Mr Camp, for years I have been your vocal constituent. And for years you have consistently voted against what is in my best interest as a gay American. Instead, you wish that your long-time constituent be given second-class status in the law, be denied the ability to help his long-time partner become a citizen of this great nation, and more. You have voted that I be denied the ability to go to the hospital and be with my partner when he is hospitalized over night. You have voted that my partner not be able to share his medical benefits with me (I am not insured medically, and certainly, if anything happened, I would be in great trouble). What's more than this, Mr. Camp, you have--without fail--voted to have these inequalities enshrined in the Constitution of our great nation. Mr. Camp, you have hundreds of gay men and women in your district, but today, I don't write for them--your constituents, your neighbors, your friends and even your family--I write for myself. Mr. Camp, represent me. I am your constituent too, and your job is to make my life better, not worse. However, it has seemed your mission in life to spend your time in congress making life for me and the hundreds of other gay men and women in your district miserable and difficult. Mr. Camp, maybe you have personal reasons for being so vehemently against your gay friends and neighbors. But beyond your personal feelings, Mr. Camp, you are failing at your job. You are making me feel like I am a non-entity in this country--a country I pay taxes in, I work hard to make better and improve, a country that three generations of my family fought hard to protect in WWI, WWII and Vietnam (something I was not able to do as well because of yet another discriminatory policy of this government supported by your party).
Mr. Camp, am I not your constituent too? Am I not an American too?

I.O.R. II. Here are a few ideas.
International Order of Rhinoceros.
The International Order of Rhinoceros will be a spiritual, social, philanthropic and service fraternal organization and fellowship. The I.O.R. will seek to provide gay men with a common community of like-minded fellows and a safe, secure place to congregate. The I.O.R. will promote healthy and friendly discussion of trades, history, economics, business, politics, spirituality, sexuality and culture which will create a deep community bond and a sense of self-improvement and discovery for its members. Also promoting self-improvement will be the service and philanthropic component of the society.
Some of the service projects that could be considered is helping with the local youth shelter, doing volunteer work in the community, educational opportunities or volunteer work for other local organizations. The philanthropic ventures should restrict themselves to monetary donations ONLY to LGBT and LGBT-sensitive organizations.
The local I.O.R. will meet at the most gay-friendly drinking establishment at a predetermined time and date. Once an I.O.R. gets large enough, however, they can establish and construct their own "Crash" (which is the technical term for a group of rhinoceros) All locals and lodges will be guided by the first local in the area, which should establish itself as a "Stampede."
A Crash becomes a Stampede once it has spawned at least five other Crashes of its own in its immediate area, which are in closer proximity to the first Crash itself than the overseeing Stampede. At that point, the first Crash collects the support of its other proxemic Crashes and petitions the Breed Council to be recognized as an independent Stampede. Once that happens, the currently overseeing Stampede itself must sign off on the effort. If the Stampede does not give its blessing, the Crash can still become its own independent Stampede if the Breed Council approves its petition for five consecutive years.

I.O.R. Hierarchy:
Oversight - Supreme Tribunal.
National - Breed (American Breed, Canadian Breed).
Regional - Stampede (Chicago Stempede, Yucatan Stampede, Alaskan Stampede).
Local - Crash (Halstead and Belmont Crash, Cancun Crash, West Anchorage Crash).
Member - Bull.

The leader of a Crash will be called a 'Grand Bull.'
The Stampede will be governed by all of the region's Grand Bulls.
The Stampede governing body, the council, will elect a 'Charger' to lead the council.
All of the Chargers will sit on the 'Breed Council' whenever a 'Breed Convention' is called.
All of the Bulls in a Breed will elect a single 'Alpha Charger' to head the Breed Council for the next five years. He shall be limited by three terms.
All of the 'Alpha Chargers' will elect a 'Supreme Bull' to lead the I.O.R. Supreme Tribunal every five years. The 'Supreme Bull' will choose eight other 'Sublime Bulls' to sit on his Tribunal with him for the remainder of his term. A 'Supreme Bull' can only sit for one term, but a Bull can sit as a 'Sublime Bull' for up to three terms.

For Example. Here is the ficticious roster for a local "Crash" for the ficticious city of "Gayopolis."

Roster of the North Gayopolis Crash, January 1, 2010.
I.O.R. Local #55599
Grand Bull Adam Stevenowski.

Supreme Bull Steve Adams.
Sublime Bulls Adam Stevens, Jerry Adamson, Glen Stevenson, Steven Adamson, Evan Stefan, Steve Evans, Adam Evans, Evan Adams.
A member of the Illustrious American Breed.
Alpha Charger Adam Adams
A member of the Distinguished Gayopolis Stampede.
Charger Steve Stevenson.

Crash Council members Bob Lob, Ben Glenn, Miles Tiles, Ron Jon, Mike Tyke and Gary Mary.
Bulls Present:
Adam Stevenowski
Bob Lob
Ben Glenn
Miles Tiles
Ron Jon
Mike Tyke
Gary Mary
Frank Tank
Evan Heaven
Cole Pohl
Dirk Turk
Jim Crimm
Gordon Floridian

Also In attendence:
Prospective Alex Deluxe

The International Order of the Rhinoceros.

I am trying to learn about founding an gay adult male Service and Fraternal Organization (called a Friendly Society) like the Order of the Eagle or the Moose, called the International Order of the Rhinoceros. How I'm going to do this, where I will find the information, I don't know. I'm trying to find info online. I think I should go to Barnes and Noble and read up on it. The Rhinoceros is an old symbol of the gay community. This is the quote from Lambda.org "As Toal put it, 'The rhino is a much maligned and misunderstood animal and, in actuality, a gentle creature.' But when a rhinoceros is angered, it fights ferociously. At the time, this seemed a fitting symbol for the gay rights movement. Lavender was used because it was a widely recognized gay pride color and the heart was added to represent love and the 'common humanity of all people.' The purple rhinoceros was never copyrighted and is public domain."So that's my new project, besides Jenny's website, CMQ, Queer Peer, Centesis, getting done with the teacher's ed program, the Office, moving in, et cettera et cettera et cettera...

Progress? I think this video is a BACKSTEP!



(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0sNTz18jMg)

The language used in this video is disturbingly homophobic. I think that this video itself is outlandish and divisive. First thing is first. PRIDE has NEVER been MEANT as a service to the straight community. The first PRIDES and every PRIDE ever wasn't about, "Let's show straight people what we're all about." PRIDE actually has nothing to do with the straight community 'at large,' and the only thing is has to do with the straight community at all are the pockets like PFLAG and allies that come support us (all of whom really could care less if Mr. Leather Michigan is walking around cracking his whip for fun.)
PRIDE is like our birthday. On your birthday, you don't do what everyone else wants. Your birthday isn't to put forward your best face and try and impress people.
On your birthday, you do whatever the heck you want!
PRIDE is a celebration of the LGBT community--the WHOLE LGBT community, not just the Log Cabin Republicans or the suits in the Human Rights Campaign (who, by the way, I happen to march with every year). You see, the gay community is a lot like the straight community in that we are humans and as humans we deserve equal rights and protections under the law.
However, the gay community ISN'T just like the straight community in many ways. Being gay is about freedom, and no matter what you try and say, it REALLY IS all about sex. Our sexuality DOES define us. We wouldn't be asking for equal rights if it WASN'T about sex. It is SEX that SEPARATES us from straight people. You see, our love is the same. Our hopes and dreams are the same. But it is the SEXUAL ATTRACTION AND BEHAVIOR that separates us, and for centuries kept us cruelly closeted.
Then came Stonewall.
After Stonewall, Our community learned it was unhealthy to hide who we are in the closet. We were no longer going to be relegated to living our lives in the shadows, in secrets, behind people's backs. Our lives were going to be the same in the open as they are in the dark. Sure, I disagree with some of the extreme stuff--the same as I disagree with ALL public nudity, whether its at PRIDE or running across the field at Tiger Stadium. But What PRIDE is for me, is a big opening of the closet to be free and celebrate who you are, and damn the rest of the world for not accepting you. That's what the first PRIDE march in San Francisco and New York in 1970 was about. That's what every PRIDE march ever since has been about.
So as for the leather daddies and go-go boys: they're harmless. They aren't TRYING to represent the whole gay community, nor should they. They are representing themselves. As long as no wangs are popping out, and no cheeks are getting shown off, let them celebrate just as the Dykes on Bikes get to celebrate, just like the PWAs get the celebrate, the gay cowboy line dancers get the celebrate, and--of course--the drag queens: who we should not soon forget are the whole reason we have PRIDE and why Stonewall happened in the very first place!
We need to celebrate ourselves and celebrate eachother. The gay community is about openness, expression, tolerance and unity. The rest of the year in our press conferences, op-eds, petitions, lobbying and face to face conversations we are asking for tolerance from the rest of America. Then, on the weekend of the year that is TRULY our own and TRULY about us, we should show tolerance to one another, and mirror back what we expect.
Happy PRIDE EVERYONE. See you next year!