·      Day 28 - Write a letter to someone. It can be a coming out letter or a letter regarding how you hate their homophobia or whatnot. You don’t have to send it.

Dear R,

This letter will never reach you. I haven’t mastered time travel yet, and well frankly, I don’t care to spend any more time thinking about doing so.

I’m writing to tell you to stop worrying so much. You’re going to miss out on too much of your life worrying about what will happen with the rest. Things will bombard you - move with it, not against it. You’ll always be a fighter and you will be given plenty to fight for.

It’s ok to kiss her with your eyes closed. I promise. No one is watching. And by the time they start, you will not notice that they are.

Running out of gas that day and catching a ride back in a cruiser is something you will laugh at. –It will only take a day for it to become funny. Let it be funny. Let her laugh with you.

Consider chasing that one – consider taking a risk. I didn’t so I can’t tell you the outcome.

I have no advice on love. I only ask that you stop trying to force yourself to believe in it. That’s worse.

If you’re going to destroy something – let it be a canvas with a series of brushes or the thread count on a soccer ball. You’ll be too tired to pull at anything else once you finish with those.

Age. Get over it. Thanks.

Remember your parents are still growing too. They won’t stop.

It’s ok. It really is just a piece of paper and no one is really impressed with anyone else’s.

Be confident in not knowing. And when the chance comes to get that plane ticket – go for it. I’m taking mine now.

Secrets. Nix them. Silence. Fill it. Walks. Take them. You. TAKE CARE OF – let this be your personal law.

Keep on Keeping on –

You’ll be just fine.

-R.

·      Day 27 - Your favorite LGBT blog/tumblr/site.

http://effingdykes.blogspot.com/

www.afterellen.com

·      Day 25 - The LGBT slur you hate most or if you’ve taken back a slur and used it as a definition, ie queer or fag.

Queer is not a negative term to me. I love it. I embrace it.

The words that will usually trigger me are Faggot/Dyke when screamed in slur or anger.

I do not stop water. 

 My male friends are not bundles of sticks or a cigarette. 

·      Day 23 - An LGBT image that makes you cry or makes you angry.

Gay teenager led to the gallows in Mashhad, Iran, July 19, 2005, and then the executions.

— Living in a (naive) Post-September 11th country, we so often point to the Middle East and criticize their actions and practices. However, we are still a country filled with hate and social injustice to minorities (though we preach equality and acceptance).

Ironically, the biggest difference between cultures in the Middle East and the USA is that their hate/judgement is publicly announced, instead of behind closed doors and religious “right” reasoning.

This image is one of thousands that I could have posted. I felt giving the WBC more time in the limelight was unfair.

·      Day 22 - An LGBT image that makes you smile.

·      Day 21 - Political LGBT issue that is closest to you or affects you most.

I live in a state that does NOT have LGBTQ job security/protection. This is always something I think about and have to be cautious of when I’m applying for jobs.

-Any lgbtqiia issue is an issue that affects me. Period. It may be indirectly but it directly hits someone of the community and this is my “family,” so it is always a personal matter.

·      Day 18 - Something about the LGBTQ community you don’t understand or have a question about.

I love how they added “Q” to this question (unlike the others before it).

I’m very confused by racial, bisexual, transgender, transsexual and religious prejudice within the LGBTQQIA. I’m always confused by hate of any kind. While I understand ignorance from lack of exposure, I have often encountered hate within the community  based on prejudice and biased views. -Often by people who want ‘equal rights.’

I guess for some, the mirror is still one of priviledge when they look in it.

·      Day 17 - Your first experience with an LGBT organization or event (Day of Silence, Pride, etc).

The first time I ever attended an event where I was overwhelmed and over-the-moon with a large number of queer people was the first time I attended Pensacola Pride. I knew there were going to be a couple thousand people, but I wasn’t expecting such a volume of people.

Seeing tents for a good mile, five to six tents deep towards the water, with flags for gay pride, leather pride, bear, vegan, dyke, transgender and all the respective symbols waving in the wind was empowering. (Made the serious sunburn so worth it.)

·      Day 16 - A picture from your first LGBT relationship or of your first LGBT crush.

Picture: Sport-A-Pack, Natichoches, La - 2001

Fallen, Myself, Theresa

I was like many people and fell for a straight girl the first time around. We were best friends our Freshman/Sophomore year in college and I was figuring myself out. Nothing happened. Ever. Even with drunken college parties and typical college guys trying to egg on actions from two girls, nothing happened. And most of the time it was because of me. I can say I never had my heart broken because I knew it wasn’t mine to give in a situation like this. She will always be the girl that helped me realize that sometimes the rules created are not those you are supposed to play by.

Day 13 - Your favorite LGBT role model/celebrity.

Just one? - Insert your favorite here and they’re one of mine too.

·      Day 12 - Your favorite LGBT movie (or one you’d like to see).

If you were to ask one film that I could quote with my eyes closed and that I will pull off the shelf and watch any time of any day, it would most likely be D.E.B.S.

Angela Robinson is a f*ing genius (bring on GIRL TRASH) and is a satire queen in this film. Between the spoof on spy flicks, the wonderful one-liners, the great cast and making it the first queer film to get a PG-13 rating, D.E.B.S. is a nice break from the seriousness of so many queer films.

Plus the soundtrack rocks and Jordana Brewster has a smile to die for.

Other Films Worth Repeat Viewings:

If These Walls Could Talk 2

It’s My Party

Loving Annabelle

Brokeback Mountain

Desert Hearts

The Boys In The Band (based on the play)

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Philadelphia

Fingersmith

Tipping the Velvet

Chris and Don: A Love Story­­­

(and I could go on for hours with more titles)

LGBTQ 30 Day Challenge

·      Day 11 - Your favorite LGBT book (or one you’d like to read).

I can’t pick just one. List below are all books I can/have read more than once.

·         The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

·         Rubyfruit Jungle – Rita Mae Brown

·         Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café – Fanny Flagg

·         Bastard Out of Carolina  and Trash– Dorothy Allison  (Novel/Collection of Shorts)

·          The High Price of Salt – Patricia Highsmith

·         Density of Souls – Christopher Rice