WOW!

So this weekend was the kick off of Partners In Policy Making. I could go on and on and on explaining what this is... but theres the link use it! Long story short i have never been so inspired to "be the change". It was amazing to be around people that are just as passionate and dedicated to "fighting the good fight" as i am.

Not long ago someone told me that i was niave if i thought i could change the world. But lately i realized that they are niave if they think i cant change the world.

Looking at the disability community it is important to recognize that one man was the true begining to the independant living movement. Ed Roberts. This man was disabled from the neck down after contracting polio at the age of fourteen and although people thought he would amount to nothing, he was determined to live his life the way HE wanted to. Ed is responsible for "curb cuts" (the little ramps on sidewalks) and he was the first paralyzed individual to attend Berkley college in California.

He started a movement. With out him. WOW. Who knows where the disability community would be. But it took one persons passion to start the ball... So who says i cant make a difference too!

At partners we also did a lot of creativity exercises with Charlie and Maria Girsh from Creativity Central again i must just say WOW. Some highlights of this presentation were unique ways to brainstorm, forcing connectivity, the "think pen" and the idea that if you were ever a child you are a creative person.

On another note.... Me and K got a fish this weekend! He is a Beta and his name is Filet! I know it may sound corny... But this is a sign of our commitment to one another... *insert girly sigh here*

"FUCK YOU"

I recently stumbled on something after checking out my blog traffic! I GOT BLOG STALKERS! wow.... lady seriously you are ten years older than me! COME OFF IT! You are quite possibly one of the most dillusional judgemental people i have ever met... AND WHATS WORSE IS YOU DONT SEE IT! My life in minnesota is amazing and wonderful and fulfilling. I am making GREAT friends, that could dance circles around you intellectually. I am in a loving supportive relationship with someone that is WILLING to call it a relationship. I am not in constant battle with my past and the people in it and I TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for putting myself in the position i am in. I am working in the community doing what i love. I am nannying for wonderful children part time.

Secondly you have no right to say anything about my parents. My parents have made many of the choices they have for reasons that someone like you will never understand. Reasons that i do not need to justify to you. and get your facts straight its two autistic children and dont judge till you walk in my shoes or my mothers.

Obviously you are not as ok with yourself as you pretend to be or you wouldnt continously be peeking in to my peaceful life. I have made no effort to contact you or your child except on the one occasion that the police request that i do so they could possibly have more information in catching the people that mugged us. I miss your son daily, but i am responsible enough to not contact you or him cause i dont want to cause more issues.

I am SO fucking sick of this.... You make comment that YOUR friends (glad t0 see you consider them something to own) want to kick my ass... GROW THE FUCK UP. my friends have issues with you too... as does my family and although a majority of us are at LEAST 10 years yoru junior we dont run around verbalizing intent to harm... WTF.... WOW.

I'm glad i left. You are no way anyone i should look up to i was misled and i see now that you are nothing that i want to be. Please stop reading my blog and retaliating like you know something.

Oh and as for your comment on my GLBT issue... The teacher agreed it was in poor taste and negative communication in an academic enviroment... People dont not not like me... I'm in heaven making new friends that dont try to change me...

so in conclusion i'll act 24 for a moment...

FUCK YOU

Homophobiaism???

(not related to this months topics but desperately needing to share)

Today I learned what "racism" feels like... But I am white... and my attackers all of various minority groups.

I am going to school for human services because i want to provide support to GLBT youth. One of my classes is multicultural aspects of human services, 90% of the class is of racial minorities. Today we had a speaker and somehow the GLBT topic came up, mainly one woman expressed her outrage that her nephews school plans on having a day where GLBT families are the topic. Apparently she feels that her nephew at 5 is too young to learn about sex. I argued that same sex parents arent an issue of sex....

Of course this launched the class into a riot about what the bible says and them not wanting the school to teach their children about something that is wrong...

yet when i asked how they would feel if the lesbian mothers didnt want their child to learn about black history they had no response...

When i asked where in the bible did it say that they were to decide what was wrong and right they had no response...

When i asked how else they expect cultural acceptance of the GLBT community to come about.... I was told we are not a culture...

Howevert my text book defines a culture as "a lens through which life is percieved. Each culture through its differences (in language, values, personality, family patterns,world view, sense of time, and space, and rules of interaction), generates a phenomenologically different experience of reality.

I think the most disturbing though was that no one saw that their reaction was the exact thing that we are trying to learn not to do as proffessional helpers. Here I am... A white minority... I accept their cultures, embrace the differences but because of who I am I was attacked.

I likened educating GLBT acceptance to the desegregation education that took place during the civil rights movement, I cited books like heather has two mommys... and no one realized that I wasn't asking them to be ok with it, I was asking them to not be against it, to accept education and awareness around the subject. It breaks my heart that these are the people that plan on working with youth, adults with mental illness, in our rehab centers.... Do they realize that statisticly an estimated 75% of homeless youth identify as GLBT, or that the glbt community is 2 to 3 times more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol...

It is people like this in the industry that keep many people from seeking help...

It was then brought up that racial acceptance is different from GLBT acceptance cause you can look at a person and see a different race, but you cant look at me and tell that i am gay. But i want to know why ignorance should keep me in the closet, keep me from living my life...

I was told by a classmate later in the elevator that she doesnt think i am very accepting of my sexuality because i felt attacked (regardless of my backpack covered in GLBT buttons and my open stance on gay rights).

I was told that I just need to accept that some people won't accept homosexuality just like there are people that dont accept heterosexuality (if any of you know a heterophobic homosexual pass on my e-mail i would love to meet one!) and that if we have a glbt family day at school we need to have a hetero family day.... I likened it to the need to have a black history month and that theres no white history month cause every day is white history month.... why have a hetero family day when everyday is!

I feel like a victim of racism.... Yet there is no word to describe what i feel cause gay is not my race. I could say i was discriminated, yet discrimination denotes an action and instead i was just a victim of negative thoughts and presumptions... maybe theres something to the lack of a word. If we dont label the negative thoughts and attitude towards the glbt community we cant condemn it like we do racism... am i supposed to call it homophobiaism???? A phobia is a fear... this was an attitude...

but no one got it.... It made me sad....