06/10/2025
Happy Pride Month! The Allen Foundation loves the creative use of art to challenge old bigotries! Check out the The Allen Book Award for college scholarships if you're a rising senior interested in LGBTQ+ issues and the arts!
Fixed it! Happy Pride y’all! (FYI: I grew up in a very homophobic town and despite recognizing racial prejudice around me I joined in with all the anti LGBTQ bigotry, slurs and prejudice. At 17 I got a job at the local Renaissance Faire and for the first time met folks who were openly gay. I was astounded to find that 1. That they were regular people and 2. That they were generally much cooler than most of the people in my town. The spell of prejudice and hate was broken. Years later a bandmate of mine who held strong anti gay opinions truck broke down in West Hollywood, unbeknownst to them right in front of a popular gay bar. Two dudes came out of the bar, fixed his truck and sent him on his way. When he reported this story later that day at rehearsal about the awesome fellas who helped him in his time of need, I said, um, that was a gay bar my friend and those dudes were definitely super GAY. I watched in real time as he shed his bigotry and hate as he marveled, “But they were like…PEOPLE! I had no idea gay guys could fix a truck. Sh*t!” Anyway, have a great month and if the above photo where a Confederate flag is replaced by a Pride flag triggers you, well there’s still hope for you. You have a happy month too.
