With all the advances lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Americans have made in the thirty years since Stonewall, we are still second-class-citizens in our own country, victims of discrimination, intolerance, harassment, and hate.

Tired of struggling against the endless "anti-gay" initiatives, stunned by recent trials of clergy who supported us, angry at the rash of violent crimes and murders, there is a sense of violence in the air.

(From an email I received February 22, 1999)
"…We gays haven't turned violent, YET; but let there be some more Shepard-style murders and then we shall see. Many of us older gays served in the U.S.Armed Forces and learned how to handle M-16s and demolition devices. One dead gay is good for one burned-out fundie church…"

Violence is NOT the answer and yet the principles of NONVIOLENCE as demonstrated in our century by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. are not well known to our community. On February 22, 1999, I offered a complimentary, eight-week, sixteen-email "Journey into Soulforce." Within hours, 1,000 people had applied.

On March 1 that "Journey…" began with almost 2,000 on board. So many people signed up that we began a second "Journey…" two weeks later. People are signing up for our third "Journey into Soulforce" that begins in June. If you would like to receive an email invitation to take the "Journey…" with us, email me at melwhite@soulforce.org. The "Journey…" is free and you can drop out at any time. Or watch our new Soulforce web page at www.soulforce.org.

Bon voyage,

Mel