An HPA Statement on Marriage Equality

To my fellow members of the heterosexual community: White bigots have maintained they were right to keep blacks enslaved, killed, tortured, barred from voting, from restaurants, from certain sidewalks, and lunch counters, and bathrooms and bridges and yes, from marrying whites. But they lost. Just a few years ago, a bigoted white man refused to [...]

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“Progress in Marriage Equality” 2.0

When I joined the HPA staff back in September, one of the first blogs I wrote was about my personal experience with marriage equality (you can read it here). I compared equality to a baby taking it’s first steps- excruciatingly slow. “It may take decades for it to reach it’s goal… But it will get [...]

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The Story’s The Thing: Crush

We clutch our bellies and roll on the floor . . . When I say this, it should mean laughter, not poison. I want more applesauce. I want more seats reserved for heroes. Dear Forgiveness, I saved a plate for you. Quit milling around the yard and come inside. -”Litany In Which Certain Things Are [...]

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Progress in Equality–It Does Get Better!

A lot has happened since Wizard Rock the Vote, and it’s easy to get caught up in new campaigns and forget to look back and see what we’ve helped to accomplish. So, personally, I think it’s time to take a moment to pat ourselves on the back and take a look at how far the [...]

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Looking through the Lens: On Bullying

For those of you who read my post at the beginning of the semester on my experience with bullying, you know that it was my senior photography project topic. In my project, I sought to understand the effects that bullying has had on me and overcome some of those issues. Over the course of the [...]

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Posted in Empowerment, Harry Potter Alliance News, Human Rights, LGBTQ, Philosophical Musings, Stories | Tagged , , , ,

The Story’s The Thing: Rent

December 24th, nine PM, Eastern Standard Time. From here on in, I shoot without a script. Sometimes when you find a story, you have no clue how it’s going to change your life. I didn’t when a friend gave me a couple disks’ worth of burned CD for a long train ride. At the time, [...]

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I Remember: Transgender Day of Remembrance & Transgender Awareness Week

Amongst all of the holiday festivities lies a day slightly more somber than the rest: the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

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The Return of the ‘Kill the Gays’ Bill

Yep. It’s back: the Ugandan “kill the gays” bill that would make being gay a crime punishable by death. The return of this bill to Uganda’s Parliament is particularly painful the day after the Transgender Day of Remembrance, and to add insult to injury, they’re actually billing this as a ‘Christmas gift.’

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There’s a Pride in My Heart, ‘Cause I Know Where I’m Going

There’s something about the day after Election Day, something painful, something cheerful. I’ve been in many campaign offices as they’re being cleaned up, and somehow, no matter whether the candidate won or lost, there’s always an odd feeling, questions about what should have been done differently, or celebrations about what went right.

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How To Be An Effective Ally: The Dos and Don’ts

I believe all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression, deserve to feel safe and supported. That means I pledge to: -Not use anti-LGBT language and slurs; -Intervene, if I safely can, in situations where other students are being harassed; -Support efforts to end bullying and harassment.

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