Happy Kwanzaa & New Year

Hey Everybody - Let's give a big applause for 2011, who couldn't get here soon enough!

As we move into the New Year, we will be letting go of the past and welcoming the new. One thing that I hope we do not easily let go is the way we all came together to show love and support for teenagers who feel our nation's pain at their very core.

In the spirit of Christmas:

"I have shown you all things, how in your work you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of Jesus, when he said it is more blessed to give than to receive. The most sorrowful words that he spoke were that we should see his face no more." Acts 20:35-38

In the spirit of Kwanzaa:

Ubuntu, or Umoja (Unity - the first principle of Kwanzaa) is not, 'I think therefore I am.' It says rather: 'I am a human because I belong. I participate. I share'... In essence, I am because you are." - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

It is in this spirit of unity that I hope we can reflect on what it means for Lesbians, Gay Men and the Transgendered to be left out of the dialogue on Human Rights at the Global level by the United Nations. We have only one weapon in the fight to protect children from another holocaust beginning in Uganda or Lithuania because of misguided prophets of doom like Scott Lively. Our weapon is 'obuntu bulamu'.

On SFGN - I listed "11 People Who Rocked Me Into Next Year" as a tip-of-the-hat to those whom have been fighting the good the fight lately. Please join me in appreciating your community and the people who work to tear the walls down between us.

11 People Who Rocked Me Into The New Year - #03: Asher Brown – There were as many as 12 gay kids who committed suicide in rapid succession and it was to be expected that the mainstream media would collect the easy ratings and move on as soon as any other news story emerged. This is of course part of the larger problem that these troubled kids face. Asher Brown, age 13, was one of the most perplexing of the cases and he was the boy that touched my heart and finally brought me to tears. His adorable smiling photo does not easily connect with the story of poverty, out-casting, bullying and reckless disregard that stole this child from his parents and the nation at large. I don’t easily make heroes out of victims, but in this case, I gladly accept this kid as a hero because he inspired me to make the rights of kids a priority in my life.