stageright…stageleft

on july 13 – 16, i will be taking on the role of volunteer ceremonies director for the red ribbon ride presented by chipotle. the red ribbon ride is a 4-day, 300 mile bicycle ride through southern minnesota that raises valuable fund for 9 aids service organizations in minnesota. my role will be to organize opening and closing ceremonies for the 300 volunteer riders and crew on the event, as well as to arrange entertainment for them to make the miles a little less difficult. there’s a lot of peddling involved in biking for aids.

while the world’s eye is (understandably) focused on the emergency aids situation in africa, critical funding for u.s. based aids organizations is being drastically cut by our government. in fact, some of that funding is even being completely eliminated.

this lack of funding results in reduced – if not eliminated – services on the local level – services that are absolutly necessary to the people living in your own backyard with hiv/aids. services that can improve a patients quality of life, provide medical information and assistance, feed and provide shelter to those without food or a place to stay warm and services that educate the public. you would think that in 2006, we all would know how to protect ourselves from hiv/aids, but unfortunately – that’s just not the case. hiv infection rates are on the rise all over the country.

as an example, due to cuts in federal hiv prevention funding, the governor of minnesota has decided that our state cannot afford the $135,000/year the minnesota aids project needs to run it’s aidsline. (for more information about the specifics go to: mn aids project aids line and then click on the public policy fact sheet for the mn aids line)

the reality is that we cannot afford one less tool to stop hiv through prevention and education.

the red ribbon ride is a valuable money-raising tool for the mn aids project (and the 8 other organizations it benefits) – in fact, it’s one of the most successful charities of it’s type in the country.

i humbly ask you to consider donating to the ride via, my personal fund raising website. the funds are fully tax-deductible (in the u.s.). you can reach the page by clicking on the following link. red ribbon ride

i have a love/hate relationship with pride and always have a bit of a mixed feeling in my belly regarding the festivities.

while i know how lucky i am to be a gay man (and wouldn’t trade it) in today’s day and age, and i’m very humbled by what our older brothers and sisters have gone through to make life a little better for future generation, i’m reminded about how far we have yet to go. i’m also lucky that i’m able to work for a very forward-thinking company, and i’m completely and totally out in all facets of my life. i love that minneapolis/st. paul is so open and welcoming. and i’m lucky that my mother is accepting (in her way, it’s still not something we talk about on a frequent basis, but it cuold be alot worse).

the world seems to me to be spinning wildly out of control. environmentally, socially and most importantly, from a human perspective; it’s just not a world i understand. pride, for better or worse, also seems to be a bit out of control. the constant debate on gay marriage just offends me on every level and it scares me that the opposing side seems to be gaining speed. i just fundamentally don’t understand why this is such a big thing. arnt’ glbt entitled to the same thing as our non-glbt friends and family?

pride is a crucial component in moving glbt issues to the public eye. but the party atmosphere of pride repesents only one aspect of life. where are all the glbt folks the other 51 weeks of the year? where are we when it’s time to maintain visibility and being vocal when it comes to taking a stand politically? where are we in every day life, are we all out as much as possible? are we standing by and supporting each other (or are we tearing each other down and building walls in our own community)?

i absolutely believe in the power of pride and would never question our communities highlighting glbt life during the festivies. but are we showing the right face to the world when we march in the parade, or peruse the booths in the park? i’m all for personal expression (god knows i’m about my personal expression), but are wearing assless chaps or a 8′ strap on phallas while marching down the street really helping our cause? a strong sense of sexuality is a big part of who we are as glbt people (natch, human people), but there is a time and a place – on the street corner is not the place in my opinion. that said, i have no problem with public displays of affection, but i don’t need to see someone getting a blowjob on the corner of 9th & hennipen. in a bar – fine if you must, children aren’t gonna be in a bar.

like a moth to a flame, the media that covers pride is going to gravitate to the more gratuitous images from the parade and the park – shots of hunky guys in leather gyrating with each other on a float, or the queens in feathers and sequins spraying each other with whipped creme (and lapping it off each other) is just not good p.r. for the glbt world. again, there is a time and a place – i can appreciate a hot guy in leather (trust me), and i love a good show – but does flaunting the sexual aspect of gay life really help our cause.

we all know that being gay is not about sex. much of the straight world still sees us as sex starved perverts (their words) and love nothing more than pointing to pride to prove their theory. now sex is awesome (and i’ve been called a pervert a time or two – in a good way ), but there is more to me about being gay than about sex.

music heard during the writing of this post:

faster kill pussycat / paul oakenfeld & brittney murphy
pulsatron / siobahn fahey
devil inside / utada
red blooded woman / kylie
ooh la la / goldfrapp
whitehorse / wonderland avenue
chains of love / erasure
promiscuous / nelly furtado & timabaland
girlfriend / queen pen & me’shell ndegeo’cello

Study: Earth hottest in 400 years
The Earth is the hottest it has been in at least 400 years, probably even longer. A panel of top climate scientists told lawmakers that the Earth is running a fever and that “human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming

click for more: cnn.com global warming