Dying to Be Thin: Scale of Self-Worth

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday June 23, 2011 · 6:42 AM PDT

2011/06/23 · 06:42

Intense coldness is an uncomfortable feeling for humanity due to the absence of a normal body temperature. There were nights that required me to wear a heating pad as if it were an extension of my clothing. My body temperature was too low, but that was just the beginning. My hair which normally grew like plants in a greenhouse slowed, and my nails became very brittle and were blue more times then not because of poor circulation as well as the low body temperature. Also, the cycle of sleep was in pure disruption with my waking at before 3 AM on most days so I could exercise. Even as my skin began to turn yellow, my speech began to slow, and I had little energy after the hours of exercise I just kept on going. If I didn't really pay attention to what I saw and felt in the pain of these medical conditions it was not real. Denial was my best friend because as long as I could still go power walking or lifting weights I was "healthy".

Liberalindependent28

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday September 27, 2010 · 2:12 PM PDT

2010/09/27 · 14:12

At 21 years old I walked into the voting booth back in 2008 to cast my first vote for President. After 8 years of the Bush administration's failure on a lot of fronts I was energized to vote for a defined change of course to this country. The Democratic party platform as well as the powerful rhetoric being used by Democratic candidates across the country had me 'fired up and ready to go'. The promise to work towards a better country where healthcare was a right, LGBT people moved closer to equality, and the job creation engine began again to repair our broken economy would have a better chance. The joy I felt at seeing the Democratic party win such solid majorities in the House and Senate gave me hope that the change I sought would be closer then ever.

Liberalindependent28

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday May 17, 2010 · 1:57 PM PDT

2010/05/17 · 13:57

This is going to be a short yet sweet diary. The conversation about marriage equality is ongoing in the United States. With the existence of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) it proves that we have a ways to go as far as valuing LGBT Americans. Today is a day of celebrating for LGBT people in Portugal...

Liberalindependent28

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday May 15, 2010 · 8:46 AM PDT

2010/05/15 · 08:46

We should fast forward to a few months from now when the politicians on both the right and the left will be campaigning for votes. It will be compelling to hear the Democrats make the pitch to the LGBT community. The back and forth that continues is disheartening to say the least. At some point this party will need to definitely choose a side: the homophobes they currently are pandering to or LGBT people. The inaction is causing immense pain and loss. They can't have their rainbow cake, and eat it too while telling LGBT people that made the cake that we can't get credit for making it anymore.

Liberalindependent28

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday May 11, 2010 · 3:00 PM PDT

2010/05/11 · 15:00

It was not too long ago that I made the personal decision to come out to my family as a Gay person. In fact, it was a process that took quite a while, but it made a profoundly positive difference in my life. For once in my life I felt like the personal success in my life was truly liberating because I did so as who I was and still am. This was nearly 6 years ago when I was 19, and I respect that everyone has their own journey as an LGBT person. We often face immense prejudice, discrimination, and hostility from many people from strangers to family members. Thus, the issue of coming out is very personal to me, and I'd like to focus on why coming out is needed if things like the Defense of Marriage Act or Don't Ask, Don't Tell are ever going away.

Liberalindependent28

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday March 10, 2010 · 11:06 AM PST

2010/03/10 · 11:06

Over the past year the emotional turmoil LGBT people have gone through has been very intense. There has been the individual state victories and losses of marriage equality as well as the first federal law helping LGBT people signed by President Obama. We are much better off today then we were under President Bush and the Republican majority considering we do now have a federal statute on hate crimes protecting LGBT people. Unfortunately, this is no where near where the laws need to be, and this is the ongoing story of struggle that continues in 2010.

Liberalindependent28

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday January 16, 2010 · 7:50 AM PST

2010/01/16 · 07:50

Since 2004 during the Bush-Kerry campaign the United States of America has watched a host of marriage bans enacted by voters in various states across the country from Ohio to Florida. It is this period of six years from 2004 to 2010 that we have seen mountain's and valley's for the LGBT community and our Heterosexual allies across the country. Often we hear about the negative, hateful, and prejudiced rhetoric that surrounds the campaign of those anti-LGBT individuals actively working towards enacting an anti-Gay marriage amendment to their state constitution. But all too often what remains invisible to so many people is the intense pain, loss, and suffering that results from this prejudice and ultimately discrimination against LGBT people. Please follow me below the fold for some personal and social commentary regarding the fall out from anti-Gay campaigns for those they are directed at.

Liberalindependent28

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday January 08, 2010 · 6:59 AM PST

2010/01/08 · 06:59

Marriage Equality has become a point of contention for the LGBT community across the globe. As we attempt to attain the dignity, equality, and protections under the law still denied to us in most places in the world it is nice to see that work starting to pay off. In the knowledge of watching our rights being under assault in the United States it certainly places things in perspective. No one can stop the tide of history because we will be making history by moving forward.

Follow me below the fold for additional details.

Liberalindependent28

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday January 05, 2010 · 12:17 PM PST

2010/01/05 · 12:17

This past year was highly emotional regarding the issue of Marriage Equality for same-sex couples. We won victories in states through the state legislatures of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The LGBT community also saw Marriage Equality won in the state of Iowa through state Supreme Court decision. Thus, we have had a lot of movement forward. Sadly, with the loss of equality in Maine, we are reminded once again as we were in California that certain states have the ability to strip us of our rights by mere ballot initative. Marriage Equality is vital to the LGBT community not merely for the over one thousand federal rights, but also it is representative of being fully equal to our Heterosexual friends. Thus, the question becomes: In this new year, what about 2010?

Liberalindependent28

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday December 15, 2009 · 10:54 AM PST

2009/12/15 · 10:54

Planet earth is a vast stage upon which a diversity of people acts out the scenes of our lives on a daily basis. This diversity sometimes becomes a focal point for intense distrust, animosity, and sadly violence over said differences. Humanity likes to divide and categorize ourselves into distinct groups of people based on largely socially constructed characteristics ranging from race, gender, religion, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and so on. Instead of celebrating the unique individuality of such diversity of identity humanity has all too often used such differences as a means to justifying destructive ends. The indifference displayed all too often for the history that is an open book for all to read is a major social problem. Our disconnection to the plight and pain of our fellow sisters and brothers as a united human race across this planet must be examined if we are going to improve life for all.

Liberalindependent28

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday December 10, 2009 · 10:51 AM PST

2009/12/10 · 10:51

The notion of marrying the man or woman you love and spending the rest of your lives together is a dream shared by many people in the United States and around the world. Civil Marriage as a right derived from state and federal government helps the couple move their lives along with a host of rights, responsibilities, and privelages. This is a positive social development by promoting monogamous, healthy, and life long love that you share with the man or woman that you love. Civil Marriage, therefore, is a legal and social institution that is separate from the religious conception of Marriage. While a Heterosexual couple can indeed attain both the religious sacrament of Marriage is optional and does not confer any of the legal rights that a Civil Marriage does. All too often there is a misconception in our society that Civil Marriage and the sacrament of Marriage offered by a house of worship are one in the same when they are in fact not. The debate over Marriage Equality for Lesbian and Gay couples continues to rage in the United States as victories for equality are attained and then rolled back by the popular vote in states like California and Maine. Please follow me below the fold for more discussion.

Liberalindependent28

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday December 06, 2009 · 8:17 AM PST

2009/12/06 · 08:17

As a young Gay man there is one thing that deeply troubled me through out my academic career. Often in classes we learned about civil rights heroes of previous movements around the world. We learned about such very important names like Martin Luther King, Jr., Elizabeth Stanton, Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Betty Friedan, and so on. These leaders and human rights activists serve as a beacon of hope not just for their communities, but for all of us. In particular, these men and women of strength and amazing courage helped to set examples we all would like to emulate for the great things they achieved. As you can note, however, young LGBT people like myself for the most part did not have the privelage to read about important LGBT people in our history nor the immense contributions they made to their societies. Our history as a people and what people within our community have achieved is important to know as a source of empowerment, knowledge, and hope that despite everything still going on that we can be successful on our own terms. Thus, young LGBT people today are still largely robbed of our history and reference points with which to have a better understanding of what and how we have contributed to this world. Follow me below the fold for further elaboration.

Newer
Older

RSS

Dying to Be Thin: Scale of Self-Worth

From Hope to Reality: 2010 Midterms

Breaking: President Silva Ratifying Marriage Bill

The Cost of a Gay Rainbow Cake

Opening the Closet Door

LGBT Rights: New Decade, Same Struggle

Anti-Gay Campaigns: The Toll on Human Life

Breaking: Portugal's Parliament Passes Marriage Equality

Marriage Equality in 2010: Vote in NJ Senate

Indifference: The Absence of Empathy to Suffering and Discrimination

1,318 Reasons to Stop Uganda

A History All Our Own: Knowledge Out of the Closet