KnowThyNeighbor.org

One of The Original Signers Goes on Attack Against KnowThyNeighbor

Bronwyn Loring Responds to Letter in Salem Evening News

On October 17th, Bronwyn (Bonnie) Loring responded to my letter describing my "by chance meeting" with her and her husband Caleb.(see Blog Post: "KnowThyNeighbor Kneels in Prayer with Opponents of Same-Sex Marriage")  Bronwyn is one of the Original 30 Signers and sponsors of the anti-family, anti-gay, anti-equality and her husband has contributed heavily to VoteOnMarriage.org.  Is a response to her necessary?  Mr. Alan Stevens from Ipswich already did, and I thank him, however, Bronwyn's letter certainly is its own proverbial "nail in the coffin" for any shred of credibility that Mrs. Loring ever had.  Her bigotry, intolerance and mis-guided politico/religious stances are all but "pitiable."  Be prepared to see what and who are truly behind this amendment--it isn't for the faint of heart.  I will let her letter speak for itself...   

To the Editor:
A letter to the editor which appeared in this space on Sept. 28 began, "I had an amazing opportunity last weekend to witness the marriage of two wonderful people
(heterosexual) at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Marblehead."
Amazing opportunity? This makes me wonder if Tom Lang doesn't get out much (unlikely) or if he saw how somehow he could use the wedding to promote gay marriage yet
again in the press. The non-event of meeting my husband and me at the wedding hardly warranted a letter to the editor.
For that matter, I wouldn't be writing this letter either except that, as he has done less subtly to so many people, Tom inserted a bit of slander. He said, "Mrs. Loring's letters
are well known to your readers (I doubt that. There have been so few.) because she is a very strong advocate against gay marriage (No stronger than many of the 170,000
people who signed the Protection of Marriage Petition) and the worthiness of gays in our society." (Whoa! Where did that last statement come from? Untrue.)
Tom doesn't know me. I consider all human beings of supreme worth because every person carries the image of God.
But more to the point pertaining to marriage, I wonder if Tom understands why my husband and I signed the Protection of Marriage Petition. We signed the petition out of
concern for our three granddaughters and all others in the coming generations.
Of course, sexual practices of all kinds always have existed, but never before has it been demanded that schools teach children that homosexual behaviors are as good an
option as heterosexual. And if you and I dare to question that supposition, we can expect to be slandered in the press and to have our names and addresses posted on
websites like KnowThyNeighbor. Unfortunately, this intimidation effort is effective in keeping some good people quiet.
Well, intimidation won't stop me. I care too much about marriage and children to worry about being called names or appearing politically incorrect. My opposition to including
homosexual relationships in what is called "marriage" is borne out of concern for the well-being of others. It is not driven by personal gain.
I really don't enjoy discussing the subject or having to write this letter any more than you readers would. But truth needs to be spoken.
My objection to calling gay relationships "marriage" is based on facts about the homosexual lifestyle. Just Google "gay sex health risks" to find sources. Data from numerous
studies show that homosexual practices:
1.) Reduce your life expectancy by at least 8 to 20 years;
2.) Increase the risk of contracting AIDS by 500 percent;
3.) Increase the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease by almost 900 percent;
4.) For men, increase the risk of developing anal cancer by 4,000 percent;
5.) For women, increase the risk of bacterial vaginosis, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer;
6.) Correlate positively with gays and lesbians' mental health disorders, being a victim of domestic violence, being a smoker, and being involved in alcohol and drug abuse;
and
7.) Include higher incidences of sadomasochism, coprophilia, fisting and other practices (you don't want to know).
Studies also show that most male-male sex relationships allow for outside encounters. According to Maria Xiridou, et. al in her research on "The Contribution of Steady and
Casual Partnerships to the Incidence of HIV Infection among Homosexual Men in Amsterdam" AIDS 17 (2003), self-defined "committed" couples reported an average of eight
other sexual partners in a year.
Dr. John R. Diggs, Jr., MD, a practicing Internist, writes in "The Health Risks of Gay Sex": Prior to the AIDS epidemic, a 1978 study found that 75 percent of white, gay males
salemnews.com Plus Edition » Story » Sat, Oct 28 2006 http://plus.salemnews.com/cgi-bin/searchstory.pl?fzgpmzbzbtltmvf0809...
2 of 3 10/28/2006 5:57 PM
claimed to have had more than 100 lifetime male sex partners; 15 percent claimed 100-249 sex partners; 15 percent claimed 500-999; and 28 percent claimed more than
1,000 lifetime male sex partners. Levels of promiscuity subsequently declined, but some observers are concerned that promiscuity is again approaching the levels of the
1970s (2002, Corporate Resource Council, www.corporateresourcecouncil.org). This information suggests a sex addiction more than anything else.
The demand that we must commend - not tolerate - such an unhealthy lifestyle, is unmerited and costly. Lesbian activist Paula Ettelbrick, currently the executive director of
the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, has said that homosexuality "means pushing the parameters of sex, sexuality, and family, and in the process
transforming the very fabric of society."
Homosexual behavior is likely being advocated in your local school's programs of social studies and health education. Schoolchildren in various stages of identity formation
are encouraged to consider all sex orientation options for themselves. The assumption is made that same-sex partnerships are essentially the same as heterosexual.
I believe well-meaning teachers who have no personal stake in this issue would drop political correctness like a hot potato if they knew the above facts. Either they are not
being informed, or they are afraid of being labeled intolerant if they don't want to teach children that homosexual relationships are equal to heterosexual relationships.
Candy-coating the very harmful homosexual lifestyle is not in our children's best interest.
It's sad that today we will have to define the meaning of the word "marriage" by law, or else "marriage" as we have always understood it, as a life-long union between one
man and one woman, will be lost forever. In every state (20 of them) where people have been allowed to vote on the definition, they have overwhelmingly chosen to define
"marriage" as "the union between one man and one woman".
The Protection of Marriage Petition, which carried more names than any petition in Massachusetts history, simply asks our Legislature to allow us the freedom to vote for or
against the above definition in 2008 (Watch for our Legislature's vote on Nov. 9).
Tom Lang ends his letter ever so sweetly with, "We are all trying to do our best in this short time we have together." Best for whom?
You and I know that advocacy for homosexuality is all around us. Going forward, if we continue to use the word "marriage" in relation to gay coupling, this will complete the
aggressive attempt to normalize a very unhealthy lifestyle. The issue is not a matter of justice or equal rights, it is a matter of whether we, the schools and the media,
continue to mislead or to protect the next generation.
"Our best" is to stop hiding the facts about homosexual behavior.
Bronwyn E. Loring
Beverly

Oy vey, Tom Lang, Co-Director

Rev. Peter J. Gomes Is Part of Our Common Wealth

Rev. Peter J. Gomes' Letter to The Boston Globe

My husband, Alex and I have been blessed to call Peter Gomes a friend for almost 20 years now and Peter also officiated our wedding at Crowell Chapel in Manchester-by-the-Sea on May 17, 2004, this being his first "legal" same-sex marriage ceremony performed.  But moreso, Reverend Gomes continues to be a beacon of Faith on so many levels, his recent letter to the Boston Globe being an example...

Words and deeds

By Peter J. Gomes  |  October 29, 2006

IN AUGUST OF THIS YEAR, on the last possible day, I went to Town Hall in Plymouth and asked the town clerk, an old friend in a still-small town, to change my registration from the Republican to the Democratic Party. The clerk obliged, but not before asking the rhetorical question, ‘‘Does your mother know you are here?’’ I asked if he had felt the earth move as I entered Town Hall, for if he had it was my mother, turning over in her grave.

A native of Massachusetts, I was brought up on a very simple political syllogism: Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves; Abraham Lincoln was a Republican; therefore, vote Republican. With few exceptions, I have done so. It was always a matter of pride to me to belong to the party of Coolidge, Lodge, Saltonstall, Herter, and Sargent, men of probity and good government—or ‘‘Goo-Goos,’’ as James Michael Curley used to call them—and I was proud that the first black senator in Congress since Reconstruction was Edward Brooke, a Republican from Massachusetts.

Thus, it was no small thing to abandon the party of Lincoln, and I did so not simply to vote for Deval Patrick but to affirm that the values I have always held, that stood for the best in Massachusetts, are now to be found in this non-Yankee from Chicago. Ronald Reagan, at whose second inauguration I offered the benediction, once said that he hadn’t left the Democratic Party but that it had left him; I must say I feel the same way about the Republican Party.

Fortunately, I changed my registration before the nasty tone of the final race had been set, moved to do so by the conviction that words matter, ideas count, and an articulate vision is no small thing in the important matter of public discourse and public policy. When I think of some of the finest public utterances in our American experience—Lincoln’s second inaugural, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inaugural and fireside chats, and, most significantly, Governor John Winthrop’s sermon aboard the Arbella about Massachusetts as the biblical ‘‘city set on a hill,’’ I realize that we have been starving for words that move and inspire us, instill hope and not fear, and suggest the highest purposes for the common good.

Thus, for me, rhetoric is important, for it suggests ideas and ideals, and they become the foundation for sound policies that restore confidence in government as an agency for good.

It is a welcome possibility and not simply a naive hope that an intelligent, passionate, and articulate governor, well supported by a public mandate, can persuade even a self-interested and entrenched Legislature that the public good requires much more than has been on offer in recent administrations. Change is in the air in Washington and in Boston—change that will restore us to our better natures, making the ‘‘common wealth’’ just that once again.

Peter J. Gomes is the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard and Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church.

Tom Lang, Co-Director

The Advocate Names KnowThyNeighbor Blog In Top Reader's Choice

Let The People Blog (About Equal Rights)

The KnowThyNeighbor Blog was honored by The Advocate in its October 24th issue as one of 26 National LGBT Blogs in its famed, "Readers' Favorite"

Though there seems to be no particular order to the listing, KnowThyNeighbor which is dubbed as "A blog about Marriage Equality that is open to everyone" finds itself in great company between Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish and Good As You.

Other blogs which made the list include Keith Boykin, Towleroad and Lesbian Family.  Tom Lang, Co-Director of KnowThyNeighbor and contributor to KnowThyNeighbor.blogs.com

is extremely excited about this national recognition by the leading LGBT news and features media source.  "The Advocate listing is an honor especially since we are a blog on marriage equality and the only one of the many excellent LGBT political blogs coming out of Massachusetts which was chosen.  But the strength of our blog is in our many posters.  Some who have been with us since day one, others who pop in from time to time, and even some who not only oppose marriage equality but oppose our very existence.  The courage of both sides of the discussion to face each other and learn from one another on a daily basis is truly amazing.  This honor is for them."

Thank you all,

Tom Lang, Director

"Equality" A New Exit On the New Jersey Turnpike?

Vermont-Style Civil Unions OR Massachusetts-Style Equal Rights?

What exactly IS going on in New Jersey?  The second I walked through the door yesterday (having just returned from Rome) my phone began ringing off the hook.  Aaron Toleos called to tell me what the New Jersey Supreme Court had just handed down, numerous Press Calls came in asking for my opinion, and even an elected official called multiple times making sure I knew that "Civil Union" is the most likely outcome of the New Jersey Decision.

Well, I don't know about that.  You see, New Jersey's highest court ruled yesterday that same-sex couples are entitled to the same rights as heterosexual couples under the state marriage laws.  Even though Mary Bonauto, the GLAD lawyer responsible for the Goodridge Decision in Massachusetts which granted full marriage equality to same-sex couples said in a Boston Herald article that the New Jersey ruling is a near-"carbon copy" of the 1999 Vermont case, there is something to be said about our country's evolutionary understanding of equal rights. 

I know we have been down this road before with women's rights and then with the Civil Rights Movement for African-Americans, but as I have always said, " We as a society seem to forget the important lessons that we have learned almost with each generation."  It usually takes us two generations in time to forget completely or at least believe that for some reason we are too far removed from our grandparents' time to care or think that we could make those very same mistakes that they did.  This would explain the horrible ways we treat our fellow human beings time and time again.

I still have hope that even with another "Let The People Vote" campaign potentially on the horizon for the Garden State, maybe we are learning something.  Rights without dignity and respect are just "rights."  You and I all know that these rights of marriage without the word are not "Equal Rights" plain and simple.

Lawrence Tribe said it the most eloquently in today's Boston Globe when he referred to the decision which requires that in 180 days the New Jersey Legislature determine whether to call these rights for same-sex couples "marriage" or "civil unions." 

"There are intangible benefits that go with the state's symbolic use of the word marriage.  What isn't clear is if those benefits could be limited to heterosexual couples and that even symbolic benefits can be important."

"People live and die for symbols."

Tom Lang, Director

p.s. Note that the ruling was 4-3 with the three dissenting judges arguing that the decision didn't go far enough and that full marriage rights should be granted... Aaron

Deval Disses Clinton on DOMA

Deval Patrick, likely emboldened by his recent polling numbers, isn't being coy about telling it like it is on the federal DOMA.  Let's hope this is a harbinger of the aggressive policy he will have as governor in defending marriage equality.

Deval: Bubba got it wrong on gay weds
By Kimberly Atkins
Boston Herald Reporter
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - Updated: 05:15 AM EST

With former President Bill Clinton poised to arrive in Massachusetts today to drum up support and cash for Deval Patrick, the Democratic governor hopeful blasted his former boss for signing a law denying federal recognition of gay marriages.

“I think it was a terrible mistake by the Clinton administration,” Patrick said of the Defense of Marriage Act. The act was signed in 1996 by Clinton, who will stump for Patrick and his running mate, Tim Murray, this afternoon in Worcester.

Patrick, who calls his opposition to banning same-sex marriages “a civil rights issue,” said he was left out of Clinton’s decision-making process, even though he was the president’s civil rights chief in the Justice Department.

“I wasn’t a part of that internal debate or legislative initiative at all,” Patrick told the Herald yesterday. “And I think it was because they knew where I was on that subject.”

“They didn’t get everything right,” Patrick added.

His remarks come as Massachusetts is poised to revisit the issue when a legislative Constitutional Convention resumes Nov. 9, two days after Election Day. The group VoteOnMarriage.org has begun airing radio ads to put on the ballot an amendment defining marriage as between a man and woman, the same effect the law Clinton signed had on federal law.

Patrick’s gubernatorial opponent, Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, supports the law Clinton signed.

“Kerry Healey, while she does support civil unions, agrees with both Bill Clinton and John Kerry that marriage should be between a man and a woman,” said Healey campaign manager Tim O’Brien.

Aaron Toleos, Director

Chairman of State Republican Party works for Healey's Husband's Corporation

Often The Truth is Right Under Our Noses

It took centuries for people to understand that the Earth is round even though they watched ships sails get lost on the horizon yet "miraculously" return. And who would have ever thought that a version of the common bread mold would cure so many infections which plagued mankind for millenia?

Well, here is one for you to ponder...

Darrell Crate, the Chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party

Darrell Crate, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of AMG Corp., Sean Healey's (Kerry Healey's Husband's) Company

 

Tom Lang, Director, Rome (don't ask)

Ground Zero for Radical Right: Liberty Sunday

KnowThyNeighbor and Fellow LGBT Gather to Protest

The Tremont Temple in Boston was "Ground Zero" for the Who's Who of Anti-Gay Political Opportunism.  About 500 people filled the Temple to partake in The Family Research Council's nationally televised Liberty Sunday which once again used our lives, our families and our children as the fuel for its political influence peddling on a massive scale.

KnowThyNeighbor was proud to join our supporters and other LGBT in a protesting this group and telling the world, as one sign read, "Massachusetts is No Place For Hate."  Massachusetts is no place for a few other things, people like Mitt and Ann Romney who spoke at this event.  A Governor has NO BUSINESS demonizing a group of people in order to create a national stage for his White House aspirations.  That is why the sign I carried read, "Mitt Romney is a Disgrace."  But be assured that this country is not buying Romney's rhetoric any longer.  He is quoted last night as saying that we (the GLBT) are now "destroying families."

Other signage included our Co-Director, Aaron Toleos' which, as he carried his son in his arms, read "Our Courage Their Fear."   

So what other anti-gay celebs exited the Tremont Temple last night to a KnowThyNeighbor led response of "Shameful" ?? Tony Perkins, the President of the Family Research Council with his entourage of about ten bodyguards.  Alan Chambers of Exodus International-- the "ex-gay" movement.  And of course Kris Mineau, the spokesperson of the Massachusetts Family Institute.  But what was interesting about Kris is that he exited together in a very "chummy" manner with David and Mrs. Parker, the Lexington School parents who turned a coloring book on family diversity brought home by their child into a disgusting and repulsive agenda-based political stunt--all at the expense of LGBT, the Lexington School system and the very children that they claim to be protecting.

I would like to thank all of you who came out to stand up for yourselves and what is truly right!  Check out the video... two KnowThyNeighbor.org volunteers, John Hosty and Greg Kimball, are interviewed.

Tom Lang, Director

The Lion, The Witch and The Corner Office

The Chronicles of Nasty Campaigning

So this is what it is has come to...Kerry Healey in her desperate attempt to claim the Corner Office has now allegedly released information intended to slice the throat of the Deval Patrick Campaign once and for all.  What Healey did not understand was that once the particulars of this unfortunate and personal Patrick family history were exposed that people would understand the intrusive and hurtful nature of the Healey campaign's probable attack--well people with a heart that is.  And I guess "heart" is the operative word.

Kerry Healey of course denies that she had any involvement with the column in The Boston Herald and The Boston Globe which exposed the fact that Deval Patrick's brother-in-law failed to register as a sex-offender when he moved to Milton, Massachusetts from California.  But of course why would she or her campaign admit involvement in this leak?  Especially when additional facts would provide a look into this brother-in-law's arrest for the rape of his own wife (Deval's sister), the reconciliation of the husband and wife, and the protection of their children from this information.  I don't even want to go into this anymore as what happened in this family is really none of my business.

So, back to Healey's denial of involvement.  Supposedly there was no involvement in the letter which was written and signed by lawyers and rape victim's advocates such as Wendy Murphy and Laurie Myers in response to the LeGuer issue which was also to Healey's benefit.  However, Laurie Myers was asked by Kerry Healey to supply her voice for a series of recorded phone calls to likely voters (I being one of them) in which Myers identified herself as a rape victim's advocate and tells you why she will not vote for Deval Patrick.  How do I know this?  I had a telephone conversation with Laurie Myers.  She told me that she was asked by Kerry Healey to do this.  Then she asked me if the caller id on my phone registered the Healey Campaign and I said, "No, It came over as Private Caller."  This disturbed Mrs. Myers greatly and she said, "That's not right."

KnowThyNeighbor certainly knows about Republican Denial.  Last Fall before I provided the Boston Globe with an email trail provided to me by a GOP State Committeewoman which layed out in detail the unauthorized involvement of the GOP State Committee in the signature collection and training of signature gatherers for the anti-same-sex marriage petition, I gave the Republicans a chance to admit their involvement.  I was told by two officers at the GOP State Committee, both who also have jobs at Sean Healey's AMG Corporation that the topic of same-sex marriage "is never discussed."  One of these men, Matt St. Hilaire, now works as Kerry Healey's political director.  And who took over Hilaire's position at the GOP State Committee?  Rob Willington, ex-political director of VoteOnMarriage.org, the one who referred to LGBT as "The Forces of Evil."

Oh there IS "evil" out there folks.  The White Witch is on the move using what she considers her "magic" to win this campaign.  But the snow is beginning to melt all around her which is exposing her and her nasty administration for what it is. The "true balance" will be returned to the Corner Office on November 7th--that of decency, and respect, and fairness, and equality, and the ability to work with one another once again...once that Witch, Kerry Healey is defeated.

Tom Lang, Director    

Help Clean Up Your Neighborhood

Advocacy KnowThyNeighbor Style

Today, as I was driving to work from Manchester-by-the-Sea to Essex, I found myself behind a Verizon repair truck.  This truck had a prominently displayed bumper sticker in support of Rep.Tony Verga, Democrat in the Fifth Essex (Gloucester, Essex, Rockport).  Tony Verga has made it clear that he intends to vote FOR the amendment which would ban same-sex marriage which will be in Constitutional Convention on November 9th.

I just could not let this one go.  I immediately called Verizon's customer service people.  BTW, I am a Verizon subscriber but that was not the issue here.  What was the issue was that a representative of a corporation had placed political messages (in this case an anti-Equality politician's campaign signage) on that corporation's property which on the surface signifies Verizon's complicity.  I was transferred to different customer service personnel until I finally reached the dispatcher for this area and I provided her with the plate number and she agreed to have the stickers removed immediately.

What was reassuring to me that this world may actual be understanding what is meant by the words decency, fairness, respect, equality -- at least Verizon seemed to.  Every person that I spoke with apologized sincerely, shared personal stories with me about gay family members and friends, one woman even went so far to say that she was disgusted with the driver and the Representative.  I told her, in the driver's defense, that he may not have known what Verga's stance was on same-sex marriage or how this stance may in fact hurt alot of people.  People often don't understand, care enough, think that it could affect "their" family, but that is why you and I must vow to make sure they understand, care enough and explain to them that LGBT people are in every family.

So, now you know what I mean about "Advocacy KnowThyNeighbor Style."  And so do five Verizon Customer Service Employees.  And so does at least one Verizon Truck Driver.  Did I forget anyone?  Oh wait...(this was emailed earlier)

Dear Representative Verga,

Today, as I was driving through Manchester, I came across a Verizon service truck with one of your bumper stickers prominently displayed on it.  I just wanted to let you know that I called Verizon and the local dispatcher is having this truck driver remove your sticker.

I find your stance on my Equal Rights and my right to protect MY family incredibly offensive, let alone what the passage of this amendment with its segregative nature will do to future generations of LGBT people and their families.  Your defense has been mixed from the latest being that you believe ALL questions should be allowed on the ballot to previously when you said that you just can't get past the idea of Civil Unions because you are "an old-fashioned type of guy."

Well, I am an "honest type of guy" and that is why I am writing you to let you know that I am the one responsible for one less Tony Verga bumper sticker and possibly many less Tony Verga supporters.

Your emails always end with "Enjoy the Blessings of the Day."  I and my family are "blessed," and in one state in the union, we are blessed with Equal Rights.  But you and others are allowing it to be taken away.

Respectfully,

Tom Lang

_____________________________________________________________________

So Clean Up Those Neighborhoods Folks!

Tom Lang, Director

The Politics of Hate...et tu Ann Romney?

Boston's Liberty Sunday

(Please find the below Call to Action and join us on Sunday, with thanks to Mark Snyder of QueerToday )

On Sunday October 15th Tony Perkins' Family Research Council, child organization of Focus on the Family, will roll into town for their Liberty Sunday Event to be held at Tremont Temple.

The LGBT Community and Allies will be holding a peaceful prayer vigil and rally that same day at 6:30 PM at 88 Tremont Street. Brian Rainey of QueerToday.com will be among the featured speakers.

Liberty Sunday Featured Speakers:

Tony PerkinsPresident, Family Research Council (Fined for paying KKK for mailing list)
Ann Romney
Dr. Ray Pendleton Pastor, Tremont Temple Baptist Church Boston, Massachusetts
Dr. Roberto Miranda Pastor, Lion of Judah Congregation Boston, Massachusetts
Bishop Gilbert Thompson Senior Pastor, Jubilee Christian Church Mattapan, Massachusetts
Bishop Wellington Boone Wellington Boone Ministries
Alan Chambers President, Exodus International (Ex-Gay, Refers teens to gay conversion camps, Love Won Out Speaker)

With Special Appearances By:
Mitt Romney
Ray Flynn Former Mayor of Boston
Dr. James Dobson Focus on the Family
Chuck Colson Prison Fellowship
Gary Bauer American Values "involvement in homosexuality can kill you."
Professor Robert George Princeton University
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave Colorado (R) Endorsed by the KKK
Rep. Mike Pence Indiana (R)
Judge Charles Pickering "Pickering’s intervention on behalf of a man convicted of burning a cross in Mississippi"
Alan SearsAlliance Defense Fund
Rev. Don Wildmon American Family Association
Maggie GallagherInstitute for Marriage and Public Policy
William Donohue Catholic League

Director's note:  you should all find this event "too good" to miss.  It truly amazes me that not only Mitt Romney but his wife, Ann, will be guest speakers here.  This entire administration, the Massachusetts Family Institute, the GOP State Committee,  the Romneys, VoteOnMarriage etc.  need to be "unmasked" or as we like to say "de-hooded."  The only way to do it is to be forever vigilent. 

Advocate for yourselves, your children and your families everyday, 24 hours a day, in everything that you do, whether it is buying a cup of coffee, talking to friends or clients, at church, in the classroom or even to strangers.  Today is "National Coming Out Day"...  I look at it this way, everyday is National Coming Out day, we cannot afford it to be any other way.  But remember this, once you "come out of the closet" walk right up to the front door and "come out of the house"  -- tax returns in hand, copies of the Constitution in your back pocket and megaphones ready to shout!

Tom Lang, Director