A bit of Gay History: An argument for Pride Day

___________________________________________________________
A Child is Listening...

"Because of my own lack of knowledge, I became dependent upon
people in the Clergy. When the Clergy condemns a homosexual
person to Hell and eternal damnation, we, the congregation, echo
'Amen'. I deeply regret my lack of knowledge concerning gay and
lesbian people. Had I allowed myself to investigate what I now see
as Bible bigotry and diabolical dehumanizing slander against our
fellow human beings, I would not be looking back with regret for
having relinquished my ability to think and reason with other
people...people I trust for truth and guidance in my life and in the
life of our gay son.

"God did not heal or cure Bobby as he, our family and Clergy believed
He should. It is obvious to us now why He did not. God has never
been encumbered by His child's genetically-determined sexual
orientation. God is pleased that Bobby has a kind and loving heart.
In God's eyes, kindness and love are what life is about. I did not
know that each time I echoed 'Amen' to the eternal damnation,
referring to Bobby as sick, perverted and a danger to our children
that his spirit was broken until he could no longer rise above the
injustice of it all. Bobby ended his life at age twenty.

"It was not God's will that Bobby jump over the side of a freeway
overpass into the path of an eighteen-wheel truck, killing him
instantly. Bobby's death was the direct result of his parent's
ignorance and fear of the word gay.

"An injustice has been done not only to Bobby but to his family as
well. God knows it isn't right that Bobby is not here with loved ones.
Correct education about homosexuality would have prevented this
tragedy. There are no words to express the pain and emptiness
remaining in the hearts of Bobby's family members, relatives, and
friends. We miss Bobby's kind and gentle ways, his fun-loving spirit,
his laughter. Bobby's hopes and dreams should not have been taken
from him, but they were. We can't have Bobby back; if we could we
would say to him, as I say to all gay and lesbian people around the
world, these benevolent words of Leo Buscaglia:

' Love yourself -- accept yourself -- forgive yourself --
and be good to yourself, because without you the rest
of us are without a source of many wonderful things.'

"There are children like Bobby sitting in our congregations.
Unknown to you, they will be listening to your 'Amens' as they
silently cry out to God in their hearts. Their cries will go unnoticed
for they cannot be heard above your 'Amens'. Your fear and
ignorance of the word gay will soon silence their cries. Before you
echo 'Amen' in your home or place of worship, think and
remember...a child is listening."

Mary A. Griffith

Bobby Griffith lived June 24, 1963 - August 27, 1983

The Lesbian and Gay Public Awareness Project
PO Box 65603
Los Angeles, CA 90065
(213) 281-1946

Queer Spirit has been offered Pre Sale Options!

Queer Spirit has been given the option of Pre Sale discount on this show. Someone loves us!!

Sat, November 21st, 2009 8:00 PM (Doors open at: 7:00 PM)

Kathy Griffin

Presale Starts 6/10/09 10AM Password (REESE)

Abravanel Hall 123 West South Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84111 (801 355-2787)

All Ages. $35.00 Advance. $37.00 Day Of Show. Tickets available from ArtTix

Tickets also avail on the Floor at $50.00 advance, $2.00 Higher Day of Show. Tickets are available online at ArtTix.Org, at all ArtTix Ticket Office or by calling 801-355-ARTS

Pride Day Booth/T Shirt Sale

Queer Spirit will have a booth at PRIDE DAY June 6 & 7, 2009 in Salt Lake City. If you would like to volunteer some time at the booth please contact Jerry through the contact tab on the website.

These T Shirts are $20 each. we have large and x large. T Shirts, Tank Tops and Sleeveless shirts. Again, E mail Jerry at JerryBuie@mac.com

Pride Day Booth

HEY GUYS: By popular request we have raised money (sorta) and have rented a PRIDE DAY BOOTH (June 5-7, 2009) ... still looking for some ideas of what to do at the booth.

Kind of like QUEER SPIRIT'S Public Debut....... getting the word out about Queer Spirit has been a challenge but we are making ourselves known now. We have made about 10 poster images from different events, printed up plenty of items for the table and still contemplating a surprise here and there!

We would love for folks to volunteer time to be at the booth to answer questions, promote T Shirt sales, etc....

The T Shirts are either standard T shirts, Tanks or Sleeveless shirts. White with the Pride Counseling logo on the front and the website printed on the back. These are professional quality T shirts. You can pre-order your T SHIRTS by e mailing JERRYBUIE@MAC.COM ($20). WE WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE AS MANY T SHIRTS AS POSSIBLE AT PRIDE!

I should mention on May 16, 2009 from 11 to 2 p.m. at the HUNTSMAN CANCER INSTITUTE will be a GLBT Health Fair with over 35 booths set up for information on many diverse health care issues. QUEER SPIRIT will have a booth there as well....... our dress rehearsal.

Jerry

Clarity About Queer Spirit

Clarity about Queer Spirit: This is more detailed than this note will offer, but something to consider.

There are two misconceptions about Queer Spirit.

1. When John and I started Queer Spirit we saw this originally as a community service to the men in Utah. I think we both under estimated what need this Queer Spirit Movement would facilitate for men through out the country. We often offer day workshops or 2 hour workshops or talking circles. We certainly desire to see a "local" community come from these efforts of men who are connecting, sharing and expanding friendship circles. In fact I would love to see similar communities dot the globe, men consistently gathering, sharing and expanding the stories of who and what we are in humanity. I think we are both surprised at the national and even international circle that is developing from Queer Spirit. I personally have been invited to New Mexico, Bermuda, Oregon, New York to name a few places to facilitate and work with groups in the manner that we are doing here in UTAH. Its exciting to see communities embrace this process that we have started here in UTAH. My personal inspiration was Harry Hay who was one of the founders of the Radical Faeries, again, they dot the globe.

The invitation to participate in any of our events is extended to Everyone who is able to be here regardless of home base, we are all family! Faerie Scout Camp was a great success last year in part to our travelers from outside of UTAH and diverse as some Radical Faeries just happen to find us and added some wonderful color and diversity to our process. SO THIS IS NOT JUST A UTAH BASED/PARTICIPANT PROCESS. By all means if your coming to the retreat from out of town I would be glad to help you out with a place to stay before and after the retreat. Just let us know. At times when folks have joined us they are fed as well as they feed us with that perspective.


2. People keep asking about cost.

Again, we are not a business and this is NOT therapy. The retreat is actually the cost of lodging and food that we pay to the ranch. We run our funds through WHITE CRANE INSTITUTE, a 501 C-3, the fully support our vision and offer us great resources to deal with taxes and such. The ranch, in their support to our vision, offers the retreat at a very reduced cost. The MONTHLY GATHERINGS and HEART CIRCLES are free.

Just show up. Donations are appreciated and what we do get often goes towards scholarships or snacks for such events.

PERU is a cost, but this is to facilitate the trip and supports the Peruvian Shaman for his cost and staff. We would like to see money in reference to Queer Spirit not be an issue, most retreats have at least one or two people who come as a product of scholarships and love offerings from those who appreciate what we do. I fully embrace the ability to manifest exactly what is needed.

I hope this helps clears some of this up. My motto.... if you feel the call or need to be here, step up and let me know. If we can't do it, I will let you know, but typically we can find a way.

This Queer Spirit is my passion and I know John is equally invested. I see such potential in this work and to share this is a true pleasure. Some of you may understand what I am offering or can give better perspective on this than I have and I appreciate your thoughts here as well!

Jerry

"The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn't mean that God doesn't love heterosexuals. It's just that they need more supervision." ~Lynn Lavner

Oscar Speech Inspires Hope: Thank you Mr. Milk

"Oh my God. This was, um. This was not an easy film to make. First off, I have to thank Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg and all the real-life people who shared their stories with me. And, um, Gus Van Sant, Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco, and our entire cast, my producers, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, everyone at Groundswell and Focus, for taking on the challenge of telling this life-saving story. When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life, it gave me the hope to one day live my life openly as who I am and that maybe even I could fall in love and one day get married.

I want to thank my mom who has always loved me for who I am, even when there was pressure not to. But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches or by the government or by their families that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights, federally, across this great nation of ours. (Wild applause from the audience.) Thank you, thank you, and thank you God for giving us Harvey Milk." - Dustin Lance Black

I am Here Now!

"We live in an age of prophecy,
during which humanity has the opportunity to re-awaken
to timeless, inter-dependent relationship with the cosmos.
Without a doubt, we are here at this special time
to help fulfill an awesome and delicately orchestrated plan
to align Earth with the cosmos
and humanity with the universal heart.
We are here to awaken to the full potential
of being authentic, aware human beings.
It is time to drop your cosmic remote control,
get out of that visualization chair,
and get to work.
Spirit helps those who help themselves.
Spirit works right NOW . . .
not yesterday . . . not tomorrow.
Quit watching what is going on and take action.
Use your power to do something
about the imbalances in your world."
- The Star Elders
source: http://www.kachina.net/~alunajoy/solarwave2009.html

"You perceive love directly from everything, including yourself and other humans. Even when humans are sad or angry, behind these feelings you can see that they are also sending love.

Using your imagination and your new eyes of perception, I want you to see yourself living a new life, a new dream, a life where you don't need to justify your existence and you are free to be who you really are."

Copyright © 1997 by Miguel Angel Ruiz, M.D.

Informational Meeting for Queer Spirit Trip to PERU

Are you interested or curious about the 14 day trip to Peru?

Can I afford it?

What will we do?

Why this trip?

All great questions. FEBRUARY 8, 2009 (Sunday) at 6:00 p.m. we will discuss the trip and what you might expect by participating in this journey.

Location: 2084 East 6425 South Holladay UT

E mail RSVP to jerrybuie@mac.com

For those outside of Salt Lake City and interested in details please feel free to e mail and we will have a private discussion regarding the details/

Jerry

Are you there? Who are you?

Those of us connected to Queer Spirit are curious.... who are the readers of this blog? This website? Who is part of the movement of Queer Spirit? Of Queer Enlightenment? Tell us a bit about yourself.

Let us know what your looking for? What information could we post that would be helpful? Insightful? What brings you here? We would like to know what your thinking and how this website can best serve you.

We host monthly circles, quarterly retreats and camp outs, trips to Peru..... what are you looking for? We have envisioned that Queer Spirit is a community effort and so we seek your ideas and inputs. Thanks.

Simply reply in the comment section to this post and we will check frequently for your feedback.

Andes Trip Announced

Are you ready for a STUNNING LIFE? Check out the site for the next Queer Spirit journey in OCTOBER 2009. Click here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009

You know how you get those e mails with nice little thoughts? I got this a few days back and felt it was a powerful message for all of us. A great thought for the NEW YEAR! Let refine and define the essence of who we are with the power of our mind!

Jerry





BankAccount

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is
fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair
fashionably coifed and shaved perfectly, even though he
is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of
70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the
nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.
As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I
provided a visual description of his tiny room, including
the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.

I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old
having just been presented with a new puppy.
Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait."
"That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied.
Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time.
Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how
the furniture is arranged ... it's how I arrange my mind.
I already decided to love it.


"It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up.
I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed
recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that
no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for
the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes
open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories
I've stored away. Just for this time in my life.


Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from
what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to
deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!
Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. "I am
still depositing."

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.