Peter's Place

Why My 2026 Is Written in Stone (And Why It’s Okay That It’s Broken) If you look closely at the image above—really closely—you’ll see it. It’s there in the text carved into the stone wall. A line repeats itself. "In silence. You cross boundaries, in silence. You cross boundaries..." Technically, it’s a mistake. It’s a glitch in the digital matrix, a hiccup in the software that created the image. In a previous life, the version of me that existed five or six years ago would have seen that error and frantically tried to fix it. I would have scrubbed it, photoshopped it, or discarded the image entirely because it wasn't "perfect." I would have worried that a flaw in the presentation meant a flaw in the man presenting it. But I’m leaving it there. I am letting it stand. Because if there is one thing I have learned in my fifty-two years on this planet—and specifically in the hellscape of the last six years—it is that life does not allo...

In 1985, +Bernie Sanders , then mayor of the City of Burlington , Vermont, granted protections to its citizens, including LGBTQ persons . This bold move was deemed to be political suicide and the end of his career in politics. But it wasn't the first time Sanders has supported LGBTQ rights. His 1970 letter advocating the repeal of laws against "deviant behavior" implies support for marriage equality Sanders's support for civil rights and of LGBTQ communities extends to the beginning of his career . Unlike others, he never had to "evolve" on his positions to support basic human and civil rights; it has been a part of his basic code of morals and philosophies from the moment his work in activism , civil rights , social justice , and ultimately, his career in politics , began. There are few individuals even in our own community who were fighting for LGBTQ equality in 1970 -- the risk for prosecution of homosexuality and imprisonment was far ...

I don't care what your religion is, or what your view of Pope Francis is. I implore you to watch this -- it's less than 10 minutes long. The wisdom in his words is simply amazing. This is someone who is speaking #truth about our world, our communities, and he needs -- and deserves -- to be heard. Listen to the #truth this man is speaking about, and bring some #HOPE into your lives./ Pope Francis with T-Shirt, "Water worth more than gold" This isn't about other things this man has said or what he's done elsewhere. Tell me that, after spending 10 minutes watching this, you don't feel better, or believe everything he's said. We must restore faith in our youth by building communities, by implanting in them the wisdom from our elders, and give them purpose so that they go out into the world and work to make it a better place. And we have the power to do this, right here, right now, however we wish to go about doing so. But we need to start doing thi...