May 17th is International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia and, as such, I am participating in the Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia this year for the first time as an author rather than just a reader.

Homophobia Confuses Me
Homophobia: unreasoning fear of or antipathy toward homosexuals and homosexuality.

I don't think it's about fear, but more hatred that fuels homophobic people. Perhaps people fear what they do not understand, so their reaction is to go straight to hate, but from what I've seen there is merely close-mindedness. Homophobic people may say that they're only saying their nasty words out of love, out of a desire to save others or set them right, but there is little room in their heart for love. It's about bullying, plain and simple. If a man falls in love with another man, or a woman falls in love with another woman, what right does anyone have to say that is wrong? How can you hate on someone, much less someone you don't even know? To interfere in a stranger's life, to make them feel threatened or worthless, just because you have a hang-up over love? That's insane.

Transphobia: Because Hate Comes With Labels

Transphobia: an irrational fear of, and/or hostility towards, people who are transgender or who otherwise transgress traditional gender norms.

I am very much involved in raising awareness of transgender issues, both in my writing and in my life. The labels that society forces upon people, confining them into certain gender roles based on how they look or what body they were born into, is once again a case of strangers invading someone's life and telling them how to act and who they are supposed to be. Guess what? No one has that right. And hating someone because they don't fit into the labels you see fit to put upon them? Well, how about you don't try to put everyone in a neat little box? We are human beings, not toys produced in a factory somewhere. Everyone is different, and until society accepts that and learns that labels are the problem, then we're still going to have people who fear and hate that which they don't understand.

Turning The Tide
How can we change the long-standing homophobic and transphobic reactions in our society? Through education. Raising awareness about LGBT issues, reaching out and making ourselves available to answer questions and not judge, that is one step in the right direction. Love creates love and if one person can open their mind to understanding rather than hating, then that's one person closer to a society where people don't have to fear for their own safety just because they may not love the "right" person or be the "right" gender. If we believe it can happen, then there's no reason why it can't.

The Prize:
For the blog hop, I'm giving away a choice of two of my recent anthologies, both containing stories by the other me--K. Lynn (check out my site for other upcoming releases). The winner can get either a paperback copy of Don't Try This At Home (Dreamspinner Press) or Sudden Sex (Cleis Press).

What You Have To Do:
Leave a comment, either related to this post or your own experience with homophobia, along with your email address. I will be drawing the winner on May 28th and contacting you for mailing instructions, so be on the lookout!

If you want to see who else is participating in the hop, please visit the Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia blog.

(I'm posting this with Semagic, since LJ won't let me post directly. Boooooo!)

With the lovely chords of Carry On My Wayward Son, we were off into another season finale of Supernatural.

( Tears and fears, alwaysCollapse )

The long summer hiatus begins. And, when we return in October, the show is moving to Tuesdays...right back where it started. Interesting ;)

There have been two noted reviews for the GLBT Coffee Break Quickies anthology that mentioned my story specifically with good words :D

( Read Them!Collapse )

Also, I finally got a chance to watch Django Unchained this morning. At almost 3 hours long, it was a bit overwhelming to psyche myself up to watch it. What if I didn't like it? What if it dragged? Could I watch a 3 hour movie? (I had the same concerns with Watchmen, too.) And just like with Watchmen, my concerns were unfounded because the movie is fantastic! I loved seeing the random side actors (Don Johnson, Tom Wopat, and others), as well as the main actors (Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, and more). The writing was good, the action was steady, and the characters came alive. It's typical Tarantino, but I like his movies, so it was a great way to spend a Sunday morning.

I'm here! With a mini-review!

( You look familiar!Collapse )

While I did watch the latest SPN, I'm a bit sick and don't feel up to writing my normal mini-review just yet. Hopefully everything will be better tomorrow and I can concentrate :/

Short Thoughts:

Poor Sam.

Oh, Crowley!

The finale is going to be interesting.

More thoughts later :)

So, I had gotten a coupon code from Adagio a long, long time ago and never used it. But this morning I find out (somehow?) that the company makes fandom blends and now I'm eager to try one. I'm weak, I know :P Except, I can't decide! Are there any Adagio tea customers that have tried the fandom blends? Any you'd rec? I was looking through the SPN ones and I got it narrowed down to two, now it's up to six. Indecisive, that's me!

( What Do You Think?Collapse )

I can't decide!

Even before I got out of bed, I was working on my Fire...uh, accomplishing things :P

• Got hooked on the webcomic The Young Protectors, thanks to the_slash_pile. The graphics are amazing in this! And since I can't just pick up in the middle, I read the entire run so far (about a year's worth) this morning. I'll include the brief review from the comm: Kyle, or Red Hot, is a young superhero in the middle of coming out to the world. But as superhero-stories go, there are also super-villains making things difficult. Or are they...? The story is light and funny, the side characters are great and the update rate high (bonus pages appearing often, as viewers donate). I love it already! There's also an LJ RSS feed for it, which makes me happy.


• Also started playing the Iron Man 3 app on my Fire because it's Iron Man and it's free :P I have the other Iron Man app, so I thought this one would be along the same lines. No, no, this one has complex missions and high-level graphics and a lot of explosions. Kinda like the movie, huh?


• Got through three freelance edits jobs today (one more to go) and wrote up my SPN review for Fandomania (over 1000 words, whee!). I'm taking a break for the evening, relaxing and playing Words With Friends so that I can start fresh again tomorrow.


• Updated my K. Lynn website with new anthologies, new releases, and new covers. ( Look, pretty covers!Collapse )
  
  And I also have other new anthologies, without covers, that I don't think I announced signing on with?
  
  Never Say Never by Cleis Press
  
  Bondage Anthology by Cleis Press
  
  Cuddling anthology with Dreamspinner Press
  
  Best Gay Erotica 2014 with Cleis Press
  
  Very happy to see all these anthologies, and more, coming soon :) I'm trying to get the known releases listed with Amazon, to match my GoodReads listings, but they haven't been able to "verify" the upcoming ones yet because there's no table of contents. Soon, hopefully...soon.

A good movie and a good meal at Outback. I even wore my Iron Man socks because that's just how I roll. It was a wonderful afternoon all around :D

( Tony Stark: GeniusCollapse )

Happy times! Happy me! :)

Family drama on all levels tonight--in Heaven, in Hell, and on Earth alike. Such is the way of Supernatural.

( Sammy, You're Looking RoughCollapse )

Countdown to the end! I can't believe we've only got two more episodes to go.

Feels like I've been out of touch on LJ since my parents have been visiting. I'm here! Reading and commenting :) My collection of fanfic on the Kindle has dwindled again, so I'm reading through the backlog of books. Also looking forward to this weekend, when I can see Iron Man 3. Whee! I'm thinking I might go Friday afternoon, since there may be less of a crowd and it would free up the rest of the weekend for other things. We shall see.

Oh, and I picked up more Avengers-related items last weekend. Got Iron Man socks and Captain America socks at Target for $1 each (Captain America socks not pictured :P )



Fun times.