Join The Dru Project on September 10th in Pinellas Park, FL for an event benefitting the organization: details here.
The Dru Project is a nonprofit that works to spread love and support LGBTQ+ youth in honor of Drew Leinonen, who we lost at the Pulse Nightclub Shooting.
knew that he was a major movie and media buff. From the Criterion collection to indie films at the Enzian to Star Wars and everything in between, he knew his stuff. This is why, as part of his legacy, we want to touch as many people globally as he did in his own community.
We want Star Wars to create its first LGBT movie character. This isn't just for Drew, although nothing could immortalize him more than a character in honor of him in his favorite film series. This is also for the LGBT kids who don't have very many characters that are representative of them in the media or film industry. We urge you to sign the petition to help make this happen.
Star Wars has never had a gay character appear on screen before, but as The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams recently said on the topic, “The fun of Star Wars is the glory of possibility. So it seems insanely narrow-minded and counterintuitive to say that there wouldn’t be a homosexual character in that world.”
It takes about 5 minutes for a church bell to ring 49 times.
I know this because last month my son Christopher, his boyfriend Juan, and 47 others were murdered at a club in Orlando. Christopher was my only child, and as I used to tell him, you can’t do better than perfect.
He had so many friends, two of whom are here tonight representing hundreds and hundreds more. All his life he brought people together. In high school, he won the Ann Frank Humanitarian Award for starting the Gay-Straight Alliance.
Christopher’s paternal grandparents met and fell in love in a Japanese internment camp, so it was in his DNA that love always trumps hate.
Christopher was a big Hillary supporter. That’s why I’m here. So that I can tell you about the day he was born. At the time I was a Michigan state trooper. When I went into labor the hospital put my off-duty gun in a safe. I didn’t argue. I know common sense gun policies save lives. The weapon that murdered my son fires 30 rounds in one minute. An Orlando city commissioner pointed out the terrible math. One minute for a gun to fire so many shots. Five minutes for a bell to honor so many lives. I’m glad common sense gun policy was in place the day Christopher was born, but where was that common sense the day he died?
I never want you to ask that question about your child. That’s why I support Hillary Clinton.