best for you.

The thing to focus on is expressing your painful feelings away from the person who did the hurting. There’s no shame in getting upset or angry, but you don’t want the other person to feel guilty–it may be that they spoke before they really thought about how it would affect you. Give both yourself and them a chance to breathe, calm the nerves, and start thinking clearly again. Eventually, you will need to let go of the pain–dwelling on it won’t get you anywhere but down.

Fear is the root of anger: when people sense that they, or their values or loved ones, are in danger in any way, they get angry so they can feel powerful—when we yell and say hurtful things, we feel strong, we feel in control. On some level, whoever did the hurting in your case is scared, and scrabbling to regain control over the situation. When I came out to my mother, she tried to deny it, and got angry whenever I’d try to bring it up; later she told me she was afraid that I’d get hurt.

Compassion is key. Once you feel like the initial reaction to the hurtful stuff has dissipated (and you’ll be able to feel yourself calm down), instead of blaming the person, try on what it was like to be them in the moment they said it:

• What was going on for them?
• What might their real intention with their words have been? Maybe they meant something different than they said?
• What are they afraid of (what exactly did they say and what might this reveal)? What might they have been trying to defend themselves (or maybe you) against?

Once you’ve honed in on how they might be doing, try approaching them from that point of view. Resist the urge to defend yourself with an attack. Give them the benefit of a doubt, and just ask: what do they really want, for you, and for themselves? At the end of the day, understanding them will be better for both of you; if you try to understand, then you’re one step closer to helping them accept your news, and helping yourself in your relationship with them.

Given that the tag “satire” is listed at the top of his article, it’s tough to know whether he is serious about this endeavor or not. But, what do you all think of the concept of criminalizing the closet, especially for public figures?

Read the full article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marten-weber/criminalize-the-closet_b_1376637.html

My brother and I have been close since we were little. He IS my best friend. One day we were sitting and talking about all the crazy stuff in our life and I jst came out and told him my ex girlfriend was getting me down again. He just sat there kinda in shock like “what??” and nodded his head and said sorry. I have told only him and my friends. He’s the one that kept telling me I should tell my family but I’m afraid of how they ate going to react. I’m 20 and have known I was different since I was 12. I have a bf and I love him and a son from another guy and I’m bisexual so I catch a lot of criticism for that. I’m slowly coming out but it’s HARD!!!!

Photo by Mktp/Flickr.com

October 7th, 2006 was the night of my sophomore homecoming. I didn’t
Feel like going so I spent the day with a friend of mine. He wanted to
Stay overnight at my house, something we did from time to time just to
be able to stay up later and watch movies, play games etc.

However It seemed to offend his mother that we never wanted to stay at
His house, the reason for that being his parents were always arguing
And it was always very chaotic.

My friend literally begged his mother to let him leave with me, which
I found odd considering my house can be rather boring at times much

Like anyone else’s. He told her he received no privacy when he had
Friends at his house and that made his mother angry. She pulled him
Aside while I waited in his room and I listened to her ask him “Why do
You want to go over there so badly? What exactly are you guy’s doing
That you don’t want anyone else around for?’

I immediately took that as a gay insult, because years earlier I used
To be teasedand called a “faggot” every single day.
I was deeply hurt that she would say that and I left without saying anything.

On the way home I told my mother what had happened. She decided to
Call my friends house and explain why I had left in such a hurry but
Not before asking me whether or not I WAS gay. She said she couldn’t
Defend me against a false accusation if it wasn’t false.

I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth. I lied and told her I
Wasn’t and so she called my friends mom. I listened to their
Conversation and, once it was over my mother told me that she’d meant
No offence against me by saying that, and she merely thought that her
Son was looking at pornography while he was at my house or something
Along that line.

This, I knew, was complete BS. Anyone who knew me for as long as they
Did would be SURE to know how I feel about pornography, drugs and
Things of that nature. I went downstairs and cried, hysterically to my
Friend who I called to console me. Then, I went out into my backyard
And stood by our creek.

During that time, I realized I needed to quit lying to everyone and
Just admit that I was gay. I’d long known I had an attraction to other
Men…it’s not something that can go unnoticed by one. So, from
That moment on I decided that anyone I met I would tell I was gay.
Then it occurred to me that there ARE no openly gay people where I
Live. So I made an alternate myspace where I could truly be myself and
Started meeting people on there. That is where I met my good friend
Allyson, who I am still friends with to this day.

In the beginning, I met a few guys that piqued my interest, but most
Of them appeared to just use me as an Internet fantasy in order to get
Off. I didn’t appreciate being treated like that so, after it had
Happened a few times I decided to take my time a find someone worth
Giving my attention to.

It was at that time that I met Jamie.

He was nice to me, sweet really and it was a strange and miraculous
Feeling to be treated less like a sex object and more like a person
With feelings and emotions. I took my time with him though, coming out
Had left me feeling afraid to start any new relationship.

Unfortunately, the only relationship we were able to have was long
Distance, but I was so desperate to have someone around me who
Understood how I felt that I took it regardless.

Jamie and I “dated” for over half a year. During that time, he treated
Me decent. He didn’t yell at me, ignore me or seem to be using me as a
Sex object like the others had. For awhile I was happy, and I thought
I really was in love and did not hesitate to tell him that.

However, in June of 07 I finally broke up with him after realizing
That our “relationship” wasn’t based on anything solid. Since then he
Has “gone straight”. We talk once in a blue moon and I always find
Myself amused by the fact that he was able to switch teams like that.
During the time I dated him, I had some problems going on at home as
Well. In February of 07, I was on the phone with him when my mother
Picked up…she listened to us talking and knew that this was more
Than just a “friend” of mine.

She started yelling and screaming at me, shoving me and demanding to
know who was on the phone. She accused me of lying to her and asked
why I never told her before, I responded by saying that I wanted to
delay this reaction for as long as possible and I hadn’t even admitted
it to myself yet. She teased me then and said that that sounded like a
line from a cheesy soap opera.

I started to cry and told her about how, two years earlier, I had
tried to commit suicide by ingesting poisonious chemicals. This calmed
her down a bit, but for the remainder of that year she teased and
argued with me constantly over my sexuality, telling me that I was
“confused” and mocking me by saying things like “I THINK I may be gay
but I don’t know…does anal sex hurt?”.

She said that to me one day before I went into work and I spent ten minutes crying in the
bathroom. My mother would often tease me about my relationship with
Jamie, saying we were both stupid and she was even so bold as to call
him a “faggot” to my face.

Then, in March my mother and my best friend got into a terrible fight
over something stupid and my friend was banned from my house. This
really REALLY upset me, and, with everything else that was going
on…I became overwhelmed and depressed and cut myself.
My mother came into the room, saw me bleeding and proceeded to cuss at
me, shove me, and tell me that if I wanted to kill myself I should
just tell her and she’d go get me the knife to do it with. Afterward,
she convinced me to go see a therapist.

That one moment has forever changed the way I view my mother. I still
love her, but not in the same way. I look at her through a different
set of eyes now.

I still treat her like any son would treat his mother, but on the
inside I am constantly reminded of that one moment, that one
sentence. I do forgive her, people fear what they do not understand
and often, because of that fear, say things they don’t mean. But that
doesn’t change the fact that it was still said. That is something I’ll
never be able to forget.

Then, once my life seemed to get back to whatever can be defined as
“normal” in July, my grandmother got sick. She had gone down to
Florida with my mother and sister while I stayed home with my dad.

Upon returning back to Michigan, she felt lumps up and down her side.
We were all worried that the cancer had come back (she’d had it a few
years prior and she was sicker than I had ever seen anyone).

My mother took her to the hospital and she was forced to stay
overnight. The doctors did find cancerous cells and some sort of
mysterious spot on her lung which they also believed could have been
cancer. However, that was not the real issue…the real issue was her
gallbladder which they completely ignored.

I went to visit my grandmother for a few day’s in a row, she seemed to
be doing okay. She talked to me and told me how proud she was of me,
and how much she loved me. I remember leaning down to hug her and kiss
her cheek before leaving. Unbeknown to me, that was the last time I
would ever speak to her again.

A few days after I had gone and seen her in mid July she went
unresponsive. They had given her too much medication and her hands and
feet swelled up like balloons. My mother called me and told me while
my sister and I were out with the very friend my mother banned from my
house back in March (I was still allowed to spend time with her). My
friend’s father gave us a ride to the hospital. My sister and I went
up to see my grandmother who was stationed in the “Intensive care”
unit.

She didn’t even seem to know we were there. I tried to wake her and
she just groaned as though she were having a nightmare. My sister then
started to cry so I had to take her out of the room.

The rest of the summer seemed to be spent in the hospital. My aunt
came up from Ohio to be with my mother and help make decisions on what
to do about the situation. The doctors told us they could preform a
surgery that would help her, though she may bleed out on the table
during the operation. After some deliberating and a lot of arguing
with the doctors that had ignored my grandmother, my mother decided to
go ahead with the operation.

The surgery was set for July 27th at around noon. At around 5:00am
that morning, we got a call from the hospital saying my grandmother’s
heart-rate had dropped and she wasn’t going to make it to the surgery.
We all got up, got dressed and headed to the hospital. We spent hours
there, watching her lay there and groan on the bed while the machines
beeping kept time like a metronome. I got tired and went to lay down
in the room next door, which was empty. That’s when my other
grandmother and my aunt (father’s side) showed up.

The doctor came in and told us it would be wise to give my grandma
morphine because, it would stop any pain she may have been feeling and
it would take her from us slowly and effortlessly.

Although my view of my mother has changed, I do admire her for having
the courage to speak for someone who, is not only dying (and your
mother) but has no voice in the matter. I couldn’t imagine doing that.
My mom decided to give her the morphine and we all sat with my
grandmother and listened as the machine monitoring her heart rate
slowed. I remember the look on her face just before I stared crying,
and how cold her hand was in my own. The nurse shut off the machines
before it completely flat lined.

I cried so much that day and it was all just a surreal blur. We had
her cremated and some of her ashes were put into necklaces for my
sisters and I.

In August I went on a fishing trip with my father, cousin and
uncle. I felt that getting out of the house, were all my grandmothers
thing’s still were (and my nasty mother), would do me good. However,
It was the most boring “vacation” I have ever been on. I was cold,
wet, and miserable. I was left alone with my thoughts far too often,
which, due to all the events that had happened, wasn’t something I
enjoyed experiencing.

It’s been years since then and a lot has happened. More mom drama obviously, but
nothing worth typing here. I came out to the rest of my family and
they were fine with it, thank God.

However, one other thing did happen that is worth typing. I developed feelings for a friend of mine during
my junior year of high school, who was straight. It was absolutely
horrid…he was so sweet and nice but I couldn’t bring myself to say
anything to him.

It’s funny….all the time I was with Jamie I longed for him to be
close to me, to touch me. Then, when I met someone I did like who
possibly could have, I shyed away. I never let my friend touch me, not
even a handshake. I didn’t WANT to like him. I told myself I wouldn’t,
I swore I wouldn’t…I knew it would only lead to trouble, and it
did…at least for me.

On his last day of school…he gave me this letter:

thank you so much. You have been such a great friend and you really
have changed my life. I find myself different in many ways because I
met you and because of the things we have talked about over these last
couple of months. You are someone that I will always remember. Without
you in 2nd hour I don’t know what I would have done with myself,
aaaaaaaahhhhhhh, Mr. S will never shut up. Good luck with everything
and thanks for putting up with my ridiculous problems. I honestly
don’t have one bad thing to say about that class (aside from the
talking) and it is all thanks to you. Sorry this is sort I’m not much
of a writer.

And suddenly I felt all the walls I’d built crumble in seconds and I
longed to throw myself at him and bawl my eyes out and tell him how
much I cared for him. But I couldn’t at that time. However, toward the
end of that summer I sent him an email containing everything you read
above (which is deeply personal) and my feelings for him as well as a
poem he inspired me to write (a hobby which I still continue, although
he is no longer the inspiration) to which he never replied.

That was heartbreaking, and I was very depressed for quite awhile
because of that. I eventually found the courage to ask him why he
hadn’t said anything to me about it and he told me that his mother had
found it, read it, deleted it and basically told him the “jist” of it
(which made me sound like a crazy gay masochist who wanted to sleep
with him).

I really had no idea what to do with myself after that, but somehow I
managed to keep moving forward with life and I have now graduated high
school and will be attending a university at the end of August.
It’s been over a year since I first admitted I had feelings for Nick
and made him aware of them, and sometimes I still find myself thinking
about him and missing him.

Looking back I think I’ve turned out alright despite all the crap I
delt with and I know there are people out there that have it far worse
than I did so I consider myself lucky. However, my idea of what the
gay community was and the realization of what it is are strikingly
different.

I have found that so many of the men I meet are superficial, arrogant,
stereotypical or just not my type or I theirs. I really don’t know where to go from here or if there’s even anywhere to go. I just try to take things one day at a time. I think that’s all we really can do.

Movie awards season may have ended with last month’s Oscars but GLAAD Awards season is just beginning. Earlier this week the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation announced that Naya Rivera would cohost the awards in New York City. Now, GLAAD has announced, among other juicy tidbits, that Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice creator Shonda Rhimes will receive the Golden Gate Award while Glee star Dianna Agron will host the 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in San Francisco on June 2, according to a release from GLAAD.

hi. im 20 and im bisexual and some of my friends know it. i came out at a coming out party we were having at school for our club. everyone was really supportive. some of my friends even went up on stage with me so i didn’t feel so akward. but i dont know how my close friends would feel about it or my parents either. one of my close friends knows and she said it was about time. my parents are so by the bible i dont know how to tell them. im too scared to. and i really dont know how to tell my brothers. my friends at school are the only ones that know. they are the only ones that do not care. im even starting to go to church because they accept me. they have no problems with LGBT’s. but telling my step dad and even my real father is the scarriest thing i will have to do. i ask my step dad all the time about how he feels about gays and he says he knows some but i better not be gay. it kills me that he thinks that way. my mom i think would be more supportive but she is catholic and crazy sometimes. my best friend of 15 years doesnt even know. i told my ex boyfriend that im bisexual and he didnt talk to me for days. he finally came around and we are best friends. i know that someday everyone will know im bisexual. i just dont know when they will. someday they will.

Executive Producer, Hilde Orens, is asking for your help in making a movie to raise awareness about bullying. The film, titled, “Friend”, is seeking donations via the website “IndieGoGo” in order to film, edit, and market the show and they only have less than a month left… they need more donations.

The IndieGoGo page for this film has a very poignent point: THERE IS NO REASON FOR A CHILD NOT TO BE ABLE TO RELATE.

The synopsis offered about the movie is as follows:

Brad, newly sixteen and discovering who he is, attends Farlen High School outside Chicago. Brad is no stranger to not fitting in but when the bullying in high school gets to become too much, he starts to think of drastic ways out. Fortunately, a new kid moves into town and starts at Farlen High School just when the timing couldn’t be more perfect.

Rob, who is way wiser than anyone his age and has the charisma of a movie-star, befriends Brad instantly. Rob could be wasting his time becoming high school qua

rter back and having any girl he wants but makes it his duty to help save this gay student from making the choice that ends all choices.

We, as an audience, experience friendship, coming out, first love, and of course heart-break. This story being told in current time with the realness of coming out gay in a world which revolves around YoutTube[sic], Facebook, and Twitter.

If this is something that you feel compelled to contribute to, please follow this link to their IndieGoGo page and make your pledge. Depending on how much you pledge, you could receive IMDB credit for being a Producer for the film. That’s something to think about. Any donation, 1$ or more, will reward you with some type of a public acknowledgment, so ask your pockets if they want more awareness around anti-bullying education and see what your pockets say.

You can find more information about this film on their website: http://www.friendfilm.blogspot.com/

Houston to be memorialized like Michael Jackson, but won’t be ‘typical tribute’

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I just came out. Today was the first time I have actually uttered the words: “I’m Gay” to another human being. It was terrifying! But the wonderful friend I told, just smiled. She wasn’t shocked. She was touched that I trusted her enough to tell her. She even gave me a hug when I started to cry. I never thought I would get that response from anyone. I had hoped that she would understand, but she went above and beyond. I’ve been in the closet for years….just admitted to myself that I can’t breathe in there anymore. This is the first step for me. I know that my family will never accept this. I know that. So…now it’s my time to decide…do I be honest and lose them? or do I continue my long distance lie and keep them? It felt so good to finally say it out loud….even if I have no idea when I will ever say it again. I wish I was as brave as the other people on this website. I really do. Reading their stories gives me some comfort and hope that someday I will be that brave.