Charisma

I'm sure all of you WriMos are excited about camp this summer!

Anyway, what with the whole Schism of the Chix thing, I kind of ditched my last project (a lesbian paranormal romance entitled Fang and Claw). However, at Project People (which you shall learn about as soon as I can get the pictures for it), Christina and I came up with this awesome LGBTQ+ pride love story about this wonderfully wonderful bisexual drag queen named Lucille and her boyfriend Juan, as well as Juan's sister Em and Em's girlfriend Taia. There's going to be magic, too, of course - since when do I write stories that don't include magic? - but the main idea is about unconditional love and happiness. It's a really beautiful love story. Read about it at: http://campnanowrimo.org/campers/besstherainbow

Happy Pride Month!

Well, it's that time of year again - LGBT Pride Month, that is, and I'd like to celebrate. So...

• Harvey Milk

"Hope will never be silent." Harvey Milk was the first gay man elected to public office in California and made great strides in the gay pride movement. That courage, in the face of the overwhelming conservatism of the time, is absolutely amazing to me. He also worked on the Briggs Initiative, and thanks to him, LGBT rights were vastly increased in public schools. Like Martin Luther King, Jr., Milk was a pacifist and used the power of the pen to spread compassion and kindness, to let others like him know that there was hope.

• Eleanor Roosevelt

 “With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.”   Eleanor Roosevelt was an amazingly strong woman, standing up for equal rights and humanity. She, unlike other First Ladies, refused to be left behind and often traveled with her husband, helping others in any way she could and never with complaint. She had a beautiful heart and soul and is one of the great feminist icons of the 20th century.

• Leonardo da Vinci

"Life without love is no life at all." Da Vinci, you are the man! Leo (whose full name just means "Leonardo from Vinci," his hometown) was not just a good artist - this brilliant Renaissance man was an early engineer of aeronautics. I'm not even kidding. Aeronautics. During the Renaissance. My mind is blown. Besides that, of course there's the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, two of the most well-known paintings of the Western world. Not to mention, Leonardo also studied anatomy (no snickers, please) and created detailed drawings of the muscular, skeletal, circulatory, and reproductive systems, which revolutionized the medical knowledge of Europe.

• Alexis Arquette

"I want parents everywhere to know that it's totally natural for kids to make believe and play games. It does not mean your child is going to be transgendered. And even if it were true, why is it such a horrible thing?" Arquette is one of the most famous transgender activists in Hollywood and just such a dedicated and extroardinary actress. I really respect and admire how seriously she takes her work, how she chooses to separate herself from the trap of drugs and scandal that so many celebrities get caught in, and her humility. Okay, maybe she isn't the reason the Wright brothers were able to invent the airplane, but still - Alexis Arquette is a boss.

• Katie Hill and Arin Andrews

"We look so convincing as a boy and a girl, nobody even notices now. We secretly feel so good about it because it's the way we've always wanted to be seen." I just adore these two - the amazing story of how they met, how they fought for their love, how their story would make an absolutely incredible plot for a rom-com. It takes a lot of determination and courage to put oneself out that way, and I completely respect them for it. Even though they broke up, I still really admire Katie and Arin for taking such an amazing risk for love.



Sadly, I can't list any more people right now in the interest of not making the post boringly long. But I would like to say a bit more.

1. One out of every ten people is LGBTQIA. That's not me, that's statistics. This means that either you or someone you care about is a sexual or gender minority. If you're homophobic, that person is probably really scared to come out to you and may even push you away when they do come out, because they don't want to be hurt. It's not that they don't still love you, it's just that they're sick of living a lie and don't want your bullying and prejudice in their lives when they need unconditional support and acceptance more than ever. So if you're homophobic, at least try to keep an open mind - before you find out the hard way that someone important to you lied to protect themselves.
2. Being LGBTQIA is not a choice. Don't believe me? Just think about this: did you choose to be straight? Also, because it's not a choice, it's not a sin. Look in the Bible, those of you who are Christian and non-allied for religious reasons. There's all kinds of evidence proving my point here.
3. Next time you think about using words like f****t or d**e, think about all the people mentioned in this post and all the other sexual and gender minorities that have changed the world. Every single person mentioned in this post is LGBTQIA. Yes, really. The f-word and the d-word are profanity, just like b***h or s**t. They're not cute. They're not funny. They're cruel and mean, and shouldn't be used.

Now, to end the post...Happy Pride Month!

P.S. After publishing this, I discovered something was up with the formatting and it came out in all different colors. Sorry about that; I'm not sure why it's happening but I'll try to fix it.

Day of Silence

Yes, I realize Day of Silence is long gone, but the poem I wrote for it apparently made a difference in people's lives. That's why I'm copying and pasting it here - I don't want to alienate my cousins by leaving it there, but it's a good poem and I'm proud to use my talent for writing to help people.

It still doesn't have a title, though. I just think of it as 'The Day of Silence' poem.


"He's such a fa**ot."
"Butch b***h."
"Go die, queer."
These are just some of the cruel things people say,
Just because they are small,
Because they are afraid.
But what do we have to fear?
Love is love, and it's not always
Between a man and a woman.

You say being gay is unnatural?
Over 450 species have been
Known to display homosexuality
Yet the only homophobic one
Is humans. Which one is unnatural now?

In the high school halls yesterday
I heard two guys talking about someone
One of them said, "I'm not friends with him
Anymore." The other asked why, and the
First said, "Because he's gay." Laughing.
And my heart hurt for whoever they
Were talking about. It's just so juvenile
And stupid, to reject someone who matters
So much to you, just because of something
They can't help, something they never chose.

10% of people are LGBTQIA
That's what statistics say
So if you're bigoted, prejudiced,
Homophobic or transphobic -
Stop and think: It's very likely
Someone you love is scared to
Come out to you because they know
What you'll say
Uncomfortable?  Good.
People need to know; because love
Is the only way the hate can end.

This is why I say it loud and proud.
It's Day of Silence, and at my school
More people care that prom is coming up.
Today is the day of honor
For sexual and gender minorities
Who killed themselves because of others' hate
But no one even notices.
Innocent people have died because bigots
Were angry and afraid.

Whether you're straight, bi, asexual,
Trans, genderqueer, pan, gay, poly,
Or anything else, listen to this today
No matter what, we're all just people.
So even if it's just for a while,
Set aside your prejudice, your labels,
Your anger and fear. Love is love
And there's nothing wrong with being gay.

Last Day of School!

It is the last day of my sophomore year, and I thought I'd do a commemorative post for it.

But first...this week, a kid with bone cancer (aka osteosarcoma) at my school just had his leg amputated to prevent the cancer from spreading. Thankfully, the surgery was successful, and everybody's happy about that. So we all wore yellow today in support of the kid. It was really inspiring, how many people "yellowed-out." Amazing things happen when people come together in the name of kindness and compassion.


So! Here is a list of my teachers this year and why each one is so great. I bet teachers get really happy when kids show that they don't actually hate them.

Mrs. Goldsby and Mrs. Abud - Learning Strategies. Learning strategies is essentially special ed, but keep in mind that having a disability DOES NOT make someone stupid. They never let anyone forget that.

Mr. Shurter - Biology. I'd have to say that he just explained things really well and had a great sense of humor. This is the first year I've ever gotten an A in science, and I'm pretty sure he's at least partly why.

Mrs. Smith - Geometry. Mrs. Smith got a lot of crap from certain kids in our class for actually trying to teach them something, but she took it all in stride and never lost her cool. I really admire the way she handled the whole thing.

Mrs. Miller and Mr. Miesch - Language Arts. Mrs. Miller made sure the class was easy enough to be fair, but hard enough to be interesting - an impressive feat indeed. Mr. Miesch could make anyone laugh and, my favorite part, devoted the beginning of every class to journaling. His class was awesome.

Mrs. Pierce and Mrs. Miesch - US History. Mrs. Pierce...well, she handled everything as well as she could considering that she was hugely pregnant and therefore a little pissy. Plus, she has a good sense of humor and that's a nice quality in anyone. Mrs. Miesch just did anything she could to make the class fun, but it was also a lot of work and a big challenge. She was tough but fair, and as far as I'm concerned that's pretty much the perfect combination in a teacher.

Ms. East - Spanish 2. Actually, her class was more like half Spanish and half geography. She'd traveled all over the world and even met a few celebrities, so she believed in teaching kids about culture. That was so fun, and probably my favorite part of school. She was also really tough yet fair, and although she didn't accept late work she did give out a lot of extra credit. Her class was my favorite.


Happy summer! Hug a teacher!
 

A New Beginning

Some of you may recognize me as Bess, one of the Bronte Chix. Yeah, well, it's a long and messy story but I may not be a 'chick' much longer. There was a bit of a falling-out...and, well, ahem. So what exactly is We are the Rainbow?

I chose the symbol of the rainbow because of how much it symbolizes: gay pride, hope, new beginnings, and God's promise to NEVER give up on humanity no matter what. All of those meanings are important to me.

I'll try not to mention the Bronte Chix after this, but on one of our posts I had a gay pride poem. The link is below if you want to read it. And, well, I think you can guess why the issue of gay rights might be so important to me. If you can't, that's okay too. Anyway, part of it is that I just can't stand the idea of discrimination. It just makes my blood boil.

Also, if anyone remembers the Hugs for Anna project everything for that will be moved here.

Poetry link:

http://thebrontechix.blogspot.com/2014/05/bess-day-of-silence.html