Darren Hayes: It Gets Better

Darren Hayes, the former front man for Savage Garden, has contributed a video for the It Gets Better project.  This one really hit home for me, especially the part where he says that kids outed him as gay before he even realized he was.  Take a look...

Freaky Fridays

From Phillippines Got Talent.  I don't get it.  They LOVE her.

Worst Tattoo Customer Ever

She's screaming out in pain before the needle even touches her back.  What a wuss:



I have a tattoo in that exact same spot, and I can tell you, it didn't hurt that bad.  It just stung a little.

Join The Human Rights Campaign To Stop Bullying In Schools

As a kid, you could say I had the trifecta of reasons to be picked on.  I was fat, usually 6 inches taller and 60-70 pounds heavier than the other kids in my class.  I was a Jehovah's Witness, and I was different than the other straight boys.  I wasn't into sports.  I was into music and fashion.  When everyone else was in auto mechanics class, I was trying to get into cosmetology classes.

I wasn't sure about my sexual orientation until I was in my 20s.  In my teens, I thought I was straight.  Unfortunately, I cannot count how many times I was called "fag" or "faggot" by other kids in school.  I was beat up on a regular basis.  I was tormented.  It was if I was tortured.

For years, I contemplated suicide on a daily basis.  I thought it was the only way I could escape what I was going through.  That was 20 years ago.  Things got better.  I'm still here.  Sadly, I had friends that aren't with us any longer.  The harassment was just too much for them to take.

Things are just as bad for todays LGBT youth as they were when I was younger.  Kids can be mean, heartless and cruel.  Teachers turn a blind eye to what happens inside and outside their classroom.  Kids are dieing at an alarming rate.

Something has to change.  This must stop now.  The Human Rights Campaign has a petition being sent to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, demanding that all schools include gender identity and sexual orientation as part of their anti-bullying programs.  The current situation is unacceptable.  Please go to the link and sign this petition.  You can also get information on how to write an editorial letter to your local paper.

Get involved.  Help these kids.

Ellen Speaks Out For Trevor Project

Again, you can place a $5 donation to The Trevor Project directly from your cell phone.  TEXT "TREVOR" TO  85944 to donate.

Asher Brown's Parents Talk To Anderson Cooper

Vegas Death Ray Chars Tourists

Las Vegas has a pyramid, the Eiffel Tower, and now with the opening of the Vdara hotel, a replica of Archimedes Death Ray.  The South facing tower, with it's reflective glass exterior, produces a 10X15 foot "death ray" directly on the hotel pool below.  The temperature of the beam is so hot, it has been causing 2nd degree burns, singeing hair and melting plastic bags, cups and flip flops.

Temperatures in the hot spot have been said to be between 120 and 160 Fahrenheit.  A spokesman for the MGM Grand, the company that owns the property, say they're currently working on a solution.  They have tried to downplay the recent incidents, but recent reports cannot bode well for the hotel, as it already has a disadvantage over other hotels on the Strip.  The Vdara has no casino, no nightclubs and is completely smoke free.  It is a beautiful hotel though.

Support The Trevor Project

In the month of September, four young men have committed suicide to escape the relentless anti-gay bullying from other students.  Billy Lucas, a 15 year old high school Freshman from Greensburg, IN, took his own life in the family's barn on September 9th.  Friends say the abuse from other students was constant, and that he just wasn't able to fight back.

Asher Brown, a 13 year old Houston eighth grader, shot himself in the head the same day that he came out to his parents.  He was the target of bullies for the last 18 months.  They even went so far as to perform mock gay acts on him while in Phys Ed.  

Seth Walsh, a 13 year old from California, was the third gay youth to take his life this month.  He died yesterday afternoon, after being on life support for the last nine days.  He was found in the backyard of his home after hanging himself.  Like the others, he had been bullied for a considerable amount of time.  The school did nothing to protect him.  According to local station KGET:

“Tehachapi police investigators interviewed some of the young people who taunted Seth the day he hanged himself and determined despite the tragic outcome of their ridicule, their actions do not constitute a crime."

Tyler Clementi, an 18 year old Freshman from Rutgers University, is presumed to have jumped off the George Washington Bridge last week.  His car, cell phone and computer were all found next to the bridge but his body has yet to be recovered.  On September 19th, his roommate broadcast a live webcam video of him having sex with another male student.  His roommate even posted the following Tweet:

"Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay."

Two days later, he posted an IChat link of the video broadcast.

The Trevor Project is a California based organization that provides suicide prevention counselors for LGBT youths, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  It's possible that, had these young men knew about this outlet, they would still be alive today.

Last week, The Trevor Project, with the help of Dan Savage, has sponsored a series of Youtube videos called It Gets Better.  In it, gay and lesbian adults tell their personal stories and assure young LGBT people that things will get better if they just hang in there.  Here is one of the more touching and inspiring videos I've seen:

The Trevor Project runs solely on donations.  They are a charitable organization.  You can get more information about how to donate here.  Or, you can make a $5 donation right now using your cell phone.

TEXT "TREVOR" TO 85944, and $5 will go to The Trevor Project and be billed on your next cell phone bill.

***If you are thinking about hurting yourself or committing suicide, please get help.  Call The Trevor Lifeline at 866-488-7386.***

I'm Smarter Than The Average Atheist

....and blow Christians away with my knowledge.  Yesterday, I posted a story about a new Pew survey testing American's knowledge of religion.  Today, the Christian Science Monitor has published the 32 questions the were asked in the survey.  According to the study, atheists scored higher than any other religious affiliation with an average score of 20.9 correct answers.  The average participant scored 16 out of 32 correct.

I took the test earlier today and had a score of 29.  Not bad, considering I was forbidden to investigate any other religions growing up.

Please Be Patient With The Ads

I have recently started to incorporate ads in my blog, in a step towards making it a professional website.  The ad software takes some time to get to know my posts and respond accordingly.  At the moment, it's showing ads for bulimic treatment centers and Autotrader.com, even though I've never posted anything about cars or bulimia. As time goes on, it should start displaying ads relevant to my posts.

Thanks for your patience.

Fascinating Quote By Green Day's Billy Joe Armstrong

From an interview in 1995 with The Advocate magazine:

"I think I've always been bisexual. I mean, it's something that I've always been interested in. I think people are born bisexual, and it's just that our parents and society kind of veer us off into this feeling of 'Oh, I can't.' They say it's taboo. It's ingrained in our heads that it's bad, when it's not bad at all. It's a very beautiful thing."

 

Transgendered Teen Denied Homecoming Crown

A trans high school student in Michigan was denied his crown as homecoming king, even though he had legitimately won the crown.  Oakleigh Reed (known as Oak), was told by his school principal that all votes for him had to be invalidated since he registered in school as a female.  This is despite the fact that school staff and students all refer to Oak as "he".  The school seemed to be comfortable with his status as a transgendered male.  Sadly, it appears that things are different when it comes to the race for homecoming king and queen.  The runner up was given the crown. 

Survey: Atheists Know Most About Religion

A survey from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life shows that atheists and agnostics know more about religion than Christians.  The study found that atheists and agnostics tend to be generally well educated, and that the most knowledgeable people were also the best educated.  However, atheists and agnostics outperformed equally educated Christians in the survey.

60% of Protestants did not know that Martin Luther was the driving force behind the Protestant Reformation.  40% of Catholics didn't understand the symbolism of holy Communion.  Talk about "blind faith".  However, eight in ten surveyed knew that Mother Teresa was Catholic, and seven in ten knew that Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt.  Surprisingly, Mormons were the most knowledgeable regarding the New Testament.

The survey also tested people's knowledge in general.  Can you believe 4% of people actually said that Stephen King wrote Moby Dick?

Depressing Lottery Simulator

I found this Mega Millions simulator online today.  You pick your numbers, and then the simulator generates 1024 pseudo lottery drawings.  That would be like playing Mega Millions twice a week for ten years.  The results were depressing.  Over the course of "ten years", I only won $105.  Give it a shot and see how lucky you are.

This Song Says It All

Personally, September has been a really shitty month.  Couldn't help but think of this song.