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  • #21
Thez_yo, first off - thanks for your generously!

While on active duty in the Army I helped my friend for over ten years deal with his sexual orientation and the conflicting feelings he had and not being able to live his life freely and openly because of the military's "don't ask don't tell" policy. It was very difficult for him and it didn't have to be.... I am glad to see the the military is now doing away with this ridiculous policy.

I'll go with 89...

Thanks again for being a real inspiration to this community.
 
  • #22
I'd love the nep's, and I should have plantlets and seeds to give away soon.
I've befriended seven or so LGBTs in high school. They never really hung around me, but whenever they needed someone to talk to about their problems and feelings to, I was there. I can remember quite a few nights that I was up on the phone past midnight trying to keep one of them from committing suicide (The southeast USA is not a friendly place to people who aren't straight). I can't recall ever using words like 'gay' or 'fag' as slurs, nor have I ever treated anyone differently because of their sexual orientation.
I won't say that I'm in excellent moral standing though- one of the ways I helped was by beating people up who took the harassment too far. It helped stop them, so I don't regret doing it!
It's great that this community is so friendly and accepting towards people who are a bit outside of the norm, and thanks for this themed giveaway!
39
 
  • #23
Awesome idea!

I'm an art major, so I'm naturally very friendly towards the LGBT community. I offer to model for their paintings and photos, donate my artwork for benefit auctions when I can, and protested an awful law the VA governor tried to pass. My girlfriend's sister is gay and married, and they're one of the most awesome couple's I've met.

I choose 7.
 
  • #24
hey. i have not had any contact with people of this practice, though i wouldnt mind. just that simple. i am not going to sit here and write a long untrue story (absolutely not saying that anybody on here is.) besides, i am not even 15 yet and haven't really been in the real world. just sayin. anyway my number is 9.
 
  • #25
I choose 24 because it sounds cool. Thanks for the try. In case I win I will tell you the person to ship to since i dont live in the U.S.
 
  • #26
Well since I'm in high school I know a lot of bullying goes on about sexual orientation and it makes me sad. I know several people in my school who are homosexual and are very nice people but everybody excludes them just due to their sexual orientation. I try to be friends with them and help out if there being picked on. I hope people will realize it dosent matter if your gay it's your personality that counts not your sexual orientation.
I choose 13 since it's my lucky number and thanks thez for this amazing giveaway!
 
  • #27
In high school, I was an active member of my school's gay-straight alliance, and became president for one year. Together, we went to GSA summits, participated in Day of Silence, night of noise, and even made an informative video for our entire school.
Currently, I fight homophobia at work, consistently butting heads with customers and coworkers, offering up viewpoints they may not have thought of. It feels good to know that you've changed a manly trucker's world view somewhat.
I also donate my time to Basic Rights Oregon, an lgbtq rights organization, calling out got donations and to spread the word about rallies.
Lastly, and this I feel is just as important as anything, I am always here for my friends, lgbtq or otherwise.
Sorry to be long winded, just my experience.
Oh, my number! 47, if you please.
Thanks so much for your generosity!
 
  • #28
uhh what does the q stand for
 
  • #29
I don't really have any personal stories to share, because people are pretty accepting where I live. I do support LGBT rights where I can and my sister is the president of the "bridges" chapter at my school, and I attend meetings.

Also, I'm currently watching "My little pony". Bronies for life!

Great thing you're doing here, thez, and kudos to the winner... They deserve it.

I choose 11 because 11 is awesome.

Happy growing!
 
  • #30
This is wonderful Thez_yo! It's great to see so many people standing up for the LGBT community =)
I was very lucky to grow up in a place where being different wasn't dangerous for you. I've always had LGBT friends, and I grew up pretty unaware of how bad the discrimination is because everyone was so accepting. When we moved I realized that was not necessarily the norm, and there were actually a lot of really ignorant people who said and did terrible things. I do spend a lot of time trying to make people think about the hurtful things they say, and I know it has helped at least a couple people open their eyes and see they were being very mean.
This year was my first time IN the pride parade, which was totally awesome. I was a purple bat (with the goth float). I will be volunteering my bat skills again next year for sure, but this time probably as a green bat =)
I choose 18. And thanks again for making such an awesome giveaway!
 
  • #31
"Help stamp out intolerance." One of the best and funniest things I've read while driving.

My own views on this issue are so blurred I can't even see anything but grey. I've had a lot of great opportunities with this. I live in Utah, I love it here don't get me wrong and don't diss my home, but some people need to recognize that some things are out of our control. I have helped a few of my best friends decide not to find out just how mortal they are. Saddest time ever is when you find out that your friend is gay and they are already at the point of their own gun. I love my friends, and I wish I could have been there at that pivotal moment for all of them. Unfortunately, I can't be everywhere.

"Help educate intolerance." Before it is too late for someone else...

I've got plenty of neps for the time being, but thanks for the generosity and opportunity.

EDIT: aparently I actually do have reason to throw out a number... let's go 70
 
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  • #32
This is a great idea Thez- shame I can't enter it due to not living in the US. I live in a pretty accepting place, so I have no real stories of chivalry or anything. Being in the equivalent of high school, I (sadly) know a few people that are homophobic, but I always make a point of discussing with them and persuading them to be more accepting. I think people really need to be challenged in this area. It's just a blind fear of the unknown combined with the feeling of power to those who can socially oppress another group. Many people don't discriminate, but are prejudiced (a fine line between)- prejudice is silent, but causes rifts in society, and I think that's the true final hurdle.

Well done Thez, this is a really positive thread!
 
  • #33
Thanks to all the supporters <3

lance: then go be friends with them :) They're just like you, in exactly every way. Who you choose to date/marry in the end is down to who you think has the best moral character and it doesn't matter if your partner is a boy or girl. Here's what the ancient Greek, Plato, had to say about that: http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/symposium.html

Scotty: Because you are Christian-ing all over a civil rights support thread, that is someone other than yours' fault? You made the choice to post here.

dsrtfox: From the sounds of it, you're not reformed, nor are you entering in the contest. Please don't just post hate here.

I think I'll close this thread off end of Monday when I go to bed (9pm or 10pm PST) 5th Sept and tell you guys who got the closest and won.
 
  • #34
Thez - thanks for a great giveaway & opportunity to raise awareness! :hail:

Unlike many of the others in the thread, I cannot say that I was supportive of the LGBT community when I was in high school. To be honest, many of my views at that time were more a representation of my collective peer groups & family beliefs than anything that arose from my own gray matter. Leaving my rural, small-town PA high school for a huge university exposed me to a myriad of different theologies, mindsets & belief systems & pushed my mind to start to function on the basis of what I thought vs what those around me wanted me to think.

While there are numerous stories I could tell about this time period (mid-70's), my personal evolution & current status (as could many), suffice to say that I am now supportive of a myriad of belief-systems & lifestyle choices - whether or not they are similar to my own. While my views are now mine and constructed from someplace within, my original family members have not found the need to modify theirs & this chasm of difference has been the catalyst for many 'conversations'. Apparently the divides within my family are at least somewhat analogous to those within our society and as might be expected, have been an incentive for the evolution in my political affiliation. It is a source of sadness to me that this chasm of difference has now become so wide that effective communication is often difficult (if not impossible) - as we see being mirrored on the national stage.

No number - not interested in the Neps - just in voicing support for tolerance, temperance & understanding.
 
  • #35
I choose 99 and would love to provide a new home for your extra plants.
I teach biology and make a point to show that same sex relationships are normal and expected in the animal world. Humans are the only animal that creates an issue out of it!
 
  • #36
Thez - I'm closing this topic temporarily until I get back from my in laws. I want to clean out the off topicness and review the other thread. It will be reopened later tonight.

The community appreciates your generosity. Those that don't appreciate it should have stayed out.
 
  • #37
All the posts not related directly to this give away have been moved to the other thread. Good luck to all the participants and thanks again for the generous give away.

xvart.
 
  • #38
Wow! Such an amazing and generous thing to do!

Somehow or another, I seem to be the only openly out person in my art classes at school. Many times, I have had some of the more shy individuals befriend me only to later learn that they hung out around me simply because I wasn't afraid to be who I was, and thus made them more comfortable with who they are. These people were not necessarily all homosexual, however, it was my openness with my own that led to them understanding that gay people are very much like straight people, and those who were like me were more willing to simply go with how they felt about things. They weren't afraid to talk to me about their lives or what made them tick. Things like that really warm my heart and its one of the few instances where I feel as though I have made a difference in someones life.
Hmm.... as for the number, I choose #1.
 
  • #39
You are awesome for increasing awareness and dialogue. I will pick # 16. I am outspoken in defense of lgbt and minorities in the rural hillbilly community I live in. I have been to fundraising events to defend marriage rights for the gay community. It isn't even a moral issue,it is unconstitutional to deprive someone the rights that others have based on prejudie. I have a gay risk prevention hotline phone number on my phone for patients I see at the hospital I work at.
 
  • #40
Good Job Danikal, There should be no reason for you to be afraid to be who you are.... Likewise with anyone else in the LGBT community,

Zu i did not mention in my previous posts, but it really makes me happy to see that you are putting your foot out there for the community. The oppression of the LGBT needs to come to an end... People are entitled to love, and should not be condemned to a life of misery and torment because of their orientation. As all of the bible junkies throw out their quotes, let me throw out a quote of their beloved bible as well
"Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone" (Of course not saying being gay is a sin)

anyway this post will probably be deleted and if it does, whatever, point is that people should not fear to be themselves.
 
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