Rob Watson

Rob Watson
Rob Watson is Director of Partners and Alliances Communication for Hitachi Data Systems and blogs on evoL = .

Page 2

  • Why I want Pope Francis to write a requiem for Gabriel Fernandez, the boy tortured to death for appearing gay

    There is a story that I have felt compelled to write for three months. I have not written it because I have found it difficult to find the words. I have the words. I have the exact words. I have written them before. The story that has nagged at me is the mourning of Gabriel Fernandez, and the requiem of his death. He was eight years old. I know the words to say to Gabriel, because I wrote them in April to a little boy named Zachary…

  • An open letter to Rose McGowan on turning misogyny into feminism

    Rose McGowan’s opinions have been all over social media the past few weeks. She started in an interview with a now infamous diss that gay men are “more misogynistic than hetero men.” … From my perspective with grass roots advocates, I submit that if she truly believes there have not been huge outcries over women’s concerns, of which equal pay is just one, then she simply has not been listening.

  • The amazing story of two dads who save their son’s life, over and over, each and every day

    A little boy named Grayson is one of the most special children in the world. It all started with a haircut. Chad, a 22 year old young man, not out about his sexuality, got into Wayne’s chair at a salon. After discovering a sincere enjoyment of each other, they went on a date a week later. Over the course of a year, they realized their slow moving relationship had built into something very solid between them. At the time, they had no idea how solid it was going to have to be.

  • A survival guide for Christians who have been fighting against marriage equality

    Many of us have been in the Marriage Equality war for a long, long time. I remember a drag queen host taking the microphone at San Jose Pride about a dozen years ago. She saw a group with “Freedom to Marry” t-shirts, and with a twinge of sadness remarked, “Oh honeys, they are NEVER going to let us get married, ever. You may as well give that one up right now.” She was wrong. As in all wars, there is a foe. In the United States, the foes tend to call themselves “Christians” …

  • One man’s quest to undermine his cousin’s marriage to a transgender man

    Once upon a time there were two cousins, Jessica and Robby. They grew up together in the warm and wet Mississippi back lands. They swam, they fished and Jessica loved and respected her cousin. He gave her the sense of understanding family and loyalty. That sense of family and loyalty was upended completely recently when Robby recently ran to the American Family Association — an entity defined by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “hate” organization — to get their help in humiliating and attacking Jessica’s marriage. Robby has never met Jessica’s husband.

  • A letter to the ‘Christian’ mom wishing death for her disabled lesbian daughter

    Public disapproval over who could marry whom was an issue for Kelly’s family early on. Her father is black, and her mother is white. Kelly and her brother were bullied frequently in the small town in Alabama. They were the only mixed race kids in town. Kelly was quiet and shy and kept to herself. When she was 16, Kelly found a name for the identity that had been growing within her: lesbian….

  • A letter to the ‘Christian’ grandmother advocating homophobic books for teens

    Laurie Higgins is a Christian grandmother with a limited professional background (according to her bio). She has worked as “cultural analyst” for The Illinois “Family” Institute for six years, and before that was employed in the “writing center” for a high school. I am not exactly sure what the job qualifications are to be a “cultural analyst” but whatever they are, they have not won Ms. Higgins many friends…

  • A gay dad’s open letter to the homophobic parents who threw away their gay son

    Another young person has been thrown out of his home for coming out as gay. I have written about this on a number of occasions covering such events in the United States, Nigeria and Uganda. This time the event was recorded. Trying to imagine the evil some people can impart on their children is no longer necessary. Now we can hear them in their own self righteous voices…

  • A gay dad’s requiem for Robin Williams, the icon of the modern father

    There was a deeper profound loss in the news for me in learning of Robin Williams’ death, something very personal, and it took a night of sleep for me to fully get a sense as to what it is. I am a dad. It is the part of my being with which I identify first and most strongly. As I awoke this morning, the first morning of a Robin Williams-less world, I felt a loss in the definition of what it is to be a dad…

  • Thank you Ian Thorpe: How your coming out impacted this gay dad and his kids

    Last weekend, Ian Thorpe, who Australian politician Penny Wong called her country’s “greatest Olympian,” came out as a gay man. In doing so, he follows in the footsteps of a number of brave public celebrities and a number of athletes from around the globe. There was an aspect to Thorpe’s disclosure which was dramatically more poignant than his predecessors, however…

  • A 12-step recovery program for Rick Perry’s homosexuality problem

    If you are gay, and you are wishing upon a star, it is probably not a good idea for it to be the Lone Star of Texas. This past week, that particular entity has been more than a little dim in terms of passing out bright news for gay people. The Texas anti-gay rhetoric has been more absurd, if that is possible, than it has been in other LGBT unfriendly states.

  • Dear Nancy Grace: Your revisionist history of Anita Bryant is mind boggling

    As a gay dad to two boys adopted from foster care as babies, I can tell you that what Anita Bryant WAS trying to do was de-humanizing.  Under the rallying cry of “save our children” she fought to keep gay people away from children. I can only imagine what she would think of me saving mine from death and disaster at the hand of drug addicted birth parents.  She stated, “As a mother, I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children.”

  • Dr. Robi Ludwig: Why the words you spoke are dangerous, and the one you forgot to say

    One of the strangest cornerstones of life in new millennium media is not the question on whether someone will blame a current tragedy on the LGBT community, it is how quickly they will run to do it. From 9/11, to earthquakes, to floods and British rain, it is LGBT caused, according to these factions.

    The Isla Vista killings were no different.

  • An open letter to the Mother’s Day slushie victim: Bullies with an agenda are still bullies

    Thanks to the television show “Glee,” the slushie has been elevated from an overly sugary refreshment to an act of public humiliation. Not since a cream pie hit the face of Anita Bryant, has a caloric treat wielded such stature. Previously, the slushie had been confined to fictional encounters. It has now entered our reality. On Mother’s Day 2014, a young woman named Jessica Prince became so irate that she felt compelled to throw a red slushie at an anti-gay protester (watch here) You might call it, The Slushie Heard Around the World…

  • An open letter to the ‘Christian’ man who would be ‘King’

    If you haven’t heard of Darrell Trigg or his intentions, don’t feel bad. In terms of his real objective and vision, he is not actually running for President. He really wants to be our King. The monarchs of old saw their leadership ordained by God, their authority blessed and their decrees sacrosanct and immediately actionable. Mr. Trigg’s view of himself coincides, as he states, “He has revealed Himself to me spiritually…” and “I know that it is His will for me to be the next President of the United States of America.”

  • An unthinkable tragedy

    Gabriel did not die because his moms were lesbian. His death was not the byproduct of homophobia. His fate was not because of a violation of any legal custody issues. His story is bigger than any of that. His story is about love, sacrifice and the true meaning of being a parent. His story is one that brings the bigoted preconceived notions around same sex parenting to its knees. When I heard the story of Rachel and Heidi, I wept over what had happened to them. This is my letter from a dad to two moms.

  • A requiem on the death of Fred Phelps

    Fred Phelps is dead. Many will celebrate, and many will make comments about picketing his funeral in an eye-for-an-eye retaliation. I will not be among them. I do not respect Fred Phelps, nor do I forgive the pain he inflicted, but I value him. I value what he contributed to the struggle for LGBT equality. I am grateful that because of his presence, millions woke up to understand homophobia better and to confront it…