Call in Gay Today

Today, December 10, 2008, please fight the hate with love and call in gay on this Day Without A Gay -- actually, its International Human Rights Day and I can't think of a better human right than to be precisely who you are, nothing more and nothing less, being left alone to be yourself without the threat of harassment or harm.

Pictured above is Lance Loud of power pop punk band Mumps. Lance was the eldest child of Bill and Patricia Loud of the Loud Family of Santa Barbara, California... they were on television's first reality show... on PBS - An American Family was non-fiction television (it wasn't called reality TV in 1971) at its earliest and finest. Many cultural critics and scholars agree that the unique high point of the series was that Lance came out to his mom on national tv. That's what I consider setting a brave example.


Kristian Hoffman and Lance Loud

Lance's band Mumps was comprised of men both gay and straight. You could say they offered something for every fan - but mostly, their sexual orientation wasn't a stumbling block to their ability to make music and a stab at immortality.

Lance was the first person to identify me as a fag hag (and he meant that in a loving way). Also, Lance and Kristian basically introduced me to every American punk rocker of any importance... like The Cramps, and pictured below, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks drummer Bradly Field.



Without the contribution of gays and lesbians, pop culture would be pretty damn boring.

Please find praise in earlier posts (links directly below) and don't forget to call in gay and go volunteer someplace that furthers humans rights!

A Day Without Gay - from November

Punk's Gay Icons, Heroes & Anti-Heroes - from June

We Are the Champions, Glam & Darby Crash - from February


Lance Loud