Halloween Cometh

Hey everybody! It’s getting to be that time of year when the leaves start to fall and the air becomes chillier: it is autumn, and winter is fast approaching. This time of change is usually accompanied by changing weather, dramatic films for Oscar season, and my personal favorite holiday: Halloween. Of course, there’s also Thanksgiving, but that is for another post.
Today I want to focus on Halloween. It is my favorite because I love dressing up and using my creativity to create a fantastic costume. This year, a couple friends and I are taking inspiration from my favorite movie, Showgirls, and dressing up as the characters. We haven’t decided who we’re going to be (I’m on the fence between Zach, Nomi, or Al). Don’t worry; I’ll post pictures. We are also doing Trick or Treat So Kids Can Eat with our thespian troupe. It’s a charity where we trick or treat like children do, only collecting canned goods instead of candy.
Halloween is very popular with the LGBT community. We can shine, get away from our lives for one day, and become someone else. However, one has to careful partaking of the festivities. Any gay basher can easily target you on Halloween. Not only does most everything happen at night, but darkness allows them to lurk without detection, and they can easily disguise themselves. No one is going look the other way if they see a masked figure holding some sort of weapon.
Be careful, and travel in groups. I hate to condone violence, but you may want to keep pepper spray or a bat in your car, in case someone attacks. Make sure you have a cell phone to call for help, also. By no means should you feel scared or intimidated; go out and enjoy yourself.
Gays and lesbians are also targets of pranksters looking to create mischief and wreak havoc on property. It is important to not overreact (and potentially get charged for something yourself); just keep your eyes open. A well-lit yard should deter most, but some like to sit on the porch and keep an eye on things. On the other side, don’t do anything stupid yourself.
If you are attending a party, club, or other LGBT event, use the same precautions you would any other day, only heightened. Don’t drink if you’re underage, never go home with someone you don’t know if you’re under 18, and practice safe sex. This is especially true of attending haunted houses. In bigger cities, stories of rape, assault, and even homicide are connected to these attractions.
A lot of crazies come out (no pun intended) on the 31st, and you don’t want to be a victim. As LGBT, we already have enough to deal with. This one night of the year is a great time to unwind and get away from our troubles. Enjoy it, and don’t eat too much candy!

My First Post In A Long Time

Hey everyone! I know it’s been a couple months since I lasted posted anything on here. In fact, I think it was June or July. Regardless, I’ve been extremely busy transitioning into senior year, and simply haven’t had the time. In fact, I’m writing this from my creative writing class, and I’ve written a couple other blog posts that I never got around to putting on the site. This time, I’m forcing myself to post it. But instead of posting them all at once, I figured I write this new one and merely collate the numerous experiences I’ve had since my last post.
As I mentioned before, I just started my senior year of high school. It doesn’t really any different than any other year, expect for the numerous deadlines of scholarships, college class papers, and the tough new classes I’m taking. I couldn’t get senioritis if I tried; there’s too much to do. In addition to my library job (which I’ve held for over a year now; woot!) I recently joined the school Spirit Squad as the new mascot. I’ve wanted to do cheerleading since last year, but my job interfered with practice, and wasn’t possible. As the mascot, I only have to go to a few practices each season, so I can fulfill my dream of being on the Spirit Squad and work. I love mascoting; the young children make it so much fun. I’ve also gotten to know the cheerleaders, who are all very sweet girls. I’m might not be advancing in the ranks of popularity or getting the standard football player boyfriend, but I’m enjoying my position immensely.
Speaking of boyfriends, I have since had my first AND broken up with him. We met over Facebook, and began to talk online. Not long after, he asked me out over the phone and we were set to meet in person two weeks later at my school’s Homecoming game and go on to the dance. Alas, he broke up with me the night before, leaving me dateless. Apparently, his heart belonged to another guy. But it’s really not too big a deal. I had a feeling we weren’t compatible anyway, and I still had tons of fun at the dance (I ended up going with my girlfriend Chelsie, who was also recently jilted.) As I told my friends, I wasn’t heartbroken because he ended it, but pissed because I had no way of signing up another date before the next day.
As for life in general, things are pretty calm right now. I haven’t had any major beefs with homophobic classmates (yet) or anything of that nature. Apparently, there were hushed whisperers a couple weeks ago wondering if I was in the process of coming out (a process I completed in March,) but that’s about it. I still wish I would have taken a guy to Homecoming, but it just wasn’t in the cards.
I’m sorry I missed out on a post on National Coming Out Day, but hopefully I’ll get some stuff up for Gay History Month (it’s October.) Also, I plan to share my editorials from newspaper on here. This is goodbye for now, everybody. TTYL!