On tears and rejecting harmful belief systems — I cried as I fell asleep — My own fault, really. I shouldn’t have been reading Braden’s Story by Mason Dodd. As an aspiring author of LGBTQ YA fiction, I read a lot. Knowing my genre is part of the job. This one knocked me for a loop.

A Prism & Pen writers prompt — My eight-year-old heart pounded as I slunk toward the back of my classroom. I clutched a bundle of Valentines in my sweaty little hands. One by one, I slipped simple store-bought cards into heart-decorated shoeboxes Teacher had us make. Nobody would feel left out; each child would get a card…

School districts work hard to stop Satan clubs, using the same tactics they use to stop student-led, after-school LGBTQ clubs — Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof — From the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States Have you heard of the Satanic Temple? Do you know they don’t actually worship Satan? Have you heard about their campaign to…

The school district later backtracked on Wiesel but not on their defective “neutrality” policy that banned his words — I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. — Elie Wiesel, accepting his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize Would you believe a conservative trend to…

It ain’t “pro-life” either. Having trouble with moral priorities? — I don’t even know where to start writing, so I guess I’ll summarize a truly staggering development. The State of Tennessee has rejected millions of federal dollars to fund agencies that test for and treat HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. …