Big NoiseBig NoiseA Blog About Freedom, Justice and Equality. Primarily about disability issues. But it also has articles about other minority and disenfranchised groups including, workers, the oppressed, people of color. Articles
Acupuncture Board: Blind Need Not Apply
2008-04-04 21:52:00 Acupuncture is an 8000 year old medical treatment. The first record of an acupuncturist who was blind occurred during the Edo Period (about 1600), though blind individuals likely practiced before that.Acupuncturists who are blind make up about 30% of all licensed acupuncturists in Japan. They work alongside their sighted peers in private practice and at clinics and hospitals throughout the country. There are even schools that specialize in teaching blind students the skill. They hold the same licenses, earn the same wages, and charge the same fees as any sighted acupuncturist. But none of that has helped Juliana Cumbo, who has a master's degree from Academy of Oriental Medicine in Austin Texas; she also served her internship there. In addition, she passed the Texas State Board Exams. She has been blind since she was ten years old. Will Morris, President of the Academy said, "Juliana is an exemplary practitioner ... and she is extremely talented... I am proud to sign her dipl... More About: Blind , Acupuncture
Stares
2008-03-31 01:19:00 People with visible disabilities are no strangers to stares. Not all stares are bad. We invite them at ADAPT actions, the Disability Pride Parade, and at local disability rights functions. We want people to see our diversity, our power, and our unity in these political actions. But when we’re going about the mundane tasks of our lives, stares can be at the very least, a nuisance. At its worst, is a searing invasion into our privacy. People stare many different ways. There is the open mouth-gaping stare; the glancing, you-can’t-catch-me-staring stare; the double-take stare; the self-conscious, but-I-cannot-help-myself stare; the 360°, I-cannot-believe-my-eyes stare; the judgmental, why-are-you-here-interrupting-my-peace stare; and the most benign--the blank, staring-off-into-space-I-am-not-sure-I-ev en-saw-anything stare. Young people with disabilities can be more vulnerable to stares than older folks who have, hopefully, hardened themselves to them. However, once grown, sta...
I’m Hillary Clinton -- And I Approved This Message…
2008-03-14 00:52:00 On March 3rd, Wired Blog Network published the side by side pictures below. They are not-so-identical digital images of the same nationally televised moment. The occasion was the February 26th Democratic Debate on MSNBC in Cleveland. The one on the left is an untouched MSNBC screen shot of the debate. On the right is the Clinton campaign’s screen shot of the same moment as it appears in one of her campaign ads. Obama is several shades darker in the campaign ad than he appeared in the debate and appears in real life. It’s clear the Clinton campaign wants to paint Senator Obama as the black candidate, rather than a formidable peer for the nomination. It started in South Carolina and continues today.Earlier this week I wrote a piece about, what I perceive to be, the subtle racial overtones of Hillary ’s 3:00 AM “Red Phone”. Subtlety just flew out the window. I have created side-by-side pictures of Hillary at the debate (on the right). On the left, is a picture of Hillary in ... More About: Hillary Clinton
It's 3:00 AM: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
2008-03-07 18:38:00 Someone once said, a lie can be halfway around the world before the truth has time to tie its shoes.There's been a lot of talk about Clinton's "3:00 AM" campaign ad. It attacks Obama's foreign policy experience. I've heard a lot of discussion about it; but I have not heard one pundit talk about my reaction to it. It's a very racist ad. Now, I know the Clinton's have been supporters of civil rights for people of color. They talk about all the time. However, I'm looking at their current behavior and here's what's bugging me about it. 3:00 AM? Does it matter what time of day it is when the "red phone" rings, indicating some sort of national security crisis? Why 3:00AM? It's because white people are afraid of black people at 3:00 AM. The ad would not have been as effective if it were three in the afternoon; it would not have played on the night time fears of white folk. It plays the race card... and apparently so deftly, no talking-heads noticed. Clinton's ad is...
Imperfections Make "Perfect"
2008-03-06 16:24:00 My Slovenian Grandmother crocheted lace all her life. I never knew her; she died when my father was six. However, I do remember seeing her handiwork in my Grandpa's house when I was young. Slovene women have a long history of making fine lace, dating back to the 1600s. There were trade schools in Slovenia to teach poor peasant women the skill. Selling lace helped lift families a little further out of poverty; though, never completely out. My Auntie Anne, (who learned to crochet at her mother's knee) told me that Grandma believed that every piece of lace, even the finest lace, must have a mistake in it. Why? Because lace, like life, is never perfect. I had the occasion to share that story with my friend Jess recently. She is a disability rights activist and a very talented quilter. Jess made a baby quilt for me, my daughter and my new grandbaby, Sabine. When she gave it to me I was completely overwhelmed by her generosity and kindness to my family. I pored over each... More About: Make , Perfect
Celebrating Bang
2008-03-05 19:29:00 Bang Long Jr. died February 22, 2008. He was a friend of 20+ years and diligent advocate for people with disabilities. I was attending my first Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois Conference. The Conference featured a dance for people to meet and socialize. The small contingent of people I knew from Decatur wandered off, leaving me to sit alone. I was feeling a bit like a wall flower. Then this robust man walked up and asked me to dance. Whew... I felt saved. You never know what you're going to get when you agree to dance with a stranger. Sometimes the guy is all elbows and jerkiness. But, this guy could dance! Double whew! We made small talk while we boogied-woogied on the dance floor. I asked him his name. "Bang", he shouted over the music."Huh?", I shouted back."Bang", he repeated."What?" I asked again."Bang", he said the third time."Funny", I said, "I thought you said Bang." He made me feel welcomed... comfortable. He was tender, warm an... More About: Bang
Obama
2008-02-09 17:28:00 My favorite videos this week... maybe in a long long time.I also appreciate his video on his disability rights including ADA restoration, Community Choice, and a number of other disability civil rights issues.http://feeds.feedburner.com/bignoi se More About: Obama
We’re Better Than This: Aversive "Therapy"
2008-01-14 07:01:00 When Jennifer Gonnerman wrote an article for Mother Jones magazine titled, School of Shock, she exposed the tip of very ugly “therapy” iceberg. Aversive therapy is punishment, designed supposedly, to change a disabled child’s behavior. The rational for using it is to apply an aversive consequence immediately following unwanted behavior. Proponents insist, with this “conditioning” ensures the child will not repeat the behavior in the future. The article takes on the Judge Rothenberg Educational Center in Canton, Massachusetts; a residential school that focused on providing special educational services with a brutal aversive behavior modification program at its core. Their use of aversives includes the use of electric shock treatments. Over half of the 234 children at the school carry 10-pound electric shock backpacks every day, all day, and all night. Children as young as ten years old receive this treatment. But, the issue of aversive behavior treatments does not start ... More About: Therapy , Thera
Police: Suspect May Have Killed 1 Child
2008-01-13 23:09:00 By BRIAN SKOLOFF – Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A woman accused of adopting 11 disabled children for money and abusing them may have killed one child and disposed of the body, a detective said Thursday.Judith Leekin, 62, was arrested in July and has pleaded not guilty to the multiple charges against her, including aggravated child abuse and aggravated abuse of disabled adults.Nine of her adoptees — now ages 15 to 27 — are in Florida state custody, and another, now 19 years old, is on his own in the state. But authorities say they haven't been able to locate the 11th child, Shane Graham, who would also be 19.Authorities say that after exhausting all their leads trying to find him, turning to the public for help is the last step before considering a murder charge."There's been no trace of this kid anywhere," said Detective Stuart Klearman of the Port St. Lucie police. "But the money was still flowing to her. She falsified documents to keep it flowing. Wha... More About: Police , Child , Killed , Suspect
Cincinnati Woman Charged with Disabled Son's Murder
2008-01-03 01:40:00 Update Jan 4, 2008, from the Cincinnati EnquirerMOUNT WASHINGTON – Cynthia A. Standifer, 55, the mother of Rasheed Michael Standifer, 25, who was developmentally disabled, was charged Thursday with murder in his death.Michael Standifer was found dead inside his mother’s Wayside Court home Wednesday, and Cynthia Standifer was taken to University Hospital suffering an apparent overdose.Cincinnati Police said Thursday their investigation revealed the mother caused her son’s death then attempted suicide. Court records showed Cynthia Standifer admitted her role to homicide investigators.Michael Standifer’s cause of death will be determined pending the results of an autopsy by the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office.Police said little else on Thursday about their investigation, but neighbors spoke fondly of the man they knew as Michael.“Everyone knew him as Michael,” said neighbor Bill Huber. “He would always bark out his first name real forcefully.”Huber b... More About: Murder , Woman , Disabled
Reassigning Meaning
2008-01-01 23:58:00 Change your language and you change your thoughts. ~Karl AlbrechtMy husband and I took on a few home organizational projects last week. One was to re-organize our bookcases by topic. When we finished I looked over and saw the section dedicated to the disability civil rights movement… essays, poetry, fiction, biographies, and textbooks. It was reassuring to see them all together. Their authors guide and direct my thinking about a movement that has so graciously embraced me, provided a focus to my thoughts and actions, and given me a strong sense of identity and community. They have truly helped me define who I am. I pulled Simi Linton’s, Claming Disability, from the shelf and began to re-read it. It is a scholarly book, sometimes difficult to read, in particular for a slow reader like me; especially if it is not assigned reading. However, it is so worth wading in to. From the first page of the first chapter, Reassigning Meaning , it grabbed me. Someone Else’s Names Will Alwa... More About: Signing
Butt-Crack “Angel”
2007-12-24 18:59:00 Reading Penny Richard’s entry about Blue Christmas gatherings reminded me of a time when I needed help finding my joy. Many years ago, my husband was on strike with his union for six-months. We signed up for food stamps and sold furniture to pay the mortgage. Thoughts of Christmas presents were out of the question. Even though we had a tiny 900 square foot house, figuring out how to pay the utility bills kept us awake at night. Because he worked so little, we had to self-pay our health insurance out of threadbare pockets. We had our first child. I had to have emergency surgery after our baby’s birth. I thought the worst had finally happened when our baby started having seizures. Until then, my life was untested. I had a reasonably secure working class childhood. I had both my parents, a solid roof over my head, relative health, free public education, potable water, a neighborhood where I could stroll the streets at night, friends… In the grand scheme of things, this was sma... More About: Crack , Butt
Too Late for Nataline
2007-12-22 18:53:00 Nataline Sarkisyan was only 17. She had leukemia and recently received a bone marrow transplant from her brother. Complications from that transplant caused her liver to fail. She died December 21, 2007 at 6: PM. Our hearts break for the Sarkisyan family’s loss of their lovely daughter and sister. CIGNA Insurance Company initially denied Nataline Sarkisyan’s liver transplant surgery. Their justification: “it was too experimental.” The company finally agreed to pay for the surgery; eight days later after news of their initial decision became public; and just before Nataline died at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center. Clearly, it was a public relations decision, not a health care decision; way too little, way too late and for all the wrong reasons. Nataline’s death is another illustration of our morally corrupt for-profit health care system; and the lengths insurance companies will go to insure profitability. What is Experimental? According to... More About: Late
I’m in Love
2007-12-21 17:18:00 Forgive this indulgence. When I started writing Big Noise, I dedicated it to the battle for freedom, justice, and equality; but fighting is the furthest thing from my mind. I have fallen giddily, happily, deeply, and wildly in love. I am now a grandmother to beautiful baby, Sabine. She was born on December 19, 2007 at 10:17 PM.My daughter and her husband not only bestowed me the title of grandmother; but allowed me the privileged to present at the baby’s birth. I know you will believe me, being the objective, analytic researcher that I am, that no more beautiful a child, ever graced this planet.Mom, Dad, and the baby are all doing great! Mike and I? We are walking on air. (Photo Description: A picture of me, looking very tired, but happy. I am holding baby Sabine, who is swaddled up in a blanket with only her head and one tiny little hand escaping. She has lots of dark curly hair... just like her grandma).http://feeds.feedburner.com/bign oise More About: Love
Will Joe be Home for Christmas?
2007-12-18 20:07:00 I got a phone call at work. It's the kind that lingers long after you hang up the receiver. Maria Forest and her husband, Joe, were looking forward to retirement; until their world turned upside down. First, the company where he worked for 33 years, went belly-up a year after he retired; he lost his pension. Two years later, he got a diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). No one expects that; they were understandably shocked and insecure. He stayed at home for a while; then landed in the hospital because it was difficult to breathe. Hospital staff, 50-60 miles from their home, decided he needed to convalesce in a nursing home, close to his wife. Maria, not knowing what to expect, agreed. The man she left at the hospital was not the man she saw in the nursing home just 24 hours later. Joe, in one day, became despondent, weaker and his speech less intelligible. He begged to come home. Maria wanted to bring him home, but didn't know if she could care for him. Be... More About: Christmas , Home
Divided We Stand
2007-12-08 19:38:00 When did:We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.become:I, a person in the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Division, establish Prejudice, insure domestic paranoia, provide for world domination, promote the welfare of a few, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to the power elite and their posterity... do reject and pervert the Constitution of the United States of America.I understand that when the founders wrote preamble of Constitution, lots of folks were left out. We the people, excluded slaves, women, people with disabilities, peasants, illiterates; really all but white property owners.But there was, at the very least, the acknowledgment of a social contract between the people; a ... More About: Stand
The Willard Suitcases
2007-12-04 00:18:00 When Willard Psychiatric Center in New York's Finger Lakes closed in 1995, workers discovered hundreds of suitcases in the attic of the abandoned building. Many of them appeared untouched since their owners packed them decades earlier before entering the institution. The suitcases and their contents bear witness to the rich, complex lives their owners lived prior to being committed to Willard. They speak about aspirations, accomplishments, community connections, but also about loss and isolation... The suitcases and the life stories of the people who owned them raise questions that are difficult to confront. Why were these people committed to this institution, and why did so many stay for so long? How were they treated? What was it like to spend years... shut away from society that wanted to distance itself from people it considered insane. Why did most of these suitcase owners outlive their days at Willard? What about friends and families? Are the circumstance today bet... More About: Lard
Picture a Family
2007-12-02 22:36:00 When my girls were growing up, they had adult role models that identified their gender/sexual identity in many ways. Though I hate boxing them into categories, they were gay, straight, bisexual, butch, lipstick lesbians and more. When I had those birds and bees discussions with my children... we talked about birds and birds and bees and bees too. I also tried to teach them know that “family” is a very subjective term, that is best defined by the people in that particular family. We certainly did not fit the mythical family norm. I was a single mom of two, who adopted another child as a single parent. My birth childrens' father was active in their rearing, as were other surrogate males; my adoptive daughter knew her dad. We had different names, and we were a family. I moved away from my birth family when I married, but maintained a strong desire for family. I developed, a “family of choice.” My girls had nearby, aunts and uncles; to this day they continue to refer to t... More About: Family , Picture
No Short Cuts
2007-11-30 03:37:00 Thirty years ago this month, with two other mothers, I started a parent advocacy group… I ran into the kitchen to pick up the ringing phone. “I’m Mandy,” she shouted. For the next fifteen minutes I listened to her swear about every school district and bus official she ever contacted; but I did never learned why she was upset. I listened past her swearing and heard someone crying out for help. I thought that we should meet... some place public. A public place would help her self-control and maybe I could find out what the heck was going on. “Can we meet?” I asked. Ten minutes after we met at the diner, the manager asked us to leave. We spent the next two hours in my car; she screamed, cried, beat her fists against the dash and finally this young single mother got her story out. Mandy’s, then 4-year-old daughter Sarah, is deaf. She attended early childhood classes at a public school across town. Every day the little yellow bus picked her up and took her to schoo... More About: Short , Cuts
Voting Values
2007-11-18 20:16:00 Conservatives have usurped the idea of "values voting". The term itself has come to represent a conservative agenda. Republicans were willing to go down in flames in'60s and '70s terms of an election or two, in order to establish a new core, a new base of conservative principles. Nixon expanded the base with his southern strategy. They are still winning using the same principles today.About the same time, liberals and progressive stopped voting their values. We've become "pragmatists". Rather than looking for someone that represents our progressive, more equal-rights oriented values, we look for someone that is "winnable" and as a result, we're losing. I have grown to hate the question, "Is it (or he/she) winnable." Unless our goals are based on our views, hopes and values for the US and the world, we're going to continue to lose.The gap between the rich and the poor is widening. We're working more hours, with less worker protections under worsening conditions. Our planet is ... More About: Voting , Values
Who Should Represent People with Disabilities in Advertising?
2007-11-12 21:48:00 We have all heard the cliché, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question.” However, the title of this piece provides a pretty good argument against the often-used phrase. Why would there be any question about a person with a disability representing a person with a disability in an advertisement. Lest you have any doubt, let me ask these questions as a contrast:Who should represent African-Americans in ads? Who should represent women in ads? Who should represent Asian or Latino in ads? I cannot imagine anyone saying that the above minorities should have anyone other than members of their own community portraying them; not someone made up to look like them, or pretending to be them. Not today. Yet, we still see ads like this one that recently appeared in the Joliet Herald-News. Description of Graphic None of the people pictured have a disability in the picture. The guy with the white cane is sighted; the guy in the wheelchair and the one usin... More About: People , Advertising , Disabilities , Vert , Resent
Activism - The List
2007-11-08 21:17:00 A while back I started keeping a list... a list of acts of activism. I promised myself that when I hit 100 I would publish them. If I read about some act in the newspaper, I wrote it down. If I participated in an event, I added it to the list. Little by little it started to grow; and today, I hit 100. Activism is action on behalf of a cause, action that goes beyond what is conventional or routine. The action might be door-to-door canvassing, alternative radio, public meetings, rallies, or fasting. The cause might be women's rights, opposition to a factory, or world peace. The above quote is from, "Activism, Social and Political." It is published in Gary L. Anderson and Kathryn G. Herr (eds.), Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice. I like it because it speaks to going beyond what is routine. To be a good activist, we must get outside our normal routine. No one ever created change by sitting back and watching. I know there are more ways people can be activists. If you... More About: List , The List
A Tale of Two Teens: The Back Story
2007-11-07 00:56:00 After I published A Tale of Two Teens last week, my husband suggested I send a copy of it to ER. I decided to write the writer. It was the writer, after all, who set the stage, wrote the dialogue and decided to kill this fictional young man with a progressive neurological disability. So; I began researching "The Test", the episode that aired November 1, 2007. The writer, turns out, is also a doctor, a pediatrician, who practices part-time at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles California. ~public service announcement~ ATTENTION:Angeleno Parents! grab all your children,load them into the mini-vanand drive inland as fast as you can. Lisa Zwerling has made a small splash in Hollywood. She not only wrote "The Test"; she contributed many scripts for ER in the four years she worked for NBC. In a January 10, 2007 interview for the Oncology Times, Zwerling explains her philosophy of being a physician/writer, "We try to have the doctors on the show relate to patients the way we... More About: Story , Back
We don’t…
2007-11-03 14:57:00 We don’t torture.We use waterboarding as a conversational tool,An icebreaker, if you will.We don’t torture.So because we don’t torture,Waterboarding is not torture… if you are our enemy. We don’t discriminate.We have more because you have a problem.A personal failure, if you will.So because we don’t discriminate,You have to be inferior… if you are of color. We don’t kill.We assist people into the next world,A right-to-die issue, if you will.We don’t kill.So because we don’t kill,Assisted suicide is not killing…if you have a disability.http://feeds.feedburner.com/bi gnoise
A Tale of Two Teens
2007-11-02 22:31:00 Last night's ER episode had me so upset I could not sleep. Two of the main storylines dealt with suicidal children. One was a young woman who left a suicide note on the ER computer saying she was jumping under a train. A nurse found the note, ran to the station, tackled the girl, and saved her life. She was going to get the help she needed. The other storyline was about a 13-year-old boy with a progressive neuromuscular condition that required him to be put on a respirator. With his mother outside the room, he told the doctors he didn't want to be on the machine. The doctors lied to the mother, saying the respirator would blow out his lungs; so they could not comply with her wishes to put her son on the respirator. The nurse, who saved the young woman at the train, fights for the young man, "He can think, he can communicate. Kids make bad decisions when they are 13", she yells. The boy’s doctor lashed back at her, "Lying in bed... being hooked up to a ventilator..... More About: Teens , Tale
Disability Simulations Need to be Abolished
2007-10-25 17:14:00 My friend, Valerie Brew-Parrish is a terrific writer. She wrote this column that appeared today in the Joliet, IL newspaper, The Herald News, where she has a regular column. It's about Disability Awareness Day, which i guess is today. She graciously allowed me to publish it here. Thanks Val. Hey, Hey, Hey, it’s Disability Awareness Day! By golly, everyone gets a chance to see what it’s really like to have a disability. Yank out those blindfolds, grab cotton to stuff in your ears, and plop yourself in a wheelchair to navigate around an obstacle course. . .These are the words I wrote back in 1997. Nothing that I have published before or since will ever have the impact that my column for the Ragged Edge on disability simulations has had on humanity. I updated the column in 2004 once again for the same publication. Never in my wildest imaginings did I ever expect the overwhelming response I received from attacking disability simulations. Both columns have been translated into s... More About: Sabi
The Parenting Tightrope
2007-10-21 18:18:00 He said the most remarkable thing. He is Daniel Handler, who writes under the pseudonym, Lemony Snicket. He is the author of the 13-part “Series of Unfortunate Events,” tales that chronicle the lives of the Baudelaire orphans, Klaus, Violet, and Sunny. Snicket is their uncle and narrator of all the stories; he is a scoundrel who wants only to separate the children from their inheritance. As the tales begin, he encourages us to do something better with our time; surely we can do better than to sit and read the sad tale he is about to tell. The books are wildly popular. Paramount Pictures made several of the stories into an Academy Award winning movie, “Lemony Snicket and A Series of Unfortunate Events.” I was listening to someone interview Handler on public radio. The interviewer asked, “why orphans?” She wanted to know why children’s authors write so frequently about orphans. Handler responded, almost casually, “Because to do something extraordinary, one must be u... More About: Parenting , Rope , Pare
One More Time... for Katie
2007-10-11 19:18:00 Katie Thorpe is a young woman in the UK who has cerebral palsy. Her mother wants her uterus removed to save her the "pain of menstruation.” Many people have blogged about her in the last few weeks as the powers-that-be consider the request. I wanted to write about her too. But I had insecurities about it. Was there more to say? Did I have anything new to contribute to the discussion? A Kick in the Seat I received a forwarded email from a friend yesterday. The original email was a comment by a young woman with a disability who is the vice president of a national youth leadership group. She wondered aloud why so few people leave comments after the online blogs/position papers about Katie. Were there more people like me, I wondered, who feel unsure about their ability to add anything to the conversation? I've now decided that, if ever there was ever a story that needs repeated attention, that needs to be looked at from all angles, hashed and re-hashed again, it is this one. T... More About: Time , Katie
Deadly Double Standards
2007-10-09 15:07:00 I previously wrote about Dylan Walborn's death. He is a little boy with a disability whose parents starved him to death with the permission of medical ethicists. The Denver Post chronicled entire 23-day ordeal; a reporter and photographer came by frequently to keep a record of the event and snap a few pictures. Then the reporter wrote a long expose documenting every horrible day Dylan was denied food. The paper created two multimedia presentations and published pictures. The article really seemed to justify the parents' actions. The paper continues justify their decision to cover the story the way they did. Yet on September 1, 2007, the Denver Post wrote an editorial about another death by starvation of another child, Chandler Grafner by his guardians. Only now they are outraged by it: The gut-wrenching starvation death of 7-year-old Chandler Grafner needs to serve as a wakeup call to all schools, teachers and social service agencies in Colorado. The public agencies... More About: Standards , Double , Double Standards , Deadly
Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights
More articles from this author:2007-10-08 16:15:00 From now until October 13, 2007, straight people across the nation will "come out" as supporters of equal rights for the gay and lesbian community in America. All across the country straight folks will hold overnight vigils to show support for their gay and lesbian friends and neighbors. This is a chance for heterosexual men and women to show solidarity for the cause of justice for all. There are about 30 vigils planned around the US. To kick off the events yesterday in Atlanta, Isaac Farris Jr. -- nephew of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -- addressed the vigil supporters for equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered and questioning (LGBTQ) Americans. Tell your elected officials and local media, “equality is not a gay issue, not an urban elite issue, not an East Coast or a West Coast issue -- it's an American issue.” You can join this movement. Visit http://www.sevenstraightnights.org/ to find a vigil near you. In Illinois, my home state, Champaign is holding a ... More About: Rights , Equal , Equal Rights , Straight , TRAI 1, 2, 3 |
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