twenty_something_cylest's Xanga

Change of Plans

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:14:38 GMT

I'm not going to be using this one at all anymore. If you want to stalk me, you can follow me to these 3 blogging locations:

www.cylest-nichole.blogspot.com (My personal blog.)

www.pursuit-of-social-justice.blogspot.com (My social justice & activism blog.)

www.poems-and-song-lyrics.blogspot.com (Specifically for song lyrics and poetry.)

Check them out. And peace!

A Change...

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:35:55 GMT

I'm changing things up. From now on, this will be my personal blog. If you want to read my "social justice" blog... my professional blog/activism blog, please visit:

www.pursuit-of-social-justice.blogspot.com

That is where I will be posting all blogs about Equality Ride and my future activism/social justice jobs.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

:)

An Article Written for www.pridedepot.com

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 18:51:15 GMT

Equality Riders Drive Home a Point in Idaho

Filed under: Ethics, Homophobia, Human Rights, Politics, All Things Queer, Activist, Media, Gender identity, Transgender — H. Lukas Green April 14, 2007 @ 1:00 am (Views: 99)

The Soulforce Equality Riders rolled into Idaho on Friday to visit the first of two religious universities where policies exist that endorse discrimination against LGBT students.

About 25 Equality Riders found a cordial reception at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho, where they had an opportunity to engage students in civil discussion about homosexuality and attitudes on campus.

Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho

Soulforce activist Cylest Brooks, 21, described the overall experience at NNU as positive, but apparent that a lot of work still needs to be done toward changing written policies that are clearly unfair toward gay students.

Brooks was referring to NNU´s policy that says heterosexuals cannot have sex before they are married, and you cannot have a homosexual relationship.

She indicated that while straight students could engage in open affection, gay students must face the threat of retribution due to the school´s policy as it relates to homosexuality.

Soulforce activist Cylest Brooks, of Fort. Wayne, IN, talks to PrideDEPOT.com

"The policy towards LGBT people insinuates that you can´t hold hands and that you can´t be in a relationship, period," she said. "We understand that NNU has a more difficult time in that it faces institutional retribution due to policies from the Nazarene Church. We had some professors come up to us and say, `you´re right, this policy doesn´t make sense, but there is nothing we can do about it right now´."

A recent graduate told Soulforce that while attending NNU, he was openly gay and he had a partner. Brooks said he never faced any academic retribution, and that his college experience was positive and supporting.

"His thought to us was that the school must keep the policies in place that match those of the Nazarene denomination," she said. "They have a policy that is not reflected in their actions."

Equality Rider Haven Herrin (left) and Cylest Brooks talk with local Boise media.

The Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) Bombshell

Brooks said the brief time that they did have with the students hit an unplanned detour when one of the Equality Riders asked an unexpected question to the audience.

"They were asked how many people in this room would be involved in a GSA, and probably 125 people held up hands in support," she said. "And that really made the administration uncomfortable. The administration thought asking that question was really crossing the line into advocacy."

The question was not intentional, but it did demonstrate the level of acceptance for LGBT dialogue.

Motivated by Tragedy

On April 28, 2006, Brooks dealt with the loss of a very close gay friend.

"He was only 20 years old, and he committed suicide," she said. "In our small, conservative town he had faced a lot of backlash. Many times he was closed off and not even allowed inside the church doors."

Brooks said that after her close friend´s death she decided that things had to change.

"I really needed to speak up. I needed to find a way to end this religious based discrimination, and then I found Soulforce and became involved in the Equality Ride," she said.

“I Found Soulforce in July and filled out an application the following month,” she said. “My personal faith in God is stronger and I have a better understanding of my life and my place in the world.”

KTVB Channel 7 Reporter Areka Spencer interviews Equality Riders at NNU.

The Future of Soulforce

Soulforce is looking to continue its work of reaching out with its message of equality to religious universities and institutions where LGBT people face discrimination that is written into its policies.

Next year, Soulforce will operate three busses that will set course on three ventures:
o Christian Colleges
o Historically Black Colleges
o Military Academies

The activist group is also looking into plans to expand into an international tour at some point in the future.

I Think I Might Buy...

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 16:42:47 GMT

...one of those bumber stickers that says "God, please protect me from your followers."

Today I looked at the profile of someone who is in a group called "I love Bush, and I'd Blow Up the Middle East in a Heartbeat". In that profile, I saw a quote listed that says "There is nothing wrong with California that a rise in sea level couldn't cure." I have another acquaintance who, when told that it is believed that 4 young gay people suicide every day because they cannot reconcile faith with identity, responded by saying that 4 people "doesn't seem like a high enough number".

My heart hurts. These people, and others who share their beliefs, constantly defend their positions by declaring a constitutional right to free speech. But it is not the right to free speech that concerns me.

"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45

It concerns me to know that people are willing to allow these words to be written or spoken. All of these examples call for the deaths of human life.

"If we can't agree on the sanctity of life... where do we go from there?"

I am at a loss for words. I don't even know what to say. My heart is broken to know that people are willing to allow their hearts to feel such hatred... a hatred so strong that it would advocate for mass murders and innocent bloodshed. If the verse in Luke is correct, it saddens me to know that these people have so much evil stored up in their hearts.

I just don't understand where any of this reflects Jesus? Can someone point out Jesus in any of this? I am trying to desperately to leave Christianity with even a drop of understanding... to walk away with something more than pain and hurt. But I cannot see Jesus in what my "brothers and sisters in Christ" are saying and doing.

I see more Jesus in those of my friends who do not even believe in the holiness of that man. Their lives portray an example of him that is so pure... they reach out to the needy. They love those who no one else will love. They create safe spaces for people to express concerns. And they treat every person with respect.

I have seen more of Jesus from outside the walls of Christianity than I can remember seeing in my entire time within those walls.

My heart is broken.

George Fox University...

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 21:12:57 GMT

...changed the game for me.

The Bible is Not the Word of God.

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 04:41:29 GMT

So, I have many outlets for thought, most of which are public and available for all the world to see. I use facebook more frequently than the rest, because it currently reaches the most people in the shortest amount of time. Thus, I haven't been putting a lot of my deep, dark thoughts onto here.

Secondly, my mother has access to this site... and, honestly, I fear saying personal things to a person who has so much power to use it. But, fear leadeth me not, and so I persist. I am going to use this entry to briefly recount the things that are happening in my life that I have thus far been too afraid to post on here. I hope that people can respect that I have not said a lot of these things to my immediate family yet, and I would like to be the one to do so.

1) I am genderqueer and pansexual. For a brief elaboration, I do not identify as male nor female... I believe my soul is genderless. That makes me genderqueer. Also, I pay no regard to gender in potential life mates. I am looking for a soul to be with my soul. I don't care what physical body that soul has been given. If you'd like more explanation, I can give it. (Just a note: Equality Ride did not cause this. This is who I am and I have known it for a long time. I just didn't know there was a word for it and I didn't know that God could love me for it. So I pretended. Just for clarification...)

2) I have left organized religion completely. I will not return. I do not believe the Bible to be the word of God. I believe the word of God to be the word of God. And I believe in God. I just don't support an organization that has continuously and repeatedly used a so-called "message of love" to dehumanize, segregate, and otherwise discriminate against every single minority group that has ever existed. And I don't believe the Bible is innerant. I don't believe that God wrote the Bible. I DO believe in God and Jesus. I recognize that Jesus is the greatest historical figure ever, and that there is much to learn from his teachings. But I am not a Christian.

There you have it. I feel better.

Haircut!

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 16:25:00 GMT

I got my hair cut. Woot. Mad props to Jillian who cuts the hair of everyone who asks for it. Amazing. What? You want pics? Ok...

Jess got her hair cut as well, and she looks great. Delfin shaved his head... which is totally awesome. I can't wait to get a picture of the three of us!

Today we have a day off in San Fransisco. We're going to the LGBT History Museum and then the rest of the day is ours. It will be great. I'm planning to rock it all the way up and down that city, and hopefully walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, singing the theme song to Full House the whole time... haha. I can't wait.

Haircut!

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 16:24:44 GMT

I got my hair cut. Woot. Mad props to Jillian who cuts the hair of everyone who asks for it. Amazing. What? You want pics? Ok...

Jess got her hair cut as well, and she looks great. Delfin shaved his head... which is totally awesome. I can't wait to get a picture of the three of us!

An Update...

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 02:27:05 GMT

I am sitting in the lobby of the Golden Bear Inn in Berkeley, California. I have to use the lobby computer because, for like the 4th stop in a row, the wireless internet is crap. But that's okay. I'll just sit in here unless some other hotel patron comes and asks to use it. Until then, it is update time!

Life is interesting right now. There is so much going on, so little time to sleep. I wish that I had more time to update this silly thing, but between preparing for school stops, making school stops, and fostering relationships, I have little time to do much else. There is a lot that I could say, and a lot that I should say...

Pepperdine University was an amazing stop. The campus there is beautiful, as you can imagine. It sits on a mountain overlooking the Pacific... majestic. You can sit at a lunch table and see the oceanview. I took pictures, don't worry.

   Beyond the beauty of the campus, though, there was also an amazing reception from administration and students. Not only did we feel welcome, similar to the welcome we received at MNU, but the administration seemed seriously interested in hearing ways to improve the experience of LGBT students on the campus. There is an underground GSA that the administration refuses to recognize... hopefully that will change soon. Policy changes... probably not.   But maybe.

   So much to say, so little time. I've got to run. :) I'll update again soon.

   When did life change so much for me????

It's Official... I can die now.

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:22:44 GMT

So I have officially completed all 4 things that were on my "list of things to do before I die". 3 of them were completed as a result of Equality Ride. Thank you Soulforce for giving me the opportunity.

My original list looked like this:

1) Put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean. (I accomplished this one with Matt, Korie, and Brandon at Virginia Beach in '04.)
2) Fly in an airplane. (This one happened for the first time in January when I went to Austin, Texas for training.)
3) See the mountains. (This happened as we pulled into Denver about a week ago.)
4) Put my feet in the Pacific Ocean. (This happened the day before yesterday at Seal Beach.)

I have added a few supplementary items to my list so that I have some things to look forward to:

5) Visit a foreign country.
6) Create and sell an album.
7) Have a family.

I am most excited about the last two. I want so badly to create an album, even if it is just one I sell to the local community for pennies. I want to document my voice in that way. I need to create a track list, though. The only song I know for sure will be on there is "Unchained Melody". Ooh, and probably "Love Can Build A Bridge" now that I've coined that song via Equality Ride.

Having a family is the one vision in my mind that has changed the most often and most drastically. Over the years, I have changed my opinion about family and what I want for mine too many times to count. But, coming into adulthood and this new understanding of myself, I have also come into an understanding of my hopes for family. I am looking for a person with whom I can fall in love. My Soulmate. (It may sound corny, but I am a hopeless romantic.) That person and I will have a family... an undecided number of children... and we will raise those children to be critical thinkers and justice-seekers. We will work together daily to make our lives and our world a better place. And we will be in love. I look forward to that.

So all in all, my life is perfect. I couldn't ask for anything different. I am doing what I love, loving what I do, and trusting in the Lord.

Amen.