(Originally Published in the November 2012 Issue of Just Out Magazine)
“In the Trenches: The Closet Trip”
My partner and I took a trip to South Dakota this past summer to celebrate my grandfather’s 100th birthday. Before the trip began, we talked about how my extended family on my mother’s side had always been very accepting of me (and my gayness) in theory, but that I had never taken a man “home” and been around all of them while in relationship to test it out. Somewhere in me I knew that everything would be fine with all of them, just as it has been with my immediate family for years, so I didn’t think much more of it.
Almost immediately upon our plane landing in Rapid City, it was clear that we were not in Portland anymore. The woman at the rental car place made some snide comment about how only I could drive the car unless we were “married or domestic partners” which then made her laugh out loud. Imagine – two men married to each other? Ha!
By the time we arrived at the hotel we were exhausted and it was late. We chatted with my parents for a bit and then went to sleep. The next morning we woke up early and traveled to the Badlands, where we spent most of the day. The land was magical and our interaction with people was sparse. We hung out, took photos, and tried not to touch the very cute prairie dogs (which carry plague, come to find out).
We spent the weekend hanging out with all the people who have ever loved me in the world. It was really great for me to get to share them with the man I love, and him with them. My family all celebrated our relationship and welcomed him into the fold without batting an eyelash. It was extraordinary.
Family aside, I could tell some of the hotel staff and patrons were either afraid of my floral bike cap or the anal sex it implied, but Read the rest of this entry »
In response to the post on my site about my going to work full time for Q Center and how the only way to get my new record is by donating directly to the center I have been getting tons of emails asking not only what the hell I’m doing but why the hell I’m doing it. I responded to one such wall post on my Facebook music page and figured it made enough sense to post for the rest of you. Hopefully this explains it. If not, please feel free to hit me up directly. I’d love to chat with you further about Q Center and my involvement there anytime.
To begin with, my motivation is deeply personal. As an out queer person growing up in the Midwest in the 90’s there were no safe places for me to be myself. To me, that is what the Q Center is. It’s a place where ALL queer people can be themselves openly without the fear of judgment or danger. I recently became involved after some of my friends were gay bashed in Portland during the Rose Festival. If you care to read more about my history leading up to this point and what has been the primary motivator for this you can check out this blog post I wrote just after said bashings happened HERE.
Q Center is at the forefront of not only local change for the LGBTQ community, but statewide and national change. It is the only community center of its type in Oregon. I recently was particularly drawn to Kendall Clawson (the Executive Director of the center) after receiving THIS NOTE in a Q Center email. After I heard that I was like “This lady is doing exactly what I am wanting to do only instead of just being emotional and writing about her feelings (which is what I’ve been doing for the past 10 years) she follows it up with actually CHANGING things for our community at large.” I felt compelled to reach out to her to let her know where I was with wanting to change my everyday life and get involved with something I am passionate about and it all just kinda clicked.
I believe in Kendall’s cause and the work the center does. I’m raising money for them so I can come on board full time as assistant to the Director and office everyman from Sept. 1st – Jan. 1st, then see where we’re at with the whole thing. They need me there NOW, not in 4 months when the fiscal year ends. That is why I am raising this money. I figured I could either sell the record myself and put the money into the center or give people the opportunity to get involved with my next steps themselves, have a tax deduction, and get the new songs all at the same time. I could really use your help making this happen. Please share the following link with friends: https://loganlynnmusic.com/2010/08/savingtheworldonequeeratatime/ and, of course, donate whatever you can. The more money I raise for Q Center before September 1st the more people we can help. Let me know if you have any questions.
To participate in this fundraiser for Q Center and get my new, unreleased record for free CLICK HERE. For more information on Q Center CLICK HERE.
