Quite Possibly Our Most Important Blog Post Ever

Dear Friends,

We decided we wanted to use a bit of our little corner of the internet to talk about recent events involving the bullying of gay kids and the suicides that resulted from the bullying.  We're filled with sorrow and outrage and consternation over what has happened in the past few weeks.

We send our condolences to the families of Tyler Clementi, Billy Lucas, Asher Brown, Justin Aaberg, Seth Walsh and the thousands of nameless teens who have suffered bullying and discrimination.  You have our deepest sympathy and our thoughts and prayers are with you.

To the thousands of nameless adults who condone bullying, attend churches that preach a gospel of hatred towards homosexuality, to people in power who remain silent when insensitive, disparaging remarks are made about gays and lesbians we ask - what are you thinking? What happened to your heart? Has it shriveled up and died? No, seriously, it's a valid question.

For all the gains that have been made for fairness and equality, these suicides show us, in no uncertain terms, we still have a long way to go.  We may not be celebrities or politicians or true "public figures" (hell, we only have 750 twitter followers!) - but we have a voice, and so do you. And now more than ever we must unite in order to spread a loud, clear message of love and respect. This act of unity must extend to all aspects of society: government, education and media.

We hope you'll join us in letting the television industry know that they are not exempt from this call to action! We especially want to encourage the soaps to stop running from their responsibilities in regards to gay characters. Bianca's coming out story on All My Children is now legendary. A watershed moment in TV history.  A breakthrough for the LGBT community. Bianca Montgomery represents a whole generation of young gay people struggling to survive and fighting for equality. Why won't the current writers let her story continue to reflect the hopes and dreams and struggles of gay Americans?

We truly believe that the soaps have an obligation to tell the stories of the gay characters (that they created!)  with intelligence, honesty, dignity and truth. These stories are powerful and important and need to be told.

Finally, we want to acknowledge that we will never be able to change the hearts or minds of self righteous, fear mongering, Bible/Koran/Torah thumping bigots by expressing our disgust for them. The only useful thing we can do is stand up and speak out. We shall tweet, blog and youtube ourselves repeatedly to let the world know:

1. We're not afraid of the gay. In fact we delight in all the wonderful things gays have brought to the world.

2. We do not believe in a God that hates. Anyone.

3. We will not tolerate anyone making anti-gay comments in our presence. Which means if you get your gay hate on while we're around, you can expect us to call you out for it, which may include one or both of us breaking into song, which may or may not be a song from Into the Woods and/or South Pacific.

and

4. We will fight to our last breath for the right of Bianca Christine Montgomery to have a meaningful, long and lusty love life with her legally wedded, smoking hot wife, Reese. Because all of us, gay and straight, deserve to have a meaningful, long and lusty love life with someone who we find as smoking hot as Reese. It's a basic, fundamental human right.

So say we all.

And to any LGBT kids out there who might have stumbled upon this blog -- we want to reiterate the message that "It Gets Better."  All My Children probably won't get much better, but your life -- definitely will.

Please join us in supporting these worthy organizations and the important work they do:

The Trevor Project * http://www.thetrevorproject.org/ * Toll free hotline: 866-488-7386
The Trevor Project is a nonprofit endeavor established to promote acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, and to aid in suicide prevention among that group.

GLSEN * http://www.glsen.org
GLSEN is an education organization creating safe schools for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.

PFLAG - Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays * http://community.pflag.org/
PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, their families and friends through: support, education, and advocacy.


WE GIVE A DAMN * http://www.wegiveadamn.org/
The Give a Damn Campaign is for everybody who cares about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality.  But, it’s especially for all you straight people out there! Whether you’re already an active supporter, want to show your support for the first time, or hadn’t given equality a lot of thought before and now want to learn more, we are here to help you get informed about the issues and get involved, at a pace that works for you.

NOH8 * http://www.noh8campaign.com/
the NOH8 Campaign is a photographic silent protest created by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska (http://www.bouska.net) and partner Jeff Parshley in direct response to the passage of Proposition 8. Photos feature subjects with duct tape over their mouths, symbolizing their voices being silenced by Prop 8 and similar legislation around the world, with "NOH8" painted on one cheek in protest.

FAITH IN AMERICA * http://www.faithinamerica.com/
The mission of Faith In America is three-fold: a) to educate the public about the harm caused to gay Americans when religion-based bigotry and prejudice is used to justify condemnation, discrimination and violence; b) to aggressively challenge such oppression by anyone who promotes it or attempts to justify it; and c) to aggressively confront the social respectability and acceptability afforded to Americans who cite religion-based bigotry to oppress gay Americans.

Also, you might want to take time to read this very well written op-ed by Alfred P. Doblin at the North Jersey Record http://www.northjersey.com/columnists/doblin/doblin_100410.html

 And last but not least - Let your voice be heard!

ONLINE CONTACT FORMS FOR MAJOR NETWORKS
http://abc.go.com/site/contact-us
http://www.cbs.com/info/user_services/fb_global_form.php
http://nbc.researchresults.com/?s=10

Thanks for your time!  Ellen & Portia