Everyday Sheroes and Heroes found through Social Networking

So there are many people who have come into my life through just living. Being in shows and meeting people, but as of late I've been finding Sheroes and Heroes online via Facebook. Two of my favorite are a Blogger for the Huffington Post names Amelia, and a second you may already know of, Actor and Online Activist George Takei. Both of these people came into my life via the internet by accident.

I often will find myself scrolling through the newsfeed to find fun things to read, things to make me laugh, or important news stories. (I get about 75% of my news from Facebook.) I found my friends a few years ago checking out this guy. George Takei. Now I had seen him on Star Trek and I had also seen him on the TV show Heroes. But I didn't really know him. He wasn't as relevant to me as to my parents. But then I started to notice something. Almost every funny post or 'Meme' (I believe this is the correct spelling!) was being re-posted by George Takei. So finally I went over to his Facebook page to check him out.

http://www.facebook.com/georgehtakei

On his page I noticed Meme's such as:

And

Of course he also had tons of really funny photos too but he was being an activist in the best possible way. Everyone loves him for the humor he brings and therefore also listens to him when he has something political to say. 

He to me has taken the best possible route for a celebrity to take on the path to activism. He has found a way to not alienate his fans and to bring enlightenment and knowledge about issues of all kinds to the table.

Another great place to read powerful blogs from him and see what he is up to is on: George's Website

Another great person whom I've actually become quite close with is a Blogger for The Huffington Post. Her name is Amelia. She goes by just that so that she can keep her family and her son's identity safe. Here is her HuffPost Page. In her description you can see, 

"Amelia is a mother, wife, partner and breadwinner. When not at the office she's spending as much time as possible with her three young sons, husband and best friend. In her copious free time she knits, obsesses about science fiction and cult television, and reads way too many books. She considers her most superhero worthy act finding a couple free hours now and then to read trashy novels.

Note: "Amelia" is a pseudonym chosen to keep her family's identity anonymous."

She is one of the most "Everyday Hero" that there is.

Why? You might ask. Well, because what she is doing is helping those deal with kids coming out. She has a 7 year old son who watches GLEE and has decided that he is gay like Kurt and Blaine. (He has a crush on Blaine.) We learn this in her first post, which was not on the Huffington Post, but on another Blog. First Blog That Went Viral!

This post went all over Facebook. People were talking about it left and right. I also found that it was affecting me. It was making me feel good all over. Why was it doing this to me? After all this wasn't the first time I'd seen a parent tell their gay son that everything was ok and that they loved them. My parents had done that with me too. In addition to that I had seen that other blogger/mom who let her son dress up as Daphne from Scooby Doo for Halloween. http://nerdyapple.com/my-son-is-gay/ What was moving me was the fact that more and more mothers out there were allowing their kids to be kids and figure out for themselves who they are.

There are plenty of news stories with religiously bigoted a$$holes such as: Sean Harris can be heard at this link. He is a preacher trying to convince people that if your kids start to act the "opposite gender" that you need to "squash it out of them like a cockroach." 

So I guess what I'm getting at is that it makes me feel good to see people like Amelia come onto the scene and start to show people like Sean that being gay or lesbian or bi or straight or whatever is not a big deal. As long as your kid is happy and not hurting anyone then what does it matter?

Jason T Gaffney