I have reach death threat status

So, you can now officially call me big time. As a writer and activist, you know that you have come a long way when you start receiving death threats. It kind of goes in a process from what I have been experiencing.

First you get decent in the craft of writing and trying to find your own voice. Once you find that voice, you tweek and freak the masses by saying what you feel and stading up for what you believe to be right.

Once you have that under your belt the next thing to happen if haters will be on your back. You're always going to have haters that want to nit-pick to try and tear your work to bits. Now, I know I am not the best writer in the world but I try to be the most real within the confines my handlers a.k.a. editors tell me. But, you will always have someone that want to hinder your progress by trying to convince everyone you are no good. That is cool as long as the message gets out. The message is more powerful than the messenger anyway and that is how it is supposed to be.

After haters you start to reach death threat status. Now that is how you know you are really doing a good job and reaching the community with your message. The message may not always be pretty but it is truthful and as we all know, truth is not in the best interest of some people.

For instance, my recent article about Todd Akin, the asshole that fucked up and ran his mouth about abortion, had a few people giving reasonable input in the comment section and then all of a sudden I got a message in my e-mail. The picture in this post is not the threat I received. It basically said that I should die and I am going to hell; you now the usual jazz.

Damn, you tell a bunch of people the truth that Christianity and the Bible is a blueprint for war, rape, slavery and murder; they act like you wrote something bad.

By no means am I religious but I am a spiritual person no doubt. I believe in God and believe that love and spirit are powerful virtues to save us all in some form but I am smart enough to know that religion has been used as a weapon to subjugate and oppress people as well. Wars have been waged on this planet in the name of God and destruction committed by Christian faith.

I don't think people like to hear those parts of the Bible. The whole point of the article is to show that everyone claiming that being gay is against the Bible and goes against reproduction which will basically destroy the human race if we can't multiply, is shit.

The Bible has stories of slavery and war with teaching that conflicts with many moral principles of today's modern law and philosophy. Christianity has destroyed this world more than homosexuality ever has. That is all I wrote and wouldn't you know it. I must have been reaching people because I am going to burn in hell.

I must be doing a bang up job. I better get started on the next one right away.

Fuck haters.. I support my gay community first

So, from the picture to the left of this paragraph and from the title of this post you probably know what I am going to talk about. Yes my friends, haters is the subject this time and I have a few of them to choose from.

This is what inspired me to write this post. I wrote about how the gay media was in conflict about the water-gun fight in San Diego which all stemmed from the mudslinging being done in the mayoral race in that city.

One of the candidates is Carl DeMaio who is openly gay. In the last part of my article I said that "if" the gay community in that area want DeMaio in office, there is nothing to be gained by the LGBTQ fighting among each other.

The the underlying principle of my articles is for the gay community to see how powerful of a community we can be when we all work together and to support each other whenever we can.

So, this women literally posts a message, in the comment, section saying that I know nothing of the politics in San Diego and that I am one of those that always use "gay" a deciding factor in my decision. Basically she accused me of being unbiased and not objective. She finishes with the statement that the worst thing ever would be for anybody to believe or read what I write because, I don't know what I am talking about.

After that comment I tried to explain the whole point of my article is for the gay community in San Diego to make up their mind collectively and to pick whatever candidate they choose for office. Just do it together without conflict among the gay community.

This same lady tells me that is not the point of my article at all and my message is not what I was trying to convey. So, I have an angry women telling me, the author of the article, what I was trying to express through my own work. HATER HATER...

I am going to make this real clear. Of course I want the best people in political offices that has my best interest and the best interest of the community at heart. If that happens to be a heterosexual candidate then that is who I will choose but I will always support and listen to a person from my own community no matter what.

Nobody but a gay person will truly understand the hardships we face as gay community. It is the same a being black. Nobody but someone who has been through the hardships of black people will understand the needs of the black community.

So when it comes down to it, if you are gay trying to commit yourself to bettering the needs of the LGBTQ, the gay community should give that person all there attention at least to hear what they have to say. That is what loyalty and unity is all about. I may come to find out that I don't agree with some gay officials but that will not stop me from at least putting in my time to understand.  So, you are damn right I am going to give support to anyone from the gay community that has the interest of the gay community at heart whenever I can. HATE ON THAT!!!

Thank you Anonymous: Friend of the gay community

So I have some things to say about the hacktivist group Anonymous. First what is a hacktivist group. Well remember the movies hackers that came out in the mid 90's. It was the very first movie you saw Angelina Jolie in. Well, it was about a group of kids that were hackers and they used there gift to harass each other but at the end of the day they stopped a worldwide environmental catastrophe. They had to call on the hackers of the world to help kill the supercomputer that was causing the problem but they got the job done. Just a bunch of nameless faces that cared about something more then themselves. That is what I consider Anonymous to be. 

Anonymous could be your neighbor, your friend, bus driver, school teacher, CEO of a huge corporation, billionaire or  just a poor shmuck walking by your house everyday. Anyone that is in the organization will never tell you because Anonymous is not about fame and glory. They are world activists, not terrorists as law enforcement want you to believe.

Right now they are number one in my book because of the shit they are giving Uganda about the criminalizing  of being gay in that county. Now being a man that is black and gay, you can see why I would give Anonymous a medal. 

I wrote a blog post few months back giving praise to Anonymous for trying to show us the way. There is nothing that can stop a people when we unite. Anonymous may not have money but they have all the resources of the world when all people unite for a common goal. This time the goal just happened to be standing up for the gay brothers and sisters in Uganda. The method cyber warfare. 

The one area where it does not matter if you are short, black, white, yellow or green. On the computer on the the net, you are as powerful as your mind is and at the end of the day, that is what power truly is all about. And let's not forget heart. The thing that allows you to move forward and gives you the will to follow your ideal past the vision into reality.

Well if Anonymous's reality is a world without bigotry, hatred and prejudice then I am all for that vision. Thank you Anonymous for doing what you do best which is opening our eyes. 

Does the LGBTQ community know our history?

The Washington Post published an article today by an author Georgetown/On Faith which, of course, is a pen name. The name of the article is “Leader of black clergy group: Obama is ‘pandering’ to the homosexual community’” where a letter to President Obama is in the body of the article. In this letter the clergyman asks a very valid question. Where was the gay community when he was running for president?  This man asked a relevant question and the one most qualified to meet his angry resistance with logical means is someone from the community of which he addressed.

“Mr. President, I’m not going to stand with you, and we have thousands of others across this country that are not going to stand with you with this foolishness [about legalizing gay marriage. ...] For the president to bow to the money, as Judas did for Jesus Christ, is a disgrace, and we’re ashamed. [...] We feel Mr. Obama because of the money has bowed to the money people, the homosexual community. We’re the ones who put him where he is. Where was the gay community when he was running for president? The Civil Rights Movement opened the door for him to become president. At this point he’s pandering to the homosexual community. He’s forgotten where he came from, forgotten who put him there.”

The excerpt above is the letter being mentioned. Before we answer any questions let’s address the obvious angry tone in this person’s statement. As you see he compares Barack Obama to a betrayer of biblical proportions. He also claims that President Obama has kowtowed to money which the writer directly accuses the gay community of having a lot of. Lastly, the writer accuses Obama of not being loyal to the people that help but him into office which he identifies as black people.

Now, no one wants to bring up the subject of history but since the subject of the Black Civil Rights Movement was brought up, it is relevant to make sure information is accurate. It was a black openly gay man named Bayard Rustin that helped teach Martin Luther King and the Black Civil Rights Movement the art of nonviolent protest. Not to mention, this same man was a major organizer for the March on Washington. But, those facts are shrewdly written out of the Black and American history books.

The gay community has been there from the beginning but the reason more people do not know about gay history is because history is written by the victors and the victorious ones, in that case, did not want to mention the level of involvement the LGBTQ has in making this country great. It is not in the best interest to the opponents of equality to show gay America how powerful they are. As in the words of the great Malcolm X “If you can convince people they have never accomplished anything then they can never do anything,” and the gay community has accomplished a great deal.

So, the next time someone writes a statement about the Black Civil Rights Movement claiming our President forget where he came from, hopefully they will remember this article and know that no one forgot as one might believe. They just were not told the whole truth.

Thank you to Matthew Perez for keeping me honest

Wow, so this Chick-fil-A debacle has gotten people wound up tight. Between the Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day where some restaurants ran out of chickens and yesterday's National Same-sex Kiss Day where no one wanted to see couples kissing to get chickens; the only thing worth serving was hell on a stick.

Even myself, who has marched for black civil rights and gay civil rights, was hyped over the fact that this gay nation finally was getting down with some action. Change will never happen if you are continuously talking about how to make things better. You have to go out and do something about it.

I wish my readers could have seen the look on my face when I saw an article by a journalist on CNN iReport titled "I am gay and I am support Chick-fil-A".  I could have jumped out of my seat.


Before I go any further I want to thank, Matthew Perez, the author of this three part series on CNN iReport for keeping me honest. You see, as journalists and contributors we can become very passionate about he issues that affect us personally. Matthew has been getting tons of hate mail via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter about the article he wrote that seems to depict a young gay man that actually is supporting Dan Cathy's statement against same-sex marriage.

Now, I wrote and editorial as a counter-stance not to his view of support for Chick-fil-A but to the reasoning of why he would write an article that would make the gay community seem weak and divided. I understand that Matthew was trying to convey his support of free speech and for the gay community not to stoop to a level below being the beautiful alternative people that we are but I was talking more about unity for the LGBTQ community and to show a unified front to any opposition that would support denying the gay community its rights.

At no time did I attack Matthew personally because I understand that we can be on two sides of the coin, agree on the big picture and not agree on the finer points of protest. Not at any point whatsoever is it alright to attack this man personally for the view that he carries about the Chick-fil-A subject but not to play the devil's advocate, Matt does believe in free speech and the hate mail are just anger readers that passionately disagree with his view.

However you understand other people's viewpoints is a fine line but the one belief me and Matt Perez agree on; the worst thing about dirt is that everyone gets dirty and that is a line we don't want to cross.

What is the real purpose of a gay blessing?

When I was a kid, I did not have the images of the white picket fence or the family with a wife, 2.5 kids and 1.25 dogs. I never saw myself fitting into the mainstream demographic. I don’t believe anybody wakes up in the middle night and screams the revelation “I want to marry someone of the same sex!” That seems a little too farfetched even for this dynamic world. Though it may be a genetic marker that determines our sexuality, it takes the courage within a person to help them accept things the way they are. In doing so, a person is not making a choice of what you naturally are, but to make the choice to be as you are.

Part of being who you are is reflected in the relationships we build with others. Stories of joy and pain are told to the world through the examples of your relationships. That includes friends, work-relationships, family or just common bonds but there is no greater of a tale to tell than the journey of love between two souls that finally found each other.

Now, let’s add God into the mix because whether anybody believes in the existence of this being, the faith in the creator of all was before all. Before you were gay, before this nation had problems with same-sex marriage, before we were fighting for our rights and before there was church; there was the individual covenant between you and God. I want to be clear, there is no way in the world I am a religious man of devotional faith. I am a just a gay man that believes everything in this natural world can be questioned but we will not receive all the answers.

Humans are an abundant natural resource in this world. We need each other for survival whether you wish to believe that or not. The natural mechanisms within a human that God has created, such as love, compassion, affection and sex commit us to needing one another. 

The commitment two people share within a relationship is a wonderful act of expression and progression. A relationship pushes the evolutionary chain of our civilization’s existence further, it elevates our world in understanding ourselves plus the things around us and it helps us become closer to the divine, which is before all, that is God.

Simply put, being gay is not a human decision. It is a function of natural creation and whether a person wants to believe the scholars and scientists that have proven this fact with facts, is a moot point. It is the relationship with the creator of all that will have final relevance. This is why the Episcopal Church has decided to not only take on the covenantal mission of acceptance of the gay community but to be a denominational leader of faith to the rest of the religious world who are stuck in static teachings and perspective.

The nation has been turned on its ear as the Episcopal Church recently become the first religious denomination to offer a blessing of same-sex unions to those who wish to partake. A lot of people feel this is the church’s attempt to separate themselves away from the religious pack and use the issue the of same-sex marriage as a hustle or racket to gain support. There are some true believers of faith not to mention conservative members of other religious sects that believe this an attempt among liberals and advocates of the gay community to make an end run around state laws that prohibit civil unions and to push the same-sex legislation further for consideration.

That actually would be a logical perspective except for a few major points. Church and state are supposed to remain separate. Let’s be fair, we can’t expect the government to stay out of the personal lives of its people if the church tries to play God in the halls of Congress. Also, this blessing for same-sex couples is not a marriage ceremony. The church has made the aspect very clear that this blessing is totally separate from a marriage ritual. So, this blessing is nothing legal. I am sure in states where same-sex couples can be married this blessing will be part of the marriage ceremonies offered by the Episcopal Church but it's nothing you can put on a marriage certificate.

So, with these clear and defining boundaries marked by the Episcopal Church itself, what does this blessing have to do with me or any gay individual not of this particular faith? My curiosity truly got the better of me as I called around to several Episcopal churches in my area trying to find the understanding that I seek. I want to take the time to thank Rector David Thompson of St. Bart Episcopal Church in North Augusta for setting my feet of the path of knowledge.

I will make this short and sweet because just read 81 pages of religion so you can get the simple understanding. According to the Episcopal Church’s own doctrine the purpose of the gay blessing is to set apart monogamous Christ filled relationships within their denomination unto the path divine reconciliation of God’s love. They continue a lifelong and never-ending mission to bring people to God’s word through his salvation and God will use this divine relationship as an example. Through a blessed civil union, God will use them to help others to the path of righteousness.

Now let’s get to the point of why the Episcopal Church wants to take on the role of being the religious leader in the gay community. The reconciliation mentioned above is mending or healing through God’s love and they saw a need not only within the walls of their church but in the LGBTQ community altogether.  So, they are doing nothing more than continuing the work they have been ordained to do.

For the Episcopalian faith, religion is not stagnant. It is ever changing with the people and the time. The one thing that remains the same and should be followed is the example of God’s love through grace and salvation.  So, the big questions that remains is, what can this blessing do for me, someone not of the Episcopalian religion? In fact what is this gay blessing supposed to do for someone not of any religious faith? What is the purpose if the blessing is not a marriage ceremony or can’t help in pushing gay political agenda?

The purpose is to show that love encompasses all through the example of these people’s tolerance and acceptance. This particular denomination of faith has put themselves on the line to show us the way, by following the example of Jesus Christ. Though, I am not a man of religion, I understand the calling of wanting to help and support the LGBTQ community. I may not participate in the blessing they provide, but I will partake in the ritual of seeing my relationship and life worthy of this divine value because then I can share my positive experience with everyone. That is the purpose of a blessing.  

Another one of our gay sisters dead please help!!

A tragedy has occurred in Texas to another one of our gay sisters. I wanted to do a brief post to ask for the LGBT community's help to see if anyone knows this person.

She is a Jane Doe right now to the police but there might be proof to believe she is part of our gay family. The police also believes that she could have been missing for a couple of weeks and they have asked the LGBT in the area where they found her body to help identify her.

She may not be from the area she was found. It's important that we help in any way possible. Think about this gay sister being your family member, your cousin, blood sister, niece or aunt. I am sure that she has a family that miss her and cares about what happens to her.

If you have any information about this Jane Doe please contact me at 678-509-3740 and I will have more information about this tragedy in my column tomorrow at exm.nr/gkelley on Examiner.com.

I just did not feel right waiting to get the word out. I wanted to help in any way possible so this is the first way right here by letting the gay community know we are one sister less and she was killed by some gay-basher no less. Thank you to everyone at Get Equal for taking on the reigns to inform the community of what is going on in your area.

What have you done today to make you feel proud

For some reason this particular picture on the left of this paragraph seemed appropriate. Remember the song by Heather Small titled "Proud".  Man, hearing that song just motivates me to be the best and do the very best I can.

When she sings the chorus "What have you done today to make you feel proud," she drives and hits a feeling deep within my spirit. I want to share that feeling with everyone.

What have you done today to feel proud my friends. Do you feel like you are covered in ill feelings or feel that something is weighing you down so much that you can't reach the pride that is in each and every one of you.

Whether you have gay pride, black pride, self-pride or just plain ole' "I am glad God put me here" pride, it all ties into the greatness that is in all gay people. I am here to tell you, never be ashamed of being proud of how the Creator of All made you. Being that I am a spiritual and not very religious, does not make me any less in tune with the my gay brothers and sisters. If there is one message I want  you all to know is that pride in yourself leads to pride in each other. All of this leads to the first steps of unity.

It took a while to understand what true pride is, from the very base definition of the word. Pride is the esteem you feel from just knowing that everyday is a day you can be what you want to be. You don't have to be what is predicted for you or what despair has done to you. The person that you are now is good enough for me and anyone else in  this world.

The only person that has to live with the person you are is you which means the pride that means anything in this world comes from you, starts with you and propelled by you. Have pride in yourself because believe me, you will not find it from anywhere else.