
I am weary of the places my community is going in the 21st century. I am weary of our antipathy toward one another, of our distrust and dismissal of people who don’t fit our expectations, and of our seeming inability to understand the potential that we have as a group. Somehow along the way we have adopted the worst traits of humanity and aimed our dislike inward at each other. I think, hell I KNOW we can do better. So I want to start a dialogue, a contest, a movement if you will. I think we can reclaim our sense of ourselves if we try. I want to start in my own town, in my own community, with my damn self. So here is my list of "Community Relations Tactics" and I would very much like to hear yours.
1) Battle homophobia by being kind to each other instead of hateful
2) Think really hard before we speak, I mean like REALLY hard
3) Educate ourselves about the complexity of our community
4) Being aware of how racism is enacted within Queer community
5) Giving back in whatever way we can
6) Don't let people get away with using Transphobic language
7) Create a self assessment plan for how we are doing as individuals
8) Pledge to make yourself and someone else happy
9) Help someone who is new to the community get connected
10) Make your strengths known and put them to work!