Guest Author - Jason P. Ruel - Jase

HI there! My name is Jase, short for Jason Ruel. I am a 26 year old gay man living in one of the most rural areas of Illinois. I live in the city where Western Illinois University is located. I am currently an IL State Licensed Cosmetologist and EMT-BD. I am self-employed and enjoy what I do for a living.

I am an out and open gay man living in a very rural area, but one that is very welcoming of its Gay Lesbian populous. This is possible because of the large Gay Lesbian populous that is located at the University. While at the university I was very active in the Gay Lesbian community, and was a member of the universities Gay Lesbian group called BGLFA - Bisexual Gay Lesbian and Friends Association. I was the Awareness week co-chair and gave many educational classes on what it means to be an out and open Gay Lesbian person in rural areas, as well as in the cities. I also held education forums on HIV/AIDS awareness and Safer Sex amongst our populous. I am a strong advocate for equal rights, and hate crimes at the University and was involved in the Universities Committee on Sexual Orientations founding of the Anti-Discrimination Policy. I was also unfortunately the first person who had to use the statute against a fellow classmate.

I am very active in national GLBT groups and advocacy. I am a member of the ACLU, HRC, and have used the resources of PFLAG. I read the Advocate, OUT, and other publications and am a grass roots effort member of both the ACLU and the HRC. In my time at the university, and currently, I am involved in the Speaker’s Bureau that goes to local groups and classrooms discussing GLBT issues with students, professors, and community members.

I have been blessed to be able to dispel the myths, stereotypes, and other ignorance involved with the Gay Lesbian community, and I am proud to now serve as the Gay Lesbian Editor. I look forward to sharing my life with you, and hope that you will share your lives with me!

I have some plans with the Gay Lesbian site, and I would like to welcome you all to join in the fun and also the community we have here. I would like to start a weekly Dear Jase column where I will respond to letters from you, my readers. I am not limiting the scope of the letters beyond the fact that it has to deal with Gay Lesbian issues, or persons. This site is the Gay Lesbian one after all. Feel free to start writing in your letters. At the end of this article you can find relevant resources for this. I would also like some feedback from you, the readers, as to what you would like to see here. Would you like more lifestyle articles, political ones, activism, life, family, relationships, etc. Please help me to make this a place that reflects all of us, not only I.

So, once again I want to thank you all for this opportunity and I welcome letters from everyone.

Jase ;0)

Comments/Dear Jase – Please click below to email me