Talking With Judy Shepard

Judy Shepard gave me the honor of being interviewed
for my upcoming book. It was so hard to ask her the things
I had to ask her, about Matthew's death, about her family, etc.
Knowing that- possibly, hopefully- her statement in the book,
and the book itself, may help save a life or give some strength
to a young LGBT person is what allowed me to continue.
She was amazing: clear, open, beautiful, strong- everything
one might expect from someone who had the ability to turn
a tragedy like that into an act of service and love. I salute her.

Rita Mae Brown and Diana Nyad

Another stellar moment: celebrated author Rita Mae Brown
just sent a chapter essay on her lifelong friend- Diana Nyad,
who amazed the world by swimming from Cuba to the U.S.,
the first person to do so.

Yippeee!! The book is coming together every day!

Matthew Shepard Foundation

I'm proud to share this news:

Judy Shepard- Matthew's mother and a heroic activist- will be
interviewed by me for the book I'm working on with Cleis Press
about LGBT/Intersex activism.

This follows the interview which Brenda Knight and I just did
with Barney Frank on December 13th. And more is yet to come.

It is an honor to be associated with such wonderful people.

Barney Frank, Brenda Knight, Cleis Press and moi

So! The stars are in alignment and thanks to Cleis Press giving me
a chance, the new anthology on LGBT activism is well underway.

All this is because Brenda Knight- the publisher- is open to creative
thinking and isn't one of theseshut-down myopic people

the magic keeps expanding

On my street in San Francisco, there are roses and bottle brush trees,
lemon trees, orange trees and banana palms. Neighbors have created
lush gardens on the sidewalks right in front of their brightly painted
Victorian houses.

Dolores Park is two blocks away: a sloping green with magnolia trees
and palm trees and the city skyline, clearly visible. Downtown is a mile
off. This is where I take my puppy- A "Eurasier" dog- part Chow-Chow
and part wolf. Though his genealogy is a bit more complex, it boils down
to Chow and wolf. As such, "Tarquin" looks like a small gingerbread bear.

To the park we go, morning and afternoon- and, puppies being puppies,
Tarquin is a sensation. It's fine. He needs to be well socialized to people
(and to dogs). If not, the wolf thing will come out and he could be/come
too protective.

But the other day as he was romping happily with other dogs, a flash
of red, yellow and blue went by and someone cried, "Look at that!"
And someone else shouted, "Oh my God! I don't believe it!" 

Two giant Macaws were flying freely over the park. Three feet long
from their head to the tip of tail feathers, they were zooming around
before coming to light on the arm or shoulders of their trainer/friend.
I grabbed Tarquin and walked up the hill- unable to belueve my eyes
for, though I've lived in this area for many years, I never saw anything
so surprising or so wonderful (and- trust me here, folks- that's saying
a lot when it comes to San Francisco's Castro District.)

The bird handler- a young fellow of Chinese descent, named Chan-
was patient in answering questions as "Rudy" and "Bella" flew in
or flew out again. Chan explained that he'd trained them the same way
people train falcons and, indeed, when at one point Bella didn't return
but chose to linger in a palm tree two hundred yards away, Chan told
Rudy, "Go get Bella." Just like that, Rudy flew off, circled Bella,
cawed a few times and they both flew back to Chan.

If you want to see this on video, you can Google: "Chan the bird man"
and there it all is. Or go to his website chanthebirdman.com  It's really
an amazing sight and, for me, an expansion of my world or the sense
of my city that, in San Francisco, brilliant red green and yellow parrots
fly free, circling overhead and adding to the brilliance of this world.

"Knockout"

When society disintegrates, people become insane.

CBS reports a popular new "game" on the east coast.
It's called "Knockout."

Groups target someone at random- anyone who might
be walking alone, day or night- and try to knock them
out- disable or kill them- with a single blow.

This has happened- and is happening- right now.
The victims- men and women, happen to be walking
by themselves, minding their own business.

In the reaching out...

The computer world is odd to me.
I don't understand what people post,
what goes for truth or promo any more
because the world is changing and I am
from another time. That's part of it.
But I do know what I am touched,
moved. And when I do something
about it... because that is unusual.

Two days ago, I read an article put up
on the Huffington Post about a young
man busted for a crime- he was set up-
further complicating a young gay life
already complicated by being given up
at birth.

He was raised with two gay parents
and they loved him but, like all teens,
he ran wild and one thing led to another.
It ended with him being incarcerated.
after meeting an older man with a stolen
credit card, who got him to use it. So...
the next stop was jail for what sounds
like a young pretty wispy blond boy.

God knows what happened there.
He got transferred from one hole
to another, got HIV along the way
and will be out in two years when
he will then be twenty five, without
any school, job, home, money, solid
friends or future unless people help.

The writing was so beautiful, I was
touched. I wrote the author and told
him his prose moved me, that I would
get the lad a coat when he gets out.
He was grateful. I thought that was all
there was to it until, through a totally
different direction, I found out that
this man whose writing I llike was
also very active in ACT UP in NYC
and I am looking for someone to write
a chapter about that in my anthology.
So I wrote back to invite him to join.

Isn;t that stramge? I read a piece that
moved me and felt motivated to do
something kind for someone lonely
and abused by life and by the system.
And it led me to a writer who may be
able or willing to collaborate in my art.
But all this was an accident brought
abiuyt by the Huffinton Post and by
getting out of a comfort zone and, put
simply, giving with no sense of reward,
but then seeing it come back to you,
potentially. And if not, not.