A-LISTS community spotlight by john bilow


online Playstation reality show competition. “There was a call for people to do Tester auditions. I had seen the first season and I thought, ‘There is no gay guy on the show,’ so I was ex- cited to fight for that spot because I figured they were going to need an archetype in there somewhere,” he said. His name on the show was Gaymer and, as an openly gay member of the cast, he was a visible representation of gay youth to the video game community. As he sees it, there are a lot of young gay kids out there, hiding behind a video game console, who have never met other people like themselves. Matthew was also one of the people who founded the local chapter of Gay For Good this past summer. Gay For Good (G4G) is an organization that encourages LGBT people to participate in volunteer projects outside the commu- nity. Originally founded in Los Angeles, Gay For Good now has chapters in cities across the country and it continues to grow. The organization is an epitome of grass roots campaign. There is no fund raising involved. Their philosophy is that they don’t want your money, they just want your time. The first project the local chapter participated in was a beach cleanup at Pacific Beach with San Diego Coast Keepers. Since then, they have cleaned and built up a community gar- den, packed food for the elderly at the food bank, and helped feed the homeless at the rescue mission on Thanksgiving. “Gay for Good essentially takes a group of people from the LGBT and allied community and puts them in a situation outside the LGBT community to make a difference for greater San Diego in a way that positively reflects on our community and builds bridges and further allies,” explains Matthew. There have been some challenges along the way. There


MATTHEW


BROWN BREAKING OUT OF THE BUBBLE


The LGBT community has come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969 and that


is largely due to the hard work, sacrifice and bravery of people who are now in their 40s, 50s and older. Many of today’s youth are continuing this tradition of activism while enjoying the fruits of previous generation’s labors. They continue to participate in the tried and true institutions and rallies our community is known for while also taking their activism in new directions. One of the younger generation leading the charge today is Matthew Brown. You may


have seen him at the usual rallies and town hall meetings our community is known for, but he is also working for LGBT equality in other ways, such as increasing our visibility among the larger population. An avid gamer, Matthew participated in, and won, season two of The Tester, Sony’s


have been organizations which have not wanted to work with them. Twice since the local chapter was founded, an organiza- tion has canceled their participation after initially giving them the green light. Matthew takes this in stride, though, and sees it as confirmation of the importance of what G4G is doing. With every successful event, they are not only accomplishing the project of the day, but at the same time other organiza- tions and people outside our community are seeing us in a positive light and that, he hopes, is how change will happen. Matthew feels that there is a benefit to putting a positive


face to our community outside our community. He talks about a Hillcrest bubble and the importance of getting outside that bubble in order to make a change. As Matthew explains it, “There are a lot of great people doing activism within our community but people outside our community don’t see how good hearted and how hard working these people are.” Our community’s defeat in the battle against Prop. 8 taught us some tough lessons, including the fact that preaching to the


choir by rallying for LGBT rights within our own community isn’t the way to create a change. Prop. 8 also energized a whole new generation of activists, many of whom are working to make a difference in new ways and with new tools such as social network- ing and Internet campaigns. People like Matthew Brown are the community’s future and it is good to know that the next generation is already working toward the day when we all enjoy equal rights.


To learn more about Gay For Good go to gayforgood.org. To become involved with the San Diego chapter of Gay For Good, visit the Facebook page under the name Gay For Good – San Diego.


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RAGE monthly | JANUARY 2011


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