Suck this!

NOT THIS......



In keeping with my New Year's Resolution, I am trying to quit smoking (AGAIN!). This time it's for good. Big thanks to my good friends, Michael & Eric, for supplying me with my Nictorol inhalers. So, for the next month I will be puffing on a hard plastic dispenser to wean me off of my addiction to cigarettes. Wish me luck----and be nice to me, for gosh sake's!

Time to vote

Nominations are in and now it's time to vote for the Arkansas 2006 GLBT Person of the Year. Go to LittleRockPride.com to read about the nominees and see where to vote.
From your friends at http://www.littlerockpride.com/.
Happy New Year to all. Be safe and let's make 2007 the best yet for our community in Arkansas.

New Year's Resolutions

Like many people, each year at this time I sit down and think about how I can improve myself and thus my overall life. This year I have decided to break my resolutions down into categories. So here they are….

Leadership—I resolve to throw myself heart-&-soul into my new role as president of Little Rock Capital Pride. This is my number one priority.

Health—I am going to become a non-smoker and get into shape

HIV/AIDS—I am going to become certified to do testing and volunteer more with Arkansas AIDS Foundation

Finances—I am going to start saving 10% of my limited income. Getting sick totally wiped me out financially and I have to budget myself better.

Spiritually—I am going to find a faith community to join. This is a big step for me as I have been burned pretty bad by organized religion.

Friends—I am going to try very hard to stay in better contact with my friends.

I also have one for my family, but it is just too personal to share.

I wish health, happiness and love to everyone in 2007!

NY's Bravest (and SEXIEST!)

Yesterday I got my Christmas present in the mail from Richard--- The FDNY Calendar of Heroes! My ex knows me all too well. Except for last year when he gave me the box set of the original Wonder Woman television series (LOVED IT!), the calendar has become his traditional gift to me. This has become one of my all-time favorite holiday traditions :) I am a big fan of FDNY and I love to know that my oogling of their shirtless members is actually benefitting such a noble cause. These fine men (in more ways than one) risk their personal safety on a daily basis and no one can forget their heroism and loss on 9/11. You can order your own calendar at http://firezone.stores.yahoo.net/ . (blogger note: the above photograph is copyrighted by Cary Hazelgrove and FDNY Foundation, so don't turn me in!)

Queer of the Year poll

Who Is The Queer Of The Year 2006?
	Laurel Hester
	Lane Hudson
	Kim Coco Iwamoto
	Mike Jones
	Rosie O'Donnell
	Soulforce
pollcode.com

Honoring Our Own

I would like to share a couple of fun polls that are being conducted within the community. Everyone knows that each year Time Magazine names a Person of the Year and I think it is great that the GLBT community is also recognizing those that are making a difference within our own ranks.

First off, LittleRockPride.com is holding nominations for an Arkansas 2006 GLBT Person of The Year. I am very proud of the strides we are making in my home state and I think it is great that we have this chance to recognize those individuals (and groups) that are making a difference. Not to influence your vote, but off the top of my head I can think of several deserving recipients…Kathy Webb, ACLU-Arkansas, The Arkansas AIDS Foundation, Stonewall Democrats, CAR/CLQA, Barb and her site LittleRockPride.com, The Star and The Pink Spectrum, The NWA GLBT community center, Literary Pride and Cinema Pride, The Pink House guys that organize Conway Pride, the folks behind Eureka Springs Diversity Weekend, the Diamond State Rodeo Association, Eric Reece of PALS, Cornelius Mabin of The Body Politic (see links), Rick Ramsey and The Arkansas Gay History blog (see links), The Human Rights Campaign, Carolyn Wagner of Families United Against Hate, our Gay/Straight Alliances, our bar, business owners, entertainers and gay professionals and our couples that openly celebrate their commitment ceremonies…..the list can go on and on. Let’s take a moment to think about those that have given back and recognize their achievements! Nominations should be sent to barb@littlerockpride.com by December 29th and voting will be held December 30th-January 5th. For more information, visit http://littlerockpride.com/ and while you’re there, check out some of the Profiles in Pride, read the blogs, vote in the surveys, check the calendar for upcoming events and see the links and advertisers that our supporting our community. I think we have a lot to be proud of here in the GLBT community of Arkansas.

Next, I would like to promote Joe.My.God’s Queer of the Year poll. Anyone that reads my blog is aware of my near idol-worship of Joe’s blog and I am glad to help get the word out for Queer of the Year. Below you can see the six finalist and vote for your favorite. I must admit that I was not familiar with a couple of the nominees, but it is well worth your time to read up on them--- just visit http://joemygod.blogspot.com/ and click on the links to their bios. Have fun!

Blogging note--- I am having problems with the HTML code for The Queer of The Year poll, so just visit the Joe.My.God site and vote there until I can get it resolved.

Posting hiatus

Sorry that I haven’t posted for some time, but much has been going on and I haven’t had the time or focus. I went to Atlanta on the 6th and had a great time celebrating my exes birthdays (both Frank and Richard had b-days in November—what is it about those Scorpios?). I had lunch with Richard and Frank flew back in from NYC and we had dinner and drinks with my friend Brian. I also had the chance to pop into the Atlanta Pride Committee office and visit with Jennifer, Trisha and Donna. Let me tell you that these ladies have it going on! I can not begin to tell you how supportive APC has been towards me and LRCP---they truly are invested in helping us get organized and are always willing to take the time to help in whatever way they can. They are my mentors and I am truly blessed to know them.

Shortly after returning back to Arkansas, I was invited over to David and Chad’s house where I had a bomb dropped on me--- David had taken a new job and was going to have to step down as President. To make a long story short, I have been elected the new President of Little Rock Capital Pride (to see the full story visit LittleRockPride.com ) I am going to ask for everyone’s support during this transition and want to be clear that our group is very dedicated to the success of our event and organization. We are making strides in our planning and truly reaching out to the greater community for their input and support.

Building a more perfect world

Today’s blog post is a call to action. First off, I would like to share a recent feature from LittleRockPride.com

“In a perfect world:

There would be no division or infighting within the GLBT community in Arkansas.

All of the groups would work together to promote one another and would gather together at the pride events as “one.”

Every gay-owned business would support others in the community whether by networking or by providing financial support for the various fundraising events.

We as a community would take care of one another first.

The community would hire those who are gay for essential services and would make purchases at gay owned businesses when given a choice.

We would care, as a whole, how we presented ourselves to the community in all areas of our lives.

We’d help candidates get elected who would support equal rights for all in the GLBT community.

We would speak out when possible for our rights.

Before we criticized another individual or group that is actually doing something for the community, we would stop and ask ourselves “What am I doing?”

If the answer to that was “nothing,” we’d find a way to do our part, because it takes all the small things we each do to create change.
Check out Civil Rights history and learn how the Blacks gained equality as human beings and there will be found ideas for us because it’s far from a perfect world and our local community is in need of hope.”

Here is the comment that I posted in response;

“I whole-heartedly support the vision outlined in this post. I believe that we are poised at a great time and place to have a real opportunity of community building. I think that we are making historic strides toward gaining our place at the table and hope that we can capitalize on this momentum. We have Pride events in Little Rock, Eureka Springs and Conway. We have a community center in Northwest Arkansas underway. We have our first elected representative. We have ACLU-Arkansas winning landmark cases for us. We have bars and nightclubs for socializing. We have DSRA that hosts a rodeo that attracts visitors from surrounding areas. We have this site and a couple of GLBT print medias. We have activists groups, GSAs, political groups, gay and gay-friendly churchs and religious groups, AIDS Service Organizations, book and movie clubs. We have an infrastructure in place to mobilize this community and we can not let divisiveness become our undoing. I propose that we have a townhall meeting for the GLBT community where we invite ALL of the community, business owners, activists and organizations. We get EVERYONE together and strategize on how we can unite this community for the common good. No elected leaders, no bylaws, no finger-pointing, and no drama. Just honest-to-goodness brainstorming on ideas like creating an umbrella coalition of various GLBT groups so that we can share information and resources, creating a GLBT chamber of commerce so that we can support our own and planning for a local community center to provide meeting places for various groups and a safe social setting for our young people. I think you are right that we should look to the civil rights movement as our guide. The African-American community has always been as diverse and multi-faceted as the GLBT community--- there have always been many different opinions on how best to achieve equality and social justice, but they UNITED and became one strong movement because of it. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” I say we get together and find our voice and demand our rights to live, love and be.”


I am glad to see that others in our community also see the need to come together and strategize on ways that we can unite our efforts. Here is information on an upcoming conference that is being planned and I challenge everyone that has an interest in our continued progress to give it their support and attend. It is time for us to quit “wishing” things were different and start “working” towards making change happen.

UCA PRISM is hosting a Queer Coalition Conference to be held atHendrix College on February 16-17, 2007. This conference will bringtogether many LGBTQA organizations in the state to have a dialogueabout our movement and to build effective skills for networking,communicating, and utilizing outreach in our respective communities. Organizations co-organzing this conference include UCA PRISMGay-Straight Alliance, Hendrix Unity, the Conway League of QueerActivists, Henderson State University Queer-Straight Alliance, theCenter for Artistic Revolution, and more.The cost of the conference is $10 which can be mailed in or paid theday of the conference. This price is negotiable for limited incomeparticipants. Registration forms are REQUIRED for each participantand must be submitted by January 22, 2007. This form, along with aninvitation letter and a preliminary conference schedule can be foundat the Queer Coalition Yahoo! Group:http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/queercoalitionMake sure to join this group to receive the latest updates and alsojoin our Facebook Group if you haven't already:http://uca.facebook .com/group. php?gid=2219322160(You do not have to be a member of a Queer organization to attend. We welcome ALL people!)

Healthy Relationships

I wanted to share with everyone a workshop that I personally will be attending the week of December 18th. I encourage anyone that fits the target demographic to attend as well. I have heard very positive (no pun intended) feedback on the workshop and it is important that we meet the CDC requirement of attendance in order to ensure future prevention funding. If you know of anyone that may be interested in attending, please have them contact Yolanda as soon as possible.

Wanted!!!!!
Participants for Healthy Relationships workshop

Qualifications:
Age: 24 to 44
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Men who have sex with Men (MSM)
Ethnicity: Caucasian
HIV Status: Positive


The training consists of 1 workshop of 5 – 2 hr sessions held between 6 to 8pm. The workshops will be closed and consist of about 8 to 10 individuals. Participants will be compensated with meals and gift cards for attending the workshop. After completing the workshop, participants will be able to make better decisions on disclosure, risk reduction behaviors, and stress reduction.

For More Info, Contact:
Yolanda West
(501) 376-6299
or email: west@araidsfoundation.org

Youth in Action

In today’s blog I just want to give major KUDOS to the young people in our community. I had the chance to attend a World AIDS Day event in Conway hosted by The UCA Rotaract chapter in conjunction with UCA PRISM (gay-straight alliance). Before the event, I met up with PRISM president, Amanda Harris, and some of their group for their Friday Visibility. Every other Friday, these GLBT young people stand on a busy intersection in Conway during rush hour and hold signs promoting equality and tolerance. According to Amanda, they do this to show others that there are gay and lesbians in their community and to show other GLBTers that they are not alone. It was a cold afternoon, but still more than a half dozen young people stood for almost an hour, held signs, waved at passing cars and showed that we are a part of the community. Obviously there were some mixed reactions--- some smiled, some honked their horns (I, the optimist, took as a show of support), some yelled anti-gay sentiments (most notably, “Go home faggots” to which I replied “We are home”—hell, I went to high school less than ten miles away in Vilonia for god’s sake!) but almost everyone slowed down to look. These college kids could have done a lot of other things on a Friday afternoon but they chose to once again stand up and make their voices heard. Makes you stop and think about what you are doing for the cause, doesn’t it? It definitely renewed my faith in our youth and the impact they are having. In February a conference is being planned to build a coalition connecting gay-straight alliances from colleges and high schools across the entire state. I encourage everyone is the GLBT community to consider how important this mission would be for all of us and to support these young people in their noble effort. I will post more in coming weeks about specific ways you can help.

The World AIDS Day event was very informative and enjoyable. I finally had the chance to meet Eric Reece of PALS, who my friend Carolyn Wagner (http://www.fuah.org/) has been raving about for sometime. Eric was on the panel with Courtney Hampton from the Health Department, Cornelius Mabin (http://www.corneliusonpoint.blogspot.com/), a Conway woman living with HIV and an international student who has been working with UNESCO in raising AIDS awareness since the age of 14.

Here is to our young people making a difference--- may it inspire us all to renew our commitment to doing our part.

World AIDS Day part 2

If you would like to do something to commemorate World AIDS Day, may I suggest….

Call To Action For World AIDS Day 12-1 (special thanks to Rick Ramsey for this information)




Hate crime victim Matthew Shepard would have turned 30 years old on December 1st. He was HIV positive at the time of his death. It is unknown if he knew his HIV status before he was murdered. Here are a couple of things you can do:

Get Tested for HIV. Use protection and have safer sex EACH AND EVERY TIME! Click here for a guide to safer sex: http://www.sexuality.org/concise.html Click here for HIV information http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite

Light a virtual candle at the link below. When you light your candle, please remember hate crime vitctim Matthew Shepard who was HIV positive at the time of his death, in addition to all those who have passed away from HIV and AIDS related causes, and those living with and affected by HIV and AIDS. Bristol-Myers is donating $1 to the National AIDS Fund every time someone goes to their website and moves the match to the candle and lights it. Please forward to your friends family and colleagues. It takes a second to raise a dollar.

https://www.lighttounite.org/

After you light your candle, please pass this important message on. Respect Each Other and Play Hard But Safe! We Remember!

Buy Red




Yahoo! has a special page set up in honor of World AIDS Day http://shopping.yahoo.com/holiday/red.html On this page you can click to make a donation to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, view and buy Red products with a portion of the proceeds benefiting The Global Fund to Fight AIDS and learn more about the reason we mark this day.

Act Locally



Here in Little Rock, The Arkansas AIDS foundation (http://www.araidsfoundation.org/ ) has several upcoming fundraising events. Go to their website and find an event that you may want to attend. I personally will be going to Simply Red next Friday. Visit LittleRockPride.com and get more information on the event calendar.