My response to a friend who asked me to post a Straight Pride picture.

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Pride is an inside job. Healthy people, all people need it. Being OK with yourself. Being a human being is amazing. Some of us, because of sexual identity, race, social status ... or whatever, get the message: you are not wanted here. I had to hide my identity as a gay human for years in order keep being employed. That stress took a toll. My church went to my district and outed me. It took years to be OK inside ... to be proud of whom I was. My Mom never accepted me or my partner. Her last words to me as she was passing at age 88: "Dirty, dirty." My brother told me he was ashamed to have a gay brother. And when John and I planned to get married here in CA back in 2008, 70% of the voters here in Siskiyou County helped pass Prop. 8 and took that right to marry away from us. By then we had pride enough, inside OK-ness, to go to Canada, a marriage equality nation, to be married. Pride cannot come from the outside: it is an inside job. Gay Pride ... Straight Pride ... Black Pride ... Human Pride. The ability to look into the mirror and say to yourself, "I am enough. I have something to give."

Move to Amend - It is a Movement Time

Dear Editor:

I am writing about The Move to Amend.  You have heard of it, no doubt.  It is a growing movement comprised of organizations and hundreds and thousands of citizens who are seeking to restore our democracy.   The Move to Amend faces a steep challenge:  To amend the Constitution of the United States.  This is not an easy task.  It is for citizens who are willing to exert effort and to persevere.  But we need to take back our democracy because of a Supreme Court decision back in 2010.  The case the court heard was Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission.  The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Citizens United, a coordinated giant comprised of corporations and the very wealthiest individuals in our country.  In finding for Citizens United, the Court ruled that corporations have all the rights of human beings.  They are considered people.  To make matters worse, the court further ruled that money is a form of protected free speech.  We have already witnessed the increasing corporate influence on our elections.  These elections are being swayed by the infusion of money, of “protected free speech.”  

As I write, potential presidential candidates are being vetted by the very wealthiest people in our country.  The plan is to present us with a slate of safe candidates who will represent the interests of corporations and the one percent, not ours.  We can do something to improve our choices.

I’m planning on getting involved in the Move to Amend.  Accordingly, I’ll be attending a Move to Amend Informational Forum on Wednesday, April 29^th at 7:00 pm in the Mt. Shasta City Library, 515 Alma, Mt. Shasta.  I have plenty of questions and I want to know how to be a part of the Move to Amend. 

Stephen R. Concklin

308 NC Street

Mt. Shasta, CA 96067-2412

530 925-0197

sconcklin@sbcglobal.net