Rainbow Nightlife

If your in my area and you enjoy the rainbow nightlife there are a few spots you MUST hit up and this list will continue to grow. Let me know your favorite places or experiences...

ICE Nightclub
11425 Joseph Campau Ave
Hamtramck MI
Description: Definitely a guys club but all around a good time! Poles on an open stage, vip lounge upstairs and the greatest blue muthafu.... I've ever tasted. 18+

Orchid
141 West 9 Mile
Ferndale MI
Description: Formally known as Club 9, Orchid is now a straight club but always has a mixed crowd. 18+

GiGis
16920 W. Warren Avenue
Detroit, MI
Description: Gay owned and operated for over 30 years, this place is drag heaven! There is never a dull night, trust me.

Club Innuendo
744 E. Savannah St.
Detroit MI
*** I haven't yet been to Innuendo yet but everyone I talk to says I must go so its earned its spot as the next gay club I will be attending... Stay tuned.

Your gay? What percentage?

Ummm... 100%.

Why do heterosexual men and women, but mostly men always assume that there is a chance that we'll turn straight for them? And they always come with the same excuses.

You just haven't been with the right person.
You'll change your mind after me.
No ones 100%.

Why is it so hard for you to accept the fact that I am not within your reach?

Love is love.

Ive spent a lot of time this week trying to explain how women could date other women, men date men and women, and women date a woman thats now a man and Ive come to the simplest reasoning.....

Love is love.

Love is not a person with hatred and misunderstanding in their heart. Love is not a part of the brain distilled in the idea that things shouldn't change.

Love is an emotion that knows no discrimination. Love lives in the heart where gender age and race doesn't exist.

Too pretty to be gay?

I dislike when people say this statement and the reason I dislike it so much is because I don't understand it!

Like what are you insinuating?
Only ugly people are gay and all pretty people are straight?
Do I not fit the image a lesbian is supposed to fit?
What am I supposed to look like?
Were you expecting short hair and a plaid button-up maybe?
Or do you just not want me to be gay because I'm attractive?

What are you trying to say? Let me know so I can better form my response but in general I just want you to know that the LGBT Community has many faces. A good example of this is EmbodimentUSA. The artists have attempted to portray a portrait of queer life and I think they've done a great job, check it out!

Trying to fit us into a preconceived image is not only wrong but a complete waste of time.

Chalk loves the gays.

39 degree weather and I'm outside drawing you guys this!  :-) But with the weather getting colder and winter right down the street, I will probably have to find another artistic outlet for the explosion of creativity in my head.

And yes everything I draw has rainbows in it! How gay am I? Super. Chalk loves the gays.

Common Misconception #4

BEING GAY IS A PHASE.

My mother believes this with all her heart but I keep telling her that the only portion of my life that was a phase was when I dated boys! lol

Being gay is not a phase people. Its been around for decades, centuries even. If you can't end the phase with hate, violence, threats of mental institution, alienation and stripping us of our rights then I'm pretty sure we're here to stay. The only advice I can give to you is: GET OVER IT! lol

Your salty huh? Not gonna read my blog anymore? LMAO Too bad!

Common Misconceptions #3

BISEXUALS ARE PROMISCUIOUS.

Theres a joke, being bisexual makes you twice as likely to have a date this weekend.

People think that individuals are bisexual so they can sleep with whoever and I was once one of those people but being submerged in the LGBT Community I've learned that its not true.

The easiest way I can explain the reason behind bisexuals being bisexuals is to say that love knows no gender.

When they look at a guy or a girl they see personality, heart, swag... All the things you look at when deciding to pursue someone. The only difference is that unlike you, gender has absolutely no factor.

Common Misconceptions #2

LESBIANS ARE ONLY LESBIANS BECAUSE THEY'VE BEEN HURT TOO MANY TIMES BY A MAN.

This is one of the misconceptions I really have trouble with.

Before I even had a chance to chose which sex I was attracted to I was molested by a man. Of the few that knew they blame me being gay on that situation but that pain has gone. I'm over it and Im still gay.

I think Im gay because Im just generally attracted to women. I don't look at men and get disgusted, there are no flashbacks Im just not attracted to them like I am women.

And whats not to love? Have you ever noticed how beautiful a confident woman is? Standing on her own two feet, handling business? Don't let those two feet be in high heels, or I'm in love! lol

Why did something bad happening have to be the excuse for us to notice such beauty on the our side of the fence? I don't think this accusation is at all true. I believe this is just how we are. We were born to be LGBT.

Common Misconceptions #1

I've run into a lot of misconceptions about the LGBT Community that really need to be put to rest so November begins a new series entitled Common Misconceptions.

Common Misconception #1
GAYS MISSION IN LIFE IS TO RECRUIT HETEROSEXUALS.

Most people think we just sit around and dream up ways to add recruits to our team but thats not how this works.

Thats like saying a humans favorite drink is cyanide. Straight people make great friends but when it comes to making them our significant other, their like poison.

Now Im not saying it never happens, what Im saying is that its not a common practice. Few are brave enough to do this but most of us stick with our own kind.

There are some instances where people have taken advantage of a curious mind or even situations where gay people have genuinely fallen in love with "straight" people.

But heres another thing for you to think about. Can you really influence sexual orientation? Could YOU be influenced to switch sides? Chances are if they were recruited, they were already gay hun.

Self-hate.

"People fear what they don't know and hate what they fear."

*This post is for a very close friend of mine. I'm sorry for not accepting your sexual orientation.

Lesbians don't accept bisexuals.

Femmes don't understand studs.

Females don't like feminine gay guys.

No one accepts the transsexuals unless its as drag.
The list goes on...

I admit, I've had my own issues with accepting different people within our community but I've come to realize that no matter what label we chose to give our self or what gender we chose to love, we are all in this together and we're all that we have.

Our biggest problem within our own community should not be being able to accept ourselves. It may seem like no big deal to you but on a bigger scale, we only have so much power divided. How can we make that outside world believe in our equality or understand us better when we can't do the same for our own people.

We have enough people against us outside of our community we have to learn to stand together, if not for the fight then for support because we're all going through similar deals I can imagine.

I found this on twitter: Leave the judgment 2 the rest of the world #gaycommunity Cause u fail 2 realize if we #dontsupporteachother the world will never support us

A new venture.

Now that my daughter is in school and my days are short I decided to add a new venture to my daily schedule. Today marks the first day that I volunteer in the Gender & Sexuality Center, GSC for short.

I've been here a total of 90 minutes and already I love it! The atmosphere is so much better and nicer, familiar in this little room then the rest of the campus. To be in a room with people who have been through what I've been through and talk about things I'm interested in, who essentially are just like me is just a really great feeling.

Theres no judgement when you walk through the door, no rude comments, no shutting each other down, I'm completely safe... and I love it. This venture has definitely become one of my favorites and I've just started but I can only see it getting better!

My Coming-Out Story

In honor of Coming-Out Day I will be sharing my coming-out story.

I've been attracted to females for as long as I can remember (which probably goes back to middle school) but I didn't come out until my first year of college.

I had a mentor, she was bomb like you wouldn't believe! Beautiful, street smart, intelligent (those are two totally different things if you didn't know!) could dance her ass off, totally confident and I had the biggest crush on her!

Though feelings weren't mutual, she humored me. We talked all the time and with her being my mentor hanging out was totally mandatory. I came out to her first. She came over to hang me and my daughter and I told I had a new crush, a female.

She went nuts! Who? Wait, WHAT?!? It was hilarious but I didn't have the guts to tell her it was her I was crushing on so I lied and said it was some other woman. For those who don't know me, I cannot lie... at all. The tiniest lie will eat at my soul until I tell the truth so I did like a week later.

Some time after she came over again and I was brave, flirt turned on 100% and my mom caught it. She said and I quote, "If I didn't know any better I'd swear you like that girl as more than a friend." I turned to her and said, "Your right, I do." That was almost three years ago.

My mom went insane. More insane then when I told her I was pregnant. You'd have thought I'd hurt my siblings or something with her alternating between sobs and cries of "God, where did I go wrong???"

My mother still hates it and still raises hell every chance she gets. My father, along with more then half my family, disowned me. My mentor/best friend helped me as much as she could but it was a really rough time and I'm sad to say it hasn't gotten any better. The only thing thats changed is my pride in who I am.

It took me almost a year to to realize that at a point in my life where I was finally free I was letting what other people thought of me ruin my happiness. It was then I decided that I would live my life, the way I wanted and not worry about pleasing anyone else and here I stand today.

Shout Out to my bestie! I have no idea how I would have got through without you! Happy Coming Out Day!

Hey Guys!

I know its been almost a week since you guys have heard from me last and I'm so sorry but I've been super busy with life really but there are so many others ways to keep up with me and suggest topics for me to post on.

You can follow me on twitter @D_Pettiford.
My facebook is http://www.facebook.com/proud2bUNIQUE.
And all messages and comments come directly to my email.

I will definitely try to post as much as I can so you guys don't miss me so much!

Its Almost Here!

Coming Out Day is right around the corner! National Coming Out Day (NCOD) is an internationally observed civil awareness day for coming out and discussion about people that are gay, lesbian, bisexual,transgender (LGBT), etc. It is observed by members of the LGBT communities and their supporters (often referred to as "allies") on October 11 every year, or October 12 in the United Kingdom.

I will be posting my story on October 11th. Whats your story?

Future Plans

In honor of receiving news that I am now officially set for graduation I decided to share my future plans. Do you wanna know what I want to be when I grow up?

I want to be a journalist and/or media designer.... of an LGBT publication. Eventually owning my own. That came as no surprise right?

I am majoring in journalism and minoring in graphic design and I absolutely have my heart set on using my degree to better the LGBT community.

A lot of people that know my future plans think their silly, pointless even but upon graduation on April 28, 2012 I'll show them that I can make these plans happen.

A CHALLENGE!

I was talking to a friend the other day. We happened upon the topic of gay slurs and out of it came a challenge.

The challenge: Take the gay slur that you hate the most, define it, redefine it and turn it into a positive phrase. Instead of calling people out like I usually do I will instead be doing this for at least the next 2 days and I hope you'll do it with me.

My most hated gay slur is when something happens that people don't like or they don't agree with and they say, "That's so gay." Meaning it as an insult. Synonyms for the word gay could be stupid, or dumb, not worth it, among so many others.

Now to redefine. I want it to mean something positive, be the phrase people use for something they like.
So from here on out I will use the phrase to mean such. For example: Have you seen those new Sperry's? The plaids with the fake fur inside. Those kicks are so gay! I must cope em' for the upcoming season!

So I actually had that conversation earlier with my sis! Although funny at first it really does change the meaning of the phrase and helps to take away from the anger when you hear it used negatively and who knows, maybe it'll really help your friends to see exactly how important this is to you like its done for me.

If all else fails then you correct whoever said it negatively by stating NICELY that if you really don't like that homework assignment that you just referred to as gay then its probably because your not smart enough to understand it like my gay self can. Then smile and walk away. :)

Either way, you've completed the challenge in my book! lol

UPDATE Beyond the Bar

Beyond the Bar was an amazing exhibit. Hosted at the Start Gallery in Detroit it featured at least 20 different graphic designers. The work was beautiful, the atmosphere was so lovely and the  turnout was amazing,  it was really great to see so many people come out and show their support for a cause so near and dear to my heart.

If you didn't go you definitely missed out on a great event but the host promised more to come and I will definitely try my best to attend as many as I can. I was lucky enough to have a new friend and my best friend attend with me and though she told me no so many times before she has no idea how much it meant to me that she finally said yes.

Beyond the Bar and anyone affiliated will always have a friend in me and this blog, ingeniously titled Born 2b LGBT.


For more photos, taken by Metro Mix .

In Honor of Bi-Sexual Visibility Day!

Kate Lethe, the artist behind Kate or Die, tackles sexual fluidity in cartoon form in her much-needed Bisexuality Series— including the myths about monogamy and, well, existence.

Meanwhile, Tara Mavery, the bisexual trans artist behind Dirtheads, has a spin-off worthy of note: Gooch. Mavery, who is on the steering committee of the Los Angeles Bi Task Force, created Gooch for the group last year, but the fan base became wider than expected.

Courtesy of Diane Anderson-Minshall ADVOCATE

DOMA Destruction Receives it's 1st Republican Sponsor!

What is DOMA? Its the Defense of Marriage Act, signed into law by President Clinton in 1996, is an act that gives states the right to not recognize same-sex marriages performed out of their jurisdiction. Basically, if Sally and Jenny were married in New York and moved to Michigan, their marriage would not be seen or treated as a marriage. Sucks right?

I've been following DOMA for quite some time waiting for its destruct and though it still stands tall it now has Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in ranks to help end it all. Rep. of Florida announced Friday that she would cosponsor a bill to repeal federal law, becoming the first Republican to do so.

“I voted against the constitutional amendment defining marriage [in 2006] so I’m pleased to cosponsor the repeal of DOMA and work with my colleagues on marriage equality,” said Ros-Lehtinen, who represents Florida’s 18th district.

Though the South Florida representative has a long history of voting in favor of LGBT rights, her decision to join 124 House Democrats in cosponsoring the Respect for Marriage Act nevertheless is a bold move, given the Republican House leadership’s defense of DOMA in multiple legal challenges after the Obama administration announced in February it would no longer defend the law.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, original sponsor of the House DOMA repeal bill, called Ros-Lehtinen, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, “a tremendous ally in the world’s struggles for freedom and against oppression and discrimination.”

“She is widely recognized as a champion of human rights and human dignity,” Nadler said. “And her support reminds us that the march to repeal the discriminatory DOMA is not a partisan issue. ... The drive to end DOMA is — and must be — a collective, nonpartisan effort that unites Americans behind a simple push for equality.”

Ros-Lehtinen’s announcement comes just days after the historic end to “don’t ask, don’t tell” — which she also voted to repeal.

For Full Story

Beyond the Bar

Beyond The Bar
Friday, September 23, 2011
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

@AIGA Detroit

206 E. Grand River
Detroit, MI 48226

Detroit itself is home to many talented LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered) individuals who have contributed to our bustling and energetic graphic design and illustration scene. However, despite the vast offerings of LGBT Americans to the professional arts world, so many continue to stereotype the careers of this unique subculture.

We invite you to attend this unique exhibition of design work, have a drink, socialize, show your support and witness the awesome works of these individuals.

This is a free event and food and drinks provided. Thank you to Traffic Jam and Snug and to our Premier SponsorDishKin.

I'll be there to show my support and check out some awesome artisits. Will you?

Societys "Acceptance"

Courtesy of The Detroit Press & The Associated Press

A West Michigan high school that attracted criticism last year for disqualifying votes for a transgender student as homecoming king won't have a homecoming king and queen this year.

The Muskegon Chronicle reports the senior class at Mona Shores High School in Norton Shores instead will vote on two finalists among eight chosen as class representatives.

Last year, the school tossed out ballots on which students had voted Oak Reed as homecoming king. Reed identified himself as a young man. But school officials said rules informed students they were to vote for a boy as king, and Reed was enrolled as a female.

To be more gender neutral, the Muskegon-area school agreed to do away with prom king and queen last spring and homecoming king and queen this year.

*Doing away with the titles of King & Queen does not make you a gay-friendly school in fact it makes you a coward. If a girl doesn't feel like she's a girl then you should be respectful and let her identify as the gender she chooses. Nowhere in any school mission or objectives does it state that the school is in charge of assigning genders. Why? Because that's not your job, its a personal matter and they shouldn't in anyway try to force it.

Transgenders seem to be the hardest of the LGBT community to be accepted even within the our own community but if no one else you guys have a friend in me! :)

Bold Moves

Courtesy of: Andrew Harmon, The Advocate 

The mother of a gay teenager who committed suicide last year met Thursday with Rep. Michele Bachmann’s office to ask, at the very least, that the congresswoman publicly denounce anti-LGBT bullying.

Tammy Aaberg, whose 15-year-old son, Justin, was a perpetual target of harassment by fellow students and hanged himself in July 2010, was joined by three students from the Anoka-Hennepin School District and two fellow anti-bullying advocates in a meeting with Deb Steiskal, Rep. Bachmann’s constituent services officer, that lasted just over an hour at the congresswoman’s district office in Waite Park, Minn. The group delivered a petition with 141,000 signatures urging Bachmann to speak out on school bullying.

“I think Congresswoman Bachmann is in a leadership role to speak out against bullying,” especially now that she is running for the GOP presidential nomination, Aaberg told The Advocate. “I’m not asking her to change her beliefs. But all kids should be protected in school.”

In a meeting that she described as cordial and productive, Aaberg talked about the pervasive bullying her son had faced. The problem was compounded by a school policy that did not adequately counter such harassment, she said. To the contrary, Justin’s school allowed such events as the “Day of Truth” to occur: The annual antigay event is organized by the social conservative legal group Alliance Defense Fund, though the ex-gay group Exodus International has also supported Day of Truth in the past. 

Bachmann’s past statements on the issue have been less than compassionate, however. “I just don't know how we're ever going to get to point of zero tolerance, and what does it mean?” she said during a 2006 Minnesota Education Committee hearing in reference to school anti-bullying policies. “What will be our definition of bullying? Will it get to the point where we are completely stifling free speech and expression? Will it mean that what form of behavior will there be — will we be expecting boys to be girls?”

“This was a meeting, not a protest. The point was to try and get [Congresswoman Bachmann] to actually listen to her constituents, and people around the country who are concerned about this issue,” Bonds said. 

Aaberg will travel to Washington, D.C. next week for a second-annual summit on bullying held by the Department of Education.

What is in a word...

I'm the type of person that puts a lot of thought into choosing the right words to use and likewise I'm also the type of person that notices different relationships between different words. The word I noticed today was homosexuality.

What I noticed was the ending -ality I realized that its the same ending used in words like reality, personality, actuality. Now I know that this is probably a huge coincidence but I looked into it anyway.

The suffix -ality doesn't really mean much so I settled for the definition of -ity which is a suffix used to form abstract nouns expressing a state or condition. Pair that with homosexual which obviously means gay.... the state or condition of being gay. The words state or condition would or COULD imply that its a set condition.

So why is it such a hard word for people to swallow? Reality, insanity, personality... All these words though some negative are accepted, gold even so why is homosexuality questioned? Makes you wonder huh?

My One Request

My One Request: Watch what you say.

The one thing I will never grow to tolerate are offensive statements made against the LGBT community. That's the number one way for people to become dead to me. I've come to realize though that its gotten so bad that people don't even know their saying it. So this is a Public Service Announcement to you...

A teammate of mine posted a stat saying "Darts and wine. Keeping it classy." Another one of my teammates comments "Homo!" I wouldn't have taken it offensively if she were implying that all homosexuals are classy but I know she wasn't.

"That's so GAY!" Said when something happens that you don't like or something disgusts you.

I have another teammate that faithfully says "No Homo." after every statement he makes. It drives me insane and of course no one sees the error in these kind of comments.

My own mother refuses to say that I am gay instead referring to me as "sexually insane and confused."

Look, I don't care if you don't like it or don't agree with how I live but that does NOT make it okay for you to just insult us all the time even when you don't notice your doing it. Its about R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

My Personal Rainbow

That is my rainbow anklet. From the time I came out almost three years ago I have never really been without it.

Back when I used to let peoples judgement affect the way I felt about myself a very close friend of mine bought it for me. Well technically, this is number two, the first wore out and my teammate made me another one. Anyways it seems like no big deal right?

This anklet (and the one before) has been with me through every sneer, every rude comment, every event, every night out.... What it signifies for me is PRIDE. Pride in who I am, what Im apart of, what I stand for, who I stand with. Pride in my beliefs, in my freedom to just be me and likewise, whenever I dont want to speak up it burns into my ankle I swear.

I think everyone should have one. Maybe not exactly like mine but something thats a constant reminder as well as statement of pride.

Seth's Law Passes.

Seth's Law Passes.

If you haven't been following the huge amount of lgbt suicides due to bullying this past year, there was one in particular that caught a lot of attention. It was the story of a 13-year-old boy in California named Seth Walsh.

Soon after a battle began to stop schools from looking the other way when students are bullied because of their sexual orientation. That battle ended Friday when Seth's Law was passed. This means that public schools will now be required to create policies for addressing bullying incidents. This is a huge step for a state who repealed their legalizing of gay marriages.

The law passed through the state Senate on Friday and had already been approved by the state Assembly in June, so it now heads to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature.

This may not affect us much here in Michigan but I like to follow all lgbt advances all over the nation because a victory in California is still a victory and it gives me hope that other states will follow suite.

What does LGBTQIA mean?

Every time we think we have a handle on our community's title more letters are added. So what do they all mean?

LESBIAN- Which of course is a woman attracted to other women.
GAY-Describes both males and females attracted to the same sex but is more associated with the males attracted to other males.
BISEXUAL-A person to whom love knows no gender and are attracted to both sexes.
TRANSGENDER-Any person that does not follow gender norms such as androgynous, cross-dressers, drag queens and kings, transsexuals and some others.
TRANSSEXUAL-Any person who changes there gender to align with the gender they feel they better identify with.
QUESTIONING- Any person that is currently trying to figure out their sexual orientation.
INTERSEX- One whose privates do not match male or female standards.
ALLY- A person who is an advocate against homophobia, heterosexism, heterosexual privilege, biphobia, transphobia and society's gender norms.
ASEXUAL-One who has no either no sexual interest or only a sexual interest in their self.

Some argue that its too much, too long but I look at from a completely different angle. With each added letter we add more people to our family. More people means more power and with our battle at the forefront of the nation growing can only help us. And our open-mindedness allows us to do just that, grow. Who knows how many more letters we'll add in the next five years but you should never look at it as a bad ordeal because it isn't.

What are some other groups of people (or letters) you think should be added?

The sanctity of marriage.

Gay people cannot be allowed to marry because it will desecrate the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.

So wait, back up. Heterosexuals are worrying about us ruining the sanctity of marriage??? What about Hollywood highlighting marriages for citizenship and money, and adultery in their movies? With the divorce rate marked at 40% in 2008 and people getting married numerous times? Liza Minnelli had been married and divorced four times. Britney Spears had her marriage annulled just days after. And every knows Anna Nicole Smith married for the money.

Why isn't there a war against getting a divorce? A war against re-marrying or marrying for any other reason other then love? These are the things ruining the sanctity of marriage. So why do people think that gay marriage is one of these factors?

The only reason I could possibly think of is fear, fear of change. Just because a female marrying a female isn't what you think is normal does not mean that you have the right to make sure it doesn't happen. And just because to try to make sure it doesn't happen does not mean that we as a people will not prevail.

Just as the African Americans fought for their freedom, like interracial couples fought to get married, like Arab Americans fought for acceptance, the LGBT Community will not only continue to fight but I believe we will one day win our fight for equality.

One day people will see that love is love no matter the genders it is between, no matter the difference (or similarities) between the two seeking this union. One day people will begin to accept us for who we are, human beings, and will see that ALL human beings deserve the same rights. One day I will be able to marry the woman of my dreams in any state apart of these United States and that one day will come soon so don't sleep on us.

My favorite advocates for gay marriage: FCK H8

What should be the caption?

Rick Perry's New Promise

Presidential Candidate Rick Perry signed an anti-gay marriage pledge promising that if elected he will put into place a Constitutional Amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. All this from a man who only a month ago was for individual rights and "fine" with New York allowing gays to marry.

When asked about the sudden flip-flop he replied with this, "I probably needed to add a few words after that 'It's fine with me.' Obviously gay marriage is not fine with me. My stance hasn't changed. I believe marriage is a union between one man and one woman."

Why did he change his mind? I personally feel like this man is a puppet; weak and does what he's told he should do. Either that or he just can't make up his own mind so he follows suit. Is the the type of man you want running your country?

What does it mean? Well for one, if he's elected the Republican Party would rule the world which could spell disaster for the entire United States.

But more specifically what does it mean for us, the gay community? If he or any of his other buddys' that signed this promise get elected to office it will be a huge setback for the entire LGBT Community. We'll be pushed back to square one and I think its safe to say that if the amendment passes it'll only bring harder blows as far as society and the government trying to make us less than people.

What can we do to stop this? Other than encourage everyone to exercise their right to vote, we can make our voices heard. Tell why this is wrong. Your words may fall on a lot of deaf ears but one person will hear you and who knows, that maybe be that one person difference in our victory.

How do you feel about presidential candidates signing this anti-gay marriage pledge?

Jerry Buell's Fredom Of Speech

I'm sure you've all read about the Jerry Buell story. If not here's a qiuck refresher. A high school teacher was taken out of the classroom and placed into an administrative job after posting a gay-bashing statement on his facebook page. He has since been placed back into the classroom. The message read:
 

“I’m watching the news, eating dinner, when the story about New York okaying same sex unions came on and I almost threw up. And now they showed two guys kissing after their announcement. If they want to call it a union, go ahead. But don’t insult a man and woman’s marriage by throwing it in the same cesspool as same-sex whatever! God will not be mocked. When did this sin become acceptable???”….
“….I will never accept it and refuse to condone it or shut my eyes to it. It is an insult to the marriage between my wife and I. We are married, don’t know what the heck those people call it but it ain’t a marriage…

Unlike most Americans I do not feel like this was a question of free speech, he obviously can say whatever he wants whenever he pleases. You may not like it but thats just part of living in the United States. I do however think that this was a question of morals. It is okay to have your own personal feelings but there are some professions that morally force you to not use and abuse certain rights. Just follow me for a second, it leads to a valid point.

A journalist cannot write stories with purposeful biased, a police officer cannot make false arrests because he has a personal vendetta, and teachers should not be able to openly express any views that can possibly hurt or badly influence any of their students. Think about it! If a teacher believed that 9/11 was a conspiracy would you want him teaching that to your child? Its the same kind of situation just a more controversial subject.

Its kind of hard to think that gays and gay marriage is still frowned upon in this day and age but its even harder to think that freedom of speech is still freedom of speech even when hurts a huge group of people.  This case should have been considered bullying or making some hate statement. And he really wasn't punished.

I want to know your opinion on this case.

Get to know me.

My name is Desiree and my passion is empowering the LGBT Community. Why? Because years ago when I came out as a lesbian to family and friends there was no lifelines, no positive opinions. I felt like there was no one on my side to help me find that pride in being who I was. So after I went through so much confusion and negative perspectives on my lifestyle, I decided  I would try to be that light at the end of the tunnel for anyone who has been through what I've been through and anyone looking for reasons to be proud to be gay, proud to be bisexual, proud to be apart of our community. Its such a big mission for a 21-year-old but someone has to take that stand for all of us and if I can help just one person with this blog then I've made a difference.