I would love to see you all my New York City friends and my Washington DC friends on this trip. I think the easiest way for us to do that is to choose a night to all meet up for dinner, drinks and debauchery. There are only a couple of nights in New York City that this can happen but I will also be free during the day for coffees, lunches, museums, etc.

Take a look at that schedule and let me know when you’re free to hang out. Feel free to suggest things I should do, places I should eat and bars where I should have a drink. As far as New York City, I still have never seen a Broadway show, gasp, and have only been to a couple of museums. So if either of those whet your appetite, let’s make it happen! Looking forward to seeing you guys.

As far as my time in Washington DC, well I have a lot more of it. So let’s get creative about the time we share together in The District. I’m even tempted to add on a night in Philadelphia but with the tight schedule I have, that might not be possible.

I’ve been a huge fan of Jason Mraz for the last eleven or so years. His music has always spoken to me and his personality on stage, in interviews and in person is as authentic and kind as anyone could hope him to be.

Anyways, his new album came out yesterday (link to download in the image above) as did an interview with CNN. I Won’t Give Up was the first single off of the album and when asked what the song was about Jason explained:

Traditional marriage between a man and a woman, and trying to put that into a law or a rule, is basically saying that gay people aren’t real. Well, gay people are very real. It is treating our gay and lesbian citizens like second-class citizens. I think it is the final step in the civil rights movement.

So that’s pretty cool. I’ll leave you now with the video for I Won’t Give Up.

Now if only we can get the loud minority of this country to agree with him.

The retail price for the V-Moda Crossfade LP headphones is $200, a $50 premium when compared to the Klipsch option. But with the V-Moda Crossfade LP2s on the market, the originals are going for a song! With a drop in price that drastic, I figured it was time to see if these guys are worth the rock bottom $100 street price.

V-Moda markets the Crossfade LP as a top quality headphone, both in sound quality and in build quality. This interested me as my limited experience with V-Moda earbuds was that they were low quality in every respect. In fact, the first response I got when I shared on Twitter that I was planning on reviewing the Crossfade LPs was a friend commenting how much he loathed V-Moda headphones.

After a few months with the V-Moda Crossfade LP headphones, I am pleased to say that they have proven to be a solid set of headphones. Quality sound, unbeatable durability and a style all their own. It didn’t hurt that they came in one of the coolest packages and headphone cases I’ve experienced to date.

But it wasn’t all good. My initial thoughts on the Crossfades were not good. In fact, after fifteen minutes of listening to them, my ears were so fatigued that I nearly gave up on the headphones entirely. Luckily, things turned around, read on to find out how.

Looks

These headphones look awesome. Simple as that. They come in a variety of colors and have customizable metal shields on each ear cup. V-Moda will even print your company logo on the shields for $25.

They guys aren’t as bulky and rigid as the Beats by Dre headphones. Considering their incredible durability, the Crossfades are light, though not as light as the Klipsch Image One headphones which weigh practically nothing.

Accessories

A zipped tight, hardshell headphone case not only is home for set of V-Moda Crossfade LP headphones but two headphone cables, a 1/4 jack adapter and a carabiner. I had a general idea what to do with the cables and adapter, I’m still a bit confused on why I need a carabiner for headphones, but I digress.

Your probably wondering why a headphone would come with two cables. I was too at first. Turns out V-Moda has designed these headphones to work as standard headphones as well as a headset for Apple devices with a microphone and remote control on the second cable.

This is pretty fantastic. While having two cables isn’t really necessary (the smartphone cable will work with a standard headphone jack anyways) it does mean you can completely remove the cables from the headphones. No more buying entirely new headphones just because your cable has worn out. Broken cables and jacks are the number one cause of headphones dying.

As an added bonus, when I hop into a rental car, I unplug the cable from the V-Moda and plug it into the auxiliary jack on the car’s radio. This is one of those small things that really matter to me.

Build

Turns out you can order just about any part for the V-Moda Crossfade LP headphones you might need. I was told by one V-Moda representative that you can even change the drivers out on your own if necessary.

Luckily you will probably never have do that. These headphones come with a fantastic two year warranty and a lifetime warranty reminiscent of the BoomBotix warranty. Basically, if they break, share the story and they will replace them or give you a credit for a new set or upgraded set of headphones. Pretty sweet.

Though I’m not sure what you’d have to do to reasonably break a set of V-Moda Crossfade LP headphones. These things are built like a tank and exceed military requirements for durability. The headband can be twisted like a pretzel and laid flat at least ten times before any damage occurs. Do that to pretty much any other headphone on the market and you’ve just shattered the headband. Connecting the headband to the ear cups are bands of rigid steel.

The kevlar-braided cables do a good job of not tangling or kinking and are just the right length. Gold-plated tips ensure a good connection between your audio source and the headphones. One of my pet peeves with headphone cables are straight plugs. These are prone to shorting out or breaking when used with devices kept in your pocket. Like an iPhone.

I have expressed my disappointment that Klipsch insists on using these types of plugs and if you read any complaints about Klipsch headphones, this and the cable build quality are the only complaints you’ll find.

V-Moda opted for a hybrid plug that shoots out of your iPhone at a 45 degree angle with an ample cable stress relief. I do not see these plugs or cable wearing out any time soon.

Comfort

When I first put the Crossfades on I was a little concerned about the vice-like grip they had on my head. I was pleasantly surprised to notice this subsiding after wearing them for a few days. The headband is incredibly flexible and stretches out to fit comfortably.

The soft memory foam pads press on your skull not your ears and provide a surprising amount of sound isolation. The combination of the larger, sealed ear cups with leather-wrapped memory foam can sometimes get a little too warm but the only time that they became uncomfortable was when I was rushing through a warm airport. Other than that I’d say these headphones are quite comfortable.

The remote control sits on the left side of the headphones about three inches down the cord. It’s easy enough to find for use but the buttons are hard to discern by touch. Contrary to the manual, holding down the volume buttons will not scale the volume up or down. You have to manually pulse each time to go up a level. Not a big deal but worth noting.

V-Moda places the microphone on the back of the remote putting it at a great level for having a conversation. However, the conversations I had using the Crossfade mic weren’t as clear as I would have liked. The mic seemed to pick up the environmental sounds around me. In a quiet environment it works as good as any other microphone. In a coffee shop or walking down Market Street in San Francisco though, the noise was just too much.

Sound Quality

I have a handful of songs I use to test headphones. I use the same songs with every headphone review so I can compare their performance. After inspecting the Crossfades I fire up my iPhone and begin listening. About four songs in I have to give up. My ears are aching from some of the most fatiguing sound I’ve heard from such an expensive set of headphones.

Hearing fatigue happens when a headphone or speaker outputs sound with certain frequencies significantly boosted over others. This can be in anywhere in our spectrum of hearing but most often happens in mid-bass (think Beats by Dre headphones) and high frequencies (think Grado).

Disappointed and distraught, I hit up Google and did a little digging. Turns out I’m not alone, dozens of people write of similar experiences and nearly as many recommend burning in the headphones as a fix.

Burning in headphones and speakers is something I have always looked at as a little silly. It’s pretty rare, if ever, that I have heard a speaker or headphone increase in quality after use. The theory behind breaking in a speaker is that they come from the factory stiff. The surrounds need to be stretched and exercised. Having nothing to lose, I put my iPad on play and let the headphones sit for the rest of the day and over night playing music at a regular volume.

The next day I gave them a second try and was wowed at the difference. In this case burning in worked. I spent an hour listing to an assortment of music without the fatigue I experienced the day before after only a few minutes of listening. While the highs were still a little too much for me, the sound rounded out for a much more enjoyable experience.

V-Moda markets these for DJs and the sound signature is clearly best suited for club music. These aren’t headphones I’d recommend for the symphony lover with a discerning ear. That isn’t to say that these headphones are sonically disappointing, just that they show off their chops when playing hip hop, pop, rap, electronic and other synthesizer-rich music.

As you can see from the below graph, lower frequencies are relatively flat which is good. However there is an unexpected dip and the rise in the midrange followed by some erratic high frequency responses.

(Graph courtesy InnerFidelity)

Their large 50mm drivers have no trouble pumping out the bass without flatulence and distortion. It isn’t the boomy bass you get from headphones advertising “MONSTER BASS.” Thank goodness for that. One interesting thing I noticed about the bass was while the Crossfades has no trouble hitting frequencies as low as 20 Hz, maintaining the notes isn’t as easy.

(Graph courtesy InnerFidelity)

Ideally, this graph would show long vertical lines with a nearly flat top and bottom horizontal connecting lines. Instead you see short vertical lines and awfully curvy horizontal lines. This isn’t horrible but it explains why I felt the Klipsch Image One headphones did a better job at low frequency performance.

This wouldn’t have been noticeable had I not been doing A/B testing with the Klipsch Image One and Klipsch X10i headphones. Both of these headphones do a better job at maintaining extended periods of low frequencies. Whenever I want to show off this effect, I use the song I Eat Dinner (When the Hunger Comes) by Rufus Wainwright and Dido as well as a fantastic album by the Dallas Symphony, Pomps & Pipes.

These are very difficult tracks to reproduce, most speakers and headphones fall to pieces trying to keep up with the action. The Crossfades do an admiral job with I Eat Dinner but begin to show their weakness in playing extended periods of bass coupled with piano, vocals and percussion. Not a bad showing but not the best I’ve heard.

Pomps & Pipes is a brilliant symphony and pipe organ album that can make any speaker system bow down in submission. I don’t know if you can even buy it anymore, but if you do see it somewhere, definitely pick it up. Woodwind instruments accompany trumpets and some of the most glorious timpani movements with a pipe organ that can absolutely rattle a home to pieces with the right subwoofer.

Once again the Crossfades do a great job on this album, even when the low beats of the drums clash against the bassoons and trumpeting of brass instruments. It isn’t until the pipe organ gets going that things start to fall apart a bit.

Let’s not dwell too much on this though. These are $100-180 headphones. The only headphones I have that can accurately play this sort of music to my level of pure satisfaction are my Sennheiser HD600s with a dedicated desktop amplifier and even they find themselves in a bit of trouble at times.

Comparing the sound of the Klipsch Image One to the V-Moda Crossfade LP was interesting. Overall I think I prefer the Klipsch sound to the V-Moda. It is a slightly more balanced, on the high end with none of the surprisingly harsh vocals you sometimes get with the Crossfades. On the David Guetta and Usher song Without You, Usher’s high notes become jarring and verge on unpleasant. Lower down on the frequency range, Klipsch proves to be a little a little more colored/warm/bassy which I certainly didn’t expect.

By the way, it is worth noting that with a headphone amp like the Headroom Total BitHead, some of these issues are eliminated while others are decreased. It is also worth noting that the Crossfade LP2, which is the new version of the LP, is said to address some of these issues. If I can get my hands on a set, I’ll definitely write an updated review.

They are both headphones with some coloration for their intended audience and source material. Fun and playful listening experiences leaving very little real aural issues to complain about. Luckily the added coloration isn’t to the level of the Beats by Dre which can become downright muddy.

Summary

The V-Moda Crossfade LP headphones were a pleasant surprise in the categories that matter; performance, comfort and value. They have looks that stick out, but not like a sore thumb, build quality second to none and come with a plethora of accessories.

Compared to the Klipsch Image One, which would I recommend? That’s hard to say. I prefer the Klipsch sound, smaller and more portable design over the V-Moda’s sometimes harsh midrange and treble and their significantly larger build. The Crossfades hardly fit in my everyday bag, no way they’d fit while in their case.

What has me conflicted is the build quality between the two. While my Klipsch headphones haven’t broken on me after years of regular use, compared to the V-Moda headphones, they feel like cheap. The removable headphone cable is a life saver, the fact that it only goes up one side of the headphones is a welcome addition.

I feel I could throw the V-Moda Crossfade LP across my apartment and they’d be fine. I’d even feel OK dropping them down from my fourth floor balcony without too much worry. Not that I would do that but…

They also do a significantly better job at blocking out ambient noise and the microphone is placed in a much more logical spot on the cable than the Klipsch mic which falls down to my stomach (which is no where near my mouth thank you very much).

Everyday I leave the house, I’m torn on which headphones take out. I recommend you hit up an Apple Store or Best Buy and listen to both. At $100, the V-Moda Crossfade LPs are a given purchase, if you don’t have a good set of full-sized headphones.

In the next few weeks I’m going to have a handful of friends do A/B testing of the Klipsch Image One vs these V-Moda Crossfade LP headphones to see who really is the best. Check back here for the results.

If you do choose to purchase any of these headphones, be so kind as to use one of the links in this article. Amazon is my favorite place to purchase just about anything and they give me a few shillings every time I send someone their way. Helps me afford making future purchases. In fact, these headphones were paid for by those of you who clicked on my links to the Klipsch Image One headphones. It all goes right back to you guys.

I simply cannot believe you guys are obfuscating the unsubscribe options from your emails. This is a violation of MailChimp‘s terms of service, which I am sure you already know.

White text on a white background is a deceptive way of hiding the unsubscribe option as well as your physical address. This is a violation of the CAN-SPAM Act. I recommend whoever is running your email marketing read up on the FTC‘s rules. I’ll be as kind as to provide a quick link.

Here also is an excerpt:

Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you. Your message must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting email from you in the future.

I’ll even provide a screenshot of what I was sent so you can see the issue at hand.

I would not have unsubscribed, or blogged this situation, had you guys followed the rules. I’ve also informed MailChimp following instructions on their abuse page.

-justin
http://itsjustjustin.com

Turns out the fix was as easy as using a different computer. Turns out (and I only sort of know what I’m talking about here) the issue came from when I used an iOS jailbreak tool to unlock an iPhone for my trip to Europe and Saudi Arabia. It redirected the activation from Apple to Cydia which is why I got the error message below.

There are two fixes, either edit the host file through Terminal or just do the update on a different computer. Since the command I had to fix through terminal didn’t work, I tried the update on my MacBook Pro and it worked like a charm!

So I have this iPhone 4 which is in absolute perfect physical shape, only has three months of use yet after around iOS 5 Beta 3, the phone stopped working correctly, the digitizer stopped working reliably. That is, sometimes after unlocking the phone, you could not swipe to unlock, the screen was remapped and a swipe to the bottom didn’t do anything, sliding across other parts of the screen would move the unlock button to a degree but never enough to unlock.

I had to keep this phone unlocked 24/7 or risk having a phone that was unusable. I eventually was forced to buy the iPhone 4S. Since I was running a beta version of iOS and couldn’t undo that after Beta 4, Apple would not honor the warranty.

Do you have any suggestions? DFU restore and regular iTunes restores do not work. I’ve tried numerous times to upgrade this phone to the latest version of iOS 5 and 5.1 with no luck. I have even wiped it from its built in restore feature but that hasn’t worked.

Hopefully someone reading this will have an idea as I am all out of them!

This one is actually one from a work shoot I just came from. These fans run at incredibly slow speeds. However, because they have such a massive blade span, they move some serious air, keeping a giant warehouse at a stable cool temperature. Also they are called Big Ass Fans, a name has never been more appropriate.

A few days after sharing that experience I was contacted over Twitter and the phone by Carolyne, a representative of the winery. We talked at length about what happened, what should have happened and what will happen in the future. Carolyne was kind to listen, apologize and provide me with the confidence that myself and others will not be dealt the same poor service ever again at their tasting room.

Carolyne followed up with an email:

Once again, my apologies for your recent visit and we do  appreciate the feedback. Your feedback has led to us implementing a few new procedures that will not only enhance the experience of your next visit, but also all future guests of J Vineyards & Winery.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you soon!

This was the right way to handle a situation like this. To listen, to care and to respond. To no care that I am but one person among the thousands that go through their tasting room ever month.

Had J Vineyards & Winery ignored my story and not acted to make things right from within, not only would they have lost me and my friends as customers, they would certainly lose a number of other formerly loyal customers.

As a consolation, J Vineyards & Winery have offered me another tasting, this time in their Bubble Room for me and a few friend. This was not necessary but it was certainly a generous offer. They also shipped to me a magnum of their J Cuvée 20 Brut.

I’ll make sure to report back on my next few tasting experiences there. The only thing I forgot to discuss with them was the “sparkling only” wine shipment which was anemic and overpriced. Perhaps this too will be fixed. I’ll make sure to note this the next shipment.

How this attack happened, I’m not really sure. My host insists it was an FTP attack which would also mean it wasn’t a WordPress vulnerability, so take me off that list of 30,000 sites.

However, my host refuses to tell me how it happened, when it happened, all files/directories affected and how they plan to prevent this from happening in the future. My username and password for my FTP server are secure, I almost never log into my FTP server and have not used any of the notorious leaky FTP clients.

So it’s after several months of downtime induced by high traffic to my site, and this latest hack, that I have decided to once and for all, leave PowWeb for greener pastures. I am currently looking at Media Temple and LiquidWeb as replacement hosts. They both seem to be far superior, if not at least far more expensive.

I am also planning to write an article on how I secure my WordPress sites. Even though this one was apparently hacked, it wasn’t because of the numerous WordPress security holes, it seems it was the holes in my host’s security. Somehow I managed to not be one of the thousands of WordPress blogs hacked this week! So there is an upside huh?

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I tweeted earlier in the week that Kayla, Marris and I had a dreadful wine tasting at J Vineyards in Healdsburg. J Vineyards responded on Twitter requesting I direct message them my story so they could make it right. I told them I’d put it together here and so I have. A direct message, while definitely tidier for J, would never allow me to fully explain my disappointment. Here goes:

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you probably know about the never-ending renovation I’ve been doing on my house in wine country. I find myself going up north to meet with a contractor or furniture delivery person at least once a month. While this might be annoying to some, and it is to me, the best part of these trips is getting to see Kayla.

It’s a rare event that Kayla and I are in the same zip code and don’t do some sort of wine tasting. So on this trip to Sonoma County, she and I decided to hit up J Vineyards for a quick tasting and pick up my wine club shipment. Marris was in town and joined in on the adventure. But before we go there, let’s learn a bit about the winery and my history visiting them.

Founded by Judy Jordan in 1986, J Vineyards & Winery began as a producer of critically-acclaimed sparkling wines like our J Vintage Brut, J Late-Disgorged Vintage Brut, Brut Rosé, and Cuvée 20 Brut… J is renowned for its hospitality and we encourage you to visit our acclaimed wine tasting room… In fact, Sunset Magazine named J the Best Tasting Room in the West.

You now have a little bit of a backgrounder on J, let’s revisit my first J experience. It was the summer my parents were set to move to Saudi Arabia. Kayla put together a list of fun wineries we should hit up while they were visiting from Texas with my brother and sister-in-law. J was to be the last stop on our whirlwind tour of Sonoma County.

The five of us walk up to J and are promptly greeted in the foyer of their tasting room. Unfortunately the greeting included “You do know tastings are $20 per person right?” Of the six or so wineries we’d hit up on that day alone, not a single one felt the need to warn us about the cost of a tasting and in such a tone to imply we might be unable or unwilling to afford the tasting fee. This certainly was not the case.

We turned on our heels and left dismayed at their assumptions and attitude.

I gave J another try with Kayla a few years later and was won over by their tasting room staff, enough so that I purchased a few bottles of wine to offset the tasting fee and bring a little crisp J flavor home.

The next trip to J was with friends visiting from the midwest. We had a great time tasting and talking it up with the tasting room workers. I was convinced to join their J Club by a somewhat pushy but nice J employee. As memory serves, the shipment included a magnum of one of J Vintage Brut and a few bottles of other wines. In total, five bottles including one magnum for $165. As it was described to me “this is an amazing deal!”

So here we are, at my latest J experience.

Kayla, Marris and I walk to the tasting room and I’m checked in as a J Club member. I had no idea there was going to be any big tasting event, this surprise was exciting. We took our tasting glasses and headed in.

At the first tasting station we were told we’d taste two of their white wines, then head upstairs for some pinot before ending at the main tasting area for sparkling wine. The wines at this station were their Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. Of course the only way we knew this was by reading the sign on the table.

The pourer seemed reluctant to share any information on the wines, sometimes giving misinformation. For instance, he told one couple that the salmon mousse was to be paired with the Chardonnay, while he told another it was made to be paired with the Pinot Gris. The other amuse-bouche was some sort of Thai wrap. Being vegetarian I made sure to ask what was in it. A woman from J who presented a new tray of wraps said it was a secret. When I pointed out I was a vegetarian and with food allergies she responded with “I think it has peanuts and some other stuff but no meat.”

Never guess that something has one of the most dangerous food allergens. Seriously? Had you not tasted the very food you were putting out? Kayla took a brave bite of it, nonplussed, she offered me the rest. I found it unremarkable.

In our first tasting station we go from ecstatic to disappointed. We climb the stairs to the Pinot tasting station. It’s cold, quiet and uncomfortable. Kayla find relief in our tasting presenter, a guy we’ve had before that was great. Unfortunately this tasting proves to be no better than the previous. In fact, it was worse.

Once again we had to ask what we were tasting, where it was grown, the story behind it, etc etc. It was a disaster. At once point, our guy leaves us only to appear about five minutes later with no explanation. At this station we see only one sign for the wines and we presumed there was just the one to taste.

We hang in the area, soaking in the disappointment when our guy starts pouring something into our glasses. No warning, no explanation of the wine, just starts pouring. He doesn’t even tell us this is a different wine until we asked after we tasting it and noticing it was different. When pressed about the story behind this wine we are given nothing at all.

Oh and hey, where is the Pinotage they are so proud of (and insist has nothing to do with South Africa despite reality saying otherwise)?

Absolutely bewildered, we slowly, and with much disappointment, descend the stairs to the final tasting area. Surely the sparkling tasting will prove better right? This is what they are known for!

Our still wine glasses are taken from us (guess we won’t revisit anything huh?) and in their place are three flutes of sparkling wine. Then our girl leaves us to talk to another group of tasters. Once again nothing is shared about the wine we are drinking, the platter of food for this pairing is pushed all to the far left of the bar, half-hazardly. It’s so unappealing that we don’t even bother giving it a taste.

She returns and I volunteer that I’d like to pick up my wine shipment. She gets my name and walks off to get it. Upon her return she says, “It’s just four bottles of our Brut Rosé.” Way to sell your product…

The total? $115, add tax and we’re at $124. Now you might be asking yourself, is that too much, too little or just right? Don’t you join wine clubs to get a discount and access to specialty wines? Yes and yes, that is too much money for four bottles of Brut Rosé and you do join wine clubs for alleged discounts and access to limited edition wines.

Yes I joined the “Sparkling” version of the wine club but J sells ten vintages of four different sparkling wines. A little variety is expected! Now to the cost. They claim I save 10% by being a member of their wine club. However, had I picked up the same wine at Safeway or Wicked Wines in town I would have spent around $22 a bottle. 22 x 4 = 88. 115 – 88 = $27 premium to purchase the wine from J. Not to mention the cost of driving to Healdsburg to pick it up in person or the shipping fees I would have otherwise incurred. (The cost of Brut Rosé ranges from $22-24 on any given day at my Safeway)

This is no deal. At Safeway I can to get five bottles ($110), add a sixth to save 10% and walk away with two more bottles of wine for only three dollars more. Plus I could do this at the Safeway three blocks from my house saving transportation or shipping fees.

Yes I know, comparing the costs of a wine at a grocery store to the price as a winery isn’t necessarily fair. We can have a long discussion on wine distribution, costs and inflation. I know when I go to a restaurant, that glass of wine paid for the bottle, just as I know big box stores buy wine in bulk in exchange for deep discounts. Nevertheless, this sort of markup, this sort of experience and treatment is beyond the pale.

I felt punished by J. By joining their exclusive club, I was allowed to pay more for less. I was given a tasting I would rather have not experienced. My friends and I were treated like poorly attended cattle. We walked up to J with great expectations and left with a bitter taste in our mouths.

It’s enough that I plan to cancel my wine club membership and never recommend J to another acquaintance. I have personally sent at least a dozen people to J for a tasting and I’m sure Kayla has sent hundreds in her time working in the wine industry. Never again. Not unless some serious changes are made.

And so I leave J Vineyards with the same disenchantment I experienced on my first visit.

This documentary is something that is very near and dear to me; someone who is considered by my state and country a second class citizen. By extension, I am a second class citizen to all my friends and family members who continue to vote for people who fight against equality, donate money to organizations and churches who cast aspersions on who I am and look the other way all the while.

Explaining what it is like to be gay isn’t easy. I kept it a secret until I was 18 years old because I feared that I might be made a victim of harassment beyond what I was already experiencing in junior high and high school. I was so stressed out about being gay that I became physically ill; acid reflux, debilitating migraines, panic attacks & major depression.

If it wasn’t for the friends I made in college, I don’t know that I would have survived to be where I am today. Far too many people like me don’t make it through the bullying. They are commit suicide or are murdered because they or someone else was unable to accept the person they were born to be.

I can’t tell you the number of times I was verbally or physically harassed, my property vandalized and my life threatened. My first semester in college a neighbor in the dorms threaten to hang me in the stairwell because I was gay. Try explaining to your parents why you have to switch dorms when that is your reason. I never did because I never had the courage to do so.

Ryan James Yezak is hoping to produce a documentary titled “Second Class Citizens” and has created a Kickstarter campaign to help fund it. I implore you to check it out and if you find it worthy, to invest in his film. I am going to do that right now.

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