Advice on Being an Out LGBT Teacher from Johnny Jonte Boucher

In a blog post for the Dallas Morning News, teacher Johnny Jonte Boucher, has some first-hand advice for those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender and in the teaching profession about being yourself while still managing to keep your job:

1. Bond with families
I use technology to help me out here on the time commitment—I send mass texts using the Remind app and website. Tell them how the day went. Send pictures often. Talk about class goals and what you all are learning. Involve parents in a project or a fundraiser for something the class needs. It builds a sense that this class is not you and the kids; it is your connection with an entire community of families. Create a group email list and send out updates and parenting articles you love. Make a teacher Instagram and send the link to all the parents. When they know you, that’s where the trust grows.

[snip]

4. Bring your family around
This may seem “in your face” if you were raised in a place with tons of shame, but seeing you and your partner together will normalize your life to the PTA, to your coworkers, and, don’t forget, to the child who will grow up and struggle with this, too. How many children will you teach in your career? If just one out of ten kids will experience pain and bullying about who they love or how they understand their gender, the memory of you and your partner will stick with them.

I will forever remember

LGBT Affirmation and the Evangelical Church

On The Huffington Post, Heidi Hall authors an article about the beginnings of a shift in attitudes toward affirming the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) members of the Evangelical Church. A change which Hall notes is due in part to the church’s own members:

A handful of large evangelical churches are publicizing their supportive stances. The Highlands Church in Denver was among the first, suffering deep drops in attendance and donations but now recovering. EastLake Community Church in Seattle announced its LGBT inclusion and affirmation; Mitchell spent a February weekend there, huddling with church leaders.

But there remains a high price: Last year, the Southern Baptist Convention expelled New Heart Community Church in La Mirada, Calif., after its pastor changed views on homosexuality. More recently, the Chicago-based Evangelical Covenant Church cut off funding for a church plant in Portland, Ore., when its pastor announced his support for LGBT equality.

Several factors are coming into play in the pastors’ decisions, observers say.

Music Review: Neal McCoy’s ‘Pride – A Tribute to Charlie Pride’

I didn’t even have to listen to this one to know that I was going to love it. The combination of the classic songs from Charlie Pride and Neal McCoy’s voice set up a can’t-lose scenario with this CD. Neal covers eleven of Pride’s well-known hits like “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone”, “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin'” and “Just Between You and Me” among others. Neal McCoy does these songs justice and then some. McCoy has something something fun about his tone and voice that works so well in some of the more upbeat tunes. On the softer and slower ballad ones, his voice is clear, crisp and a great match for Pride’s numerous hits.

In addition to the great sounding album, the songs shows that country music has varied in its sound since long before recent memory.

Why It Gets Better: Lesbian and Gay Seniors Tell Us Via Video

From the website Queerty.com, comes this little gem of Lesbian and Gay seniors explaining what life was like for them when they were young; their thoughts on the world today for LGBTs; and advice for young LGBT folks.

Just the emotional reactions to their commenting on the world of today, shows why it gets better.

The video is produced by LGBT Community Center of the Desert and Video Blogger Davey Wavey. A touch of the cowboy hat to both the Community Center and Davey Wavey for creating something that highlights LGBT seniors and provides us a glimpse of LGBT history (the red light means the police are coming).

See the original article

Learn more about the LGBT Community Center of the Desert

Headline of the Day: Gay Marriage Court Decision and Legacy

Though completely unrelated, I thought the yellow insert; which is for a fitness chain, and the headline of Washington, DC’s Express were complimentary of each other.

Read the full article

Quote of the Day: The Meaning of Religious Freedom in Opposition to Equality

…they are going around using the phrase “religious freedom” whenever they really mean to say “overextending our faith so that it can be used to discriminate against LGBT people in the public sector.” — Jeremy Hooper, blogger, Good As You,  ‘Deflating the anti-gay right’s latest “gotcha!”‘

Read the full article

Gay Places and Spaces Have Less Pitfalls than Gay Apps

Every now an again their is a worry in the community that gay bars are going to be extinct thanks to the convenience of gay social apps for your phone like Grindr, Scruff and Guy Spy. But a YouTube video gives a good summary of us why that’s not going to be true.

This isn’t the first article, meme or commentary that we have seen on gay apps and they all say pretty much the same thing: gay guys are insensitive on gay apps; you never know if what you see is going be what you get; why does this guy have no face in the age of digital photography (my personal favorite); and the monoresponse. All of these point to something that I think many people would agree on, meeting in person is better.

The fact that we are making fun of the “etiquette” of gay apps and doing it so frequently shows that we like our gay places and spaces. When was the last time you say a meme making fun of gay bar etiquette or the culture of one of those theme weekends or gay resorts? No matter how easy it may be to hit the app on your phone to connect, we all know that those connections are riddled with pitfalls.

In addition to those listed above,