Yes... We Can!

     So… I’ve been sitting here trying to think of something to say on this blog post today. After a few hours… I’m sitting here… stunned.
     I’ve been trying to play catch up with all the social media stuff. Something that really is a chore after being out of touch for a while as I roamed the Outback of AU. So I’m scrolling around, looking about and came across this.

“A father has reportedly refused to claim the corpse of his gay son killed at Pulse nightclub, because he disapproved of his homosexuality.”

     Taken from the Gailygrind and verified.
     Okay, I understand that the Latino, Hispanic and Arab communities are not all that open to having gay children, but even in death? Really? This is your child and you won’t even claim his dead body because you are embarrassed? Really? This is when I don’t know whether to feel sad or infuriated. Deep breath. But to deny your child after they’ve been murdered? That to me is just unforgivable. I don’t care if you’re Arab or not. He was your child!
     Okay, going to go take a break, have some coffee… with something in it… like Bailey’s or something…
     Just to let y’all know… tequila and coffee don’t go so well together… back in a few…
    Alrighty then, I’m back after a stiff cup of coffee and a cigar. Feeling much better thank you… The bourbon helped I do believe.
     I guess it all comes to who your family really is. Ru Paul said it best. “I pick who my family is. Don’t fuck with my family!”
     I think kids have it harder today, even with all the acceptance, than ever before. The internet is way too convenient a tool to use to bully people. The news is no longer news, but a mind numbing, constant barrage of hate and misinformation. Teen suicide is up, the majority of them being LGBT youth. Is it any wonder?
     A little while ago I was chatting with a friend that I went to highschool with. She’s kind of kept up with people from way back then. She tells me that she’s fairly certain that at least 10% of those we went to school with came out as gay if not maybe a bit more. Whoosh, like an instant time travel thingy… I was back there. All the hurt, anguish came rushing back at me. Yeah… not a good time. Where were those kids when I was there getting my ass kicked? Doesn’t really matter now. It’s all old history, but I do remember.
     Yeah, I got bullied, tossed in a dumpster, but I made it. It does get better, but I didn’t have all these external influences hounding me day in and day out. I didn’t have parents that tossed me out because I was gay. Okay, strike that. I didn’t have a mother to do that. My father on the other hand… yeah well he was a piece of crap, and his opinion didn’t matter one bit to me.
     There is no doubt in my mind that is why I try and support charities that reach out to LGBT youth. Lost–n-Found in Atlanta, and now the Zebra Coalition in Orlando. I know what it like to be bullied. I know what it is like when family turn their back on you, call you names and try and act like they don’t know you when you happen to run across each other in public. Been there. Done that.
     The more we find out about the killer in Orlando, the more I’m convinced that his heritage, his background, his religion were all bricks in the wall that isolated him. Is that any excuse? Of course not, but I want to understand. Personally, I’m of the opinion that this guy was probably gay and all his life and he’d been told how bad that is. How gays should be thrown from a roof top or killed in some way. Bad. Bad. Bad. That may have been all he’d known, his feelings and self-loathing must have been like being in a torture chamber. How sad is that? I think we all have a breaking point, and I think that is what may have happened here. He finally snapped.
     Final thought on that for me is… there were actually 50 victims. I have this gut feeling that he was also a victim: a victim of the society around him.
     What about the father in California who’d rather shoot his son dead than have an openly gay son? Yes that happened. What about the kid left on the side of the road because he was reading a LGBT themed young adult book. The teenage girl who was raped because she announced she was transgendered. Yes, all these things happened.
     What can I do? Pfft… I can do a lot. I can support PFLAG. I can support LGBT youth organizations. I can do my part, as little as it may seem. Yeah, I can do all that and so can you.
    The Trevor Project has outreach programs, as so many other organizations, worldwide. There are special safe houses set up. There are places for these young people to go to find help. They just need the support from the community and funding. Sometimes it isn’t very much, but together, we do make a difference. A lot of these places have wish lists. You can easily do a one click shop and buy some poor kid some underwear, a bus pass for the month, some snacks all on Amazon.
     Remember that whole thing about it takes a village to raise a child. How about we put that into practice? Will you do your part? We can make a difference. We, together are a powerful force. Who knows what that might bring? We might have helped the next Freddie Mercury, Leonardo da Vinci, Alan Turing or Sir Isaac Newton! Now wouldn’t that be something?
     Yes… we can. Have you done your part? As soon as I’m done here I’m going to go see what’s on the wish list this month. Gotta get my months’ worth of Kudo Coins!
     I hope everyone in the States enjoys their 4th of July. Happy Independence Day. Happy penal farm day to my friends down under. He he he Go blow up some fireworks. BBQ, drink, be merry. Thank a Veteran. They deserve our appreciation for all they have done and do!
     Have a grrreat week, y’all.
     Max