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While we’ve had a great year as a community, yes, we still have miles to go before we’re all equal, especially when faced with bigotry, intolerance, homophobia, and just plain hatred.
But, over the last year many people have stepped up for the LGBT community and, courtesy of the Huffington Post, I’m here to say ‘Thanks’:
#1 Zea, The Ohio Girl Who Stood Up To A Homophobic Preacher
Following the Supreme Court's ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, supporters gathered in celebration all over the country — but, of course, so did some haters. Seven-year-old in Zea, however, stood firm in the face of hate by waving her rainbow flag at a homophobic street preacher ranting at her through a microphone.
Three cheers for Zea for never backing down.
#2 The Equality House
 Throughout the past year, The Equality House held a virtual pizza fundraiser for homeless youth in response to an anti-gay pizza shop, staged a gay "Wizard Wedding" between Gandalf and Dumbledore and erected a billboard calling out the ignorance of Kim Davis in her own hometown — just to name a few.
#3 Omar Currie
 "One student said that it made them uncomfortable, saying, ‘Well, I’ve never seen two men marry each other.’ I said, 'Well, it’s normal to feel uncomfortable when you feel something new, but what is the moral? The moral is to treat people well, no matter who they are.'"
#4 Kelly Lauren
 Kelly Lauren, a transgender woman and drag entertainer, posted the photo to her Facebook account as a tongue-in-cheek response asking: "Houston, do you REALLY want me in the same restroom as your husband or boyfriend?"
#5 Paul Henson & Ashley Ramage
 "As children get older, they distance themselves from their parents. Why start that split sooner than they need to? It's important for children to know that their parents will stand by them no matter what. Ashley and I will do whatever it takes to keep our son happy and not take his innocence and imagination from him." — Paul Henson
#6 Digital Activist Mike Melgaard
 Melgaard created fake support accounts for different businesses after they made pro-queer moves and experienced anti-LGBT backlash from the public.
#7 Carla Lewis
 "Transgender Veteran: I fought for your right to hate me."The shirt commented on an often-overlooked reality: a number of the men and women who have or are currently serving in the United States military identify as transgender. #8 Russell Hughes  Russell Hughes installed this sign on the front of his hair salon after the incident, proudly letting customers know that they can expect a haircut free of any form of discrimination when they enter his establishment.
#9 The Red Raven Espresso Parlor
The Red Raven Espresso Parlor in Fargo, North Dakota, took a stand against legislators in April who struck down a bill that would have provided discrimination protections for the queer community.
The owners posted a sign in the window banning the legislators who struck down the bill from the establishment, and claimed they could only enter the shop if accompanied by a member of the LGBT community. The owner later clarified in a Facebook post that the ban was meant to "satirize the environment that the legislators created for the LGBTQ+ community by voting against" the bill.
#10 'Willy Wonka' Subway Rider
An unidentified subway rider in New York City shut down a homophobic preacher in January by drowning out his hate with a beautiful rendition of "I've Got A Golden Ticket" from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." The subway hero's actions were applauded by his fellow mass transit passengers.
#11 Jesse Mount
In June, Australian Nick Jensen wrote an op-ed for the Canberra City News in which he claimed that he and his wife Sarah would “as a matter of conscience, refuse to recognize the government’s regulation of marriage if its definition includes the solemnization of same-sex couples" — effectively saying they would divorce if Australia legalized same-sex marriage.
In response, Jesse Mount organized a Facebook group for people who agreed they would celebrate the couple's divorce if and when same-sex marriage came Down Under. The massive Facebook group became a place where same-sex couples shared photos and stories about their own lives and relationships in an effort to show the faces of healthy queer love.
So, we have our heroes and our allies, and they’re little girls, and stylists and veterans and baristas and Moms and Dads. With their help, the march goes on ….
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Showing posts with label Equality House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Equality House. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Meet 11 People Who Stood Up To Bigots In 2015
Friday, June 21, 2013
Good News Friday II: After Selling Pink Lemonade For Peace, Equality House Hosts A Same-Sex Wedding
Before I get into this post, I wanted to show a picture of the sign that the Westboro Baptist Church put up while Jayden Sink--of that post just below this one--was selling her Pink Lemonade for Peace.
Lovely. But no signs, no obscenities shouted, will stop the Equality House--located in Topeka, just across the road from
God Hates Fags Central™, AKA Westboro Baptist Church--from continuing to fight for equality.
See, now the Equality house will be the site of the wedding of
Little Rock, Arkansas residents Kimberly Kidwell and Katie Short. Sure,
same-sex marriage is illegal in Arkansas, and it’s illegal in Kansas, but it’s a
symbolic ceremony and all the more powerful being performed in full view of the
WBC.
Aaron Jackson—who runs his nonprofit, Planting Peace—out of
the Rainbow Flag colored Equality House, says he hopes publicity surrounding the ceremony will send
a signal to the U.S. Supreme Court as it prepares to decide two key cases
regarding the constitutionality of gay marriage.
“We would like marriage equality, and we don’t think people should be treated as second-class citizens.”—Aaron Jackson
Planting Peace sent out a message on social media outlets
asking if any same-sex couples would like to be married in front of Equality
House, and after reviewing the responses, Jackson decided that Kidwell and
Short, who have been together five and a half years, would be “a good fit.”
Lizz Phelps, a
spokeswoman for God Hates Fags the Westboro Baptist Church says Planting Peace
has been doing a “wonderful” job of bringing attention to issues she considers
significant, and she hopes that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of
Marriage Equality because when that happens Jesus Christ will return.
Phelps said the legalization of same-sex marriages in the
days of Noah were soon followed by the Great Flood, “and it says in
the Gospel that as in the days of Noah, so will it be in the time of the return
of our savior.”
Bob, however, says the Baby
Jeebus--who never said a word about The Gays--will return to Earth because he wants to party with all those same-sex couples
who will have the right to marry.
But I digress ….
Kudos to Aaron Jackson and Equality House for their
continued support of all things peaceful and equal, and Congratulations to Kimberley
and Katie on their wedding.
Good Friday, indeed.
Good News Friday: Jayden Sink Faces Down The Westboro Baptist Church In The Name Of Peace
Jayden Sink wanted to sell lemonade; and she wanted to sell pink lemonade. She wanted to sell pink lemonade
for peace. And she did, setting up her stand at the Equality House [see my post
HERE] which is located just across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church
in Topeka, Kansas.
What happens when a
little girl decides to set up a lemonade stand for peace outside the Westboro
Baptist Church headquarters in Kansas? Members of the community step out in
droves to show support, even as the hate group tries to quash it.
Jayden, the daughter of Jon Sink, founder of the
philanthropic arts group FRESHCASSETTE—Creative Compassion, set up her lemonade
stand at Equality House, painted the colors of the pride flag, is owned by Aaron
Jackson, a founding of Planting Peace,
a multi-pronged nonprofit aimed at spreading goodwill and equality around the
globe, when her parents told her that the church across the street had a
message of hate.
Jayden decided to raise money for peace. So she painted a
banner for the event reading, "Pink Lemonade for Peace: $1 Suggested
Donation" and she set up her stand on the lawn and waited.
During the day, Westboro Baptist Church sent representatives
outside to try and find a way to stop Jayden; they attempted to call the local
police and when they were told that little girls can sell lemonade in Topeka,
they began yelling profanities at those who stopped for a cool drink.
All their interference and shouting didn’t stop Jayden
from raising $400 during the day, but adding an additional--as of Thursday--$21,000 from an
online campaign [HERE].
Aaron Jackson:
"As we all know, the Westboro Baptist Church puts a lot of hate into the world. Since we cannot stop them, the next best thing is to smother it with love. That is what 5-year-old Jayden accomplished today! Jayden set up a lemonade stand in front of the church. Not only did she quench the thirst of a lot of loving supporters, the money she raised was donated to Planting Peace so she could help Planting Peace promote a more peaceful world."
If a little girl can stand up to the Westboro Baptist Church
in such a non-threatening, non-confrontational, positive way, she is setting
quite the example for the rest of us. She was just selling lemonade, she was
also selling hope.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Equality House: Aaron Jackson Paints Rainbow Home Across From Hate Church
When we were looking for a house we were quite picky. I was
shown one that was down the street from a factory; it was instantly scratched
off the list. As was the one across from the school and the one on the busy
road, and the one that was the best house in a neighborhood of worse houses.
But, imagine owning a home across the street from the Westboro
Baptist Church [WBC]. I get chills. What would you do about it? I mean, day after day, ‘God
Hates Fags’.
Well, Aaron Jackson,
one of the founders of Planting Peace—a nonprofit organization that spreads “peace
in a hurting world”—bought the house that sits directly across from the WBC compound
six months ago, and this week they decided to paint it like the Gay pride
Rainbow Flag.
God Loves Flags, you know.
This new project of Planting Peace—called the "Equality
House"—is the first in a new campaign the group plans to wage against the
group. The WBC is known for its rabid tactics of protesting what they call
America’s pro-Gay, anti-God agenda, by bringing their special brand of hate to
pride parades, soldier funerals and other events like the Sandy Hook memorial
services.
"I read a story about Josef Miles, a 10-year-old kid who counter protested the Westboro Baptist Church by holding the sign that says 'God Hates No One.' I didn't know anything about the church or where they were located, but that story kept popping up. And one night I wondered, Where is this church? I got on Google Earth, and I was 'walking down the road,' and I did a 360 view. And I saw a 'For Sale' sign sitting in the front yard of a house. Right away it hit me, Oh my gosh, I could buy a house in front of the WBC! And immediately I thought: And I'm going to paint that thing the color of the pride flag."—Aaron Jackson
Jackson has always wanted to
get involved in LGBT activism, but didn’t know how, or what to do, until he saw
that For Sale sign.
"The reason I haven't gotten into the gay rights activism is because, in a sense, it's almost silly -- it's 2013, are we really still in this position? It just seems ludicrous, but it is a real issue and kids are killing themselves. I've wanted to do something, and I knew when I saw that house for sale that it all came together. Everyone who knows me knows that I'm a little crazy and there's no red tape in my charity. When I want to do something, I do it."—Aaron Jackson
So, Jackson and Planting Peace
bought the house for roughly $83,000, and Jackson lived in it for about a
month, waiting to spruce the place up.
In that time, he met several members of the church, including the
founding Phelps family, and learned that the WBC owns a majority of the home
surrounding the church.
“I walk through the area every day, and I see them running in between each other's houses. One day I was walking, and Shirley Phelps [a WBC spokesbigot, and daughter of WBC leader Fred Phelps] was on her four-wheeler. And I said, 'Hey guys, how are you?' And [Phelps and her husband] responded, 'Oh, we're good. How are you?' We had a short conversation, and she was extremely nice, and she made a joke and we all laughed. It's the craziest thing -- and it really throws you off -- because she's the type of woman who calls you "hun" and "darling" -- she's very Southern. It's like, aren't you the lady that's supposed to be casting me into hell? It's truly mind-boggling, but I can't say anything personally bad about her because she was kind to me and she made me laugh. She'd probably be fun to hang out with."—Aaron Jackson
But pleasantries aside,
Jackson waited, and thought about what he might do. As, as he did so, he
noticed that members of the church were watching him. They noticed that he
:::gasp::: drove a Prius with an original ‘Reelect Jimmy Carter’ sticker on it,
and Jackson figured that they had figured him out; a liberal. Right there in
the neighborhood. And then he decided; Aaron Jackson and Planting Peace
painted their home the colors of the Gay pride Rainbow flag, front to back,
side to side.
"We want this house to be a message that where there's hate, there's also love. But we also want to raise awareness and capital, and we want to put all that money into creating and sustaining anti-bullying programs, along with supporting anti-bullying programs that already exist. Beyond the symbolic message of the home, [the house] will be utilized by volunteers to live here, and these volunteers will work on promoting equality anywhere in the world and managing these anti-bullying initiatives that we plan on creating."—Aaron Jackson
And don’t get him wrong, Aaron
Jackson knows that the WBC feeds off this type of media attention, but, he
knows, the attention they receive also brings attention to his cause, to
bullying issues, to LGBT rights.
And Jackson believes that Equality House is just one more
step in bringing about the end of the Westboro Baptist Church. Lately, the WBC
has been facing a backlash, not just from the public at large but from some
former members as well; Lauren Drain, for example, wrote a book about her life
in the church and has suggested that founder Fred Phelps is one of the
self-loathing closeted homosexual types—which obviously explains his over-the-top
hatred of The Gays. And throw into the mix the numbers of city governments that
have passed legislation aimed at limiting the group's ability to picket, and,
well, you can see them beginning to fade. Jackson is confident that the WBC’s loss
of power and relevance is just one sign of the good things still to come for
the LGBT community.
"I love seeing all of these Republicans and all these people who have been anti-gay all this time jumping ship because they know they're on the wrong side of history. It's an amazing thing to see. I know we have a long way to go in fighting bigotry, but we all know the gays are going to win. It's going to happen."—Aaron Jackson
Of course, the WBC, never one to face reality, to understand
facts, has a different side to the story. The church released this statement:
"We thank God for the Sodomite Rainbow House. It is right across the street from the ONLY church that loves people enough to tell them the Bible truth about the filthy, soul-damning, nation-destroying sin of sodomy...The Sodomite Rainbow house helps shine a bright spotlight on this!"
And even Shirley Phelps-Roper says she loves Equality
House:
“I love it. What he does is he keeps the eyes of the whole earth on this message. Now everyday all people are thinking about is God will not have same sex marriage.”
Actually, Shirley, what Aaron Jackson and Planting Peace
have done is show that, even alongside hate and intolerance, love and acceptance
takes a stand. He’s shown that bullies don’t always win; sure, they might win a
battle here and a skirmish there, but, in the end, everyone will see that his
little Rainbow House stood up to, what you think, is the mighty Westboro
Baptist Church and didn’t back down.
And never will.
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