What's good Josh boros back again with another video man. So we got to check out 10 WWE wrestling moves that should replace a Finisher by WrestleMania. Yeah, I already know how I feel about some of these moves that certain wrestlers do that I feel like should be finishers and You see it on the thumbnail man Sami Zayn's Lula kick it's nice. I think it's a nice move But it's not better than the blue Thunderbomb and it was so great to see on Monday Night Raw this past week Him actually winning a match with the blue Thunderbomb, which is super super super rare I think the last time you want to match with it was against AJ Styles I think when you guys had sent me to send me the clip But that was years ago he barely at all rarely wins with that move Which I think it's just such a good devil. It looks good. It looks devastating You would think he would win with that. It's just a beautiful move all together But like I said the Lula kick is cool High impact looks devastating, but that blue Thunderbomb bro. It just gives that Final like when it's hit and you would think no one would be able to kick out of that So then check out some of these other wrestlers and their movesets that you you would probably think should be a finisher But it's not appreciate all love and support man Let's get right into there are certain moves that are incredibly impressive to look at but for whatever reason aren't chosen to be A wrestler's finishing move. Yeah, most of the moves on this list have been used as a signature move But when the move is examined closely It's hard to work out just why the move is remained as a signature move rather than be cemented as a legitimate finishing Join us now as WrestleMania looks at 10 incredible WWE moves that should have been finishers Be sure to subscribe and hit that notification bell for daily wrestling videos and follow us on Facebook for exclusively is also check out Our new channel WrestleMania shorts Number 10 Kane's diving clothesline Kane's moveset remained pretty straightforward during his WWE career But one move that the former WWE champion delivered always received a thunderous ovation Whenever Kane ascended up to the turnbuckle and executed a picture-perfect diving clothesline It always changed the pace of the match Kane used this particular move throughout his career and it would have been a smart alternative finisher Seeing a man of Kane size and stature fly off the turnbuckle with ease was such a sight to behold And it's a shame that the move is rarely discussed. Yeah His diving elbow drop at me personally, I don't know I would consider that as a good finishing move It's cool, but I prefer what he has now. So I don't know. I I think it's kind of in his case I think it's better what he has now or what he had compared to the diving clothes line That's in my opinion Whilst Elias has always been able to obtain a solid reaction from the crowd His finishing move has left a lot to be desired The drift away is basically just a swinging neck breaker And it fails to hit the mark when it comes to being a standout finisher in WWE Elias does have one move in his arsenal that is tremendously executed And has been compared to some of the all-time great variations of the move His top rope elbow drop is magnificent as Elias delivers it with grace and impact This without a doubt should have been Elias's finishing move as it would have ended up being one of the most celebrated finishers in all of WWE Even though people have done the elbow drop I think it would have fit his character more, you know to have that grace and style but that impact You know, I think the elbow drop would have been a perfect Perfect finishing move WWE Number eight Daniel Bryan's dragon suplex Of the dragon suplex is one of the most underrated variations of the suplex The move looks incredibly brutal as the opponent lands on the back of their head And the audible gas from the audience is a sign that the move is credible and legitimate Daniel Bryan perfected the move and it should have been an alternative finishing move for Bryan during his time in WWE His other moves such as the yes lock and the running knee were fine But adding this devastating move would have been a great choice The move is still used on WWE television today with the likes of Chad Gable and even William Regal's son Charlie Dempsey using it in NXT It'd be welcomed if a wrestler introduced this move as a finisher as it's a great move that should be given time in the spotlight I don't know about that especially for Daniel Bryan That running knee always a good setup like a good it would always get a like a good popping reaction Especially if depending on how they sold it and And also that the la belle lock was just always it looks brutal someone tapping out that way I think his move set is fine Of course having the dragon suplex is cool, you know in his repertoire But I don't think it should be like a finishing move It should be more of like a setup To to you know saying ending another opponent off number seven Cody Rhodes is Cody Cutter The crossroads is a great finishing move for Cody Rhodes But it says signature move that makes his move set extra special Cody Cutter is always delivered with exact precision and it's always receives a great reaction Oh, yeah It's a shame that Rhodes uses the move for transitional spots as it's good enough to be a finishing move This move could have easily been a secondary finisher for Rhodes And it would be a great way of elevating his matches because Rhodes could potentially hit the move out of nowhere Yeah, I'm I'm all with this being like a secondary finish finisher. It looks beautiful Every time he hits it the crowd gets activated. So I'm all for that being a A secondary finisher for sure Rhodes promoting the move to finisher status may also help sell a potential future feud with his former mentor Randy Orton. Yeah, he's used a former the Cutter as his finisher for 20 years So wwe could potentially tell a Cutter versus Cutter story which would make for compelling viewing I would be down for that Seth Rollins is Suplex Falcon hour combo One of the most celebrated wrestlers in wwe is Seth Rollins Rollins can have a great match with anyone up and down the card and over the years He's modified his move set to the point where he has one of if not the single strongest move sets in wwe Rollins is suplex and falcon arrow combination is without question one of his greatest moves And it's one of the most visually pleasing moves in all of wwe Rollins will perform a top rope suplex on his opponent before keeping hold of the front face lock and delivering a falcon arrow This move could easily be a new finisher for Rollins as it looks unbelievable and the crowd absolutely loves it If he hits that like that going for ah burn it It's like a double move and it's like a one move and Like uh two moves in one motion. That's what I was trying to say and it looks devastating I would definitely consider that as a potential finisher for sure for Seth Rollins The one thing that perhaps has held wwe and Rollins back when making this his default finisher is his work as a heel He's been a heel for the majority of his time in wwe and the move is a babyface-esque move So it would make a lack of sense for Rollins to use a move which receives crowd applause Nevertheless granted he can definitely do it now because he's a babyface during Rollins's time as a babyface This should definitely be a move that is turned into a finisher It'll be hard to find a fan of the former wwe champion that disagrees with this sentiment number five Roman Reigns is rough rider But whilst Roman Reigns's move set is often criticized for being generic There is one move that Reigns has delivered that should be considered his new finishing move for the head of the table During Reigns's acclaimed match with J.U.Surt 2020's clash of champions event Reigns delivered a move that was in essence a rough rider aka a leg hilarious This move received widespread praise as it looks fantastic And seeing someone of Reigns's size do a move of this nature was an impressive sight since 2020 Reigns is He doesn't really do it much. That's the crazy thing. I wouldn't have a problem with it But I we obviously know the spear punch You are mainly just a spear. That's just that's just his thing or the guillotine choke. That's his thing as well now But he rarely does that. I don't think he's done that this year He's also added a guillotine choke as a secondary finisher This was a great addition to his moveset and fans have reacted well to the move There's no reason why Reigns can't have three finishing moves And it would truly round out his villainous persona if he had three completely distinct moves as fans would never know How his matches were gonna end which would be nice before umaga's pop-up smo and drop a debuting on the WWE main roster in 2006 Umaga was instantly presented as a major player over the next few years Umaga crafted a legacy for being one of the greatest big men to ever lace up a pair of boots And it's no surprise that fans and fellow wrestlers continue to campaign to seem inducted into the wwe hall of fame Throughout his time using the omaga persona. He would use a devastating finisher known as a smo and spike That's always been split in relation to whether this was a good finisher But there is a universal agreement that one of umaga's signature moves should have been an additional finisher for the former ic champion Umaga's most notable signature move saw umaga pop his opponent into the air before bringing him down Crashing them into the map with a sinister looking smo and drop. This move looked insane And umaga could perform it on anyone There's an argument to be made that umaga's version of the smo and drop is one of the best variations of the move And it's a huge shame that it was never used as a full blown finisher for the smo and bulldozer gimmick number three sammy zane's blue thunderbomb The blue thunderbomb is arguably sammy zane's most popular move zane isn't exactly a super heavyweight So to see a master of spin out powerbomb on any opponent is an absolute joy It's been a common consensus amongst fans that blue thunderbomb should be zane's finisher But it looks like zane is happy with his finisher being the haloova kick interestingly in 2018 zane decided to experiment and switched his move set around As during a match with aj styles on smackdown zane would use the haloova kick followed by the blue thunderbomb to get the win Sadly, this was one of the few times in which zane has used this combination But hopefully one day zane begins that should be to set up the haloova kick straight into the blue thunderbomb Once you see him hit the luluv a kick go into the blue thunderbomb one two three Ah, please make it happen more often sammy he used the beloved blue thunderbomb as his default finisher number two john sena springboard stunner in 2015 john sena decided to introduce a brand new move into his arsenal for springboard stunner Sena was often criticized for having a limited move set So seeing sena be able to do something which was crazy Was well received. Yeah, it was sena's version of the move was in the smoothest thing in the world It stood out and it made fans appreciate sena for trying something new It was disappointing that the move wasn't used as a finisher as the a8 and the stf had grown stale as finisher The springboard stunner would have been a smart evolution of sena I get why Some would want that to be a potential finisher, but in my opinion john didn't really look that fluid doing it But I appreciate him trying it and adding a little bit of freshness to his matches Um, so I will not knock him for trying it. It just didn't look as fluid and it didn't look like, you know, it would be Um, I guess john's finisher or it'll be I think it would be nice as a Maybe it's kind of hard to be a setup move because john has to pretty much willingly just jump backwards and you know pretty much stun the person so I don't know I don't know. I mean personally, I probably wouldn't have made that his finisher But I am glad that he did add it to his move set at one point sena's in-ring style and number one baron corbin's Since his run in nxt, one thing that has been impressive about baron corbin is the sheer amount of Spectacular looking moves he's able to deliver his finisher the end of days is heavily protected and was only kicked out for the first time back at WrestleMania 38 Whilst the end of days is a great move corbin's signature move known as the deep six is considerably better Corbin performs a spinning back suplex with speed and it looks insanely credible This move while makes the move even more impressive is that it's notoriously safe And corbin modifies the move based on who he's wrestling This was seen during edge's return at the 2020 royal rumble He performed a deep six to the radar superstar as one of edge's first bumps in the match And corbin handled edge with extra care and precision But they have a folks tain incredible dump. You know what? I have to agree man Baron corbin's deep six could be a finisher I don't want him to get rid of end of days because end of days is beautiful One of the best looking finishers and one of the most protective finishers still in wwe only one person is kicked out of it That's true mac and tire. That's it. So honestly Even though they've been treating baron corbin like a complete bum He still has some of the best moves wrestling moveset in wwe Yeah, deep six that could definitely be a finisher I I'm okay with a wrestler having multiple finishers, you know, because then you don't know how the match is going to end It can end with a deep six. It can end with an end of days. It adds a little bit more um You know unpredictability on how the match where the match is going to end. Oh, we can end right here Oh, we can end right here. You don't know. So comment down below. Let me know some other wrestlers you feel like Um, some of the moves they that that they do their signature moves should be their finishers And do you agree with this list me personally? I think the list is uh pretty spot on baron corbin's deep six Definitely should be a finisher Um, sammy zanes blue thunderbomb. What are we talking about? Definitely should be a finisher, man So let me know down below any other wrestlers Certain, uh, some of their moves should be finishers or not I appreciate all the love. Ms. Boyd wrote 250k and I'm still the msp the youtube rest of the world Appreciate y'all kicking me seeing our next one


What is going on ladies and gentlemen and welcome back to Bitcoin daily? I am Jay and today we are going over the Fibonacci Fibonacci sequence and Fibonacci Retracement and how to use it when trading This is a very common tool that's used in technical analysis To find support and resistance levels So this will be something cool to learn and to incorporate into your technical analysis and trading I use this very often when looking for entries and stuff like that So I'm gonna show you guys how to use it how it works a little bit of history behind it and That's basically it All right, you guys just jump right into it How to use Fibonacci? So the first thing is who was Fibonacci? Fibonacci was an Italian mathematician from the Republic of Pisa Considered to be the most talented Western mathematician of the Middle Ages Fibonacci popularized the Hindu Arabic numeral system in the Western world primarily through his composition in 1202 of Liber Abachi or Book of calculation. He also introduced Europe to the sequence of Fibonacci numbers Which he used as an example in Liber Abachi So what are Fibonacci retracement levels in trading Fibonacci retracement is a method of Technical analysis for determining support and resistance levels. They are named after their use of the Fibonacci sequence Fibonacci retracement is based on the idea that markets will retrace a predictable portion of a move After which they will continue in the original direction Fibonacci retracement levels connect any two points that the trader views as relevant Typically a high point and a low point each level is associated with a percentage The percentage is how much of a prior move the price has retraced the percentage levels provided are Areas where the price could stall or reverse the Fibonacci retracement levels are 23.6 percent 38.2 percent 61.8 percent and 78.6 percent while not officially a Fibonacci ratio 50 percent is also used However, remember that these levels should not be relied on exclusively There is nothing to calculate when it comes to the Fibonacci retracement levels They are simply percentages of whatever price range is chosen However, the origin of the Fibonacci numbers is Fascinating they are based on something called the golden ratio Start a sequence of numbers with zero and one then keep adding the prior two numbers to get a number string like this The Fibonacci retracement levels are all derived from this number string After the sequence gets going dividing one number by the next yields 0.618 or 0.7.8 percent divide a number by the second number to its right and the result is 0.382 or 38.2 percent all the ratios except for 50 percent since it's not an official Fibonacci number are based on some mathematical calculation involving this number string interestingly the golden ratio of 0.618 or 1.618 is found in Sunflowers galaxy formations shells historical artifacts and architecture You can even find it on our dear president So what do Fibonacci retracement levels tell you Fibonacci retracement levels can be used to find entries Determine stop loss levels and set price targets. For example, let's take a look at this Bitcoin chart These green horizontal lines represent each Fibonacci level if we look on the left We will see the twenty three point six percent thirty eight point two percent fifty percent sixty one point eight percent and seventy eight point six percent levels You will notice that I started this at the low point and extended it to its highest point I've been using these Fibonacci levels to find support and resistance levels Which in return helps me find good risk reward grades Let's take a look at how the price has been responding and reacting at each of these price levels So we take a look over here This is where we started the move and then this was its highest peak So we take the Fibonacci retracement tool We started down here and we take it all the way up here to the ties peak Then we start looking for different areas of the retracement where we could find some support and resistance and plan our trades accordingly So as you can see here once it started taking taking off back down The price reacted at this first level which is twenty three point six percent So there was a lot of price action going on there before it violated that support Once it violated that support it dropped down and look at this look exactly where it bounced it bounced at the thirty eight point two percent zone so that made it the price go right back up and As as it hit the twenty three point six percent zone again We had a little bit more price action here You see how this was kind of indecisive it kind of bounced back and then we were able to Violate it and go up. So after breaking out though. This kind of was a fake break out It dropped her right back down we violated that price again So that's where you get the big red one, but we hit right here right at this thirty eight point two percent We bounced yet again. It moved back up a little bit once it opened on the next one the next day it we completely violated that and We just went all the way down So after a few days of bouncing you'll see the range that it's bouncing It's literally bouncing right in between two Fibonacci levels, right? So we're looking at the seventy eight point six percent and the sixty one point eight percent levels The this the Bitcoin was trading in this range So during this time me and my team we were taking trades in this range We're taking scalps were entering trades as close to ninety eight hundred as possible So anything in the ninety eight hundred zone we were buying up and then we're taking profits at the ten thousand So around ten thousand and ten thousand two hundred to three hundred we were is where we were taking profits Once it we reach this zone again, you'll see all this price action that started happening before a breakout occurred notice on the breakout we topped off at this Fibonacci level of fifty percent, which is also ten thousand seven seven So you'll see you saw some price action there and Then we broke out through that once we hit that breakout then notice the next resistance thirty eight point two percent again So we've met back up with this thirty eight point two percent that gave that served as a support on these in this side It served that support here and it served as a resistance and support here now since we're here again at This level it is now serving as a resistance, which is why we got rejected here And it took us right back down to this level of sixty one point eight percent So currently we're at the sixty one point eight percent and as you can see here The price has been holding here and bouncing back up prices currently at ten thousand five hundred So a good entry would be here at ten thousand around ten thousand four hundred That is around the price that you would want to enter and then your target would be around ten thousand eight hundred or Ten thousand seven sixty nine is the exact number But remember these are always zones. They are never exact numbers. They're just a zone. All right So if you look here the way I would set up my trade is I would enter at ten thousand four hundred I Would probably put a stop loss around fifty dollars to eight hundred dollars Away from where my entry price is so that gives me a stop of around probably ten thousand three hundred Or three dot ten thousand three hundred and fifty And then my target is gonna be right up here, which is around ten thousand eight hundred level So that is exactly how I would use the Fibonacci levels to plan out my trade Fibonacci levels also arise in other ways within technical analysis for example, they are prevalent in Gartley patterns and Elliot wave theory after a Significant price moving up or down these forms of technical analysis find that reversals tend to occur close to certain Fibonacci levels Fibonacci retracement levels are static prices that do not change unlike moving averages These levels are always a point of interest where some price action is expected either a reversal or a break Alrighty guys, I hope you guys enjoyed this video. I hope you got a lot out of it and you really It helped you really understand how Fibonacci works how the Fibonacci retracement tool works And how you can use it to your advantage to give yourself an edge when you're looking for a trade And that's pretty much it guys. That is a video for today Let's go ahead and move my face out the way so we can do the question of the day So as you guys know every video, we will have a random question about something in the video Question is always something random in a random area of the video find the question and find the answer Post your answer in the comments for a chance to win a three months membership to our trading room Winners will be picked randomly once the video receives over 30 likes this number changes as we grow good luck guys so question of the day is Which level in the Fibonacci retracement tool is not an official Fibonacci number. Alright guys, that is it. I appreciate you guys Appreciate the support. Make sure to please subscribe hit the follow button hit the like on all the videos And that's basically it man. We will see you guys tomorrow. I am out. Peace and love


Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Dr. John Gluckman from Six Wave Innovation. How are you today, John? Fantastic, Tracy. It's nice to be with you again. Thank you. Well, I'll tell you, I know this is going to put you on the spot, but you're one of the smartest people I know. We're going to talk today about Nanotech and COVID-19.  Is that correct? You got it. I play all those roles. Of course, speaking of roles, right now, you're so important. Anyone involved, front wave, anybody involved in COVID-19, treatment, defense, offense, you name it, and Six Wave is right in the game with COVID-19. Can you explain to our audience how you're involved and how you've taken your Nanotech and applied it to this challenge right now? We work in a nanotechnology space called molecular imprinted polymers. It's a unique way of gathering and identifying molecules down at their molecular level, at the individual molecule level. We've applied that in a number of areas, and we've figured out that we could definitely apply it here to the detection of viruses in general, and more specifically for COVID-19. So we're in the process, we're in our Phase II part of our development for a COVID-19 test that would be a completely synthetic test based on our molecular imprinted polymer technology. And of course, everybody out there, the supergeeks are going to love hearing more from you, Dr. Gluckman. However, some of the rest of us are going to appreciate this next question, which is, can you please dumb down what you just said and tell us how this, why a synthetic test, for instance, would have an advantage for testing for COVID-19? Yeah, so that's a great question. So there are two tests right now, and then I'll link it a little bit to the vaccines as well. So there are two types of tests that people have probably heard about and maybe even gotten. The one is a PCR test, and in that case, they're collecting the viral samples, but they have to break the virus apart and then look for RNA and DNA sequences of the virus, multiply that in equipment, like grow more of it in order to have enough of that that they can actually detect a signal. Well, that's a complicated test. You've got to collect the sample and send it to a laboratory to have that analyzed. And that can be a lengthy process as well as a costly process. The second type of rapid tests that we're all hearing about but not seeing a lot of are antigen tests. And essentially, they're also made up of biological materials. So in order to create them, you have to actually grow the virus. You have to infect animals. They grow an immune response to it, so they grow antibodies. Those antibodies then need to be harvested from the animals and then processed into these lateral flow tests or ELISA tests, which change color in the presence of the virus. Well, that genetic material is still there. We're still working with biological material, and that material then is fragile. So it can be affected by heat or cold. It breaks down over time, and of course, it's got a tremendous infrastructure to support growing all those pieces in order to produce that test. And we all know about the vaccines that have been announced recently and the challenges that they have because they're biological material again of needing deep freezer in order for transportation and distribution. The advantage of having a polymer do all of this is that we can essentially replicate all of the human biology about how to detect a virus by whole immune response. We can do that in plastic.  So what does that mean? It means that I don't have a complicated supply chain. I can do it at very low cost because, of course, I'm not sacrificing animals and all of these other things. I don't need to store it at low freezing levels because it's polymer. And then, of course, I can implement it in any number of different kinds of systems that we could actually use, like a mask or a breathalyzer or an air handling system. Because it's polymer, I don't have to worry about breakdown of biological material in my test. So from a cost perspective, a production perspective, a support perspective, this really, really is the next generation of where not just COVID-19 testing can go, but ongoing testing for influenza or venereal diseases and a host of other viruses. And so that's what our real goal here is. Let's meet this immediate need, but then a form that has longevity and expansion capability to be able to address larger viral detection requirements. So if I hear you correct, what you're providing is basically you're utilizing nanotech to create a synthetic test that is both more cost effective if I hear you correct. Is that? Absolutely. Perhaps simpler to use. You mentioned a breathalyzer. Is this one of the applications that Sixth Wave is currently entertaining? Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, what easier thing is there to do if you're going somewhere and then put a mask on, you breathe into it. There's no complexity there. I'm the same thing with the breathalyzer. So let's say you were going into work and you needed to have some kind of system where everybody could be checked regularly and they didn't want to wear a mask. Sure. Why not just breathe into a little tube for a few minutes and recollect lots of samples? You do advantage because we get to take multiple samples unlike a swab and that can actually significantly increase the sensitivity and reliability of our tests. Of course, I feel even guilty spending time having this interview with you when immediately I want to speed dial you as a colleague and say, how fast can you make this happen? Because many of us have endured COVID-19 tests with the nasal probe. And so I'm going to ask you the question you probably least enjoy, which is, how fast can you get this to market, John? Well, we're really trying to press as quickly as we can. We have some good progress happening in the chemistry. We expect that before the end of the year, if everything goes well, we ought to be able to have first articles of our polymer that are detecting and successfully isolating the COVID-19 and perhaps even influenza viruses. And then we'll start the procedures for productizing that. So we're already working with key Canadian infrastructures to set up manufacturing lines for this and ensure that we can move all this forward and that we're well connected with both the Canadian and U.S. government activities that would need to provide emergency use authorization. So we're trying to do all that concurrently and have something that we might be able to working for certification and distribution mid-year next year. Unfortunately, we just need to keep spending the time to do it. And we're looking for all of the ways that we can accelerate that for sure. So the rapid virus test kits that we're talking about and that are in reference in your on your website, for instance, these may potentially be to market for both COVID-19 and even influenza testing by mid next year. Is that correct? Yeah, if we keep if we keep pressing and things continue to move successfully, that's that's our goal. Well, speaking of that, I do I did read in one of your most recent news releases that you received funding from Nova Scotia COVID-19 Response Council. I am certain that this is exceedingly competitive to receive. Can you tell me what your competitive advantage was that they selected you over all the many competitors out there? Is it, you know, did they have an example of your IQ test to Dr. Gluckman or what exactly happened that allowed you to get to front of the line? Oh, Tracy. Well, you know, it's it's always hard to tell. But as I've discussed, you know, this particular approach to doing virus testing is really unique. And it does solve a number of issues that I think, you know, we've always been able to do some level of virus testing with these old procedures. But when you have a pandemic, it starts to identify the the holes, the pockets, the the yeah, we can't really scale this stuff up as quickly as we would like. And so as we started to communicate with government activities, including Nova Scotia government, we started educating them about what is the potential for using this synthetic architecture of molecular imprints. And they viewed this really as having the opportunity to to take the whole enterprise of virus testing to the next level. And I think while while we've been excited about the potential to have immediate impact or close to immediate impact on the COVID-19 problem, they recognize that the larger health problems of virus identification and having rapid and accurate testing could also be addressed with this procedure and this this this model of molecular imprinting. And so I think they were equally interested in the the ability for us to kind of revolutionize the whole the whole enterprise and make it more cost effective for Canadians, you know, broadly. Well, John, I want you to know that we want you to get back to work now and get this virus test ready for us as soon as possible. And for those of you out there, this is six wave innovation. You can find more information online on our site. Dr. Gluckman, thank you for joining us. Tracy Tracy, as always, thanks for having me. I really appreciate your time as well.


Hey guys, Shaber 1000 here. This next show you're about to see is nothing but bloopers, outtakes and funny moments So hopefully it'll lighten someone's day. Enjoy the clip Got some throttle. Let's see what happened. Well, I'm halfway there now. That's not good I don't know if you can see that but we've got the mailbox there and the street because we had a problem with her Okay guys Monkey and Bruno and I are going on this on this ferris wheel. It's a great All the hell with it.  Yep Say hello. Hello. That's weird very weird.  It wasn't responding. Nope It wasn't working Working I turned it off battery level low About three minutes left Back in The bad boy You're bad You're bad boy Who you growling at? Hey, buddy man messing with that one You better because of it bites us in our necks. We will be really big trouble Can make us sick. What if it gets Bruno or the cat? I think it's just a I don't know. I don't know what that is He's huge. Oh Come on Bruno. He's about the size He's bigger. Oh, he's a lot bigger than a pop can lid I'm not going to reach a pop can up there just to show it, but trust me guys.  I Got it in the straw. I got to kill it I'm gonna be in here Guys huge sicker now.  Thanks freakin huge. Am I okay?


You know I speak all the time and for this bizarre reason tonight. I'm incredibly nervous, which is somewhat unlike me I think maybe it's the sensation of talking about coming to San Francisco to speak about gay issues I just went to Newcastle and brought coals so I thought you know, maybe that's why I'm intimidated, but I Grew up in rural North Carolina and anybody who is from there will be unsurprised that I start my speech by telling me telling you Let me tell you a story Storytelling is a great tradition in my family who's lived in the mountains of Appalachia for 200 years and My story centers around an incident that happened to me about a year and a half ago at this time In August of 1995 in Merrimack, New Hampshire Thanks to the help of the traditional values coalition based in southern, California The local school board was taking control of by religious conservatives and they passed a policy which banned any program They had the intent or effect of promoting homosexuality as a positive lifestyle alternative if I recall the wording correctly and There were a lot of local people in Merrimack, New Hampshire who were outraged by this and at the night They were gonna pass this policy They asked me if I would come to New Hampshire to speak and I said sure and I got my little Nissan I drove up to New Hampshire and I got there and I was dressed much like I am today and I've discovered this is actually a great benefit to me Because for whatever reason when I go into those places the Christian coalition people think I'm one of them So This is helpful in some ways since my dad was a Baptist preacher and I was taught I memorized 25 Bible verses a night as a child My dad could actually recite the entire New Testament from memory Matthew through revelation And so anyway, I think they have this stereotype of gay activists, you know kind of how I would dress at school Which is not like this but actually wearing a leather jacket So but when I've always taught when you're speaking in public wear a jacket and tie So I was wearing my jacket and tie and I got to this meeting which was actually quite an education because it was packed with people on our side People in the town were really outraged at this policy Which came as a big surprise to me and the Christian coalition types were kind of traumatized and huddling into a corner And I started taking notes because I always like to take notes so I can remember things and they thought I was a reporter so they they came sort of like a large amoeba and surrounded me And they said are you a reporter and I thought well, I've got my chance. I said, well, I'm a writer Because my dad also taught me never lie so And they proceeded to spew all of their frustration with this hearing which was going very badly for them At me and I'm taking frantic notes and this I very interesting conversation with one of women in particular She was a single mom. She had a fourth grader and a second grader and I actually learned a lot from her She was very concerned about her children's future Would they get the education they needed to survive in the global economy? And it was very clear that she saw this whole debate and the whole issue of gay and lesbian Issues in schools as distracting the schools from doing what she wanted them to do Which was to ensure a good future for her children And so she finally reaches over and like grabs me by the lapels and yells in my face What does homosexuality have to do with education anyway? And I thought good question and So that's the theme for my talk tonight What does homosexuality have to do with education? Because if we can't answer that question in a way that this mom in New Hampshire who I contend is not our enemy But is our potential supporter if we can't answer that question in the way that she can understand We will not be successful in our effort to create schools that are safe for all students So that's kind of how I framed things tonight. What does homosexuality have to do with education anyway? Now there's several ways you could answer that question One is to simply let students speak for themselves Let me share with you one of the things one of my students wrote for me a Day in which the issue of sexual orientation is not mentioned or spoken about in school would be unusual Every day I am forced to listen to the unaccepting or ignorant people around me. There seems to be no escape Lately I've started to lose hope all together It feels like nothing I can do will make a difference if I confront the homophobia around me It takes up all my time and energy and I feel totally alone in doing it. I Hear homophobic comments all the time in my classes Sometimes I think teachers don't hear what goes on in their classrooms But other times I think they don't listen Maybe they don't listen to the offensive comments because the issue isn't important to them I think there is a difference when it's people like you who are being constantly slandered misunderstood and hated and I want teachers to remember that I can't block out the homophobia I hear it even when I don't want to listen. I hear it every day that I am in this school and it hurts a lot Now for many of us in the audience whether we're gay or I'm straight allies I didn't read anything to you that you didn't already know The fact the matter is is that for quite a long time School has been a literal place of torture for most gay and lesbian youth Sometimes it is physical torture a study just released in Seattle showed that 15% of gay youth in their school system have not only been attacked But attacked to the point where they required medical treatment by a doctor as a result of the attack 15% Of those kids have had to go to a doctor because of what's happened to them at school and Beyond that, I think there are the psychic wounds that are the greatest the invisibility The sitting there while according to one study we did in, Massachusetts you hear 97% 97% of the kids said they hear their peers use words like faggot or dyke on a regular basis Or as we found among second graders in Massachusetts the number two most commonly used insult among those children was that's so gay second graders seven and eight years old What does that do to the spirit of a young person many of us know Because we've experienced it ourselves Let me read you another piece of writing at 340 today Tracy called me and told me she had slashed her wrists and taken two bottles of pills Tracy's a brave young woman who has struggled to come to terms with her sexual orientation and has bravely taken the lead in raising Awareness on our campus as one of the heads of our gay straight alliance She said to me on the phone. I always thought when I reached the breaking point It would be some big thing that pushed me over the edge, but it's not Later at the hospital while waiting for her father to arrive from out of town She said to me what do I say when he asked me why I did it dad I just don't fit in with the world as Tracy convulsed in her hospital bed her stomach torn to bits by the pills she had taken I murmured I know I know and in fact I do know because yes just like you Tracy I took a hundred and forty aspirin one night in high school because I couldn't see a way out I couldn't see a future.  You get the message you get the point Tracy got the point at about 340 this afternoon Wonderful brave Tracy whom everybody thinks has it sewed together with her student leadership position and her 1420 on her SAT Yeah, Tracy got the point today. I wrote that and And what struck me as I sat next to Tracy in her hospital bed in 1991 was that it was exactly ten years almost to the day that I had tried to do the same thing to myself and The startling news that I bring for those of us in enclaves like San Francisco or New York where I live now is That in most American schools. It's no better than it was when you were there Whether that's 10 years ago 20 years ago 30 years ago 40 years ago and in fact in many schools in this city It's no better. I want to see history quit repeating itself Now in order to understand what homosexuality has to do with public education We have to go back and you'll excuse me You can take the history teacher out of the classroom, but you cannot take the classroom out of the history teacher and have a history lesson Now we can appeal to this woman that I met in New Hampshire on the sheer basis of Student welfare and say it's bad for the kids we could present the statistics the statistics on our side We can present the moving testimonies But I contend that these will not be effective because there are certain historical forces We have to first take into account in order to make an effective argument to this woman And the first historical force we have to take into account. I knew this was not gonna last I just can't stay at a podium for long The first historical force we have to take into account is why are there public schools in America? Where did they come from? Why do they exist? Public schools in America were started in the 1830s in Massachusetts by Horace Mann. It was called the common school movement Why was it called the common school movement for a couple of reasons first of all? Mr. Mann thought that making sure that every child had a chance to get an education was a fundamental element of democracy That an educated citizenry was a prerequisite for people's ability to govern themselves So therefore we had to have public schools to make sure everybody could get an education But secondly he called them the common school because he thought part of the mission of public education Was to bring together all the different kinds of people in the community So that they could learn to get along in a heterogeneous society It was really critical that people from different walks of life all went to school together that people were not Segregated into separate kinds of schools and this was about the whole idea behind public education in America as you're aware I'm sure was the first country in the world to set up free public education for all of its citizens Because we saw it as a fundamental element of democracy Everybody had to be able to learn everybody had to have access to education And everybody had to go to schools with different kinds of people so that they would learn from different kinds of people It's a fundamental building block of democracy Now with that argument that easily makes it apparent to people why we need to address homophobia Because it prevents people from getting an education it blocks equal opportunity to education But this argument is not enough for us either because we're still ignoring some more history The second lesson history teaches us is that whenever a minority group is making progress towards equality in Western culture The number one attack made on them is they're after your kids Go back in Western history think about the Middle Ages when Jews were supposedly killing Christian children and drinking their blood in the Passover Seder And how that was used to justify pogroms against Jews think about the American South where I grew up where? 1200 black men were lynched between 1900 and 1925 almost universally because they supposedly have been after little white girls Throughout history. This has been a very effective act of aggression against minorities. Why? Well, those of you who are pee-flag parents in the room don't need me to tell you this What's the number one concern of a parent is my child safe?  Because the third lesson of history is throughout gay and lesbian history The most effective attack on us in particular has been to claim that we are threats to children that we are child molesters That we are predatory etc.  I think a child's probably 500 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 more times like likely to be molested by one of their male family members than by a gay or lesbian person So it's not a question of facts. It's a question of what people have been taught throughout history. Let's go back 1950 and the becoming visible book I did I excerpted it the American Senate did its first report on gay and lesbian people Remember the McCarthy era and how gay people were supposedly giving away all our secrets to the Russians and stuff They conducted an investigation and they published a report called employment of homosexuals and other sex perverts by the federal government first ever published report 1950 you can't blame it on Jesse Helms So what does this report says is there's two reasons why you can't employ federal Homosexuals as federal employees number one Because they will give away all our secrets to the Russians because they're easily blackmailed and since they're homosexuals They have weak emotional constitutions and they will collapse quickly under interrogation perhaps a kind of truth um, but Secondly because they will convince younger federal employees to become homosexuals Okay, now not so long after that in 1977 remember Anita Bryant. She was not just for breakfast anymore She was for homophobia as we recall and she launched her save our children campaign in the late 70s You know which manifests itself in California, of course with the Briggs initiative And in 1994 when Lon Maybaum was launching his latest anti-gay referendum campaign in Oregon Guess what their slogan was? Protect our children Now what we learned here is a very fascinating lesson, which is the right wing does not believe in recycling paper and cans But they do recycle ideas very efficiently They have one big idea and it keeps coming back sort of like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park They just keep coming back with one simple idea now This is very devastating to us because we have this good mom in New Hampshire, right? Who's working hard to take care of her kids who's working hard to make sure their kids have opportunity in the future? Who's worried that her schools are not up to the job? She starts hearing from these large right-wing groups like traditional values coalition that these people are foisting a homosexual Agenda on her children that her children are some are going to be recruited into this dangerous lifestyle Where they're more prone to get AIDS where we're more prone to be beaten up all these awful things are going to happen What did we expect her to do? applaud She's going to be very very nervous and she's going to want to come to that board me. She's going to want to stop it Now how do we speak to her then? How do we find a way to talk to this woman so that she understands that homosexuals are not a threat to her children? Homophobia is the threat to her children Because if we can't help her understand that we won't be effective And if we can't know that history that she's coming in with all that baggage all that fear and all that Stereotyping all that misinformation that she's been fed that's being reinforced day after day after day through Videotapes like the gay agenda or direct male campaigns are all kinds of ways in which she's being told to be afraid How do we make her less afraid? This was the problem that we confronted in 1992 in Massachusetts when our governor William Weld appointed a commission on gay and lesbian youth And I was appointed to co-chair the education committee Which was charged with finding ways to change our schools to make them more accepting around gay and lesbian issues We knew this history Okay, we knew that we would have to somehow effectively address that history if we were going to somehow make changes I'll tell you the end of the story before I tell you what we did in 1993 Massachusetts passed a law making it the first state to ban anti-gay discrimination in its public schools It set up the first statewide program to address homophobia schools called safe schools for gay and lesbian students And as of an email I got yesterday out of 320 public high schools in Massachusetts 105 have gay straight alliances now one-third of all high schools in the state have a gay straight alliance student support program something worked So the question is what and I have kind of three lessons to offer to people from what we learned there That might be helpful as you think about it here, and I know that people working very hard here I've read about the lobby day and everything in Sacramento to replicate some of these Achievements in California, so I hope that these will be helpful to you as you're trying to do this The number one lesson we learned is you got to reframe the issue That if that a debate is basically one in the first ten seconds that if this becomes a debate over whether or not we molest children There's no way we can win that debate and always demonstrate this by asking a question. Don't think about chimpanzees What are you all thinking about? Chimpanzees, okay the longer we argue over whether or not we're child molesters. What's that mom? What's the image?  She's freaking out and That by the way is not the issue at hand So it's very important that we reframe it and we set the terms of the debate So the people understand what the issue is at hand So we thought a lot about the semestuces and we called our report making schools safe for gay and lesbian youth because we wanted to put the Issue in terms that people could relate to terms that they could understand No one's going to be a favor of child molesters being around their kids. Okay, and even if you know you win the debate There's always that lingering suspicion. No one's also going to be in favor of an unsafe school So we knew by framing it the way we did there are opponents would automatically be on the defensive Because and also the fact of the matter was they were in favor of unsafe schools They wanted what was going on in our schools to continue and kids to keep getting beaten up and kids to keep killing themselves They need to be called to task for that So they became the party of suicide and violence and we became the party of safe schools. Guess what? It's easy to win that election. So We found this was really important to do that it was more important almost what the question was being asked Then what the answer the question was that once we turn the question into do you want safe schools for your students?  We couldn't win So reframing is issue number one Lesson number two that I would offer is that we need to Reframe ourselves in a way that is universal and appeals to everyone Like I don't think I've said the word or may have said it once or twice the word homophobia much yet Because it's not a word I use very much anymore Because it's a word that a lot of people kind of shut down when they hear it So what's something universal that everybody believes in that is that fighting homophobia in schools is related to? Well, how about equal opportunity for everybody to get an education? How about children being safe from being harassed? By starting to talk in that language people like that mom who would never support fighting homophobia in schools Could suddenly hear what we were talking about and she could hear that and say that's something that I actually believe in That's something that I can support And I think it's a cardinal rule about using those universal principles. You got to meet people where they live You know, I think we've all heard the joke how many gay and lesbian activists it take to change a light bulb That's not funny the fact of the matter is is that if we continue to kind of harangue and berate that woman in New Hampshire, we're never going to win her over whereas in reality She should be on our side because she too wants to see schools that perform well for children She just doesn't understand that we are the ones who want that too not the religious right So use universal organized themes But also third we knew that we had to use universal organizing that it couldn't just be gay People who were speaking up around this it couldn't be just teachers It had to be gay and straight teacher and student community member and educator Republican and Democrat people of color and white So we were very careful We did our organizing to make sure that all of the community was represented because we knew of course as you know That a special rights agenda attack was one of the most effective ways to attack it What we're trying to do if it was gay teachers trying to force their sexuality on children It was dead in the water, but if we had all people in the community involved parents students teachers We kind of recreated the PTSD coalition in a way because we knew that that was really critical to help you people understand What we were about and that disarmed the ability of our opponents to portray us as some kind of special rights agenda But the fourth I think a most important thing that we have to do was to put a human face on it for these people because a lot of these people that we were dealing with Had a hard time imagining gay people at all, you know, and if they did they probably imagined uncle Arthur and bewitched or something like that You know that was about their consciousness level and certainly there were no gay kids Okay, there was just completely oxymoronic to there was no such thing as a gay youth So one of the things we did is we made sure that every senator in the state actually met with a gay student from their district and When those students would tell their stories about what happened to them Like one kid named mark from Belmont, Massachusetts who had been surrounded by a soccer team and had been spit on so much that his entire Jersey was dripping with spit off of it His senator who was a conservative Republican became one of the sponsors of the bill Or when another kid named Dan from Newton, Massachusetts talked about being shoved into a locker and having the locker locked and Left there for several periods by his peers because they knew he was gay That senator suddenly turned around Because it quit being an issue of the bogeyman the molester the frightening other and it became Someone they knew and when they went on to the floor of the Senate to vote if they voted against us They were voting against that kid and they couldn't bring themselves to do it because they knew it was wrong Three years before we passed this bill in Massachusetts. We had passed our first gay rights bill Virtually the same senators we passed that bill by a 21 to 19 vote We passed the gay and lesbian students rights bill by a 33 to 7 vote Because the senators understood it as an issue of welfare for the students They had personally sat down with and talked to and the most amazing thing about this was it was the students who made this happen 500 of them came to our state house and staged a rally and one of the senator's offices And said we're not leaving until you meet with us And they stayed there until said it sometimes into the evening until senators came out and I thought for me as a History teacher also thought it was a great lesson in democracy here were kids seeing that this was their government They could have an impact they could make a difference democracy actually could work and so if nothing else I thought it was the best civics lesson the kids in my school got much better than what they got my history class So I think those four lessons The issue of framing the issue appropriately using universal language when talking to people Organizing across lines of sexual orientation and race and politics and putting a human face on it We're what enabled us to be successful in Massachusetts and what enabled us to pass our law Now in the two years three years since we passed that law things have become very hot in this country around this issue You may have just seen the national school board's association study that was released They showed that 54 percent of all school board members in this country are religious conservatives 54 percent and you may also be aware that Ralph Reed the executive director of the Christian Coalition has set a goal of taking over 2,500 school boards in this country in the next two years Why are they doing this you might ask? Why do they're doing it for a very basic reason and it's two basic reasons one is if they can control what the next generation learns They can make sure homophobia goes on forever The next generation is what happens in our schools But secondly, it's a wedge issue those of you who are not educators are not involved with youth may think well This has nothing to do with me But if they can successfully demonize gay people as a threat to children, which is what this is all about Then it's not going to stop with preventing pro-gay programs in schools It's going to keep going because if someone's a threat to your children, you don't want them living next to you You don't want them working with you. You don't want them in your community This becomes the way to terrorize people And feed a whole new level of anti-gay backlash We saw Anita Bryant do that in the late 70s when we saw the massive repeal of gay rights ordinances around this country And they've learned that worked once and they will do it again So that's why they are putting all this emphasis on it and it puts us at an extreme Disadvantage because they are organized in every community in the country And also we sent our director of field services John Spear to their convention to study them and see what they were doing And we discovered one of the facts they've uncovered is that in the average school board election in America You only have to to win eight percent of all eligible voters to get elected Now I will tell you a fact eight percent of every community in America is crazy So they don't need to win everybody They just have to get eight percent of crazy people out there and they're in control of your school board and The control of your school board leads to much larger things think of school boards They're the farm team for the majors there were the future legislative candidates the future gubernatorial candidates the future presidential candidates get their start So I think this is a very dangerous threat to the gay community that in a lot of ways It's hard for us to see because it's kind of flying underneath our radar Because a lot of gay people have no connection with schools and would never think of going to a school board meeting or even turning out For a school board election. Why should I I don't have kids in schools and a lot of our straight allies don't either So here they are making their wedge issue in starting to demonize us Starting to control what happens in the schools and we're not even aware it happens sometimes until it's too late We can win this remember Merrimack, New Hampshire remember that mom Last May that school board was turned out of office and what was basically a referendum on the gay policy. They had passed Why because our chapter in New Hampshire went back to the issue of history They started talking to people about what public schools were for About the fact that every kid has a right to go to school and not be harassed and not be attacked and not be made fun of and not Be made to feel like they don't belong and The good people of New Hampshire, which in New England is nicknamed the Mississippi of the north the good people of New Hampshire Live free or die The good people of New Hampshire turn those folks out of office because they realize that the values They put on their license plate live free or die were the values that we were standing for not these folks Who wanted you basically to live their way or die? That's what we have to start talking to middle America about They have to start understanding that the values that the kids pledge allegiance to in school Remember liberty and justice for all are the values that we stand for now. I think that on a more personal level We have to think about what happens for kids if we can achieve our work And I'll share with you two things that I've Received this is a letter I got from a lady named Emily Ladner in Bel Air, Texas Dear glisten We're sending you a check because our son was tormented throughout his school years and often blamed by teachers and principals for Inviting this mistreatment His tormentors were never punished We hope you can change the atmosphere in our schools I think a lot. I actually literally do carry this letter with me. You can see by how worn out it is The first reason why we have to win this fight is because somewhere out there today in Bel Air, Texas or Louisville, North Carolina Where I grew up or maybe in San Francisco, California There was a kid at school today who went to school Thinking he belonged maybe thinking he had friends Thinking that this was his school Who was called faggot Who is spit upon Who is beaten who started learning a lesson early on in his school life Which is that pledge we make kids say in school equal justice for all is a lie We don't mean it but there are all kinds of exceptions to it and that for him or for that young lesbian There's the gay exemption And they start losing their faith in this nation They start losing their faith in the ideals that they're being taught in school And this reminds me of something I read in the book I dream a world portraits of black women who changed America. You've seen this book There's a wonderful interview with a lady who has been teaching Kindergarten in South Carolina for about 65 years. She's in her 80s and their interviewer asks her when is the worst period you've lived through She said oh today And she said and she says and the interview says how can you say that you live through segregation? You live through lynchings, etc. She said because today what I see among young people is A belief that nothing can ever change that things can never get better And I will tell you what nothing is sadder than a cynical young person because they've gone from knowing nothing to believing in nothing How can we I thought often about this when I was teaching? I would look at my students I would look at the students who were gay. I would look at the students who were female And I would look the students who were students of color. I look at all kinds of kids and I would think How sad it is for these kids To know that there's a limit to what they get in life in this country That they've been told that they'll get everything, but we don't really mean it How sad it is for them to learn from an early age that adults don't tell the truth. I Want to start telling the truth in this country.  I always thought gay people were the only ones who came out of the closet And um A few years ago when I was on sabbatical I had a student we had a tradition at my school of chapel talks Where students got to give up and give a 15 minute talk to the entire school their senior year These were completely uncensored and unpreviewed talks And which is quite nerve-racking for us teachers But also it was a wonderful event because the students really owned the space they got to say What they really thought what they really felt and that was very important to them And they looked forward to it for years and I was on sabbatical And I had given one a couple of years before In which I talked about growing up gay and what that was like because teachers gave them sometimes too And I got this uh, I got this from a girl I'd had in class with a little note attached saying uh, dear kevin I miss you. You're on sabbatical this year. I I thought you'd want to read my chapel And my first thought was one an arrogant little kid. Um, you know, she just assumes everybody wants to read her chapel And um I uh later felt somewhat ashamed when I actually read what she had written It's kind of lengthy, but I want to read it to you because I think it speaks to the larger Agenda since we'll use the right wing word that we're trying to accomplish through our work I look back on my elementary school years and I feel a certain amount of longing for the little girl that was me She knew she was smart. She knew she was beautiful and nobody was going to tell her different She had changed by the time she was 10 or so She had stopped believing she had talent or brains or worth by the time I entered fourth grade I hated being a girl. Why shouldn't I?  I blamed my sex After all he couldn't have done these things to me if I wasn't a girl I started having regular nightmares about rape and being raped when I was 12 years old If I wasn't born a girl I thought I would be immune if I did not possess this anatomical vulnerability. I would be free Men and boys were my enemy and at the same time they were the yardstick against which I measured my worth as a human being I hated boys who only wanted to be my friend because of the way I looked but at the same time I desperately wanted them to like me My appearance was what was important to people and as much as I hated it. I was convinced it was true I was told I was pretty or skinny by total strangers, but nobody seemed to notice the things I worked to be good at People especially boys liked me because of the way I looked and naturally I wanted to be liked So looking good or looking right became more important than anything and in my world this meant staying thin I can remember staring at the reflection of my naked 11 year old child's body and feeling that I wanted to die Overwhelmed ashamed and disgusted fat fat fat me I began to grow terrified that I would gain weight and lose my value in the eyes of my parents my teachers and the boys I wanted to please so one sunny morning in april. I bought my first package of diet pills in the conquered cvs Some women I know can and do lose 10 pounds in one week But I found it impossible to stop eating altogether So I took triple doses of diet pills and went to class shaking too hard to take notes Fasting got harder and harder and when I gave in an eight I hated myself for being weak for being out of control It didn't take me long to find the solution One two as many as seven times a day. I would carefully tie my hair back and purge When my stomach was comfortably void I washed my face brushed my teeth and continued on with my day for close to two years Nobody knew what was happening. I was good at hiding the truth My parents my sisters and my friends were all oblivious to what was going on often in the next room My throat swelled up. I stopped getting my period. My hair began to fall out. I was a mess Then last year kevin jennings gave a chapel that changed my life He talked about courage and about strength He said that while it takes a certain amount of strength to force oneself to do what society demands to conform to someone else's ideals It takes far more to be what you want to be true to who you are on the inside That has stuck with me throughout my struggle to change my definition of strength and courage I used to pride myself on my control and willpower. I used to congratulate myself on every pound shed to me That was real strength What I have since realized is that what I was really doing was giving power back to people who deserved at least Every time I stepped with trepidation onto the scale I supported the english teacher who told me I was too pretty to be smart Every time I had a diet pill for breakfast. I agreed with my dad that yes indeed I could stand to lose a couple of pounds Every time I purged I let the man who abused me tell me yet again that my body was not mine But his and with this chapel.  I take pride in my body now I used to wonder what I would have to live for without my slim appearance Now I can't believe how much more I can do and feel and enjoy when I don't have to worry about constantly getting rid of my lunch I wasted four years hating myself because of the body. I was born with and I don't deserve to be hated None of us do People have asked me what my chapel will be about and now that it is done. I think I can answer them It is about growing up female about the pain of believing you are worthless and the joy of discovering You were wrong As you must imagine, I was completely blown away to get this in the mail And read it And it also left me with a very important lesson that we often don't know as teachers the impact we're having for years to come In the lessons we teach And it's also struck by the fact that biz was an exceptionally smart young woman because she somehow figured out that my real game plan And coming out as a gay man was to be a role model for heterosexual bulimic girls And um, you know, if you think about it, she and I have nothing in common, right?  Okay On those traditional demographics, we don't match up So why did biz see me as her role model in this, uh, world of you know, where we're all being put in our own little separate boxes She should have not been able to see me Well that same week I had a conversation with my mom which taught me a couple lessons the number one to help me understand business Talk and number two it reminded me of a very basic premise that I think we have to move upon Which is that we have to move as we approach that mom in new hampshire Under the assumption that everybody can learn Our schools have to be places where everybody can learn and we also have to approach Even our political opponents with the belief that they can learn We must never sink to their level and think they're incapable of learning Now my mom is one of those people who you would say could never learn Let me give the official the unofficial, uh, family biography for kevin jennings I grew up in lewisville, north carolina, which is a tobacco farming community about a thousand people My dad was a southern baptist evangelist My parents were fairly well known traveling gospel singers in the south in the 60s My uncle fred was grand regal of the klu Klux Klan in the state of north carolina My older brother might work for a senator you might have heard of called jesse helms So, um, I I know bigotry um Now my mom has a sixth grade education. She grew up in apple age during the depression She's the oldest of 11 children her father thought that once a girl had learned to read write and figure She'd had enough education So he made my mother drop out of school when she was nine years old And go to work picking cotton and tobacco in the fields of local sharecroppers to support her 11 younger brothers and sisters My mother then went on, um, she married at age 17 Uh, which may seem young to you, but you have to remember that my grandmother married at age 11 had her first child when she was 13 Um, and that by the time she was 17 she already had three children my mother married at, um, 17 Without much formal education Um, and my father died when I was eight and my mother then supported five children working at mcdonald's Imagine supporting five children working at mcdonald's Um, she thought jews had horns until she was 16 years old a common belief in appalachia in the early 20th century When my older brother allen married an african-american woman in 1971 she didn't speak to him for four years She did improve over time in 1980 when I came out. She didn't speak to me for three years so Here's my mom the woman who is the stereotype of the person who can't change The woman who founded the first chapter of parents and friends of lesbians and gays p flag in the state of north carolina Now I want you to remember also another phrase which is that change is a process not an event It's not like things happen all at once my mom founded the chapter of p flag in 1988 But you know I was a little nervous as 1994 I was going to be on a A daylight mbc as first time I never done national television I thought I better warn mom this is coming because it's one thing to be in your little p flag chapters Another thing to have your homosexual son on national television So that everybody and wins this animal know miss jen and son's a homosexual So I called a warm mom and my mother just been diagnosed with uh emphysema and been put on oxygen 24 hours a day And I I told her this show was going to be on the next night at 10 o'clock and there was this long silence at the other To the phone. I thought I killed her Um, and she finally comes back on she says to me now kevin I understand this is real important to you But do you have to be quite so public about this? And I said to her what uh, all the p flag moms audience maybe we'll be able to relate to this I said to her the words I think every uh, dr. Spock raised mom dreads dear. I said, yes mom.  Do you remember when I was little and we used to go to robin hood road Baptist church every sunday morning and sunday evening and to wednesday night prayer meeting Where my dad was the minister when I was a little boy my dad would harp on the ten commandments now shout not lie And whenever I was a little mom when I got in trouble you'd always set me down you'd say remember kevin Whatever it is the truth shall set you free Well, guess what mom? You turned out to be right And it was that conversation with my mother that helped me understand Why biz saw me as her role model? Because I had told the truth And it had set me free So she told her truth and it set her free that's glistens agenda in a word Let's tell the truth Right now our schools play don't ask don't tell on a lot of issues And only one of them Are gay and lesbian issues We play don't ask don't tell for the young girls who are throwing up at lunch because they don't look the way perfect little california girls are supposed to look We play don't ask don't tell for kids who don't have enough money to afford the right kinds of clothes To fit in with their peers For the kids who don't have the same abilities as their peers for the kids who don't have as much Disposable income as their peers for the kids who've been sexually abused the kids who are alcoholics the kids whose parents have alcoholics We play don't ask don't tell on a lot of places and we put a lot of kids in closets And since I rent a pay about thousand dollars a month to rent one in new york city I can tell you that living in a closet is not a particularly pleasant experience I think that what we have to do in our schools is wipe out all the closets Because you can't just tell one truth Truth has this way of spreading when I told my truth suddenly biz told hers And I found students of color started getting up at chapel and telling their truths and all kinds of kids suddenly felt freer And didn't we establish schools in this country to teach the lesson of freedom? Can we teach the lesson of freedom when we tell so many people you must lie? You must not tell the truth I don't think we can And I also think that people can't learn when they don't get the opportunity to do so I'm lucky that my mother was a willing learner Um and this spring I was invited back to Winston Salem, North Carolina my hometown where they were having their first ever gay pride parade And uh by Winston Salem standards. I'm what passes for a famous homosexual So they asked me to uh come back and speak at it because I guess the most famous homosexual ever came from Winston Salem Which is not saying much But in any case I came home for the speech And uh I had to call my mom a warner ahead of time this time because they were going to do a front page article And the newspaper and I thought well, you know people miss the Dayline NBC thing. They're surely going to see this so I called mama And um, it was uh in march. I remember and um, I was very nervous this time to tell her that I was coming I was very nervous about how she replied and about halfway through the conversation my mom said neck heaven I've been reading about this march and I figured you was coming. So I've already made plans to march with you Now the story gets even better. Um Now When the article came out about a week before uh pride, um, I got paged by my brother who used to work for jesse helms Now my brother and I have a very cordial relationship We are southern family. If you haven't got anything nice to say, you don't say anything at all So, uh, we never talk. Um Except when my mother is sick the last time my brother had called me was about a year and a half ago My mother had a stroke and he found her on the floor of her apartment And the pager went off and I saw his number and I can't even begin. I mean I get choked up every time remember I remember thinking oh my god This can't happen Not a week before I come home to march with my mother and my city's first ever gay pride breaks I thought my mother's dead It was all I could think and I left this restaurant in New York and I ran down the street I remember running four blocks before I could find a payphone and I call my brother up and I'm like Mickey what's going on and he said well I'm very angry at you that pay that newspaper article came out today and I was like oh Jesus Christ um You know on the one level i'm relieved because mom's not dead and on another level i'm annoyed because why is he like pulling me out Okay, and I said well mike. What's the problem here? I said I didn't use your name. He said that's exactly the problem I said what do you mean when they interviewed me? They said do you have any family still? What's the Salem and I said yeah, my mom still lives there, but I have a brother who lives there My mom said I could use her name And my brother I said well, I don't really think he'd want his name in the paper and that's how they'd printed it and he said I've not seen the article at this point bear in mind So he reads this to me and I'm thinking well I didn't think you would want to see your name in the paper. What's the problem here? And he said well reading this one would think that I was ashamed of my brother And I said yeah Um And he said well, I want you to know that last week at church now My brother goes to Calvary Baptist church in Winston Salem This is one of those churches where they have about 4 000 people every sunday It's where the christian coalition actually meets in Winston Salem And if you're in a Baptist service, you know that there's a period for witnessing at the end of the service when being There's the congregation who stand up and witness to the whole congregation So my brother tells me it turns out that the preacher in his church is the one who's organizing the counter protest against the gay pride march And I just finished this sermon denouncing gays as perverts and bad people and stuff And he called for people to witness and my brother went to the microphone and said I want you all to know that my brother is the speaker at that march And I think it would be a sin if you went out and harass those people Now this is my jesse helms brother Now remember change is a process not an event. I have a bad ending for the story Mike voted for jesse in november Um Because you have to remember that learning is a slow and difficult process Remember taking french or whatever you took in school. He didn't learn all the first day. Now did you? Takes a while And for our nation to learn about this issue, it's probably going to take a while just like it took my mother about 15 years It may take my brother longer. He is a slow learner um But he seems to be moving He seems to be moving and um On that day in um june and winston-salem when it was 90 some degrees and my mother came out with her portable oxygen tank And walked down the street in 91 degree heat and you can guess the humidity in winston-salem I thought if my mother can come this far Surely the schools of our country Can come this far Right before he was shot martin Luther king gave a speech in which he said someday children will learn words whose meanings they do Not understand Children in india will ask. What is hunger? Children in herosima will ask. What is an atomic bomb? And children in alabama will ask. What is segregation? And we will say to them. These are words that no longer have meaning. That is why we have removed them from the dictionary I've lived long enough to see that martin luther king was right We're hardly over racism in this country But the winston-salem i grew up in and the winston-salem that exists today are very different places In 1971 when our schools were integrated my mother was the only white mother in our town to put her children on the bus We were instructed by the bus driver to lay on the floor of the bus because the windows were being shot out Across the city by members of the kkk who were wielding sawed-off shotguns That night my mother about my mom's about five one. She weighs maybe a hundred pounds Walked across the street to her brother's house Her brother the grand cleagle of the kkk in the state of north carolina And said to him that if anyone he's about six foot four by the way weighed about 220 Said to him that if any child in winston-salem was harmed the next day She would make sure he wished he had never been born Now i'll never know why But there wasn't another single shot at a bus in winston-salem the rest of that school year Now I went through school and white children sat on one side of the classroom and black children sat on the other and we never spoke When I was home in 1996 for my first gay pride parade I was talking to my niece who's 13 Who boards these buses every day and goes to school in the south?  Um So my brother and I ended up getting in this shouting match about the employment non-discrimination act Uh, and how important it was to pass and he was just like well, you're already protected by the constitution You don't need special rights In the middle of this debate, this is the day after I've told my niece about the segregation thing My niece looks up and she says People who are gay can get fired from their job I think that's ridiculous 13 years old Winston Salem, North Carolina.  They won't understand Hopefully homophobia is something they will have to learn about Because they saw it in a historical documentary What's going to make that happen?  I want you to tell them what homophobia does to young people I want you to tell them that you went to that school and you saw it firsthand And I want you to tell them it's got to stop And you're willing to help make it stop Because the reason why it continues is because far across this country.  I don't and I don't plan to So I've changed my notion of what parenthood is I hope every gay and lesbian person in the audience will start thinking of every gay and lesbian kid out there as their biological child And they will go out and fight for those kids just as hard as we would as if we ourselves had given birth to them Because there's a whole generation of kids out there who deserve good parents And we may be the ones who have to provide that support Because that's the future Thank you Thanks for joining us with glisten founder kevin jennings Watch for other p flag talks shows featuring historian jonathan ned cats And avan wilson director of the marriage project of the lambda legal defense and education fund You can purchase a videocassette of this and others in the p flag talks series by sending a check for 25 dollars to media production San Francisco public library civic center san francisco california 94102