History, Mission & Vision

HISTORY:
We are committed to having an organization which encourages and supports various projects which inspire people, one by one, to make a difference by standing up and speaking out.

On May 9, 2005, we ran off the beginning blog of Lars Clausen (Straight Into Gay America), and took it with us to dinner at the beach near our home in Blaine, WA.  That evening literally birthed Gay Into Straight America and Stand UP Speak OUT, Inc. To read "the rest of the story," click here. 

At the beginning of 2008, we will embark on our next journey, The Great American Roadcast.  It is time for us to connect the dots and recognize the truth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words, "None of us are free until all of us are free."   

MISSION:

To inspire people to use their Power of ONE to access and impact the Power of ALL of us, as we transform ourselves and our world, one person at a time.

To make a difference by standing up and speaking out, empowering one another.

To engage hearts and minds, create authentic connections, and dissolve differences that separate us.

To create and support projects that recognize we are ALL connected, and that what affects one of us, affects all of us.

We will accomplish our mission through:

  • Educating people who are wrestling with their understanding of variant sexual orientation and gender, or any other difference that separates people from one another, such as ethnicity, religion, gender, class, age and/or culture.
  • Educating our GLBT community about the potential to create a tipping point by being the gift we are through living authentic lives
  • Helping people understand the impact of creating Natural Authentic Connections, and having deeper conversations.
  • Encouraging people to share their story. You can't hate someone whose story you know.  That works both ways.
  • Offering Training2Transform consulting, training, and coaching, inclusive of all groups to bridge the divide of understanding
  • Creating understanding about the POWER of ONE, as encouarged by Helen Keller, to manifest change, while simulaneously creating deeper connections and conversations with others. Helen Keller was once asked, “What would be worst than being blind? She replied, “Having good eyesight and no vision.”

  • Inspiring individuals to join us in taking the Stand Up Speak OUT Challenge

  • Networking people and inspiring them to hold Stand UP Speak OUT Events in their community, committed to creating action in ways that empower others
  • Supporting new projects such as the Great American Roadcast

VISION:

Many groups are doing dynamic work today.  Much of it, however, relies on others changing.  We don't.  Our focus is on us changing.   It is about:

  • Encouraging self transformation, and the opportunity that creates for a Shift in others as it creates a new space of possibility into which they might evolve.

  • Inspiring people to reclaim and take charge of their own lives in ways that empower them.  The question we ask people when they acknowledge they are "wrestling" in some way (this is inclusive of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning community) is this:


    How's that working for YOU?  In other words, "Is the way you are living your life empowering you?" If the answer is "yes," we simply say "Good for you!"  If it is not, we offer, "Are you ready to take the journey toward personal transformation, so that you can answer 'YES!' " 

  • Teaching specific skills that allow people to take the journey of living authentic lives, and walking in the freedom that affords them

  • Teaching people how to lean in versus defend with people whose rhetoric is antagonistic.  This neutralizes the situation, allowing the possibility of creating authentic connections through the vulnerability

If people are truly "wrestling" with their understanding, we point them to numerous resources that are available for people who DESIRE to more deeply understand variant sexual orienation and gender. (Click on our resources, and use drop down boxes for specific information).  These people are in the "informable" group, and are part of the movable middle.

We don't debate scriptures, the most common tactic of those who ARE NOT WRESTLING with their understanding, but are committed to staying stuck in the "uninformable" category.  Having already taken the journey of reconciling misinformation we were taught through religious institutions that attempted to diminsh the gift that we are, we understand the impact of those teachings.

In those situations, we remind ourselves "Who I am is enough," recalling one of our favorite quotes by Beverly Sills, "I did that already."  Yes, we have already done the journey of exploring the scriptures, studying the Greek and Hebrew relative to those passages where people use their interpretation to justify their use of power over our lives.  We are satisfied with our understanding and empowered by our spiritual journey.

This allows us to confidently reply as does Bob Minor (when people want to argue about scriptures), Some people feel that way.  I don't.

Click on this link and listen to dynamic podcasts with Rev. Dr. Lisa Davison (Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at Lexington Theological Seminary), as well with Rev. Dr. Bill Stayton, Executive Director of the Center for Sexuality and Religion.