We're getting scared over here!

Do you know what's scarier than reaching out to the gay community? Not reaching out to them! What all of us members of the community (both LGBT folks combined with their friends and family) know is that gay friendly businesses are preferred over those who well... aren't. With all of the things that have been in the news lately, such as the New Jersey wedding shop believe it illegal to sell a wedding dress to a lesbian, it's not surprising that the community turns to gay friendly business directories to prevent such situations.

That being said, getting involved in directories who's purpose is to supply the community with gay friendly businesses is the best way to do so. We believe this enough that we are going help make the fright go away with a contest so scary, anything else will pale and shake in their boots in comparison.

What is the prize for this contest?

Well, I'm glad you asked.

There's a reason I've been abusing the scary reference in regards to something that's not scary at all.

On Halloween, we will be choosing one Facebook and one Twitter follower to receive a FREE Home Page Banner package in one of our directories.

A Home Page Banner package includes the following things:

• One Home Page banner that displays at the top of every page
• 5 Single Category Listings, includes one 4x5 full color art along with business name, address with Google map link (or a tagline), 2 phone numbers, fax number, web link, & email link

Great! How do I enter?

It's easy!  All you need to do is be a follower of our Twitter account or like our Facebook account.  It's as simple as that.  We will be choosing a winner from both groups. That means we're giving away TWO of those packages! Plus, if you happen to be a follower of our Orlando accounts, but your business is based in another geographic area other than Orlando (such as Tampa or Miami), you can still enter! We are located in 26 cities across the United States and will honor the package in one city of your choice.  The prize is non-transferable, though. So, you must be affiliated with the business that will be advertised.  

Two Step Entry:

Pick one (or both for two chances to win!):

1. Follow our Twitter account. 
2. Like our Facebook account

Plus, share this post in some way (pick one, please): 

1. Retweet the tweet about the contest from our Orlando Twitter account (or from our twtter feed in the sidebar to the right).
2. Tweet the following: Not reaching out to the LGBT community is scary! I just entered for a FREE banner from @OrlandoGayPages on Halloween http://bit.ly/qIVVYX
3. Share the link from our Facebook post about the contest.
4. Share this post on Google+ (we have a handy +1 button to the right in the sidebar up there) and link to that post in your comment here or add #OrlandoGayPages to the post somewhere.

When you've followed one of our social media channels and passed this contest on to the network of your choice, if you still have a moment, please post here with your thoughts. It could be on topic, or what you had for breakfast.  If you want to get in the spirit of the month and the contest, feel free to post a picture or drawing of a jack o' lantern so our scary one up top has some friends.  All in all... have fun and good luck!

Project:: Shattered Silence

Photos Courtesy of Jared O’Roark

"I, myself, am a gay man and feel that the world would be a better place if people would take the time to actually educate themselves about others.  That is what Project: Shattered Silence is about..." - Jared O’Roark

When this show debuted, it was to sold out crowds. With such a response, they will be having an encore performance this Saturday in Clearwater at 7:30PM. It is slated as being a show for both those who love the theater and who typically avoid such shows. There's sure to be a character that you will identify with and learn something about yourself from.


All in all, its sure to be a good time if you are in the Clearwater area tomorrow. Head to the beach during the day and then enjoy the theater at night - a perfect culture filled Florida day.

For more information, visit their website:  http://hoffmanperformingarts.org/email/education/6-14.html


From their show brochure:

WHAT IS PROJECT: SHATTERED SILENCE?
Project: Shattered Silence is a unique project created by Jared O’Roark from Ruth Eckerd Hall and the Marcia P. Hoffman Performing Arts Institute.  The project gathers teenagers from as many diverse walks of life as possible: racially, financially, religiously, even from different points in Tampa Bay.  Through the course of a school year the team gathers to create an original piece of theater for all people (not just for teenagers).  The play presents stories and variations on a theme chosen by the group.  The team gets to see their created piece displayed when it is performed at the end of the school year (usually by them telling their own stories.)

WHAT IS “WHEN THE MUSIC STOPS”?
“When the Music Stops” is the title of the first play created by Project: Shattered Silence.  The theme is diversity.  The show premiered last year to a sold out audience.  P:SS  was asked to give an encore performance the following week, once again to a sold out crowd.  Well, now P:SS has been
asked to give another encore performance one year after its debut.  Please come and witness how diversity can look artistically.


WHO IS THE SHOW DESIGNED FOR?
The show is designed to be seen by all ages, and anyone interested in discovering (or just wanting to share with someone) that even though we are all different on the outside, internally the same emotions pump through our hearts.


QUESTIONS?
Please contact Jared O’Roark at Ruth Eckerd Hall
Email:  jared@rutheckerdhall.net   
Phone:  (727) 712-2746

Florida Film Festival - Without

If you're looking for something to do this weekend or next that you wouldn't normally be able to, the Florida Film Festival is beginning. Recently, I was contacted about a movie that is being played that is "about a late teen girl grieving over the loss of her girlfriend due to cyber-bullying while having to take a job in an isolated woodland house as the caretaker for a catatonic old man."

Wanted by director Mark Jackson is slated as being a mixture of Black Swan and Repulsion by the critics. Jackson and Jessica Dimmock of Right on Red Films state that it is "inspired by real stories of anti-gay cyber bullying..." and further state "...at a time of click-for-content, diminished attention spans, Without dares to slowly meditate on some of the most urgent issues of our time."

All in all, it sounds like it will be an interesting film.

For more information on Wanted, see below or visit their page on the festival's site or on the studio's site where you can view a trailer.

Be sure to also take a look at the other films being played in the festival.

FL FILM FESTIVAL LOCATION & SHOWTIMES
Regal Winter Park Village B
Saturday, April 9th 7:30 pm
Thursday, April 14th 9:30 pm

Synopsis
In a time when the world seems too much with us, a pretty nineteen-year-old girl tumbles into loneliness when she takes a job as a caretaker for a catatonic old man on a remote wooded island with no cell signal or internet. Arriving already isolated and scarred by mysterious past events that are never fully explained, she begins a slow progression of mental and emotional disintegration as she struggles to maintain a daily routine while in conflict with her own guilt, sexuality, and an unshakable sense of loss. An intense and brave performance by newcomer Joslyn Jensen, cited as “creative, nuanced, and moving” at Slamdance 2011, earned the film a Special Jury Mention and makes this an experience that’s hard to shake. With its echoes of Polanski’s Repulsion, Aronofsky’s Black Swan, and Haneke’s The Piano Teacher, the bold and startling WITHOUT is a rigorously filmed chamber drama of a most provocative and unusual nature.

Dot Gay May be on the Horizon

Move over .com and make way for .gay!

...or .love, .eco, .car, .health, .radio, .ski, etc. In fact, there's a large list of all the possibilities various groups already want to see when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) completes its tasks to implement the new Top level Domains over on the .NXT Conference site. The custom domain will also mean cities and states can have their own top level domain like .nyc or .florida. We may also see brand ones like .coke (.canon and .unicef are already listed).

What's the catch, you may ask? Having your own top level domain like this will be coming with a hefty price tag. $185,000 plus a $25,000 annual fee according to the Washington Post. Pretty big catch! Luckily, the dotGAYalliance and dotGAY will be pushing to have the .gay extension included so we may see eventually sites like hotel.gay, sports.gay, or health.gay popping up.

Unfortunately, as has happened in the past with the Bush Administration stopping the .xxx extension, the Obama administration is quietly pushing to allow countries, including the US, to veto top level domains. That then leads to the trouble that having a central domain such as .gay (or any number of potentially controversial extensions like .abortion, .aids, etc) would allow countries who aren't friendly towards a particular subject to block any domain with that extension if it was approved by the ICANN.

Confused About "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"? You're Not Alone...

As one of my followers on Twitter mentioned recently, the news about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has been less than clear. He is, of course, absolutely right as it seems things are constantly going back and forth about whether it will be repealed or not (and even if it will be included in the Defense Authorization Act this year). I've been reading the stories as they appear on various news sites and have seen everything from the White House not approving any defense bill without the repeal of DADT to the lame duck congress won't be able to pass the defense bill with or without it due to the small time span.

While I won't be able to make anything clearer about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" myself as I'm not a member of congress, at least I can do some of the legwork by giving you a list of the most informative articles I've read lately to do with DADT.

While Wikipedia has its flaws in the communal editing and potential of false information being edited in by those who aren't up on their facts or are trolling, generally, it is always a good place to look for quickly updated information and source linkes. Don't Ask, Don't Tell article on Wikipedia

Advocate.com is also another source and is where most of the articles I've been reading has stemmed from. The latest one posted as of November 16, 2010 is A Midwestern DADT Repeal Effort.

Others Articles Posted Recently

• http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/yes_dadt_repeal_could_still_pa.html


• http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/mccain_is_still_on_the_wrong_s.html


• http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/the_morning_plum_131.html


• http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/on_dadt_its_imperial_presidenc.html


• http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/11/gates-launches-investigation-of-dont-ask-dont-tell-review-leak.html


• http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131223266


• http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sc-dc-1114-court-gays-military-20101112,0,6155475.story


• http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cindy-mccain-opposes-john-mccain-dont/story?id=12131423


• http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20022790-503544.html


• http://www.washingtonblade.com/2010/11/17/obama-restates-commitment-on-keeping-dont-ask-in-defense-bill/

Overall, we're going to have to wait and see what comes out of the lame-duck congressional session. Taking a look through some of those links will help to piece together a semblance of where things are currently standing. If it's anything like a couple recent days though, tomorrow it may very well be a different story.

Hate Crime in Orlando

A 20 year old gay man was beat by a group of teens for his sexual preference. The Orange County deputies said this is a hate crime.

A group of nine boys and girls left 20-year-old Daniel Lago with scratches on his face, including bruises to his lips, back of the head and cheeks, reports from the Orange County Sheriff's Office show.

Lago said he was walking home around 9:30 p.m. when one of the teenagers approached him in the area of Long and Barbara roads, between Rosemont and Lockhart, and asked to use his cell phone.

He told the suspect he didn't have minutes on his phone. The teen then asked Lago if he was gay.

When Lago replied, "What if I am?" the teen said, "So you are."

The victim then said one of the female teenagers pushed him from behind, reports show. She and the teen who asked for the cell phone started beating Lago.

Deputies said Lago gripped his cell phone and tried to run from the attackers.

One of the teen suspects pulled off and stole Lago's rainbow-colored necklace, as well as a metal charm depicting two male gender symbols.

Sexual orientation is one of a handful of personal characteristics protected by Florida's hate-crime laws, along with race, color, religion and several others.

Transgender Child in Deltona

Most little girls think of themselves wearing a dress and high heels.

But one kid in Deltona has always depicted herself differently: As a boy in pants, standing outside a "boy's" school or picking flowers for his mom.

This young girl wants to be called "he." And after years of battles over school clothes and haircuts and long meetings with a therapist, the third-grader's parents are letting her live as a boy.

This child hasn't had a sex change and wasn't born a hermaphrodite.

The parents say, their 8-year-old was born with the wrong body — a situation a number of families are struggling with nationwide.

"This is just who he is — he is just wired in such a way that he's male. It doesn't matter what his genitalia is," said the child's mom.

Although mental-health experts disagree on whether people should make such a dramatic transition at a young age, children as young as 5 are doing it. They're changing their names, insisting on a new pronoun and altering their appearance with new clothes and hairstyles.

As a result, school districts are having to make some controversial changes.

What should schools do about restrooms and locker rooms? How do they make sure everybody uses the correct pronouns? How should teachers explain the situation to curious classmates?

The Volusia County school district is considering changing its anti-bullying policy, too, which parents of the transgender student in Deltona have been pressing for. The Deltona parents said they know their son may have a tough road ahead but is much happier since he cut his hair short and started shopping in the boys' section.

"He never stops talking, he never stops smiling — and that's something we didn't see before," said his mom. "For me to say 'no' would be denying him happiness."