Pride & Opinions

Pride and Opinions is sad to report the death of Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) today from a cerebral aneurysm she suffered while driving.

Tubbs Jones was a longstanding supporter of the GLBT community, having voted just this past November (2007) to prohibit job discrimination based on sexual orientation.  In July of 2006 she voted NO to a Constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between one man and one woman, having voted no in 2004 on the amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage.

The Human Right Campaign rated Stephanie Tubbs Jones a 100% in December of ‘06, indicating that she was staunchly pro-gay rights while the NAACP rated her 97% on her pro-affirmative action stance.  Here are a few other civil rights-related key points from her career:

• Voted NO on banning gay adoptions in DC. (Jul 1999)
• Constitutional Amendment for equal rights by gender. (Mar 2001)
• More funding and stricter sentencing for hate crimes. (Apr 2001)
• Rated 92% by the ACLU, indicating a pro-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
• Issue a commemorative postage stamp of Rosa Parks. (Dec 2005)
• Re-introduce the Equal Rights Amendment. (Mar 2007)
• Supported legislation on violence against women & safety. (Jul 1999)
• Supported funding for women’s and disadvantaged businesses. (Jul 1999)
  source: ontheissues.org

Tubbs Jones was scheduled to speak at the upcoming Democratic National Convention where the loss of her commanding presence and jovial demeanor will not go unnoticed.

It is important for the GLBT community to not only mourn the losses and celebrate the lives of those who are members of our community or celebrities, but also to those who support us despite the potential fallout and never back down.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones was just that sort and her loss is a great one.

One thing that readers of Pride and Opinions may not know about me is that I once founded and ran a nonprofit organization dedicated to teen suicide prevention.  It is a subject about which I am passionate and devoted, and while I no longer work in that capacity I am no less devout in my support of anyone who does.

Teen suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth are on average three times more likely to attempt suicide.  Suicide is a tragedy regardless of the age of the person involved, but suicide among youth is particularly terrible as many young people lack the coping skills that come along with age and experience and often don’t see any alternative to taking their own lives.

When I read earlier this week about the Trevor Project’s 24-hour suicide hotline dedicated to LGBT youth, I couldn’t help but to be happy that someone has taken the initiative to reach out to this often ignored segment of our society’s youth.  Through a new ad campaign called “I’m Glad I Failed”, the project reaches out by representing young people who have attempted suicide.

For anyone wishing to help spread the word about this project on their own web site, The Trevor Project has made a collection of ads available from their web site in several sizes and options.  You can find a page with all of these downloadable ads here.

The Trevor Helpline, 866-4-U-TREVOR, is a free and confidential service that offers hope through its trained counselors.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, I urge you to contact the Trevor Helpline, or at least tell someone how you are feeling.  If you are on LiveJournal, I moderate a community there called “Suicide Support” where community members offer support to one another and you are welcome to join as well.

Apparently the streets are too gay in San Antonio, Texas.  So says the Second Street Baptist Church, who petitioned the city council to change the name of a street that runs adjacent to the church’s property.

The street’s name is just so Gay.  In fact, it is Gay Street.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pride and Opinions joins with the worldwide leather community in mourning the loss of Larry Townsend, author of the groundbreaking 1970’s book "The Leatherman’s Handbook" and dozens of other titles.

Larry Townsend
27 October 1930 - 29 July 2008

Larry Townsend was a personable and highly adored public figure whose presence will be greatly missed by all who knew him.  There will never be another man who can fill his boots. 

I count myself blessed to have spent time with the man and to have learned and laughed in his presence.

Sadly yours,

Our old buddy Fred Phelps and his inbred Westboro Baptist Church congregation seem to be up to their old tricks again.

This time the family business attempted to travel to Canada but were turned away when the pickup truck they arrived at the border in was covered with their usual form of hate speech.  Phelps’ clan got creative in their subversive activity, shipping their paraphernalia to Canada by courier and driving through without a problem.

Why are they in Canada you might ask?

Read the rest of this entry »

Trey Hardee is a all around athlete who originally hails from Birmingham, Alabama though he now calls Texas home.  His 2008 Olympic dreams were assured when he placed as runner up in the Olympic trials for Track and Field and now that he is in Beijing the stars seem to be aligned in his favor.

This 24 year old weighs in at 210 pounds on his 6′5" frame, and based on looks alone, he is my favorite for this year’s U.S.A. Gold Medal in Track and Field.  Okay, so the truth is that he has an excellent record in the events as well, but with a body like that, his expertise on the field is the last thing on my mind.

I saw Trey’s photo in the Birmingham News recently which led me on my search for more.  In that photo, Hardee proudly displayed the new Olympic tattoo on his shoulder blade.  Unfortunately there was a shortage of photos of the guy, at least the ones you (or I) might be interested in seeing.  Thankfully MySpace came to the rescue and I came to realize that Trey Hardee has a page on MySpace that included both of the beautiful photograph gems displayed here.

Now that the opening ceremonies have taken place and our athletes are hard at work to bring home the precious medals, I hereby call upon all of the Pride and Opinions readers to do their best to be an athletic supporter.

For more info on Trey Hardee and his Olympic ups and downs, keep up with him on these web sites:

• Trey Hardee’s Official Website:  http://www.treyhardee.com
• Trey Hardee on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/treydeca

In Pride and Love,

According to a report in the Huntsville Times, a serial transgender criminal has been found guilty of robbing a bank.

It took a jury only 36 minutes to return a verdict of guilty against Jimmy Maurice Lewis II, a transgender woman who was caught on surveillance cameras robbing an Alabama credit union in Decatur, Alabama on November 9 of last year.  As you can imagine there was a bit of confusion since the tapes seemed to identify Lewis as a woman, though it was the Driver’s License photo that assured them they were looking at the same person.

Lewis, who was allegedly planning to use the stolen money from this and several other bank heists in other states to complete her gender reassignment surgery, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on a return flight from Mexico.  She is currently a prime suspect in at least two other bank robberies in Texas and Tennessee.

It has been a long time since I have screamed such a heartfelt and barbaric "TGIF!" as I did this morning when I sprung from the bed and reached for my first cup of coffee.  It isn’t that anything particularly wonderful is waiting in the wings for this weekend - rather that I am just glad for the past few days to be over.

I was all worked up this morning after listening to Fox News Channel all night (have I not mentioned my partner is a conservative Republican?), but since it is Fabulous Friday I am not going to bitch about that.  Instead I am going to give you my take on the current state of the world. 

This is especially useful for those of you who can’t stand watching the news in the first place - or gay gods forbid reading the news, because I can give you the important points fast enough for you to not miss your pre-weekend tanning appointment and still have time to cruise Manhunt before taking your beau-du-jour to dinner.

Here we go, kids!

Brett Farve: He retired.  He wanted back in.  Green Bay Packers took him back.  Now he’s with the NYC Jets.  To be honest I don’t care where he plays, so long as I get to see his hot self on the screen regularly. 

Kaylee Anthony:  She’s missing.  Her lying, stealing, partying mother did it and her parents should’ve had a V8. 

Orlando, Florida where Kaylee Anthony is missing.

Clark Rockefeller: First off, are we sure this guy isn’t Wood Allen?  I mean really.  Second, he is another sociopath who claims to be anyone and everyone that will make him feel better about himself.  Why can’t we just accept that he is a nobody who found a stupid woman who would take him at his word (and to this day doesn’t know his real name), and move on?  We got the kid back, just send him to Gitmo, already.

Now that I have covered the national headline makers for the week, I feel as though you have enough information to carry on a semi-lucid conversation at the bar when someone mentions any of these topics.  My work here is done.

If you think Fabulous Friday is over for the week though, you’d better grab a Red Bull and take it by the horns, baby.  There’s more to come!

So it is that a certain presumed Republican nominee for the November Presidential race has deemed it necessary to resort to petty juvenile cracks directed at a certain presumed Democratic nominee’s celebrity status.  The aforementioned Republican nominee has further seen fit to involve the names and likenesses of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, no less.

John McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis was quoted after the commercial spot was released as saying “the focus on events and activities is much more something you would expect from someone releasing a new movie than running for President.”

Perhaps the McCain camp is simply not able to grasp the idea that we live in a different world than the one in which McCain was taken as a prisoner of war.  We live in a fast paced, modern society in which all people in the public eye – no matter what form that position takes – must evolve along with the society they represent.

It appears to me as though John McCain’s age is his biggest obstacle in this election season, and even my devoutly Republican partner (gods help me) admits that he is too old to be the President of the United States.  Still, instead of making fun of his opponent for having the attention of the world he may want to instead take a few notes.

It should come as no surprise alas, that Ms. Hilton would have something to say about the whole thing, and surprisingly her response was quite well articulated.

Kudos to Paris Hilton for having the most honest and entertaining political commercial of the 2008 election season.

Take that, bitches.

Pride isn’t just about the sultry summer months full of white parties and parades, it is – or at least it should be – an every day thing.

Every day is Pride Day.

I don’t care whether you have a gym body straight off the pages of Freshmen magazine or if you (like me) have that annoying few pounds that seems to always linger around your middle.  I don’t care whether you work for the government or the local Pizza Hut.  I don’t even care if you wear Walmart jeans instead of Abercrombie.

Your pride should not be dependent upon anyone’s opinion but your own.  If you are not happy with your life then you are ultimately responsible for finding your happiness and for creating a life for yourself that you can be proud of.  If you are being honest with yourself you will come to realize that anything less than that is nothing more than an excuse to revel in your own misery and let’s be real – the world is pretty freakin’ good at making the glbt community miserable so why should we help them out?

The song begs the question “what have you done today to make you feel proud?”  It is a feel good tune to be sure but today I hope you will take a few minutes to seriously consider the question it poses.  If your answer is hard to come by, then ask yourself what you are going to do about it.

Be proud today.  If it is for something you have accomplished, great.  If not, make sure that you are at least proud that you have resolved to improve your self-image because it is truly what you think that really matters and anyone who tries to convince you otherwise is not worth your time.

Heather Small, “Proud”