Peter's Place

There is nothing more important to #PRIDE than the Truth and that means even when it may not be very convenient. The #LGBTQ+ community is uniquely situated to handle this quandary because, after the self-realization of identifying as LGBTQIA2S++, one is then faced with perhaps the greatest inconvenient truth of all: the great, big LGBTQ closet. It's quite unfortunate that I've seen a rise in other such inconvenient truths (and no, not that  Inconvenient Truth ) since my return to the social web after a hiatus of a few years while I cared for, and then lost my mother as she battled breast cancer for the fourth time. We have come so far in the past 50 years yet have much further to go, especially as a community. I believe that is because we have been fighting for equality when in fact we should be demanding equity and justice . One needn't look far from the gayborhoods to see the self-harm that staying in the closet does to us. And that's why today, on this 32nd anniversa...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: PETER C. FRANK +1-914-417-9579 PCFRANK73@GMAIL.COM Who: A group of citizens concerned about Chick-fil-A's policies and practices What: LGBTQ Equality & Animal Rights Demo When: Saturday, February 11th, 10am - 1pm How: Politely distribute literature to prospective customers Where: Chick-fil-A West Hartford, 509 New Park Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06107 Chick-fil-A has a history of opposing LGBTQ equality . Actively denigrating a segment of our population can make it easier for them to turn a blind eye to the farm factories providing most of their food, which employ inhumane practices that are cruel to the animals they raise. Despite promises to the contrary, Chick-fil-A continues to donate millions of dollars to anti-LGBTQ organizations through its foundation and continues to source products from farm factories. The protest, spearheaded by LGBTQ rights activist Peter C. Frank , has the support of organizations s...

Healing the Brain: Stress, Trauma and LGBT/Q Youth My friend David Balog wrote an important book that describes the physical damage homophobia inflicts on our youth. While his book focuses on youth, it's not difficult to see how the same physical damages inflicted on youth can also be inflicted on adults who experience homophobia. David's book,  Healing the Brain: Stress, Trauma and LGBT/Q Youth , has been described as An invaluable resource for those working in the trenches with LGBTQ youth in foster/adoptive care but equally important serves as a primer for those in the community at large who are largely unaware of this subset in our population who are in such desperate need!  A review, in layman's terms, of the effects caused by both physical and emotional trauma to youth, in particular lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. To mitigate the social, emotional, and physical damage suffered by these youth, we must understand the effects of stress and tra...

At a youth town hall in London, England on Saturday, April 23, 2016, President Obama said that activists—specifically Black Lives Matter activists—need to be willing to compromise . He also claimed that the tone of some activism can turn people off to its message. "You have a responsibility to prepare an agenda that is achievable," Obama told the crowd. But achievable by whom, and in whose eyes? People wonder why I'm no fan of this POTUS. Where would the Marriage Equality movement be in this country if we in the struggle to achieve marriage equality in all 50 states "learned to compromise"? Some may recall the amicus curiae brief Obama's DOJ filed in Windsor v. United States , which advocated for a ruling in favor of Edie Windsor but limiting the scope to that particular plaintiff—a breadcrumb, if you will. That brief further argued that each state should make up its own mind on the issue of marriage equality. Indeed, had the Supreme Court foll...

It's not often that I write movie or book reviews, and for good reason: I struggle to come up with meaningful insight that portrays the essence of the medium, and my thoughts and feelings about it, without giving away any spoilers. I was asked to review a new, independent film made by friends of a friend, and I reluctantly agreed. It has taken me over two weeks to put my thoughts together because I honestly didn't know where to start. The film completely blew me away, in pretty much every aspect. There is just so much I want to say about it ... but I found it difficult to start because I didn't know which of the myriad thoughts floating around in my mind should be brought up first. I also worried about how I could do justice to such an important work of art that does what all great artistic masterpieces do best: provoke and trigger public discourse. To review the film, I was given a private link where it is hosted on a password-protected server—and no, I'm not giv...

Foreword One of my friends and fellow activists recently penned an essay personalizing his support of Hillary Clinton's candidacy. I offer the following not so much as a response but rather, to provide a similar tale of my own journey in supporting Bernie Sanders's presidential candidacy. Tif's writing inspired me to return to my writing roots by authoring an essay-turned-short-story, written more in a poetic prose than the usually journalistic-styled English of an article. I hope this narrative will inspire you while infusing hope into our collective efforts in supporting Bernie's political revolution. Please keep in mind that while this narrative is sprinkled with many facts, much of it is my personal experience and opinion. I wish Americans were familiar with the differences between fact and opinion , including the varying degrees that exist between those two extremes. I also wish people were familiar with how to engage in civilized debate, which includes rec...