My blog has been for the purpose of sharing my experiences in the gay community here in Cleveland. To share places I go or news that is important. Along the way I share personal stories, movies, music, video games, and other things that I like. But it feels that I need to point out a few things, as well. First and foremost, this is my blog sharing my personal opinions and views. They are mine, even when I am sharing articles, I am also giving you my opinions of what I see or feel. You don’t have to agree with what I write, and I also encourage feedback, however the one thing I will not accept is negativity of the community.

I support the trans community, lesbians, bisexuals, queers, femmes, masculine, drag queens. Non-binary, people of color and anyone else that will fit under the umbrella of the LGBTQ community. If you contact me to tell me how the drag community does not belong in the LGBTQ community or that gay men should not be feminine, you can be sure that I will not post your comments. In return, I will probably tell you how little you know about the very community you belong to or a heterosexual that simple refuses to care about our history. You are entitled to your views and opinions, but it does not mean that I need to share them. The reason is simple, if you have read my blog to any degree you know my views and have plenty of information in the archives to show you how I feel. Those pieces of information will give you plenty to know that you probably shouldn’t try to troll for responses.

Our community needs the support of each and every member of it, we are fighting an administration that is hell bent on taking every freedom we have fought for away from us. We need less division and toxic behaviors in our interactions. Who really cares if someone is “flaming” or “straight acting”? We need to support one another, plain and simple. This year we have seen 18 trans people murdered and that is only the ones we know. We are seeing legislation being pushed that will allow employers to, once again, be able to fire us for being gay or landlords able to turn us out of our residences because they feel our existent is against their religious beliefs.

When will we stop this back-biting behavior towards one another? When will we work together for the common good of our community? We need to stop spreading the negativity that seems to saturate our community. As such, I refuse to publish any comment that continues to perpetuate that mentality. I suggest education into our community, donating time at the LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland, help with PFLAG, or any of a host of ways to interact with our community in a more productive and inclusive manner. Trying to tear down our community on my blog will not gain you any ground. Again, I appreciate your tenacity, but it will not be published. Having said that, I thank each and every one who reads and takes away any piece of information that speaks to them

Keith Simpkins

GayInTheCLe.com