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Paul Schroder

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Everything posted by Paul Schroder

  1. Hey boys and girls. Remember me... the fat penguin? I have a terrific idea. Now, I'm gonna stay focused so I don't forget it and so I hope a squirrel doesn't wander by. You guys remember PenguinHuggle don't you? That's the sweet little story site and forum hosted by Mikie and Dr. Lib. Well, Mikie is away in college now and the site is rarely visited. But Dr. Lib continues to maintain the site for Mikie. This has been the sister site for Codey's World and hosts the memorial site for Codey. And this site has something that is lacking in both Codey's World and AwesomeDude; it has an awesome chatroom that is rarely visited anymore. Let's put it to use! I know I'd like to talk to all of Cody's friends and all the AwesomeDude members too. I invite everyone to use this topic to suggest a day and time of the week for us to all log in and yak away. Eventually, with enough participation we can make it a continuous thing as it was in the past. So... make yourself heard. I'll log in during the late evenings for the next couple of weeks or so to hopefully catch some of you. Here is the url... http://www.penguinhu...chat/index.html I'm so excited I'm waging my tail. Wait... that isn't a tail.
  2. Hey boys and girls. Remember me... the fat penguin? I have a terrific idea. Now, I'm gonna stay focused so I don't forget it and so I hope a squirrel doesn't wander by. You guys remember PenguinHuggle don't you? That's the sweet little story site and forum hosted by Mikie and Dr. Lib. Well, Mikie is away in college now and the site is rarely visited. But Dr. Lib continues to maintain the site for Mikie. This has been the sister site for Codey's World and hosts the memorial site for Codey. And this site has something that is lacking in both Codey's World and AwesomeDude; it has an awesome chatroom that is rarely visited anymore. Let's put it to use! I know I'd like to talk to all of Cody's friends and all the AwesomeDude members too. I invite everyone to use this topic to suggest a day and time of the week for us to all log in and yak away. Eventually, with enough participation we can make it a continuous thing as it was in the past. So... make yourself heard. I'll log in during the late evenings for the next couple of weeks or so to hopefully catch some of you. Here is the url... http://www.penguinhuggle.com/chat/index.html I'm so excited I'm waging my tail. Wait... that isn't a tail.
  3. Examples of the treatment of gays in: Egypt - http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc...+DOC+XML+V0//EN Malaysia - http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/accept-ho...ity-in-malaysia Jordan - http://alidahmash.blogspot.com/2008/10/hom...-in-jordan.html And these are the 'moderate' Islamic states. As a gay male I am very concerned about the proliferation of a culture that denigrates women and gays. I try very hard to treat all individuals and cultures with respect since, as a gay man, I want that respect returned to me. Yet am I expected to remain silent (politically correct) about an issue that concerns me? I've read about some areas in the UK allowing the adoption of some forms of Sharia Law - yet I'm not supposed to be concerned or voice my concern? I feel as though I'm trapped in a middle ground. I am afraid to voice my fears or I may be labeled a racist.
  4. The Trevor Project was founded by writer James Lecesne, director/producer Peggy Rajski and producer Randy Stone, creators of the 1994 Academy Award?-winning short film, Trevor, a comedy/drama about a gay 13-year-old boy who, when rejected by friends because of his sexuality, makes an attempt to take his life. When Trevor was scheduled to air on HBO? in 1998, the filmmakers realized that some of the program?s teen viewers might be facing the same kind of crisis as Trevor, and began to search for an appropriate support line to broadcast during the airing. They discovered that no such helpline existed, and decided to dedicate themselves to forming what was, in their view, a much-needed resource: an organization to promote acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth, and to aid in crisis and suicide prevention among that group. Thus, The Trevor Project was born. The Trevor Project Website We can't do much as individuals to stop the bullying. But we can steer suseptable youth to available resources. Add the hotline phone number to your signature. Ask the gay forums you belong to make the resource available and easy to find on their sites. And more importantly, donate. Click on the Trevor project link and volunteer your money or even your time. It's a good feeling. The cast of Queer As Folk discuss the Trevor Project:
  5. Way to go, Cole. Another fun read.
  6. It never seems to amaze me, the caliber of some of our elected officials. What saddens me most is that people accept them and vote for them. What will Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) say next - that the Holocaust never occurred? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/29/v...a_n_192971.html
  7. I've just been informed that the NY Times now requires people to register in order to read their articles... grrrr. So, if you didn't read the piece titled "The Bigots? Last Hurrah" that I posted above, go here to read it without registering. It's a definite feel good article. http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/04/19 That Miss California runner-up should read it.
  8. Lol... that's because the money came directly from the church hierarchy. There was no attempt at an opinion poll among the church members. The twelve apostles and church leadership are used to laying down the letter of the law and expecting their members to follow it faithfully. It makes me wonder if there has been some sort of backlash that has shaken up these church leaders. There was certainly a great amount of ire directed towards the state following prop 8's defeat. We need to remember that this was the last Christian aligned faith to allow blacks to become members. On the face of that, their about-face has come about remarkably swiftly.
  9. The Bigots? Last Hurrah ... an op-ed post from the NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/opinion/...tml?_r=1&em This should brighten your day.
  10. I found this on another forum and it's effected me deeply. Once again a school system fails its students in protecting against homophobic bullying. In a school where there are a mix of black and white students, no one would dare utter the "N" word but "gay, fag and queer" seem to be tolerated. The result is one more suicide. And this time by a boy who was only eleven years old. Here is the news article. Here is the news video.
  11. Sometimes it takes a bit of old fashioned "shame" to convince people to do the right thing. I'd like to see the school forced to place a large sign on their front lawn that says... "Parents be advised - the administrators and teachers of this school tolerate harassment and bullying within the student body." They would then have to prove that they have taken effective steps to control bullying before they would be allowed to remove the sign.
  12. What adds to it's appeal is that it is a true story. Thanks, Steven. For those who aren't aware, he posted it on a deaf boy's website.
  13. I felt the tears flow when I read it. Thanks Grant.
  14. Thanks for posting the President's website, Cap'n. It makes me feel like the GBLT community is in good hands.
  15. My head gets cold so I wear my coon skin cap.
  16. Raccoon Saves Student's Life, a (true!) story that's become a legend at Cornell University, where the incident occurred. http://www.loomcom.com/raccoons/news/raccoon-saves-life.html
  17. I found myself holding my breath half way through the narrative. This is so much the common thread that defines gay people of my generation. Thank God society is opening up a bit more each day so that, eventually, there will be no need for boys and girls to start laying those courses of bricks. Societies build many gulogs and prisons. The worse are the ones where it forces the inmates themselves to erect the walls that contain them. Guilt, shame and fear are the mortar.
  18. I was going to pass on posting to this thread. I told myself it's because I already did something similar on IOMFATS board a year or so ago. But I guess the real reason was I've always been one to hold things close to my chest ? to not divulge much about myself. I've since come to realize that this is a common trait that I share with many gay or bi men of my generation. It is part and parcel of the closet I lived in for so much of my life. So I need to fight against those old impulses to maintain the new me. I remember being fascinated by other boy's bits at a rather early age. I was playing show and tell at age eight. By age ten it was ?do you want to feel something really neat?? So, I guess, I was the very definition of precocious. I was well on my way to becoming a little flamer. But this was the fifties and early sixties we are talking about and in the religious backwaters of Utah. Even before I reached my teenage years I became aware of my society's definition of homosexuality... ?ABOMINATION?. I began to slowly entrench myself in a closet that was my domicile for about forty years. I just didn't have the courage to face the social stigma or, what I perceived, would be the lose of friends and family who would surely abandon such a 'leprous' person. Unlike many of the gay men who married in order to further advance the big lie, I was never able to take that fateful step. After all, I knew what happened in the conjugal bed and I was extremely fearful I would fail in my husbandly duties. (Quite an accurate observation as a result of attempting the 'big nasty' with a number of women I dated.) Clear up into my twenties I prayed to a God who I knew considered me an abomination. His failure to act on my behalf and change my orientation told me that God found me a lost cause. So I turned my back on a God I believed had turned his back on me. I was in my mid forties when I had a total meltdown, an emotional collapse. The only reason I didn't suicide was because I was in no hurry to face an afterlife that I knew would contain considerable brimstone in it. (I sunburn quite easily and would probably roast rather poorly.) So I underwent ten years of therapy instead. Oh, I wish to God I'd sought that therapy twenty years earlier. It enabled me to turn around my thinking and accept who I was. It allowed me to regain a spiritual part of myself I'd lost, as I realized that God had never rejected me ? it was the church that rejected me. Today I'm out of that stifling closet to any who ask. I've found a Christian church that ordains gays to be ministers and I have a sense of self worth that was so sadly lacking for most of my life. I'm also far more interested in establishing relationships today than pursuing sexual conquests. (My libido is no longer what it once was.) But my primary mission has been to write stories that would allow gay youth to come to grips with their feelings and, hopefully, accept who they are and the normality of their sexuality. I want to nail up all the closets I can. I've had a number of correspondences to indicate I've been nominally successful and to spur me to continue my writing. So, when I get too damned old to work I'll probably be still pounding away at my keyboard. I think having a sense of purpose is what defines us. Today I am at peace with myself and with the world I live in. I'm fighting prejudice on every level I find it. I don't believe anyone is a lost cause or unworthy of friendship or help. And, in short, I am content.
  19. Twenty seven amendments to the U.S. Constitution. 500 amendments to the California Constitution. That pretty much says it all. Our forefathers used common sense in acknowledging that logical and reasoned thought should not give sway to mob rule. The public is fickle and easily manipulated. Individual prejudices should never be allowed to over-ride basic human rights. It is time that the California legislature grow a set of balls and revamp the amendment process. Too many people there are swayed by Governor Terminator's anti-gay marriage rhetoric.
  20. Wonderful beginning, Camy. Now I'm waiting for the next installment. (Notice I didn't say waiting patiently.)
  21. I found it. http://iomfats.org/storyshelf/hosted/wilso...-nearly-13.html
  22. I remember this This was a submission to a contest on JeffsFort. Short stories were to deal with the subject "Death's day off". I read the second chapter. Did you do more and where can we find them?
  23. Here is another video about the attitudes of Corwall authorities towards gays. Here. This is especially tragic in that it regards their treatment of a young teen
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