Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Activism ftw.

Well, lots to say, for once. :O

First though, i'ma wish happy birthday to Jake! I loves u (moar)!

Secondly, unfortunately, kiwi has decided to stop blogging. I'll miss you heaps buddy. You are super-coooooooll. And in the short time i knew you, you had a very positive impact on me. *loves*



Anyways, i thought i'd let you know how my gay youth group thingy is going. :)

Though most of you who ask about it are only interested to know if there are any cute boys. :P

So it hadn't been on for few weeks, but i went yesterday. There were only a few of us but we still got some stuff done. The woman who runs it is also really cool and is helping me out with private stuff. :)

Anyways, what we're doing at the moment is contacting businesses around our city, and finding out if they'd be interested in putting a rainbow sticker on their front window. Just so they can show that their business is a same-sex-attracted friendly place. We reckon that people who feel so shunned in this small-minded community of ours will feel a little better when they see our rainbow stickers. :D

We sent out a couple dozen letters to places a few weeks ago, but we got no replies. D:

So yesterday was spent phoning and asking and following-up. We got a few yes's and one downright no with no explanation. hmph. lol. Some managers didn't even get the letter. And lots just weren't there to ask. Kinda frustrating. But we're being active. :)

Activism is fun. It's built into gays isn't it? lol

So yeah, it's fun. :)



Hmm yeah. So next post up is my 200th post, 200 random facts special. I'll see how i go, but i may have to improvise or something. :P

love!

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

awww... *hugs*

thanks mboy - you're such an awesome dude. so caring, so loving, and willing to give yourself freely to so many (not like that, you dirty thing! :P). Don't worry, I won't be a stranger.

The youth group sounds awesome. Activism is great, but don't let it get you down/bitter/cynical when people say no... It does and will happen, we just have to move on and let bigots be bigots.

Anywho, lots of loves. Take care.
xx
Chris

Anonymous said...

Anyone and everyone who stands up as a gay person & does something to bettr the lives of gay people gets huge hugs from me.

Even people who spend time working almost anonimously to change bad laws, bad policies and stuff with letters and articles in newspapers, mags, on radio and tv - they get loads of hugs too! Even gays guys in the closet can do this!

Mb you're joining a proud international community! All power to you!

tom bombadil said...

Happy birthday to the mr jake!

Good job with the gay activism

the 200 facts post have got me checking your blog every two seconds :P

Gotta love you MB :)

Bombadil

cvn70 said...

mboy

my little activist i only wish i did as much, take care and be safe

bob

Jeremy said...

:D We love you

I wished Jake happy birthday on his blog but I can do it here too :P
Happy Birthday Jake :)

Also good luck with the activism :)

hugs

Deadwing said...

aww, sad about kiwi. :( i'm glad to hear your gay youth thingy is going well. that is important stuff tou are doing. time to go door to door and talk to the businesses in person. lol. can't wait for post 200! *hugs*

Andrew said...

Good work Mboy! your activism is inspiring! good luck with the 200 facts post! I'm looking forward to it :)

Andrew

Beej said...

... I wish I had the guts to do more for the gay community ...

Go hard man!

:D

B xo

Aek said...

Good luck with everything! :) I mean, of all things, rainbow stickers are less than benign, lol. Plus, they add color to a place.

naturgesetz said...

That's a great form of activism. Just as you say, it can help people who feel isolated, and maybe even a little bit threatened, to feel welcomed instead. Beyond that it sends a positive message to the whole community that this business is not prejudiced against gays, lesbians etc. It is that sort of message to the wider community that helps other people begin to shed their fears and prejudices.

It may not feel like much, but it's good work.

And of course there will be rejections by some businesses. Maybe they are prejudiced, or maybe they're just afraid of an adverse reaction from some of their customers, or maybe they just don't do the sticker thing. Don't let it get you down. Concentrate on the successes.

Seth said...

Go rainbow-mirrorboy go!!

Yes, it might be a bit frustrating, and difficult. But every little bit helps. In the big cities here (Philadelphia, NYC) I think business owners (especially close to the gay neighborhoods) sometimes go out of their way to stick up a rainbow sticker, to draw in more queer customers. Its funny but for Pride weekend in NYC, I would wager that a couple dozen businesses along the march route suddenly sprout a rainbow sticker in their window. LOL.

It would be interesting to survey how many keep it up after the events.

Good luck with it though - every little bit helps.

Randy said...

You should stop calling churches and asking.... lol...

Good on ya for being proactive man!

Lightning Baltimore said...

Good for y'all!

Some places will say "no" as they fear that a rainbow sticker in the window will be interpreted to mean they are a gay business, rather than a business that is gay friendly.

Regardless, keep at it! I'm proud of ya'!

Kevin Wilson said...

I'm glad you're enjoying the youth group, but I was under the impression that the idea was to give the gay community in your locality mutual support and a place to get together and socialise rather than become some pseudo political activist wing.

I am sure that the woman running the youth groups intentions are honourable, but I would be questioning her motives if the emphasis is on community agitating rather than support and social activities.

I don't think activism is built into gays (or any other group of people in the community for that matter).

Just don't agree to chain yourself to the doors of a strip club.

Mirrorboy said...

'pseudo political activist'?
'community agitating'?

loool

We get together, and it's about meeting people and feeling like you're a group, much more than having an agenda.

The reason we do this, is so we're not just sitting on our butts every week chatting. We're actually doing something together that we care about.

Lightning Baltimore said...

If kids politely asking businesses if they'd be willing to display a rainbow sticker is "community agitation," then pretty much anything a person does to not hide his or her sexuality is "agitation."

Anonymous said...

BTW: Your poster boy for "secret" is named Anthony. Lives in California. Turns 16 in june.

Seth said...

4 days with no post....

*peers closely at mboy*

where are yooooo... all ok ?

Seth said...

And ummm. ok thats weird... I just clicked "Follow" on your blog - and apparently I was NOT !?!?!?!!!!! following it already?!! OMG.

Sowwy. Like, a major FAIL for me. :(

Unless the follower gadget thing is just sucking like it does, and put my little picture first - but it showed your count went up by one number when I clicked follow.

OMG sorry.

Mirrorboy said...

*shuns seth for a month* :P

I haven't posted cos i'm up to my 200th post and i have to get that ready, and it's a lot of hard work. :/

love

Seth said...

*cries for a month*

Ohhh... ok. Well then, it best be something EXTREMELY worth it!! Counting on you to provide something extra-special and grand, as we all know you will.

:)

Jeremy said...

*Waits for 200 facts* :D

Pilgrim said...

A bit late, I know, but whrer the heck are you now M-Boy? Miss ya sort´a! :-/ Propz Pilgrim