TO EACH OF YOU IN 2010!

To my partner Paul, thank you for an amazing year...which was filled with new adventures, commitments, trials which were overcome, new experiences and most especially a deep growth in our love. This new year, I walk hand and hand with you into new goals, prosperity, deeper bonding and much happiness!

To my family, both blood related and not. Thank you for your love, support and loyalty. You have all touched my heart in so many ways this year with suggestions, strength, and reassurance.

To my spiritual advisers, thank you for your faith in God, your faith in me. Thank you for your support in helping me see a bigger picture. You are all mentors to my soul in so many ways.

To my friends and acquaintances, thank you for your humor, laughter and support. Each of you complete a circle for me which makes life more fun, more lively, more exciting.

To my Twitter friends (Tweeps). Thank you for all of your tweets! Thank you for sharing 140 character or less briefs on your life and thank you for allowing me to share mine. It's because of all of you I see the visualization of true diversity...and it's beautiful!

To my clients, A BIG THANK YOU!

To each of you. May God bless you as we close the chapter in the first decade of this second millennium. May you and yours, find a year filled with happiness, good health, love and new dreams.

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Eddie Weingart :)

INFLUENCE: PRIDE & LOVE

As many of you know I'm in love with photography! I've begun a new Flickr group called iPAL, Influence: Pride and Love. It's a group for other photography buffs in the LGBT community to share such influential photo work as well as discussions, tips, and more! If you're on Flickr, please head over to iPAL and join!

TAKING REQUESTS!

So as you know, I'm leaving Southern California and moving to Virginia on Friday! I've totally procrastinated on a project I was hoping to have done by now! I wanted to make and awesome mix CD loaded with great songs which carry a GOODBYE/FAREWELL theme that I can give to all of my friends! I'm totally dead stumped on some track ideas and NEED YOUR HELP!

Do you know of some great songs with the appropriate them that I can add to this mix? I'm interested and open to all genres and time period! Please comment this post with as many recommendations that you have! PLEASE be sure to provide both the ARTIST AND SONG TITLE!

THANKS A MILLION! :o)

"PRAYERS FOR BOBBY"

WOW! Well I'm certainly not a Lifetime Network viewer but when I found out they made a Lifetime Original Movie, PRAYERS FOR BOBBY based on Leroy Aarons book...I knew I had to record and watch it.


This film is about a Walnut Creek, CA family in the last 70's/early 80's, particularly the mother Mary Griffith (Sigourney Weaver) and her gay son, Bobby Griffith (Ryan Kelley). The story it's self is unfortunately one we've heard over and over again...a young queer teen struggling to accept their homosexuality and finally mustering all inner strength to "come out" to their family, only to find no acceptance or support from the family or in this circumstance the Bible thumping mother who believes all homosexuality to be an abomination and curable through faith and prayer. Ultimately the hurt, rejection and denial lead to a sad and horrifying tragedy, but that’s not where the film ends.

The film then focuses on the mother and her long and exhausting struggle to understand and accept that her late son’s sexuality was incurable for the fact that’s how God made him. There was nothing to cure. Ultimately it’s a beautiful story of inner forgiveness and redemption.

Both the film and the book it was based on are a true story. Mary Griffith went on to be a mainstream ally for the LGBT movement, especially with PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbian and Gays). For me, the most moving part of this story was that Mary Griffith was no doubt a devout and faithful Christian and a good mother. She honestly felt she was looking out for her son and protecting his salvation. Sadly she believed in a way that was wrong but the only way she knew to be true as that what has always been proclaimed and preached to her. The amazing part of the story is that she kept her same faith throughout her journey…or better yet put, she deepened it. Meaning: she eventually recognized that the God she loves and worships is not a God of hate, bigotry and wrath, yet a God of love, compassion and mercy. This is why I’ve always believed that it’s sometimes easier to educate and soften the heart of a homophobic believer in faith than it is a homophobic non believer of faith, essentially in the theory that all you need to do is help open their eyes to see that the same Christ we believe and follow was God’s son of compassion, love, inclusion and peace not judgment, hate, out casting and vindictiveness.

I was saddened yet not surprised to learn that FOCUS ON THE FAMILY urged their supporters not to view this film and also said this film “cast Christians in an ugly role”. I honestly feel this film softened some of the realistic “ugliness” that so many bigot Christians live in and display so openly. So if FOF sees those roles as “ugly”…GOOD! That means there is hope for them because acceptance is always the first step!

In closing, this film is a “MUST SEE” for all, especially for families who have just learned or suspect a loved one is gay or lesbian. I encourage television networks and the motion picture industry to produce more films which tell the fraction of the LGBT story and history, such as this film, the recent “MILK”, “BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN”, etc.