It has been a long year since Born Like This took off. In that time, our writers and readers helped address important issues such as preventing suicide among LGBTQ youth and advocating on behalf of equality- and we want to continue doing just that.

Born Like This was created by youth for youth. As the founders get older and move on to their careers, we fear losing that essence of youth.

We are looking for a motivated group of young people that might be able to take over the website- writing articles, providing resources and ultimately continuing to address issues within the LGBTQ community. We hope to coach that new group and help make a smooth transition.

If we can not find a motivated group to take this over, Born Like This will close its doors on April 1, 2012. If you or someone you know might be interested in keeping this organization going, please send an email to johnny@bornlikethis.org.

Lovingly,

The Born Like This Team.

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 Kind 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”

2009
-Extended key benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.
-Awarded Harvey Milk the Medal of Freedom.
-Signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act

2010
-Lifted the ban that prohibited people living with HIV/AIDS from entering the country.
-Recorded an “It Gets Better” video.
-Signed the repeal of “Don’t ask, Don’t tell”.

2011
-Declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.
-Hosted a bullying prevention conference in the White House.
-Implemented the repeal of “Don’t ask, Don’t tell”.

Will 2012 prove equally inspiring?

Bayard Rustin, a black civil rights pacifist, recognized Martin Luther King, Jr.’s leadership early on, and helped to organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to strengthen King’s leadership. Rustin was also the chief organizer for the March on Washington, where Dr. King uttered those famous words: “I have a dream”.

After the passage of the civil-rights legislation of 1964–1965, Rustin focused attention on the economic problems of working-class and unemployed African Americans.

Rustin was gay during a time in history when homosexuality was criminalized and stigmatized. From the 1950s through the 1970s, Rustin was attacked as a “pervert” or for his “immoral influence” by political opponents, fellow civil-rights leaders, segregationists and Black power militants. For this very reason, Rustin operated behind the scenes and only rarely served as a public spokesperson. However, his backstage presence did not stop him from serving as an influential adviser to civil-rights leaders and from accomplishing some truly amazing community organizing actions during his lifetime.

In the 1970s, he became a public advocate on behalf of gay and lesbian causes. For more information on the life of Bayard Rustin, please watch Brother Outsider (available on Netflix).

You might have heard about similar cases in the news, and there has been a significant amount of  attention brought to this matter because of how it destroys lives. Wells and Anthony met in Australia 19 years ago, and were legally married in Massachusetts in 2004. In order to stay in the United States, Makk started a business in San Francisco and invested in rental property to meet visa requirements. Last year, however, Makk’s visa expired, and when the couple applied for permanent residence, the Department of Homeland Security denied him and cited the Defense of Marriage Act which was passed in 1996. The couple was left with essentially three options: Wells and Makk could remain here, with Makk residing here illegally, or they could move to Australia, or they could separate. None of the options are particularly good.

The backlash to this case has been far reaching. Former speaker of the house and representative Nancy Pelosi personally intervened in the case, along with Sen. Diane Feinstein and Mark Leno. The case is particularly touching because Wells suffers from severe AIDS-related illnesses, and Makk is his primary caretaker.

Today, it was announced that the couple was granted a stay in deportation proceedings for two years, meaning that the government will not pursue the case anytime soon. Hopefully the time will allow the country to organize itself better to defend against similar cases, and when the time comes around to reopen this case, Wells and Makk will be allowed to stay forever.

Turing, despite his great contribution to WWII, was convicted of “gross indecency” in 1952, when homosexual acts were illegal in the UK, and sentenced to chemical castration. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that he committed suicide two years later.

In 2009, the then prime minister Gordon Brown issued an unequivocal apology on behalf of the government to Turing, describing his treatment as “horrifying” and “utterly unfair”. Brown said the country owed him a huge debt. No Shit.

But, hey, having a stamp dedicated to you totally makes it all alright, right? Right?

Turing is also credited with helping to create the world’s first modern day computer.