Thursday, May 17, 2012

Hop Against Homophobia



Hello to everyone and welcome to the Hop Against Homophobia. This the first time I’ve written a blog posting like this and I really didn’t know what I should discuss. Over 250 authors are participating in this hop and you’ll probably read a variety of postings. I just hope my can compare.


ho·mo·pho·bia noun \ˌhō-mə-ˈfō-bē-ə\
Definition of HOMOPHOBIA:
Irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals


I felt it was important to put the definition as defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary at the beginning of my post. Some people aren’t aware of the extent of the definition and a small reminder never hurt. I’m sure at one point or another we ourselves or someone we know has displayed homophobic behavior and it was probably unwittingly done. But today is a new day and a fresh start. We as a whole can spread the word and put an end to this irrational fear, aversion, discrimination against homosexuality. The GLBT community cant to it alone. We’re all a part of the human race and should be treated as such.

I’m a strong believer in everything starts at home. How we we’re raised and how we raise are children are a big factor on the adults our children will turn out to be. I’m the proud mother four very energetic children who I’ve been raising to not look at others differences. Be it the color of their skin, if they wear glasses, have a speech problem, brown hair versus blond hair, learning disability, and even who a person chooses to love. My response to my children when they question another individual for being different is always the same. If we were all the same the world would be an extremely boring place.

Here’s a little story about my ten year old daughter Tatum. My little girl is very perceptive and as she gets older her father and I encourage her to ask questions if she doesn’t understand something and it led to this discussion at our local movie theater. I took my two oldest to see the Bully documentary and when it was over as we walked back to our car Tatum asked why the girl in the documentary was being bullied. I had to stop and explain to her that the young lady featured in the film was a lesbian. She told me she understood that but couldn't comprehended why the young lady was being picked on for that reason alone. Tatum told me the girl was just being herself and why should that bother anyone else. Part of me was proud that it didn't faze Tatum to even think for a second that someone should be treated differently for something like that. But with that came the heartbreak that I had to tell her that these are the hard truths of the world we live in. Discrimination is everywhere and we can’t protect our children from it all the time but we can teach them how to overcome it and to stand up to the bigots of the world who try to shove those hateful beliefs in our faces.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a woman and no, I’m not gay. So I can’t possibly understand the daily struggles the GLBT community goes through. And as a writer in the M/M genre I’ve been asked how can I possibly know what I’m talking about? Simple answer to that is love is love. Be between a man and a woman, man and a man, or woman and a woman. Being gay doesn’t make a person any different than a straight person. We’re all people in this big world just trying to live our lives and find love along the way without judgment from others.

I don’t have a solution for this problem but I wished I did. Compassion and understanding is what this world needs more of and I truly do believe each and every person can make a difference. There are organizations out there to give support and help to those in need. I do believe it all does get better and as a parent I wholeheartedly stand by that belief. Never give up hope!

This is a blog hop so I will be having a giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment with a valid email address so I can contact you. I’ll be selecting three winners and they can have their pick of any of my books. The hop runs from May 17th-20th. Now run off and read my fellow authors postings. Understanding and knowledge is what will make us stronger as a community!




Trevor Lifeline: 866 488 7386

33 comments:

  1. Hey AJ!! I agree that everything starts in the home. I was raised in the south where you're taught since birth to hate anyone who is different (race or sexual orientation). At an early age, I realized that kind of hate was not unconditional love. So I set out to change the minds of my family. And I'm proud to say that my mom and sister do not live on the beliefs they were raised with any longer. Great post!

    morris.crissy@gmail.com

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  2. Great post! I couldn't agree with you more. Teaching our kids about tolerance and compassion are some of the most important things we can do as parents.

    lkbherring64@gmail.com

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  3. i so agree with you AJ. my mom always taught me to have an open mind when it comes to new people...also through working for myself and the fact my brother does a lot of film fests i have met a number of folks from the GBLT community who are incredibly open and caring some times more so than the HET community.

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  4. Awesome post AJ. I teach my daughter to be open-minded, and I have to say, it makes me incredibly proud when I see her doing so. :) thanks for your post.

    cherienoel@yahoo.com
    http://talesfromthewritingcave.blogspot.com

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  5. Thank you so much for sharing your daughter is a credit to you.

    musings-of-a-bookworm@hotmail.co.uk

    www.musings-of-a-bookworm.org

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  6. Go Tatum!!!

    gisu29@gmail.com

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  7. I'm loving all the posts about raising children to be open minded and accepting.

    andreagrendahl AT gmail DOT com

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  8. You have a very wise child. With children like that, there is hope for mankind yet. My daughters are 22 and 26, and both are bi, and came out to me as teens. They opened my eyes to a lot of things. If not for them, I'd probably not be writing m/m. I hate that people discriminate against people for being gay, but they also discriminate against straight women for writing m/m love. Look at the Lambda Foundation and their stance on authors having to be gay to enter their contest. Even though they changed that, I feel as if their heart wasn't in it and I don't know I'd care to be associated with them. They've tarnished their own image by revealing their own ugly phobia.

    Great blog, AJ, our children are our hope for the future.

    Julie

    shelley_runyon@yahoo.com

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  9. Everything starts at home. When I was bullied at school because a shy girl by another girl and later her parents had to come to school I knew where she got her behavior from. Kids are the mirror images of their parents

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  10. Thank you for sharing and it sounds like you're doing an awesome job with Tatum! We need more like her!

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  11. Tatum rocks, and so do you for raising her that way. Gives us all hope!

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  12. ph, Tatum sounds like an amazing kid. Thank you for participating in the hop and sharing.

    hayley.b.james@gmail.com

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  13. For starters can you give Tatum a hug for me (in a whole not weird way) and thank you for participating and sharing this post with us all. I am the same I believe it all starts at home and am happy that I have raised a very well adjusted and open minded child who now at 22 has no problems putting people in there place if they are acting homophobic towards anyone - strangers included. I know without a doubt she will pass the trait onto her children when she has them.

    normanielsen@bigpond.com

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  14. A great post. I agree, it's discrimination is sad. What really breaks my heart though is that most kids start out like Tatum, thinking it's fine. And then society and homophobes and haters try and tell them that being gay isn't okay. And then homophobia is carried on and people suffer. I admire you as a parent, as I know quite a few parents who don't want to talk about stuff like that with their kids. A great post, and a wonderful blog hop. Thanks so much for sharing!!

    tiger-chick-1@hotmail.com

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  15. Thanks for participating in the hop. This is a great cause that I pray one day will not be needed.

    forettarose@yahoo.com

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  16. Discrimination in any form is upsetting and none of us are born with hate, hate is something we learn. I hope one day that hate no longer exists and there is nothing to fill our hearts but love and understanding!

    I love your books!
    Tabatha Hansen
    mmparanormalromance@gmail.com
    www.mmparanormalromance.wordpress.com

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  17. Thanks for the post...Hate is an ugly thing and I wish the word would go away.
    Yvette
    yratpatrol@aol.com

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  18. Thanks for the post,we are examples for our children so they will know everyone is equaland the right to love who they want.
    cvsimpkins@msn.com

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  19. I think all children are naturally open and welcoming. They are also sponges that soak up all of the hate and bigotry that surrounds them. Parents have to be aware that their behavior will be emulated by their children. I hope homophobia will be a thing of the past soon.

    geishasmom73 AT yahoo DOT com

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  20. AJ, great post and your Tatum is amazing!

    rhondaw1965(@)yahoo(.)com

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  21. A wonderful post and it sounds like you have a lovely daughter. I am sure she will grow up to be an amazing young woman.

    Thanks for sharing during the hop.

    lmbrownauthor at gmail dot com

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  22. Yes, love is love! The gender or sexual orientation of the writer shouldn't matter -- it's all about the authenticity of the emotions. Keep writing those m/m books and I wish you all the success in the world.

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  23. I like that it is the irrational fear, people need to remember that part. Thanks for participating.
    OceanAkers@aol.com

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  24. I totally agree, AJ, love is love, and it's time to get with the 21st century.


    caity_mack at yahoo dot com

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  25. Wow, Tatum sounds like a smart girl. I haven't seen that movie, but I plan to. I don't think I can go and watch it in a movie theater, it strikes too close to home and I'll probably end up bawling. Wish I could drag my former bullies to that movie though.

    Erica
    eripike at gmail dot com

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  26. I love to hear examples of people raising their children to respect and accept others.In some of the other blogs participating in this blog I've seen pictures of children wearing hateful t-shirts so it's great to hear the other side of that too. Thank you.

    burchills AT gmail DOT com

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  27. From the mouths of babes- we could all learn from them.

    Great post

    I just wanted to say “Thank You” to everyone for letting me be included in your Hop Against Homophobia. I am afraid I am not a talented m/m fiction writer like yourself but I am an avid reader of it.

    Actually when you are a straight girl who writes gay porn for an adult studio it is hard to fit in anywhere so I really appreciated how warmly I was welcomed into your group.
    http://shadowsterling.blogspot.com/2012/04/studio-i-write-for.html

    But this is a cause I feel strongly about and I wanted to let you know I appreciate the opportunity to be included.

    Shadow Sterling

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  28. What a great story! I firmly believe that hate is taught. When we counter that by teaching kids to live & accept instead, we turn the tides.

    Courtney S
    aunt_cori(at)yahoo.com

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  29. Great post AJ.
    If only more parents were like you and showed compassion and tolerance to their kids, instead of hate and discrimination. The poison some parents carry has seeped into and rotted the hearts of their own children. and It's very sad to know it's very true.
    How I wish I know how to stop all of this hate too, but sadly, All I can spread the word of how wrong this all is and hope that in time people will see how stupid and disgusting they were to discriminate on someone or certain people just because they've fallen in love.
    Thanks for being a part of this blog hop.

    Judi
    arella3173_loveless(at)yahoo.com

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  30. I hope when my time comes I'll be able to raise children as accepting as yours. I agree, a lot of attitudes and opinions of the world are developed young at home, though of course they can be changed in life. Still, giving a child a good start is such a blessing to everyone.

    ashley.vanburen[at]gmail[dot]com

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  31. Love the post. The hop has been great.

    peggy1984@live.com

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  32. hey AJ,

    I hope I'm not too late. Please enter me in your contest (thanks for participating in this worthwhile cause)

    yinyang1062 at yahoo dot com

    thanks

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  33. Homophobic Cyberstalking story of the Century can be read herehttp://homophobicdorsetpolice.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-pre-meditated-and-manipulated-16th.html

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