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The J Report
By Genie Wood
President, JFO

Juno has arrived…. I am convinced. If you attended our gala in February, you know that it’s a unique event that creates a special kind of energy. It’s in the air, you sense it. Everyone is engaged and feeling the spirit of giving. It is the right thing to do and our supporters feel good doing it… helping others. It was a joyful night thanks to you.

Our gala is but one example of how our community is changing, evolving. We are growing, expanding our horizons, and organizing to affect change. It hasn’t always been like this. I realize our community has long had activists, those “radical” few that carried the flag for the rest of us too ambivalent or cynical to care. But now, we are them, I am them! Some say as you get older, you get wiser.  I wonder…because there’s Aerille, a young woman at UCF who volunteered her time to help out at our NCLR reception - she “gets it” - Aerille is 20 years old.  

I don’t know the catalyst or at what point the (gay) ground shifted but I believe things are different now… it’s better. We are better. There’s an awareness that is more prevalent. We no longer choose to sit on the sidelines. Our gay community has power and a sense of who we are and want to become… and there’s heart.

There are some great organizations that are very active in Central Florida: HRC, NCLR, Metropolitan Business Assoc., Orlando Gay Parents Group, PFLAG, UCF GLBCU, Joy MCC, Equality Florida (the list goes on), and now there is Juno. Everyone who supports or gives something back… well, it counts. It counts for whatever you think is good in the world.

Get involved. We are only rich through what we give.

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