A Stitch in Haste

The Point Foundation, one of the top three recipients of my charitable giving*, has announced their 2006 Point Scholars:

“Our newest Point Scholars represent the best and brightest in our community, coming from diverse educational fields, genders and gender identities, sexual orientations, racial backgrounds, economic circumstances and geography,” said Bruce Lindstrom, Point Foundation Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors. "Our scholars are chosen for their demonstrated leadership, scholastic achievement, involvement in the LGBT community, and financial need. This year's group of scholars far exceeded our expectations."

As of June 2006, there will be 65 Point scholars currently in school and 12 alumni.

I challenge anyone to peruse the profiles of these remarkable young people and then suggest with a sane and sober tone that they somehow constitute the Others Who Are Ruining America™.

And if any of the Point Scholars happen to be reading this, I have only two words of advice for you:
Start blogging!
And to the rest of you: please consider throwing a few coins at this wonderful organization.

*The other two are Lambda Legal and the ASPCA.

Inside the Vault = An intermittent string of weekend posts detailing aspects of my personal life.

It's the time of the year when I make my regular charitable donations. So I want to take a moment to try to persuade you to adopt my subjective tastes and preferences as your own:

Lambda Legal: The heroes who brought us Lawrence v. Texas. While they haven't been as successful recently, suffering a frustrating and befuddling same-sex marriage defeat in New York and then again in Washington State, these "activist" attorneys also fight on many other fronts, including immigration rights, gay-straight alliances in schools, workplace discrimination, custody and visitation rights, and of course HIV-related legal issues. They are strictly non-partisan and apolitical; they prefer the courthouse over the state house — an important consideration for a gay libertarian like me.

Point Foundation: As someone who is arguably "overeducated," is it any wonder that the Point Foundation is far and away my favorite charity? It gives scholarships not to gay students in general, but specifically to those who have be disowned by their families or have otherwise suffered challenges above and beyond merely "being gay." Whenever I get depressed about the state of the world, I read about the Point Scholars and I'm not so depressed anymore.

ASPCA: No dollar amount could ever fully repay the debt I owe these wonderful people for bringing Diamond into my life.

NEW ENTRY: Matt Hill Comer is a young yet amazingly high-profile gay activist in North Carolina who is participating in the Soulforce Equality Ride, in which young people visit colleges that have a reputation for being less-than-welcoming to gays (e.g., Bob Jones University, Brigham Young). Their goal is simple: to introduce themselves to students (who are often the victims of sheltered lives and anti-gay indoctrination) and demonstrate that gays are not "freaks" and have no "agenda" beyond equal treatment and basic human dignity. There are many Soulforce riders; I happen to be sponsoring Comer. Find a rider who especially impresses you and sponsor him or her.

And thanks as always to my greedy Swiss bank employer for matching, dollar for dollar, charitable donations by employees.

For Discussion: Where do your charitable dollars and hours go?

Long-time readers know of my enthusiastic endorsement of the Point Foundation, which gives scholarships to outstanding LGBT students who have encountered personal challenges in the face of anti-gay bigotry in various forms.

Now comes word of a quick and easy — and fun — way for everyone to help the Point Foundation:

Yahoo!, one of the most trafficked internet destinations in the world has chosen to exclusively promote Point Foundation on its Pride site during the month of June and July. Yahoo!’s mission is to connect people to their passions, their communities, and the world's knowledge.

Visit the Yahoo! LGBT Pride site at:

http://events.yahoo.com/pride
Upload your photos of Pride (and Pride Festivals) to this photo pool. In addition to celebrating worldwide pride, your photo submissions will help to build a stronger LGBT community.

For every photo uploaded to this pool, Yahoo! Inc. will donate $1 to Point Foundation, up to $25,000.

So far, there are fewer than 700 pictures posted. There are probably a few gays who could single-handedly upload 25,000 pictures. But that shouldn't stop you from uploading yours.

And join me in donating to the Point Foundation.