Brandon Shire

Author of Contemporary Gay Romance

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To Mom (A letter from a gay son)

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The following is from Gay Family Values. It was a letter attached to the video you will see below. It was so touching that I thought I would re-share it here with you, because sometimes we forget just how hard it is, even for today’s LGBTQ youth, to come out to their parents. 

To Mom,
Mom I have been trying to talk to you for a while now but I just can’t bring the words to say it. So, I am writing you this letter instead. I just want you to know that it isn’t because I don’t feel like I can’t talk to you it’s just that I can’t bring myself to say the words.

So for a while now I have been struggling with myself internally. I have hated myself for a really long time and as scary as it sounds I thought of suicide as the only escape. I then thought of you, my family, my friends, and all of the other things that I would miss out on. What you have to understand is that this was and still is really hard for me. I’ve tried for the longest time to change but I just can’t . I would give anything to be different but this just is not going to change about me. By this point you can probably tell that what I am going to tell you is that I am gay. And I am sure you always knew. [Read more…] about To Mom (A letter from a gay son)

Here’s Your Wake Up Call about LGBT Youth Programs

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Here is a reprint of the email one of the organizations I work with just received. Sometimes I really wonder if my reader’s understand what we’re actually battling against in LGBT Youth organizations. Sometimes I wonder if they really believe that the atrocities in my books are just a warped imagination and not a reflection of the devastation still being wrought on our community. And many times I wonder if we will ever wake up, put down our latte’s and actually do something beside give lip service to these tragedies. [Read more…] about Here’s Your Wake Up Call about LGBT Youth Programs

Day of Silence

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Day of Silence
Credit: Jan H. Andersen, http://www.jhandersen.com

When I asked for someone to speak for me

there was silence

When I buckled and fell under the weight of words

there was silence

An army of likeminded people appeared behind me

but stood in silence

And so my hunger for love became so great

that it was silence.

 

For those we have lost~ B. Shire

Helping LGBT Youth – March 2012

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Every month I try to post about the two LGBT Youth organizations that I help (in a small way) with the proceeds from The Value Of Rain. Both organizations are trying to meet increasing demands with very little funding. So if you can see it in your heart to help out these groups, which work directly to take  homeless LGBT kids off the street, you will do so knowing that your small contribution helped take a kid off the streets and showed him that someone cared enough to say YES, you are worthy of being loved.  

lgbt nonprofitGLBTAYS – DONATE

In a state that ranks as #1 for being the worst place for homeless youth, this organization fights against innumerable social, religious and monetary odds to help provide LGBT Youth with a safe place to interact, converse, learn and, if need be, helps them find a safe place to stay. Recently they launched a multimedia project called “From Behind The Mask” which shows real people and real struggles in  the LGBT Youth community. It is definitely something you’ll want to check out.

 

 

lgbt youth nonprofit

Saint Lost & Found – DONATE

Taking 25 kids off the street and ‘graduating’ two to near self independence is not an easy task. Ask the guys and girls over at St. Lost and Found and what you’ll hear isn’t about how hard it is, but how rewarding it is when something as simple as a “glad to meet you” changes a kid’s perspective from one of desolation to one of hope for their future. But they’ve done much more than that and continue to help those that need our help the most.

Helping LGBT Youth – February 2012

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This kind of post is important to me because it lets my readers know 1) What’s going on with the money you spend when you buy The Value Of Rain (half the proceeds are donated to the two LGBT Youth nonprofits below); and 2) It also shows you how  just a little time and money can have a massive impact.  People tend to have this ingrained idea that their small contributions, or that the one hour they can volunteer a week, doesn’t really matter in the big schemes of things. It DOES matter! It matters to the kids that have no one else to turn to. Never forget that.  Here’s just a few examples:

lgbt youth nonprofitSaint Lost and Found

Since the conception of Lost N Found, they have helped over THREE DOZEN kids in the past three months. Here’s an report from Rick Westbrook a.k.a. Sister Rapture Divine Cox in their latest Facebook post:

The kids have come to us in all shapes, sizes, and colors. These youths are each special and incredible in their own way. They come to us not broken, but certainly with some damage such as walls built up, trust issues, and still in survival mode. Some have been abused, starved, neglected, or otherwise just thrown to the curb. [Read more…] about Helping LGBT Youth – February 2012