We're friends, right? I like to think so. So, in that vein, I'd like you to help me commit murder. I wouldn't ask if it weren't important, and let me tell you why.

David Gerrold is the author of "The Trouble With Tribbles" episode of Star Trek, and the Hugo and Nebula award-winning story, "The Martian Child" which was made into an inadequately heart-warming movie starring John Cusack. He isn't convinced just wearing purple will solve the bullying problem. Wayne Self offers some concrete suggestions on ways you can make a difference at the end of this article.

Joshua Harrison and Jeremy Jeffers are the Texas couple who made national news after their home was vandalized with a death threat on October 1 (see photo). I had a chance to speak with Josh and Jeremy on the phone about their lives in Clarendon, TX before and after the vandalism, the media attention they’ve received, and how the events of recent weeks have only worsened their predicament.

Captain Stephen Hill is the gay soldier deployed to Iraq who was booed on national TV at one of last year’s Republican Presidential Primary debates. He’d been invited to ask a question for the debates on the subject of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the policy which for nearly twenty years had kept soldiers quiet about their sexual orientations and had only recently been repealed. This is what happened:

Each week, Carlos Delgado would unfold a little lace doily and place it on the baby grand piano, smoothing it with wrinkled, spotted hands. He would pause for a moment to survey his work, then he’d pull the small white statue of Mary from its velvet cover and gently stand it on the doily, meticulously aligning it according to specifications known only to him. Finally, he’d turn to me and say “Where’s my hug?”

The project of persuasion on LGBT issues is so fraught with difficulty that it’s no wonder so many people abandon it. Even engaging in the process can seem like a weakness, since we need allies and the objects of our persuasive attempts may not need us at all. It can be one-sided, since they may feel they gain nothing–or perhaps lose something–from seeing our point of view. Every step seems distorted by longstanding prejudices, social pressures, and willfully misleading rhetoric from the well-organized, well-funded master orators who oppose our equality. Those distortions are so well-woven into our environment that they’re hard to see, even when you’re willing to see them.