'Boys, Birds, Beauty & The East

The Dallas Cowboys took a huge step forward into the NFL playoff picture tonight in Atlanta's Georgia Dome, defeating Michael Vick and the Falcons 38-28. The whole world was watching as the NFL network had a prime time captive audience with no other competing game. We all wanted to see if Tony Romo and the Cowboys could bounce back from last weeks debacle in Dallas. The answer is a resounding YES! It was a hard fought game with the first half ending in a 21-21 tie. The Falcons took the second half kickoff and immediately marched to a touchdown to go up 28-21. Then the Dallas defense woke up and dismantled the Falcons offense from there and Romo and the offense roared back with 48 yard field goal by Martin Gramatica and a 9 yard TD from the machine, Marion Barber. The fourth quarter belonged to Dallas who took the ball over with 8 and a half minutes left leading 31-28 and went on an 11 play 80 yard drive that took 6:32 off the clock. Tony Romo completed 5 passes and the Marion Barber carried 6 straight times ending up in the end zone to put the Cowboys up by the final margin of 38-28. This leaves Dallas alone in first place in the NFC east and depending on the outcome of the NO and Carolina games could clench a playoff berth tomorrow. A victory over Philly on Christmas day would insure a playoff berth regardless of tomorrow's game results. I would like to see Philly beat the Giants tomorrow, but if the Cowboys win out, that really doesn't matter.

So now that all the drama with the game is over let's move on the news. A report released on Thursday by the National LGBT Task Force and the National Coalition for the Homeless expressed major concern for the epidemic of homelessness occurring among the youth of this country. An estimated 42% of the homeless youth identify as LGBT, having been driven from their homes by intolerance. New York City alone estimates they have over 8,000 LGBT homeless youth in the city and has allocated 1.2 million dollars in their new budget for shelters for these young people.

The report also indicated that 25% of the young people who come out when living at home are summarily dismissed and thrown out. The homeless youth are highly at risk for drug abuse and diseases such as AIDS. Many homeless youth straight or gay must rely on prostitution for survival. Danny a homeless youth in Colorado denied he was involved in prostitution althought he did say he would go to the library, log on and find someone to sleep with so he would have a place to stay for at least a night. Right now in NYC there are 3 or 4 shelters that accept LGBT youth with only about 65 beds and a waiting list from hell.

Having experienced homelessness myself in an earlier time I feel for these young people whose mental health is challenged by the rejection of their parents and the agencies supposedly set up to help them. We as older LGBT people need to do what we can to harbor these young people or enable shelters for them as safe place for them to go without fear of predators. It is time we took responsibility for our own and not leave it all to the government as you know how they feel about our segment of society. Unfortunately for them, we aren't going away.

In more encourage news the current print edition of the Advocate contains an article on Community High School in Nashville, TN where at risk youths receive not just history and biology lessons but addiction counseling and provides a safe haven for gay and lesbian students as well who are often doubly stigmatized as a queer druggie. Community High School takes them in and changes their lives, involving the youth, there familys and the faculty and staff by offering an all inclusive safe space for todays at risk teenagers. So the news is not all bad and there are a lot of places that extend helping hand, though not enough it seems for all those in need especially at this time of year. Find your Christmas Spirit and do something like donate or volunteer some time at an agency or shelter and do your part to ensure the safety and sanctity of those less fortunate than ourselves.

I have spent a lot of time over the last couple of day working on the site to sharpen its appearance and have added a thing or two and uploaded a new film loop featuring the boys from Chadz Boyz as well as bring on board a some new affiliated web sites. I have also listed some of my favorite musicians, authors and composers. Post a comment or email me to let me know what you think of the changes. I have created a custom search engine with Google Co-op and if you have sites you visit that you would like to include, I am allowed 100 other persons as contributor. Just email me with your suggestions.

Well it is getting late and I have to get up early tomorrow and bug Ryan about our bet on tonights game. So until next time as always, Enjoy!