I just watched a very poignant clip of Ellen interviewing Oprah about the 1997 coming out episode (The Puppy) on the Ellen Show. That episode aired in April 1997 and I started work at Youth Outlook in October 1998. I found it difficult not to tear up while Ellen and Oprah talked about both the […]
Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category
Twenty Years After a Comic, An Airport, and a Hot Mic
Posted: 26th December 2017 by admin in BlogTags: #coming out, #LGBT youth, community, Ellen coming out episode, friends, LGBT history
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The Un-Spirit of Christmas
Posted: 17th December 2017 by admin in BlogTags: Christmas, family, family of choice, grief work, healing, holiday traditions, holidays
There is no time of the year that I am as aware of my shortage of family of origin as I am at the holidays. This is what some of us were raised with, right? Holidays are about family. Old songs extoll traveling long miles over snowy roads to be with family for that special […]
Let Us Talk about Determination
Posted: 26th October 2017 by admin in BlogTags: #LGBT youth, be the change, courage, determination, LGBT, love wins, resist, safe space, step up
This past Saturday was the day of our big agency fundraiser, Dare to Dream. I joke about it being the 9th time we were running an event that we meant to offer just once. I am asked each year to provide a “state of the agency” commentary to bring our donors up to speed on […]
An Open Letter to the Youth Outlook Youth
Posted: 5th October 2017 by admin in BlogTags: #LGBT youth, heroes, LGBT, LGBT issues, Youth Outlook
This week I started my 20th year in my job running Youth Outlook where I (do my best to) support the drop-in centers and other services that we offer. That’s a long stretch of time, especially when I stop to consider that when I started working here, most of you drop-in center kids weren’t even born […]
The Smart Ass Guide to Decoding Lesbian Dating Profiles
Posted: 22nd September 2017 by admin in BlogTags: #communication, benching, friends, ghosting, humor, lesbian dating, online dating, zombie-ing
Wow, these online dating websites are quite popular. I used a couple of them, myself, in addition to some Meet Up groups in my effort to make new friends following my gay-divorce. (When you get gay-married, you have to get gay-divorced.) Curious process, this. While I did meet a few folks who became friends, I […]
On Critters, Kindness, and Courage
Posted: 2nd September 2017 by admin in BlogTags: courage, dogs, family, heroes, kindness, love, pets
Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution. ~ Kahlil Gibran Last fall, I took a plunge and brought a third dog into my house. I wasn’t puppy shopping at the time. I was really nervous about adding another set of paws to the 12 already […]
Excuse Me, Your Myths Are Showing!
Posted: 27th June 2017 by admin in BlogTags: homeless youth, kindness, myths, Poverty, Uninsured, working poor
Are you ready? It’s Tuesday. Let’s do some myth busting just for fun. In my Facebook feed this morning, just in the first couple of minutes that I was looking, I saw articles on poor people, and working people, and poor people who work but can’t afford basic needs, and homeless people. Oh yeah, and […]
Of Superhero Capes and Chemo
Posted: 9th April 2017 by admin in BlogTags: cancer, chemo, friendship, grief, healing, superheros, warrior women
I met one of my favorite people when she was just finishing up chemo for breast cancer. She was interested in volunteering at the agency where I work, and we met to talk about the jobs that volunteers were doing and the time commitment that might be involved. I’ve mentioned this before in other blog […]