AS WE ARE
LGBT Voices from the Bible Belt
Exciting News!!
Hey everyone, sorry it’s been a while since you heard from me! I recently moved out west and am happy to be all settled in now. I recently got some good news, which is that a wonderful independent publisher in my home state of Alabama is interested in As We Are. I just need to get the book into its final stages, so they can take a look at it! Please stay tuned for ways to help as I am still in need of more essays!
Good News & Bad News
Let’s start with the bad:
We have just 6 short days to get to our Kickstarter goal of $12,000!
The good:
An anonymous donor has agreed to donate the last $2,000 if we can just get to $10,000 in the next 5 days.
I know these are steep goals, but I believe in the strength of the LGBT community (and the power of the internet). Please forward this link to as many people as you can!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1999984000/as-we-are-lgbt-voices-from-the-bible-belt
As always, thanks so much for the support!
Obama administration pledges protection for LGBT people worldwide, but many gay Americans are still living in silence.
Hillary Clinton helps make it clear that LGBT people should be protected all over the world, but thousands of gay Americans are still living in silence!
Help those Americans hear stories like their own! Please support As We Are: LGBT Voices form the Bible Belt!
14 Days Left in the AWA Kickstarter Campaign!
I knew it would be hard to raise money right before the holidays, but I took a risk because I really think this book needs to physically exist ASAP! It’s a big goal, yes, but we’ve got a lot of prejudice to overcome. I promise that every penny put toward this project is a penny well-spent!
Thanks for the support! And please keep spreading the word!
Remember, if we can’t reach the goal, we won’t receive ANY of the funds!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1999984000/as-we-are-lgbt-voices-from-the-bible-belt
The Battle for Marriage Equality; Who’s on the Front Line?
It’s no secret that millions of Americans are pushing for gay rights, namely the right to marry someone of the same sex. And it’s obvious that there’s been a boom in the non-profit world for organizations aimed at helping gay people of all ages.
But the question I want to pose is this: Where do we physically see this struggle happening?
Let’s talk about the Civil Rights Movement for a second because I think there are too many overlaps in these movements to disregard it. At the height of the struggle for racial equality in the 60’s, where were people marching? Where were people fighting back most visibly?
That’s right. They were in the part of the country where discrimination was at its worst. They were in the deep South.
When I look at the gay rights movement, I can easily understand why it has fled to places like NYC, San Francisco, LA, and Chicago. Those cities are clearly some of the largest and most progressive areas in the country. Heck, I even ran off to NYC for two years myself. At the end of those years, though, I realized something. Nothing is going to change for us as LGBT people until we have the strength and confidence to go back to the small towns where we were raised and change some minds!
I don’t want to discredit the work that’s been done in the community of gay rights activism, and I know that there are a lot of great orgs operating in the heart of the South, but I guess this is a call to everyone out there…we’ve got to take this fight to the opposition’s front yard. We’ve got to stand face to face with them and insist that we’re not so different. They need to see our partners, our children, and our daily lives as individuals who believe in the inherent EQUALITY that our country is SUPPOSED to provide us with.
I want to see stories about the gay rights movement on my local news here in Alabama. So how do we go about making something like that happen?
In my opinion, we have to make the voices of the overlooked heard. That’s why I’ve been putting together this collection (As We Are: LGBT Voices from the Bible Belt). I know if we’re going to find change, we’re going to have to follow the example of great leaders of the past, like Ghandi and MLK Jr. We’re going to have to fight for the little guy in the little guy’s hometown!
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A Big Thanks to the GA Voice for Spreading the Word!
The GA Voice was kind enough to write up an article about As We Are and our Kickstarter campaign. You can read it here!
Please keep spreading the word and donating if you can!
THANKS!
A Realistic Thanksgiving
On this Thanksgiving, I am especially grateful that I have a family who accepts me and my girlfriend. I am glad that she’s invited to participate in every holiday occasion. The truth of the matter is, though, that lots of other LGBT folks aren’t quite as lucky. Many of them lost their immediate families the day they came out and accepted themselves openly. So on a special day like today, let’s try to remember that there are people out there struggling to create a family for themselves.
By putting together As We Are, I am hoping to create a large family of gay Southerners, so that no one ever feels completely left out or alone. If you feel the same way, I would be honored and grateful if you could support the publication of AWA.
Hope you’ve all started to slip into your turkey comas. Remember to give your grandmas a kiss.
Much love on this day,
Brit
The kickstarter campaign has begun! Check it out here!!!
Welcome to As We Are!
This website is dedicated to AS WE ARE: LGBT Voices From the Bible Belt - a collection of personal essays by LGBT Southerners. The book is currently in editing, but we’re still looking for a couple more top notch essays! If you’re interested in submitting, please visit the submissions section of this website and send in your essay ASAP! I look forward to reading it!
Within the next month, I will be launching a kickstarter.com campaign to fund the first round of printing for As We Are. Even if you can’t contribute monetarily, just sharing the link for the campaign will help out so much! Many thanks!
