We’re also looking for amazing contributors who have something to share.  Look over the complete list of sections in the right sidebar, and if you have a feature, poem, photo, or article you would like to contribute to one of the sections, please get in touch with us at bornlikethisteam@gmail.com.  We try to respond back to everyone, and we’ll let you know if your article will be released on the site.  We welcome one-time contributors and those who would like to be an integral part of this year’s team.

We are especially looking for contributors who are interested in covering local and regional stories, events, and happenings that would be of interest to a national audience.

Because some of us have been through this ourselves, we definitely respect that you might be writing from a place where it is not fully safe to be out on a national website, because of work, school, family, or any other reason on earth, so let us know if you prefer to go by your first name or a psuedonym (such as your favorite Pokemon’s name.)

Stay awesome!

- Austin
BornLikeThis publisher

Austin has struggled with coming out, with finding a place to feel at home, with sexuality and relationships, and with a Catholic upbringing.  He generally is restless until his goals, either personally or professionally, are accomplished.  As the 2013 editor for Born Like This, there’s a lot of meaning for Austin in helping his peers come into their own and find their place in this world.

If you have questions for Austin, contact: Austin.Rockridge@gmail.com

There are going to be about 1,700 college kids there and over 90 sessions you can participate in.  According to the event website, “workshop topics are about the intersections of LGBTA identities and race; religion; gender; sex; disability; history; education and schools; health; politics; allyship; homelessness; professionalism; leadership; HIV/AIDS; and more.”  This year’s event theme is ”Mosaic: Putting the Pieces Together.”

You don’t have to be from the midwest to attend (although it is easier, since Michigan at this time of year is covered with snow.)  Next year’s conference is in Missouri – definitely plan ahead so you can be there.  Often, the college groups that organize the event also help people find a place to crash while in town, so don’t let cost be an object.

Why attend MBLGTACC?  ”Many people in the LGBTA community do not have families that are similarly-identified, so we learn about ourselves primarily from our peers and the LGBTA elders we may know.  MBLGTACC is a great resource because it allows college students from all over the country to come together for a few days to learn and grow through the knowledge and experiences of others.”  It is the largest conference for gay college-age youth in the nation, and a great way to meet friends.

Check out the conference Facebook page, Facebook event, Twitter account, and website.  Let us know in the comments below, if you have been to a similar conference before, and if you plan to attend this year!

OutSports: OutSports is an online magazine and community site about gay athletes and athletics.  They cover national sports, Olympic sports (you must check out diver Matt Mitcham!), hot straight athletes, opinion pieces, and personal stories from GLBT athletes on their struggles with coming out and coming into their own.  There are blogs, podcasts, photo galleries, member profiles, and forums to take in.

GLSEN: This organization works hard at bringing progress to schools, advocating for GLBT students and teachers, and gathering data to show school administrators and legislators the reality of life for gay students in the United States.  GLSEN is a national organization that has chapters in most states, and it is possible to sponsor a new chapter if there isn’t one in your area.  Since middle school and high school sports is often ground zero for bullying or at the root of an intolerant culture in schools, its important that athletes get involved in fighting for change.  There is a lot of information on their site that you can use to start a GSA or advocate for changes in policy in your schools, that benefit student athletes and the whole student body.

Changing The Game – The GLSEN Sports Project: This is one of GLSEN’s initiatives.  It is an education & advocacy project working specifically on GLBT issues in K-12 athletics and physical education classes.  There are ways for students to get involved.

RealJock: RealJock is a social network and community site with profile pages, forums, and featured articles.  If you’re interested in fitness, you might find the articles helpful.  If you like to banter with people and check out hot athletes, messaging on the forums or writing people from their profiles might be your thing.  After being on this site a couple years, I have to say its not a utopia.  People are not always the best to each other, even gay athletes toward each other.  But, its a start, and its the only social network I know that’s dedicated to bringing gay jocks together.  Before you click the link, you have to promise to do your part to be kind to people and make it an even better place.

Brad, Robert, & Ben: These three high school athletes identify as gay or bi, come from different parts of the country, but found each other and collaborated on a blog.  They no longer update the blog, but there’s a couple years worth of posts to read their stories and add your comments.

Photo Credit: stock.xchng

Illinois is home to the amazing city of Chicago, a progressive, global city.  It’s a great place to be if you’re GLBTQ.  In the suburbs and out of the metro area, you might have to look a lot harder for support, but the state laws are friendly and there are three gay state legislators – and you’re at least close to Chicago or maybe to Iowa, one of the first midwestern states to legalize gay marriage.

If you are looking at colleges, you have a lot of good choices in Illinois.  Near Chicago’s Loop, there is Columbia College, Roosevelt University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago.  In Central Illinois, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) is a school with a large GLBTQ community.  The Catholic institutions, Loyola and DePaul, in Chicago, are more liberal and inclusive than most, and they’re both located in Chicago’s prime playground on the north side.  Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal, although not as large as UIUC, has a reputation of being supportive.

In Chicago you will find one of very few cohesive gay neighborhoods in the U.S.  Boystown is complete with rainbow-colored street art installed by the city.  There is an active, trendy bar scene, shopping including a Whole Foods, 24-hour cafes along Halsted and Broadway, and fairly affordable apartments available throughout the East Lakeview neighborhood.

Add to this that you have bright, goal-oriented guys moving into the city and a major tourism industry, and you’ll have no problem meeting friends and finding things to do if you’re near Chicago.

On the north side of Boystown is the Center on Halsted, a $20 million community center for the GLBTQ community.  It is a modern building with two theatres, a gym, conference rooms, and a three-story lobby for hanging out.  They offer substantial services including mental health care, a career center, and cultural events.

There’s also 18 PFLAG chapters in Illinois, the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance which supports GSA’s, and tons of welcoming churches.

With an entire neighborhood tuned to gay tastes, progressive non-discrimination ordinances in the city and the state, and several universities that have large, active support and social networks, Illinois is a good place to be. Outside the university communities and the big city, you’ll still find friendly people, but the experience might be more similar to other midwestern states.

BornLikeThis is looking for a correspondent for Illinois. If you’d like to write for us about people, places, news and resources for gay youth in Illinois, send Austin or John a note at bornlikethisteam@gmail.com.

On February 7, the infamous Proposition 8 in California was ruled unconstitutional in a federal appeals court. To the great surprise of no one, supporters of Prop 8 (making marriage solely between a man and a woman) have contested the decision to repeal, and the decision is now facing appeal.

On February 13, Washington state governor Chris Gregoire signed the bill legalizing same-sex marriage in her state. A referendum has been filed, and if the amount of needed signatures is reached, the issue will be put on the ballot in the fall.

On February 17, Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey vetoed a bill that would legalize gay marriage in his state. He believes an issue this large should be decided by the people. I do not stand alone when I say that the rights of the minority should never be left to the tyranny of the majority, but then again I am not an elected official.

In even more recent news, A U.S. District Court in California just decided Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional in the case Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management. Karen Golinski fought for the rights of her wife to receive the health benefits which were denied to her, and U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey S. White decided that Section 3 of DOMA (the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman) violates her equal protection rights.

Same-sex marriage is already legal in New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia, with debate coming up this year for New Jersey and Maryland. Same-sex marriage could quite also possibly find itself on the ballot this fall in Maine.

Washington state currently recognizes an “everything but marriage law” that was sustained by voters after opponents filed a referendum (to put it on the ballot for direct vote) to challenge it. From 2007 to 2009, Washington recognized domestic partnerships,.

If the law is passed, opponents have already announced a challenge will be filed to put the issue on the November ballot. This measure requires 120,577 signatures, and will postpone gay and lesbian couples the ability to wed to November after the election results, if they are favorable. If the signatures are not collected, then marriages could began as early as June.

Governor Chris Gregoire has said that as long as there are no drastic changes in the law, she will sign it.

A second class citizen is defined as: a person whose rights and opportunities are treated as less important than those of other people in the same society. It’s also the name of Ryan James Yezak’s upcoming documentary that, according to the Kickstarter page, will explore “the many areas in which gays, lesbians & bisexuals” are discriminated against within the United States.

What should we expect?

At this point, I’d be shocked if you hadn’t seen the viral video (above) that was released on Martin Luther King Day. This beautifully assembled video gained one million views within the first 24 hours and the campaign, which originally had a goal of collecting $50,000, has raised three-fold that – $153,500 at the posting of this article.

To say that this campaign was a success may be the biggest understatement of the century.

But fame and notoriety inevitably brings its fair share of criticisms. Within hours of the viral video’s release, activists were already calling into question if Second Class Citizens would be representative of the entire movement, due the video’s lack of queer women, people of color and trans folk.

It was not Yezak’s intent to exclude queer women or people of color from the video. “I had been working on the video since the night before and it was getting late on [the day I said I’d release it]. Originally I had clips of Margaret Cho and Wanda Sykes, but I cut the section they were in and, in my hurry to release the video, I forgot to put them back.”

We should also note that this first video is predominately media-driven; Yezak relied on preexisting footage easily accessible in the annals of history. Considering how limited the representation of queer people of color and trans folk are in the media, it is not surprising Yezak had difficulty locating inclusive clips.

That being said, “The Gay Rights Movement” was never intended to be a trailer for Second Class Citizens – although Yezak understands how people may have misinterpreted it that way. It is the first of five promotional videos geared towards raising awareness and funding for Second Class Citizens and, despite the campaign’s initial success, Yezak plans to release the remaining three before he begins filming for the actual documentary.

So, if the five videos are strictly promotional and not trailers, what should all those people who were quick to back this project expect from their money?

“It’s going to come down to individual subjects,” Yezak says, “ I know that there’s no ‘ideal’ representation [for the individual forms of discrimination], but I am going to make the best effort I can to find the subjects.”

Up until now, he’s relied on his own networks and fan-base to collect testimonials, but plans to outreach to other sources and media outlets in the coming month to increase the diversity of his material. The response from his fans has been overwhelming – so much so that Yezak intends to work on this documentary full-time.

“It’s going to take a lot of shape over the next eight months. I’m confident in my passion and ability to make this movie and I think it will be something that everybody will enjoy”

The Man Behind the Movie

Yezak first gained internet-fame for his viral video interpretations of popular pop songs such as California Gays and Hold it Against Me. His later works, took on a slightly more political tone with Only Gay in the World and We R Who We R.

Yezak grew up in Houston, Texas – an upper-middle class neighborhood where religion and conservatism run rampant. “The society I lived in and my environment… it was very restrictive,” Yezak says. It was difficult for him to find positive representations of LGBTQ people.

“Growing up, I don’t remember having any [gay] role models in my life. Aside from the [LGBT] characters on TV, no one comes to mind. That’s what I want to give back and make this documentary.”

It wasn’t until he moved to Austin for college that he came into is own and discovered his sexuality. Finding the Greek community to be less than accepting of gay and bisexual men, he and his friend co-founded a chapter of Delta Lambda Phi – the now international fraternity for Gay, Bisexual and Progressive Men. There, he discovered his passion for production.

Trans Representation?

One thing that raised a red flag for me is that he kept referring to the documentary as a film about discrimination based on sexual orientation –during our interview, on his Kickstarter page and one of his introductory video – but when I pressed him about gender identity-based discrimination, I grew less concerned.

“Honestly, I think that could be a film itself. I want to be as inclusive as possible, but there’s only so much I can do in 90 minutes.” Considering Yezak intends this to be a documentary about discrimination, I am hard pressed to think of a subset within the queer community that has experienced discrimination more fully than the trans community.

He acknowledged that it would be easy enough to incorporate discrimination against trans people when it came to housing, homelessness and employment, but ultimately, Yezak is limited by the kinds of testimonials that are submitted.

Final Thoughts

Regardless of Second Class Citizen’s content, it will be a beautifully shot documentary. Yezak has an eye for assembling footage in a way that elicits an emotional reaction from the viewer – and that takes real talent.

Given where Yezak grew up, I don’t think he’s had the opportunity to engage in conversations about queer issues prior to Second Class Citizens– and we should not fault him for that. Over the past few weeks, Yezak has experienced a steep learning curve and I do believe he is making every effort to educate himself so the documentary can be the best product possible.

At the end of the day, it is too premature to start criticizing Yezak or Second Class Citizens. He hasn’t even begun filming yet – let alone sort through the overwhelming amount of testimonials he’s received. I’ll reserve my judgment until I see a trailer for the documentary.

Until then, it is our duty to help promote his message and make sure he has as diverse a pool of discrimination accounts as possible to draw from for the documentary.

If you or someone you know has be discriminated against and you’d like to submit your story, please contact Ryan James Yezak at ryanyezak@gmail.com

Areas of discrimination:

*MARRIAGE
*ADOPTION
*EDUCATION (PRIVATE SCHOOLS)
*PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS/RELIGIONS
*EMPLOYMENT
*BLOOD, SEMEN, & BONE MARROW DONATION
*ANTI-BULLYING LAW
*HOUSING
*HOMELESSNESS/PARENTAL OBLIGATION
*GAY PANIC DEFENSE

And we have some questions to pose to you all:

1. How do you show up in spaces?
2. Have you thought about your race story?
3. How do you process your own racial privilege/marginalization?
4. Do you assume peoples’ ethnicity and culture based on the color of their skin?
5. Have you thought about the racial make-up of your close friends?
6. Who do you date? What are some of the reasons, outside of sexual orientation, that your family may not approve of someone you’re dating?
7. How do you understand the concept of intersectionality?
8. What does it mean to be your whole self?

We’re going to leave you with questions as opposed to answers because finding out the answers for yourself is half the fun. By asking these questions of yourself and those around you, you will learn so much more than if we gave you our understanding of these experiences. Ask yourself these questions, and let us know if the answers surprise you!

The 24th annual Creating Change is happening this week and Born Like This will be there keeping you updated on all of the amazingness!

“What’s Creating Change? Only the premier annual organizing and skills-building event for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and their allies.

The conference is run by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and attracts more than 2,500 people from all over the country every year. Presenters and participants come from all walks of life and include members of the business community, elected officials, students, faith leaders and staff and volunteers of non-profit organizations.

Our five-day program features over 250 workshops and training sessions, four plenary sessions, and tons of networking opportunities.” –Creating Change Website

Born Like This will be delivering you nightly recaps as well as live tweets throughout the day! If you are on twitter be sure to chat with us @BornLikeThisOrg. Keep up on the trending topics with #CC12 and #LGBT. And if you aren’t following us on Twitter, what in the world are you waiting for?

And remember “Power is Sexy”