twenty one.

For two and a half years I sat quietly as you spoke about my gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and allied brothers and sisters. I listened as you told thousands of young adults that it is alright to point fingers and pass judgment on others. You asked us on several occasions to stand up and point out these offenders and transgressors so that you may bring them to a place of healing. You said it was for their own good that they follow God's plan for creation.

Well, I have some questions for you. When is it ever alright to boast in your own spiritual walk? From what you always taught us, it is God's design to receive the glory. Not You. Why do you ask other students to point out their peers when it plainly states in the Bible, you preach so loudly, not to accuse another without pulling the plank out of your own eye first? And why is it you hold so tightly to your understanding of God's creation when so many times in the past it has been proven that your understanding of those first three chapters of Genesis are narrow and faulty?

Last night, I sat in on a class of approximately three hundred freshmen at your university. I sat quietly as one of the professors spoke about the "abomination" that is taking over our culture and society. I heard him say that it is impossible to truly be following after God and in a homosexual relationship at the same time. He quoted several articles and books by conservative authors about the great success that is reparative therapy and ex-gay ministries.

He told his three hundred+ students that our community has lied to them. He taught that we are in fact not discriminated against and that these hate crimes we are always talking about actually have nothing to do with being gay but more than likely are about drugs or sex trading. He continued on by talking about how we have convinced/manipulated America into believing that we are being taxed without representation and are unfairly represented in the political parties.

The one that I loved the most was when he said, "monogamy is the exception for these people, not the rule."

Before I walked into the classroom last night, I sat in the library with my friend. I sat there staring at my phone and wondering what I was going to hear. My friend quickly fell asleep on the coach adjacent to me. I prayed that I would receive a sign that I was doing the right thing. Before I knew what was happening a young woman I met last semester while I was still a student at this university was sitting next to me and crying. She began to tell me about her friend. He is a young gay man who has been a Christian for about three years. He has gone off to another school, but they still stay in close contact with one another.
She told me through her tears that she is confused about what she believes. She wanted me to tell her if her friend was a Christian. She wanted to believe that what he said was true, but everything her classmates and teachers are telling her says that he is lying and must be going to hell. I asked her if she was a Christian. She quickly said, "Yes!" I looked at her and told her I did not believe her. She looked at me shocked and offended. I asked her to prove it to me. She said that it was just something she had prayed about and God gave her his salvation. I replied with a remark similar to "well, I was not there so how do I know?"

She understood what I was saying in no time. How is it then that so many people want to tell others whether or not they are under God's grace? You were not there when I had that conversation with our creator. Why do you think you can tell me that I am a liar and God is not with me? I have as much assurance of my salvation in Christ as I can understand anybody else has! It has been a journey to get to the place I am in my walk with God. I know that this journey is not over. I will continue to grow and seek after the will of the creator for my life as I hope you do for yours.

Now, about the accusations that this professor has said about me and my community. I try very hard to be as honest with people as I can be. I want to be able to look back at my life and say that I lived it to its' fullest and honestly. So, to sit there and be called a liar was insulting.

Let me start off by saying that I DO NOT HAVE AN AGENDA! I do not have some secret plan to convert your innocent children to the homosexual "lifestyle". All I want to do is be able to marry the person I love just like my family and friends have done. I want to be able to visit the person I love in the hospital without having to lie and say I am their sister or friend. I want to be able to file a tax return or an insurance claim without having to wonder if it will be accepted in my state or if I will have to go back to the state that recognizes my union. I am not a liar. I am just a small town lady who is tired of being called a manipulator and the moral downfall of America.

I want to address the accusation he said about us having political power. He said that to be considered a minority group we would have to prove that we are politically powerless. He said that is just not the case because we have our inside guys on both sides of the political spectrum. I am sorry, but if that is the case why can I still be fired from my job or kicked out of my house for being LGBTQ? Why do I not have the same basic rights as my heterosexual counterparts? I beg to differ with the professor on this one. If we have so much political power then why are we still struggling just to have our voices heard in the government?

I want to talk this next one with some carefully chosen words. I can only speak from my experience. I can only write about what I know to be true for me and some of my friends. I am a very monogamous person. I can't even bring myself to have a crush on more than one person at a time. I have friends that are celebrating 20 years in their relationship next month. They proudly stand up and say they have been faithful the entire time. I know others who have been together almost 30 years, 7 years, 4 years. MOST of the people I surround myself with know that value of a committed, monogamous, long-term relationship. I am not going to spout off statistics about heterosexual teenagers and their sexual activity. I am not going to put anybody on a moral high horse with this one. We are all equally human and we all have made mistakes in the past. All I am saying is that this argument is an illogical fallacy on so many levels and it needs to finally be laid to rest.

I went onto the campus last night in hopes of learning something new. I hope I never stop believing that one day you will change your discriminatory policies against the LGBTQA students on your campus. Until that happens I will be writing things like this so others outside of your university and outside of your church will know exactly what it is you are falsely accusing my community of.
I pray that you see your mistakes before it is too late. Before more people hear your message and believe that God can not love them and they take their own lives. Before more people take what you preach literally and begin to kill off the "abominations" using violence and over-spiritualized prejudice. I have faith in our God that understanding will one day come to your hearts and minds.

Yours freely,
Tennessee James

twenty.

I understand that today is a day to remember.
I keep a copy of Dr. King's "I have a Dream" speech over my bed. I turn every morning and read a bit of it just to keep myself in the right state of mind for what I have to accomplish. I wanted to take this opportunity to share my favorite part of that speech with you today. It really defines for me what we are trying to do.

"But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone."

I do not think I can add anything to that to help it resinate with anyone. I hope you take this day to remember where we have come from and where we are still headed.
Dream big my friends!

Yours freely,
Tennessee James

nineteen.

I watched Bush's Presidential Farewell Address last night. Let me start off by saying that I do not have anything against President Bush. I agreed with him last night when he said that I may not agree with all the decisions he has made but I have to agree that he was willing to make the hard decisions.
I believe that he has done the best job he could with all he had to deal with over the last eight years. I do not presume that I could have or would have done anything different.
My one hang up with what he said tonight was when he started to clarify what he has tried to accomplish over in Iraq and Afghanistan. He gave an entire list of positives. Then he went on to add to the list the "fact" that he has freed the oppressed over there.
I have a question for you, sir. If you are so willing to free the oppressed over in the middle east, why are you not willing to do the same for the people at your door step?
You say that you live by the words in the Holy Bible, but why have you decided that the people oppressed in other countries are more important than those oppressed right in front of you?

Isaiah 58 says:
"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday."

Now, I am not claiming to have all the answers, but those verses seem pretty simple to me. When I am seeking after God it will be when I stop pointing the finger of wickedness, feed the hungry, break down the walls that divide us from one another, and FREE THE OPPRESSED then I will find what I am looking for. When I call out he will answer "HERE I AM".

You say that you believe these words but after eight years of watching you limit the freedoms of my GLBTQA brothers and sisters, judging them with your harsh words and saying that God does not approve sounds very contradictory to me. When you seek after God you will find your creator when you stop building divisions between us, stop judging things you do not understand, and finally letting the oppressed go free.

I am standing here before you as a child of the same creator as the rest of humanity. I want to say that if you are truly seeking after God then you have to recognize that you are not fulfilling the simple requirements to find him. I say simple because once you start on the road to understanding what it means to seek after God then this list will show itself to the seeker.

I pray you find freedom soon. I pray that you take my limited understanding of scripture and find your own message from the creator. Too often the Bible has been used against the GLBTQA community, but to my knowledge it actually calls for the reaching out and inclusion of all creation. Be blessed my friends.

Yours freely,
Tennessee James

eighteen.

I just wanted to take a second and kind of clarify why we are so upset about the eSPIN activities.

My friend and I have gone to a conservative christian school for a few years now and we have finally decided that we can not sit back while demeaning comments and sideways remarks are made about our friends and family.

What eSPIN has done is not the most egregious of acts, but what they have done is told the numerous young people who visit their site daily that it is ok to make jokes about the GLBTQA community. It reinforces the self hatred that most of us grow up feeling from our families and peer groups.

All we are looking for is an apology to our friend and the removal of such an offensive remark about our founding fathers.

The reason we are standing up now for what seems like a small deal is because we can no longer sit down. We have been patient, kind and compassionate. We have sat back and listened and taken many notes about what they think of us. Now is the time to speak up. They have made it quite clear in their newsletters, websites, pamphlets and sermons exactly what they think of me and my friends. Now, I am just going to stand up and start to let them know what it is I think about their understanding of my life.

I am a nonviolent activist, but I am an activist. I will continue on in the name of peace and love for everyone, but I will not be walked on anymore. It is time for us as Christians to represent what it is that we understand Christ meant. He has changed my life and I want to share with others how he can change theirs.

Yours freely,
Tennessee James

seventeen. updated.

I am taking this from my friend RQKidd, and I want as many of you to pass this on as possible. Please be aware that we are not going to sit down and be quiet anymore. Peace to you all!

My friends and I are all about holding people and organizations accountable for their actions and words. When it comes to social networking sites they are no different and when it comes to sites that allow LGBT people to be out on them I hold them in higher regard. However when a site makes light of a user's comment about a homophobic remark on their domain I feel that the social networking site needs to be held accountable for their words and actions or in this case lack there of.

eSpin, an online spin the bottle/social networking site has never said one way or another how they feel about LGBT issues but a recent comment from a user has made me question just how much they back the LGBT users on their site. When "spinning the bottle" eSpin comes up with bottle facts which are displayed at the bottom of the screen. The fact that a friend of mine got as a gay man stated "the 55 dudes who wrote the Constitution drank 152 bottles of booze at the after party (we really hope they did not play spin the bottle with the empties.)" When my friend brought this to their attention they responded with " it was only meant in good fun" and that "You don't have to be homophobic to think that an elderly Benjamin Franklin making out with George Washington is gross" I don't know about you guys, but since when,regardless of who is kissing, it okay to be homophobic on a site that has an LGBT population? I have included the messages and responses from eSpin as well as a screen shot of the bottle fact he received. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you can help us shed some light on this folks.

R.Q Kidd

Dear eSpin
One of you\'re bottle facts when \"spinning the bottle\" states
that you hope none of the men who wrote the constitution played spin the
bottle with the \"empties.\" For a website that is okay with
homosexuality and half-supports it, this sounds like a very anti-gay
statement. I have saved a picture of the screen on my computer in case I
need to email it to you, but I would be very happy if there weren\'t
comments like this on here because it sounds very anti-gay or
homophobic.


-We're sorry that you were offended by one of the "bottle facts" on the spin page. We assure you that it was only meant in good fun and doesn't represent any anti-gay feelings. I mean, think about it. You don't have to be homophobic to think that an elderly Benjamin Franklin making out with George Washington is gross (especially if you consider the wooden teeth). Thanks, eSPIN

- eSPIN, Excuse me, but if Ben Franklin wanted to make out with George Washington then that is thier topic of discussion not mine. It may have been meant to be "good fun" but something like that and your comment are both very offensive. I would not have a problem with Ben Franklin or George Washing making out if it was thier decision and to give you an example i know two "elderly" men who are in a happy and comitted relationship and I think it would be cute if I saw them kiss. So about the bottle fact, I hope it was removed because a few of my other friends have found it and are not happy either and to comment your example, do not tell me what is gross or not because your comment leads me to believe you have an age descrimination on making out. My concerns are meant to be taken seriously not lightly and I enjoy clean good fun as long as it is not at the expense of others.

**UPDATED**
Espin.com later replies with the following message on January 9, 2009...

You're absolutely right. If Benjamin Franklin and George Washington want to make out with each other, it is completely their business and we should stay out of it. (Though they should probably check with Martha first.)

We've considered your suggestion and have decided to leave the bottle fact up. If you don't think that eSPIN is a place where you want to hang out anymore, we regretfully understand.

Thanks,
eSPIN

Please HELP us stop this homophobia and discrimination that this site is obviously not sorry for and plans to continue to practice! I am asking you all to spread the word about eSPIN.com to your friends, family and coworkers. We need to let them know that they will no longer receive our business if they choose to practice such grotesque practices. Stand up for justice!



Please keep in mind that we are not done speaking to Espin about this and hopefully I will have an update for you in the next few days.

Yours freely,
Tennessee James

sixteen.

Sometimes when I am talking to people about our work I feel like Billy Mays.
You know the one I am mean. He is the guy who sells oxygen cleaning supplies, orange juicers, and super glue on TV. He is the one who yells his entire sales pitch.
You and I both know that when he comes on the television set nine out of ten people either mute him or make fun of him. I do not want to discredit his work because he is obviously doing something right if all these companies keep hiring him, but what about the majority of us that try to tune him out?
I feel like him because I am trying to find the best sales pitch to convince others about how important our work is. I have tried the soft approach. I have tried the "actions are louder than words" approach. I am not giving up on them. I just need to learn to be braver.
I think bravery is my theme this year. I want to be braver. Whenever I see a place I am limiting myself, I want to change and make that a different story.
I want to be Billy Mays. I have something important to tell people and I am going to stand on the rooftops until I know they understand why we have to finish this work.

Yours freely,
Tennessee James

fifteen.

I wonder sometimes why so many of us start off with large dreams but never see them come to fruition. Do we burn out or just give up? How many of us never even try?
I do not know what will become of our efforts. I would like to believe that we really can change the world. I would love to know that we are not the only five people in Virginia who care and that we are not the only ten people who care in the United States.
Sometimes the fight seems like it is just you against the world. Then I turn to my friend and I remember that even if it is just us against everyone else that it is worth it just to say that we never gave up on our dream.
I have so much faith in what we are doing. I know that if we continue on we really can change the world. That is a big dream that I am not willing to give up on so easily.
What is your dream? How are you going to leave your mark on the world? Will you be remembered by the person who needs you the most right now?
Stand up. Know that with out your help we can not make this happen.
We need you to believe in yourself and your dreams. I know I do.

Yours freely,
Tennessee James

fourteen.

I just wanted to take a second and let everyone know what is happening on the home front here in Lynchburg, Virginia.
I have been asked to step up and participate with the organization Students for Equality. You can check them out at studentsforequality.com
They are conducting a day of equality. January 27th every high school and college student is encouraged to wear the Students for Equality shirt. You can order yours through the website. I am asking all of you to consider helping out with this amazing cause. They need more volunteers and if you live in Virginia please contact me because I will be needing help finding other supporters.

Also, if you live in Lynchburg there is a new event coming up. Join the Impact has come to our area and we are having a meeting on Saturday, January 10th. Feel free to check out the facebook event.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1554755823&ref=name#/event.php?eid=41796704693&ref=mf

I hope to see a great turn out.
I know this year is going to be amazing simply because of all of your efforts. Thank you so much for your hard work and I can not wait to see you all out there for the next protest. Let us bring an end to oppression in 2009. Let us finish what our brothers and sisters started 40 years ago. Stand tall and stand strong because I have no doubt in my mind that we will succeed.
Be blessed!

Yours freely,
Tennessee James

thirteen.

I am taking the rest of the month off. I just wanted to let everyone know that their efforts in 2008 have been amazing and very appreciated.
Thank you so much for all your hard work. You are really changing lives and making the world a better place.
I am going to take a moment to take care of my family. Please, keep them in your prayers!
I have so much faith in all of you and your abilities. Remember that no matter what we will succeed and we will win this battle and eventually the war that the other side started.
Love and peace to you all!

Yours freely,
Tennessee James

twelve.

I am sitting in a hotel lobby waiting to get on a bus to go to Washington, D.C. to protest the passing of Prop. 8.
I love that what started with just one young woman out in Seattle has turned into a movement of over a million people. This is what change can do when we come together to fight injustice.
Today, my friend is going to carry a sign that says "No More Mr. Nice Gay". I think this sums up how most of us feel. We are tired of being treated as second class citizens. It is one thing to deny us our rights in the first place, but to give them to people in California and then take them away is plain unconstitutional.
We will not be played with any more. We will not bend over and keep letting them screw us. Stand tall my friends. All over the country we will be joining together to create change. Watch it happen!
I would love to hear the stories of your march. Please let me know what happens in your cities!

Yours freely,
Tennessee James