Gay pride and persecution

June is gay pride month.

It's actually more about pride. It's an opportunity to celebrate successes in equality, our families, our allies, and most importantly, to "fire up the troops" to work harder and stay focused on what is happening in regards to LGBTQ rights.

Mike and I try to make the gay pride celebration in Denver every year. I go so I can catch up on what I need to be doing in the fight for equality. Petitions, postcards, the new gay rights t-shirt. You get the idea.

It's the same thing I do when I go to a veg fest. What groups are rocking it for the animals? Where does my dollar go further in support of the animals? And of course the food!

This year I have been spending a lot of time paying attention to what is happening to gays and lesbians around the world. It isn't pretty.

In Russia, I am still blown away bu the intense courage shown by activists who face harassment, beatings and arrest just for gathering with a gay pride flag. Yet the activists keep showing up.

In Uganda, the anti-homosexuality act was signed into law this year. The death penalty was taken off of the table due to international pressure. Now it's just life in prison. In 2011, Daniel Kato, the country's leading gay rights activist, was murdered. I have read that Christian groups in the US have helped to fan the fires in Uganda, but that should be a whole other post.

Iran: executions, beatings, lashings, prison. If you are interested in a first-hand story, check this article out: Gay Iranian couple

In France, yes France, anti-gay harassment and violence has increased since gay marriage became legal last year.

I know we have a long way to go in the US. I also recognize that Mike and I can go to church without being arrested. We can walk through a park without being threatened (not all parks, mind you). We do get hate mail but we also put ourselves out there with this blog.

We do not fear being executed, or sentenced to prison for "perversion".

Ten of thousands of LGBTQ people around the world do feel that fear.

This post is for them.

We love you. We support you. We will be your voice.

If you would like to take action in support of LGBTQ people around the world, I have found that Amnesty International is a great organization to support and to get information from: Amnesty International

A few of our favorite things Part II

Part II of a two-part post!

It's that time of year again, when folks put out their "best of" lists. Last year we did a blog post on our favorite women and a blog post on our favorite men. This years' list includes many of our favorite things: people, groups, restaurants, etc. Like we did last year, we invite you to share some of your favorites with us!

And here's the rest of our list:

Chris Kluwe. He plays for the Minnesota Vikings, is way sexy and constantly speaks out for marriage equality. It is when people do what he does that makes me feel we will have full marriage equality one day.

Heather's Restaurant. I wrote a blog about this treasure in Bay City, Michigan. What a find. My mom lives near here and took us for lunch. We were blown away. HUGE selection of vegan dishes including desserts and cinnamon rolls!

Pussy Riot. Yes, you have most likely heard of this Russian all-female band whose members (two) are currently in a prison (actually I think it's a labor camp) all because of their peaceful expression of their beliefs, in a church. The church got mad. We love activists with courage and our reason for naming them here is to get more people to speak out against the injustice of their being imprisoned.

#tweetfortaiji. This is a symbol on Twitter for all of those speaking out for the dolphins being massacred in "the cove" in Japan.  I spend a lot of time thinking about the pods of dolphins being pushed into the cove and then being killed by hand. The fear, torture, cruelty and hopelessness as they try to survive breaks my heart. I will write a blog post soon in hopes of taking action against what is going on there.

Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera. Kasha is the founder and executive director of Freedom and Roam Uganda, a leading LGBTQ rights organization. In Uganda. One of the most anti-gay countries in the world. If you see this Kasha, know we love you. And to all LGBTQ activists who live in harm's way, we are sending you love too.

The activist. Yep, we know you are out there. You work all day. In some cases you take care of your family and are a supportive other-half. And in the limited free time you have you are a voice for the voiceless. And you rock. We love you. And we get it. It's not always easy. Thank you.

Thank you for reading our list of a few of our favorite things. We could probably write at least two more posts. We encourage you to speak out for your favorites and to let folks who you think rock know that they do and how you feel.