Support Gulf Coast Gives

Gulf Coast Gives is a Florida-based organization that gives educational scholarships and helps the uninsured get medical treatment. Manatee County has been hard hit by unemployment during the economic downturn. The charity work provided by Gulf Coast Gives is much needed. Which makes me wonder what gives Tea Party Nation member Rich Swier the right to say that Gulf Coast Gives has a radical agenda.

Is it radical for Gulf Coast Gives to provide baby strollers to poor families that has Swier so upset? Perhaps helping the elderly receive medical treatment to relief pain has Mr. Swier so worked up. Maybe when Swier was in school he hated band geeks and wants to deny Saint Stephen's Episcopal School a new baritone horn. Surely this this kind of radical agenda should not be allowed to continue.

This is what Swier deems radical.

77% of all bullying victims are picked on due to sexual orientation, gender identity, or the perception of either. LGBT youth are up to five times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight counterparts. ALSO Out Youth is the only LGBT youth organization serving both Sarasota and Manatee Counties, providing advocacy, leadership, support, and outreach since 1992. Please support ALSO in bringing Hudson Taylor to Sarasota. Hudson, an outstanding athlete, is a committed LGBT advocate and founder of Athlete Ally. This resource encourages athletes, coaches, parents, fans, and other members of the sports community, to respect all individuals involved in sports, regardless of perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender identity. Hudson hopes to encourage more effective sports education programs and help put an end to anti-gay bullying in and out of sports. Please support ALSO's campaign to bring Hudson Taylor to our area high schools and colleges. His message of stamping out bullying would be a tremendous benefit to our community!

Don't Ask, Don't Tell has been repealed. Gay marriage is no legal in New York. Apparenmtly, Swier thinks it is mainstream to encourage teens to pick on gay teens. Actually, it isn't mainstream. It is just mainstream and bigoted.

This is not bullying. It is peer pressure and is healthy. There are many bad behaviors such as smoking, under age drinking and drug abuse that are behaviors that cannot be condoned. Homosexuality falls into this category. Homosexuality is simply bad behavior that youth see as such and rightly pressure their peers to stop it. In Sarasota County over 70% of all HIV/AIDS cases are due to male sex with males.

I agree with Gulf Coast Gives that "LGBT youth are up to five times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight counterparts". Homosexuality, like drugs, harms young people if they experement with it. That is the greatest tragedy.

Swier floats the scientifically unfounded myth that homosexuality is a sickness. It is pure B.S.

You can support Gulf Coast Gives by buying a give card.